LJ as noticeboard
Managed to stop in on the monthly Sydney fen gathering this afternoon and much loud, enjoyable squeeing ensued! (as always :D)
Using LJ as noticeboard for various things discussed and that I promised to link to others:
I do miss the days of yore in popslash where genderswap fic meant 'woke up a girl' rather than 'always a girl'.
While I don't miss people interpreting 'being a girl' with certain signs of femininity ( more on that here), I still think there's so much opportunity within that (acknowledged) swap to explore why it's interesting for us as (predominantly female) fans to view our (predominantly male) objects of desire through the lens of our own experiences and bodies; to imagine what it would be like for them to discover what it's like for us.
(I think this also plays a part in that other tricky trope: fic subjects as fic writers/fannish loves as fannish participants.)
Whereas in 'always a girl' fic, I'm often left wondering why? Doesn't matter how well a fic is written, it always puzzles me - what did the writer set out to do when they chose to turn them one or more male characters into female ones? Is it just the challenge (as with any other AU/AR setting)? Is it a way of getting inside of character's head, by making them more similar to us physically? Or is it a milder, more acceptable form of Mary Sue? I don't know if any of these actually apply - they're just questions that run through my mind whenever I start an 'always a girl' fic.
I'd love to know what others think! I'd also welcome any recs for both kinds of genderswap fic - here are three of my favourites:
One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This by justlikeheroin (Gerard/Frank, My Chemical Romance)
Gerard turns into a girl - but then she always has been, in this universe. I LOVE this idea that plays with both forms of genderswap, with the the band floundering in memories of Gerard that never were, with only mediated ideas of who they have been. This fic hurts, but I thought it was a great read. This link goes to part 1, part 2 is next post in writer's LJ.
Oh You Pretty Things by aria (Gene/Sam, Life on Mars)
Sam wakes up one morning in the 70s and finds he's turned into a woman. Policing is a different game altogether when you're not sure if you're imagining it all AND you've changed biological gender overnight. Really interesting look as the gender relations that the show touches on briefly, and I also love how Gene and Sam's relationship shifts but doesn't fundamentally change.
woman like a man by longtime_lurker (Pete/Patrick, Fall Out Boy)
"Pete wakes up feeling a little displaced in his own body." I like how the thoughtfulness about the differences in being a girl are weaved in well, not overwhelming what is a really sweet story that also manages to really ring true on characterisation.
There are more comprehensive resources online for this (check out the Gay YA reading list). Here are some thoughts on some of the ones I've read:
Sprout - Dale Peck
Narrated by Sprout Bradford, a smart-alec, smart-writing kid in a small town who can't help but stand out (drunk dad, green hair, gay) as he trains for a national essay writing competition that will give him a chance to get out of this small existence, that forces him to examine a few secrets he has been keeping. Sprout's voice is at first too knowing, peppered with pop culture references that ring false, but it settles down as Sprout starts to write more honestly about himself, and reveals himself to the reader little by little. I really like it - it's bitingly funny, there's a bittersweet, lovely romance - but ymmv as others have told me that really disliked the nebulous ending.
Almost Like Being In Love - Steve Kluger
A nerd and a jock fall in love at high school and spend the best summer of their lives together. Twenty years later, one of them decides to revisit the past. I know the criticism levelled at this: it's a bit unrealistic and Kluger's rapid fire referencing of 40s and 50s film and baseball greats takes a bit of getting used to, but I think it's a sweet and very enjoyable read.
Mr Enigmatic
What are ya?
Getting Somewhere
Sundogs
- Jenny Pausacker
I didn't realise these form a loosely-connected quartet. Pausacker writes great teenagers, intelligent and confused about the transition to adulthood (including but not only focussing on sexuality) and handling it in a variety of good and not-so-good ways. I think Rhett remains of my favourite fucked-up teenage literary crushes. (Actually, I just went and bought this and Sundogs from ebay...thanks
littlerhymes for making me realise how else I can find and collect all those books from my childhood!)
The Arizona Kid - Ron Koertge
I picked this up at the library because I remembered reading the first few pages while waiting in line to see Neil Gaiman a while back and I wanted to know what happened. A sweet, coming-of-age, teen romance with a sympathetic teen boy protagonist, and a pretty awesome female love interest who happens to be a really determined, talented rodeo rider. And I liked that the protagonists' mentor in this case was his gay uncle, who's fleshed out as a character in the interactions he has with his nephew.
Will Grayon, Will Grayson - David Levitan and John Green
I found David Levitan's sections a bit annoying at the start (with the angry will grayson of no caps) while I really enjoyed Green's (more YA-typical) Will, but by the end I'd settled into the characters' voices and their circumstances, and I quite liked it.
“Hello”, I Lied - M.E. Kerr
Dated but still interesting YA novel, as a kid’s mum goes to work for a reclusive rock star and he wrestles with his own sexual confusion.
Empress of the World - Sara Ryan
Lovely, bittersweet GLBT novel about Nicola, a gifted student who goes away on a summer camp for kids like her, and meets Battle, who she falls in love with unexpectedly. There's some predictability about a novel set at camp with a motley crew of teens who may or may not be attracted to each other, but it's intelligently and well-written, and doesn't read like a PSA.
(I just bought the sequel Rules for Hearts but haven’t read it yet.)
Pink - Lili Wilkinson
I found this unrealistic and broad-stroke in its portrayal of teenagers dealing with relationships, sexuality and peer pressure. Ava has been brought up by countercultural parents who encourage her relationship with the loledgy Chloe, and so her idea of rebellion is to ask to be transferred to a preppy private school (which is supposedly in Melbourne, but sound remarkably like a high school out of teen-movie-America) and transform herself into one of the perfect 'Pastels'. But in her new school she struggles between wanting to finally fit in with the crowd and hiding her sexuality, while being drawn to the outsider group of drama tech geeks. The book tries very hard to confront some of the social norms usually taken for granted in YA books but overall it's a mess of ideologies masquerading behind a novel about some really annoying characters.
The Bermudez Triangle - Maureen Johnson
Avery, Nina and Melanie have been best friends forever. But when Nina returns from summer school, she finds Avery and Mel have a secret that she’s not part of - not at first anyway. It took me two goes to even get through this and I didn’t enjoy it - I found it too slow, too sensitive, and I never found myself caring about the girls’ friendship nor the romance between Mel and Avery (what little there was).
Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List - David Levitan and Rachel Cohn
UGH. I was so mad at this book at the end. Naomi is such a gigantic flake and pain that I really hated her, particularly as characters continue to moon over her and TELL us how great she is when everything she is shown to do proves the opposite. Ely is at least redeemed by his sweet romance with Bruce the Second, but even then that relationship is let down with a greater focus on the emnity that springs up between Naomi and Ely over this issue.
Hey, so people who've been reblogging that LA Complex gifset (you know which one),
eponymous has a good intro post on things you need to know if you're thinking of checking out the show!
Using LJ as noticeboard for various things discussed and that I promised to link to others:
I do miss the days of yore in popslash where genderswap fic meant 'woke up a girl' rather than 'always a girl'.
While I don't miss people interpreting 'being a girl' with certain signs of femininity ( more on that here), I still think there's so much opportunity within that (acknowledged) swap to explore why it's interesting for us as (predominantly female) fans to view our (predominantly male) objects of desire through the lens of our own experiences and bodies; to imagine what it would be like for them to discover what it's like for us.
(I think this also plays a part in that other tricky trope: fic subjects as fic writers/fannish loves as fannish participants.)
Whereas in 'always a girl' fic, I'm often left wondering why? Doesn't matter how well a fic is written, it always puzzles me - what did the writer set out to do when they chose to turn them one or more male characters into female ones? Is it just the challenge (as with any other AU/AR setting)? Is it a way of getting inside of character's head, by making them more similar to us physically? Or is it a milder, more acceptable form of Mary Sue? I don't know if any of these actually apply - they're just questions that run through my mind whenever I start an 'always a girl' fic.
I'd love to know what others think! I'd also welcome any recs for both kinds of genderswap fic - here are three of my favourites:
One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This by justlikeheroin (Gerard/Frank, My Chemical Romance)
Gerard turns into a girl - but then she always has been, in this universe. I LOVE this idea that plays with both forms of genderswap, with the the band floundering in memories of Gerard that never were, with only mediated ideas of who they have been. This fic hurts, but I thought it was a great read. This link goes to part 1, part 2 is next post in writer's LJ.
Oh You Pretty Things by aria (Gene/Sam, Life on Mars)
Sam wakes up one morning in the 70s and finds he's turned into a woman. Policing is a different game altogether when you're not sure if you're imagining it all AND you've changed biological gender overnight. Really interesting look as the gender relations that the show touches on briefly, and I also love how Gene and Sam's relationship shifts but doesn't fundamentally change.
woman like a man by longtime_lurker (Pete/Patrick, Fall Out Boy)
"Pete wakes up feeling a little displaced in his own body." I like how the thoughtfulness about the differences in being a girl are weaved in well, not overwhelming what is a really sweet story that also manages to really ring true on characterisation.
There are more comprehensive resources online for this (check out the Gay YA reading list). Here are some thoughts on some of the ones I've read:
Sprout - Dale Peck
Narrated by Sprout Bradford, a smart-alec, smart-writing kid in a small town who can't help but stand out (drunk dad, green hair, gay) as he trains for a national essay writing competition that will give him a chance to get out of this small existence, that forces him to examine a few secrets he has been keeping. Sprout's voice is at first too knowing, peppered with pop culture references that ring false, but it settles down as Sprout starts to write more honestly about himself, and reveals himself to the reader little by little. I really like it - it's bitingly funny, there's a bittersweet, lovely romance - but ymmv as others have told me that really disliked the nebulous ending.
Almost Like Being In Love - Steve Kluger
A nerd and a jock fall in love at high school and spend the best summer of their lives together. Twenty years later, one of them decides to revisit the past. I know the criticism levelled at this: it's a bit unrealistic and Kluger's rapid fire referencing of 40s and 50s film and baseball greats takes a bit of getting used to, but I think it's a sweet and very enjoyable read.
Mr Enigmatic
What are ya?
Getting Somewhere
Sundogs
- Jenny Pausacker
I didn't realise these form a loosely-connected quartet. Pausacker writes great teenagers, intelligent and confused about the transition to adulthood (including but not only focussing on sexuality) and handling it in a variety of good and not-so-good ways. I think Rhett remains of my favourite fucked-up teenage literary crushes. (Actually, I just went and bought this and Sundogs from ebay...thanks
littlerhymes for making me realise how else I can find and collect all those books from my childhood!)
The Arizona Kid - Ron Koertge
I picked this up at the library because I remembered reading the first few pages while waiting in line to see Neil Gaiman a while back and I wanted to know what happened. A sweet, coming-of-age, teen romance with a sympathetic teen boy protagonist, and a pretty awesome female love interest who happens to be a really determined, talented rodeo rider. And I liked that the protagonists' mentor in this case was his gay uncle, who's fleshed out as a character in the interactions he has with his nephew.
Will Grayon, Will Grayson - David Levitan and John Green
I found David Levitan's sections a bit annoying at the start (with the angry will grayson of no caps) while I really enjoyed Green's (more YA-typical) Will, but by the end I'd settled into the characters' voices and their circumstances, and I quite liked it.
“Hello”, I Lied - M.E. Kerr
Dated but still interesting YA novel, as a kid’s mum goes to work for a reclusive rock star and he wrestles with his own sexual confusion.
Empress of the World - Sara Ryan
Lovely, bittersweet GLBT novel about Nicola, a gifted student who goes away on a summer camp for kids like her, and meets Battle, who she falls in love with unexpectedly. There's some predictability about a novel set at camp with a motley crew of teens who may or may not be attracted to each other, but it's intelligently and well-written, and doesn't read like a PSA.
(I just bought the sequel Rules for Hearts but haven’t read it yet.)
Pink - Lili Wilkinson
I found this unrealistic and broad-stroke in its portrayal of teenagers dealing with relationships, sexuality and peer pressure. Ava has been brought up by countercultural parents who encourage her relationship with the loledgy Chloe, and so her idea of rebellion is to ask to be transferred to a preppy private school (which is supposedly in Melbourne, but sound remarkably like a high school out of teen-movie-America) and transform herself into one of the perfect 'Pastels'. But in her new school she struggles between wanting to finally fit in with the crowd and hiding her sexuality, while being drawn to the outsider group of drama tech geeks. The book tries very hard to confront some of the social norms usually taken for granted in YA books but overall it's a mess of ideologies masquerading behind a novel about some really annoying characters.
The Bermudez Triangle - Maureen Johnson
Avery, Nina and Melanie have been best friends forever. But when Nina returns from summer school, she finds Avery and Mel have a secret that she’s not part of - not at first anyway. It took me two goes to even get through this and I didn’t enjoy it - I found it too slow, too sensitive, and I never found myself caring about the girls’ friendship nor the romance between Mel and Avery (what little there was).
Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List - David Levitan and Rachel Cohn
UGH. I was so mad at this book at the end. Naomi is such a gigantic flake and pain that I really hated her, particularly as characters continue to moon over her and TELL us how great she is when everything she is shown to do proves the opposite. Ely is at least redeemed by his sweet romance with Bruce the Second, but even then that relationship is let down with a greater focus on the emnity that springs up between Naomi and Ely over this issue.
Hey, so people who've been reblogging that LA Complex gifset (you know which one),
eponymous has a good intro post on things you need to know if you're thinking of checking out the show!