There are many reasons to feel grateful that I live in the times I live in, but here’s another one. Tom Stoppard has a new play at the National, and although reviews of it have accused it of being all ideas and no feelings, I still want to see it. And because of technology, I can. And that is pretty great.

Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction, that widely-beloved power couple of the comics world, are coming for your televisions. I have just ceased to care about any of the Marvel TV shows, and I’ll be caring about this instead.

In other Matt Fraction-adjacent news, Jeff Lemire and Ramón Pérez are taking over Hawkeye after Fraction and Aja finish their run. Sniffle, sob, but — well okay! Their ideas about the series sound rather cool!

Do y’all know about how crazy I am about family corvidae? In case you are like “what, crows are not that good,” let me go ahead and prove you wrong.

Bahahaha.

You have most likely already forgotten about that dress that was maybe blue and black or maybe white and gold. But cast your mind back to those forgotten days, and then read this piece by Megan Garber about attention policing.

A version of the movie Foxcatcher that I would actually watch.

Y’alllllll, I love Eddie Redmayne, I truly do, but why is he playing a trans lady in The Danish Girl? It’s not that I don’t think he’ll be good. I know he’ll be good; he’s a good actor. But I am so tired of hearing “we cast who was best for the rule” as a defense. You know who else might be good for the role of a trans lady? AN ACTUAL TRANS LADY ACTOR I DUNNO JUST SPITBALLING HERE.

In which Kate Elliott reminds writers not to default to male.

A profession I did not know existed: Recording the dialogue used for crowd scenes in films.

Some of my favorite bloggers are launching the Book Blogger Buddy System, where you can go to acquire a blogging mentor or just ask questions about blogging.

Laura Miller is at Vulture to talk about fanfiction.

Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion are making a short-run show about two guys from a beloved canceled TV show, one of whom becomes Matt Damon famous, and the other of whom spends his life making the rounds at various conventions around the world. They got funded almost immediately because those dudes are the best.

An extremely touching article about finding a fat YA heroine in Eleanor and Park.

Happy Friday!!

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Kate Elliott discusses female friendships on television at The Book Smugglers, and recommends some forthcoming fantasy books, thus lengthening my TBR list for 2015 even further. Seriously, my 2015 list is out of control. I need help.

An article on Pamela Colman Smith, the wonderful artist of the classic Tarot deck. Hers is the only Tarot deck I will condescend to use. Others are beautiful, but Pamela Colman Smith’s has all the symbolism.

Rembert Browne of Grantland and Joel Anderson of BuzzFeed had an excellent conversation in December about the movie Selma and its parallels with protests of today. They have a ton of great things to say about oppression and how it reverberates into today, and in particular about the behavior a historically oppressive group should display to the historically oppressed.

The digital revolution is going to make film preservation a bitch to keep up. New York reports.

Elizabeth Minkel has become one of my favorite writers about fan culture, and here she is at The New Statesman being brilliant about writers and fanfic.

Obviously there are problems here, but this animation of a dad and his five-year-old discussing the Leia slave costume in Star Wars is nevertheless SO CUTE. (I am less sad that she wants to keep wearing this outfit than I am that she plans to be rescued.)

An article about the financial problems of open access journals. Cause really. I work in publishing. It costs money to create these things, and it is uncool to make submitting scholars pay for it. (Or in other words, I don’t know what the answer is.)

Laurie Penny on nerd entitlement.

Here is Nicole Kidman telling Jimmy Fallon a version of a story that he absolutely did not expect. It’s the best.

This is going to have a very niche appeal, but you guys: The Bachelor is back, and I don’t know if I’ve told you, but I am addicted to recaps of The Bachelor. This year (maybe all years! have I been missing out on this all along??), the incomparable Lily Sparks is recapping. I anticipate a glorious season.

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