Nora Charles

I was catching up on the spnkink_meme just now. This time there was a lot of noncon and dubcon, as there often is. And noncon and dubcon can be really hot and enjoyable to read. I like it a lot both when it's treated strictly as a sadomasochistic and/or D/s fantasy and when it's emoporn teasing out all the nuances of the experience. I don't like it when it's presented as not being noncon/dubcon, and the wonderful thing about kinkmemes is that the prompters and writers own their kinks and don't try to sell them as the natural or ideal way of interacting sexually and romantically.

Then there was this fic: J2 AU, happy ending massage, and much as I like noncon/dubcon sometimes, I just want to hug and squeeze this fic and tell it that I love it.

Anyone adult can read this fic, it does not depend on or refer to any canon, and it'll take you two minutes, since it's quite short. Go on.

( Now that you've read the fic )

When I was in Smallville fandom, back in 2001-2002 I used to hang out with some fellow fangirls in an AIM chatroom. We were all slashers, and all pretty open minded about slash pairings, including incestuous slash (Lex/Lionel). However we disagreed very strongly about the character Lana, to the point where we had to stop even trying to discuss her. The general consensus was that Chloe was everything that is awesome (and if anyone disagreed, they didn't dare say so), but Lana was continuously bashed.

( I think there were several reasons for this )

I wanted to look beyond the poor writing and uninspiring acting, suspend my disbelief and just go with who Lana supposedly was, taking it as a challenge to flesh her out, since she was a key figure in Clark's life, and I needed to make her worthy of his love in order to respect Clark, rather than out of any feminist desire to have a realistic girl on TV, but I gave up when my attempts were met with indifference or even rabid fury by other fans. I left Smallville fandom shortly after, and since then I haven't bothered rolling that particular boulder up the hill.

A lot of the women others have mentioned in their celebration of female characters are more or less of the same type as Lana. Their onscreen lives revolve around male characters, they're there to comment on male characters; to be sexual opportunities or challenges for male characters; to show that male characters are so wonderful that they can hang out with women, often two-fers; to be damsels in distress; to be mother-figures; to be the loving child figures without the tension of the expected power-struggle between sons and fathers (because girls never grow into women, at least not until they reach menopause or if they're ugly); they're there to unsettle male characters, lead them into temptation and attack them with their foul sexuality, etc. etc.

Often someone will say to me, isn't so-and-so a kick-ass heroine? I'll probably politely and not very convincingly agree, all the while going "meh" on the inside and feeling disgruntled. I don't want to have to do the leg work on fleshing out those characters! I'm done with that, and I'm done with being satisfied with substandard writing like that. I will not be silenced by a sop like an idealized, beautiful, smart, courageous, bantering kick-ass lust-object for fanboys like the hateful Lady Christina de Souza in Doctor Who. "But, but... she kicks ass?!" All the more to be a good trophy for the Doctor when she begs to accompany him, my friend.

The female characters I'm going to celebrate use their powers of awesomeness for their own good, rather than for the good of a male characters. They are the heroes of their own lives, not the supporting characters in some dude's life. I don't care how smoking hot Zoë Washburne is (very in case you're wondering), she is not the kind of character I want more of. I say that as a bitterly disappointed fangirl who was thrilled about Zoë after watching one episode of Firefly, only to realize the evil bait and switch Joss was playing on female Buffy fans.

Mehitabel Parr
One of three main characters in Sarah Monette's books Melusine, The Virtu and The Mirador. I came for the delicious slashiness, I stayed for the humor, suspense, and vivid characters and settings. The books are narrated from each of the main characters' POV, with very strong and individual voices. They overlap often, leading to interestingly contrasting views of the same events, but each character has their own life and subplot. Mehitabel grew up in a traveling circus, but ran away from home to become a classical actress in a respectable theater. She's good at her job, interested in other people, and in many ways just an ordinary single woman struggling to make ends meet in a stressful world and maybe find some happiness along the way. Because she's one of the main characters in a fantasy novel, of course she has to deal with a lot of challenges along the way, and she proves to be vulnerable, but with an unbendable spirit; unfair and kind of distant to her friends sometimes, but loyal and good when it comes down to it; funny, but kind of mean... she's totally awesome. She has believable flaws, and is no superhero, and when she triumphs or gets in a good zinger, it's impossible not to cheer for her.

Cordelia Naismith
The main character in Lois McMaster Bujold's books Shards of Honor and Barrayar, and an important supporting character in the rest of the Vorkosigan saga. Shards of Honor reads like slash. Cordelia is the captain of a survey ship who crashes on a planet where the only other person is a fearsome warrior from a paternalistic, very traditional culture that has recently been at war with Cordelia's people. In Cordelia's culture, sex and gender are a matter of personal preference, and many different sexual and gender orientations are recognized and celebrated. She happens to be female and a woman, but mainly identifies as a scientist and the leader of her crew in this context, but she is aware that gender roles are rigidly defined by society, not individual preference in Aral Vorkosigan's culture. Now the bookish geek must win the respect of and form an alliance with the aggressive and very physical warrior in order for both of them to survive. It's the perfect union of action adventure and a respect -> like -> love story free of icky gender roles.

To be continued

Wonderful movie, enjoyed it very much!

And of course it teaches a good moral lesson too: if the girl you're interested in doesn't want to be with you, just do it with her while she's unconscious/in a coma ^_^ She'll probably thank you later!

Oh, and don't bother learning her name. Eve, Eva, whatever, once you slip her some roofies she'll stop jerking away or trying to shoot you every time you clumsily grope her.

Hmmm, edited to add: I noticed the 2001 homages while I was watching the movie, but now I wonder if tearing off her arm was a nod to Boxing Helena?

From A Certain Point of View by lethe medusa

Very, very funny fic. Wonderfully in character Snape. Short, and perfect, except for the very last sentence, which totally blows, and not in the good way.
Never the less fic is good, and I recommend that you go read it, now.

I've been reading the Buffy board on Television without Pity.
<sigh>
I don't know why I always do that to myself, when I know I'm gonna hate it. Anyway, Ostentatious gave a very well-put, somewhat satisfying rant about the Willow's magic addiction storyline, and I agree with most of what she/he(?) said. I just get so tired thinking about it, the way you do when you're deeply unsatisfied with something, but know there's nothing whatsoever you can do about it. One bad episode you can just sort of ignore or explain away, but when the season arch stinks, it's hard not to get frustrated and disappointed. I only care because I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's the one show I not only hope for, but expect excellent storylines and acting from.

And it's not only that I thought the addiction storyline was a dud, it's that it (almost) totally wrecks everything they had built up about Willow's power issues, identity crisis, and supressed passive-aggressive anger. A character they built up over 6 years! A fascinating, well-rounded, deep character you could identify with, and they suddenly decide to use her very real-life issues as a metaphor for some totally other real-life issue, and "resolve" it in a cheap, unsatisfying way.

I'm not saying that drug addiction/abuse is not a relevant issue, but I agree with the person (I wish I remember who, maybe it was one of the TwoP recappers) who said that Willow's powerabuse was about (used to be about) her controlling herself and her surroundings, not about letting go.

This reminds me of Saber ShadowKitten's story What I Did on my Summer Vacation. (Willow/Angel, Content warning: Deals with the idea of Dominance/Submission, NC-17) --Go read that if you want a good story that deals with Willow's power issues ^_^
Saber ShadowKitten has a wonderful grasp of the characters, and an amusing tendency to pick up on the character development archs and take them to their logical (and highly entertaining) conclusion years before Joss. Her stories are always funny, emotionally intense, and action packed. She writes (wrote) both gen, het and slash.