Renay and I make it to the second season of Xena in our Adventures in Xena with “Orphan of War.”
Links
Come May, Walgreens will sell a Wonder Woman-themed beauty collection. I’ll need several Strawberry Empower-mint lip balms, please.
I’m familiar with how, during World War II, women were valorized for taking on masculine roles but punished once the “real men” returned to civilian life, but I had no idea there was a similar thing happening with gay men—accepted during wartime, rejected during peacetime.
The LEGO Batman Movie teasers continue with a beautiful gag about Bruce’s parents. Slapstick is so beautiful.
Cosplayer Ms. Victory made a fantastic lady Finn, and then John Boyega retweeted his approval, causing us all to melt down.
Anne Helen Petersen on Ben Affleck’s star image and self-conscious discomfort with class. This is a knockout.
In the wake of Thomas Sayers Ellis’ quiet removal from the Iowa Writers Workshop, Jia Tolentino wonders, “Is This the End of the Era of the Important, Inappropriate Literary Man?”
Rob Bricken begins his “Batman V Superman: Spoiler FAQ of Justice” by christening the DCCU “Zack Snyder’s DC Cinematic Murderverse.” It only gets better from there.
MAC Cosmetics will be celebrating Star Trek’s fiftieth anniversary with a Star Trek collection next September, so I will have no money next September.
There are two actual petitions to remove Zack Snyder from the DC Cinematic Murderverse. I love the Internet.
One of the latest trends in Silicon Valley? Intermittent fasting. I’m fascinated, because this also kind of reminds me of Nellie Bowles’ point about how Silicon Valley food innovation is largely just making feminine-coded products appealing to male audiences.
Maisie Williams has been cast as Wolfsbane in the New Mutants movie, a film on which I feel like Jay and Miles should be consultants.
At The Guardian, the history of Ugg boots and their everlasting appeal.
The 2015 James Tiptree, Jr. Awards have been announced!
Acquisitions
Books
Purchased: None
Added: Help Us, Great Warrior! by Madeline Flores (via tumblr),
Films
Purchased: None
Added: God Particle (see above)
The Literary Omnivore 
That Lego Batman trailer was great. I finally watched the Lego Movie this past weekend and it was pure crackfic.
It is so much fun! I may need to rewatch it, because I find myself rewatching the scene where Batman nearly ditches everybody for the Millennium Falcon A LOT.
That Ben Affleck article was so g.d. good. She always does this, but Anne Helen Peterson again made such amazingly great points and was so thoughtful and interesting about the way narratives are constructed.
Hadn’t heard of The God Particle but I love it. Is Gugu Mbathu-Raw’s star finally on the rise in the way that I want for her? I think she is sooooo beautiful and talented, I want her to be in everything and win 1000 Oscars and wear dresses on red carpets.
SHE IS THE BEST. I know some people are a little discomfited that she’s tackling active celebrities (instead of dead ones), but that makes her work all the more valuable.
SHE IS A STAR. I think she was being considered for a Star Wars role at one point, and I was like “so she’s QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE?” because she’s so great.