The Archive of Our Own is in open beta!!! YAY!!!


denise wrote a very kind post of congratulations to the OTW and to AD&T. Yay fandom! Yay womanpower!

I'll shut up about this some time soon, I swear. In the meantime, lian has some links about the plans for translating the AO3, an effort to which I look forward to contributing.

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To switch gears completely, I thought Steven Pinker completely nailed the problems with Malcolm Gladwell's worldview and did a good job of sussing out the finer details of what exactly Gladwell gets wrong (and let me just say, um, wow. "Igon values"? Seriously? You can't make this shit up) in his review of Gladwell's new book. Which isn't to say that Gladwell can't be very good on his chosen topics at times--I'd recommend that everyone read his recent piece on football, dogfighting and brain injury, and his piece on criminal profiling and the likelihood that it doesn't really work, which Pinker deservedly mentions favorably in his review (I'm looking at you, Shadow Unit, Criminal Minds, most every cop show ever). But these are pieces in which the numbers speak for themselves, but when Gladwell tries to make the numbers speak for anything else, he often as not goes badly astray.

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Oh Yuletide assignment, why aren't you here already?  

Man, let the record show that I'm a sucker for ascending tricola.

Happy news first. The Archive of Our Own is entering limited public beta tomorrow, 14 November 2009, at 10:00 am UST! Anyone who likes will at that time be able to enter themselves into the invitation queue, and you will receive an invitation to create an account later, to avoid overwhelming the servers. (I've been reloading the AO3 front page all day and am fairly sure our users are going to double in less than 24 hours--we were at 347 before the invitation queue went live for OTW members & donors this morning, and as of now we're at 619. The number of fandoms and fanworks is heading for...well, the sky's the limit, really. Or the servers are.) I should also mention that all Yuletide 2009 participants will receive invitations at some point between now and the beginning of the posting period. HOORAY!!!

While you're waiting, I urge you to check out samvara's awesome Archive of Our Own RPF, told partially in ALT text, because it is funny, interesting, true, and awesome, much like Samvara and her committee, AD&T. *doffs hat in gratitude and admiration*

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In other news, the government is going to bring KSM and three of his fellow terrorists to trial in a civilian court in New York City in what will surely be the trial of the century for the crime of the century. I think this is a good thing for a lot of reasons, and I agree wholeheartedly with what Amy Davidson has to say in her column on the subject. (Close Read could be so awesome if it didn't always have to add stupid football tags to the end of every piece.) Briefly, military tribunals/commissions bad; torture double plus bad; rule of law double plus good; holding anyone without trial indefinitely unconscionable in a country that purports to stand for justice, or for law. Anything else I might say is going to descend into capslock ranting.

Also, water is wet, and there is water at the bottom of the ocean, as well as on the moon. I am skeptical of the idea of extracting water from the moon for various reasons, but it's a pretty cool discovery nonetheless.

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Finally, I got our turkey from Trader Joe's tonight, and there was great rejoicing in the land. 

Thanks to cutesherry for the scans.

( Strange angels, old stories, haunting me )

DTB: Ryuusei no Gemini 05 & 06
Man, I didn't even realize they were in Sapporo until the end of episode 5. That's not because all Japanese cities look the same, oh no. And hey, submarines! And more dead contractors, and me questioning Misaki's ethical choices, and thinking that assistant girl is kind of a cold-hearted bitch. I'll be in the corner indulging my bizarre nostalgia for riding the 新快速 and 快速 trains on a seishun 18 ticket until next week. Who else thought the mom telling her kid not to notice Hei riding on the roof of their car was hilarious?

( The silent service )

Whenever Suou gets out her weapon I have the strange thought that I'm watching a magical girl show. Or Utena with guns (which apparently was a concept discussed during that show's development).

It is Veterans'/Remembrance Day in much of the world. The sacrifices of soldiers--men and women--deserve remembrance every day.

Trench Names
( Only the dead have seen the end of war.  )

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( Standing on my cancer soapbox again. Tl; dr )

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In much happier news, the AO3 is going to open beta this weekend! YAY! As an OTW volunteer I am a closed beta user of the AO3 (you can find me there as starlady; currently I have a Tolkienana fanfic, as well as my entry in this year's treknovelfest, posted) I will have a limited number of invitations to send out--leave a comment if you'd like one, with the caveat that I don't know how many I'll have. There will also be an invitation queue that you can join; more info here.

Also, dw_news informs me that of the approximately 170K Dreamwidth invites that have been distributed, 120K have not been used. Four of those codes are mine, and they are free to the good homes of anyone who comments here asking for one.

ETA:  Fox has canceled Dollhouse, and there was great rejoicing amongst fen and feminists, me included. I'm linking to this comment by londonkds at coffeeandink because I think it's a brilliant summation of some of the subtler problems with Joss Whedon's works. 

Kyogoku Natsuhiko. The Summer of the Ubume. Trans. Alexander O. Smith with Elye J. Alexander. New York: Vertical Books, 2009. [1995.]

This is the first book in the long-running mystery series by Kyogoku Natsuhiko featuring the onmyouji Kyogokudo, aka Chuzenji Atsuhiko, and his band of friends and war buddies, of which the anime Mouryou no Hako adapts the second book. I liked Mouryou no Hako enough to seek out this book, and wasn't disappointed. It's a mystery set in the summer of 1952, just after the end of the Occupation, and Kyogoku isn't afraid to confront some of the most vexed issues of the century--modernity versus superstition, democracy versus the imperial system, science versus religion--though he's too canny to ever definitively favor one opinion over the other, much like his namesake Kyogokudo (whom, given everything, one suspects is the author's alter ego). In a nutshell, Kyogokudo's school friend Sekiguchi, grubbing for money, is considering writing an article about an incident in which a husband has been missing and his wife has been pregnant for twenty months, and after the wife's sister comes to their friend Enokizu's detective agency for help learning the husband's whereabouts, things spiral out from there.

I had wondered after watching whether the women who lived with Kyogokudo and Sekiguchi were their wives or servants. The book resolves that they're their wives. It's interesting comparing the anime with the book--the book makes it clear that the characters look nothing like the CLAMP character designs (with the possible exception of Enokizu), and Sekiguchi is even more neurotic in the book than in the anime, which I wouldn't have thought possible, but isn't surprising for someone who had problems with depression even before he went off to war to command a platoon which only he and Kiba survived. I still like Kiba the best of all the characters, I think. In some ways the book takes a left turn in resolving the details at the conclusion (child abuse! missing genitalia! dubcon!), but the route there is fascinating. I'd definitely recommend the book to people who liked the anime, or to people who like manga and/or anime such as xxxHOLiC on account of their background in the Japanese supernatural, which this book is positively soaked in (Kyogoku's background is actually in folklore, apparently). The translation is very good, too, despite some inconsistent copy editing decisions on whether explanatory notes should get footnotes or in-text brackets. Anyway, I hope Vertical publishes more. I'll leave you with one of Kiba's lines that I found particularly interesting.

Look at me, Harasawa. I was one of those people who thought the war was right. When I heard the Emperor give his speech on the radio, I didn't know what to think. But now that I've had time to cool off, I understand that we were a little crazy back then. And I think that the democratic thing we're doing now is the right way. So maybe justice isn't anything more than the ghost of an idea. Maybe the winner decides all, and might does make right. That's why–that's why, like you say, there are no gods or Buddhas looking out for the little guy. That's why we have the law. Because we can't believe in gods, or Buddhas, or even justice. The law is the only weapon the weak have against the strong. Don't turn away from the law, Harasawa. It's on your side."

WHEN THE BERLIN WALL FELL
When the Berlin Wall fell, dear Frau Schubert,
I began dreaming migraines. Multilingual mi-
graines, no preservatives. Bulging freedom,
the excess weight of the united countries, be-
gun peering in through my windows. Its eye–
I wonder what it's thinking.
WE HAVE IT ALL NOW
We have it all now, dear Frau Schubert. The
borders' invisible stitch. Impeccable tailored
fields. Close-cropped towns. A genetic crisis.
In the greenhouse, where I'm resting after
growing a novel, Newton's orange ripens.
–Ewa Lipska (translated from the Polish by Barbara Bogoczek and Tony Howard)

I wish I could say I remember when the Wall fell. Instead I remember watching Gorbachev eat Spam on TV as an example of glasnost (or was it perestroika? whose the hand that holds it? whose the hand that moulds it?) while my mother said that Spam tasted so bad he'd bomb us in revenge. Yeah, that was my mom.

I've seen some good points made about 1989 in the media--particularly that one set of revolutions got under way in Europe in 1989, while in China another was deferred, violently, for a generation or more--and these points are certainly valid, but I don't think they can diminish the fact that, while Ronald Reagan may have exhorted "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" it was the people of Berlin who actually did it themselves. And it was the people of Germany who defied world powers super and not-so-super (guess who didn't want reunification? Margaret Thatcher, that's who, among many others) who voted to reunify their country seven months later. I was saying to my dad that the fall of the Wall is one of the things I point to to justify my rather Whiggish view of history, and he countered that it was economic forces as much as anything that did it. He has a point, certainly, but I think so do I. Nothing is impossible, and a new world can come round as swiftly as a wall goes down--though, as George Packer points out completely correctly and brilliantly as usual, some things are rather improbable. But the Cold War ending was one of them. 

Valente, Catherryne M. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. New York: Feiwel & Friends (forthcoming).

It's not the first time I've posted about Cat Valente's works in general or about Circumnavigated in particular, but I now have the happy satisfaction of being able to say that the book is finished and that I have read all of it. Even better, CMV announced several weeks ago that the rights to Fairyland and its sequel have been acquired for a print publication, so those (like me) who love print books, as well as those who don't like reading fiction online, or who have never heard of this book, will have the chance to hold it in their hands. Yay!

( Playmate of the moving seasons... )

Bear, Elizabeth. By the Mountain Bound. New York: Tor Books, 2009.

For someone who doesn't care for Norse fantasy, I've certainly been reading a lot of it this year. By the Mountain Bound is the prequel to, though published after, All the Windwracked Stars, which I read earlier this year and liked (though I would disagree categorically with Bear's characterization of these books as "steampunk." Techno-fantasy, sure, steampunk, no). It's not a spoiler for either book to say that Mountain ends where Stars begins, in the cold and the snow at the end of the world (heck, for that matter, Stars arguably ends in the same place, 2000 years later). To some extent both books are the same story, and in some respects the same tragedy: that of Strifbjorn, leader of the children of the Light, his lover Mingan, the Grey Wolf, a survivor of the world before, and their sister Muire, a historian and poet and the last and least of the Children, who loves Strifbjorn hopelessly. When another survivor from ruined Midgard turns up on the shore by Strifbjorn's hall, she sows dissension among the Children that will lead to the end of the world as everyone knows it.

It's interesting to see both Muire and Mingan, in this book, being both more and less than they are in All the Windwracked Stars, though Stars is unquestionably Muire's book, and in the same way Mountain is Mingan's. One character describes the Wolf as innocent early in the book, after that innocence is already partly lost, and weirdly, he is, though he's also a literally Luciferean character ("which way I fly is Hell, myself am Hell…"), as befits the wolf who ate the sun. Still, it makes me wonder whether the final book, The Sea Thy Mistress, will be Strifbjorn's (I think yes. I also think that several characters from Mountain who don't show up in Stars will be returning for a reckoning. How many times can the world end, and begin again? Is, as Strifbjorn claims, the memory of love the only thing that survives the apocalypse?). In some ways these books are clearly about growing up, about casting aside external guidance in favor of one's internal ethical choices, which is hugely difficult even when the fate of the world doesn't rest on one's actions.

The awesomely talented elisem is having a sale. It includes tektites, meteorites, and dinosaur bones, not to mention her amazing jewelry (for which she was nominated for a World Fantasy Award this year!).

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Do I know any icon-makers who would be willing to make me an icon of a McGriddle that said something along the lines of "Screw the McGriddle, I'll take the slush"? ("Fuck the McGriddle, give me the slush" would also be amusing. Or if you can do better with the sentiment, please do.) Context is here, if you're interested.

Clarkesworld Magazine is soliciting citizens.



I have to say that I am consistently impressed with the quality and breadth of the pieces that Clarkesworld publishes--they have played host to some of my favorite short stories and authors, and they need a little help from readers to keep paying their contributors professional rates. As little as $10 makes you a citizen of Clarkesworld, with your name listed as a supporter in the magazine's yearly anthology, and the more money you donate the more premiums you can get (sound familiar?). Anyway, spread the word, or donate, if you like. More info can be found here.

( Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace ) 

Guy Fawkes Day: not Halloween.

I think it was Game 3 of the World Series when Andy Pettite got a base hit like it was the most normal thing in the world (as a pitcher, any hits he makes are gravy) and the TV commentators made the comment that "there's no justice in hitting." I immediately shouted back at the TV that there's no justice, period. Upon reflection, I don't think I was quite right. There is justice in the world, but it's what we make ourselves, and make sure is done to and for others, and it's only as strong as people are willing to make sure that it is. One of the courts in Philadelphia reads JUSTICE THE GUARDIAN OF LIBERTY on the face of the building. That's true, but it seems to me that the people are, must be, the ultimate guardians of justice. And I hold to my conviction that without justice there can be no peace.

Anyway, have an awesome Darker Than BLACK video (it's done to the V for Vendetta trailer and is awesome). And remember the 5th of November on every other day of the year. Blowing up representative government ≠ justice.

Dear Yuletide writer,

( All I want for Yuletide is... )

Thanks so much again, Yuletide writer! Whatever you wind up writing, I can't wait to read it. Seriously--if you're happy with your fic, I'm sure I will be too.

Sincerely,
Electra

P.S. It seems awesome and fitting that this is my 1,000th post on LJ.

Another day after an election, another day to have VNV Nation's "Honour" on repeat (I have the album cut and the Juno Reactor remix. In 2004 I had the Juno Reactor remix on repeat for, I kid you not, a week straight). Gay marriage was crushed in Maine, which is just disgusting (who else thinks that James Madison would not approve of putting the rights of the minority up for the approval of the majority at the polls? Yeah, that's right). Just enough of my fellow New Jerseyans, and people in Virginia, made the stupid, easy choice and elected Republicans (nothing wrong with them per se, but our governor-elect has absolutely no real clue how to fix what's wrong with our state. I'm not qualified to speak about Virgina). My GRE math score dropped 70 points, putting me squarely in the 50th percentile. And I really suspect that the Phillies are going to lose the World Series to the Yankees tonight. Finally, lawyers for our government and others argued before the Supreme Court today that there is no constitutional right not to be framed. Land of the free...but only until your luck holds out.

Bright spots: A Democrat was elected in the New York 23rd for the first time since the 19th century and my verbal score stayed the same (roughly 98.5 percentile). And the anti-government protests in Iran seem to be undimmed. Still, overall, blech.

Not "Merry Christmas, baby" (sorry, Bruce!)--

No, what I wanted to say is that I am looking at the draft PDFs of the CLAMP 20th Anniversary fanbook that we as the clamp_now community and particularly nokiirat, fearless leader and tireless editor, have spent months putting together, and you know what? We have done an awesome thing. Fandom has problems and it is not always a metric or even an English tonne of rainbows and sparkles, but that does not diminish the fact that at times it is a space where people can come together globally and do awesome things.

N, we should totally try to get something about this in Transformative Works and Cultures. Maybe I'll ask you for an interview. :-)

And I still really need a fandom tag.

Just got back from exercising my civic duty. It's a beautiful day for an election, way nicer than last year, when so much more was on the line and we had the feeling that we were on the right side of history, doing the right thing. That was a nice feeling. I do like voting, but that's partly because I like being in control.

GRE and a job interview (for holiday retail, but beggars, choosers, etc) tomorrow. I went running for the first time since I got that cold yesterday and was pleased with the results; we'll see if it holds up when I go again today. I honestly don't know if I'll be up for the 12K Sunday week, though, since I was sick for the weeks I should have been building from 4.5 to 5.5 miles per, and the race is 7.5. NaNoWriMo is coming along--haven't started in for today, but I have thought about where I'm going to go when I do crack open the word processor. Currently I'm at 6465, which puts me ahead of the curve, where I'm desperately hoping to stay. Seeing as I really should be writing my umpty-bajillion personal statements for grad school, we'll see how long that holds.

I read The Red Tree by Shaun Tan yesterday--it's a picture book, though the term seriously undersells the sheer giddy mastery of Tan's art, to say nothing of his storytelling--and I found it to be scarily applicable to my current situation. Tan just won a World Fantasy Award for Best Artist, and it was completely deserved. My copy of The Red Tree is a Canadian import by way of the divine Wild Rumpus Books in Minneapolis, but The Arrival and Tales from Outer Suburbia, which are even better, are widely available.

Must the youngest open the oldest hills,
Through the door of the birds, where the breeze breaks.
There fire shall fly from the raven boy,
And the silver eyes that see the wind,
And the Light shall have the harp of gold.
–Susan Cooper, The Grey King

I used to have most of the poetry from that series (and a fair bit of Tolkienana too) memorized, roundabouts middle school. Yes, I was an unreconstructed geek, why do you ask? At least these days I can see at least some of the problems with both sets of books (cough! female agency! cough!).

Anyway, Happy Halloween to those who feel so inclined to celebrate this most secular of the formerly Christian holidays. zahrawithaz has some thoughts on the holiday that should be required reading.

I am completely open to considering today a new year's eve, if only because this year, however it is defined, has been so unrelentingly difficult. There have been some good parts, unquestionably, but overall, 2009 is nowhere near my top 10. At least there's nowhere to go but up.

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I went with the young literary man-friend to see The Damned United this afternoon, because I balked at Antichrist and because Damned United is by the same team of people that did The Queen. I know precisely zilch about English football and precious little about football in general, but the movie tells you enough of what you need to know to be accessible even to noobs like me and the YLMF, and anyway it's not really about football so much as it is a study of ambition and male rivalry and friendship (yes, the movie fails the Bechdel test abysmally. I had to explain the Bechdel test to the YLMF). Based on a true story, Brian Clough (rhymes with "enough"), after five hugely successful years as the manager of Derby County, parts ways with his assistant manager Peter Taylor and takes over the managership of Leeds United, which his arch-nemesis Don Revey has just vacated in order to manage England. The reunion scene at the end between Clough and Taylor goes way beyond the suggestive into real RPS territory, which says more about the different ways of expressing masculine affection in 1974 and 2009 than it does anything else. But I'd recommend it on a number of levels, neither the most nor the least of which is that Martin Sheen is pretty to look at.