( Read more... )

Edit: The consensus was that this wasn't funny. Sorry about that. I obviously made an error in judgment yesterday. Also, some people said this was triggering/upsetting with regards to bi/homophobia, so be warned.

Edit 2: holy shit. That's a nice painting.

(For the record, I do rather kind of love Stephen Fry. But really Stephen.)

The illustrious Mr. Stephen Fry, writer, actor, comedian, famous twitter-er, friend to Hugh Lauries everywhere, object of fans on multiple continents, is interviewed by some obscure magazine, and his (admittedly bizarre) interview is re-printed on the internet. Said 'net dogpiles him on being misogynist and stereotyping and generally backward in his views on gender and sex and possibly some kind of baby-eating, puppy-kicking Nazi (I won't bother trying to gather together all of that clusterfuck because it would take years. Plenty on Twitter and a nice selection in the comments on that reprint). I leave it up to you, dear readers, to judge the contents of said interview. *ahem*

Well then.

So, Mr. Fry quits twitter. That's the end of it, right? I mean, certainly he's smart enough to just keep out of the spotlight for a while until this shitstorm blows over and everyone forgets about it and goes back to laughing at their old DVDs of Jeeves & Wooster, right?

Well, not really, since he must come back to explain himself in what may be the most beautiful 4-page flounce I have ever read in my life. Well, you can't accuse him of having a narrow vocabulary, at any rate.

I'm sympathetic (to a point), but really? "None of you understand me! The media misquotes me! I'LL NEVER DO PRINT INTERVIEWS AGAIN!"

Oh dear. At least he does it in an entertaining manner...

ETA: Okay, wasn't aware that Fry has bipolar disorder. Which explains the flouncy a bit. Sorry, kids.

(for the record, I still think it's just a tiny teeny bit funny in a schadenfreude sort of way, but I am admittedly a rather evil person, so YMMV with this one. LOL at your own risk.)

First attempt at posting, although I've been barracking from the sidelines for about a millennium now ...

astolat posts A Matter Of Inconvenience, which is American Idol slashfic (Kris/Adam) with a 'Regency' setting. At least, that's the general idea, and harmless enough you would have thought - assuming that AI AU RPS is your thing. (Alphabet soup!)

zvi, however, takes exception. Amongst other objections, A Matter of Inconvenience is not about race, thoughtlessly invokes colonial issues, and just doesn't put up any warning flags for those who are about to read it. Also, apparently, this is a thing Astolat fucked up. Everybody, please to endeavor not to fuck up like that with your next happy fun sexytimes historical.

What starts off as moderately polite discussion about historicity in slash fanfiction is, however, quickly derailed by willow who offers the following reasoned evaluation: In the middle of the cuppa tea, the empire waist dresses and the ass-sex of your AU Regency - please to be remembering the hydra heads of colonialism and imperialism and what that means for and about your whitey white penis salt lick fan thought of the moment.

liviapenn tries to calm things down a bit with some entertaining stuff about plumbers and blow jobs but this only serves to upset willow further. Why is it that everytime I see you lately, you're happily shoving your foot into your mouth via your hindquarters? ... You keep claiming to understand your privilege and say you're reflecting on it and then you start chomping that feces encrusted shoe leather again. willow's User Info states "'M brown and I have an attitude." No kidding.

astolat's attempt to explain herself gets stomped on, and the desirability of historical accuracy in a Kris/Adam Regency alternate universe is lathered, rinsed and repeated for those who missed it the first time.

Small, but strangely vitriolic given the subject matter. It's difficult to imagine why people are getting quite so over-excited about one piece of costumed fluff in a universe of lesbian cars and tentacle porn, but it may keep us entertained while we're waiting for next incarnation of VB.

ETA: Okay, I get the message, I got it wrong - or maybe I just don't have a sense of humour? Either way, it was obviously a bad call. Lesson learned.

Meet Lironess, a person of such stunning perfection that she feels confident, nay obliged, to point out the shortcomings of others. Constantly.

When she's not diagnosing diseases over the internet, she's apparently advocating approaching strangers at cons with skin diseases to ask them:

"OMG What the hell is wrong with your skin?"

Yeah, not even kidding*.

Unfortunately no one told betnoir that icky diseased people exist solely as teaching moments for the beautiful people, and that she better learn to live with it or else spend the rest of her life in misery. Luckily for her then, that lironess is here to explain it to her.

The spat lands in sf_drama, where lironess baleeted her most offensive comments (though considering what's left - just WOW) and apparently whole threads if bizarro goodness like handing out condoms to furries, and horse sex, and her inability to spell freak. she then demonstrates her utter lack of getting teh internets, as well as proving that there really isn't a maximum fail quota per post.

After calling like, everyone, a coward or accusing them of hiding (for commenting in an unlocked post in a very public community? huh?) lironess prepares her flounce by calling betnoir (and everyone else) out. As in, *cue scareh music* she can FIND people:

"It has been fun to watch you all hide on a community and make your statements thinking I would not see and reply. However, I can find all of you, any where."

betnoir names a place and time.

but yanno, it's waaaay to far, plus it'd be a hassle and betnoir's fucking parents would sue and it would be a big mess and lironess doesn't care enough to bother. Or something.



*I debated if this should be in UNF because disability!fail = so fucking unfunny, plus there's bonus!fail on both sides, but for sheer overwhelming WTF wankiness I think it belongs here.

It all starts with what people are already calling LJ Genderfail: the newest beta version of LJ added a mandatory "gender" field to the sign-up process and eliminated the "unspecified" option (LJ quickly responded that the mandatoryness and binaryness of the new question were an accidental bug, and that the code was not going to go live. Of course, not everyone believes them about the "unintentional" part).

Well-known SGA BNF, former lj staffmember and co-founder of Dreamwidth Synecdochic made a call-to-action post that included the line,

It's been a while since I've been furious with anything LJ has done; having DW has done a lot to calm down my knee-jerk "AUUUGH NO" whenever Moscow does something stupid again.

A few people, some Russian and some not, are offended by this, and object. Synecdochic apologizes and edits the post after a request for clarification, but that is not enough to stop Ivorygates from making her side look bad.

Furiosity (who identifies as Russian) had objected to dismissing an entire culture because you're mad at some of its representatives, and Ivorygates takes the opportunity to school her. In her own cultural history. Because, you know, Russians don't understand freedom: it's not in their culture! America's special history of free speech can't be truly respected by them! (At this point Synecdochic freezes the thread.)

But Ivorygates isn't done! Bell had commented to Synecdochic that saying "Moscow" made a decision wasn't the same as saying "San Francisco" did because "Moscow, in US rhetoric, is that creepy place with commies and weird politics and gangsters". Ivorygates PMs her about this claim,

Are you actually -- are you actually seriously -- suggesting that identifying as a Russian national -- online, where you are safe from physical attack and can maintain anonymity -- presents you with duress identical to the harassment and persecution that transsexual and genderqueer individuals experience not only on-line, but in every facet of their lives?

Furiosity also posts to ask people to apologize instead of getting defensive when informed that they have offended "someone's race/culture/language/sexual orientation/gender identity/whatever". In her post meddie_flow comes to Synecdochic's defense with the ever popular Bingo square of "She didn't mean anything by it" with a side-order of "don't turn everything into a lynch-mob". Being offended by russophobia is also likened to being offended by the color red, and I'm honestly not sure if the irony there was intentional or not...

Lambda Literary Foundation: We're changing our submission criteria. From now on our GLBT literary award will only be given to self-identified GLBT authors.

( This does not go over well. )

This wank brought to you by wank_report.

A bit of context: The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing SF is the next installment in the Mammoth Book anthology series edited by Mike Ashley. Recently, its table of contents, which lists the twenty-one stories and authors that will be included in the book, was posted on the SF Signal website.

Almost immediately, there is some grousing from the peanut gallery -- it seems that not one of the authors included in the lineup are (a)women, or (b)nonwhite. Commenters proceed to point this out, mostly keeping it down to a few sentences and seemingly content to speak up and move on. Luckily, Paul Di Filippo, one of the authors featured in the anthology, arrives on the scene, CAPS LOCK AT THE READY AND BRIMMING WITH RAGE.

( IF MAKING BAFFLING POTATO METAPHORS IS WRONG, I DON'T WANT TO BE RIGHT! )

Guess what today is, you guys! That's right! It's Except NOT! ( A quick review. )

And would you look at the calendar? It's... June 2nd. There have been no posts tagged "lady sybilla" or "russet noon" at Foforks since the interview came out April 5th... what happened to the exclusive Brazilian premeire of Russet Noon chapter one? Well, apparently June 1st didn't quite work out, for whatever reason. Naturally, it's time for a new press release (already Caito-cloned here):

Russet Noon: Chapter 1 Will Be Released in English, Portuguese and Spanish

AV Paranormal will be releasing the first chapter of the novel Russet Noon in three different languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish. Chapter 1 is out this Tuesday, June 2 at midnight (Pacific) at russet-noon.com and foforks.com.br/

My personal favorite tidbits:

AV Paranormal is seriously considering the possibility of delaying the publication of the book until November to coincide with the theater release of the movie sequel to Twilight, New Moon.

and

AV Paranormal is also planning a contest for readers to win free tickets to see the movie sequel to Twilight, New Moon.

Because if there's anything this fanfic needs, it's more publicity stunts. More ETAs to come, I'm sure: the sharks, eager as ever to chomp, are just waiting for Sybsy to dip her toes in the pool fall into the deep end.

ETA: Chapter 1 is out. I have no idea whether the prose is as bad as the formatting, but at the end of 21 pages (um, book pages, not web pages), there is this little note:

Would you like to express your opinion about this chapter? AV Paranormal is very interested in receiving your feedback and suggestions. We welcome any type of criticism, either positive or negative. Email us your reactions and we will publish them here. Please be advised that hate emails with insults will not be published. There are diplomatic and polite ways to express your opinion, even if it's negative, so please keep your emails civilized.

Well, if you don't have anything nice to say, come and sit by me.

ETA: Sybsy supposedly has a PR guy now, whom she thanks by name on Twitter and is also listed as a contact at this version of the last press release.

ETA: This is Lady Sybilla's new favorite thing. Basically some dude on the internet thinks copyright is bunk. Too bad exhorting others to relinquish copyright doesn't actually change copyright laws. She probably found it by googling herself, because someone named Sheila brings up Russet Noon in the comments.

Oh, but if it means that she's relinquishing her own copyright, that means you can probably take Russet Noon and repost it anywhere, like your own journal or lol_meme or GAFF or wherever. You wouldn't even have to stick a spork in it. You could also probably save it all in one file and make it available for download. (I'm not saying you should, I'm just saying you could, and she couldn't make a copyright claim to anyone's host server.) Not that her copyright was ever really hers to begin with, but yeah.

There is also a Russet Noon blog with a huge banner made from Stephanie Lostimolo's work. Theft begets theft!

Meanwhile, Gilloughly at Absolute Write has a huge hate-on for Sybsy, to the point where I think he's showing up in my journal to tattletale. (If that's not Gilloughly, it's someone who seems to copy and paste off his forum posts, because it sounds just like him.)

There is also now a Russet Noon MST on twitter.

Speaking of Twitter, Sybsy's been pretty funny lately:

#The sharks at absolutewrite are desperately trying to shut me down, but there's always fanfiction.net if they succeed

#they wrote to Little, Brown and got ignored, so now they're trying to take matters into their own hands

#it's humbling to see how my work inspires such a strong passion in people

#hate and love are just opposite poles of the same emotion

#fame and infamy are, indeed, one and the same</i></i>

Bet Gilloughly would like to hit her with that pole, yo.

Watchmen screenwriter David Hayter writes a sincere but slightly tongue-in-cheek open letter on Hardcore Nerdity to Watchmen fans and non-fans, to urge them to see the movie more than once in order to understand it.

One of his other points is that he thinks those who hate the movie on principle without having seen it should let it marinate in their minds and give it a chance:

It may upset you. And it probably will upset you.

And all along, we really meant it to. ...All this time, you’ve been waiting for a director who was going to hit you in the face with this story. To just crack you in the jaw, and then bend you over the pool table with this story. With its utterly raw view of the darkest sides of human nature, expressed through its masks of action and beauty and twisted good intentions... Like the Comedian on the Grassy Knoll. ...You'll be thinking about this film, down the road. It'll nag at you. How it was rough and beautiful. How it went where it wanted to go, and you just hung on. How it was thoughtful and hateful and bleak and hilarious. And for Jackie Earle Haley.

Trust me. You'll come back, eventually. Just like Sally.

Comments begin in the 'we love Watchmen (although some of us have reservations about the swinging massive blue dong), go Dayter' mould, until people, from page three onwards, suddenly notice the metaphor he used to describe how the movie should make you feel:

DUDE. No one asks to be cracked in the jaw and bent over the goddamned pool table. Was there NO OTHER ANALOGY you could have used? Do you realize that you're comparing your movie to a rapist and the moviegoers to victims asking for it? And what is this "You'll come back. Just like Sally" crap? Do you have any f***ing idea how offensive that is? Could you not have come up with some other analogy, some other pithy tag, something that doesn't make it out like the Comedian was doing Silk Spectre a f***ing favor when he beat her bloody and tried to rape her?

Did you mean to do that?? If not, erm, consider your words more carefully next time you do the "open letter" thing, because wow, did that part get away from you.

Dayter comments on page 7 with an apology claiming he does not condone violence against women, which is edited into the original article. People briefly thank him for apologising, and then attack him again. Dayter responds graciously via huge spoonfuls of sarcasm and retracting his apology (page 8):

Clearly, you can't get less hateful or spewy than that. I humbly retract the statement.

Anyway, I'm sorry you disliked the film.

And you're right, I don't know why I ever set out to do this in the first place. It's really the world I'm hurting. Damn my family, and their almost-constant need for food!

On top of all of this there's huge amounts of movie rage, but the best thing about the whole altercation is the people at Hardcore Nerdity going so far as to make a video response urging people to LEAVE DAYTER ALONE, starring a very angry Dr. Manhattan.

More feminism wank on Fandom Secrets. Surprise surprise!

This time, the secret is about female fanservice. monpetitpetaq claims that no matter how well-rounded and awesome the female characters in Bleach are, their awesomeness is negated by their large breasts because female fanservice harms real life women somehow. (Well, I can see the huge boobs being a problem for one's back...)

Anon tries to argue that both forms of sexism are equally bad, but monpetitpetaq and paperclipchains aint buying it.

Also apparently female fanservice is "icky" but male fanservice is ZOMG YUMMY!!!! And panzer_knight adds to the "big boobs = sucky character" pile. Huh, maybe it's just me but I can't remember the episode or manga chapter where Rukia, Tatsuki and Soifon had huge knockers spilling out of their swimsuits. XD

The latest skirmish in rec.arts.drwho escalates the continual bickering to breath-taking new heights.



And I haven't even mentioned the tinfoil.

Tiny confession: I have railed at Agamemnon in the past and in one of these threads I give links to a Google groups kill file.

As Whomageddon rolls on, doctorwho  brings us another sterling gem. Or rather, two bright turds of wank, coupled together to form a synergistic pile of perfection.

First, cringer1982 shares that he's written a very pointed letter to the BBC about how they have portrayed Asians in their recent episode Turn Left. He neglects to mention that he's white as the fresh driven snow. Irish, in fact.

BBC officials respond with a letter that has nothing to do with anything.

Some people don't see his point.

( Meanwhile, back on the blog... )

Dearest, beloved, Fandom Wank.

I know you were looking forward to great excitement today. Some of you said words to me that indicated you anticipated fiery 'judgement' upon those who remained fresh and dewey white, those you call n00bs.

Anyway, you got today instead.

Stop anticipating things, we'll just break your hearts.

Sincerely,

Sepia P. Magpie, Esq.



PS: Use this post to reflect on how you could be better people. Or just fuck around in the comments.

Let's see if I can do this properly.

Hiatus in the Supernatural fandom officially started last Friday, and already fans are getting a little stir-crazy.
There have been small-time rumblings from various corners of LJ this season over gender issues and many of these rumblings have involved Dean Winchester, one of the two stars of Supernatural.

There are spoilers about the finale of course.
( Here )
eta: and for added FAIL, the poster of this wank has not figured out auto-formatting. Would anyone be kind enough to link me to the FAQ that deals with LJ-tags? When I try to use the search function I keep running into a page about harassment. Maybe it is a sign?

And another dressing room wank.

Some people feel uncomfortable at the dressing room for the Tales of videogames series, talesofdressing and wonder about making their own sandbox.

And then some players of talesofdressing get offended about the implication of people getting limits.

Highlights?

The 'n' word isn't racist! It's just a word!

Would you get offended if someone said motherfucker?

A recent ohnotheydidnt post features a list of the most misogynistic movies of the decade. On cue, the wank commences, with responses ranging from "feminists suck" to "I'm not a feminist but..." to "this is kinda silly but I agree with a few points" to "it's just entertainment lol".

Top threads of wank:

( Pretend I put something witty here. )

In conclusion: I needed a reason to not see Superbad?

Mini meta wank.

SGA fandom is race wanking - yes, again. This time it started with a review Cesperanza wrote about last week's SGA episode, "Midway," aka the Teal'c and Ronon duke it out ep.  Ces says:

"this ep is going in the waste bin, because, I'm sorry, I am TOTALLY UNAMUSED by the Ronon/Teal'c fight. I think its humiliating, and treats the characters like animals, and I'm horrified at the betting, like it's--what--a cockfight? And to me it's racialized and repulsive: I was typing to Linabean: REPULSED REPULSED REPULSED and that about covers it. I'm absolutely repulsed. I don't care if it's supposed to be a showdown like Batman vs. Superman or the Hulk vs. Thing or whatever--fact is, you had two black men beating the shit out of each other and drawing the largest crowd we've ever seen on Atlantis thus far. And like, this thing of "Ronon and Teal'c have so much in common"--they DO NOT. THEY REALLY DO NOT. They are two men with darker skin than the rest of the cast, but Teal'c is overwhelmingly gentlemanly, and they were portraying Ronon like a beast, though he totally is NOT a beast, and just--WHAT THE FUCK, SGA, SERIOUSLY."

People come by, agree and discuss.  Some DON'T (and LiviaPenn gets involved).

Then, ZZanthalinn stops by to say that Jason Momoa is Polynesian, not black, hence Ronon is too? HERE. More of Momoa is Hawaiian thread.

However, Anonymous is just "pissed off" about the fight after reading Cesperanza's review.