Pronoun Trouble

Disclaimer: I haven't actually gotten around to reading anyone else's posts on the episode, because I wanted to record my thoughts "uninfluenced", as it were. There is a good chance that other people, including some of my brilliant friends, have already written some of what I'm about to transcribe, and probably better. I'm not claiming I got to any of it first, only independently. I'll be reading other peoples' posts about the episode once I'm done here.

( Cut for SPOILERS [Content Note: Racism, Sexism, Disableism, Implied past sexual assault, Discussion of unrealistic beauty standards] )

( Spoilers through 3x07 )

In related news, I made it to the first commercial break of the after-episode discussion thing before I had to turn off the TV and run away. IDK, maybe it's related to my general live-action-related weirdness.

Heaven help me, I'm posting it.

A Serious Case of Bad Timing on AO3. Teen Wolf, ~2000 words.

Now I'm going to go pick up some rat food, which will get me away from the computer for a little while and hopefully distract me from fic!nerves.

So, guess what book I just finished? 8D Ahahaha, yeah, pointless question.

Before I get started, I'd like to offer some general Content Notes for the book itself, for those who choose to read it and might have triggers to deal with. They are pretty significant spoilers for the book, so I've hidden them under spoiler blockers. Highlight to read. [Content Notes: Violence, consent issues. Scroll to the sixth big paragraph under the cut for more detail on the latter.]

Now, be warned for YET MORE MASSIVE SPOILERS as I go over some details of the book itself 8) They're hidden under a cut, so if you don't want to be spoiled, go no farther.

( CUT FOR SPOILERS )

First things first! In acknowledgement of April as sexual assault awareness month, author Jim C. Hines is running his annual Fundraiser for Rape Crisis Centers. There are reportedly more authors offering books for prizes than he knows what to do with, with new prizes made available to win at every $250 USD mark up through $3000, and prizes currently listed through $4000. So far, over $2000 has been raised, and nine prizes have been unlocked to nine potential winners. The contest is drawing-style, and you don't actually have to donate anything to be eligible, since there's raffle laws and such that are a pain to deal with, but it's a very worthy cause with some great prizes available. I'm probably going to be too strapped for cash to donate myself, but I encourage everyone who has the means to consider donating.


In fuzzier news, have some pictures of my pet rats sniffing some daffodils: ( Fuzzies! )

And that's all for now. I imagine I'll actually be doing an amigurumi pic dump soon-ish, to include Pony!Sephiroth and a seal-point griffin, so look forward to that.

[CONTENT NOTE: Discussion of all sorts of -isms and marginalizations]

Immediately after my previous post, I started wondering to myself: What sort of unique problems might a superhero of color face? After coming up with a few, I started asking myself about other marginalized groups: LGBTQIA folks, women, PWD, and people in lower income brackets were the ones that came to my mind, though that's far from a comprehensive list, I'm sure. After a little bit more thought, I started wondering what answers other people might be able to come up with, what insights they - YOU, really - could share: How many things am I missing due to my own privilege and having been raised in a kyriarchy?

In the hopes of inviting respectful discussion and observation, I decided to open a post on the subject. I hope this will generate more thought on the topic, on how intersecting identities, secret or not, will affect their life experiences in and out of costume, and ultimately that it will inspire more people to incorporate these issues directly into superhero-related media. In that light, I'd like to invite you to link this around, since the more exposure it gets, the more discussion and thinking it's likely to generate.

Note that while being respectful is required, being polite is not; I won't be here all the time, but I'll do my best to shut down any trolls as I become aware of them (knock on wood). Meta issues are welcome, but please preface them with the word "meta" in brackets and all caps like so: [META]. Thanks in advance for your cooperation, less than three!

( I'll get us started here... )

Haha, take that memory! I've outsmarted you! I listed the things I wanted to write about while I still remembered them, and then the automatic draft saving thing took care of the rest! I am triumphant!

Anywho.

Humorless Feminist Tidbit: There's going to be this Dan Savage/It Gets Better event sorta thing in a couple of weeks that the Quire has been invited to participate in. I have slightly conflicting feelings about participating in it myself. For one thing, as I'm fairly certain I've mentioned before, the It Gets Better project itself is steeped in privilege. For another, Dan Savage is a giant asshole.

On the other hand, it could be a legitimately fun time. There might actually be nothing that makes me cringe (or at least no more than anywhere else in life - look at my low standards!). It's definitely in support of the community, and while Savage himself may be transphobic and misogynist, not everyone involved in the event will be, I'm sure. And who knows, ways to make it better might actually come up.

So yeah. Conflicted. Humorless feminist tidbit over, for now.


Time now for crochet pictures, yay! ( Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle II )

Anyway, he, the Hetalia boys, and Dobby are all now in a box, ready to be whisked away by the USPS to their new home <3 And I am ready for a break from crochet. Er, as soon as I can convince my craft-hungry brain of the idea, that is.

My current crochet-related plan(s) are as follows:
1) A month off from crochet to let my hands have a break. This will be somewhat difficult, as my brain is currently fully in Crochet Mode, but I will be doing my best.
2) Two Despicable Me minions for my mom.
3) A legitimate medium-sized person plush or three. (Princesses, maybe? I've been meaning to get to them for a while, after all...)
4) [MLP:FiM] Ponies, probably. (Fluttershy and Rarity, perhaps? Though how I'll manage Rarity's curls, I've no notion.)
5) ???

All of that is in order, though one or more things may be interrupted if help_japan has a second full round. I mean, I'll probably try to avoid putting off giving my hands a break, but if it comes down to it...

That's about all from my end today. I'll probably try to distract myself from crochet with Pokémon White (and/or Black, etc) for a while, though hopefully I'll also be able to distract myself with writing, drawing, and updating hooked_on_anime. I guess we'll see how it goes.

So my roommate J is back from seeing her family/hometown friends over American Thanksgiving. And she wanted to tell me some funny stories about it! (I, on the other hand, never left the area, and just didn't tell any stories on the internet, like a champion. Let's go play the Not Update Game! Anyhow, back on topic.)

( Cut for stories, length, rant [TW on one of the stories for homophobia/transphobia] )

In the end, I suppose that I'm just not interested in a lot of things she wants to talk about that she thinks I would be interested in, and I just feel like saying something more when she's being offensive.

...While I'm at it, Privilege Is: Being able to let her walk away from a conversation like that. Which I guess I will be confronting tomorrow, but privilege still allows me to do so at a later time, rather than lay awake for hours upon hours, worrying what she would say about me if she unexpectedly saw me dressing in drag about town or something. Now I guess I just need to figure out what exactly to say/how to approach this =_=

Hey all you gamer dudes out there! If you're wondering why there aren't more women/girls into gaming, this post might be for you! Just remember, you have to actually read and take to heart some of this stuff, or it'll stay that way FOREVER.

For everyone it might affect, this post carries a Trigger Warning for misogyny.

( Herein is The List )


Have a link to something you think I should have here? I'd love to add it! Drop it in a comment and I'll put it up when I've got the time/energy :)

Disclaimers: Yes, so far this list is only addressing misogyny. That's mostly because I'm pretty sure the question(s) "Why aren't there more gamers of color/queer gamers? (etc)" don't come up nearly as often, though that in no way means posts like this one for other marginalized gamer sub-groups shouldn't exist. It just means I'm only addressing the one question at this time (intersectionality acknowledged), especially since the question is usually framed in such a way that suggests that women/girls are a commodity, rather than people.

This post is also skewed heavily towards video gaming in particular, and probably more than a little US-centric.

Edit 9/20/10: Thank you everyone for all your input so far :) The list is currently on the backburner, but I'll definitely be getting back to it eventually.
Edit 10/8/10:

I was totally going to do a post warning about how the main auction at help_haiti was closing soon, except A) I slept in until noon today, since school was canceled, and B) I got the closing time mixed up, not realizing it meant noon instead of midnight. W-whoops.

In any case! Bidding ended today a few hours ago. Here's something you may want to take a look at: Auction Closing Procedures. I will definitely be reading it closely myself at some point in the very near future.


In other linkblogging news: Liberal Bloggers to Obama and Dems: We Told You So


Also, while I normally have the utmost respect for Neil Gaiman, I really can't approve of his use of the word "bitch." (Trigger Warning for last link.)

Thanks to a lightbird777, I was expecting the Depp-seems-to-be-on-Team-Polanski thing. Even if I don't care much for Gaiman's solo work, however, this feels like more of a slap in the face.

Edit: Neil Gaiman, when negative reactions to his use of "bitch" were presented to him, has just said he will try to do better in the future". While he doesn't seem to feel contrite about its use in the George R. R. Martin post (where it is definitely used to mean "Someone who is at your disposal to use however you like", with the sexual implications all but out loud), it is at least slightly encouraging.

Edit 2: Aaaaand now we're moving backwards. *sigh*

( Trigger warning )