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I was chatting to Fu last night and she said someone big in fandom had died, but I didn't ask too much since the fandoms Fu does are different from the ones I do so I thought I wouldn't know them. Then when checking my f-list today I noticed likespring mentioning it was Minotaur who died. I remember Minotaur's sex tips for slash writers. Of course I do!

Fandom is something I've done for a long time now. You could say I know when I first hit fandom, it's when I first saw Star Trek. When I was in my second year of high school so 97? Maybe it wasn't really fandom back then, because it was just me, but I saw star trek and fell in love. I remember watching Star Trek for the first time, and I remember the first book I bought, a star trek novel. I remember the first internet scearch I did, which was for reviews of the new Star Trek movie, Insurection, which nicely dates my aquisition of the internet to late 98, early 99. I remember finding my first fanfiction. This was back in the day when nat access was on dial up and therefore we were limited to an hour a day, and I remember, on that first fanfiction reading session, not finishing the story and printing it out, then reading it later in bed, so I still have somewhere the printed version of the first fanfiction I ever read. I remember running to my dad in exctiement to tell him I'd found all these Star Trek stories online and I could read as many and I wanted for free. I remember, when I got more net savy, opening windows before I logged of so I could maximise my net time to finding fanfic to get me through the rest of the day/evening. I remember talking myself up to writing my first fanfic, and posting it. I opened my ff.net account in Feburary of 2000 when I was 14.

I also remember how I got into slash. It was my final year of high school, probably in 2001. I found, through browsing articles, an accademic article on Slash fandom. I was intriequed. It was new and exciting, taking the old characters that I loved and making new interpretations of them. I didn't have to accept that in space everyone was straight, in space you could be gay too. It was an exciting new door I'd never opened before. I read everything I could around it, every article I could find so before I even t ouched slash fanfiction I knew more about the history and mechanics of slash then most people in the fandom. It took me a while to get up the courage to actually read and write slash, but from those early discoveries it was an inevitability.

A lot of the web sites I visited early on where I learned what slash is are lost to me now, long gone into the mists of time, but one I to remember is Minotaur's sex tips for slash writers. I don't think it's any exadgeration to say that his page changed how a generation of slash writers think and write about slash. It certainly very much informed my writing. He's not someone I ever spoke to personally, but he is someone who shaped fandom around us. Even if you've never read his site yourself, the ideas you see around fandom about how sex should be written probably relate to him. I'm reading over other people's memories now and it all takes me back, things I hold as given, things that have stuck with me and which I was being annoyed about seeing done badly just days ago, came from him. I never knew him as a person so I can't say I'll miss a friend as so many can, but he's changed the way I see fandom, the way I experience fandom, and helped in opening up a whole new world to me. Slash fanfiction might not seem like a lot of some people but it's meant one hell of a lot of me over the years and I'm sure I'd be a very different person now if I'd never discovered it.

I think, this week, I'm going to find time to re-read his site. It seems a strange way to pay tribute to someone, but it's one of the major contributions he made to fandom and we should make sure we don't forget it. He reached out and touched people he's never met, and from what I can gather from people who did meet him he was a genuinely loving and caring man who made the lives of those around him better. I think that all slash writers should acnowledge and remember him this week, for even if you've never heard of him before today he has almost certainly shaped your fandom in some way.

Minotaur's sex tips for slash writers

Title: Well, fuck
Fandom/original: Fullmetal Alchemist
Characters: Roy/Ed
Rating: PG-13 (lots of swearing, implication of sex)
Word count: 622

I'm a bit worried about writing this pairing at this point, since I've been reading Rainjoy all weekend so I'm probably writing Rainjoy's Ed and Roy rather then my own interpretations but, oh well.

Written for dailyprompt at dreamwidth.


( Under the cut )

Ep 39 of soul eater

I thought I knew waht was going to happen because I thought I'd read spoilers but omfg that so wasn't what I was expecting. Crona! It was amazing, I swear if I was writing the scene as Crona/Maka fanfiction I would have made it exactly the same way. I'm such a happy fangirl, once I've had dinner I'm going to have to go and watch it again! It even made my cry a little...I would have probably bawled my eyes out if I wasn't sat in the living room with Anna.

Oh, and Clannad after story made my cry earlier today (last scene of ep 12). I've been having a crying at anime day, apparently. Why do I not have any friends up to date with coul eater anime I can phone and fangirl at?

This is too good NOT to share!

Science by the medium of interprative dance!

Help Rape Crisis in a few easy steps.

Bechdel test -
1. It has to have at least two women in it,
2. Who talk to each other,
3. About something besides a man.[4][5]

I will apply this test to the random 1st eps we're watching tonight. It's much easier for a series to pass the test then a movie because of the increased length (the rule was written for movies) but I'll have a go anyway.

Hidamai Sketch - Passes! Though this is a key example of the type of anime that immediatley spring to mind when I think of the Bachdel test, ones where the entire cast is composed mostly of schoolgirls and men aren't mentioned. Presumably, as men aren't mentioned at early, we are meant to view these as your girls who aren't old enough to deal with relationships yet. It almost reminds me of the romantic friendships that used to exist in the west, where homo-romantic relationships were encouraged as a kind of preperation for the intimacy of marriage which would come later. Hidamari sketch also spends too much time with the girls, who are all cute and sweet, obsessing over their apperances and weight to get any real feminist street cred, but it's a start.

Dark buttler effort thing - Fails! Only one woman, mainly concerned with falling over in a moe manner and impressing the butler guy. She's also incompetent but that's not so much of an issue as all three side characters are equally incompetent and two of them are men. Do Japanese men really find ridiculously clumsy women who can't stand on their own feet for more then ten minutes that attractive? She can't even hit a glass with a drink. If I actually wanted to attract Japanese men I'd be really upset about all the effort I took to stop falling of chairs and being horribly clumsy earlier in life.

Lovely complex - Passes! Nobu and Risa talk about tests for like two lines...and Chiharu-chan too! See, they soon ervert to talking about guys but...yeah...for a while! It passes, damnit! I love this show so much! OTANI-KUN! And Saiko-chan. Gambate, Risa-chan. T_T I love this so much! I want to finish it and rewatch the bits I've already soon...bear stew and all. Risa and Otani are such dorks! Iwant to do this in an all-nighter so much but I just KNOW it would result in my crying...I mean, it does anyway...yeah. Oh I love this show so VERY much!

Frieball - Fail! Too be fair, it has two characters and they're both robots. Though one is female and one is male so still no.

Chocolate underground - Fail! Nope, no women talking to each other here. There is actually a scene where a young woman talks to an older woman who is her carer but I'm not counter mother(female adult)/child interactions.

Tower of Druaga - Fail! Doesn't even seen to have two women in the same scene. There's a scene where tentacles burst from the ground and mollest a girl...this doesn't seem to be feminist friendly. Other then that it's kind of cute, and I know what it was taking the piss of so I'll forgive it...Very funny. I think after this battle I'll return to my hometown and get married.

Now I give up because I need to go write some words for me Nano XD That is all.

Rabbit and cider stew is delicious. And I got mash potoatoes and dumplings and top gear also, all of which make me a happy girl. We're now watching Stephen Fry IN AMERICA. I need to do some more writing. Went to a writing meet today, it was ok. We're going to have a write-in on Wednesday so I should get some more word count done then.

Was going to write more last night, then I drank a bottle of wine. I can't write after I've drunk, even if I've only drunk a little. And I didn't just drink a little.

Dragon eggs, because I'm one of the cool kids.



Also, I have a headache. It makes me sad.

Me:
God, are you an idiot?
God:
I am a Christian.

Me:
Nick said they serve good cider in Hell
God:
Not many people express themselves that way.

Me:
Will you vote for McCain?
God:
Barring any unforseen circumstances. Ask me another question.

Me:
God...do you ever watch Heroes?
God:
GOD rules. My favorite show is STAR TREK VOYAGER.

http://www.titane.ca/igod/

Meme time!


1. Post a list of up to 20 books/movies/anime/TV shows/video games/etc. that you've had an obsessive fannish love interest in at some time in your life.
2. Have your f-list guess your favorite character from each item.

1. Bleach
2. Naruto
3. Soul Eater
4. Buffy the vampire slayer
5. Enterprise
6. Hellsing
7. Harry Potter
8. Pani Poni Dash
9. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
10. Tenchi Muyo
11. Hairspray
12. Azumanga Daioh
13. The melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
14. Lucky Star
15. Top Gear
16. Heroes
17. Lovely Complex
18. Phoenix Wright
19. Genshiken
20. Read or Die

(Yeah...some of them are more vague likes...I decided I was going to have 20 then...yeah...)

Also, should I do Nano this year. I wasn't going to but the more I think about it, I'm getting won over to the idea. It's probably a bad thing. Guess I'll look over my novel notes tomorow and see if it's in a state I can Nano it. Got other writing commitments coming up too and need to fire of another round of Yuri_challenge. Maybe collect prompts through November?

Yeah...

Oh, and brining laptop to anime soc is actually a great idea. I should do this more often.

Hello. I seem to have survived a week of work. Well, a week of induction. My head is buzzing with protocols and names and faces. There are more commitees here then you would believe! And I'm taking the training manual home with me to try and get my head around it before I have a meeting with my supervisor on monday.

But, other then that and my stupidly breaking my bike (I'm a genius) life is good. I've got my new laptop, we're all up and running, I'm on it right now. Things are going well in other ways. I'm mostly happy, which is nice :) When I'm happy I feel like I don't have much to say.

Oh yeah, I'm going to the London expo XD My mum agreed to let me, so I'm happy about that (though now I have to get my cosplay spruced up in time).

All in all, I'm doing good.

Hey everyone, it's meme time!

If you're on my friends list, I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... you're on my list, so I want to know you better!

Comment here and repost a blank one on your own journal.

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
28) Do you believe in ghosts?
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
30) Do you swear a lot?
31) Biggest pet peeve?
32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
34) Favourite and least favourite food?
35) Do you believe in God?
36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

OMFG it's an update! Nick must be back becasue I was drunk last night.

Random, did you lot (and by that I probably mean Chloe as she's the only one who'd care) know that Reclaim the night London doesn't allow transwomen to march? That's disapointing because I'm sure as hell never attending now. If we're not reclaiming the nights for some of the most vulnerable women, are specifically excluding these vulnerable women, then I certainly don't want anything to do with it.

Anyway, what have I done this week? Not a lot. I'm mostly enjoying living in a house with friends, it turns out to be quite fun. I like this casual socialising malarky that happens when you run into someone in your own living room. Quite nice. Not a lot's gone on, really. We have a full house again, Anna and I hatched some evil plans and put stuff on the hallway walls, I ordered some bookcases, that's about it.

We went out to the pub last night and got drunk, that was fun. Sam kept telling us how much he misses Rupert which, for some reason, lead to a load of us texting him with declerations of love, including Nick asking him to marry him, which was great fun at the time. My phone keeps breaking because Fuko-chan is too awsome which makes me sad, but it's working at the minute so I won't tempt fate. Don't care much about other conversations...the guy at the bar got deeply excited when he realised I drank malt whiskey, that was amusing. I decided to have a little and the first guy at the bar was like "Oh, we don't have any of that, here, have this bourbon, it's higher precentage" and I was like "gtfo" then the other guy came over and started making recomendations and got all excited.

Anyway, it was a good night out.

And tonight, with any luck, we're going to have an adventure in bookcase building, since they should be delivered today and there is assembly required. It will be an exciting adventure and, hopefully, after that I'll be able to have my books off the floor and onto some shelves.

Yay, shelves.

Fandom character meme questions answers...

( Click )

Today we bought a shiny new sofa to replace our broken one. Yay for things that aren't broken. Hopefully people will give me the money for it back soon, then I shall be content! Today has, in a general sense, been a good day.

Have a meme. It looks fun, questions from everyone plz, the wackier the better (even if you don't care about the outcome).

1) Make a list of twenty-two characters first, and keep it to yourself for the moment. (That way you're not leading the questions asked to fit the characters.)

2) Ask your flist to post questions in the comments.

For example:

'One, Nine, Fifteen and Twenty-One are chosen by a prophecy to save the world from Four. Do they succeed?'
'Under what circumstances might Five and Seven fall in love?'
'Which character on the list would you most want on your side in a zombie invasion?'
'What would Two experience in Silent Hill?'
'What Pokémon would Eight have?'
'Write a drabble in which Sixteen and Nineteen FIGHT CRIME.' </lj>(...possibly not technically a question.)

3) After your flist has asked enough questions, round them up and answer them using the twenty-two characters you selected beforehand, then post them.

( Last night I had a dream, to spare those who don't care. )

And a fanfiction meme -

If you had me under your command and could make me write anything, regardless of whether or not I know the fandom or if anybody even writes fic in that fandom and no matter how crack-addled it might be, what would you love to see me write?

And ending with a meme that I don't think anyone will do, but I'll throw it in anyway...

[1] Go to my list of fics and pick out a line or three from one of my stories.
[2] I will respond with which story of mine I think it's from. I promise I won't cheat, but I may not actually know the title.
[3] A drabble of choice for the first four of you that manage to stump me!

My writing journal

So, I have four pairs of jeans, a set of pjamas, two sets of bed linen and a duvet that I didn't have this morning. That means my mum is starting to get nervous about me going and insisting on buying my Useful Things I Might Need. She's already starting to annoy me about whether or not I've got everything. Very annoying.

I have 4 days to finish packing my life up, then I have to load it into the car, be driven across the country, and then unpack it again. Unpacking it is the easy part, appart from hanging my posters which always takes ages.

Three weeks tomorow I start at the John Innes. Trying not to think about that one too much right now.

It's odd, I feel almost reluctant to leave. I think it's because this time I'm not coming back, not to live, not for at least four years. This time I'm not really a student any more, not in the traditional sense. Norwich is going to be wierd too.

I've got a list of things i'm worried about as long as my arm and it's a good job I couldn't find my phone last night or I would have been sending self-destructive text messages.

I'm sure once I get to Norwich and I'm settled in and work's started up i'll be fine, it's just the waiting the gets to me. I can't help but feel that something's wrong and I can't help but worry.