Entertaining in a Disturbing Way

If you haven't heard, Neil Gaiman has been accused of sexual assault/abuse: https://snickfic.dreamwidth.org/963211.html - this post has a decent round-up/discussion.

And while I have lots of thoughts, they mostly boil down to a couple of things:
- I'm tired of hearing reports about this. But that's my choice. The people who are subjected to these things have no choice in being violated.

- I'm not surprised. And this isn't just Gaiman, but society as a whole, which continues to be complicit in the way sexual assault/reporting is treated. It's always, always, "well, Not All Men." And NOT ALL MEN is PART OF THE PROBLEM. YES, all men! There are no fucking exceptions! Yes, all women, too, but that's a lot less likely to happen (and the people being assaulted are a lot less likely to be able to admit that is what happened). Men are constantly fed a diet of "you are apex predator, women need to know their place, women are sexual beings for you to take" - even as young children, they're not told, "you have to read about girls as people" because little boys are catered to with stories about boys boys boys, because they're such picky fucking readers.

- Yeah, I do believe this happened. And I absolutely believe it's a pattern of behavior that has been known for years. The SFF community as a whole has been massively complicit in Everything Goes-type sexual expression, so a lot of things just slide right under the radar because people don't want to Harsh The Buzz or be known as That Uncool Bitch.

- The dead silence from the wider SFF community is actually mind-boggling to me. But I'm also not surprised on some level. After all, old white dudes can still be useless as fuck and get people to call them the Greatest Fantasy Author Ever. See: GRRM being unwilling to follow normal procedures and fill out a form so he could have a panel at WorldCon. Of course his fans are whining about how he should totally be the exception to all rules because he's the most famousest fantasy author ever and how dare people not treat him with deference.

In closing, if you're like, "omg, but innocent until proven!" or "clearly fake!" please get the fuck away from me. Because you are part of the problem.

Ok. A few.

Who the fuck looks at an explicitly-stated "female character fest" and decides to leave a ton of M/M slash and male-character-centered recs?

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

(thanks, media player, that is just... not really conducive to ranting. Oh well)

But, seriously, I have such a specific type when it comes to my femslash pairings:

The straight-laced one + the slightly amoral one who knocks them off their socks.

Sam Carter.
Elizabeth Weir.
Yaz (from Who).
Toshiko Sato.
Maria Hill.
Janet Scott.
Caroline Todd.
Jane Austen.
Virginia Woolf.
Mary Morstan (even if I headcanon her a bit amoral, she's certainly more upstanding than her lover).
Melanie Bush.
Romanadvoratrelundar.
Boomer.

Kara Thrace (Vala Mal Doran).
Teyla Emmagan.
Thirteen.
Martha Jones.
Pepper Potts.
Rachel Bailey.
Sue White.
Clara Oswald.
River Song.
Irene Adler.
Ace.
Leela of the Sevateam
Caprica Six.

(Seriously, when I realized this last night, I was like "fuck, no wonder I'm already shipping Yaz/Thirteen")

Which is really not always consistent, because Clara/River is a thing. And Ace/Benny Summerfield, too (I would classify neither of them as straight-laced, Benny likes alcohol far too much).

1. I was bored the other day and watched the trailer for the new Dark Phoenix movie, and... So. I remember back when X3 came out (and since then, really), that a lot of people were angry and up in arms, because the movie was basically "Jean snaps and goes evil, killing a bunch of people, then goes and joins Magneto and is in the background and then dies at the end" and... the trailer for the new Dark Phoenix movie seems to be "Jean goes to Magneto and asks him if it's ok if she snaps and then she probably does and everyone is SO SAD that Jean is off somewhere, BUT SHE IS STILL THEIR FRIEND AND THEY STILL LOVE HER and Magneto and Charles are still bitter ex-boyfriends and..."

And I don't understand how this is any better. I don't. And the acting looks so so awful (I mean Fassbender and Chuckles are all right, but everyone else is... yeah). I mean, at least Famke was a fucking excellent Jean Grey and managed to bring her A game to Dark Phoenix, and the cast she was surrounded by was stellar.

*sulks* I just want a movie where Jean Grey goes evil and has the entire plot to be evil and be the center of everything. But if I have to choose between the newer version and X3, I will be re-watching X3. Because Kitty is also in it, and it doesn't leave a sour taste in my mouth.

2. My company continues to dick around with whether it's going to do anything with my division. We had a town hall today that briefly mentioned my division, and then spent the rest of the time going on about the other one. Dull.

3. I am not doing Nano proper -- at least, I'm not trying to write 50K in one novel or novel-type thing. Instead, I'm tracking everything I'm writing this month (including anything I add to unfinished pieces--the goal, of course, being finishing shit). So far, it's been interesting how much I write at work (no porn, btw. Because, no.) - and also what weird ideas I hit upon while sitting at work arguing with spreadsheets.

4. I came across that "Who do you write like?" meme thing a while ago, and tried multiple things and kept getting Agatha Christie. Until I tried the Blue Train fic I've been writing off and on, and it told me I write like Steven King. Whoops. Maybe it was just the section I used.

So, like, two years ago, someone got me to create a tumblr (with Lizzeh/Shep images, ok. I am weak). However, that tumblr was literally created and then... left forgotten. Until now, because there is fandom content there and people babbling about shippy things.

(and I'm weak and sometimes bored)

Which, sidetrack, but. SPARKTOBER IS COMING. Just in case anyone forgot. (is that even a thing anymore?)

But I am here. Where I will continue to talk about nothing of substance, reblog gifs of pretty people, and read meta on random things.

Which. Meta. Shit, I hadn't read meta in so long because while I love DW/LJ still, almost no one posts here anymore about things I watch--except that one obnoxious dude in the doctorwho comm, I think?). Which is not a bad thing, it's just, everyone moves on. Anyway, but meta. Reading it made me all gleeful like the first time I wrote a "No, this is why Sam does not deserve to be tortured for dating Pete, are you fucking kidding me" rant back in the day.

(also, speaking of Sparky, did you know you can still read the old Sparky list archives and our ridiculous, "Fuck, let's name it Sparky" conversation? Because you can.)

I managed to log into my fanction.net account, where I discovered there is now an X-Force option in comics! Seriously, when I wrote Dom/Nate fic, that did not exist. (we had to lug our fic backwards in the snow to the servers, mate. Let me tell you). Er, which is to say, I will be slowly (finally), updating the pairings settings on a lot of fic. I still refuse to fix the html issues, though. Because I am not re-uploading/editing that much fic (although I suppose at least some of it, I could strip the table tags out of, since the files are somewhere. er)

Also. I need to track down the files for Alphabet Soup, since that needs to actually go up on a life archive. Somewhere. Also, because I want to re-read it and find out how awful it is. (not quite baby's first fanfic, but)

(speaking of movies and things I'm cautiously optimistic for, CAPTAIN MARVEL looks very shiny)

ETA: How do I not have a Sparktober tag. How.

For those wondering, I have not managed to go past Paranoid 1x3, mostly because I got distracted by something shinier, then needed something less engrossing. I don't remember why I got distracted, I just know that I did.

Deborah Watling has passed away, which is sad.

We're not losing Who actors at quite the rate Babylon Five is, of course. Though, to be fair, I remember Stephen Furst from St. Elsewhere before I remember his B5 stint (St. E. was a childhood memory, ok, it has a deeper hold on my brain).

I had intended to write for the multifandom drabble thingie (for treats), and managed not to. I wrote three bits of different things (and I think I lost some bits when my computer rebooted overnight), but never got round to polishing and posting them. It has been so damned busy at work I didn't remember until past the deadline.

I really need a clone, ok.

(I am also so going to fail this work thing, and that is because I am not made of magic and the entire concept is flawed and makes me rage in frustration)

(also, I constantly quote Kenny Burns from Red Cap. Because ffs, I am so weighed down on both sides by these people at times)

On another subject entirely (because I was just poking through a file), I'm pretty sure Mirah's 'Cold Cold Water' is one of my personal Root/Sameen Shaw songs.
I saddled up my pony right
And rode into the ghostly night
It was wide, wide open, wide, wide open
I left the only home I knew
I stayed alive and I found you

YOU GUYS. Havoc was talking about newbs in fandom and their incessant need to believe they've done something first and that LJ is 'ye olden days' and such -

And someone in her comments mentioned OTL. And I went "I wonder if Topica still exists" and it does.

And my login still works.

And it is entirely fitting that DarkMark is spamming OTL with an invite to LinkedIn.

(and, like, two of you will care, but whatever).

No one has posted fic to OTL since 2009. I don't know how to feel about that (I mean, yeah, OutsideTheLines and mailing lists are a bit obsolete in general, but those were the days, y'know). LJ and Twitter and Facebook and Myspace and half a dozen other things (message boards becoming more functional and interactive) killed mailing lists. I think.

Maybe.

Also, the days of the personal archive are long past, everyone uses bit multi-purpose archives like Ff'net and AO3 and some that I probably don't even know.

Mostly, though, my OTL password is still the most ridiculous thing ever (I even said "I bet it's still this" and it was).

#1 realizing the fan community you started as a whim now has 216 watchers. *hides behind pillow fort and stares*

(jesus, when did Orphan Black get so big?)

A. In other news, I wrote fic over the weekend -- well, wrote some and edited/posted the other.
- Burnt Out Stars - not happy ending Bletchley Circle, Susan/Millie (because I couldn't see it any other way when writing it, though I might change my mind at another time) - written eons ago before the second series was even a rumor.
- No Cleaning Involved - Black Books, Fran points out that the kitchen needs cleaning. No cleaning whatsoever ensues. (written for the Obscure and British commentfest)

B. I've got two thousand words of Ada Gillyflower fic. idek, idek. At least it's personal fanon!fic, so I'm enjoying the writing process.

C. It is so cold here I have hot cocoa and am huddling in my blanket. WISCONSIN WHY.

D. The weirdest thing about getting my news from CNN at lunch (while half not-paying-attention) is that I really think I'd like to quit doing the job I'm being paid for and just sue the president...

E. I actually wrote a fic scene long-hand at work the other day. I've not done that in... a while. (I used to fill notebooks in about six months)

F. Large portions of series 7 of newskool Who is highly quotable. Either that or I'm just at the point where I've listened to it so much I can mouth the words along with the characters. (It's never about the software, it's about the people. This is what it's like when I'm alone. Perhaps the universe makes bargains after all.) (I'll stop now)

G. Seriously, there is no show more suited to listening to as MP3s than Who. Even oldskool is fabulous (I am afraid to listen to Fenric again as it will make me cry).

Because apparently these things are a must in this day and age.

( Read more... )

1. Clowns are scary.

2. Abandoned trains freak me out.

3. Combine the two, and I am now gonna have some terrible dreams

A. Yes, it was time for my yearly (bi-annually?) immersion in abandonedplaces (so many mental hospitals, people. SO MANY) (I still like the creepy snowmen from two years ago best)

B. I have gone through three discs of Arrow, and I'm not really finding it any better than CW's Beauty amd the Beast (Vincent will always be BatB's terrible low point, though. Which is sad. Amell's abs are totally worth Vincent's dullness. Can we switch leading white dudes?). This is not to say it isn't occasionally entertaining. But it doesn't scratch my REVENGE itch very well anymore (for, like, two episodes, it was very revengy). Also, every Island flashback makes it more dull.

C. I am still behind on Sleepy Hollow, Elementary and... um. Whatever else it is I watch. Except PoI. I'm caught up on that. I've seen the second two-parter of Bletchley Circle, too.

D. Apparently, I have a thing for Darcy/Loki fic. Dunno why. (most of it isn't even in-character. Maybe that's the draw? idek)

E. I picked up comics, finally. I still miss Journey Into Sif Punching Everyone in the Face and Fearless Defenders. (seriously, nothing I picked up was as good as those two) :/ (where are my epic mythology and lesbians, comics? Oh, right, nowhere to be seen, because you're all too busy drawing panty-shots)

F. I should really be in bed. sigh. night.