super hero's

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while but kept holding back since I realized how big it would be.  that is until I realized I could just break it up into different sections.  so while I'm not sure how frequently I'll be doing this, but I'd like to spend some time examine some of the different things that make certain genre's and sub genre's work and what sort of appeal they have.  at the very least I hope this will be informative and entertaining, but I'm also hoping doing this will help me flesh out the stories and games I'd like to make in the future. 

first up the super hero genre, for the record I'll be including a bit more than just the traditional super hero's I'll keep close to what causes the appeal but what I'm including will include people like the punisher as well as the power rangers.

It was a quote from Kinsey Hope’s (gender bitch) tumblr that prompted me to start thinking about this.  it would probably take days to dig through her tumblr to find the exact post but the general jist is that her life experiences and her work in social justice had changed her concept of evil from the "big bad guy" to something more akin to thousands of paper cuts that dig deeper until they reach the bone. 

hopefully you'll forgive the slightly graphic nature of that description but it got me to think, maybe that's part of the reason why super hero fiction is has successful has it is. most of us by the time were adults have realized that evil very rarely has a singular face, and is quite often coming from everywhere, yet the comic book movie is one of the biggest genre's and comic books (which are primarily but not exclusively super hero) make up a million dollar market, and it’s been that way for a long time.  and one of the biggest things they have in common is the presence of colossally evil forces. Now, big uniformly and very powerful evil forces may not seem like a better option but, they come with two things.  the first being it effectively consolidates the evil in the world, since I don't read a lot of comics my view may be skewed, but from what I've seen they don't usually have the all to real situation of evil coming from everywhere, the manage to give it a form.  Now I do know of some exceptions, particularly when they have people like cops in on the evil, but there still giving some sort of from, giving people the ability to metaphorically fight against it.

Which leads me to the second thing that consolidating the evil does.  it gives us the actual super hero's most of which act as symbols of hope, and epitomize the good people are capable of,  I have heard many people who seem to actually use some super hero's to help them give them the strength to choose to do the right thin.  heck this even has some advantages, when the super hero's start having a fall from grace or making really bad choices people are able to blame the writers (like what most fans did with spider man's recent deal with the devil).  and in the cases were the hero is doing stuff we clearly aren't suppose to look up to, hero's like The Punisher,  it's likely to be more in the actual revenge aspect,  those hero's are doing to the same kind of things to the bad guys that the bad guys do to others, things most people can't do.

and of course it would be downright lazy of me not to mention the spectacle of it.  heck I think that's one of the reasons why I liked power rangers growing up.  most super hero battles actually look cool, over the top martial arts, super powers, someone suddenly coming from the shadows, that in and of itself is a lot of fun and I'm sure a major contributor to there appeal, especially for the colorful super heroes.
Feel free to comment if you feel I’m wrong or feel I’ve missed something, in fact please do, like I mentioned at the beginning I’d like to learn more about the appeals of different genre’s from this exercise so anything you can add will be greatly appreciated. 

when a home makes you feel unwelcome

I know I probably sound like a broken record at this point but I'd like to start off by apologizing for not posting in a while.  the class I have this month is consuming a lot of my spare time (without the benefit of actually being educational beyond the first week.) and I have a few ideas for posts I hope to get started on soon, but I can't promise I'll get to them this month.

now onto the title of this post, and yes this is going to be one of those ranty and is actually composed of two topics.  first has to do with were I've actually been living I found out I need to look for a new place and that I'm going to have to vacate it pretty soon.  I'm in no danger of being homeless as a result, but if I can't find something closer to my school than my dad's place (currently staying with extended family) it will be a lot harder to keep up with school. I have some time to look, but given the budget I'll be looking with it's not exactly hopeful.

the second has to do with my online home, Rachel's haven. it's been a wonderful place for me that allowed me to explore and discover myself but there's been something of a trend developing.  that trend is that they will do actions that make women like me feel unwelcome under the pretense of creating an open atmosphere.  it's not really prevalent yet but a small number of instances have happened in a short enough amount of time it's eroding the atmosphere the place has.  the short version is that in a few threads I was trying to assert that woman like me have a right to be fully acknowledged as women regardless of circumstances such as legal identity how long you've been on hormones, or even what popular media will refer to us as.  those threads were locked out saying they were not conductive to an opening and welcoming atmosphere.  yet in another thread some one (actually one of the same admins that locked out one of the threads I just described) felt the need to comment how trans people (male or female) shouldn't' as a community show objection to horribly offensive media like the family guy episode I already waged about.

to break it down with the haven, there not creating an open atmosphere, there slowly building one with a clear message, that women like me aren't welcome, merely tolerated, we don't have a right to feel safe or in any way express ourselves they'll tolerate many sorts of religious or political discussions that don't appear has hostile, but not if it's some one from the TS community saying anything about our identity.  but the highest members of the staff will still go out of there way to tell us we should be quite docile and merely thank them (or texas) for allowing our existence in any capacity.

like I said this is a few instances that happened fairly recently so things aren't that bad all over yet, but it's starting, very clearly.  if I can figure out the right way to bring it up, or if I see it happen one more time I will say something to the other members of the staff on the site but given who has particpated in it I'm guessing that if I do ever bring up this fact I'll be looking for a new home online and offline.

god this really hitting my depression hard.



[update] I checked one of the threads after posting this and it appears that instead of just locking it it's been upgraded to a full on removal,  I'm gone for the weekend and I want to phrase this right but it only stresses the point, ts men and women aren't really welcome, were not to be seen or acknowledged we are less important then the people who come there because there interest in TG is recreational (not the best word I know since it's still a valid form of self expression and I don't agree with the gender roles but I'm at a loss for words for a better on, and at a loss of time and spirit to look up anther right now) .  I hope I can figure a good way to bring it up, it's not easy pointing out when the only safe place you've had for years starts becoming unsafe and unwelcoming.


[update number 2]  ok I'll probably wait till I see something else again, turns out the thread wasn't deleted by the haven staff so there innocent of that  part of the problem.