* First, an experiment: anyone want to engage in some Beholder-related meta? Chatting with fellow Beholder fans over the past few weeks in various contexts (journals, e-mails, etc.) has gotten me thinking about how important this fest is to me as a participant in HP fandom more generally, and how much I'd love to chat about this fest with other fans. Do you love Beholder and want to talk about the challenges and joys of writing unconventionally attractive characters? I've set up a comm for the purpose, beholder_plus, and will post an introduction there soon.* We'll have one round this week, while this year's contributions are still anonymous, and one next week, for folks to talk about their own contributions.

* Second: June is almost here, which means it's time for lgbtq_recs! Anyone want to rec some queer-themed media you've enjoyed recently? Every year, folks drop by and pass along the name of good books, films, graphic novels, songs, performances, games, tv shows that somehow deal with LGBTQ experiences. It's a low-pressure, informal comm--you need only pass along the name of something you've enjoyed with a few words about it. Drop by the comm to sign up soon*, or just follow along and bookmark for summer enjoyment.

* Okay, given LJ's recalcitrance, let's consider this a very quick PSA:

beholder_plus * lgbtq_recs * soon!


This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/51465.html. It has comments.

And a final round of spring flowers in honor of islandsmoke's birthday earlier this week. (Sorry I'm late!) Best wishes for a wonderful year, Smoke.

( Spring glory, with a hint of DC in the background...Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/51245.html. It has comments.

Salazar's Curse, Snape/Yaxley, 7300 words, rated mature for sexual situations

Yaxley drew a long breath before answering. "I don't know," he said finally. "I just can't believe it. I – if it's true, then it means that there are probably more wizards out there as powerful as you and the Dark Lord, wizards who are not pure-bloods. I guess I can't believe that because if it were true, why wouldn't you have already gone up against us, already stopped this war?"

For me, there's nothing quite like fanfic that takes an individual action from canon and tries to figure out what needs to be true about society, more generally, in order for that action to make sense in the world the author has created. It's a delight for HP especially, because JKR has such a phenomenal sense of character and motivation and such strong world-building that you can't help but get caught up in it all as you read along, but when you close the book and take a step back there are fascinating gaps and contradictions. What is magical ability, and where does it come from? How is it related to power, status, or personality? What does blood purity have to do with anything, anyway? Why is it that humans with this particular set of abilities live among their own? And how does the wizarding world define and maintain itself in the face of the sheer number of Muggles out there? (Because really, if someone told you that you could either marry one of the kids you went to school with or select from the millions of other human beings living nearby, which would you chose?)

( Spoilers beneath the cut! Though I don't think they'll actually spoil the story for you.Collapse )

This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/51142.html. It has comments.

This week, the Armchair Sociologist edition:

* Do you ever look around and think, "Wow, this neighborhood's really changed?" I had a moment like that yesterday when I saw a baby in a fedora lounging on his hipster dad's chest in a baby carrier.*

* On a related note, I see babies with their daddies all the time now--do you, too? It used to be just the occasional Sensitive Guy (TM) in certain neighborhoods, but today I happened to pass by a twenty-something high-fiving his friends with one hand and pushing a toddler on a tricycle with the other. It's the kind of thing that gives you hope, you know?

* And last but not least, the better half and I are on the cover of the New Yorker! Well, okay, not us, exactly, but our demographic, at least--or perhaps an AU version of our demographic, in which we live in a single-family house and have three children and own a coffee maker. But still--I so rarely see families that look like mine in the mainstream media. I'll take this, for now. (Folks who've met us, back us up! It could be us, right?)

In fannish news:

* I'm continuing to enjoy Beholder to no end, not the least because of the predominance of thoughtful but not-very-long stories. I have so much respect for folks who write the longer fics--and in fact I think it's a sign of growing writing skills across fandom as a whole that the average fic length is getting longer--but I'm essentially a dabbler with a short attention span, and I love a good coffee-break fic. Recs to come.

ETA: My gift, Salazar's Curse (Snape/Yaxley) has been posted! Back soon with a comment.

* Thanks to Netflix's acquisition of the second season, I've finally finished the US version of "The Killing" after finding myself frustrated by the Season I cliffhanger almost a year ago. Surprisingly poor dialogue for a show with amazing acting and cinematography, I thought. For anyone who's watched both, should I try to get a hold of the Danish version?

* Linking you to an illustration, because I had to look up the word myself. Where would you even buy something like that, I wondered. But apparently tiny fedoras aren't hard to come by.

This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/50886.html. It has comments.

In honor of May Day, let me point you to an interesting series on labor exploitation currently airing on Marketplace: Taken for a Ride: Temp Agencies and "Raiteros" in Immigrant Chicago.

Some of America's best known companies and largest temp agencies benefit from — and tacitly collaborate with — an underworld of labor brokers, known as "raiteros," who charge temp workers fees for transporation and other services.

This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/50549.html. It has comments.

In recent news (mostly minutiae):

* Enjoying HP_Beholder, a fest the God of Fandom created specifically to satiate my interests in marginal characters every spring. I love Beholder. I'm missed the first ten days or so due to travel and I *will* make a proper recs post soon, but in the meantime, please, please, please check out the free-spirited, pot-smoking, trust-fund-baby Arabella, who opens her door to an on-the-run Sirius: Days of Cats and Cabbages, Arabella Figg/Sirius Black, 4300 words, NC17. So far every fic at Beholder has been fun. I'm so glad this fest is still going on.

* Speaking of excellent fic, check out schemingreader's An Example for Lovers, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, 2100 words, NC17. I don't want to spoil the experience, but this warm, humorous fic plays with gender and sexuality issues in ways that will get you thinking. Even if you don't know the fandom--and I don't at all--it's worth a read.

* Speaking of human frailty, someone told Sherlock to get over himself in this week's Elementary. In a very kind way. "I know it's hard," I believe the phrase was. I'm liking this show more and more.

* I found a giant cork board with a wooden frame in the trash and recycling area behind my apartment building. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I took it upstairs immediately. Now I need to think of something things I need to pin up.

* There were no postcard stamps at the post office today. How could that be? The person who helped me tried to blunt the full impact of this news by reassuring me that there were postcard stamps at the next post office, in the next neighborhood, but really--none? At all? What's really going on here? I'm convinced Congress wants to kill the post office (I know I sound paranoid, but it's not out of the realm of possibility, sadly) and we will be paying $9.99 to mails postcards via FedEx in a few years, all the while praising ourselves for eliminating more waste from the federal budget.

* Small but important: two architecture students are campaigning to have the Pritzker folks (the ones who award the profession's highest prize every year) retroactively include Denise Scott Brown alongside her husband and long-time creative partner Robert Venturi in his 1991 Pritzker citation. Architecture is an incredibly sexist profession, but even by architecture's low standards, this is an egregious erasure. (And indeed the Pritzer folks did it again two years ago, singling out half of the husband-and-wife team Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu.) Want to sign the petition? The petition is here and the Times gives a decent summary of the situation here.

* And finally: it's still beautiful here!


Cherry blossoms


Redbuds This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/50349.html. It has comments.

I'm back, flist! Have been gone for almost two weeks with two interviews, a conference, and a 48-hour flu. The conference paper was a huge hit; the interviews were unsuccessful. Really wish that had been the other way around.

Have some cherry blossoms to brighten up your day! I was away for their peak this year, so the photo are all by the better half.



( More cherry blossoms!Collapse ) This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/50006.html. It has comments.

Just had dinner with an old family friend of the better half who--lo and behold!--turned out to be gay, too. Have you discovered any family members or childhood friends who turned out unexpectedly (also) to be queer, flist? It's a pleasant surprise.

I haven't commented on this issue much in this journal, but I'm delighted to hear that the Associated Press has decided to drop the term "illegal immigrant" from its style book. Via Colorlines, Why the AP's Choice is a Crucial Victory.

In related news, Undocumented and Gay. These were two unspeakable topics not too long ago, and it's great to see the two movements learning from one another and articulating issues of visibility and legal status as fundamental human rights.

Horrified by the UK's new bedroom tax. Not sure what to say about this. Am unclear how it's anything but a punishment for being poor. (Speaking of which, the US seems to doing just fine in its own war on the poor: Tennesee Gets Closer to Passing Bill That Ties Welfare to School Grades.)

Via shaggydogstail, The Great British Class Calculator. It's a quick, three-question test that places you in one of seven social classes in what it terms "the new class system." Clearly the old system is no longer that descriptive, but this one leaves me puzzled. It's interesting in that it seems to use homeownership as a proxy for financial stability and the professional/job diversity of one's circle of friends as a proxy for education, as far as I can tell. Fascinating stuff.

By the way, we're about a third of the way into the new year (yikes!) and I've managed to post weekly updates eight times. Not too bad. Join me in posting a bit more in 2013, flist? Even if you just want to pass along an anecdote or a link? I always enjoy hearing from you.

This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/49737.html. It has comments.

Hard to believe, isn't it?

Belated recs:There were a lot of lovely (read: cynical, angry, cheeky, melancholy) works to come out of dysfuncentine this year, but I wanted to point to two that caught my eye:

Not Your Average Love Story by gehayi, Cassiopeia Black/Horace Slughorn, Cedrella Black/Septimus Weasley, about 6000 words, rated teen.
Cassiopeia Black isn't interested in anyone, romantically or sexually. Her family doesn't see that as a viable choice.
One of the things I love about the HP universe is that there are so many "wizarding" customs and attitudes that lend themselves to ficcish exploration--particularly customs and attitudes that are meant to come across as wacky and old-fashioned in the context of the books but that are actually not nearly as old-fashioned or quirky or different as Rowling's humorous treatment would have you imagine. This fic deals with the almost unbearable pressure placed on wizards and witches to wed, the stigma that accompanies the decision not to do so, and the independence and self-confidence needed to follow one's own path. gehayi's Cassiopeia is asexual (and there's an interesting parallel drawn with her brother, a Squib), but the commentary extends beyond Cassiopeia or her sexuality. Why such investment in pairing off, indeed. A poignant and socially perceptive fic.

Alone and Palely Loitering by squibstress, Nicolas Flamel/Perenelle Flamel, Albus Dumbledore/Nicolas Flamel, about 3000 words, rated PG-13
Immortality seemed like a good idea at the time, but it's not without its problems.
This is a beautifully written, clever, and insidious exploration of the sense of boredom, irritation, disregard, and even murderous animus that might accompany the second or third or subsequent century of married life. With a dry and extraordinarily subtle narrator's voice, this fic makes an awful character funny, and an ostensibly funny scenario--the 700-year itch!--eerily awful. The most original fic I've read in a long time.

In non-fic news...I thoroughly enjoyed a quick meet-up with kellychambliss this afternoon, lucky me!....Call the Midwife is returning to US televisions (and computer screens) this Sunday...I'm touched by the stories of two professional athletes who've recently come out, US football player Kwame Harris and football/soccer player Robbie Rogers, as well as more than a bit fascinated by the role that the midcentury civil rights movement is playing in the public discourse around queerness and marriage equality this week...temps in the low 60s this weekend here--spring at last?

This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/49489.html. It has comments.

I meant to say something appreciative about the flist a few weeks ago when I noticed I'd passed the seven-year mark on LJ and in fandom. Belatedly: I'm not especially active as a writer right now and no longer read fic as compulsively, but, flist, I continue to read your posts and comments every day, with joy. I know I scroll through quickly and often leave quick or flippant responses, but it means so much that you share your lives with me in this way. Thank you.

I passed another milestone this month, when I made plans to meet up with one of you here, in the city where I live, and two of you on vacation later this year, and the better half turned out to be just as excited as I was. She's struggled with sharing me for years--fandom is one of the few things I do without her--but there was no need to negotiate this time.

A few fandom items:

* So excited about hp_beholder! I love this fest. My own contribution is in that messy, not-quite-there-stage, but I'm enjoying it enormously.

* Have you seen that deeply_horrible is running a sloppy seconds fest, during which folks are invited to snap up the unclaimed Snapey prompts from this year's dysfuncentine? It's a great idea for a quick, fun fest. And dysfunctional relationships + bastard!Snape = good fic. As cranky__crocus's fabulous icon points out, bad behavior makes for good stories.

* I accidentally read some Sherlock fic this afternoon (long story, but I'd originally gone to check to see if westernredcedar had updated her story) and wanted to pass along the link: Nothing to Make a Song About by emmagrant01, Sherlock/John, 37,000 words. When Sherlock returned from his faked death, John could not forgive him for the deception and broke off their friendship. Ten years later, John returns to London in search of yet another new beginning. Sherlock, not surprisingly, is waiting. You know that Sherlock canon and I don't always mix well, but never mind that: this was a compelling and grown-up romance with some interesting and unresolved issues at its heart, all of which were handled gracefully.

ETA: I forgot to link to melusinahp's fabulous mini-fest idea: One Prompt, Many Writers. Enjoy playing in exactly the same sandbox, for once. Submit works of 500 words or less to her by Friday for anonymous posting on Saturday!

And finally: I'm avoiding the news for a few days, since the Supreme Court and mainstream media continue to ask such fundamentally insulting questions as whether same-sex parenting harms children or whether the "time is right" for judicial action.

This entry was originally posted at http://magnetic-pole.dreamwidth.org/49399.html. It has comments.