who only by moving can balance

I was feeling a little bad for increasingly going "this book... is a weirdly Christianised vaguely-[culture]-flavoured bad A:tLA knockoff" and then I read the acknowledgements, wherein the first expression of thanks was to a clearly-Christian god followed, a bit later, by acknowledgement of Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino as storytelling inspirations.

Whereupon it struck me that it absolutely contained an extended scene involving memories of children running laughing around a now-desecrated littered-with-bones temple, and all of a sudden I found myself much less able to seriously entertain the idea that the extent to which I was going "... really" meant I was A Bad Person.

(I feel it would be a bit mean to be this scathing if I were naming it, but I wanted to share my amusement and am not above individual personal warnings-off if you want to know the title & author!)

(I appear to be avoiding both my mother and my counsellor. Hmm.)

1. Baby's first paper! (Sadly now lacking the phrase "the hair loss of a rabbit", oh well.)

2. I have learned Yet More about how to bend matplotlib to my will.

3. Awesome ex-housemate C is coming over for dinner & to get caught up on Korra s3.

4. Hel came over again yesterday and we watched what is possibly my favourite Elementaepisode ever (1x04, "people are the most fascinating puzzles there are") and talked a lot and I made enough food that I had lunch today. Also many talking. (And they've offered to bring me dinner @ work next Wednesday when I'll be mass-speccing!)

5. elisem keeps right on making beautiful art; the thing that is currently producing jaw-dropped awe on my part is Time For The Second Act (other's I've adored from this batch - also now gone! - are Alluvial Magic, Night Protocols, How The Message Travels).

6. I have wrenched the work inbox back under 10 e-mails in total (i.e. things I need to keep half an eye on and maybe chased up), plus actually done some chasing on one of the things.

7. All of you folk for the hugs/tea/congratulations/interesting conversation over the past few days -- sorry I haven't responded individually <3

8. We have been having persistent problems with our house plumbing. Last weekend housemate acquired a heavy-duty plunger; since then I have twice effected a 90-second fix that would otherwise have taken us a week of stress and contacting the estate agent. Such an improvement to our quality of life. (Speaking of, I should really, er, tidy the pantry? We kind of bought ~15kg of flour and ~10kg of pasta a week or two ago and haven't yet rearranged the pasta shelf sufficient to accommodate it all...)

9. Watching A:tLA with t'housemate. It continues the show of my heaaaaaart, and even at this stage - on what has to be my fourth or fifth complete watch-through since I first met it in summer 2011 - I am spotting new things and bursting into tears at gloriously careful and precise foreshadowing and how much these children grow up and how much trauma they survive and how none of it - none of it - is treated flippantly or dismissively. (And reading the awesome Avatar!Katara fic jedusaur's been reccing everywhere! I'm not entirely convinced by the writing style but I think the way it's set up is very clever and frequently heartbreaking; I devoured the first 120k words over the course of yesterday, when I mostly refused to get out of bed, and I have the rest to work on... but I'm going to try to get my Hugo reading, at least the written fiction categories, done first.)

10. I just... am incredibly aware of how lucky I am to have this housemate I get on with so comfortably and so well, with whom I actively enjoy living, who is good for me & who I can be good for, and just... yes. Yes. Good.

Two words: compulsory heterosexuality.

As so often with fannish wossnames, I have randomling to thank for pushing me to this realisation/articulation. Spoilers for S1 follow.

( Spoilers for S1. )

I kind of feel like this is cheating because I've only got 19 works on AO3? But whatever, it is something other than my brain melting out of my ears as I continue to contemplate mass extinctions.

( Read more... )

SO THERE WE GO.

( And by kudos... )

In which I accidentally a Zuko icon while checking canon. From the final episode of the show:

If you're an Avatar: the Last Airbender & Korra fan, then you should probably be a member of white_lotus.

And if you're not, you should definitely, definitely go and watch this fanvid right now - the first item of this Lunar New Year Exchange. I. I know I should save up all my recs til the end of the exchange? But I have now watched this vid twice, and I only haven't watched it more because I end up in floods of tears by 10 seconds in and I can do without that on top of the bit where my sinuses are already filled with glue.

TEARS. EVERYWHERE.

And, yes, the aspect ratio is wrong, and it could be a shinier technically? But the story. The story and the passion and the themes of power and responsibility and trust and support and. #SOBBING #ENDLESSTEARS

Avatar: the Legend of Korra, sequel series to Avatar: the Last Airbender, is now on episode 8. It's had its ups and downs, but I'm really enjoying it so far.

What I'm enjoying rather less is the fandom commentary. Unfortunately, people seem to have decided that one of the characters is trans* -- and a lot of the speculation and conversation around this topic seems to me ill-informed at best. (Obviously, I don't and can't speak for all trans* people.) Most of the points I'm making arise from blab's essay on the topic (spoilers up to and including ep 8), but this is mostly because that's how I first became aware of the conversation, and I don't feel up to seeking out more examples.

To be clear: I'm queer and trans*, and specifically I'm non-binary (see icon!). I would love for Korra to contain trans* or queer characters. It would make my year. As a result, much of this mini-essay is deeply personal, which is why I've written it up in my own journal, rather than leaving at as a comment in a place that isn't "mine"; I'm happy for people to discuss the points I make in comments, but I ask you to respect the fact that I might not be able to engage in all threads myself.

There are two key areas I want to address in brief: the language being used in the discussion, and the actual details leading people to speculate.


Point the first: language/framing
This section is a general primer and contains no spoilers.

A lot of the language being used in this conversation is not language that trans* people tend to use about themselves. This is a pity; it would be awesome if the ongoing conversation were a little more sensitive. Particular examples include:

• "transman", "transpeople", "transwomen", etc. Preferred terms are generally "trans man", "trans people", "trans women", as discussed by Transkitten and recommended by Press for Change.
  
• speculating over whether or not someone is trans* full stop is generally considered disrespectful and in poor taste. Yes, it's different (sort of) if it's a fictional character, but some of the conversation feels to me like it's edging into skeevy Erika Moen-style fetishisation, and people need to watch that.

( Spoilers/speculation up to and including episode 8. )


Frankly, I would be absolutely astonished (though delightedly so) if even a show as generally non-faily as A:tLA/A:tLOK featured a trans* character without making it visible, as they did Toph and Teo's disabilities; and I think (again, speaking only for myself) that in order to remain respectful of and safe for trans* fans, any speculation in this area needs to remain aware of that context.

edit: I've been asked (out of band) why (or whether) I am reacting so differently to this suggestion vs queering canonically heterosexual characters. I don't inherently object to fic (or other media!) containing trans* characters (I've written some), because seeing representations of People Like Me is nice. What I do object to is the are-they-aren't-they that's going on regarding canon: this kind of speculation is used to undermine trans* people's expressed identities every day, directly and indirectly: among social circles when you're not there, as street harrassment -- if you can think of it, it happens. Consequently, seeing it done by my fandom? Makes me pretty uncomfortable.

O dear, eheu, oi moi, etc. A wailing and a gnashing of teeth!¹

I am awake. It is three in the morning. This is sub-optimal. It is especially sub-optimal because my sleep cycle has been kind of shot recently², and tonight I actually got to bed by about 10.30.

Why, then, am I not asleep?

Because I have been coughing so hard that my eyes are getting bloodshot, my sternum hurts when I breathe, and surgery scars are acting up. It is not fun okay.

Therefore I shall offer you evidence of my doings in times recent. The journal of the thrice-esteemed noldo contains one conversation and one perplexed clementine. Below the cut you will find an (unbeta'd, concrit welcome) A:tLA fic. And, do you know, between that and coughing and watching this Dr Who fanvid on loop, that's about all I've been up to.

¹ Teeth? Will be provided.
² Winning combination of grief and stress and depression. See also: reasons I have not been terribly social.

( A fic! )