My scrap of dirt

[Keep in mind this isn't a usual research paper, we had to follow a very particular stucture - the core of the exercise is that we had to analyze three articles on a topic of our choice, and establish our critique within the framework of our class. Also, this paper isn't due until Tuesday, so any remark/criticism is more than welcome.]




Heterosexism, or heterosexual hegemony, is defined by the ideas and practices that posit heterosexuality as the only natural, normal and universal sexual expression (Ross, 2008), and is deeply embedded in our institutions, shaping our everyday assumptions about gender, sexuality, and sexual orientation. Even with homosexuality becoming more visible in today's Western culture, the binary system upon which heterosexism is founded has been little challenged – it could even be argued that gay rights activists, by often taking a essentialist stand on homosexuality in hopes of making it more acceptable to the general public, have reinscribed the very gender system that is at the roots of their oppression (Pascoe, 2005, p. 342). Bisexuality and transgenderism, on the other hand, are two categories that radically challenge these beliefs about sexuality and gender, by breaking from some aspects of the male/female binary gender structure. Because it is so profound, this rupture bothers us, and might explain the extent to which transphobia and biphobia pervade our whole society, and the gay and lesbian community often just as much as the straight world.

However, the nuances are not evident for the uninformed bystander, who has long confused transsexuality with homosexuality...

A 12-year-old girl in Quebec plagarize a Highlander fanfic a friend of mine wrote and had it published.

By plagarize I mean copied and pasted the words. Literally. She didn't even change the names.

My friend realized and contacted the publisher and the parents of the girl and now it looks like he's going to get the money made from the book, and (unfortunately for them since they had no clue), the parents are going to have a lawsuit from the publishing house on their ass.

Here's an article going over the story, and another report + news video. Both are in French, sorry!

I seriously cannot believe anyone would have the guts to copy-paste a (very long) story from the internet and go say they wrote it so they make money out of it. Scary that it actually happened and that if Frédéric hadn't heard about it, it would have gone totally unnoticed. And as a parent, I have no clue how I'd even deal with my kid doing something like that.

FYI, the book is called Laura L'Immortelle, the girl who claimed the story as her own is called Marie-Pier Côté and the publishing house is Les Intouchables. The original fic was called Des cendres et du vent and the author's Frédéric Jeorge.


EDIT : The fanfic only uses the universe of Highlander, which is why the publisher can get away with it - it doesn't re-use characters and stuff from the show, which would be too obvious a copyright infringement...

Happier topics!

Jewel updated her blog, "Dear roj", and as usual it's awesome. *loves* And she mentions Sean and says "my beautiful Vancouver" and have I mentioned the love? *loves more*

I was directed to this website by ely_jan, and it rocks. minotaur's sex tips for slash writers. I particularly recommend the Q&A section, it's brilliant! Gets you a lot of straight-forward answers.

Title: Forgive me for my distance 2/2
Author: Joey
Rating: PG-13
Pairing : Cannon, though especially Kaylee/Simon
Characters: Simon and the whole of the crew
Genre: General, Character study
Warning : A wee bit of slash? Just hints of it, and very much not graphic. Not that this warning is gonna stop anyone on my Flist. ^^
Timeline/Spoilers: The main storyline starts after Objects in Space, goes all the way to the movie and follows up on it a little bit. (Spoilers for the comics, too.)
Summary: Ever thought Simon had changed quite a bit between the series and the movie ? The fic looks at Simon's character and his evolution in the lapse of time separating the series and the movie, intertwined with memories from his MedAcad days.
Disclaimer: Joss is God. I'm just a minion.
Thanks: To my beta-readers, meaning fan_elune, larian and celebros, and to fireflybeta for helping me find them! You guys rock, and you were really helpful. :)

Part 1 : here.

( Go on and finish the story... )

So hey, Swedish dilemma solved, my mom feels too tired to go! I won't have to suffer overpopulation for a whole weekend (that's a really not funny joke but at least littlegothsin and pim_pam_pomme can understand).

Anyway, after a lot of reworking, I've finally reached the point where I'm satisfied with that Simon fic I've been mentioning regularly. This is only the first part, but I'll probably post the second part tomorrow, because it's really not about the suspense or anything. I'd love to hear what you think!

Title: Forgive me for my distance 1/2
Author: Joey
Rating: PG-13
Pairing : Cannon, though especially Kaylee/Simon
Characters: Simon and the whole of the crew
Genre: General, Character study
Warning : A wee bit of slash? Just hints of it, and very much not graphic. Not that this warning is gonna stop anyone on my Flist. ^^
Timeline/Spoilers: The main storyline starts after Objects in Space, goes all the way to the movie and follows up on it a little bit
Summary: Ever thought Simon had changed quite a bit between the series and the movie ? The fic looks at Simon's character and his evolution in the lapse of time separating the series and the movie, intertwined with memories from his MedAcad days.
Disclaimer: Joss is God. I'm just a minion.
Thanks: To my beta-readers, meaning fan_elune, larian and celebros. You guys rock, and you were really helpful. :)

( Please, give it a try? :) )

Part 2 can be found here.

So, yeah. Feedback'd be very much appreciated!

1) Where do you write?

Usually somewhere where I'm alone. My room works fine, and I can write both on a desk or on my bed. My desk usually works better, though.

2) Do you use/have a laptop?

Yes, and I know definitely use it for all writing I get done (which granted might not be much, but still).

3) What distracts you from writing?

Not much if I'm in the mood. I guess if anything comes up unexpected (which sadly tends to happen when you're on a laptop connected to the net) or if I have to be somewhere.

4) What makes you write even more?

Having ideas? Feeling like writing. It sounds stupid, but I need to be in a certain kind of mood to write - not necessarily gloomy, but at least thoughtful, uncomfortable - something that drives me to write down words. Inspiration usually comes from real life, or sometimes from movies / TV shows. Rarely from books, if I remember correctly.

5) What do you have set up for yourself so that you can write even more?

Nothing, really. I don't force myself to write if it doesn't come to me.

6) What do you do when you're stuck?

See above. Unless for some reason I have to to write, I won't force myself. If I need to, for an assignement or something, I'll just go around and try and think about it all day long, and regularly give it a new try until the writing flows. But I've found that when I *have to* write, it usually comes pretty easily. Probably because it doesn't happen often.

7) Do you write from beginning to end... or do you jump around as the mood suits you?

Tend to write from beginning to end, but not necessarily. Depends on how I feel about it. On how I want to construct the story.

8) When do you write?

Mostly in the evening or at night, I guess.

9) If you're a novel-writer of any sort... how do you set up your story, or do you? do you make outlines, write character descriptions, etc? Or do you just start writing?

I'm not really, but - when I start writing, I usually have an idea of where I'm going and who my characters are.

10) How do you stay motivated to write... to keep going, even if you've been rejected time and time again?

I don't really submit my work, so I don't risk being rejected any. My only example is at Phillips, when I was taking the Creative Writing course and people told me there were things that needed working on, that motivated me to write something better. Though there are also stuff I get stubborn about and don't wanna change.



Off to get a little more sleep before I have to go and make pancakes. Hmmm, breakfast/lunch in bed. :)