Category: A Catch All

Stitch Does Stuff in November 2019

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What I’m Into In November:

  • Books: Queen of the Conquered, Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction, Archangel’s War, BTS and ARMY Culture
  • Music: BTS, TXT, the Wicked soundtrack
  • Shows: Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (again)
  • Movies: documentaries probably, definitely John Wick 3
  • Food: pizza and maybe Korean if I can afford it

The Usual Support Links

October sure was a month y’all.

You may have noticed that while I went “wow I’m going to make a lot of content”, the reality was that… I did not do that. If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you might not have picked up on why.

Unfortunately, when stressed, I tend to shut down and my output slows to a clear crawl. And I spent a huge chunk of October stressed beyond belief. Between the latest reminder that Black fans critical of anything aren’t welcome in fandom, the family car getting multiple flats and getting towed, and some renewed stress at Day Job (thanks to tasks I’m working on and stuff I’m trying to optimize) that I’m still trying to overcome, I was already slower than usual despite my desire to be Super Organized.

Then my birthday happened on the twenty-fourth and while I had an amazing time, I then promptly got sick. The reason why y’all are getting this post on the fourth instead of the first is because this is the first time since about the 25th or 26th that I’ve honestly felt up to sitting in front of a computer and putting my schedule together for November. As recently as last night, I had a debilitating sinus headache and couldn’t breathe through my nose.

But part of the way through my work day today, the stars seemed to align and right around the time when I threw my back out around lunch, my cold seemed to clear up.

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Stitch Does Stuff in October 2019

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Dear pumpkins,

You can probably tell from the spoopy header I made just for this, but October is my favorite month of the year.

I’m gonna be real here: it’s Halloween month and Birthmonth wrapped up into one super spooky package and I always tend to go overboard with everything. It’s what we all deserve, after all. October is the real spiritual start of fall here in the US (sorry September) and I put my all into being the embodiment of that spooky, post-summer sensation.

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[Stitch Unboxes Stuff] From Korea With Love Subscription Box (Sept 2019)

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Spoilers abound in this unboxing of my first box from @fromkoreawithlove_. This box was a sweet treat for myself and a great deal over on Crate Joy.

All of the stuff in the box was fantastic and I’ll definitely be sticking around for another month or two.

I’ll also be taking photos of how I put this awesome stuff to use in my day job and planner. Keep your eyes peeled, pumpkins!

On Oppression Olympics and Black Hypervisibility

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If you’re online, you probably have heard about the incoming talent for SNL’s future lineup.

One new face was Bowen Yang, who’d be the first Asian performer on the show’s regular lineup in its 44 year history. Another was Shane Gillis, a comedian with a reputation for using racist jokes and other offensive statements as part of his act and in his personal conversations on his podcast.

One of the Democratic candidates for president, Andrew Y@ng – who aspires to appeal to whiteness at pretty much every step of the way – received some of Gillis’ ire as Gillis used a racial slur to refer to him earlier this year. He addressed Gillis’ racism in multiple tweets earlier this week/end.

One part of his response to Gillis’ racism towards him and other East Asian people was to compare racism towards East Asian people and the reaction from the general population when racism happens to Black people, tweeting that, “If Shane had used the n word the treatment would likely be immediate and clear.”

The idea of anti-blackness like a minor celebrity using the n-word being met with “immediate and clear” punishment is laughable.

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Stitch Does Stuff in September

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Sup sweeties?

In case you didn’t know (possibly because you’re not on the US’ East Coast or because you’re not in the US at all), September (the peak month for the Atlantic Hurricane season) started with Hurricane Dorian inching its way up across the Bahamas towards Florida.

While Florida has yet to feel anything resembling its full force, the Bahamas have been devastated due to the storm landing and then stalling as a Category 5 and then 4 for about two days. The images of destruction from the high winds and storm surge that I’ve seen so far are horrifying and the island nation will be recovering from this storm for years to come. (And note that this is just the start of peak season. There are other hurricanes just waiting to form and the Bahamas generally gets some level of storms as the season progresses.)

If you’re looking for a way to help the Bahamas, National Association of the Bahamas is collecting donations. This article from Local 10 in Miami has a list of local donation drives and other places collecting financial and physical donations and I’m sure there are other official sources that’ll come up once the Bahamian government is able to see exactly what it needs.

If you can donate to help the Bahamas, please do.

Now on to the less serious stuff: September will be shaped by what storms we get and how much work I can get done before the storms start forming in seriousness after September 10th. So, while my goal is to stick as closely to my schedule and get content out when they’re supposed to be out, hurricane season is not on my side.

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Survey Central

Stitch

If you’ve got some free time and enjoy making your voice heard, swing by this sweet survey and fill out the responses so that you can help shape the future of my site’s content!

While I’m obviously writing a lot of content for myself and that aligns with my own interests, your voices and views matter!

Please let me know what content – here and/or on Patreon – you want to see more of, you want to see less of, or how I can make content you just enjoy consuming in the fandoms you like!

Thank you!

xoxo

gossip stitch

Stitch Does Stuff In August 2019

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Hello pumpkins,

I know I was like “I’m not going to do another month with three public installments of What Fandom Racism Looks Like” but uh… so far that’s what August is shaping up to be.

I’ve got three installments of WFRLL on the docket to go up on my site this month: a piece on “Fandoming While Black”, the cultural appropriation in Korean pop/hip hop essay I’d been working for about two weeks after I failed hard at foregrounding, and a short installment on intent behind racist fanworks and how intent isn’t magical.

I’m also playing catch-up this month with my rec list for F/F content, the series squee post for Grayson, and, if I can get the time to reread it, my review for Alyssa Cole’s A Prince on Paper.

I’ll also be posting public video content related to the upcoming cultural appropriation essay and the Supergirl fandom’s continuously racist reactions to Mehcad Brooks and James Olsen. (And, despite the fact that I’m behind on my attempt at having a podcast on Patreon, I’m contemplating doing mini-podcast episodes starting the end of this month! We’ll see how this goes!)

On the Patreon front, I am supremely busy.

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Stitch Does Stuff in July

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Stitch does stuff in July 2019.png

I love Day Job.

I love being able to get up, come into work, and put together ads or blow through edits on a batch of articles for one of our clients. I love having the chance to use my English MA Editing Skills (TM) to make our marketing department a better one.

What I don’t love is not having time to write.

Sure, I make time as often as I can – if you follow me on twitter, you’ve probably seen my handwritten notes for my upcoming What Fandom Racism Looks Like series – but it’s not enough.

But I’m going to make it be enough… Somehow. Read More »

Short and Salty #1: They’re All About The Whiteness

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Normally, I keep my saltiest thoughts to twitter or my Dreamwidth account. It’s better for all of us.

However, this salty thought is part of a currently shelved follow-up to my What Fandom Racism Looks Like article on Beige Blank Slates and I figured… “Why Not”.

So, have at it, friends and folks:

Attraction is supposed to be subjective.

This subjectiveness, in fandom, is used to say that attraction and desire can’t be connected to or criticized for on the grounds of morals or politics as if Black people weren’t legally prohibited from marrying outside of our race until the 60s and as if people of color aren’t seen as inviable partners to most white people.

Sometimes, when I look at the fandom darlings that fandom loves – the dark/light haired go-to duos like Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Merlin/Arthur (Merlin), and Hux/Kylo (Star Wars) – I genuinely question what I’m seeing and how subjective attraction is.

Across multiple Western slash fandoms, when you look at what gets popular and what characters just get the fans a-thirsting one thing stands out to me about their attractiveness –

The most attractive/appealing thing about these guys – or the thing fandom actually finds integral to their adoration – really is their whiteness.

Even if they won’t say that.

Stitch Does Stuff In June 2019

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Stitch does stuff in june 2019

I actually finished most of my catch up events in May!

I did that while struggling to find a work-life balance.

Yes, I still have my job. It’s been a hard month and I’m definitely not sleeping or eating enough, but I’m still employed. I’ve still got two more months of probation to go before I can feel confident in my long-term (ish) career goals so I’m honestly going to be SUPER ANXIOUS about things until then.

But I enjoy my job, I like my bosses (no lie, I’m not kissing ass in case they find my site), and marketing has always been a career path I was curious about. I’m looking forward to devoting a reasonable amount of time to this job and having it lead to a career that I can be secure in!

My main goals for June involve developing a work-life-writing balance, responding in a timely fashion to emails for work and not for work, and figure out my hustle. I also want to figure out time management and work with friends to keep ourselves accountable as we work on our own projects!

I’m feeling pretty jazzed about this!

So let’s look at what June will bring us!

What I’m Into In June

Books: Stephanie Ahn’s Bloodbath, Abigail Barnette’s The Boyfriend, Dal Yong Jin’s New Korean Wave, Nalini Singh’s Wolf Rain, and Kim Suk-Young’s K-Pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance

Music: BTS’s Map of the Soul: Persona, this playlist of Korean Rappers, Dolly Parton’s Jolene, the soundtrack for Hamilton

Shows: Absolute Boyfriend, Love O2O (again)

Movies: Aquaman, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse,

Food: chicken rice, Publix subs, salmon

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What Fandom Racism Looks Like: The Problem With Preferences

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problem with preference

Back when Captain America: Winter Soldier first came out in 2014, I noticed something… strange about many members of the MCU fandom and how they would talk about Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson. Many of them honestly saw no shame in how they treated Sam Wilson as if he was the first Black character they’d ever engaged with.

Not only did some people (sorry scifigrl47, but I’m incapable of letting go of this) go above and beyond to posit that it’d make “more” sense for Sam to be a member of Hydra than Tony Stark at a time when Marvel wasn’t trying to make Hydra an equal opportunity employer for all marginalized people –

But you had folks who literally made and shared posts that outright said things along the vein of “[Sam Wilson] is the first time I’ve ever been attracted to a Black man before.”

No one should feel that comfortable with expressing their racist preference thatthey were outright comfortable with confessing that a Black actor in 2014 is the first time they realized that Black people could be attractive.

(Especially not Anthony Mackie who is honestly only “alright” in the looks department.)

The thing is that the word “preference” allows folks in fandom to feel as though they’re just expressing their totally neutral preference for white male characters above everyone else when they’re practically playing into literal centuries of sexual racism and the complicated politics of desire and race.

Preference isn’t neutral.

Neither is whiteness.

In 2019, it’s time we sat down and accepted that fandom’s overwhelming preference for white male characters in and out of slash ships/fandom isn’t neutral.Read More »

Stitch Media Mix’s 20 Most Popular Posts

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In case you’re new here or have no idea where to actually start with my posts, here are 20 of my most popular posts from 2015 until (now in order from most popular on down).

Some are popular because angry white people hopped on them to yell at me thanks to getting linked to my posts on reddit and fail fandom anon, others (like the Anita Blake post) are popular because a bigger blogger fish shouted me out.

At the end of the day, these are my biggest posts and the best way to see what kind of writer I’ve been and maybe where I plan on going next.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me, pumpkins!Read More »

Stitch Does Stuff in May 2019

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Stitch does stuff in may 2019

What will May bring my blog?

A lot of catching up.

I did not get a ton of work done in April and most of that was due to my tunnel vision before and after PCA 2019. If you haven’t read my write-up yet, please head on over and check it out!

Right now, almost everything I had planned to do for April is back on the table for May. That includes that month’s Audience Participation post, upcoming “What Fandom Racism Looks Like” posts, and that pesky podcast episode for Patreon.

I’m also going to be using my free time to record narration for my PCA 2019 PowerPoint as well as a WFRLL piece on k-pop fandom’s antiblackness. Both will be Patreon-first – with the PowerPoint open for all levels and the WFRLL piece having snippets at the $1 level and a final/finished draft at the $3 level.

I’m still trying to catch up with email as well – sending and replying to them – so if you haven’t heard from me in a while, you will in May. I have a list and everything.

One reason my time will be tight in May is that I’m two days into a new job.  (Thanks, Dionysus!)

I don’t know what the rest of the month will bring, and I live in a state that can fire you for anything, but it’s a job that’s pretty much right up my alley and will allow me to stretch my writing and marketing muscles. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll definitely figure out a way to balance my work-life-writing balance as I get more comfortable with the job and used to waking up at 6am.

But I’m happy right now and I’m going to do my best to be financially stable and get all my writing done.

Now that the goopy stuff is out and about: here’s what’s on the menu for May.

Fair warning, a lot of these are well… leftovers.Read More »