we're all stories in the end

*facepalm* Okay, look. I am both queer and female, and you know what's not okay? Implying that one of those things is more important than the other and should more strongly dictate my reading and writing habits.

Intersectionality: it's a thing.

Also, can we stop phrasing this whole mess in terms of a gender binary? There are a lot of gender identities represented within fandom, and plenty of them are being erased right now. Stop it, fandom!

In the great sprawling land that is the internet, it makes no sense to say 'there should be more x!' and mean 'there should be less y!'. There is, in fact, room enough for everything. I think there should be more femslash, I think there should be more genfic about female friendships, I think there should be more women-centric vids. That doesn't mean I think there should be less of anything else, because I am not a fan of lecturing a majority-female community about what they can or can't do.

Besides, I don't want there to be less slash anyway - it's about people like me, it's relevant to my interests! (Which is not to say every queer person connects with guyslash in that way.) No type of fanwork is the distinct product of a particular group, and as such you can't dismiss anything as having less value in terms of identity politics - 'straight women write slash and are anti-feminist!' etc. Um, no.

I tell you what there should be less of, though: misogyny and character-bashing and double standards! That's the stuff that makes fandom feel hostile to female characters sometimes, and you see it in guyslash and het and gen and poly and even, depressingly, in femslash. (I read a femslash story this one time that didn't even pass the Bechdel test, it was tragic.) And I think it's overly simplistic to talk about fandom just in terms of fanworks, when people's meta and squee and discussion has just as much impact on the overall environment. LJ/DW/IJ fandom is more than a fic archive!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll get back to the Kahlan/Cara fic I've got open in tabs, whilst listening to the song I'm about to vid Merlin/Arthur to. I never before though that would make me feel ~edgy~.

+ Oxfam and Red Cross, amongst many other charities, have launched emergency appeals to help with the crisis in Haiti. musesfool links to more ways you can help.

+ Turns out this became headline news overnight: Google: A New Approach To China.

+ FWD: Disability and Domestic Violence.

+ Questioning Transphobia: is a dream a lie if it don’t come true / or is it something worse [trigger warning: harrowing content discussing forced detransition]

+ There seems to be a debate going around the published m/m novel sphere, which I honestly have neither time or energy to get into - there are many links at linkspam for the interested. But this post resonated with me:

Slash works for me, in a way that het doesn't. See, for me, being gay isn't just about how I prefer boobs over penis. It's how I see relationships. It's how I relate to everyone around me, how I lost friends when I was eleven and didn't know what the hell was going on, how I see myself and my future. Someone once wrote in a fic about how when straight kids grow up they know about marriage and expect subconciously to go there someday, but gay kids don't have that. I didn't have that.

That's really fucking important.

So to read slash, to see other gay people come together in relationships portrayed as normal, as good, was invaluable. My knowledge of The Gay as a child was limited. I'd been to San Francisco once when I was nine and heard warnings about all the gays wandering around the wharf, and I heard one kid in Sunday School get called a queer even though I didn't know what it meant. By the time I figured out what it was, and that it was Wrong, I'd figured out about myself.

maryaminx: In which I rant. A lot.

There's a lot of stuff I could say on that general subject, admittedly more to do with slash fandom than the profic world, but basically it comes down to wishing that certain areas of slash fandom/some people who talk about slash fandom stopped ignoring or being actively dismissive/hostile towards the queer chicks that hang out in those parts.

+ It's More Joy Day tomorrow, where you challenge is to bring joy to someone else, somewhere, and spread the joy out. This year it means festivids amongst other things. \o/!

+ Speaking of, fan_eunice has a brilliant post on why all vid-watchers should be excited. To which I say: SET ALL PHASERS TO FLAIL OH MY GOODNESS YAY.

+ purimgifts is open for sign-ups. It's a small gift exchange in which works feature characters who are Jewish and/or women and/or persecuted by evil viziers.

+ Rumours of Will Smith playing Captain America have prompted a bunch of picspams of fantasy chromatic casting for Marvel superheroes. The awesome includes John Cho as Tony Stark, Indira Varma as Phoenix and Dulé Hill as Reed Richards. A lot more shiny at the links!

From various folk:

Ask me one fandom-related question in the comments. This can be fandom specific, general, or about fandom/lj stuff/fic writing/etc. in general.

Just one question, please, but it can (and perhaps should) have sub-parts.

Question can be as wacky as you want. Ask me about tv shows, characters, fanfic in general, fandom issues/meta, anything about any of my stories specifically. Whatever you want.

Fandoms include but are not limited to: HP, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Merlin, SGA, Firefly, SPN, Star Treks, T:TSCC, BSG, Legend of the Seeker and Leverage, though I'm not up to date on all currently airing shows either out of choice or lack of time.

*omg you guys, omg. This is so scary, I do not feel up to this! But it's about 2/3 done, maybe.

Gacked from amathela, this looks like fun.

Ask me a fandom, and I will tell you:

+ OTP
+ Runner-up
+ Honorable mention(s)
+ Crack pairing(s)
+ Ship everyone else seems to like, but I don't

eta: so far!

Star Trek DS9
Firefly
SGA
Merlin
Harry Potter
BSG
New Who
Torchwood

* From astolat, OTW owns the goddamn servers! Which is very cool to behold.

* Gordon Brown has released a statement in response to the petition for an apology for Alan Turing. It makes for heartening reading.

* Merlin promos/behind-the-scenes pictures continue to induce glee! Here are some pictures of Gwen and Morgana, and here's the whole cast with guest stars (general premise & casting spoilers for the first three episodes). I have to say, ( casting spoilers )

* Lastly, because this looks amusing (please play so I can spam you with bizarre feedback!): Give me the title of a story I've never written, and feedback telling me what you liked best about it, and I will tell you any of: the first sentence, the last sentence, the thing that made me want to write it, the biggest problem I had while writing it, why it almost never got posted, the scene that hit the cutting room floor but that I wish I'd been able to salvage, or something else that I want readers to know.

That words meme that's been flying around! I have now collected three sets.

From shaggydogstail, ages ago: ( Writing, Doctor, philosophy, women, fun )

bodlon gave me: ( change, flight, stability, Torchwood, strangers )

And lefaym gave me: ( Fix-it, Femslash, Merlin, vidding, geekiness )

Today, half of my flist is full of discussion on warnings and triggers. And some of the comments from the anti-warnings side are really making my head spin.

( headers, warnings, triggers and codes of fan culture: links to material that readers may find triggering )

Let it never be said I do not leap upon bandwagons. (How do you think I got into any of my fandoms in the first place?)

I would not be writing fiction at all were it not for the help and enthusiasm I received from the people who read my decidedly mediocre fanfic in my early days of fandom. I remain enormously grateful to those kind souls to this day, especially as some of them continue to put up with me now. *g*

Fandom has given me such a lot that the idea of expecting anything back from all of you is entirely bizarre. I post things because I hope that someone might find the content interesting, or happy-making, or enjoyable in any sense. If they take the time to hit reply and tell me so, that is a welcome and added bonus, and I'd hate to think that anyone ever felt obligated to drop me a single line. I'm thrilled to hear from anyone at any time, but I post in hope, not expectation.

I'm consistently delighted and honoured by the notion that someone would like to read my stories, or to link them to their friends, or to add me to their friendslist, and so on. I'm as pleased by my lurkers as I am by my serial commenters -- the fact that anyone might find something they like in the course of stopping by is the entirety of the reason why I'm here and posting in a public setting. I want to share, and to interact, not to receive. The span of people's lives and habits is far too diverse and complicated for me to impose any sort of standard or demand on any of you, and so all of the time that you give me, in any capacity, is much loved.