Step 42: Answer The Ultimate Question Of Life, The Universe, And Everything

If you don't get the reference to this post title, that's okay. I've never actually read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I consider myself to be one of the foremost experts on geek culture.

Shame indeed, Septa Unella.  SHAME INDEED.

The Twitter event #PitchWars is coming up, which is sort of like a pre-published author version of The Hunger Games. Or Battle Royale, if you're an 90's anime weaboo like I am.

If you weren't ~*blessed*~ to grow up with Sailor Moon, I feel sorry for you.

Some writers are pimping out their Author Bios under the cleverly-titled hashtag, #PimpMyBio. So I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring, even though for me writing a personal bio is about as much fun as jerking off using a hedgehog.

On the one hand, ow. On the other hand... I mean, you're still masturbating. /letscallitadraw

Shall we get started?  First and foremost, here's some basic stats.  I am:

• 31 years old but forever 17 in my head
• A cisgendered female
• Happily married to a man but would identify myself somewhere on the queer spectrum
• A San Diego native
• A 2007 alumna of the University of California, San Diego with a B.A. in Visual Arts

I've worked professionally as a freelance illustrator in the comic book industry since 2009, but my real passion has always been in graphic novels (Blankets changed my goddamned life--seriously, go read it right now). My short graphic story, Strawberry Wine, was a winner of TokyoPop's 2008 Rising Stars of Manga contest and was published nationally in their anthology book. The manuscript that I am currently peddling about, Defining Lines, actually started life as a graphic novel, and I would love to revisit the medium one day (time and finances permitting).

And so long as my drawing hand doesn't fail me.

At any rate, this little spiel of mine is starting to sound suspiciously like a query letter, so lets move on to the fun stuff.  In my spare time, I like to:

• Cosplay
• Draw
• Read
• Play video games

Pertaining to that last one, I am an especially avid fan of the Final Fantasy franchise. My all-time favorite game is Final Fantasy X, and I will fight anyone who says Final Fantasy VIII is a shit game and not worth playing.

Take your FFVII superiority complex and shove it.

I also enjoy decorating my Lakeview Manor house in Skyrim with the bones of fallen dragons I have slain:

Unless they slay me first.  It happens.

And to round this post out, I'm going to link to a few random .gifs that are relevant to my interests:

When u sneeze so hard u regenerate

Exhibit A: My first sexual awakening

Real men wear pink.
(Alternate caption: Bye Felicia~)

Data with his emotion chip is just the best I can't even

Welp, that about sums it up!  I hope you enjoyed this little stroll down .gif lane, and I'm looking forward to #PitchWars! May the odds May the Force Live Long and okay whatever good luck everyone!

EDIT:  Most mentees appear to be including some info about their manuscripts along with their bios, so here's mine in a nutshell--

DEFINING LINES is the story of an awkward girl who suddenly becomes popular and--hahaha just kidding, awkward girl stays totally awkward and unexpectedly finds her Prince Princess Charming! YA Contemporary LGBTQ+ Romance with a sprinkling of David Bowie and pop culture, complete at 92,000 words.

Step 21: Accept The Circumstances

There's a reason why I end up watching the same five animes over and over again, and it goes a little something like this:

Me: I wish I could find a series as good as [blank]

Me: *tries watching something similar to [blank]*

Me: ...

Me: Fuck it im just gonna watch [blank]

After binging on Rurouni Kenshin and Ghost in the Shell for the last few weeks, I wanted to shift gears and watch something cute and romantic in the vein of Kareshi Kanojo no Jijō (His and Her Circumstances in North America), or Kare Kano, for short. I started an episode of the highly recommended Clannad, but ultimately decided that it had been far too long since I had revisited Kare Kano and settled with devouring the first 12 episodes last night.

Freckles is arguably the most upbeat anime opening, but Tenshi no Yubikiri sure gives it a run for it's money.

What I love so much about Kare Kano is it's essentially a master class in romantic tension. The story doesn't suddenly stop becoming interesting when the two main characters get together; the tension builds at each new milestone of their relationship, from the moment they hold hands for the first time, to their first kiss, to their first heavy kiss, to the first time Arima Sōichirō touches Miyazawa Yukino's breasts (done extremely tastefully, I might add), to when he finally confesses that he wants to make love to her.

My 18-year old self seriously needed a cigarette after watching Kare Kano.

That's all pretty explicit subject matter for a show aimed at teenage girls, but it's exactly what made it so real to me. I loved Sailor Moon as much as the next 90's tween, but I couldn't identify with shojo magic the same way I could with Kare Kano. It was the series that made me realize that anime absolutely was a valid storytelling platform, as much as any Hollywood movie I saw.

Who knew hand-holding would be such a turn on?

I have bittersweet memories attached to Kare Kano. When I first discovered it in 2003, I was a year into what would turn into a seven-year romance with a former boyfriend, and so much of Kare Kano was relatable in my own relationship. Yukino and Sōichirō got their happy ending in the manga, and I... well, I got my own happy ending, albeit in a different way than I had imagined.  Still, I have photos to remember the good, and whenever I hear the instrumental tune of Yume no Naka E, I'm transported to a moment in time that my aching, cynical heart longs for.

As Yukino's father wisely said, "A day in high school is more precious than a moment in adulthood."

Step 6: Consider The Following

Since I don't have any news to report on the literary front, and since this blog is my own little corner of the web for me to do as I please, I'm going to discuss my feelings on something that has been making the rounds of the internet the last few days. I recognize it's a touchy subject, and as an upper-middle class, heterosexual, cisgendered, white female, I am acutely aware of the fact that my voice will not weigh as heavily as others (which is 100% understandable and totally okay by me).

It has to do with a little movie called Ghost in the Shell.

Motoko Kunasagi or Mary Kemp? You decide.

I'm just going to get this out of the way right off the bat: I don't agree with this casting decision. I've loved Scarlett Johansson ever since I saw her in The Horse Whisperer, but this doesn't have anything to do with her acting abilities. Ghost in the Shell is an established world set in futuristic Japan, and the main character has a name that clearly reflects her ethnicity. I absolutely believe that there is a systematic cycle of whitewashing in Hollywood, and this casting choice just reinforces that fact. An amazing opportunity to cast a minority actress in the lead role has been squandered.

"But Shea!" you might say. "Ghost in the Shell is a work of fiction! She's a cyborg! Maybe she changed her face! Maybe the producers needed a big name attached to the movie to get it funded! Aren't you happy that a beloved manga and anime series is getting a Hollywood adaptation?"

My response to all of the above is: Perhaps. Yes, I'm happy to see that Hollywood is showing interest in some of my favorite stories. Yes, it is a work of fiction, and we've seen a few directors step up to cast actors that go against the established grain, like Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm. But before you unleash your cries of unfairness and double standards, let me just point out that there is no shortage of movies for white actors to star in. All minorities want is their slice of the pie.

...without being the token black guy. There, I said it.

I don't think that's asking for too much. And with Ghost in the Shell, there's an added layer of insult to injury in the fact that Hollywood has backed a movie clearly set in Neo-Japan, but decided that the one thing that would make it better is by casting a white actress in the lead role that was clearly intended to be an Asian character. You know what that's called? Cultural appropriation.

Say it ain't so!

Now, cultural appropriation is a loaded term. There are some instances that are so obvious we as a society have (completely mostly somewhat) eradicated them from our system. Black face is one example, as is wearing a Native American headdress if you haven't touched an enemy in battle.  There are other instances that fall more into a grey area, like caucasians wearing their hair in traditionally black styles; I would love to sport braids, but I have listened to what people of color are saying, and out of respect I have opted not to wear them.

So what about instances where a society encourages other ethnicities to embrace aspects of their culture? Is it still cultural appropriation if someone of said culture says it's okay? I'm not asking this as a rhetorical question--I actually need to know. Because if it isn't, I have a pretty uncomfortable revelation for you: I have cosplayed as Motoko Kunasagi myself.

Dun dun DUN.

In fact, it isn't even the first time I've cosplayed as someone Japanese...

Sakabatō fictionalized for dramatic purposes.

...or changed my skin color to more accurately portray a character...

Does this chainmail make my ass look big?

Granted, Fran from Final Fantasy XII is technically an alien species, but when I put on the makeup for the first time in 2007, admittedly cultural and racial appropriation was not on my mind. It has since been brought to my attention that darkening your skin--even for silly purposes like cosplay--is not kosher in this day and age, and I would hesitate to do it again.

There's obviously a wide gap between cosplay hobbyists and Hollywood, and I never considered attempting to make myself look more Asian anytime I wore a culturally-specific costume, but it's still food for thought. I am an active member of the cosplay community, and the last thing I want to do is trample on other people's feelings in a misguided effort to show my love for a fandom. To that effect, I am still trying to understand the nuances of appropriation within the grander scheme of things, such as casting a Chinese actress in a Japanese role, or a cisgendered actor in a transgendered role. There is something to be said about taking baby steps when it comes to bringing a traditionally closeted subject to the forefront of Hollywood--I am thankful that shows like Ghost in the Shell and Transparent are finally getting the spotlight they so richly deserve--but how long can we give them a pass in favor of exposure before getting to the heart of the matter and pointing out why they are flawed?

The world may never know.