On a personal note, it was unforgivably naive of me to not know that this sort of thing happens. I hope we can help to stop it happening.
Originally posted by ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) darkspirited1 at SIGNAL BOOST: SAY YES TO GAY YAThis comes from an article by rachelmanija entitled, Say Yes to Gay YA. (click the link for the full article)
Our novel Stranger has five viewpoint characters; one, Yuki Nakamura, is
gay and has a boyfriend. Yuki's romance, like the heterosexual ones in
the novel, involves nothing more explicit than kissing.
An agent from a major agency, one which represents a bestselling YA novel in the same genre as ours, called us.
The agent offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay
character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to
his sexual orientation.
This isn't about that specific agent; we'd gotten other rewrite requests before this one. Previous agents had also offered to take a second look if we did rewrites… including cutting the viewpoint of Yuki, the gay character.
It's time to stand up and demand change. Spread the word everywhere if you are just as angry and outraged by this. |
warning: this won't be articulate
summary: love
rating: you'll be fine
***
I can't say enough about the sherlock fandom where writers are smart, flames wars are few, and creativity is boundless. I've learned new words and improved my vocabulary, and I can prove it. here is a list of the new words I've learned so far (note that there would be separate extensive lists if I included musical jargon medical terms, and slang):
quenelles
unheimlich
susurrus
lambent
skint
reveille
anosmic
perspicacity
petechial
performatives
metier
antimacassars
phoneme
refectory
priapism
nictitating
argyria
swash
apianly
antipodal
penumbral
plosive
munificence
uliginous
sobrique
coruscate
charybdis
limning
saurian
sybaritic
chalybeous
empyrean
tonsorial
I will give honorable mentions to my favorite brit terms:
dogsbody
herman
jammy dodger
Plotwise, sherlock fandom has everything from the traditional action/adventure/romance/horror/sci-fi/fantasy/crossovers/every type of au imaginable/kidfic. in addition, there seems to be a whole sub-genre of cat fiction, asexuality, tentacle porn (not a shock, but much better offerings than in some fandoms-- with smart detailed descriptions of the anatomical [peculiarities).
The writers are skilled, prolific, intelligent. In short, I am having a ball. I will say that having the bar set so high makes writing in this fandom intimidating for me. More likely, it's just that there is so much to read, that I never feel like a story occurs to me that should be written that is not already out there.
I am so very grateful to have stumbled into this fandom. I doubt that anyone from the sherlock fandom will read this, because I'm a new face over there, and I haven't written anything, but if anyone is interested in getting to know that fandom better, I would be happy to send links or recs for specific stories. |
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Aug. 16th, 2008 @ 04:23 am
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things that are keeping me up at nigh
I know this is lamer than lame, but I really really want to know how starla's climb ends. I feel 99% sure that the short answer is Buffy and Angel get back together and Sam gets the boot. but how does it all go down?
I know it's pointless to hope for resolution--starla hasn't posted anything in years (that I know of). I'm just saying, I feel like there is very tiny part of my brain that will always be stuck in limbo trying to guess how it would have worked out...
lamer than lame, I know... |
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Jan. 24th, 2008 @ 05:22 pm
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I got bored in a meeting this morning and the speaker happened to be saying "you've got your source right here" so I wrote a little ditty (sung to the tune of can do)
...
we've got your source right here / who needs a sky that's clear? / industry says if the stacks built here / can do / can do / this guy says the source can do
they're at the starting line / that's right it's nascar time / the fans say clean air is a waste of time / have chance / have chance / this fan says their lungs have chance
...
that's all. what a fun end to a long series of strategic plans. |
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Jan. 23rd, 2008 @ 09:50 pm
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good
dizzy spells-- character building
remembering to send cards, emails, reminders
quiet evenings with puppy
fundraisers
incisive bloggers
art--including creepy paintings of my dead brother, pornographic horror used exorcise demons,
adam baldwin and his id-driven characters
bit actors whose claim to fame is having been on buffy once
ovaltine-- european and american versions
grocery shopping in scotland-- less expensive produce and fresh juice and chocolate mousse cups everywhere
stone circles-- impressive
two palatable candidates on the democratic side
helen and michael-- fun people to visit
mumps
cleaning up after your own messes
the republican candidates-- may they form a comedy troupe together after (losing) the elections
warm baths
bad
pork-- only bad people eat it
steak knives-- normally good, but lately tools of the enemy
horror movies so weak even I'm not scared of them
alec baldwin and his evil chest hair
actors who constantly remind you that they're acting
stone houses-- cold
ulcers, acid stomach, and meetings at work-- I think the linkages here are fairly intuitive
bad outsiders with their funny looks
hilary and barak fighting dirty instead of preparing for a joint ticket
darkness 17 1/2 hours per day + papers due + broken ribs + computer crashes
salivary gland infections that might lead to salivary stones
headaches, black mold, and worrying that you've offended people
flat-earthers-- move to the south pole you bastards! you can't miss the curve there (just be careful you don't fall over the edge)
desalinization of ocean water by idiots claiming an "unlimited supply" -- cause that's never gone wrong before |
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Jun. 11th, 2007 @ 11:05 pm
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late breaking addition to the good list...
LOLLbushes! hah! http://rumandmonkey.com/
the first two is my favoritz |
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Jun. 11th, 2007 @ 09:32 pm
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in case anyone is wondering, here is the latest attempt to neatly categorize everything in my life--and why stop there? really in the whole world--into good and bad. so without further adieu...
good
improv classes!
(and closely related to the above...) cannibalistic tacos!
pottery/sculpture
clean laundry
resolve (for that FULL glass of grape juice that I spilled on the living room arpet--gone in a flurry of pink chemical foam)
puppy... as cute as it is physically possible to be, and with good sound effects too
enchiLAdas! (and the closely related margariTAS!)
cooking dinner at the shelter
makin the characters!
lol kittiez! (I'm in your selterz, eatin ze tacos! I'm in yer PHB making ze characterz)*
people who seem ordinary and then start talking about the fun things they want to do (like becoming a Carolina Rollergirl) and calling their boyfriend a pansy and then you realize they are hilarious!
the radical cheerleaders
80's movies with rain during sad scenes and fairytale themes
bad
new york city--not the same now that kenny isn't there
supervisor leaving--sad on so many levels
getting up early-- stupid! POINTless!
rain when I distinctly expected sun. and when the temperature is colder than I would have liked and I have to put on ze sweater.
*I think my lol kitties might be french (or at least faux french) |
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Jun. 10th, 2007 @ 01:58 am
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victory!
I like geek friends. when I lived in michigan I had nice geek friends who liked ninja movies and played d&d and it was awesome--I had so much fun with them. and then I moved and I thought it would be sad because I would not have geek friends who wanted to see sci fi ninja fantasy movies, so I would be forced to rent them in secret or convince the new not-geeky friends to watch with me when really they only wanted to see dawson's creek: the movie over and over again[1,2]. anyway, that's not what happened at all. anytime a sci-fi fantasy geekfest movie comes out my friend k sends the email and we go to see it in the theater, sometimes even on opening night (although it's true that k does not like actual kung fu movies, which is sad, but moving on...).
this was all well and good. things were peachy. then they tried to convince me to play video games, which I don't want to do. so I countered, why don't YOU lot play d&d instead? this went over better than expected. k had played before, but had battle scars--she played a bard, and they made her SING--frankly I'm surprised she is willing to try again, but it comes as no surprise that she is not playing a bard. anyway, this was all well and good, but I didn't want to run the game. I haven't run a game in... well a very long time. it was 1st edition back then, and I knew that system well at the time. and it wouldn't really make sense to ask b or k to do it, because they haven't played much or at all. so I have 3 players, mostly new, a target game version (3.5, because I likes the skillz rulez in that edition) and no DM in sight. so I'm posting on random boards (well, I was planning to, I only actually got around to posting on one) and then tonight we find the elusive DM right in front of us. it was so easy--I know him already and he's nice and I didn't even know he played (and wouldn't still except that I was going on about it in front of seemingly normal people without any regard for how their straight (as in non-geek) sensibilities might be damaged).
newly aquired DM asked about the 100% female demographic. in response, k said we were all going to get my little ponies. I want to be sure to adequately convey the amount of dripping sarcasm this involved. the extent to which it dripped with sarcasm? DM threatened dire punishment for any my little pony acquistion. and we now have GAME! I'm so excited..
I would like to thank many people for getting me to this moment:
-my parent, for not thinking D&D was satanic
-my older brother, for making us pause the game for 90 minutes when our characters encountered sleeping gas
-my high school boyfriend, for thinking a girl who played D&D was the best thing ever
-my friends at TESC who gamed constantly and taught me the fun of competing for love (or sex) with NPCs
-michigan geek friends
-NC geek friends
-and of course, a special shout out to new DM!
I would also like to acknowledge my favorite characters of all time:
-Omika (japanese ranger who worshiped amaterasu omikami): age 10
-Malaki (half-elven cleric/mage who had many adventures in the underdark with skeeve the third, a fighter/mage): age 17
-Half-Moon (CN elven magic-user/thief, successfully captured the heart of the NPC and annoyed the many lawful good, magic-hating, lesbian paladins in her party): age 19
-Tarynth (half-elven cleric/mage, 1st 3.5 character, much shadowy backstory including friends--with and without gay subtext--evil necromancer dad, evil household servants, and various mentors and students): age 31
I liked some of tarynth's friends so much that I started to play them in the campaign:
-Jorel (grey elf ranger, possible love interest, he did NOT leave when the peasant exploded--see below--because he thought it would be wrong to abandon tarynth in the company of such savages)
-Pasmadavahla (Pasma, grey elf cleric, left in a flurry of righteous protest when the adventurers accidentally exploded a peasant)
-Adric (half-elven mage/thief) never got into the action. I think when you're fighting gods it's hard to work in a pick-pocket.
1- no disrespect to dawson's creek fans
2- no, there is no dawson's creek: the movie (as far as I know) |
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Jun. 3rd, 2007 @ 02:23 pm
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legality of fanfiction, the place of fanfiction in the world, age-old debate about whether fan-fiction writers are worthless hacks and should shoot themselves immediately...
I was looking for a quote I stumbled across many years ago... I believe the person quoted was in academia. the gist of it was that fan fiction was a way for people to take back the images and archetypes that had been co-opted by corporations. I cannot find this quote. if you have seen this quote, I would be grateful for a link.
while I was searching, I found many interesting sites centered on this debate:
this was the most fanfiction-friendly and informative site:
a fascinating discussion of fan fiction, including but by no means limited to the legal dimensions. also includes themes of feminism, empowerment, folk-tales, free speech, and the creative drive. warning: the format is pretty spartan.
http://www.tushnet.com/law/fanficarticle.html
these sites involved scary debates, name-calling, and in short, a lot of wank:
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/007464.html
http://leegoldberg.typepad.com/a_writers_life/2005/06/whats_stupid_ab.html
One more--this one is just sweet (really, writers in favor of fanfic, it's nice to know that the people who MATTER don't hate us):
http://airawyn.fiddlergirl.com/fanficsupport.shtml
I also came across this...
This lazy trend of you need sex to create chemistry is bad enough but why the growing trend to automagicly see sex when there is chemistry between charaters. Not all chemistry in life between people is based on sex or lack of.
For example the endless ewwws from the Narnia movie because there is natural spark of life and personality between the actors portraying Tumas and Lucy; every one concludes this must be sexual because only sexual tension can create chemistry. What no one ever heard of platonic chemistry before. Why are so many seeing sex everywhere it isn't? Maybe I'm just too well adjusted to see hidden taboo lust in every character interaction or a need for it.
http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/commentlist-oneauthor.php?author=T.W&email=dsharpe@home.com
...which made me very happy... I knew I wasn't just imagining the chemistry between tumnus and lucy...this confirms it! |
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Jun. 3rd, 2007 @ 01:19 pm
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from tpk, fun commentary on banners made in protest of the purge:
http://tkp.livejournal.com/65642.html#cutid1 |
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