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potted_music at 09:09am on 23/12/2011
potted_music at 09:09am on 23/12/2011Arrived in Ukraine hale & healthy. The orchestra at the Boston airport played Christmas carrols and Hanukkah songs in turn. On the last part of my flight, shared a row with Hasidim, marveling at each Hebrew word that I understood (also, kosher food at Ukrainian airlines looks so much yummier than regular food! can I ask for kosher food too the next time I fly with these airlines?). The world is a tiny and very nice place, especially around the holiday season.
Meanwhile, while on the seemingly endless transatlantic flight (the one downside to transcontinental PhD-ing), listened to the podfic of Four Minor Interludes for the Solo Violin by Katie Forsythe (podfic read by general_jinjur, text), and found it thoroughly disturbing. I'm not saying that it cannot or should not be enjoyed - far from it - but creepily possessive boyfriends and relationships framed as ownership, I think, should be at least acknowledged as not unproblematic, and they usually are, when they are found in, you know, Twilight, the text fandom loves to hate. Here, meanwhile, the relationship looks eerily similar, but it's The fandom classic, and at least all the reviews I've read were all "twu wuv yay!" - which is even more disturbing than the text. Also, for me, Watson is the make-it-or-break-it character in all Holmes adaptations: Holmes is always an intellectual construct one step away from the realms of fantasy, whereas Watson is the point for readerly identification, demonstrating (through various remakes) how a normal person reacts when confronted with a miracle. The moment he's relegated to being the source of passive appreciation of Holmes, I click a back button, and he is just that in this fic. He's not tough, or generous, or smart on his own here: only a mirror that allows Holmes to shine. And I do not want that in my porn :(
***
One thoroughly happy-making moment: one of my mom's friends works at this private Catholic university, and he suggested that I contact them when I graduate (in, ugh, ages and ages), because they are planning to open a complit department, or something. And my (religious) mom said that there might be a problem, because I'm atheist. I think it's the first time she acknowledged that as a legitimate choice rather than a faze. Baby steps, but yay!
Meanwhile, while on the seemingly endless transatlantic flight (the one downside to transcontinental PhD-ing), listened to the podfic of Four Minor Interludes for the Solo Violin by Katie Forsythe (podfic read by general_jinjur, text), and found it thoroughly disturbing. I'm not saying that it cannot or should not be enjoyed - far from it - but creepily possessive boyfriends and relationships framed as ownership, I think, should be at least acknowledged as not unproblematic, and they usually are, when they are found in, you know, Twilight, the text fandom loves to hate. Here, meanwhile, the relationship looks eerily similar, but it's The fandom classic, and at least all the reviews I've read were all "twu wuv yay!" - which is even more disturbing than the text. Also, for me, Watson is the make-it-or-break-it character in all Holmes adaptations: Holmes is always an intellectual construct one step away from the realms of fantasy, whereas Watson is the point for readerly identification, demonstrating (through various remakes) how a normal person reacts when confronted with a miracle. The moment he's relegated to being the source of passive appreciation of Holmes, I click a back button, and he is just that in this fic. He's not tough, or generous, or smart on his own here: only a mirror that allows Holmes to shine. And I do not want that in my porn :(
***
One thoroughly happy-making moment: one of my mom's friends works at this private Catholic university, and he suggested that I contact them when I graduate (in, ugh, ages and ages), because they are planning to open a complit department, or something. And my (religious) mom said that there might be a problem, because I'm atheist. I think it's the first time she acknowledged that as a legitimate choice rather than a faze. Baby steps, but yay!