Because I like to (preemptively?) announce the ridiculous things I am into: I seem to be getting genuinely, properly fannish about Narnia. This is as weird and surreal to me as it would be if I suddenly became properly fannish about Lord of the Rings, because ... IDK, these are the fandoms of my heart, and they give me FEELINGS, and it seems weird to mess about with them.

But I do know why this is happening! I adopt active fandoms for one of two reasons: [a] they are lovely and delightful, and the things that I don't like aren't worth bothering about too much, and the things that I love are worth elaborating on, so I just want to keep playing in the world; or [b] the things I love are worth elaborating on, but the things I don't like are worth FIXING, and I am damn well going to do something about it. (So due South is in the former category, and Doctor Who is often in the latter -- but not this last season, hence me not really generating fic.) The things that I love but am not actively fannish about, meanwhile, are either [c] delightful and complete enough in themselves that I will enjoy them and leave them be, or [d] a bit like the category b material, only the things that need fixing are too damn big. And Narnia has always sort of been in this last category for me.

The thing that is skewing it dangerously from [d] to [b] is the Voyage of the Dawn Treader film, because it flipped the FIX FIX FIX switch in my brain. Now I am unfortunately applying it to everything, from theology/philosophy to timelines to worldbuilding. HELP.

Brb, off to keep reading Carpetbaggers and stare at Edmund watch Prince Caspian. /o\
aria: ([aria] whee!)
( Dec. 27th, 2010 11:37 am)
The sun is shining, the snow is blindingly refusing to melt, I am wearing the world's fluffiest bathrobe, Yuletide continues amazing, and today I have successfully been in the world for twenty-three years.

My birthday this year is inconsequential, though, because, as near as I can calculate it, today also marks the day in which I have been in fandom for a whole fucking decade. For Christmas 2000, you see, my mother and I got this awesome new computer that could be hooked up to the dial-up modem and access the internet! I had occasionally gone onto the internet using my dad's computer before, and, if memory serves, had mostly waited for long patient minutes for .jpegs of Beanie Babies to load on the official site, or racked up perfect scores on some Harry Potter trivia game on the Scholastic page. Now that I had my own computer, though, I went straight to Google! I typed in 'Harry Potter'! Somewhere in the first page was the link to the Unofficial Harry Potter Fan Club, so off I went, to play games and to look at fanart. And around the 27th, I started reading fanfic.

I didn't start posting fic until early April 2001, but before that, I think I spent most of January writing the fifth Harry Potter book. (It was 87 pages long! Harry and Hermione became Animagi! There was this hilarious Mary Sue who was Dumbledore's granddaughter! And I think I mercifully figured out not to post it and instead started writing MWPP fic. IDK.) Anyway, my point is, I've been cheerfully muddling about here for ten years.

Instead of an end-of-year fic meme, ten years of fic statistics for the curious, and also for my own reference )
aria: (Default)
( Oct. 13th, 2010 09:33 am)
While I was in airplanes, everyone started talking about this Female Character Flowchart. I think whenever I want to feel ragey, the quickest way to do it would be to whip out this flowchart and follow my favorite characters to some boxed-in conclusion. (The best one was Delenn. She ended up on the 'biological timebomb' square. I shrieked and threw metaphorical popcorn at the screen.) And wow I am time-lagged because I don't have the mental wherewithal to talk about why the flowchart is stupid and absurd, so instead, some linking and memetic reactions:

The Female Character Yenta Meme: Comment with a description of your favorite character and/or pairing kinks. If you only want certain media (television, books, movies, RPF, comics...) feel free to specify. Sit back and wait for lovin'! AND/OR comment on other people's descriptions with female characters or at-least-one-woman-including-ships who fulfill their character and/or pairing kinks. This is basically the BEST IDEA EVER and I have been staring starry-eyed at the comment threads. Go forth! I will go forth too when I am less dazed.

And, truncated text of a lovely meme: This post is a chance for me to go through my DW/LJ icons and post the ones that I have that feature female characters, whether by themselves, with other women, with men, or simply as part of a group (which wouldn't be whole without them). Why? Because the thing is, these women are all awesome, in their own unique ways.

Icons of ladies! Alas I don't have nearly as many as I like. But that is my perpetual icon lament. )
One of the things I am enjoying about Smallville is getting to play the "spot how other late '90s/early '00s shows also did a variation on this plot" game, although usually 'other shows' really means 'Buffy.' (Imagine my amused eye-rolling when Lana accidentally joins a vampire sorority presided over by Buffy Saunders, and James-Marsters-the-professor takes a moment to seriously declare, "Clark, there's no such thing as vampires.") When it's not taking cheap shots, though, Smallville does delightful things like the bodyswap episode (Lionel Luthor clearly beats out both Faith and Callisto-from-Xena in the People You Don't Want Possessing Your Body Awards) or the one-person-split-into-two-bodies episode (Dorky Xander vs. Competent Xander < Idealist Lex vs. Evil Lex. Sorry, Xander).

It probably sounds like my point is that I am a big fan of the Luthors (which is true! I am also a fan of the Blacks, and the Horsemen, and I'm sure I'd be a big fan of the Master's family if we'd ever met them, &c) but my actual point is that I started thinking about how cool personality-aspects-in-different-bodies episodes are. And how the aspects that get split are different depending on the character! For instance, in Buffy the split was meant to hit Buffy herself, to turn her into Ordinary Buffy and Super-Slayer, but when it got Xander, since he didn't have superpowers, it split him down a competence line. I'm not sure it would have worked the anticipated way on Buffy either, though! I think it would have more likely turned her into Insecure Lovesick Teenager Buffy and Competent Self-Sacrificing Leadership Buffy, and they would have both still had Slayer powers. On the other hand, with Willow we'd probably get Sweet Nerdy Willow and Dark Willow, so don't point personality-splitting radiation at just anyone, okay.

The problem is that once I start, I want to point personality-splitting radiation at everyone just to see what happens. Earnest, idealist Delenn vs. kill-you-mercilessly Delenn! Do-anything-for-a-story Chloe Sullivan vs. do-anything-for-her-friends Chloe! Awkward paternalistic librarian Giles vs. Ripper! Patient, dispensing-backhand-wisdom Methos vs. shanking-you-with-his-second-sword Methos! I keep thinking of more, but I will stop now. (If anyone wants to continue in comments, though, man, I could do this for hours.)

I wonder if Clark would turn into Ordinary Farm Boy Clark and Superman. Somehow, I think this works about as well as Ordinary Buffy and Super-Slayer. It is much more likely that he would turn into saves-his-friends-at-all-costs while smiling like a total sweetie Clark vs. some lying asshat. It's even worse than Merlin! I want to call out Gaius and Jonathan Kent and punch them for impressing on their wards the importance of secrecy unto sheer stupidity. God, Morgana and Lex should form a fucking support group.
i. Something I love about the slush pile is the names. Oh man, the names! They are fannish with weird regularity. Last week, I rejected queries by a Harris and a Rosenberg in succession. Today, I got to write a polite note to Mr. Scotty! I don't remember what his query was about, but I hope it was something like A Guide to Practical Engineering in the Twenty-Third Century.

ii. For some absurd reason, I am trying to work out Highlander and Buffy timelines. Because, y'know, the First Evil and the Bringers blew up all these Watcher headquarters, and Adam Pierson has this nice place in the English countryside where all the new Slayers can train! House rules: no practicing decapitation indoors, or, in fact, anywhere near Mr. Pierson. (What is wrong with me.)

iii. There is a pairing meme going around! I like memes. Under the cut. Comes with spoilers for s5 Doctor Who, the end of Babylon 5, minor ones for White Collar, and intentionally vague ones for BSG. )
I have lately (and by "lately" I mean "at various points over the last year or so") been absently tracking down and rewatching favorite childhood films. Among other things, I have discovered that [a] The Lion King is still totally awesome and [b] lots of those childhood films, especially the live action ones, make me cry. Large bits throughout Matilda made me tear up. The end of Homeward Bound made me sob! My inner child is totally bewildered, but apparently my inner child took for granted that the animals would get home or that movie narratives totally understood me and also, obviously, my brain would give me superpowers.

The point is, though, that when I was a kid, the only goddamn movie in the world that made me cry was The Land Before Time, when Littlefoot's mother dies. (You all cried. Don't lie.) I was always mildly embarrassed and totally bewildered when my parents cried at movies, especially at happy endings. But now ... I really love crying at things. I am working through how to phrase that without sounding odd? I think it's something about how I want to function as a sane adult, which means that occasionally I also want to bawl my eyes out because it's the end of Toy Story 3, and know that it's a good emotional outlet. I love good emotional outlets! It probably comes down to how I'd much rather cry because I've been emotionally touched than just because I'm stressed about something.

Some things that make me cry:

+ Vienna Teng songs (City Hall, Grandmother Song, & Lullaby for a Stormy Night)
+ vids to Vienna Teng songs (Lullaby for a Stormy Night, Doctor Who, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.)
+ most vids about awesome ladies being awesome (most consistently One Girl Revolution)
+ many films! Lilo & Stitch (anyone says "ohana means family" and I run for the tissues); Homeward Bound (the endiiiing); Return of the King (it's the Grey Havens! quick, run for the tissues!); Toy Story 3 (the endiiiiiiing, I COULDN'T EVEN SEE); Star Trek reboot (the first five minutes! and now that I have watched lots of TOS, I start crying at the end too, oh self).
+ the ending of Big Fish YES IT GETS ITS OWN BULLET POINT I THINK MY FRIENDS AND I COLLECTIVELY WENT THROUGH A WHOLE BOX OF TISSUES

So ... does anyone else do this? And by 'this' I mean either cry at any of these things also, or actively keep track of go-to things to cry to because emotional outlets are great. (Honestly I just like keeping lists of things that elicit emotional states. For instance, I also have a mental list of Hottest Things Ever, although eventually it'll need more on it than just a lieutenant colonel is being beaten. Strangely I don't have a mental list of Things That Always Make Me Happy, although the answer to that one might be "due South." Hm.)
I'm not quite sure how this came about -- probably it came into my head from the combination of a discussion on rereading Harry Potter and something I saw in the Thirty Days of Fanfic meme that's going around -- but I have been thinking about Fandom Firsts. Okay, you've got a new fandom: what was the first fic you remember reading? Did it make any lasting impact on your experience with said fandom? &c.

Here are some of mine!

Harry Potter, Good Omens, SGA, Doctor Who, due South, and Highlander. Most of these are RIDICULOUS. But I happily own my fannish absurdity! )

And what about you guys? If you do absurd things like imprint on old fic enough to remember it, I'd be fascinated to hear what it is. And seriously, don't be embarrassed. My stuff is all old school slash or Eliza Snape, okay, I will really not judge you.
aria: ([highlander] swordporn)
( Jul. 22nd, 2010 12:10 pm)
It is thunderstorming today! Quite reasonably, my desktop weather widget had a picture of lightning. I still stared at it in puzzlement for a good ten seconds, thinking, "It's ... cloudy with a chance of Quickenings?" /o\

And then, sitting down to work on my Highlander fic, I was quietly plot-outlining in my head when I was brought up short by sudden guilt. And it wasn't obligation guilt: I know enough about my writing process that I can prioritize a due South AU and a Babylon 5 rewatch and an Avatar season and &c &c as much as I want, but if I sit down and a Doctor Who fic comes out instead, that's what I'm damn well writing. So trying to write Highlander fic wasn't making me think, "Why am I doing this when I should be doing x instead?" but rather "Why am I writing Highlander fic at all?" and this brought me up short: I was feeling self-indulgent, and that apparently made me feel guilty. Uh, what? Fic-writing is for funsies and not profit, after all; it is by definition wonderfully self-indulgent. Apparently, the problem is that it's Highlander.

Cut for length; on fannish guilt, comparative 90s shows, active fandoms, and id-fic. )

Obviously the solution is to just write my ridiculous Highlander id-fic, not least because enthusiastic self-indulgence usually produces the best fannish writing. But I still feel weird and apologetic about it. OWN IT, SELF, OWN IT LIKE ALL THE OTHER AWESOME RUBBISH YOU LOVE.
What everyone has been linking to (and what doesn't necessarily deserve a signal-boost, but I am nevertheless enjoying the discussion it's generating): Diana Gabaldon's anti-fanfic blogpost.

I'm pretty sure that ye olde fandom circles have already covered all the ways that she is Wrong On The Internet -- everything from the flawed analogy of the creepy neighbor to her misinformed understanding of copyright law to the heinous tone of having the moral high ground for being Published For Reals and not writing any filthy, aesthetically displeasing fanwork -- but the point that made me tremble with rage was the assumption that fanfic is practice, that being Published For Monies is the only way to be a Legit Writer, and that if we're writing other people's characters we're just too lazy/uncreative/what-have-you to make up our own.

So let's break this down for a moment. In part this particular point got to me because, growing up, my parents were always supportive of my writing but also always at me to stop fucking around with fic and get some Legitimate Writing done. Eventually my rote defense became "It's practice! I'm getting feedback so that when I write my own stuff I'll already have the craft down." And for a while I even bought into this response myself, but ... One is not better than the other, and putting fanfic down on questions of morality or legitimacy or aesthetics is spectacularly missing every point. I only speak for myself here, obviously, but I write fanfic because I love interacting and having dialogue with the creative works that are close to my heart, and because being in a community of people who want to do the same thing is awesome beyond words.

Not entirely separately, I do want to be Published For Monies. Not all the stories in my head are dialogues with already-existing work, and while the fic-writing and the original-writing compulsion are related, I derive slightly different joys from each. I figure, if someone will pay me to do something that I love, that's excellent. (I also figure, if the universe turns out to be made of puppies and rainbows, I might end up having a tiny Yuletide fandom for my books or something. And that would be amazing.) But being Published For Monies doesn't make me a more Legit Writer, it just means I get money instead of comment threads. And even if I do manage to get published, I'm absolutely going to do what a handful of awesome fannish people do already, and keep writing fanfic.

So, with all due respect, fuck your legitimacy and moral policing, Ms. Gabaldon.

...And if that was too srs biznes, a couple of links!

1. A list of derivative works, like, y'know, Shakespeare and a bunch of musicals. Obviously new copyright law shifts the paradigm a bit, so I don't know how well it technically stands as a defense of transformative works, but it does get the damn point across.
2. Anti-fanfic bingo card. There's a bingo card for EVERYTHING, isn't there? It's sort of amazing how many of these Diana Gabaldon managed to go through.
+ I am signed up for Yuletide! I offered ten fandoms, and apparently both previous years I have only offered five. Either I am gaining fannish confidence or it's just that all of Canadian fandom is kind of obscure. (I am guessing the latter.) I see a few people have already put up their letters, but it is still perfectly kosher to wait until assignments go out, right?

- I am breaking up with Flash Forward. And no, it's not because CKR was only there for five minutes and also evil blah blah I am very tired of that, although it didn't help. It's more how they've had sexuality fail and racefail now, and when I discover that Eastwick is a lot better for my blood pressure than any other show airing on a US tv channel right now, I think it's time to step away from the television.

+/- Bits of my flist are starting to talk about Bitching Party. I am full of so much yearning jealousy! I am hesitant to tell myself "there is always next year" because, while I won't be in school, I'll still be halfway across the country and hopefully gainfully employed. But that's what requesting time off ahead of time is for, right? Ahhh entering the stage of my life where I can conceivably be fannish in a mobile way! Anyway. There's always next year. And I am going to WisCon, so that's all right.

+ SO MUCH TO WRITE. Those of you who have foolishly volunteered to look at the F/K/V AU? I'm probably going to stop dithering and send the first part out tonight. Whee writing.
The latest in SurveyFail: Ogi Ogas' journal is either flocked or baleeted. I'm now kind of sad I didn't stay up all night reading frantically through all the threads, because they were for the most part extremely intelligent and articulate and a lot of the things that make me really love fandom. Despite the threads' vanishment, though, I am in an extremely good mood, both because of fandom at large's awesome right now and because, how surprising, writing sex apparently puts me in a good mood. (And does not make me feel crushingly guilty! Yes, under the happiness for fandom I may still be seething a little about some of those survey questions.) Which brings me to my second point!

I have, as [personal profile] feverbeats coined it, a Your Kink Is Okay Meme, with commentporn requests. I haven't done all of them; still to be filled out are the requests Nacio/Oliver Wolf, keys, belonging or, alternately, Thom/Roger; Fraser/Kowalski, handcuffs; Albus/Gellert, crossdressing; Fraser/Kowalski, climbing equipment; sexswapped Blackcest, presumably with whichever Black family members you'd like; Theta/Simm!Master; and Sirius/dom!Remus, collar, orgasm denial, and if everyone does not head over and do that one I will be, um, a sad puppy, because I have heretofore undiscovered depths of glee for that prompt. I list these both as an IOU note to self and also because, if anyone else fancies any of these, this does not have to just be a See Aria Write Porny Things party. Feel free to write some yourself! Also feel free to go back and add more, although I can't promise to fill any out promptly; I'm coming down the summer vacation home stretch and am beginning to have some real-life social engagements (and packing!) to attend to.

This said, since it is also a See Aria Write Porny Things party, here are the prompts I actually filled:

Fraser/Rodney, handcuffs & Sheppard/Kowalski, puddlejumper sex -- these of course take place in the same universe, which is a universe that just yesterday I had decided I should not touch with a ten-foot pole, because now I have an awkward crossover OT4 on my hands and I am absolutely going to have to write more of this universe at some later point.

Remus/Sirius, crossdressing -- because obviously the world needs more Sirius Black in a skirt and eyeliner! Or, as [community profile] kinglets rather more articulately put it: busting gender paradigms is hot important hot AND important. \o/

Martha/Rose, bondage, a bomb -- which is also almost certainly part of a larger story, that fic I mentioned ages ago name of The Care and Feeding of Your Atomic Bomb, which is Martha/Rose in Pete's World with bonus human!Ten, and I am kind of motivated to write it again. Although at some later point.

And finally, because it is neither silly comment-ficcy nor Part Of Something Larger, something I like well enough on its own to have actually posted it at the fic journal: high on a stage be placed to the view -- Geoffrey/Darren and a line-through of R&G Are Dead whilst they're at university, because I suspect at this point that the Slings & Arrows fandom has only one singular bit of fanon, and that fanon is "Geoffrey and Darren, R&G Are Dead, university" and who am I to argue with that? My god, I want to write Darren ALL THE TIME.

Instead, because I am on a roll, I'm going to run off and write some more of the monster F/K/V which does, in fact, have a looming deadline.
Okay, you know what? SurveyFail is boggling me so massively that I think it is high time I did something about it. The thing is, though, that plenty of intelligent people who are much more qualified to talk about both the scientific and the sociological aspects than I am are already all over this, so I am entirely in favour but I don't have anything meaningfully original to contribute to the many ongoing threaded discussions.

But there is something I am qualified to do, as a member of fandom and as someone who is queer and female and really, really fucking tired of all the heteronormative and gender-essentialist and generally ignorant things that the survey-makers are saying (this is probably one of my favourite threads, and by favourite I mean I read slash is kind of the female equivalent of the straight male interest in transsexuals and my brain considered going into total meltdown). I am qualified to feel as normal and un-guilty about my sexuality as I damn well please, and because a lot of the time it collides with my fannishness anyway, I declare this a comment fic request post.

But this one is specifically for porny prompts. Let's resurrect the sexual trivia meme! Throw one of your kink bingo squares at me! Tell me to tie Fraser up again! (Why yes, I am being specific about that one. Although I'll tie someone else up if that's your bag.) Anything goes, though I do reserve the right to say "what, hah, no, I'm not going to write this thing, but if you want to, totally go for it." Let's hear it. :D
aria: ([doctor who] dangerous undercurrents)
( Aug. 31st, 2009 01:41 pm)
Some fairly random miscellany to dump. In no particular order:

i. In the spirit of procrastination, I'm rewatching a Best Of Flashpoint. To my vague surprise I actively ship Ed/Greg this time, and my crush on Jules may be bigger than my crush on Ed. Possibly this calls for one of those "fictional women I have crushes on" posts; I am not doing one right this second only because I don't have crushes on any of the women in due South exceptmaybevictoria and Fraser in a dress does not actually fix this terrible problem.

ii. A fic rec: Three of Cups, which is a Harry/Dumbledore fic but please, please don't let that stop you. I went in to beta it expecting to put on crackfic goggles to spare myself the pain, and instead between beta corrections found myself typing things to the tune of, "Why didn't JKR follow through on these themes?? My god this is AMAZING," so yes. It comes really, really recommended.

iii. I didn't hear about it until today, but it's sure as hell worth mentioning: there's this neuroscience survey about fandom going around. It wants to examine the innate biological differences between male and female brains; it's condescendingly fascinated by fandom phenomenons like Kink Bingo; it's written by people who are outside the fandom and obviously don't know how to even begin dealing with fandom discourse. DON'T TAKE IT. Here is an in-depth explanation; here are some helpful links to discussion. I wanted to see what the actual survey questions are (at the moment; they keep changing, which should let the methodology speak for itself) and it's possible to go through the survey without answering any of the questions, but I did this in the knowledge that they do have my IP address logged now.

I think there were actual Emma-Watson-circa-GoF eyebrow gymnastics going on while I was reading through the survey. There were the out of left field questions; there were your usual "We assume you must read slash for a particular set of reasons, listed below, and we want you to chose from them without additional input space" questions; there were the "obviously all slash has a dom and a sub character; it's time for a heterosexual assumptions party!" questions; there was fabulous question 5, What is your relationship status? for which the only responses were married, single, in a committed long-term relationship, and other, which kind of boggles me because even Cosmo and, um, possibly Facebook, know better than that.

I am really particularly fond of question 20, though. It wants to know if you can remember a number of seemingly arbitrary things, the last of which is the first time you felt guilty about a sexual feeling, and this kind of sums up the whole problem for me, that assumption. Most, if not all, of the other things listed there are apparently normal things that one might have memories of, although I can't say what my favourite TV show in sixth grade was because we didn't have TV, and it's entirely possible that someone taking the survey won't yet have a first kiss to remember, and &c. Am I supposed to have felt guilty about a sexual feeling? I'm sure it's all tied up (argh unintentional pun forgive me) with Kink Bingo and with enjoying slash and all those other funny fandom practices! There must be some guilt in there somewhere. And you know what? No. Fuck that noise.

In the main when people outside of fandom try to talk about fandom -- the perennial and recurring "wow, slash! what a strange little subculture! how those heterosexual white women in their thirties like to spend their free time, golly!" article blurbs, the recent School Library Journal article that appears to believe that fanfic is the province of Harry Potter and Twilight, and that if you tell your middle schooler to simply google 'fan fiction' you might have even the slimmest chance of not turning up some porn on the first page -- I find it ... I don't know what word I'm looking for. I hear the tone of condescension and rather than getting my hackles raised I mostly just feel condescension in return. In this particular case, though, I want to firmly escort the survey-makers the hell off my lawn, or whatever the appropriate metaphor is; I think I'm finally tired of being qualified and explained away by people who have no idea what the fuck they're talking about.
aria: ([due south] team)
( Aug. 26th, 2009 11:48 am)
Here's that Why Due South Is Important To Me post I mentioned earlier!

This is not a post about why due South in general is awesome and should be watched & fannishly participated in; I'm not going point-for-point on all the characters or best moments or scenes of wacky subtext. This is certainly a "due South is awesome" post, but it is not my normal sort of "show is awesome" post. [Actually, if a normal "show is awesome" post is your bag, I made a Why Aria Loves Due South picspam in February, back in my first bout of love.] This is instead about why I specifically and in context love it, which means I'm going to be talking about Aria-specific likes, and about the fandom and the show in relation to other things.

Why Aria Loves Due South: the much less picspammy and more wordy edition; massive character love, the elements that really ping me, and the fandom in context, among other things. )
Because of the Five Things meme that is going around, I've seen lots of people post answers to "five favourite canon ships" and I had a sudden brainwave: miraculously, I have a new system that helps me separate my OTPs with those other things I like to ship. That system is: I assume my OTPs are actually canon. I'm not sure this is a hard-and-fast rule, and it might also make me slightly nuts, because most of my OTPs are not actually canon, but I think it's a cool shorthand.

And because I am a little compulsive and like mapping out my fannish whatevers, here is my ship list, with OTPs and those other things I ship. Please adjust your tinhats before takeoff.

I have more OTPs than I thought, actually: fifteen under the cut, plus a couple of extra ships. )

So does this identifying-your-OTPs method also work for you? Are any of my 'canon' ships so astonishingly laughably not-canon that you don't know quite what to do with them? What are your OTPs? These questions intrigue me!
A couple links, of varying importance:

i. I've been fairly quiet regarding the warnings debate in which fandom is currently engaged. (Here is a fairly comprehensive list of various posts; where would we be without delicious these days!) I really don't have much to contribute in the way of relevant discussion, mostly because I can't wrap my head around hearing someone say, "This is hurting me," and being able to respond with, "It's your problem, not mine." In any case, many people who take a similar view have already said it better than I could; in particular I'd like to link [personal profile] oliviacirce's post On Being A Village Elder, as I think it articulately covers all the things I don't quite know how to say.

ii. In much less serious news, [personal profile] wintercreek is getting married in a couple of weeks, and thus is holding an Online Fannish Bachelorette Party! Ficlet prompts are supplied, with fandom suggestions but also wild cards; as [personal profile] wintercreek says, Do not feel limited by my fandoms - the best parties are the ones where your friend brings her sister, who brings those guys who live next door with the tattoo artist, right? Right! Go play, the party's great. :D
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