The Tradëscan Codex

Wow, was I gone long?

2008-05-17T18:51:53Z

How long has it been since I've read my flist? Admittedly I'm only on ?skip=300, but the only things which seem familiar are ones I read on a filter.

ETA: ?skip=400. Not the highest ever, but exhausting nonetheless.

X-Thoughts

2008-05-17T01:06:58Z

So I've just read Messiah CompleX. My main thought?

Just this: "Why are the Cuckoos wearing suspenders?" Which, I recognize, isn't a new outfit--it's the variant cover to the first issue of Phoenix: Warsong, which I'm pretty sure I have iconned at some point--but it's the first I really noticed the suspenders.

Although, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've seen the Cuckoos since Warsong? So having a data-point as to what their characterization is like after those events is actually really, really useful. (Apparently they still talk a lot about boys, and now also about how girls are better--which warms any femslasher's heart.) But really--suspenders?

Oh and Layla Miller (Madrox): still awesome.

The Doctor's Daughter

2008-05-11T12:57:14Z

This was very different than I had expected based on the preview, but awesome nonetheless. Of course, it was sort of overdetermined I'd find it awesome, in that "Joss Whedon shares my kinks" sort of way.

Donna was great in this. I loved the perspective she gave, and her squee at Jenny not being caught up in the Doctor's moral superiority. Martha, Donna, and Jenny really all worked off each other really well--it was a fabulous group dynamic.

"Look up genocide in the dictionary and you'll see my picture." Ha. So true.

A human society which reproduced that way, one person as both mother and father, should become predominately female within a few generations, no? Since men could produce both males and females, but women could only produce women. Not to mention the issues of latent recessives, but maybe a genetic screening was a prerequisite for colonization?

Still no definitive canon on whether or not there are looms, but at least the issue of the Doctor's previous family was mentioned.

"She was too much like me." OMG, is that saying what I think it was saying?

I expected a delayed regeneration, like in the movie. I vaguely recognized the breath thing which happened, but can't place it--she obviously didn't regenerate, since she has the same body (not a complaint, as I liked the actor), but does anyone know what did happen?

The theme this year--for a dumbed-down RTD value of "theme" (i.e. basically "mention this sort of thing a whole lot for a while")--definitely seems to be the Doctor being remembered (which admittedly is more themelike than "Bad Wolf" or "Torchwood"). Which is interesting; I wonder where they'll go with that (if anywhere). (Did they mention the bees this ep?)

OMG, the fanfiction which is going to get written.

Mental Health Day

2008-05-11T01:27:03Z

First five comments providing a pairing and a prompt word get drabbles or ficlets.

Not writing about Wittgenstein suddenly feels so good. . . .

This Post Brought to You By Procrastination

2008-05-07T23:52:44Z

I'm so ready for this semester to be over. I just . . . yeah. Over, please. You have no idea how much I want to bang my head against the floor until I am knocked unconscious and they find me passed out in the commuter lounge.

* * *

The "dogpiling" discussions make me laugh. So many interesting and productive conversations as a result of a soi-disant dogpile over whether dogpiles ever result in anything interesting or productive. Erm, case closed?

I mean, really. The Krystalnacht discussion was full of people wondering when it was okay to use historical tragedies and when it wasn't and how we could do it respectfully and whether oversacralizing the Holocaust makes it too easy to believe it can't happen again and there were so many different opinions. I wasn't paying attention to the internets as much during the OSBP because I still had some willpower left then but there were discussions about objectification and enlightenment and good intentions and there were guides how not to objectify and then maybe the guides were objectifying and again, lots of opinions.

So, exactly, where is all this groupthink and quashed dissent that's supposed to be going on? Do people really want to be racist or misogynist or homophobic or anti-Semitic that much?

We're fans. We analyze everything to death; that's what we do. For every two of us there's at least three opinions.

I mean, just looking at a week's worth of metafandom reveals the type of diversity of opinion that I honestly wouldn't know how to find anywhere else. Are people just in a completely different panfandom than I am?

sigh of relief

2008-05-03T01:17:46Z

From the IGN interview with Josh Friedman:

IGN TV: Another thing we wanted to follow up on was your plan to bring Kyle Reese into the show directly into the story. But James Middleton (series consulting producer) convinced you that the idea would just anger the fans of the movies. Can you talk about what the original plan was?

Friedman: The plan never got into a lot of details. I always believed that in some version of the time travel theory I could bring Kyle Reese to the present day from the future and not upset the continuity of the previous movies. I had a whole way it worked in my head and the more I tried to explain it to people, the crazier it sounded.

IGN TV: So you mean Kyle would come back to protect Sarah a different way?

Friedman: Sort of, yeah.

IGN TV: Without having any of the experiences of the first movie?

Friedman: Yes.

IGN TV: Because the future changes, with Judgment Day moving, so Kyle's point of origin would also change?

Friedman: Right. But it becomes confusing when you have certain characters living with that character in a certain way and other characters experiencing them a different way and he's dead in one version of their past, and he's alive in their future…I think it makes sense but it's one of those things where James sat across from me at the table and said "Dude, you've gone down the rabbit hole." People are going to go crazy.

This sounds right to me, which is a relief. I always did believe that the writers of SCC knew it was important to get the temporal mechanics right; let's just hope that Friedman is able to keep enough control of the reins to keep the show from screwing up.

ETA: And now I really need to write Joss/Summer/Josh, don't I? (Or someone could write it for me, and I'd love them forever.)

May Day

2008-05-01T12:06:43Z

Hooray, hooray, it's the first of May!
Outdoor f---ing starts today!

[Anybody have a cite for this ditty? I learned of it from The ILLUMINATUS! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, but it incorporated much outside material and quick Google search seems to confirm that it's older and much more widely known.]

Genre Index: Femslash, Het, & M/M

2008-04-26T20:23:10Z

My remix pushed my Genre Index over the posting limit, so here it is divided into two parts. I left the gen, grön, pre-het, and pre-femslash in the original post. Here we have the trifecta of sex: femslash, het, and m/m.

Gen / Grön / Femslash / Het / Boyslash / Friendship/Pre-femslash / Friendship/Pre-het
Definitions:

Gen: A story not focusing on romantic pairings, and containing no sex. Romantic pairings may appear if they are not the focus of the fic.
Grön: Porny gen. A story which might involve sex, but is not focused on romantic pairings. Thanks to glossing  for the term.
Femslash: A story containing an f/f pairing explicitly established as a romantic couple or who have sex in the course of the story.
Het: A story containing a heterosexual pairing explicitly established as a romantic couple or who have sex in the course of the story.
M/M slash: A story containing an m/m pairing explicitly established as a romantic couple or who have sex in the course of the story.
Friendship: A story focusing on the non-romantic relationship between two characters. Because of subtext, authorial intent is the only real way of distinguishing this genre from the following two. Technically, a subcategory of gen, which is why all my friendship/pre-ship fics can also be found filed under that genre.
Pre-femslash: A story containing an f/f pairing which, while not explicitly established as romantic, can be seen as sexual in nature, particularly if you squint really, really hard.
Pre-het: A story containing a heterosexual pairing which, while not explicitly established as romantic, can be seen as sexual in nature, particularly if you squint really, really hard.

Femslash

Bourne Identity
The State of Nature [Pam/Nikki, R] "Without a legitimate authority of, by, and for the people, we are in the state of nature: alone, able to trust no one."

Watcher!verse
Unfathomable Youth [Lilah/Eve] Eve can't quite be controlled, but it is Lilah's job to try.
Taking Care of Business [Darla/Drusilla, R] Darla and Drusilla deliver a message in the way only vampires can.
Just Skin [Amanda/Vi, Dawn/Faith] Potentials "come together" in times of crisis, but Dawn knows it's just skin.
First Time's Not the End of the World [Amanda/Vi] "So, um, you ever do this before?"
With Love and a Hippo [Faith/Dawn, NC-17] It's time for Dawn to leave for Europe.
Divine Interventions [Ensemble, het, femslash, noncon] Dawn, Ethan, Amy, and Cordelia team up to defeat a resurrected enemy and protect Willow from the disciples of the god Osiris.
After the Ball [Willow/Kennedy, Core Four friendship, PG-13] It's the Slayers' turn to party.
Five Views on Breaking and Entering [Faith/Dawn, Willow/Kennedy, R] Dawn breaks the laws of God and man, amidst Faith, hope, and angst.
Before Thee Let the Unclean Thing Crawl [Amy/Harmony, R] Harmony turns to Amy for sanctuary, but receives a lesson on the true nature of power.
Facing the Shadows [Faith/Kenedy, PG-13] Kennedy returns to Sao Paulo in 2015 with a new lover and a new mission, but that doesn't mean she doesn't still mourn Willow's death.
A Chondrichthyes out of Hydroxylic Acid [Dawn/Saffron, R] Every new experience, no matter how extraordinary, is an opportunity. Crossover with Firefly.
Twenty Facts about St. Clare’s Academy Not Found in the Brochure [Faith/Kennedy, PG] Twenty facts about St. Clare's Academy that aren't found in the admissions brochure. The title says it all, really.
Class Trip [Faith/Kennedy, R] Faith and Kennedy lose their students on a field trip.
Triangle [Amy/Faith, Faith/Dawn, Dawn/Amy, R] Three angles connect three sides; three moments connect three lives.

Misc. Buffy
About Power [Amy/Illyria, R] It's always about power.
Being Called [Vi/Amanda, PG] Vi remembers feeling that power flowing through her for the first time, being a Slayer-in-training no longer and at last becoming a Slayer. A drabble.
The Box of Yfrak [Ensemble, PG-13] Ethan, Illyria, Faith, Angel, and the end of the world, all with a metafictional twist and a side of RPS.
Claiming [Tara/Dawn] Dawn must follow the Slayers into the world of dreams, and Tara is waiting there for her.
The Eyes of Love [Dawn/Amanda, Kit/Carlos, WS] Amanda has difficulty making eye contact.
The Fairest of Them All [Lilah/River, NC-17] Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Crossover with Firefly.
Five Summers That Never Were [Buffy/Cordelia, Buffy/Willow, Buffy/Tara, Buffy/Fred, Buffy/Faith, R] Buffy's summers were never like this.
The Game [Eve/Faith, Eve/Xander, Eve/Dawn, Eve/Giles, R] Eve serially seduces the Scoobies in a sequence of four drabbles.
Homework Helper [Dawn/Fred, mild NWS] It began, innocently enough, with a very frustrated Dawn searching out Fred to help her with her calculus homework.
Hue of Dungeons, School of Night [Dark!Willow/Kennedy, NC-17] Their love is so dystopian.
Incurable [Rupert Giles/Minerva McGonagall/River Tam, Fred/Kaylee, WS] She knows there is only one person who can find, and save, her. Crossover with Firefly and Harry Potter.
Losing Count [Darla/Saffron] Darla has lost count of how many times she has died. Crossover with Firefly.
Mud [Dawn/Faith, PG-13] Faith laughs out loud when Dawn falls face first in the giant pit of mud, and so what can Dawn do but lob some mud back at her? A drabble.
Not With a Bang, But a Whimper [Darla/Buffy, NWS] History of a love that wasn't; moments from ten years of an AU Buffy.
Peace [Kendra/Dawn, G] It wasn't long after the pretty exchange student proved to be a soul-sucking mummy that a new foreigner arrived and disturbed the peace of the Summers household.
Remembering [Illyria/Files&Records, R] There's one person who remembers how great Illyria was.
School of Lost Souls [Fred/River, NC-17] Knowledge without soul can be a dangerous thing. Crossover with Firefly.
Science Lessons [Fred/Giles, Fred/Giles/Faith, NWS] Giles' understanding of science is dismal, and Fred does something about it. With spanking.
Tiens, Voilà Dix Sous, pour la Salle-de-Bains [Buffy/Darla, WS] Taking care of one another is what this world is about.
Training [Buffy/Wes/Faith, NC-17] Buffy and Faith train with Wesley. Smut and drabble, drabble and smut.
Twice Bless'd [Faith/Inara, Faith/Mal, NC-17] It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. In other words, Faith gets sexed up. Crossover with Firefly.
Two Lost Little Girls [Faith/Drusilla, PG-13] Two lost little girls have at last found their way.
Uncaging Monsters [Eve/Nina, R] Eve lets Nina out of her cage.
Where the River Meets the Dawn [River/Dawn, R] Serenity drops out of the heavens onto a Santa Monica beach, and an insane Reader meets a Key. Crossover with Firefly.

Ender's Game
Richard the Third, Act Two, Scene Three, Line Sixteen [Peter/Petra, Valentine/Petra, R] If Valentine had to choose between world peace and her brother, she knew quite well which option she was going to choose.

Firefly
A Chondrichthyes out of Hydroxylic Acid [Dawn/Saffron, R] Every new experience, no matter how extraordinary, is an opportunity. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Dear My Ideal Audience [Joss/River/ wisdomeagle] Joss made River insane. Now she is turning the tables. RPF and metafic, plus slashing the slasher to boot.
Experience [Kaylee/Jane Espenson] Jane knows the complex of eccentricities and plot-devices, but the flesh-and-blood woman in front of her is another thing entirely. Crossover with Jossverse RPF.
The Fairest of Them All [Lilah/River, NC-17] Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Incurable [Rupert Giles/Minerva McGonagall/River Tam, Fred/Kaylee, WS] She knows there is only one person who can find, and save, her. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter.
Losing Count [Darla/Saffron] Darla has lost count of how many times she has died. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
School of Lost Souls [Fred/River, NC-17] Knowledge without soul can be a dangerous thing. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Twice Bless'd [Faith/Inara, Faith/Mal, NC-17] It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. In other words, Faith gets sexed up. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Where the River Meets the Dawn [River/Dawn, R] Serenity drops out of the heavens onto a Santa Monica beach, and an insane Reader meets a Key. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Harry Potter
Incurable [Rupert Giles/Minerva McGonagall/River Tam, Fred/Kaylee, WS] She knows there is only one person who can find, and save, her. Crossover with Firefly and Harry Potter.

Into the Woods
Beauty in the Dark [Cinderella/Witch] Their beauty doesn't matter in the dark.

RPF
Bullshit [Michelle Trachtenberg/Summer Glau, R] "Michelle is on the prowl." "Do you think we should warn Summer?" "No, she's a big girl." (Even as you say it, you know it's bullshit.)
Dear My Ideal Audience [Joss/River/ wisdomeagle  ] Joss made River insane. Now she is turning the tables. Crossover with Firefly.
Experience [Kaylee/Jane Espenson] Jane knows the complex of eccentricities and plot-devices, but the flesh-and-blood woman in front of her is another thing entirely. Crossover with Firefly.
In Soviet Russia, Femslash Writes You [Kristen Bell/Hayden Panettiere] Celebrities roleplaying, in a zoo, as spies.
Sex by Proxy [Kristen Bell/Joss Whedon, Kristen Bell/Tina Majorino, R] Tina isn't going to be on the set that day, so Kristen is going to have to be the one to give Joss Whedon oral sex for her.

Veronica Mars
Chasing after Train Wrecks [Madison/Gia] Madison seems to have picked up Lilly's attraction to train wrecks.
Ghost of a Touch [Veronica/Mac/Lilly, R] Lilly Kane plays matchmaker from beyond the grave.
Towards Zero [Keith/Veronica/Mac, NWS] A story should tell the journey to Zero Hour.

Astonishing X-Men
The Flower Garden (of a Vicious Ice-Cold Bitch) [Kitty Pryde/Emma Frost, PG] There are some things from which one cannot hide, some times when one just has to try anyway, and some people one would never admit one needs.
Imagined Grace [Emma Frost/Kitty Pryde, NC-17] If Emma Frost were the sort of person with qualms about using her telepathic powers, she supposes, she'd view entering Kitty's dreams as some sort of violation.
Sibling Revelries [Celeste/Mindee/Phoebe, NWS] The Three-in-One makes love to itself.

X-Men Movieverse
Black Queen, White Queen [Jean/Emma, Jean/Phoenix] When Jean's powers become erratic after Liberty Island, Xavier calls on an ally for help.
I'm Awfully Fond of You [Bobby/Rogue, Kitty/Mindee, PG-13] Bobby has to choose between Rogue and a rubber ducky. Somehow, he still almost manages to choose wrong. Luckily, Kitty's there to set him straight.
My Girlfriend is a Telepath [Kitty/Mindee, PG] What it's like to be dating one-third of the Three-in-One. Sequel to I'm Awfully Fond of You.

Het

Arcadia
Proof [Thomasina/Septimus] A student and her tutor discuss their relationship.

Watcher!verse
A History of Violence [Spike/Dru, PG-13] Ever wonder what happened to Drusilla while Spike was on that submarine in the "Why We Fight" flashbacks? This is the story that never made it into The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
Divine Interventions [Ensemble, het, femslash, noncon] Dawn, Ethan, Amy, and Cordelia team up to defeat a resurrected enemy and protect Willow from the disciples of the god Osiris.
Sinister Simulacra [Wesley/Fred, PG] Wesley, Fred, and Dawn resolve a dangling plotline.
To Let Oneself Love [Dawn/Giles, PG] Married life is not unlike single life. Drabble.
Mystery [Dawn/Giles, PG] Behold the wood of the cross.
What the Caged Bird Feels [Dawn/Ethan, R] The Watcher's Council has been staying out of Ethan's business for years now. Which is exactly why he has to insert himself into theirs.
Shelter [Faith/Giles, NWS] Frenzy is dangerous when Ethan's magic still hangs in the air, pregnant, and a crash of thunder from the demon storm provides the downbeat for Faith's every thrust.
Feast of All Saints / Feast of All Souls [Dawn/Giles, PG-13] While Madelyn is visiting the States, Giles takes time out to brood. Dawn distracts him.
Bonfire Night [Dawn/Giles, PG-13] Dawn, Giles, and Madelyn celebrate a British festivity together and suffer an attack of British poetry.

Misc. Buffy
Be Kind, Rewind (The Second Ghost Remix) [Lilly & Veronica, PG-13] On the day of the car wash, Lilly found a Veronica who was wiser, wordlier, and wearier. Then, after she died, she found herself. Crossover with Veronica Mars.
Best Friends Forever (Devon Days Remix) [Willow/Xander, PG] There is a wisdom hidden in the innocence of the young.
By Her Side [Buffy/Giles, NWS] Giles takes Buffy to a library to relax. At first, she sees a problem with that sentence.
Cynthia [Giles/OFC, PG] That was another country and besides, the wench is dead.
The Box of Yfrak [Ensemble, PG-13] Ethan, Illyria, Faith, Angel, and the end of the world, all with a metafictional twist and a side of RPS.
The Eyes of Love [Dawn/Amanda, Kit/Carlos, WS] Amanda has difficulty making eye contact.
The Game [Eve/Faith, Eve/Xander, Eve/Dawn, Eve/Giles, R] Eve serially seduces the Scoobies in a sequence of four drabbles.
Into the Darkness [Illyria/Dracula, Pg-13] Dracula shows Illyria how to be feared again.
Jurisdiction [Dawn/Jack, PG] Somebody has to deal with it. Crossover with Torchwood.
Lethe's Blessing [Willow/Giles, implied Giles/Buffy., Giles/Olivia, and Buffy/Angel, R] Some things are better off never having happened.
Little Tiger [Wesley/River, R] It's a very ancient saying, but a true and honest thought, that if you become a teacher, by your pupils you'll be taught. Crossover with Firefly and sequel to Twice Bless'd.
On Her Knees [Wes/Lilah] Lilah tells Wesley what he will do to her at the end of the world.
Science Lessons [Fred/Giles, Fred/Giles/Faith, NWS] Giles' understanding of science is dismal, and Fred does something about it. With spanking.
To Quote Lear [Wesley/Lilah, R] Closets are for secrets.
Torture [Buffy/Angelus, NC-17] Buffy and Angelus in an apocalyptic future. Drabble.
Training [Buffy/Wes/Faith, NC-17] Buffy and Faith train with Wesley. Smut and drabble, drabble and smut.
True Love [Amy, PG] She'll do anything for love. Even sacrifice it.
Twice Bless'd [Faith/Inara, Faith/Mal, NC-17] It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. In other words, Faith gets sexed up. Crossover with Firefly.

Doctor Who / Torchwood
Jurisdiction [Dawn/Jack, PG] Somebody has to deal with it. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Left Behind [Reinette & Lucy Saxon, WS] The women behind the Time Lords, annunciationless.

Ender's Game
Richard the Third, Act Two, Scene Three, Line Sixteen [Peter/Petra, Valentine/Petra, R] If Valentine had to choose between world peace and her brother, she knew quite well which option she was going to choose.
The Whipping Girl [Peter/Val, R] He loves her for her martyrdom.

Firefly
The Adventure of the Stolen Heart [Simon/Kaylee, R] Simon, Kaylee, and River run a mission together. In the midst of crime, they plan for Christmas.
Dear My Ideal Audience [Joss/River/ wisdomeagle ] Joss made River insane. Now she is turning the tables. RPF and metafic, plus slashing the slasher to boot.
Je me souviens [Zoe/Wash, Mal&Kaylee, G] Remembering the beginnings.
Little Tiger [Wesley/River, R] It's a very ancient saying, but a true and honest thought, that if you become a teacher, by your pupils you'll be taught. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and sequel to Twice Bless'd.
Permutations [River, Dawn, brief Simon/Kaylee, PG-13] There are only so many stories.
Sky [Mal/Kaylee, G] Drabble under a green sky.
Twice Bless'd [Faith/Inara, Faith/Mal, NC-17] It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. In other words, Faith gets sexed up. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Tomorrow Will Be Dying [Simon/River, Simon/Kaylee, PG-13] Simon's contacts had given him some information about what River may have been put through, and he had been prepared for the worst. He was ready to see a shell of the sister he had known and loved. What he had not prepared for was to find her really, really hot.
Well-Shagged [Mal/Kaylee, PG-13] Kaylee’s been looking vibrant lately. Drabble.

The 4400
The Hurricane [Maia, Kevin/Tess, PG] The war for the future will be fought in the past, but there's one thing the future hasn't accounted for. And the thing about one thing is, it usually leads to another.

RPF
Sex by Proxy [Kristen Bell/Joss Whedon, Kristen Bell/Tina Majorino, R] Tina isn't going to be on the set that day, so Kristen is going to have to be the one to give Joss Whedon oral sex for her.

Veronica Mars
Towards Zero [Keith/Veronica/Mac, NWS] A story should tell the journey to Zero Hour.

The Woman in White
Disheveled [Anne, R] Anne Catherick's dress is in tatters--and so is her mind.

X-Men Movieverse
Supersupersymmetry [Bobby/Kitty, PG-13] Bobby finds Kitty dressed a little differently.
I'm Awfully Fond of You [Bobby/Rogue, Kitty/Mindee, PG-13] Bobby has to choose between Rogue and a rubber ducky. Somehow, he still almost manages to choose wrong. Luckily, Kitty's there to set him straight.
Indian Summer [Bobby/Rogue, R] "You going to put a shirt on?" Rogue asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
My Girlfriend is a Telepath [Kitty/Mindee, PG] What it's like to be dating one-third of the Three-in-One. Sequel to I'm Awfully Fond of You.

M/M Slash

Misc. Buffy
The Army Chaplain [Mal/Caleb, NWS] The Shepherd is dining on lamb tonight. Crossover with Firefly.
Watcher, Ret. [Xander/Giles/Oz, PG] They are Watchers, retired.

Firefly
The Army Chaplain [Mal/Caleb, NWS] The Shepherd is dining on lamb tonight. Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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VMars: "Be Kind, Rewind (The Second Ghost Remix)" (Lilly & Veronica)

2008-04-26T19:39:46Z

Title: Be Kind, Rewind (The Second Ghost Remix)
Fandom: Veronica Mars (slight BtVS crossover)
Characters: Lilly Kane, Veronica Mars, Meg Manning, Logan Echolls
Spoilers: VMars season 1; oblique spoilers for "Chosen"
Rating: Probably worksafe, I think. Depending.
Summary: On the day of the car wash, Lilly found a Veronica who was wiser, wordlier, and wearier. Then, after she died, she found herself.
A/N: Remix of Be Kind, Rewind by dark_roast.

( Be Kind, Rewind )

Fpreg!

2008-04-23T16:18:43Z

Yesterday I notebooked 10.5 pages of the fpreg fic I told projectjulie about a few weeks ago, mostly while on the train to and from school. It's weird, because the actual events of the pregnancy sort of takes the place of the plot in your typical "character arc happens alongside plot arc" fic, and writing about Kennedy pregnant is very different than writing about her fighting vampires to keep them from getting the Holy McGuffin of Whatever which will do Something or Other and end the world. The story is really just about characters and relationships with the Hellmouth doing little more than making a cameo at the beginning to set things in motion.

And if the pregnancy is the plot, does that mean it has to cover nine months? I don't think so--most likely, I'll have the characters work out the relationship issues among themselves and then fast forward to the birth in some kind of epilogue-coda-ish thing. But really; I'm sailing blind here. It's much easier to know when our heroes have won and the story is finished when the villains are vanquished and the world is saved.

In a way, that's what is causing me so much difficulty with To Love in Hearts, too. I find I'm not really all that interested in deciding whatever the Sisterhood of the Jhe's new plan to end the world really is, wanting much more to focus on the true love story of Faith and Kennedy. I know what the Jhe will do at a critical point, and what the consequences will be, but I'm mostly content having Buffy in Europe fighting the Sisterhood while Faith and Kennedy are in Cleveland. Buffy doesn't have a character arc in this story (and I don't really see anyway to give her one) so there's really no point in dwelling on her actions.

But without the plotty story to structure the romantic one, I find myself flailing somewhat. At times it's a good thing, because it forces me to stretch myself and really think about the character dynamics. But sometimes they just need a little push, and when I find myself bending over backwards to get the Catholic priest in the story to give them that push, well, I don't know what it means.

But I'm having fun writing the fpreg story--which really needs a title--because I find that if I push in the write direction, I can get various things I've thought about the relationships and characters--and new things I'm just learning, despite having written with these characters in this 'verse for the last four or five years--to manifest them in powerful ways, and that's always a good thing.

. . .

Good luck to inlovewithnight on her thesis defense.

More on Endemic White Racism

2008-04-22T15:58:03Z

Remember when Obama claimed that white racism wasn't endemic, and nobody had any idea what he meant, but I was pretty sure I disagreed with him?

Mark Liberman at languagelog takes up the question here, interpreting the comment the same way I did. So apparently I was right to be disappointed.

Remix

2008-04-20T02:43:49Z

So, remixredux08 is live, and I've read the remix that was written for me: Where the River Meets the Dawn (The Strobe Lights and the Disco Remix) is a remix of my River/Dawn femslash_minis piece Where the River Meets the Dawn. There are several significant changes my remixer made to my story.

It fits into, and makes references to, comics canon.
Mal, Zoe, and Jayne are all still alive, so nobody calls Kaylee "Captain."
It's Inara's shuttle, rather than Serenity herself, which crash lands into Earth.
Zoe is among the crew who appears on Earth, and Saffron is not. Mal and Jayne still don't appear in the story (even though in this 'verse it's because they're still on Serenity and not because they're dead).
It extends the story to cover the return of the Serenity crew to their own universe--which means, sadly, that River and Dawn are broken up in it.
It's told from Caridad's POV. (The original alternates between River's and Dawn's.)

That last bullet point is certainly the most interesting--it makes the story down to earth in a way my original really isn't. There's a lot of little details that Caridad notices and associations that she makes, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot, so that it gives the story a fascinating texture, where she's much more interested in all of that than in the soi-disant main action.

. . .

Anyone who guesses which remix I wrote gets a ficlet. Comments are screened.

The Meta/Ethics of Radical Feminism, Not by Mary Daly

2008-04-17T23:18:12Z

In the comments of hannahrorlove's post attacking slash goggles, peasant_ and I somehow found ourselves in a conversation about the metaethics of radical feminism. Specifically, she asked:

If you reject relativism as uncomfortable, and you reject an exploration of belief formation as uninteresting, what has led you to believe in the near-universal radical nature of the problem?

It's true to say that I'm a radical feminist (insofar as I am one), as a result of certain important influences in my youth and childhood, in particular the influence of my mother, one of my high school English teachers, etc. (Mostly my mother.) This is true, but uninteresting. As a philosophically-interested human being, I don't just hold certain beliefs but also justify them to myself. These justifications are, of course, also causally determined and could be, if one were interested in doing so, explained in purely material terms. But I can't think of myself merely as a belief box (anybody have a cite for this concept?) into which random beliefs were merely shoved by nature, and I don't really think anybody could.

Mary Daly, in her book Gyn/Ecology, which is actually subtitled The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (and how disturbing is it that my copy--which is really my mother's old copy, has a huge picture of an axe on the cover?), which has been the deepest and most direct radical feminist influence on me in my adolescence and throughout my life, seems to avoid the question somewhat:

I would say that radical feminist metaethics is of a deeper intuitive type than "ethics." The latter, generally written from one of several (but basically the same) patriarchal perspectives, works out of hidden agendas concealed in the texture of language, buried in mythic reversals which control "logic" most powerfullly because unacknowledged.

[. . .]

There are, of course, male-authored, male-identified works which purport to deal with "metaethics." In relation to these, gynography is meta-metaethical. For while male metaethics claims to be "the study of ethical theories, as distinguished from the study of moral and ethical conduct itself," [she cites Titus and Keaton's Ethics for Today here as the source of the quote] it remains essentially male-authored and male-identified theory about theory. Moreover, it is only theory about "ethical theories"--an enterprise which promises boundless boringness. In contrast to this, Gyn/Ecology is hardly "metaethical" in the sense of masturbatory meditations by ethicists upon their own emissions. Rather, we recognize that the essential omissions if these emissions is of our own life/freedom. In the name of our life/freedom, feminist metaethics O-mits seminal omissions. (12-13)

There is much to love in these passages (remind me to re-read the entire book over the summer). But this still leaves open the question: where do radical feminist ethics come from? (Daly's next paragraph implies the answer might be the goddess Metis.)

A certain amount of philosophical pragmatism, a la Richard Rorty, enters into the discussion for me at this point. I think I've indicated before that I'm not sure what it would mean to assert that "the nature of the problem is radical and near universal" as some type of meaningful, propositional claim. How would one go about falsifying such a claim?

What I would argue is that the claim does not and cannot have a truth value. Instead, it is useful to conceive of the problem as being radical and near universal, while making no ontological claim--because pragmatism in general eschews ontology.

The questions raised by this answer are obvious: useful to whom? and according to what standard of usefulness? I don't see anything obviously wrong in ethicizing epistemology and metaphysics (well, I could see someone arguing it was contradictory to the self-evident nature of truth, but that's rather begging the question) (and theology goes here as well; this was an important point as I working on feminist meta/theology in undergrad), but certainly we need to have some account of feminist ethics in place?

I can see three possible responses (and this part of the discussion is familiar to me, because I explained this part point-to-point to my London roommate in a hostel bar in Austria in 2004). The first is existential commitment, which is basically to refuse to answer the question. Now there are some things that existential commitment is good for, not least of all acting as a stopgap explanation as one works out a more detailed metaethic. "This is where I stand; I can do no other" is a principled position I can respect, but it ideally shouldn't take the place of critical dialectic and self-exploration.

Now obviously someone working from a position of existential commitment can make normative claims; there's nothing stopping them, after all. But they can't quite give an account of why other people should take them seriously, so they're only useful in modifying the behavior of other people who share those commitments. This strikes me as a rather weak and silly sort of radical feminism (but perhaps describes the traditional, "real" radfeminists of the 70s quite well!).

The second option would be some sort of foundationalism. But as you note, foundationalism isn't really compatible with the core premise of radical feminism, that systemic injustice runs all the way down. (Although nowadays I would probably want to hedge on it a little and say something like it might run all the way down, and if it doesn't it still runs down pretty darn deep.) To locate supposedly "feminist" ethics in reason, language, or culture would be to merely reinscribe masculinist domination.

When I was in undergrad, it seemed to me the process was simple: you let feminist ethicists do their thing, and then we feminist metaphysicians and theologians would apply the results to metaphysics, epistemology, and theology. (Aesthetics always seemed to fit very uncomfortably into this system.) The idea of deriving ethics from religion still sort of gives me hives, but it's obvious that the system as I was thinking of it just isn't tenable: it throws way too much burden on the feminist ethicists. Standpoint theory has too many implicit metaphysical and epistemological assumptions to be able to do what it does and be logically prior to those disciplines. Appointing ethics as queen of the science isn't ultimately a meaningful change, any more than demoting metaphysics and putting epistemology in its place, or doing the same with philosophy of language, had been. As long as the sciences have a queen, we have a problem.

Ultimately, then, I think the only workable option is a dialectical one. Reason (and I'll use that as a lump term for metaphysics/epistemology/theology) and ethics always have to be in dialectic to each other, with neither (or, in another sense, both) being logically prior to the other. (So, gritting my teeth, I have to accept that it is sometimes acceptable to turn to Scripture in order to learn about ethics--but this turn to Scripture will always-already be informed by a certain ethicism.) The limits of liberal democratism are built into itself and reveal themselves in history, so that there is a sort of imperative built within reason, language, and culture themselves for it to progress into radical feminism.

Blessed by the ILL Gods: Teen Edition

2008-04-12T03:37:21Z

The local public library called. My ILL order is in. Based on what I've recently ordered, it's either

or

. Either way, exciting!

Meme Repeat

2008-04-11T21:07:47Z

A-- go to my fic and pick out a line or two from one of my stories.
B-- I will respond with which story I think it's from.
C-- I'll write a scene of at least 100 words for anyone who stumps me.

LJ-versary

2008-04-11T03:28:00Z

This journal is three years old today.

To say the same thing in slightly different words, three years ago today, I created this journal. Before I go on, let me recognize that this journal would be nothing without the people reading it. You all read it for slightly different purposes; some people are here for the fic, some for the meta. Some have know me offline and God bless you for scrolling through all the fannish content.

Let's trace the history:

YEAR MINUS ONE: Alixtii O'Krul, a junior in college, posts his first fanfic at Fanfiction.net: the first scene of Windows of My Soul. Other works follow.

YEAR ZERO: At some point--and I'm not sure if this was in Year Zero or Year Minus One, Alixtii begins to read around LiveJournal, following favorite FF.net authors like likeadeuce and hjcallipygian. Using hjcallipygian's flist--including the su_herald--as his own and his base of operations, he reads fic and follows meta discussions, leaving signed anonymous comments all over the place, so that people come to recognize him. wisdomeagle, who is not on hjcallipygian's flist, gets bookmarked as a regular reading stop as well.

Alixtii travels to London, where his following LJ is reduced to the time in the FSU center's computer lab. He still manages to learn about the death of Andrea Dworkin and mourn her on LJ. Derrida dies too, but I don't remember anything LJ-related.

YEAR ONE: Back in the states, Alixtii figures out how to set up a free account and feels stupid that he didn't figure it out sooner. He friends his favorite writers, many of whom friend him back immediately. He posts, backdated, his already-written fic. He posts his first meta post (note the condescending tone--although, honestly, it's probably open to argument whether I've actually changed any) and, true to form, mentions Wittgenstein. (This would be taking place during my first introduction to Wittgenstein, in undergrad.) buffyverse1000 is still going relatively strong. He posts his first challenge fic, to wisdomeagle's Serenity community 20weeks.

In his second meta post, he describes himself as such:

As for myself, I am a Buffy/Angel (or Firefly/Serenity or West Wing or Star Trek or whatever) fan first, a het writer who dabbles with femslash second, and invested in specific ships in a strictly tertiary capacity. I'm also a proud member of the canon bordello, so maybe I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was that so many of my stories are actually gen.

[Three years later, in the present, he will re-read this post and shake his head not only at the shift in his loyalties, but even more so at the oh-so-gendered fanboy behavior and commitments.]

He posts his first ficathon fic. femslash_minis starts up, altering his loyalties as a fic writer forever.

Three months into the existence of the journal, and well after he's been making his presence known in LJ for an even longer time, wisdomeagle figures out he's a boy.

The novella Divine Interventions is completed and posted over the summer. It is 30,000 and is the longest thing he has written to date. (One day, I promise!) He creates the Mal/Kaylee community iluvmycaptain and goes on to be the most absent mod ever. He works on his honors thesis (which can be found here iff I have you friended).

YEAR TWO: Alixtii graduates from college. He writes more fic. He picks up more fandoms.

YEAR THREE: Alixtii is baptized. As a Christian, he goes on to explain why the Bible says incest fic is okay.

OTW is founded. ~~Strikethrough2007~~ happens. Alixtii organizes the Cross-Gen/Incest Porn Battle! and the (first annual?) 'Cest-a-thon!.

YEAR FOUR: Alixtii makes a long boring post summing up the history of his LJ ending in a self-referential sentence.

Gakked from Ari

2008-04-07T16:21:10Z

Name a fandom and I'll provide ~~five~~ reasons why the character I have a crush on/find attractive in that fandom would be a bad boyfriend or girlfriend in real life.

That sounds a lot of fun. For bigger fandoms (Buffy/Angel or Who/Torchwood/SJA), feel free to restrict it in some way (e.g. "vampires" or "Slayers")--if there's no one I fancy within that class, I'll just say so.

The Squad

2008-04-05T14:26:10Z

On the basis of fox1013's recs here and here, I ILL'd Jennifer Lynn Barnes' The Squad: Perfect Cover. It came in yesterday (which is a lot sooner than I had expected) and I read it during the train ride to school and while waiting in the station for the train home (where I finished it and thus resumed listening to The Silver Chair on my train ride home).

And, yeah, I enjoyed it quite a bit. *puts in an ILL request for The Squad: Killer Spirit*

The contents are what you would expect in a young adult novel about cheerleading spies: enough homosociality to power a small lesbian separatist commune, a healthy helping of high-school teenaged angst *glances at Spiderman <3's Mary-Jane and Supergirl and New X-Men on comics shelf*, and will-to-powery plots. Indeed, to my delight the book takes the spy plot much more seriously than I expected, capturing a tone more reminiscient of La Femme Nikita than of D.E.B.S. (Not that I don't love the latter movie with all my passion, but it relies so heavily on its visual aesthetic I don't see how it could possibly translate to book form. Fanfic is another story.) It plays it straight in a way which I really liked.

There's even a brother, although he's not quite as 'cestastic as he should be (although I did enjoy his squee at seeing his sister in cheer shorts) and, frankly, I don't quite buy him as a complete human being. Which could go for a number of the characters in the book, but in general the point of the book is that the cheerleaders act like cardboard cutouts while actually having unexpected depths, and Barnes' nicely foreshadows where those depths might lie in a couple of places, and I'm interested in learning more. Whereas the brother is the protagonist's frakking brother; his sister should be aware of his depths beyond "horny heterosexual teenage male" since, you know, she's known him his entire life.

At the same time, there's an emotional realism and down-to-Earth-ness to the characterizations, rooted as much in feelings of pain, frustration, and alienation as optimism and pep, which is refreshing. Insofar as it goes easy on the camp, it actually works that much better as a wish-fulfillment fantasy, because one can actually see oneself as the protagonist. It's more realistic than D.E.B.S. while still being more will-to-powery than Bring It On, which is really a totally awesome place to be.

It might just be me and my particular privilege, but I've always seen D.E.B.S. less as a movie about a lesbian romance than as a a quite brilliant deconstruction of a certain type of pseudolesbian mythology. In its way, The Squad is much less radical/postmodern in its method but just as important for its liberal/modernist move: while the former work of art interrogates the het male gaze (and its relation to the queer female gaze), The Squad sidelines it altogether (mostly anthropomorphized in the supposedly-laughably-pathetic portrayal of the brother, see above). Fashion and cosmetics and clothing--yes, including the skirt--are thus, I think, more forceably reclaimed as nexuses of female power. Part of this is the medium: there's a process of objectification inherent in film which can be avoided in the novel. When the Squad equips the protagonist with the necessary equipment and knowledge to seduce a man, it's clear that she's doing so as an agent in her own right and not as a het male (or even queer female) fantasy, a fact which the first-person narration emphasizes. Rather than destabilizing a narrative, it provides a new one--something that the young readers who would make up The Squad's primary readership need desperately in our world.

This is not, of course, to say that this alternative narrative is not unproblematic from a radical feminist perspective--what isn't? Like in both Bring It On and D.E.B.S., the female homosocial community is empowering but at the same time embedded in the larger structures of male power. All three texts problematize this embeddedness, but in different ways and to different degrees. Bring It On, I think, mostly leaves it intact, as the characters settle into heteronormative relationships and remain within the sphere of the socially-sanctioned sport. D.E.B.S. recognizes the way in which the queer relationship is unsustainable within that structure and requires an exiting from it. I don't want to spoil the book (I'm assuming you've already seen the movies--if not, go do so), but The Squad does make moves in places to problematize the legitmacy of the specific male power structure which is making use of the female labor--in particular in one specific (spoilerish) way that I expect will be taken up in books to come.

And The Squad never glorifies the situation or pretends it is ideal. Some of the girls manifest their "cheerleaderiness" as an authentic aspect of their femininity--and part of the protagonist's journey is coming to terms with the conclusion that that's okay. But for others that is not the case, and each girl gets her own unique (well, the twins share one) path and history which, while filtered through the somewhat opinionated perspective of the protagonist, is ultimately treated with sympathy. There is no wrong way to be a female, but there is a sense of loss in the idea of a society that won't let girls play with lightsabers.

The premise of the book is based on the assumption that cheerleaders are never taken seriously and thus make the ideal covert operatives, but this isn't painted as just or fair. The novel recognizes the pressures a young woman feels to conform, to be pretty, to not be too smart, to be an object, and it shows a group of women subverting those expectations, but without ever justifying them. Instead, it simply takes the assumption that we live in a frelled-up world and women simply have to live in it as best they can (perhaps while doing their best to change it). In the very process of working to preserve patriarchal society, the Squad by its nature reveals the sexism inherent within it.

Quarterly Fic Report: Winter 2008

2008-04-03T03:35:04Z

January

Claiming
Buffy, Tara/Dawn, PG-13. After "Chosen," Dawn must follow the Slayers into the world of dreams, and Tara is waiting for her.

Towards Zero
VMars, Keith/Veronica/Mac, NWS. A story should tell the journey to Zero Hour.

WGA vs. Zombies
Jossverse RPF, Joss & Summer, WS. You can't stop the signal. Not even with a devastation of zombies. Or, the one where Joss Whedon finally manages to get into Summer's hotel room, but ends up not having sex with her anyway.

Homework Helper
Buffy, Fred/Dawn, NWS. It began, innocent;y enough, with a very frustrated Dawn searching out Fred to help her with her calculus homework.

February

The Eyes of Love
Buffy, Amanda/Dawn, Kit/Carlos, WS. Amanda has difficulty making eye contact.

By Her Side
Buffy, Buffy/Giles, NWS. Giles takes Buffy to a library to relax. At first, she sees something wrong with that sentence, but is persauded otherwise.

Le Retour à la Mère
The Parent Trap, Hallie/Annie, NWS. Hallie has no intention of sleeping in a different bed than her sister.

Sibling Revelries
X-Men comicsverse, Celeste/Mindee/Phoebe, NWS. The Three-in-One makes love to itself.

March

Shelter
Buffy, Faith/Giles, NWS. Frenzy is dangerous when Ethan's magic still hangs in the air, pregnant, and a crash of thunder from the demon storm provides the downbeat for Faith's every thrust

Tiens, Voilà Dix Sous, pour la Salle-de-Bains
Buffy, Buffy/Darla, WS. S6 AU. Taking care of each other is what this world is about.

Left Behind
Doctor Who, Reinette & Lucy Saxon, WS. The women behind the Time Lords, annunciationless.

Requiem for the Denouement

2008-03-30T05:45:19Z

Since we're all (well, most) writers here, I'm assuming we're all familiar with at least the basic idea behind the following chart:

A little googling informs this diagram is actually known as Freytag's triangle, after some guy named--wait for it--Gustav Freytag. (Who knew?)

Now, even in Greek and Elizabethan drama the denouement and conclusion put together add up to less stage time than the rising action (during which one sends one's heroes up a tree and throws stones at them, the old writer's adage goes), so that in Shakespeare it usually shows up late in Act Three, and in a Victorian three-act play it's late in Act Two. But the impulse in modern storytelling has been to abbreviate the denouement. And, you know, I'm down with that. When I'm watching Return of the King and the denoument kind of drags on, I get antsy along with everybody else.

But in some forms of storytelling--most noticeably movies and Marion Zimmer Bradley novels--the denoument has all but disappeared. And this makes me sad because, you know, I like denouements.

A denouement is, essentially, curtain!fic. (In case you're not familiar with the term, this is fanfiction in which a happy couple is shown being happy, doing something cheerfully domestic like picking out curtains.) It's the mostly inevitable consequences of the climax (if they're not mostly inevitable we haven't truly hit the climax) working themselves out, so if the story has a happy ending, this is where the characters get to be happy. Cinderella wins over the prince, so there's a big wedding and the wicked stepsisters get their eyes poked out. Only . . . compare the amount of time the wedding gets in the Disney movie to the original text version (most any version, but I'm thinking of the French one).

The denouement is the part which is almost certainly guaranteed to start me bawling. I think I get jealous.

What separates a denouement from curtain!fic is that a denouement is earned in a way that curtain!fic isn't. In a sense, all of that rising action is there in order to earn its denouement--so when we see our heroes buying curtains, it's a reward, because we know all the stuff that had to be gone through to get there. And insofar as curtain!fic works as a fanfiction genre (and I do think it can work) it's because we have all the rising action of the source text in the back of our minds when we read it.

Insofar as curtain!fic doesn't work, though (and let's face it, it's not an uncommon occurrence), it's because the lack of conflict and rising action just renders the entire piece boring, pointless, and uninteresting. So one has to strike a balance. And the balance that might have worked for Greek or Elizabethan (or Roman or Jacobite or Persian or whatever) drama might not work for contemporary Western audiences or readers. So when I write, I try to strike that balance. Movies in particular need short denouements (see the RotK comment above), so in my only original screenplay, which bends genres far too much to ever be produced but of which I am nonetheless quite proud (if frustrated at how it won't let me turn it into a novel) the denouement takes up a couple of pages, max.

But there are movies that literally have the climax (our heroes win!), maybe one or two reaction shots, and roll the credits. If the romantic subplot, the hero kisses the heroine and she doesn't seem to slap him afterwards (but the camera cuts away before we get to see afterwards anyway). Indeed, this seems to happen so often today in film it's become the rule rather than the exception. I sit excitedly on the edge of my seat for two hours waiting excitedly as the tension builds--only to find I end up with about twenty seconds of pay-off if I'm lucky. This is my most common criticism of the films I see.

Book readers are, I think, more willing to enjoy a longer denouement, which is why the Return of the King ending works better in its original form than on the screen. Readers are more willing to sit around with the characters and watch them work out the consequences of the climax then moviegoers, so in my BtVS novella Divine Interventions the climax comes at the end of Chapter Fourteen--and then Chapter Fifteen addresses the fallout of that climax in plot-oriented terms (what do we do with the captured bad guys?) and Chapter Sixteen more in character-oriented terms (I've just saved the world, now walk through my existential crisis). And there's an epilogue, which sort of looks to the future of that 'verse. I'm very satisfied with the job of pacing I've done in that work.

[There is something to be said about Harry Potter and its epilogue here, but I just finished the Half-Blood Prince audiobook after having only read the first book and watched all the movies up to this point, so I'm not exactly qualified to say it. But HBP did have several chapters of denouement--"The Pheonix Lament" and "The White Tomb," and arguably "The Flight of the Prince" as well--that I expect to largely be cut from the movie.] [Also, I've just discovered hbpspork. Hee!]

But because books are more likely to have, if not as lengthy denouement as I'd like, at least one which has some substance, I end up particularly frustrated with the MZB-type book endings I mentioned above. I think these are still the exception, but because my expectation is that the payoff will be there it's all the more disappointing when it isn't. (And you'd think I'd have have figured out by now that MZB consistently does this, but even when I re-read her books I just get disappointed all over again.)

It comes down to, if I've spent ninety minutes or two hundred something pages watching these characters suffer and remained interested, become invested in them, is it really too much to ask to have more than a couple of pages or a few reaction shots of them being happy?

I'd find it likely that other fanfic readers might, like me, prefer longer denouements, although honestly I find it difficult to see how anyone at all can find the "rising action then cut to credits" type structure in any way satisfying. But I think my curtain!fic comments above point to the fact that one of the things fanfic does--not the only thing by any means, of course, but I do think one of the primary things--is to extend and draw out the denouements we get in the source text, and put some meat on their bones when they're looking anemic. (I think I may have just mixed a metaphor?) We'll insert our own conflict and rising action, of course, at least in plotty fics, but I think that tends to be less the point of it, and as readers we're more likely to let a fic sort of ramble on, because we love the characters and more than anything else just want to watch them existing in their native habitat.

Which means maybe I shouldn't have cut Divine Interventions quite so short. Hmm. Food for thought. . . .

Nota Bene

2008-03-27T19:13:09Z

Pointing out someone (individual or group) is acting entitled is not a reasonable criticism.

To make a reasonable criticism, one must demonstrate they're not actually entitled to act that way.

A step discussions of soi-disant "entitlement cultures" (whether in fandom or the United States or planet Earth or the 21st century or wherever) seldom take.

Credo, ergo Sum: What I Call Radical Feminism

2008-03-26T11:40:06Z

Liberal feminism provides for us a measure of just how far we have come.

Radical feminism provides for us a measure of just how far we have left to go.

Both measures are equally important, and losing track of either can be dangerous.

I do believe:

That racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, etc. are systemic, subtly and ubiquitously embedded in our society in places both obvious and invisible, and about as deeply as one can get, in our language(s) (and in our unconsciouses which are structured like a language), in a superstructure which I alternately may call "patriarchy" or "systemic injustice." Remember the word radical comes from a word meaning "root": systemic injustice infects society at its very foundations.
Thus, that most if not all economies, governments, cultural forms, languages, etc. do in some way flow from this patriarchal root.
That racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and many but possibly not all other forms of systemic injustice are, if not quite equiprimordial, at least so deeply interconnected that it's never quite clear where one starts and the others end. This is a change in position from my teens when I saw all other forms of injustice as symptoms of sexism in a very second-wave sort of way.
As a corollary, that it is extremely unlikely that racism could exist in a truly non-sexist society (since there is a sense in which racism is always-already inherently misogynistic), and vice versa. It's even harder to imagine sexism existing in a non-heterosexist society or vice versa. This doesn't mean that once we stop sexism, racism will magically fix itself so much as that we won't be able to stop sexism until we've cleaned up our act on race issues as well. On the same pattern, stopping sexism won't heal the ozone layer, but I have no doubt that the anti-environmentalist urge which impels us to harm the Earth in first place is linked in some way to and motivated by misogyny.
That the various brands of privilege--white privilege, male privilege, heterosexual privilege, cisgendered privilege, etc.--exist even as they are so often invisible and taken for granted.
That while men are the beneficiaries of male privilege and have certain responsibilities as a result of that, they cannot be "blamed" for patriarchy in any unproblematic way. Indeed, that the urge to blame is itself a patriarchal logic.
That talk of reverse sexism or other "reverse discriminations" ignores the systemic character of real sexism, racism, etc.
That male and female are not essential categories but instead the complex interaction of self-identification, behavior, and social interpellation; that the division into male and female is ultimately the result of patriarchal logics.
That traditionally female values, behaviors, and spheres have been artificially devalued by systemic injustice and need to be reclaimed.
That being anti-sex (and this includes the passive-agressive "sacralization" of sexuality sometimes found in some religious traditions) is always-already being anti-female and misogynistic.
That pornography and sex work, while prone to abuse, are not inherently evil, and to view them as such can be misogynistic.
That there are radically liberatory possibilities in female writing and female pleasure. (Cf. pretty much any French feminist.)
That there is value in female safe spaces.
That in a fallen world "pretty good" sometimes has to be good enough; heterosexual sex (or, for that matter, homosexual sex) as practiced by most couples may not be immune to patriarchy or be radically egalitarian and consensual but that's hardly a reason to abstain so long as one is giving it the college try. That even problematic instances of autonomy must be encouraged and celebrated from within the patriarchy, and that to erase this trace of autonomy is to be cooperative with the patriarchal logic.
That one must use the master's tools to take down the master's house; i.e. patriarchy can only be dismantled from within, and it is possible to use its structures (e.g., "Christianity" or "the romantic comedy genre") against it. This will always necessarily require temporary compromises and cooptations, but can result in demonstrable improvements in both the short- and long-term (at least using the liberal feminist measuring stick). But there is no other choice: il n'y a pas de hors-texte.
That government legislation is a sometimes necessary but rarely if ever sufficient remedy to systemic injustice.
That the works of mercy needed to improve the lives of women under patriarchy are important as well as the social action needed to end it. (Cf."the two feet of justice" in Catholic social teaching.)
Silencing the voices of women and other members of other oppressed groups is never a good thing.

I have, in the past, referred to this complex of positions as "radical feminism," and may well do so again in the future.

The following positions are not ones that I particularly associate with radical feminism, not even my own unique brand of such, but which I think are compatible with it and good to hold in general:

That dissent, discussion, and dialectic are healthy. Many objections are not stupid and showing that one can respond to them can be a powerful persuasive tool.
Not getting things completely wrong is almost always a useful and valuable endeavor.

Also, I like slash.

Question

2008-03-26T04:35:47Z

Does anyone have a copy of the now-deleted comment in which Dissenter lists the tenets of what she claims to be radical feminism?

Anybody who has no idea what I'm talking about, Goddess bless you and count yourselves lucky.

Easter Sunday

2008-03-24T03:07:49Z

The ficlet: Eastertide.

Services today mostly just reminded me how socially awkward I am. Through a series of miscommunications I ended up ushering the left side of the congregation instead of the right, and I spent the entire time I was supposed to be helping old women down the steps dreading the inevitable moment when I would have make eye contact with a certain college sophomore. I didn't even try to speak when she said hi; I learned from the last time when I only managed to sort of squeak out her name.

Alleluia.

Holy Saturday

2008-03-23T13:19:42Z

Okay, it's not actually Holy Saturday anymore (The Lord is risen! Allelulia!), but here's the Holy Saturday ficlet: Road to Emmaus. I'll post the Easter ficlet sometime later in the day, after I've gone to church and then out to breakfast with my father's side of the family, but hopefully before Easter dinner with my mother's side.

I did manage to watch Jesus Christ Superstar yesterday--alone, in my room as I cleaned. Then I watched the newer British version with my mom (and my brother was on the couch too, on my mom's laptop, so he was sort of watching), but we only got through about half of "Gethsemane" when we had to go eat dinner, and then we didn't have time to finish it afterwards.