| I don't know why some commenters would say my first entry was "overwhelmingly negative", or that it seemed like I didn't enjoy episode 101 - chicks are hot, and WC totally delivers the eye candy. In 102, it was wall to wall foxes, we only had to look at that one old hag for like 2 seconds :-D
Am I not allowed to feel good about that?
I was kind of worried the lesbian was going to be all intrusive in this episode. I realize that the pilot has to set up the premise and all that, but episode two should really be dedicated to getting to know the characters better, and it would have sucked if the lesbian and the wife had to be shoehorned in so we got less dialog from Neal, Peter and Mozzie. In the end, I liked the way they used them. Sports bra and bare midriff, hello! She can wrestle me to the ground anytime ;-)
And it was good character development for Neal. It really showed his confidence, and the way he's fitting into the team when he put her in her place by winding her around his finger, when she gave him attitude for not remembering her from the airport. Girls just can't resist compliments on their looks from a real man. It was really funny the way he didn't remember her again at the party, and she was all smirking at him. Ha, the joke's on you, lesbian! Like you matter enough to pay attention to and remember.
And they used the wife okay too. Peter was so nice to pretend to like that stupid watch she gave him. Like he doesn't know for himself which watch he wants to wear! And she was just so in his face about the party planning, being all "I'm a professional and you're not!" Neal rocks for standing up for Peter, so he didn't lose face to his wife because it wasn't him who came up with the venue. And in the end, she admitted she was wrong to impose her taste in watches on him, so that was nice. And it just goes to show, Peter is a good husband, and he's a good agent because he knows how to use the contacts he has, even if one of them is his wife.
Anyway, another great episode! I really liked it, and I look forward to next week's. Hopefully we'll see some more of Mozzie and Jones, because I don't like the way they're so back-grounded to Neal and Peter. It's like they're just there to show Neal-the-con who has a friend who is a con, and Peter-the-fed who has an underling who is a fed. But I bet they have some interesting stories of their own, and I'd like to see Mozzie and Jones do their jobs, or during their free time in a storyline of their own.
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| ![[info - personal]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) schmevil was saying how remixing and plagiarizing are not at all the same thing, and that "in a fannish context, there can only good flows from being remixed. It's possible to compare unfavourably with the new, transformative work, but it's still going to drive new readers your way."
We got to talking about what a shame it is that people feel this social pressure to keep their fannish influences secret, and how there ought to be a meme. I feel strongly that cross-pollination between writers will produce fic of a higher quality. We're all inspired by what we read, sometimes we lift something but use it in a new context, sometimes we like something enough to expand on it, sometimes we realize we actually have an opinion about something when we come across something we disagree with. And when we get a fanwork out of that inspiration, we're probably grateful to the other fans who inspired us. This meme is your chance to let others know they've been an inspiration to you!
I hope that we can create an atmosphere of shared fun and pleasure in creating, and realize that remixing fanworks is an homage just as remixing canon is.
( Meme: Fannish influences on my fic -
Pick a fic you've written, and explain how other fanworks inspired you. )
And I think that's it! Those were the fannish inspirations for my fic.
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| Dear slash fans who consider yourselves allies:
Queer people are distinguished from straight and cis people by our sexuality and/or gender vs. sex. Queer people are not defined by our sexuality and/or gender vs. sex.
As a shipper, I would not enjoy having a pairing I ship, be it het or slash, made canon, because I feel it takes the fun out of looking for subtext, and makes writing canon-compliant fic more difficult, since fic is written in the holes canon doesn't cover. That doesn't mean I don't very much enjoy canon pairings as well, both heterosexual and gay. I was happy when Willow/Tara and Veronica/Logan became canon, and was very entertained by their love stories as a viewer. I don't begrudge you your Jack/Ianto ship, just because I personally am not interested in reading or writing fic about canon pairings.
As a queer, I am hurt and upset that fellow fans who call themselves allies do not understand that it's not about our sex lives or genitals, and representation of us does not equal storylines about love or sex! I am not saying I prefer de-sexed characters like Will from "Will & Grace", I'm saying I prefer queer characters to be written like actual people with actual people motivations and interests, just like straight and cis characters ideally are!
I am cis gendered myself, and don't tend to look very hard for representation of gender queers. My interest in differently gendered or sexed characters is mostly from the exploitative, porn reading side of the fence, so I don't have any recs for you of shows doing it right.
But I can recommend a show which does butch woman right: Glee. I am butch myself (I am exactly as masculine as the completely average man according to the BBC sex id), and I love how Sue is written and acted. I don't know if she's a cis woman who's had a hysterectomy, a mtf trans woman or if she's intersexed, but I do know that she is an awesome, butch woman who is not vilified or mocked for being butch, and whose butchness is not a plot device.
A movie which does gay/bi man right is Blades of Glory. Coach's sexual orientation is completely irrelevant to the plot, and not exploited in any way. He's just an awesome skating coach. And a minor character >_<
I'm trying to think of a TV show I have a fannish interest in which does gay/bi man or woman right, and I can't think of any which didn't either sexually exploit, mock/vilify or problematize homo/bisexuality (we all get VD, we're all exposed to constant gay bashing, we're all sluts who'll die alone because we don't understand true love/partnership, we'll die young, we struggle with shame and self-loathing, etc.) in a crypto-homophobic way. I'm left looking for coded gay/bi characters, who pass for straight in the eyes of the straight viewers. I'm glad the coded gay/bi characters are there (and I'm fucking tired of straight people telling me they aren't), but I'd really, really like for my people to be openly represented on the fiction shows I watch.
In the future, please continue trying to be our allies. I like having you on our side. Try to separate your interest in slash from your demand for equal civil rights and an end to queerphobia. Don't ever, ever say that you don't want a character to be canonically gay/bi/trans if they aren't sexually appealing to you. Don't pretend like gay/bi women don't exist if you're a straight female fan of M/M slash, or like gay/bi men don't exist if you're a straight male fan of F/F slash. Consider carefully if you're writing/reccing a fic with a bi character, or a fic with a straight character whose true and pure love transcends gender in one very special case, but certainly isn't one of those sinful, dirty, icky homosexuals (we're-not-gay-we-just-love-each-other fic). Don't pretend like gender queer people don't exist, or are evil/wrong if they're not gay/bi, or aren't "real" women or men.
In conclusion: real queer people are not like your fictional fap fantasies. Please stop trying to squeeze us into that mold, or punishing us for not fitting in that mold. Please stop thinking that you are in any way helping queers when you campaign for more fan-service. Stop pretending that slash fic is the same as queer fic; some slash fic is also queer fic (all of my fic is), but most isn't. Scolding a slash fic for having male characters who don't act like real life gay/bi men is a misunderstanding. You wouldn't ask for more realistic racial stereotypes, would you? A better response would be to point out when a fic is only a slashy fantasy for straight people, when it is a queer interest fic, and when it's both: a queer slash fic.
I haven't had the time/energy to read any of the fic posted in ![[info - community]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png) queerlygen yet, but I recommend the comm to any slash fans reading this who're confused by my saying that slash isn't about queers, and queer representation isn't about sex and genitals.
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| FYI: Demanding that a non-native speaker of English either stop posting or accept an anglophone gatekeeper is the moral equivalent of calling out an author for peppering their fic with babelfished non-English phrases as exotic decoration with no respect or regard for the speakers of that language.
I posted about this phenomenon in international fandom represent, but the situation in this discussion on fanficrants is slightly different. Here the commenters are very sensibly complaining only about hard-to-read-because-of-poor-grammar fics in general, you understand. The undercurrent of seething xenophobia and the racist jokes are completely incidental.
Pros of reading the discussion: see Nora flip her shit.
Cons of reading the discussion: may cause elevated blood-pressure.
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| I am just heart-broken that that skeevy survey turned out to be a skeevy survey, because I actually am fascinated by slash fandom, and by the breadth of human sexuality, and how slash fandom is a comparatively safe space to explore and express our desires.
So, I'm making my own completely unscientific survey. It's not about the breadth of human sexuality, it's just about fans, fandom and fanworks, with an emphasis on shipping.
Please feel free answer without logging in or signing your name.
I log IP-addresses to deter harassment only. I'm not going to reveal any IP-addresses to anyone, or use them in any way to keep tabs on people unless I feel I am being harassed and stalked. I don't consider flames, insults, critique, opinions I disagree with, and so on harassment; if I feel harassed, I will tell you. No one is getting their IP-address reported to abuse without fair warning to stop their behavior. Feel free to answer while logged in. If you answer the poll without logging in, you can't go back and change or delete your answers.
Please answer all the questions
even if all you have to say is that the question is stupid, irrelevant, intrusive, or badly worded. Feel free to ask the question I should have been asking instead, and answer that.
The poll limits answers to 255 characters, feel free to elaborate in comments.
Answers are viewable to all!
I will attempt to write and post a summary, which will also be viewable to all.
( See poll )
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| I am a queer, cisgendered woman. I've reacted defensively to recent discussion about fetishization and homophobia in slash fandom, but as I've learned from racefail09 I most probably am blind to my own privilege when it comes to being cisgendered, and as I've learned from the warnings debate, maybe I've internalized some homophobia and have been making excuses for my friends to justify their treatment of me.
I want to take a hard look at my own behavior and attitudes regarding queers and genderqueers(1) in fiction.
( Very long, mostly introspective look at fetishization )
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