fic: Penal as in penalty

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Hey guys, hey guys, I wrote femslash. What the fuck, guys! What the fuck!

Fandom: ST XI
Pairing: Yeoman Janice Rand (who is this GQMF?) / Dr. Helen Noel
Warnings: UST, femslash, sex, dub-con if you squint sideways, feminism.
Notes: 5997 words for pervyficgirl over at trek_exchange. This story is kind of the reboot version of the TOS episode “Dagger of the Mind,” which was

Comments

wtf does gq even stand for? gentleman's quarterly? jeez.

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Man, that macro is freaking epic and also so true! Janice Rand is the shit, and I want her to be in the next movie SO BAD. Played by someone super scary and efficient, like what Pepper Potts should have been if G.Pal hadn't hobbled her with stilettos and an eating disorder. She would kick so much ass Kirk could sit back and eat his protein supplement like a hot little captain should.

Oh, btw, the Kirk/McCoy was totally explicit in an early draft, but it had to go because I realized I was talking about them in the middle of the only sex scene. My feminist points would've gone down to minus one hundred, for sure. :O

I can't believe you slogged through this, dude. This is how I know you love me, that you will read TOS femslash and say nice things about it. I do not deserve that kind of loyalty, but I will take it and love you for it. Nawww.

[featherjournals]

....

......

OMG.

Fuck.

You are the most brilliant thing that's happened to fic.

Or writing.

Ever.

Thank you for sharing this. Thank you.

Wow.

I'm going to go squee in the corner like a little girl who just found out she's going to Disney Land for a year. I don't think I could do justice to this lovely, lovely piece with any review of anything. I'd quote it at least five times with 'favourite lines' if I even tried.

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I know we've had this conversation a thousand times, but femslash always seemed so alien to me, and I'm so glad that I've final broken down that wall. I was actually super-self-conscious about the sex and the role that men were playing in their relationships and their lives and the existence of the male gaze IRL and in the story, and blah blah blah. I am so glad that you liked it, I can't even tell you. And now that it's done I feel like it was actually way more fun to write than I gave it credit for, at the time. Less pressure to make the characters behave like realistic men (a common problem in slash, right?) and more freedom to fuck around with emotions and be self-indulgent. I don't know if I'm even making sense, but seriously: this comment made me smile for hours. :D

[featherjournals]

Femslash is an odd, odd creature to write. I've put my pen to it a couple of times, but only because I was in an f/f relationship at that point, and -she- liked the pairing. Oddly enough, I still feel more comfortable writing m/m stuff. I don't know why. I guess women are really quite complicated to write. Although I am one...I find it insidiously hard to get into the head of a female character and write her from the heart.

I think you handled their relationship beautifully. It's a fact that men will always play some kind of a role in women's lives, and vice-versa, even if the women are gay. They'll have that time in their lives when they're figuring themselves out. Some will have boyfriends. Some will even have husbands (can attest to that one personally). So, if anything, I think it makes it more realistic and really brings it home, so to speak.

And this comment is so utterly belated. <.

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Will read later, but registering FULL APPROVAL at the fact that you wrote Janice Rand.

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SHE WILL HEADBUTT OFF YOUR DICK WITH HER EPIC BASKET HAIR, TRUFAX.

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I am so glad you liked it, holy shit! I was like... 'away missions are like shore leave in that they leave the ship, and Janice spying on Sulu is kind of like voyeurism, and they do get caught... in the neural neutralizer...' :/ Yeah, failure on all prompts involved, I apologize. But this pairing! I hadn't gotten as far as Dagger of the Mind when I got it, but it was kind of an open door to write them however I felt which is so rare, I can't thank you enough for the freedom of the pairing.

I love Noel's feminism, and how casual it is and how no one seems to think it's out of the ordinary. YES, that is my version of the 23rd century. ;)

This comment here? Is probably the best, more affirming thing anyone's ever said about a story of mine in terms of politics, I can't thank you enough for saying so. <3

[estei]

Okay, so I know I said the scene after the meeting should be the ending BUT I WAS WRONG. It is so much more awesome this way! Once again, let me just say that I am totally in awe of how captivating this is for someone who never watched TOS and has no idea who these characters are. You totally owned this.

ALSO. DON'T THINK I DIDN'T NOTICE THAT HAND HOLDING REFERENCE.

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WAS IT EFFECTIVE? I NOTICE THERE IS NO WORD DOC IN MY INBOX AND ALMOST HALF OF SATURDAY HAS GONE BY. O.O

asdfdf, I may as well have forced the sex scene in with a chisel and sledgehammer, but I did it! Women have libidos too! Yayyyyy!