acrimonyastraea

Torchwood Miracle Day

2011-08-15T18:34:17Z

This show. It is so bad.   I'm now watching for the trainwreck factor.

I remember hearing how great it was going to be that it would be on Starz, so we would get REAL sex scenes. With Captain Jack! Who wouldn't want that?   If it was Captain Jack of Doctor Who series 1 I would totally be on board, but s4 Jack is kind of an old fuddy duddy in comparison, and that has nothing to do with Barrowman's age. Also.. when did Jack become gay and stop flirting with women?

Of course I have to compare this New! Sexy! Premium channel Torchwood! with the first two seasons, which might not have been explicit but had a lot of not-very-conventional sex. True, a lot of it was, er, problematic, especially in the first half of season 1. So the new Torchwood should be extra racey!  Except not. It feels like it's been written by someone who thinks that acknowledging the existence of gay men and having one gay sex scene is pushing the boundaries. Have we gone back in time? Did Queer as Folk never happen?

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Random thought

2011-08-05T20:01:01Z

Women have complicated responses to female characters.

I wish more people could just accept that and stop insisting that female character X must be hated in the name of feminism or loved in the name of feminism.

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Abuse in anti-oppression communities (edited)

2011-07-27T13:12:40Z

(trigger warning for rape, abuse)

It's hard when someone who is supposed to be against oppression, who explicitly says they are feminist or anti-oppression or supportive of equal rights and justice, does something that goes against everything that social justice is about. At one end there are people who simply have a blind spot, who fail to acknowledge their own privilege and how they exercise it in the name of their kind of social justice.

( Cut for triggers )

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Cheered up

2010-12-10T15:19:09Z

Ok, I was very much cheered up by this review of the pilot of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

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acrimonyastraea @ 2010-12-07T09:43:00

2010-12-07T15:05:31Z

I am so burnt out on LJ/DW discussions. I've gone down to mostly lurking, but that's not really helping. I just don't feel engaged, and a lot of the recent uproars have only made me feel frustrated with the whole thing. I really need to step back and find something to engage in that is productive for me, so I'm not just looking for something to get all opinionated about because I need something to do.

I'm just really put off current online disucssions of issues that actually do mean a lot to me.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point. This is where I usually get the urge to cut and run, and start over. But I don't really want to do that. Definitely unfollowing some communities, at the very least.

So I might continue being pretty quiet. I'm probably not likely to talk much about srs bsns issues.

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D:

2010-11-23T18:53:23Z

Gmail has been sending all my livejournal notifications to Spam. Whyyyyyyyyyy?

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Food, books, art journalling

2010-11-18T16:38:29Z

So sleepy.

And annoyed with all of my lunch choices. The cafeteria isn't serving anything good today, and I'm so tired of all of the quick food places nearby, which are limited to Arby's, Little Caesar's, a local hamburger place, and Subway. There are several nice restaurants, but they are sloooooooow. I need to get my food and hurry back so I can keep reading book 2 of Lord of the White Hell, which I am almost finished with.

Since Yaoicon is over and I haven't had the pressure to make things to sell I've been focusing on artsy stuff for myself, mostly art journalling. It's something I haven't put enough time into so I'm still practicing techniques. I've never done much actual journalling, and don't plan to because I just don't enjoy it. But I am doing pages for various characters I roleplay and will expand to never-to-be-written story ideas and other fictional things that get stuck in my head.

My problem at the moment is pens. I've tried several of the pens recommended by other art journallers and they just aren't writing well on all the layers of gesso and paint and watercolor crayons and gel medium or whatever is on the pages. The only thing working well are the Sharpie Poster Paint markers (which aren't really fun to write with unless I'm doing bold, fancy words) and the Precision Pen by American Crafts, which doesn't come in colors that will show up on really dark backgrounds. BAH.

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With friends like these

2010-11-17T23:35:18Z

(trigger warning for links, for discussion of sexual assault and potentially triggering images)

Sociological Images highlighted an ad campaign by an organization called Fly With Dignity that's trying to bring attention to the invasive and potentially traumatizing new procedures by the TSA.

It's an admirable goal but damn do their ads suck misogynist rape culture ass.

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Lord of the White Hell, again

2010-11-15T15:55:19Z

I've had limited time to read, but I am completely hooked on Lord of the White Hell. It is so good! I had to force myself to put it down at 11 last night. Love love love. It is exactly the kind of book I want to read when I'm looking for escapist romance. I want more like this!

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Lord of the White Hell

2010-11-12T17:29:37Z

29 pages into Lord of the White Hell by Ginn Hale and I'm already hooked. Yessssssss.

Downside: An actual book is so much harder than the Nook to hide and read when work is slow. Damn.

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Turnskin by Nicole Kimberling

2010-11-10T14:18:24Z

Turnskin by Nicole Kimberling was my airplane reading while travelling to and from California and I really enjoyed it. Very fun and easy reading, with some commentary on race, gender and marginalization. I went to the publisher's table at Yaoicon on Sunday and unfortunately I must have missed both authors I wanted to meet, dammit. I picked up another book by her, and two by Ginn Hale whose Wicked Gentlemen was fantastic. I'm really not a huge fan of pro m/m books and haven't read that many, but Turnskin and Wicked Gentlemen were much better than I expected. I'm also going to have to order the Tangle Girls Anthology! Woot!

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New Doctor Who deleted scene

2010-11-08T23:37:55Z

There was a lot of controversy over the ending scene of the s5 Doctor Who episode "Flesh and Stone." Many people were upset that it made a joke of Amy trying to push herself on an unwilling and unconsenting Doctor. I have mixed feelings about it, myself.

I just saw the cut scene that bridges Flesh and Stone with the next ep, Vampires of Venise, which is making the rounds.

It's a shame it was cut because it gives more explanation for Amy's behavior at the end of Flesh and Stone, and adds more depth to her as a character, providing some understanding of her relationship with men. It doesn't excuse her behavior... her attitude toward men isn't exactly progressive or necessarily healthy. But it is part of who she is, and it provides a ton of fodder for thinking about why she is who she is.

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Post-vacation blahs plus cold=misery

2010-11-08T15:26:00Z

blarg.

Two weeks of vacation and I come back to work today with a cold.

Yaoicon was much fun. I don't do much actual con stuff as it's mostly an excuse to dress up in funky clothes/costumes and hang out with friends I only see once a year. This year one person I would have liked to have seen couldn't make it, but a couple annoyances also couldn't make it, so it was relatively quiet, which is how I like it.

There were lots of steampunk costumes this year. I've never seen so many corsets at yaoicon! And the highlight for me, several groups cosplaying Weiss Kreuz! One group even had Manx and Reiji Takatori OMG. It was awesome. Also talked to an adorable couple cosplaying Sora and Sunao from Sukisho! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Fullmetal Alchemist and Final Fantasy cosplayers were fewer in number than in previous years.

Someone hosted a Misogyny in Yaoi Fandom panel, but since I was selling at the Fan Market I didn't make it. I'm kind of burnt out on the topic TBH, but it would have been interesting to see how it went at Yaoicon, considering all the acrimony leveled at yaoi fans in online disucssions.

Came home with some yaoi art, but also fanart of Lightning and a Fang/Lightning piece I commissioned.

Also, my friend who was staying with me before and after was sent home to England yesterday. It was strange to be home alone last night. The cats seem to be happy to get back to the normal routine, though.

Now I am exhausted and trying to get through the day at work. Will probably go home at noon, so I just have to make it another hour and a half.

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ugh

2010-10-23T11:50:25Z

I made the mistake of having dinner with my mom and her husband last night. I spent the night arguing that

Barack Obama is not extreme or socialist
England is not socialist
Yes there is still racism
No, it wouldn't be a good idea to let the states privatize the roads.

My mom's husband is seriously aggravating to deal with.

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um, fail.

2010-10-22T18:57:31Z

Hey people!

unsafe space =/= place where most people have a different opinion than you.

JSYK

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Dan Savage is right in line with marital rape apologist

2010-10-21T20:43:03Z

Trigger warning: Sexual assault, rape apologism

In case anyone needed a reminder that Dan Savage is a horrible human being (despite his whole It Gets Better project).

I'm failing to see how his response to a sexual assault victim is much different than this misogynist screed by an MRA that Fannie ripped to shreds.

Both make a husband's need for sex at the center of their concerns. Both equate a lack of sex with assault. Both support the idea that a husband has a right to sex and a wife has an obligation to make herself available.

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Feminists shouldn't read bad books?

2010-10-20T16:46:56Z

Sally at Feministe is not too fond of fandom studies, apparently!

Also, I think Twilight is trash, but the backlash against it is becoming more unbearable than the books themselves.

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acrimonyastraea @ 2010-10-20T10:19:00

2010-10-20T15:01:54Z

I felt like the last person in the world to discover it, but at first I had a lot of fun reading Tom and Lorenzo's blog about fashion and TV. It fueled my Project Runway guilty pleasure. Then of course, the inevitable: sexist slurs and misogyny. Mostly in comments, but often enough in the posts as well.

Today it was nice to see a post critiquing a GQ magazine shoot of three Glee stars in pornulated American Apparel-esque poses. There was even some decent feminist analysis.

But we all know what that means, right? RAMPANT MISOGYNY IN THE COMMENTS. Mostly shaming Lea Michelle for the shots over which she presumably had no control. Why Lea Michelle and almost no comments identifying Diana Agron by name? I'm not sure.

There are also a lot of comments about Michelle being too arogant now, too much of a star, to be likeable. I guess we can only like women who aren't confident. I know: breaking news, alert the media.

Some gems:

"And, I'm sorry, but I LOVED Lea Michele's charm last season. Both on and off the show. I still appreciate her fashion moments, but something about her presence recently comes off as so ... arrogant? ... now. She felt very relatable before. Now, she's loving the limelight a little too much... and it isn't attractive."

"What in the world is going on? And what is up with Lea Michelle. Compared to her, Dianna Agron looks super tame. It's like someone said to Lea Michelle, "You're not sexy enough... rip your shirt off so we can see the lace bra."

Totally not classy. Totally not in the spirit of Glee.

And seriously, Lea Michelle, I hope someone knocks you down four pegs, because your character and your off-set personality are getting out of control."

"How soon do you think we'll see Lea Michele taking it all off for Playboy? That girl's got "fame whore" written all over her."

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COUNTING DOWN

2010-10-20T13:46:28Z

3 MORE WORK DAYS UNTIL VACATION! That's all I have to get through! On Saturday my friend doesn't get in until 6pm, so I will be off the walls all day waiting to drive down to pick her up. Making salsa and guac and doing some last minute cleaning won't be enough to keep me from checking the clock every minute.

My apartment hasn't been so clean all at once in ages. Except the den/sewing room, which is a disaster. I really need some decent storage in there.

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Pure awesome

2010-10-18T17:21:14Z

Darth Vader's theme in the style of Beethovan.

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acrimonyastraea @ 2010-10-15T12:46:00

2010-10-15T17:13:22Z

It's a cool but sunny Friday afternoon here and I want to go home. I really don't want to be writing about the EPA's RMP or anything else with acronyms. I have a week left but my brain is already on vacation. So looking forward to beautiful San Francisco! Not looking forward to San Francisco traffic!

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Ship meme

2010-10-14T20:07:22Z

The research I'm working on at work is EATING MY BRAIN. So I'm taking a~~nother~~ little break.

This is an old meme that I did for LOST, now I'm doing it for all anime/video games:

"One True Pairing" ship: Roy Mustang/Maes Hughes - Fullmetal Alchemist. This is so tragic and can-never-be but it hits all my shipping buttons. Tied with Squall/Irvine, which I just have a thing for.

"One True Threesome" ship: Fang/Vanille/Lightning - Final Fantasy 13

"Canon" ship: Fang/Vanille - Final Fantasy 13

"Not Quite Canon but Should Be" ship: Gojyo/Hakkai - Saiyuki

"I'm One Sick Bastard" ship: Quistis/Edea - Final Fantasy 8

"I Dabble a Little" ship: Winry/Sheska - Fullmetal Alchemist. Or I would, if I knew where to find it.

"It's Like a Car Crash" ship: Schuldig/Aya - Weiss Kreuz

"Tickles My Fancy but Not Sold Quite Yet" ship: Quistis/Rinoa - Final Fantasy 8

"Makes No Canon Sense but Why the Hell Not" ship: Reno/Irvine Kinneas - Final Fantasy 7-8 crossover.

"Everyone Else Loves It but I Just Don't Feel It" ship: idk, I'm willing to feel almost anything if someone writes it well and I like the characters. :D

"Guilty Pleasure" ship: Soubi/Ritsuka - Loveless

"Favorite 'Older/Younger'" ship: Other than Soubi/Ritsuka, um... Sephiroth/Zack

"Favorite Devotion" ship: Roy/Maes, again.

"Favorite Never-Met" ship: Most of these would be crossovers. Is that cheating? Favorite has to be Watari/Irvine - Yami no Matsuei/Final Fantasy 8 crossover.

"Favorite Dominance Battle" ship: This is a tie between Fang/Lightning and Squall/Seifer.

"When All Is Said and Done" ship: Squall Leonhart/Irvine Kinneas - Final Fantasy 8.

"I Can't Believe I Read It and Liked It" ship: Squall/Laguna - Final Fantasy 8.

"My First 'I Could Never Abandon You'" ship: First? IDK. I do like Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye for this kind of ship, even though they're not at the top of my list.

"Favorite Pervy" ship: Irvine Kinneas/multiple in Scribblemoose's Sniperslut series.

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Fandom squee

2010-10-14T15:38:19Z

because I need some.

EXTENDED DISSIDIA DUODECIM TRAILER WITH LIGHTNING. ALSO: TIFA!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The guys also look yummy, as usual. I'm always in favor of more Squall and Cloud.

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Meta about That Chart

2010-10-14T12:40:33Z

I'm sure everyone will see this because it's been linked by metafandom, but I just wanted to say that the discussions resulting from this post I was actually able to read without wanting to just throw my hands up and say fuck it all. Especially the exchange between eisen and marina. They kind of represent the two sides to the discussion that are interesting to me, and while I relate more to marina's point of view, I've been trying to understand torches' point of view a little more completely.

ETA: Basically, my position is I think we need to be able to talk about the limitations in the media for fictional women. We need to be able to talk about how even the most interesting and exciting female characters can still be presented in a context that limits them and puts them in boxes that are safe and unchallenging to the status quo. And we need to be able to do this without implying/stating/suggesting that this means we shouldn't like them or that there is nothing good about them. The crux of the problem is, how do we object to sexism and limited roles for women without rejecting what we have? Because change doesn't happen when the status quo is just accepted.

ETA 2: I never expected this to be linked on metafandom. I really was just posting a "this is what I'm thinking about" comment, and it's not all that well written or thought through. I never thought of it as part of the larger discussion. But now it's out there, obviously. Just please know my thoughts have changed a bit and I don't think that the discussion of the chart is really the best place for reacting to my own hot button issues.

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Grumpy

2010-10-13T16:09:05Z

Elevator small-talk: I hates it.

Also, pithy faux quotations are even more annoying when extended past their pithiness. Just FYI.

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