Sasha's Dreams

Snowflake challenge day 4

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 00:32:52 GMT

(Skipping Day 3)

Day 4

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts.

1. Long Fic recs that I can put on my Kobo. I really appreciate you folks who make reccing a practice! Most of what I read comes from Dreamwidth posts. Lately I'm most interested in XMFC snd the Losers. I like happy stories and AUs.
I will also read:
Tony/Bruce or Tony/Bruce/Pepper Avengers fic, or Natasha/Clint fic, or good fic with other pairings, but I'm not into Clint/Coulson, unfortunately.
Original slash
Sherlock BBC
Things that are super excellent that are in other fandoms.

2. Watch vids with me! I love social fan time. If you are not local, maybe you can come to WisCon!

3. Leave feedback on my work. You know this makes any creator happy. :D

4. Transform my work. This could be anything from using one of my photos for a podfic cover or icon base, to recording podfic of my stories, or simply chatting with me and getting ideas that spark new ideas! I love that stuff.

5. Netflix streaming recs! I watch a lot of Netflix. :D I sometimes write about what I watch, which you can read about via my netflix tag.

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Belated thank you

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:34:21 GMT

I really appreciate that hc_bingo has changed its prompts to reflect events rather than identity categories (for instance "loss of vision" rather than "blindness").

Thanks, mods.

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A few links

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 23:55:59 GMT

Because I'm trying to figure out what is going on:

bc holmes, July 27, has extensive links about ReaderCon, harassment of G. Valentine by R. Walling, and subsequent fallout:
http://blog.bcholmes.org/the-readercon-thing/#more-169

Rose Fox, 9/8/12:
Done Like a Done Thing

I am deeply dismayed and disheartened by the ways that most con-runners appear determined to run their conventions into the ground, but I don't personally care enough about most conventions to try to stop them. So I'm done. Readercon always has my heart. The rest: ciao.

N K Jemisim, 9/8/12:
Things People Need to Understand, Issue 223.2

Jim C Hines, 9/13/12:
Crap people say about sexual Harassment

kehrli at LJ, 9/12/12:
Regarding ChiCon7

Well, that's plenty for now.

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Pursuant to last post

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 03:19:24 GMT

Am I understanding this correctly?

1. There have been some recent scandals at SF/F and geek conventions regarding sexual harassment, as summed up nicely in this io9 article:
The Great Geek Sexism Debate

2. There is some kind of SMOF email mailing list in which people are making fools of themselves, calling victims harassers and that sort of thing. "SMOF" means people who run conventions; I always thought it was a joke since running conventions is in my world the sort of volunteer job one gets roped into. (I volunteer for WisCon).

3. People/unknown heroes of the revolution reposted some content of the mailing list on Tumblr: http://smofslist.tumblr.com/

4. SMOFs got upset.

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I love you Reccers! <3

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:59:34 GMT

This post is to say that I really appreciate all of you who post recs for fic, art, vids, podfic, articles, or whatever. Even if you think, "Everyone's already seen this!", I probably haven't. I really like recs! It saves me from digging through for fic/fanworks on my own; it tells me what other people are enjoying and thinking about; it is how I get most of my internet reading material really. I especially love it when you say a bit about why you like or love the piece (I admit I don't always do this).

I'm going to take a moment to reiterate my internet pet-peeve, which is when people don't identify where the link leads. Maybe I already *have* seen the thing you are reccing, but can't tell, because you only say I really liked this X men fic instead of saying Slight Return, X-Men, AU, Charles/Eric, by aesc. It's also simply nice to know where the link is going to take me. People who are experienced, thoughtful reccers and linkers also include bits of html like style=light when linking to journals, or they link to the complete work in AO3. That makes me happy!

Some good reccers and comms to follow:

fancake: Themed recs, anyone can participate.
bestthingever
dodificus
bluemeridian

Feel free to direct me towards others!

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They just never go away!

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:25:25 GMT

There is an article over at Utne reader written by SURVEY FAIL folks and promoting their hideous book.

Here is a link to the last page if you want to leave a comment! Things you could say might include: Why didn't the authors use an IRB in their research? Why were lesbians not included in this research? Why do the authors conflate animal and human sexuality? Why are the authors essentialist about gender?

An excellent review of the book can be found here: http://thetyee.ca/Books/2011/07/05/SexOnBrains/

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Character meme

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:16:40 GMT

Tonight we were playing a game, "What character from X TV show/fandom are you?"

My picks are
BSG: Felix Gaeta
Firefly: Simon Tam
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dr. Julian Bashir
Stargate Atlantis: John Sheppard, but the particular version of him that doesn't like to talk (there are many John Sheppards.)

This list needs more women. I'm going to think on some cowgirls to add to this list.

I'm also in Hufflepuff House.

( pictures below the cut )

Feel free to post your picks in the comments or in your own journals! For whatever fandoms. :)

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A few links

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:47:09 GMT

I want to link to a couple of posts on the hurt/comfort fandom discussions and disability in fiction:

annaham: Angry post is angry

trouble: I Know Where the Black Stork Comes From

livrelibre: (no subject) Link roundup for several discussions

dirty_diana: for what it's worth

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Some concerns about hc_bingo

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:36:41 GMT

Or, Why I'm not participating in hc_bingo / hc_bingo

Here is a list of the h/c (hurt/comfort) cliches used for the cards. Warning: many of these are upsetting and offensive.

Here is the fanlore wiki page for hurt/comfort for anyone unfamiliar with this fan fiction genre.

( more reasons if you need them )

Important ETAs

The hc_mods are revising their trigger and warnings policies and have said they will be hosting an open discussion about prompts for their next round.

Please also see damned_colonial's post on this subject.

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Meme: Buffy, BSG, SGA

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:25:31 GMT

First I would like to signal-boost rydra_wong's idea: Post something to a comm on DW!

And now, a meme. From thingswithwings:
comment and I'll give you three of your fandoms, then copy and paste the questions onto your journal and fill it out.

If you want to play this meme leave a comment saying so!

( Buffy )
( BSG )
( SGA )

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Links and Recs

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:20:24 GMT

I am having a fannish Christmas, or Yuletide, or holiday whatsit, and it's the best Christmas in while. Someone asked me my primary fandom, and oliviacirce helped me figure out that META is my primary fandom at the moment.

Interesting Links:

In lieu of life (fandom is) by hesychasm

Mixed Feelings by jmtorres, a meditation on hair, beauty, and gender presentation, that really got me thinking about those things in my own life.

Yuletide Insta-rec:

Life, Stripped of All Luxuries

This story is based on The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold, is Cazaril/Palliar, set during the seige of Gotorget. It it is heart-rending, gorgeous, and you should read it immediately.

What Remains

Based on the novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is lyrical, moving story that makes me like the book better because of its particular insights into the characters. The voice is perfect and it fits the canon so well. Go read it!

I teared up while reading both of these stories! They are so well-written.

For a bit of cheer afterwards, watch One Night Fandoms, the Yuletide tribute vid by thingswithwings and eruthros!

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Icons!

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:59:53 GMT

Eastwick, Neko Case, miscellaneous

( 62 icons under the cut )

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Disability and Work: What I do

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:41:12 GMT

This entry is for the Disability and Work Blog Carnival. Thanks to Liz for hosting it.

In Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed, in the Pravic language, the word for "work" is the same as the word for "play".

There are a lot of ideas in this book but that one stood out for me because right now I am unemployed, and that has forced me to reevaluate my identity and what it is that I do. It seems to me that in The Dispossessed, work/play is what occupies a person's time, and what one does with the people in one's community, because community is very important to the culture of Anarres.

So, what do I do?

Like many chronically ill people, the first thing on my mind a lot of days is management of my disease. It's a complex and demanding job in itself. Some of it you might expect: I make doctor's appointments and try to keep them, I manage my medications and supplements, I try to keep some sense of my symptoms and how they are changing. I try to exercise moderately, get enough to eat and drink, avoid foods that I think will make my symptoms worse. I try to get enough rest, think about pacing, try not to overextend. All of this can get complicated because my symptoms keep changing, but it's not really an unexpected part of living with illness.

What has been more unexpected for me is the huge emotional toll of chronic pain and illness. Particularly this year, I've done a lot of emotional work around this issue, which has taken a lot of time and energy. And I've learned that emotional work is hard work, undervalued work.

Those things are very hard to talk about in casual conversation, like when someone asks, "What do you do?" So here are the things I talk about more often:

*I volunteer for WisCon, the World's leading feminist science fiction convention. I read feminist SF/F novels, graphic novels, and other books. I am a member of two book clubs (although I don't always read the books.)

*I am a disability and anti-oppression activist. I've been learning more about this mostly through reading the internet-- people's journals and blogs. I also listen and talk to people face-to-face. I usually follow (at least somewhat) whatever the latest internet imbroglio is, and sometimes I will go back and read older ones ("Feminist history needs to be written down!"). This also takes a lot of time and is something that can be painful for people: although I seem to be in a place where I can do it now, easily, this hasn't always been so, and it's not something everyone has the time or emotional resources or interest to do. Lately I am thinking about it a lot in terms of community.

*I am a moderator of access_fandom, a community for talking about access and disability issues within fandom. I intermittently work on the Wiki associated with this, Access Fandom Wiki, which is a place people can go to figure out how to make events such as conventions more accessible. So far there are two pages up, Attitudes and Signs; those were written by jesse_the_k.

Right now in the comm three of us are doing in linkspam on Feminsting and disabling language, check it out.

*I'm involved in Media Fandom: I read and write fanfic, I beta read fic, I make icons, and I consume other fanworks such as podfic, fanvids, art, and meta. I must recommend right now dira's post on fanfic and the suppression of women's writing. Fandom is mostly (but not all) women, and fannish work is devalued work.

I enjoy the community aspect of fandom particularly, and so I try to support the community by going to fan gatherings, by leaving feedback, by being welcoming towards people, by being respectful. Fandom is a particularly supportive community, at least for me, because individual members have worked to make it so. (You see what I did there?)

---

I have personally benefitted from the feminist idea of work being a socially constructed idea, and "women's work" such as housework, childcare, and care of the elderly and ill being often unpaid or underpaid and devalued by society. The reason women are paid less than men is because women's work is undervalued. Women often provide emotional support for others, they build friendships, they build communities, they build homes. All of this takes time and effort.

The categories of women and disabled people intersect hugely. The work of disabled people is also devalued, and disabled people face huge barriers such as pain, exhaustion, mobility and cognitive impairments, communication differences, discrimination in the work place and the wider world, and a lack of basic access to buildings, services, and transportation.

These oppressions also intersect with race, class, sexual orientation and identity, age, and probably other factors that I am unaware of or forgetting.

So I think that the work I am doing right is pretty important, interesting, and exciting. It's just hard to sum up with a job title. :)

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Icons

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:11:58 GMT

This is my entry for kink_bingo: gun play (free space)
Fandoms are listed at the end. Feel free to use these as bases or whatever!

( 27 gun play icons )

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FIRST EVER ICON POST

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:38:00 GMT

1. RightClickSaveAs (don't hotlink plz)
2. Comment and credit much appreciated
3. Use these as you will. Go forth into the world and multiply.

Teasers:

( BEHOLD ICONS )

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I am drawing big sparkly hearts around fandom right now

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:57:37 GMT

Or at least the corner of it that I inhabit.

1. With jesse_the_k and general_jinjur, I've been starting to work on the Access Fandom Wiki. The two pages that you should totally check out right now are Attitudes: the Basics and Signs. Yay, I am learning how to edit Wikis!

2. Geek Feminism Interviews Francesa Coppa. She has really good things to say about gender and fan works, the Organization for Transformative Works, and vids.

3. I finally picked up and started reading The WisCon Chronicles vol. 3 edited by Liz Henry. Just the intro alone made me want to cheer.

4. I am re-reading The Dispossessed. Oh it is awesome. OK that is not really fannish exactly but it is WisCon-ish. And we are reading it for Beer and Marmalade book club meaning we get to talk about it with awesome people next month!

I am not feeling so great, kind of foggy-headed, and my mouth hurts. But today fandom makes me happy.

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Signal Boost: In Ur Het

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:44:54 GMT

linabean: In Ur Het writes about winning an Isis Award and her reaction to it.

Go read her words; basically it sounds like one of those fandom awards that dislikes slash cooties.

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Think GalactiCon report

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:49:55 GMT

(x-posted)

I had a lovely time at Think GalactiCon in Chicago! I squeed about fanfic and vids to a lot of people, including people who are clearly not in fic culture (like lcohen), which was pretty funny. I talked more than I expected to.

Panels I attended:
*Species-defined gender roles in SF/F (link takes you to my notes)

*Infinite Diversity (Star Trek); a well-attended panel. I surprised myself by ranting about unethical ST doctors, for example Dr. Bashir in Sons of Mogh. Leah and I brought up the fanvid ...On the Dance Floor by sloanesomething.

*Gender and Sexuality in Fan Fiction. I talked a lot, but I don't remember what I said. I did give a shout-out to General_jinjur's Podfic archive; and I recommended Straight as a Circle by toomuchplor.

*Brown People Harshing My Squee?
About the costs (emotional and otherwise) of RaceFail and doing anti-racist work. Panelists were Candra, Karnythia, Jamie, and Pope Lizbet.

*Skipped the Sunday AM panels; ended up sitting in the commons area with a bunch of the TG concom and assorted people. I remember I did refer to vito_excalibur's parody of comic book art and said I'd post links:

These are from a couple of years ago:

How to Draw Women in Comics (According to Wizard), an LJ post with scans and commentary, by ratcreature.

Then look at vito_excalibur's brilliant reversal of it:
IM IN UR STUDIo DRAWING UR DooDZ

There are also some good parodies here at Girl Wonder (scroll down/go through the pages for pictures).

*Race, Ethnicity, and YA.
I was pleased that I'd heard of or read a lot of these books, which made me feel like YAY I know YA pretty well, but also very sad that there aren't MORE YA books about race and ethnicity. There are so few in this booming publishing market! Candra was keeping a list that will be posted eventually. Nnedi Okorafor was the other panelist (go read her book Zarah the Windseeker; it's awesome!).

Other vids I brought up:
Vogue by luminosity (a 300 fan vid/critique)
"White" and Nerdy by talitha (Psych, Gus)

Other fic I brought up:
Reading Against/Reading With: Mastering the Oppositional Discourse in Textual Healing", by emeraldwoman. ST: Reboot fic.
Daddy was a steel-driving man by livii. Sarah Connor Chronicles fic that address issues of trans identity.

ETA: I think access was pretty good at this con. The food was utterly fantastic! Good location that utilized a university in downtown Chicago--awesome.
I really liked the commons area that combined the dealers tables, food tables, registration, and social events. I *loved* the crafty stuff. (I skipped the main crafting event but did casual crafting on Friday.)
Also, bravo to karnythia for turning off the fluorescent lights for me at the Brown People Harshing My Squee panel.

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Kink Bingo?

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 19:46:08 GMT

I want to sign up for kink_bingo but I am scared.

This could quite possibly be a symptom of larger issues.

Edit: I did it! I signed up!

( and here is my card already! )

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