sigelphoenix

Not Green or Blue is a ficathon for characters of color in comics. Exciting!

(The title is in response to Ian Sattler's weasel-assed comment of "I mean, we have green, pink, and blue characters" in response to criticism of DC's lack of racial diversity.)

Title: Balance on the Earth
Characters: Nexus, Fourth, Drannor, Jakob Col, Urbanus, Underfoot, all the nexi
Word Count: ~3000
Summary: Nexus seeks to improve zir relationship with the nexi.
Notes: This takes place during the five-day planning period in adventure 58. The title is from "Green (Welcome to the World)," from Nexus' FST.

N.B. I am trying something I ought to have done a long time ago, and that is using progressive gender-neutral pronouns for Nexus.

I didn't do this before for a host of reasons, such as not knowing these pronouns well myself, not thinking I 'should' ask other people to use them, and most of all, thinking that Nexus/this game existed outside of real-world power structures. To make a very long story very short, that is not true; there is no such thing as a dehistoricized fantasy world when the fantasy world itself is created by people who are implicated in real-world power structures. I thought I was addressing anti-oppression by a) avoiding the default of making robots and/or fighters male, b) avoiding the assumption that a female player must play a female character. But in thinking that I only had to address two sides in a gender binary, I thought only of the sexism I personally face and not the transphobia that is equally heinous. Calling a person 'it' - even when the person is a character who, within the fantasy world, claims the power to create zir own meaning for that word - has harmful real-world implications. Choosing to ignore these implications meant prioritizing my recreational comfort over anti-oppression, and that is unequivocally wrong.

I could go on, both about what I really intended and how bad I feel ... but the point is not to get wanky over myself, but rather address and fix the actual problem. I am sorry I made this mistake at all, and I'm sorry the correction comes late.

For what it's worth, here are the pronouns I have chosen to use:
Zie hits Garagos.
Garagos hits zir.
Zir sword is Unfettered.
That sword is zirs.
Nexus tries not to get zirself killed.

( Until you balance on the earth to find that love surrounds you )

Title: Drabbles
Characters: Nexus, Margodah, Lyson, Vilda, Drannor
Word Count: 500
Summary: Snippets from various points in the campaign.
Notes: These are bits that never became larger fics, or are parts of fics that are unlikely to be finished. The Margodah dialogue came from ratzeo.

( Exactly 100 words each! I'm so Type A. )

Please please please don't fuck this up, DC. I love Cass so much and it is almost painful how much I want to see her back, and done well.

Also, please tell me the cover is self-aware and intentionally mocking? (The Lady Gaga reference could be evidence in support of this, or it could just be evidence that DC grabbed a catchy phrase from pop culture parlance.) Because 17-year-old Tim in his Condom Head costume being all "RRRR I clench my fists and pout in the face of a sexy woman trying to sex me up sexily! My manly stoicism is a sign of my virlity!" is just ... no. I love Tim, but I can take this about as seriously as I can take a Manowar album cover.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled lack of journal posts.

U.S. midterm election results are depressing. I'm in the mood for some cynical humor.

"Feminist is a great word."*

And:

*I considered making some conciliatory remarks along the lines of, "well, 'murder' is intentional hyperbole, and I would never even consider sneezing upon anti-feminists, I promise!" but, eh. If you need that explained to you you're beyond my patience.

Title: On Duty and Babies
Characters: Nexus and Luth
Word Count: ~1700
Summary: Nexus figures Luth is the best person to go to for advice about duty.
Notes: RP with lunapome following adventure 53.

( 'You've come a long way, baby' )

I used to feed the kitties kibble in the morning and wet food at night, but due to an unforeseen development (*ahem* Drannor stealing Kershach's kibble) I'm switching it up so I can monitor them during kibble time.

My boys are kibble fiends who do not like wet food nearly as much as they ought to, even though it's healthier for them, and under the old arrangement they would take their own sweet time getting to their dinner plates.

However, now that dinner time is kibble time, they are loafing expectantly by my computer chair. They look like a pair of Hungry Hungry Hippos. XD

Here's something shiny I want to read: Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories, which is scheduled to arrive on December 29, 2010. The list of authors is highly relevant to my interests.

(via deadbrowalking)

The Palazzo: It earns the 5-star hotel rating with its giant suites and ridiculous number of flatscreen TVs. Unfortunately we were running around so much that we didn't get to fully enjoy the luxury of the room. I was glad of the cushy bed and elegant bathroom, though.

Phantom of the Opera (or "Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular"): I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would. Phantom has never been one of my absolute favorites, so I didn't expect to be affected as much as I was. It probably helped that our seats were in the dead center of the front row (though that meant I had to crane my neck to see the chandelier special effects) and the Vegas production is all about the fancy set effects. But I enjoyed the cast, particularly the Phantom, who clearly put a lot of effort into his physical performance along with his singing (imitating genteel gestures, facial expressions, trembling when Christine kisses him). And he made "Stranger Than You Dreamt It" actually tragic, and his final lines made me tear up.

I was momentarily knocked out of the spell of the show when Raoul showed up to rescue Christine at the end, and his white shirt had somehow become conveniently ripped open to display his manly cleavage. XD

Le Cirque: I went to this restaurant last year, and brought ratzeo this year because I wanted him to experience a fancy/expensive restaurant that was actually worth the cost. The food was as delicious as I remembered (they made a cucumber soup flavorful and tasty), and the atmosphere was not too you-only-matter-for-your-money.

O: I've seen 3 Cirque du Soleil shows now, and O is my favorite for overall experience - I was enthralled by every scene (with the exception of the comedic clown interludes, which were just okay - but I never seem to be won over by their comedic scenes). I like Ka better for its music, and for the spectacular scene where the Sister and the Firefly Boy use the sashes (which, sadly, was a type of act that didn't feature in O). But O has ridiculous use of rings, trapeze, parallel bars, diving, etc.

shadawyn and irishninja's wedding: It went off without a hitch! I think they're glad it's over, though.

ratzeo's and my first honest-to-goodness vacation together: ♥ ♥ ♥

The cats: We were only greeted with a minimal amount of vomit upon our return. Also, Drannor was very sweet; I picked him up when I walked in and he licked my forehead in greeting. Later when I took a nap, he spooned with me the whole time (he's usually a love 'em and leave 'em type who will cuddle for a few minutes and then find his own spot on the bed). Kershach, on the other hand, played it cool and didn't act impressed with our return. He didn't actively shun us, though, and now, 8 hours after I got home, he has finally flopped and showed his belly for me.

I'm flying to Las Vegas tomorrow for augustphoenix and royalarchivist's wedding! I'm excited but right now it's "finish up last-minute things at the office OMG" time and it's making my head spin ...

But I'm looking forward to it. This is the first honest-to-goodness traveling vacation ratzeo and I have taken together, and we are splurging accordingly. Along with the wedding, we're going to be busy with fancy food (reservations at Le Cirque, yum!) and watching shows (front row seats for Phantom of the Opera and Cirque du Soleil's O, OMG!). All that and a 5-star hotel to come back to each night, whee.

I think it'll be good for me to take a break. Normally around this time of year I take Labor Day week off for a "stay-cation" at home. For various reasons, I didn't do it this year, and I think the lack of rest and recharge time is wearing on me. Not that Vegas is going to be particularly restful; but I think the mental break will do me good. Plus, y'know, I'll be celebrating with friends and watching shows, so that's worlds better than going to work.

I'll leave you with this amazing recipe for coffee cake. It really is awesome. (Just ... do yourself a favor and knock 1/2 cup of sugar from the cake ingredients, and 1/2 stick of butter from the topping. There's no way to make this healthy, but this way you won't feel sick after eating a couple of pieces.)