Scribbling in the Margins

As per my previous post, the drabblefest is open for business over at LJ! *shooing motions* Go, write, have fun!

So, 'tis the season of final projects and final exams, and the really darn weird thing about grad school is that it has given me a pavlovian reaction: I have a deadline coming and my stress reaction is not anything sensible like, you know, working like a fiend on the project(s) in question. No, my stress reaction is to write porn. Lots of porn. Porn that is, generally, at least partially conditioned by whatever theory I happen to be absorbing at the time.

Which is mostly beside the point, but I thought I'd share nonetheless.

The purpose of this particular post is the announce that branchandroot and I are going to host a drabblefest for this next week, modeled loosely after IJ's Porn Battle (since Porn Battle is currently dormant and next week is finals week with all that entails). We'll take prompts this weekend, then sometime Monday we'll compile them, and open up a response post on my LJ account (same username on LJ and IJ, 'cause I'm creative like that), and folks can post all the comment-fic their hearts desire.

Ground rules and stuff:

1. Any rating goes.

2. Any fandom goes.

3. This is comment-fic, y'all. So, you know, low pressure! Don't freak out! This is for blowing off steam (or, you know, whatever; I'm not here to judge). Free-form drabbles for all!

4. Prompts should be posted as "Fandom, character-or-pairing, prompt-phrase" in a comment to this post.

Examples:
Prince of Tennis, Yukimura and Sanada, a day at the beach
Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Mukuro, devotion

And so forth and so on.

Feel free to shill this out as you so desire; if nothing else, take advantage of the possibility of getting me to write you porn. *grin*

Dear Members of Fandom:

You know what? I love fandom a lot. It's given me so many things--friendships, delight, Story and story and stories until I'm positively surfeited, meta and analysis and exegesis, a wider sensitivity to issues that I never would have even thought of had I been left to my own self-centered devices, and probably a dozen more things that I can't even think of because I'm only on my second cup of coffee this morning.

But fandom, as all human endeavors are, is a flawed thing, and that's what I want to talk about today.

Look. I am all for the slash and the yaoi and the boys who like to touch other boys in ways that would get them hauled in on public indecency charges. Are you kidding? I love that stuff. It makes me really happy.

But look. Can you lay off announcing your posts with things like "It's time for some [schoolname]faggotry"? And stop talking about one character going to sex another up as "rape" (or "raep" as some would have it)? And maybe lay off calling everything "gay" or "ghei"?

Look. I'm guessing most of the ones of you doing this are on the young side. Possibly you've never even heard someone called a faggot, outside of what you've seen on the television or at the movies. And I'm guessing that you probably identify as straight, because I gotta tell you--those words still carry some heavy weight, and it's not happy-funtimes weight. It's the weight of prejudice and hate and the stomach-churning self-loathing of knowing oneself to be other, just by virtue of one's sexual preferences.

It's not funny. It's not cute. When I opened up my flist this morning and saw "[schoolname]faggotry" it felt like I'd just been punched in the gut. Every time I read someone talking about how "gay" certain (soft-spoken, fine-featured, admittedly femmy) male characters are, it makes me cringe. And, god, every time I see talk of "rape" in a haha-they're-so-horny context, it makes me sick to my stomach.

So stop it. Please. It's hurting me, and I'm guessing I can't be the only queer-identified member of fandom out there who's hurt by this.

Regards,
Me

---

*sighs* That's something I've wanted to say for... months now. Years, even.

I don't think saying it will do anything, but at least I got it off my chest.

Purest speculation: I think this is a trait more of the anime/manga fandoms than Western media fandoms. I don't really participate in any Western fandoms, aside from reading the occasional fic in a peculiar pattern (seriously, fic for shows I've never even watched, but the authors are just that good, and write Story that hits my buttons in all the right ways). And it seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon, say within the last couple of years.

I think, but can't really prove this or back up the assertion, that it's most common in fandoms that have a fanbase located outside the US, with fans who are fairly young--I'm guessing late teens/very early twenties. I have absolutely no data for this, but the way these words get deployed feels very young to me, and other usage clues points at a non-USonian perspective.

Or maybe it's just that queerness is such a given anymore--in that it's a "post-queer" kind of a world, the same way it's a "post-feminist" world (and lord, that's another can of worms entirely, which I'll save for another day). I don't really know.

It just kicks me in the chest every time I see someone use those words.

But there are a few things you should look at before you comment to be added...

The Basics: This is the journal of a twenty-something, decidedly liberal, rabidly feminist, most assuredly not-straight, fannishly-oriented, godless heathen. I am extremely opinionated and fairly stubborn, but do my best to maintain an open mind. This journal is friends-only because I bitch frequently about this and that, and some things are better kept out of the open. I value critical thinking, good chocolate, intelligent conversation, and warm socks. I am very often quite a silly person.

Friending policy: I friend people whose journals I have an interest in following. Comment here if you'd like me to friend you; I'll probably investigate your journal before I do so. You do have to comment to be added; if you friend me without saying anything, I won't friend you back. I reserve the right not to friend you at all, or to add you and then remove you later. Feel free to add and drop me at will; it won't hurt my feelings, I promise. As a general rule, though, if you bother to leave a comment, I'll friend you.

Exceptions to the friending policy: if u tyep li3k th1s, there is no chance in hell that I will friend you. You have to respect the English language before I will respect you.

If you are the type of person who likes to really ratchet up the drama by posting entries to the effect of If you don't comment then I'll defriend you! then I will roll my eyes at you, drop you out of Default View, and breathe a sigh of relief whenever you get around to taking me off your friends list. I don't care for drama, and I especially don't care to enable drama. If you're the sort who thrives on drama, then perhaps you'd best save yourself the time and find another journal to friend.

My posting levels: I post a lot. Sometimes the content is thoughtful, deep, and meaningful. Mostly it is fangirly fluff and/or bitching about how much I need sleep or how much I hate my neighbors and so forth. I do tend to filter a lot of my posts, depending on the subject matter, but the fact remains that I post a lot. If you don't want to be spammed on a daily basis, this may not be the journal for you.

If you still think you want to be added, then by all means, comment! I don't believe I'm as much of a bitch as the above makes me sound, but I like to be straightforward whenever possible, and forewarned is forearmed. ^_^