not language but a map

welcome to migraine city

population: me

i think the thing you do in dialogue where you kind of use commas instead of periods could be done less, although mainly because i find myself doing it sometimes and That Is Not Grammar. is this how you concrit???

Yes, it is! Thank you so much, I do totally do that, and I will try to keep an eye out for it in the future! I also casually abuse dashes and semicolons like it is my job, especially in this fic. I think part of the reason this story is so fun to write is because it’s all in the style that comes most naturally to me, so I’m not watching my structure/cadence as much as I was in, just for example, that zombie fic I did with Postcard. Sometimes my comfort level runs away with me a little  <3 

You know what, anon, normally? Normally I would let this shit go. I generally feel little to no motivation to respond to things with anger, especially in fandom, because I just don’t see the point and life’s too short. But today? Today I am having a bad fucking day, so we’re going to have this conversation. 

Thing is, anon, I really don’t know what you thought you were going to accomplish by seeking out my tumblr and leaving me this message. Do you want me to apologize? Are you expecting me to rewrite all the dialogue? Should I stand up on the table and do a tap-dance to win back your affections? Maybe I’m going to get told that this was constructive criticism, but, you know what, it isn’t—constructive criticism would’ve been saying “Hey, I found the dialogue in this chapter hard to understand” or “I think complete sentences on the dialogue side of things would’ve made this better,” or even “I get what you were trying to do here, but it didn’t work.” I am always more than happy to receive notes on my stuff, however harshly delivered—I don’t always incorporate them, because at the end of the day it’s my story and my call because that’s how this works, but I will always take them and give them serious thought. And, in fact, I will pull the nugget of actual concrit here—that you think a different, more structured dialogue pattern would have worked better—and take it under consideration as I continue to write. 

But, hey, here’s a note for you: scolding someone like a schoolchild for irritating you with the free entertainment they put up on the internet? That’s not concrit, that’s entitlement. This is not a Choose Your Own Adventure story, and I am not Mr. Magorium’s Fanfiction Emporium—I do this shit in my spare time for fun, and your irritation is not my fucking problem. I am not going to explain myself or apologize to you for not writing this the way you wanted it to be written, because, you know what, I do not owe you that, and the fact that you think that I do—that you think I do enough to come up into my space to deliver that message to me in such a way that I cannot possibly miss it—is actually really very irritating for me. 

You have a back button, and I’d hazard a guess that reading fanfic is not your full-time job (though if it is, someone please send me an application, I’ve been trying to will that job into existence for years). You are not being compelled to read a single thing I write; this fic is certainly not getting hand delivered up in your ask box and sent to your email in the middle of your already deeply frustrating workday! If you don’t like it (which, by the way, is fine with me; god knows X-Men frat boy nonsense is not for everyone), do yourself a favor and don’t read it. There’s all kinds of fanfic out there far better than mine, and it’s only a click away. You’ve got the whole internet at your fingertips, anon; go ahead, knock yourself out. 

one day i’m going to figure out how to write for a living, right? 

IF I BELIEVE IN MY DREAMS I CAN MAKE THEM COME TRUE, RIGHT? 

and then i won’t have to come into this office ever again

and all my toilets will be made of gold and diamonds

and i’ll have an elephant of my very own

okay officially in the place where what i want to do is curl up under my desk and cry

that’s a rare mood for me you guys

a really rare one

aaaaaaand it looks like i will be here all fucking night

so at least i will have time to squeeze in a breakdown 

yes it goes on and on my friends

i started living it not knowing what it was

and now i will be trapped in this fucking office FOR FOREVER

that’s because 

it is the day that never endddddddddds

OOOH THIS IS A GOOD QUESTION HMMM.

So, I don’t actually know what debate is going on in Who fandom, because Doctor Who and True Blood are the two shows I watch that I’m so invested in that I can’t actually manage to fandom? Which, I know, is totally nonsensical but like. I CARE TOO MUCH TO FANDOM PROPERLY.  So obvs none of this is any kind of, er, anything at anyone in Who fandom because I actually do not even know where to locate Who fandom! It’s just me answering because I have been asked, I am not an authority on anything ever (except possibly how to use a running headband as a scrunchie, which I taught myself to do today, it’s very attractive lemme tell you). 

BUT! So as a general rule I think Steven Moffat is that terrifying kind of sexist ass who thinks things to himself like “I cannot be sexist, I write stories involving women holding guns! So all these totally misogynistic things I am thinking/saying in interviews/writing into Doctor Who and Sherlock are obviously not misogynistic at all. See look! There’s a woman with a gun! I NEED NOT EVER EXAMINE THE THINGS I AM THINKING AND SAYING AND WRITING AT ALL.” And I think that Doctor Who (or, at least, New Who, as I am A Bad Fan and have not watched Classic Who yet) also has a tendency to be kind of terribly sexist sometimes (hi Martha “Obviously The Only Way To Demonstrate That I Was Over The Doctor Was To Say I Was Engaged To Another Man Because That’s How Women Move On From Things (And Then Suddenly Mickey We Don’t Need To Explain That La La LA)” Jones, hi Rose “Oh Of COURSE I Won’t Have Anything Beyond Basic Token Protests At All About How I Am Supposed To Just Take This Human Clone Doctor/Donna Hybrid Man And Be Madly In Love With Him BECAUSE THAT MAKES TOTAL SENSE AND SHIT” Tyler, hi last night’s “well she’s a WOMAN that’s why she’s CRAZY” joke fuck you so much Moffat). 

BUT. All that being said. If I were in a situation where my husband and my male best friend were asking and granting permission to touch me like I was, you know, a joint they were passing or something? Yeah, that shit would not fly. But if a friend of mine was in that situation and she was comfortable with it or, hell, even liked it, would I judge her or call her a bad feminist or anything? Noooooope, because that’s her body and the way she handles it and the reactions/discussions/whatever people have in response to it are her call. And in this case, as far as we’ve been shown (and yes I recognize that Moffat is in charge of the writing, but nonetheless, as fans we kind of have to take the canon characterization given to us as the baseline characterization to build off of) Amy doesn’t have a problem with it. And if Amy doesn’t have a problem with it—in relation to her, personally, her personal feelings about them in relation to her—if Amy doesn’t have a problem with it, I don’t have a problem with it. Because that’s not my call, you know? 

Tl;dr: Steven Moffat is kind of a dick in general and there are lots of sexist things he (and RTD before him) did/does and yeah this is totally one of those things that has some seriously problematic under and overtones to it, BUT at the end of the day I am very very unwilling to put my own judgement on how another lady interacts with the people in her life. ALSO I AM VERY TIRED AND SLAP-HAPPY THIS MAYBE MADE NO SENSE but there you go anon, that is my answer <3

YOU GUYS

I JUST

FHDSFJKSD THIS REACTION TO THIS NEW CHAPTER IS JUST

HFDFHDKFDF I DO NOT REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO? 

OR LIKE

HOW TO WORDS?

OR OR OR 

ANYTHING

i just, thank you guys so much and i am still reading your comments but i just. i mean i just. i write this story because i love it and i love these characters, of course, but i also, i can’t even express how much all your love just brightens up my everything, i just, i am just. I AM SORRY THIS IS NOT MORE COHERENT BUT I HONESTLY I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT I DID TO DESERVE YOU OR HOW TO EXPRESS PROPERLY HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU BUT IT IS SO MUCH, IT IS SO MUCH

AND

JUST

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 FOREVER, BASICALLY

LOVEABLE, ISN’T HE

LOVEABLE, ISN’T HE

LOVEABLE, ISN’T HE

ERIC NORTHMAN YOU ARE MY GREATEST LOVE AND MY GREATEST HERO AND MY GREATEST GPOY DFDSFJDSHFKJDSFHSJKFHDJKSFHJSDKF 

YOU BIG HOT VIKING KING OF MY SOUL I AM SO SORRY THAT THE STUPID MOTHERFUCKERS WHO WRITE THIS SHOW SEE IT FIT TO CONTINUE PLAYING UP THE RIDICULOUS BILL/SOOKIE NONSENSE THAT IS RIDICULOUS BECAUSE SERIOUSLY HOW COULD ANYONE—YOU—DHFDJSKFHJDKSFHSD YOUR MEMORY CAME BACK AND YOU ARE STILL STRONG ENOUGH TO ADMIT THAT YOU LOVE HER WITHOUT ANY HESITATION EVEN AFTER SHE’S HIT YOU WITH A BIG HEAVY BRICK OF CRAZYPANTS UNFOUNDED BILL COMPTON FAIL AND THANK GOD BECAUSE SERIOUSLY AS MUCH AS I LOVED YOU WHEN YOU WERE ALL VULNERABLE? I MISSED YOUR SNARK I MISSED IT HARD AND YOUR LOVE OF PAAAAAAAAM AND I JUST PLEASE EVERYTHING TAKE EVERYTHING ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC.

Bill Compton you are not a vampire. You are a cockblockpire, that is all you do, that is all you are, and seriously what the fuck is so difficult for you to understand about the fact that you do not own Sookie’s person and her choices are her own you patronizing sniveling whiny unprofessional horrifying fuck I want you to die I want you to die I want you to dieeeeeeeeee

SOOKIE IT’S ERIC IT’S ALWAYS BEEN ERIC SERIOUSLY OPEN YOUR EYES AND YOU WILL SEE THAT BILL COMPTON IS A TOOL HE’S SUCH A TOOL YOU CAN SEE HIS TOOLISHNESS FROM OUTER SPACE SOMEWHERE RIGHT NOW THE DOCTOR IS FLYING BY IN HIS TARDIS GOING “WOW WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT THERE’S A GIANT TOOL DOWN THERE ON EARTH” 

Sam please go away I am sick of you

Crazy Debbie you so crazy

ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC ERIC.

CHAPTER NINE IS DONE 

DONE 

DONE 

9900 WORDS AND DONE WHAT THE FUCK IS MY LIFE EVEN

THERE WILL BE A BREWSKI UPDATE TO-FUCKING-NIGHT, GUYS

TOOOOOONIGHT

oh-you-better-run:

gyzym is the most awesome ever

and she has the best ideas

she knows what i mean

yes she does

yes she does

there’s a special circle of hell reserved just for us, baby

i’ll make sure they dress it up real nice and everything

snowdarkred:

prideofslytherin:

khaleesing:

theredskull:

eddieguerrero:

sensitivewhitelokiproblems:

askvolstagg started following you

or I’ll make veggie wraps out of your buns.

Odyssey

http://delires.livejournal.com/18219.html

http://rive.rs

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8P6XG8TK

and he just, you know, kind of talks 

miguelofthedark:

More here.

DEAR EVERYONE WHO LIKE, BOUGHT A MAC FOR COLLEGE BUT ISN’T USED TO IT YET (I remember that time well), PLEASE NOTE: HELPFUL POST IS VERY HELPFUL FOR PC USERS, BUT MOST IF NOT ALL OF THESE THINGS DO DIFFERENT SHIT ON A MAC EVEN IF YOU REPLACE CTRL WITH COMMAND.

~The More You Know~

[like you are suddenly awake after a long winter]

snowdarkred:

Oops.

WAIT YOU’VE DONE ANOTHER FANMIX?!?!?! WHERE IS IT WHERE IS IT WHERE IS IT DIRECT ME THERE AT ONCE.

dear gods, what movie?

“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” apparently? I DON’T KNOW, I AM MORE AFRAID OF COMIC SANS THAN OF THE DARK. THE WORST THING THE DARK CAN CONTAIN IS VASHTA NERADA; WHO KNOWS WHAT COMIC SANS MIGHT DO TO YOU?

Ah, anon, are you honestly arguing that the use of “Tran” there was in fact an attempt on Fassy’s part to construct a new name from the Latin on the fly? That strikes me as some splitting of some hairs, but hey, if it’s hair-splitting you want, my four years of high school Latin and I can accomodate that!

“Trans” is, in fact, a Latin prefix meaning “across” “beyond” or “through.” Prefixes modify the words to which they are attached! For example, let’s take another Latin prefix that has found footing in the English language: “sub,” which means “under” or “below.” Look at the word ”submarine,” which means a thing that goes under the sea, or “substandard,” which means something that is below the standard! Awww, look that that little prefix modifying the word to which it is attached, look at it go!

Soooooo, if you’re going to argue that “Traneto” is correct in Latin—which, actually, yes, if you were going to try to make that ridiculous argument, “Transneto” would be more correct because it would include the full prefix, but whatever—“Trans” would have to be modifying “neto.” “Neto” doesn’t have an assigned meaning in English (though “Neato” does!), and the closest Latin cognate is probably niteō, which is the present active iteration of the verb nitēre, which means “to shine.” So, in fact, following your own line of argument (and making some allowances for the cut-off prefix and the general bad Latin), “Traneto” would accurately describe someone with the power to traverse shiny things! Maybe they could leap tall stacks of gemstones in a single bound.

On that note, this little derailment has been a regular laugh riot, but I’m ready to get back on my train now. Further messages of this variety will be ignored, but please have a lovely night! 

So, posting this this way instead of just responding to the ask for the sake of being able to put a trigger warning in the subject line, and also because my answer got a little long.

Okay, so first of all (and I do recognize, anon, that I do not know your background or your gender identity or anything; I am stating the following stuff because it can’t be said enough): someone with the superpower to change their sex? Is not someone who is transgender. Gender and sex are not at all the same thing. Your sex is determined at birth by the physical reproductive organs attached to your body; your gender is who you are, regardless of those organs. Using the word “Traneto” for someone who is able to switch their sexual organs back and forth is all kinds of problematic, not in the least because it erases these lines, and they are very real, very necessary lines to recognize. 

I am not saying that Fassy or McAvoy intended to be offensive here. I am not saying that the folks who have been using the word “Traneto” intended to be offensive. I am not saying that Fassy, or McAvoy, or those who have been using the word “Traneto” are bad people. I am not attempting to rain down judgment or anger on anyone’s head, or guilt anyone, or offer up any kind of hate, because that is not how I do things. It never has been, and it never will be. 

I am saying that intent is really immaterial when it comes to how these things affect the people interacting with them. I am saying that every day is a good day to check one’s back for cis-privilege that may be lurking there, and, in deference to the fact that one may be dealing with issues that are out of one’s experience (and, as such, that one cannot possibly fully comprehend—and I very much include myself in that), act with care. 

I have caught a lot of shit over my fandom career for being too quick to apologize, or too concerned with [insert issue here], or too “eager to come off as the good guy.” I am sure that at some point I will catch shit for this again. As shit goes, it’s pretty much my favorite kind to catch; I’d rather get nothing but this particular brand of shit for the rest of my time in fandom than run the risk of making someone feel unsafe. But—unless I am myself unwittingly being harmful making these arguments, in which case, as always, please tell me, I promise I will not meet you with anything but gratitude—I have no intention of backing down from this.

To be honest, I really can’t comprehend what the issue is here. There’s one word which has been widely acknowledged as being hurtful and triggering to a large group of fandom participants, and another word that is more accurate, sounds better, is just as easy to type, and doesn’t harm people. It’s even the same amount of letters! What is the argument against using the non-harmful word? Why not err on the side of not making someone on your flist/follow list/whatever feel unsafe? Even if you want to argue that “Traneto” is accurate (which it isn’t) or unoffensive (which it isn’t), why not spend the 0 seconds it takes to go with the option that doesn’t risk ruining someone’s day? 

In conclusion: as always, I am trying very hard to make this blog a safe space for everyone. “Traneto”—as well as the slur that I keep seeing paired up with it, which is what my original post was about—conflicts with that goal, and I will not be using it here. I’m asking that you guys not use it either, but that’s all I’m doing: asking. I’m not going to come police your blogs, I’m not going to send you angry messages, I’m not going to call you out on this page and send people after you—that is, as stated above, not how I do things—but I’m also not going to change my mind. Okay? Okay. 

Oh my god, you just made my day. 8D Word up, fellow Parrot-head! (I totes went to the Jones Beach show last Friday—no rain can stop this parade!)

AIN’T NO PARTY LIKE A JIMMY BUFFETT PARTY

a bathing suit

chew a little ~juicy fruit~

wash away the niiiiiight

No but I think Charles would know what Fort Knox is anyway.

Oh, no, he does. It’s for joke purposes! Erik compares [a thing about Charles] to Fort Knox and then Charles has to correct him for the sake of ~levity~ and/or because he cannot resist the urge towards making terrible puns at inopportune times. 

the Tower of London? IDEK

THAT WILL WORK. Also I am a moron. Also THANK YOU <3

Orrrr, things I would ask Postcard she wasn’t asleep in England, GODDAMN TIME ZONES: 

Is there an English/British equivalent of Fort Knox? I mean, like, obviously there is in the sense of military bases, er, existing and shit, but I mean as in the expression, “locked up like Fort Knox?” Inquiring minds want to know. 

having a focus cigarette and then FUCKING WRITING yes i am 

tumblr

get thee hence 

or at least get thee down to the corner of my screen where i can’t see you yeahhhh minimize for me that’s right oh yeah

sleepinnude:

gyzym:

sleepinnude:

listen closely.
i am going to come to your house in the middle of the night and put you in suggestive poses while you sleep and take pictures of you and post those pictures to your facebook.

do you want that to happen, livejournal?
do you?

then straighten the fuck up and fly right.

Chayya I just want you to know that I…I….

oh jizzy

 

srsly though when are we going to have those four children with alexander skarsgard?x

MY BODY IS READY, CHAYYA

i mean but we might have to try a couple times

like, maybe we just ~try~ for a couple years

i’m up for putting a lot of effort into 

maintaining a relationship with a foundation in skarsgard sex

sleepinnude:

listen closely.
i am going to come to your house in the middle of the night and put you in suggestive poses while you sleep and take pictures of you and post those pictures to your facebook.

do you want that to happen, livejournal?
do you?

then straighten the fuck up and fly right.

Chayya I just want you to know that I…I….

mynameisnotwillgrayson:

quoththewriter:

5dollar-milkshakes:

Please let this happen.

Please.

If this happened, my expression would look alarmingly like this,

I feel awkward kind of doing a PSA for Jizz and also crushing hopes and dreams, but Jizzy said she’s git Carpe Brewski totally planned out, so there’s no room to fit it in, but it miiiiight happen in a side story one day.

(A+ use of foaming mouth guy, though.)

THIS IS ALL TRUE. I am so sorry to disappoint, guys, but the rest of Brewski is going to be pretty tightly structured, internal-timeline wise (as opposed to how, uh, fast and loose I’ve been playing it until now). HOWEVER, I’m planning on (NOT PROMISING, I very much want and intend to write them but I REALLY DON’T WANT SOMEONE TO COME YELL AT ME IN THREE MONTHS IF IT DOESN’T HAPPEN, NO PROMISES) doing a number of little side stories. One of them is going to involve Charles in a kilt, mostly so I can force Fish to draw it! And one of them may well involve Erik in drag, although, again, no promises. <3

So, is “Traneto” offensive? Michael was the one who invented this name… *is confused*

“Traneto” is indeed offensive. I haven’t seen the interview where Fassy said that—though I don’t doubt that he did—but regardless of the name’s origin, it’s not cool! Celebrities are people too, and sometimes they say and do fucked up things without thinking about it. I doubt Fassy intended to say something that could be offensive and triggering to the trans* community, but, as has been established many times and in many ways, intent doesn’t prevent people from being harmed! We obviously can’t go back and make Fassy unsay what he said, but we can avoid using these phrases ourselves. “Dragneto” is a less offensive—and much more accurate!—alternative. 

Okay so: Fassy in drag? Is awesome. The amount of use of the word tr*nny I’m seeing on my dash in regards to Fassy in drag? Not so awesome. Thing is, guys, that word is a slur. It’s triggering for a number of people, trans* and otherwise, who just want a safe sphere in which to blog. It’s also not even remotely accurate—the word that that slur derives from does not mean “cissexual man in drag”, and using it as such demeans the identity of actual trans* folk.

Is it cool to be excited to see our favorite landshark in a dress? Totally. Is it cool to hurt people while doing so? Yeah, not so much. And maybe you didn’t know, but now you do! So, uh, stop.

(As always, I’ll put it out there that I am a cissexual female—if I have been insensitive to the trans* community anywhere in this post, PLEASE do not hesitate to let me know. I will be at work for the next several hours, but I assure you that upon being informed of a mistake I will be nothing but grateful and apologetic; I’ll make any and all changes needed with haste as soon as I get the chance.)

IT’S LIKE CHRISTMAS 

WAIT I’M JEWISH

IT’S LIKE THE LAST DAY OF PASSOVER WHEN YOU CAN FINALLY HAVE BREAD AGAIN

(JUST IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING THAT’S THE BEST DAY OF THE YEAR)