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Gender & cultural exchange in sci fi
Apr. 5th, 2026 08:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
probablynotbeesBrief side note following on from my discussion of misgendering beyond the binary in Translation State by Ann Leckie:
The way Qven, an individual from a genderless culture, seeks to "have gender" after talking to individuals from a gendered culture also demonstrates cultural exchange in a way I wish more sci fi and fantasy played with.
When cultures come into contact with each other, they naturally influence each other and share ideas, including ideas about gender. In our world, our global history of colonization and the violent imposition of European cisnormativity have complicated and often sabotaged any idea of open, equal cultural exchange around gender.
But in SFF, this doesn't have to be the case, and it can be interesting to explore how a culture with different gender norms (often with no concept of gender at all) reacts to encountering a society with gender norms closer to what's familiar to the reader and writer. ( Read more... )
The way Qven, an individual from a genderless culture, seeks to "have gender" after talking to individuals from a gendered culture also demonstrates cultural exchange in a way I wish more sci fi and fantasy played with.
When cultures come into contact with each other, they naturally influence each other and share ideas, including ideas about gender. In our world, our global history of colonization and the violent imposition of European cisnormativity have complicated and often sabotaged any idea of open, equal cultural exchange around gender.
But in SFF, this doesn't have to be the case, and it can be interesting to explore how a culture with different gender norms (often with no concept of gender at all) reacts to encountering a society with gender norms closer to what's familiar to the reader and writer. ( Read more... )
(no subject)
Apr. 5th, 2026 12:07 pmmuladharaBrain is not in a good place atm - nothing to worry about, just shit brain being shit brain, and I am improving (faster than I expected, so that's good!)
Anyway, here's a nice thing! The other day, it was the anniversary for Johnny Chiodini's youtube channel, and I was at home and wanted to watch live, so I did. And I posted a comment in the chat (I don't generally because my tablet is slow/the lag is a thing that exists), and Johnny read it out! Here's the timestamped link - if you have the live chat up, my message (from rootsandbonesart) should be at the bottom, and this is just before they read it.
I nearly didn't send it, and I didn't think they'd see it, so imagine how surprised I was when I heard the username and I was like, "Wait, what? THAT'S ME!!"
So that was a good thing, and I wanted to share.
Anyway, here's a nice thing! The other day, it was the anniversary for Johnny Chiodini's youtube channel, and I was at home and wanted to watch live, so I did. And I posted a comment in the chat (I don't generally because my tablet is slow/the lag is a thing that exists), and Johnny read it out! Here's the timestamped link - if you have the live chat up, my message (from rootsandbonesart) should be at the bottom, and this is just before they read it.
I nearly didn't send it, and I didn't think they'd see it, so imagine how surprised I was when I heard the username and I was like, "Wait, what? THAT'S ME!!"
So that was a good thing, and I wanted to share.
Shadow: Collar & Leash Meet Dog
Apr. 4th, 2026 06:29 pmjesse_the_kShort update on our new dog Shadow, who’s getting really really bored. He’s starting to move quickly around corners — there’s an energetic pup in there who has been healing all this time. Hasn’t tried zooming yet, and we’ll be screwed if he takes off inside. I hope that if he has the urge to zoom it’s proof he’s well.
He came with an (ugly) collar, and MyGuy found a very spiffy hot red collar with retroflective threads, a sliding D-ring that can be opposite where the tags depend, and white reflector. But because he’s so wary of things happening on top of him, we’ve needed to making snapping on the leash less traumatic.
Today I’ve gone through this routine four times:
- get a handful of treats, shake the container
- call his name
- treat 1 when I can reach my hand to his mouth
- pull back my hand and come! plus kiss-kiss to get him closer, with a treat for each stop along the way.
- when I can readily reach the D-ring, I snap on the leash and dispense 2 treats
- I rotate the collar around his neck clockwise and counter-clockwise a few times.
- another treat
- unsnap the lead
- 2 more treats
- speak all done! & ASLsign FINISH
MyGuy’s leash always leads somewhere very high-value: today he's been taken around the block twice and for three backyard excursions.
Eleven days left until FREEDOM where he can run in the back yard.
PAX and Other Paragraphs
Apr. 4th, 2026 04:45 pml33tminionHaven't written for a while, so writing about a variety of things this time:
Last weekend, I went back to PAX East for the first time in a long time. I stopped going some years ago when tickets started selling out almost immediately. That seems to no longer be the case, though the event was still pretty busy day-of. It was fun, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some times in the past. I have little tolerance for standing in line for things. At the Magic booth I played an apples-to-apples-style game with packs of Strixhaven, promotion for the upcoming set returning to that setting. I didn't find a lot of indie video games that really jumped to the top of my play-next list. The demo that I found most striking was for Of the Devil a Phoenix Wright type game of high stakes legal defense with a cyberpunk dystopia setting, Persona-esque aesthetics, and heavy leaning on card games and gambling as inspiration for its mechanics and metaphors. I played a demo (and wound up getting a copy) of Duat, which was a beautiful and interesting little board game. It's one of those games that gets surprising complexity from simple rules, it's quick and pretty fun. The openings are quite constrained, so I wonder if it will continue to hold interest as I play it more, but it definitely seems pretty neat. The craziest tech demo was for immersive-scent peripheral OVR. (Credit for trying, and it works well enough. Who knows, maybe in the future this will be an obvious key component of interactive experiences that produce heretofore unseen depths of emotional resonance and immersion.) Erica played a game of Lanternlight, a simplified tabletop roleplaying system designed to be easy for kids to learn and play, designed by game designer Andrew Harris in collaboration with his daughter, Anika.
I had to take Erica to the doctor for a blood draw this week, and boy oh boy was the pre-suffering much worse than the actual getting the thing done. Proud of her for being able to master herself eventually. The ancestral lizard brain has a long history of keeping humans safe, but it has a real lack of chill and a poor understanding of modern medicine.
We went to my Aunt Milly's house for the first Passover Seder this year. Always nice to see my Boston extended family.
We saw the The Super Mario Galaxy Movie this weekend. Most of the criticism of it that's going around is objectively correct, it's not that connected to the Mario Galaxy games specifically, and it's real simple, thrown-together, and shallow. It kind of feels more like a theme-park-ride than a movie, but I found it fun.
Japan trip is rapidly approaching, and the pre-trip logistics are done but my travel stress is high.
A favorite link from this week: My journey to the microwave alternate timeline - An essay centering on the book Microwave Cooking for One, a bit of history-of-technology, history-of-cooking, culinary-alternate-futurism that makes me (a bit) want to get a Corningwear Pyroceram microwave browning dish.
Last weekend, I went back to PAX East for the first time in a long time. I stopped going some years ago when tickets started selling out almost immediately. That seems to no longer be the case, though the event was still pretty busy day-of. It was fun, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some times in the past. I have little tolerance for standing in line for things. At the Magic booth I played an apples-to-apples-style game with packs of Strixhaven, promotion for the upcoming set returning to that setting. I didn't find a lot of indie video games that really jumped to the top of my play-next list. The demo that I found most striking was for Of the Devil a Phoenix Wright type game of high stakes legal defense with a cyberpunk dystopia setting, Persona-esque aesthetics, and heavy leaning on card games and gambling as inspiration for its mechanics and metaphors. I played a demo (and wound up getting a copy) of Duat, which was a beautiful and interesting little board game. It's one of those games that gets surprising complexity from simple rules, it's quick and pretty fun. The openings are quite constrained, so I wonder if it will continue to hold interest as I play it more, but it definitely seems pretty neat. The craziest tech demo was for immersive-scent peripheral OVR. (Credit for trying, and it works well enough. Who knows, maybe in the future this will be an obvious key component of interactive experiences that produce heretofore unseen depths of emotional resonance and immersion.) Erica played a game of Lanternlight, a simplified tabletop roleplaying system designed to be easy for kids to learn and play, designed by game designer Andrew Harris in collaboration with his daughter, Anika.
I had to take Erica to the doctor for a blood draw this week, and boy oh boy was the pre-suffering much worse than the actual getting the thing done. Proud of her for being able to master herself eventually. The ancestral lizard brain has a long history of keeping humans safe, but it has a real lack of chill and a poor understanding of modern medicine.
We went to my Aunt Milly's house for the first Passover Seder this year. Always nice to see my Boston extended family.
We saw the The Super Mario Galaxy Movie this weekend. Most of the criticism of it that's going around is objectively correct, it's not that connected to the Mario Galaxy games specifically, and it's real simple, thrown-together, and shallow. It kind of feels more like a theme-park-ride than a movie, but I found it fun.
Japan trip is rapidly approaching, and the pre-trip logistics are done but my travel stress is high.
A favorite link from this week: My journey to the microwave alternate timeline - An essay centering on the book Microwave Cooking for One, a bit of history-of-technology, history-of-cooking, culinary-alternate-futurism that makes me (a bit) want to get a Corningwear Pyroceram microwave browning dish.
Books are really heavy
Apr. 4th, 2026 07:27 pmhunninghamLast year, my father-in-law's eyesight went phooey and he was no longer an old man living very happily on his own in a house full of books, but an old man who couldn't see anything, couldn't read, couldn't cope. He's going to move into a flat down the road, but this is very much a work-in-progress.
This week he's staying with my in-laws (to give me a break), so we decided that this was a good time to deal with some of the books. Father-in-law was an avid reader, a collector and a lover of 2nd-hand bookshops. There were a lot of books. He's taken a small selection to keep, and asked us to depose of the rest.
An antiquarian bookseller from Chorley has taken a lot of them, and some have been sold to specialist dealers. The rest will go to Oxfam, but Oxfam do not want all the books all at once (limited storage space), so I am to store them in my attic and take a bag a week into the local Oxfam over the next 3 - 4 months.
So I spent Thursday clearing up and organising my attic. And then going to storage unit with brother-in-law, and unpacking crates, and finding boxes of books, and transporting boxes of books, and carrying boxes of books upstairs to the flat. The boxes are too heavy to carry up the ladder into the attic, so I had to unpack, haul books up the ladder in ikea bags, repack into boxes in the attic. (Brother-in-law gone home by this stage). About halfway through, I worked out that once a box was two-thirds empty I could lift it up on top of my head, balance it there with one hand and get it up the ladder that way. That helped.
Oddly satisfying day. Physical work, lifting things and moving things, which I just don't do very much. I ended the day in a very good mood.
(I also found that the attic has an infestation of carpet moths which may require professional aid. I carried a lot of carpet remnants & two chewed-up rugs down the ladder and out to the yard. I need to make a trip to the town dump sometime very soon.)
This week he's staying with my in-laws (to give me a break), so we decided that this was a good time to deal with some of the books. Father-in-law was an avid reader, a collector and a lover of 2nd-hand bookshops. There were a lot of books. He's taken a small selection to keep, and asked us to depose of the rest.
An antiquarian bookseller from Chorley has taken a lot of them, and some have been sold to specialist dealers. The rest will go to Oxfam, but Oxfam do not want all the books all at once (limited storage space), so I am to store them in my attic and take a bag a week into the local Oxfam over the next 3 - 4 months.
So I spent Thursday clearing up and organising my attic. And then going to storage unit with brother-in-law, and unpacking crates, and finding boxes of books, and transporting boxes of books, and carrying boxes of books upstairs to the flat. The boxes are too heavy to carry up the ladder into the attic, so I had to unpack, haul books up the ladder in ikea bags, repack into boxes in the attic. (Brother-in-law gone home by this stage). About halfway through, I worked out that once a box was two-thirds empty I could lift it up on top of my head, balance it there with one hand and get it up the ladder that way. That helped.
Oddly satisfying day. Physical work, lifting things and moving things, which I just don't do very much. I ended the day in a very good mood.
(I also found that the attic has an infestation of carpet moths which may require professional aid. I carried a lot of carpet remnants & two chewed-up rugs down the ladder and out to the yard. I need to make a trip to the town dump sometime very soon.)
podcast friday no saturday
Apr. 4th, 2026 01:43 pmsabotabby Listen it's a long weekend, what even is time? I was around, I just fully forgot. As a mea culpa here are two wildly different podcasts I listened to this week.
No Gods No Mayors' "Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov" is about a gay Romanov failson who sucked and eventually got blown up (spoilers), and it's very funny for everyone except maybe the thousands of peasants who got trampled to death at Tsar Nicholas II's coronation. It's worth listening in particular for the intro, which talks about mayoral candidate Shayne McKinney, who is running in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and is also a vampire. And a landlord. And look, he is not a good guy but a great deal of fun can be had.
On a lighter note, a new-to-me podcast is Bill & Frank's Guilt-Free Pleasures, which is a music podcast that takes deep dives into earwormy songs that are actually great and you don't need to feel bad if you like them. Because of the ages of the hosts, their musical touchstones are more or less the same as mine, and they're also Canadian, so their radio and MuchMusic experience is roughly similar to what I listened to at the same age. I listened to a few of their episodes recently, starting with the one about "Fairy Tale of New York" to just make sure they had good opinions, but the one I just finished was "Crowded House: "Don't Dream It's Over" (with Dave Kitchen)" It's one of those songs that I don't often think about and yet the second I hear the opening notes, I'm like, oh, this is a banger. I really love the analysis of the little details of the music, which is not something that I really pick out on my own but the second they explain it, I realize why it works as well as it does. They have a bunch of episodes with overly emotional power ballads, which I am a sucker for, so I'm excited about working through the backlist.
No Gods No Mayors' "Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov" is about a gay Romanov failson who sucked and eventually got blown up (spoilers), and it's very funny for everyone except maybe the thousands of peasants who got trampled to death at Tsar Nicholas II's coronation. It's worth listening in particular for the intro, which talks about mayoral candidate Shayne McKinney, who is running in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and is also a vampire. And a landlord. And look, he is not a good guy but a great deal of fun can be had.
On a lighter note, a new-to-me podcast is Bill & Frank's Guilt-Free Pleasures, which is a music podcast that takes deep dives into earwormy songs that are actually great and you don't need to feel bad if you like them. Because of the ages of the hosts, their musical touchstones are more or less the same as mine, and they're also Canadian, so their radio and MuchMusic experience is roughly similar to what I listened to at the same age. I listened to a few of their episodes recently, starting with the one about "Fairy Tale of New York" to just make sure they had good opinions, but the one I just finished was "Crowded House: "Don't Dream It's Over" (with Dave Kitchen)" It's one of those songs that I don't often think about and yet the second I hear the opening notes, I'm like, oh, this is a banger. I really love the analysis of the little details of the music, which is not something that I really pick out on my own but the second they explain it, I realize why it works as well as it does. They have a bunch of episodes with overly emotional power ballads, which I am a sucker for, so I'm excited about working through the backlist.
(no subject)
Apr. 4th, 2026 01:21 pmautobotscoutriellaSaddest video game moment: not only does this NPC not like me nearly as much as I like him, he keeps telling me to go talk to a much more obnoxious NPC about it. Not for plot reasons, just "go bother him".
No! He's a dick! Can you please just communicate with me about your sad ex for at least a minute ;_;
No! He's a dick! Can you please just communicate with me about your sad ex for at least a minute ;_;
Books Received, March 28 — April 3
Apr. 4th, 2026 09:25 amjames_davis_nicoll
Seven books new to me. Five fantasy, two science fiction, of which at least three are series.
Books Received, March 28 — April 3
Poll #34443 Books Received, March 28 — April 3
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 33
Which of these look interesting?
View Answers
The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen (April 2026)
11 (33.3%)
Nobody’s Quest by Alyssa Day (June 2026)
9 (27.3%)
This Wild Wanting by Sophie Gonzales (November 2026)
3 (9.1%)
The Killing of a Chestnut Tree by Oliver K. Langmead (November 2026)
9 (27.3%)
Mark of the Warrior by Fonda Lee & Shannon Lee (October 2026)
11 (33.3%)
The Frozen King by Pari Thomson (Ocober 2026)
1 (3.0%)
Wolfpack by Rem Wigmore (April 2026)
9 (27.3%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
25 (75.8%)
Thanks, Doc :)
Apr. 4th, 2026 09:07 amnikkiscarletI’ve hit the stage of life where it’s reassuring to hear a doctor refer to you as “a young woman” only a few minutes after you’ve given him your age.
I know he probably meant it in terms of “compared to most patients who get sent my way,” but still. 🙂
Mirrored from NikkiScarlet.net.
PSA - Some Dreamwidth notifications are going missing
Apr. 4th, 2026 01:16 pmvriddyHuh, there's at least two messages I didn't get any notifications for, either in my Dreamwidth inbox nor in my email, in the last couple of days. One on my own journal (but on a recent post, so I noticed) and another a reply to me on someone else's journal, which I would have remained unaware of if I didn't get curious to check and see if the interesting discussion has continued. It seems random what goes missing as other notifications are coming through fine.
This is a problem, clearly. I'm here for conversation but if I don't know the conversation is happening or continuing, what the hell ;v;
I see two people already reported it:
Ticket #51139
Ticket #51134
Edit: Another one Ticket #51128, and two more since Ticket #51141 Ticket #51142
I'm not quite sure what's the etiquette with saying "ME TOO!!!" on support tickets... Actually, from trying to help on older tickets, I think maybe replies don't show up at all unless they're approved anyway, so probably unhelpful.
For now, I know I owe pending answers on the tiny fandom post (and since it's my main discussion post at the moment, I'll be keeping an eye on it anyway as I slowly make my way through the replies - so much good food for thought, and kind words, I appreciate y'all!), and the word count pledge post, and the last vigilantes rewatch ep... if you expected a reply from me anywhere else, please let me know! I'm particularly bothered about comments I've left elsewhere :/ (Although things might be just as lost if they're on my own older entries ;v;). I'll probably try to keep track of where I spill my random thoughts for a while and check occasionally, though obviously this is Not Ideal (tm).
(Edit: nvm, there's a page to show recent comments received/posted that is way handier for keeping track, in the meantime! I can see the ones I know I didn't receive notifications for in there. Thank youtropicsbear!)
Wanted to make a post about this for other people who, like me, hadn't yet noticed! /o\ Hopefully Dreamwidth is aware and this gets resolved quickly.
This is a problem, clearly. I'm here for conversation but if I don't know the conversation is happening or continuing, what the hell ;v;
I see two people already reported it:
Ticket #51139
Ticket #51134
Edit: Another one Ticket #51128, and two more since Ticket #51141 Ticket #51142
I'm not quite sure what's the etiquette with saying "ME TOO!!!" on support tickets... Actually, from trying to help on older tickets, I think maybe replies don't show up at all unless they're approved anyway, so probably unhelpful.
For now, I know I owe pending answers on the tiny fandom post (and since it's my main discussion post at the moment, I'll be keeping an eye on it anyway as I slowly make my way through the replies - so much good food for thought, and kind words, I appreciate y'all!), and the word count pledge post, and the last vigilantes rewatch ep... if you expected a reply from me anywhere else, please let me know! I'm particularly bothered about comments I've left elsewhere :/ (Although things might be just as lost if they're on my own older entries ;v;). I'll probably try to keep track of where I spill my random thoughts for a while and check occasionally, though obviously this is Not Ideal (tm).
(Edit: nvm, there's a page to show recent comments received/posted that is way handier for keeping track, in the meantime! I can see the ones I know I didn't receive notifications for in there. Thank you
tropicsbear!)Wanted to make a post about this for other people who, like me, hadn't yet noticed! /o\ Hopefully Dreamwidth is aware and this gets resolved quickly.
[livre] Il y a aussi une T rex
Apr. 4th, 2026 10:54 ammaluretteTitre : Il y a aussi une T rex mais ce n'est pas le sujet
Auteures : Julie Douine & Noémie Favart
Langue : français
Type : album jeunesse
Genre : optimiste
1ère parution : 2024
Édition : Versant Sud
Format :
(ça faisait un moment que je l'avais repéré à ma librairie ; la dernière fois que je l'ai aperçu restocké et en vitrine il me le fallait absolument~)
La petite Edith et son papa vivent dans une triste cité de béton. Pour embellir leurs promenades il lui pointe des endroits où séparés par des siècles des millénaires des millions d'années des gens des plantes des animaux font des trucs intéressants : imagine comme si tu pouvais les voir !
(La T rex n'est donc que l'introduction.)
...et si dans le futur au pied de leur immeuble il y avait un cèdre magnifique ? c'est ça le propos du livre.
Et une très belle conclusion!
Hope punk!!! As the title says the dinosaur is only an anecdote; it's about growing trees and a better future
Auteures : Julie Douine & Noémie Favart
Langue : français
Type : album jeunesse
Genre : optimiste
1ère parution : 2024
Édition : Versant Sud
Format :
(ça faisait un moment que je l'avais repéré à ma librairie ; la dernière fois que je l'ai aperçu restocké et en vitrine il me le fallait absolument~)
La petite Edith et son papa vivent dans une triste cité de béton. Pour embellir leurs promenades il lui pointe des endroits où séparés par des siècles des millénaires des millions d'années des gens des plantes des animaux font des trucs intéressants : imagine comme si tu pouvais les voir !
(La T rex n'est donc que l'introduction.)
...et si dans le futur au pied de leur immeuble il y avait un cèdre magnifique ? c'est ça le propos du livre.
Et une très belle conclusion!
Hope punk!!! As the title says the dinosaur is only an anecdote; it's about growing trees and a better future
Mysteries
Apr. 3rd, 2026 10:23 pmviridian5
This image of mine was put into Flickr Explore, explaining why it has so many more hits, faves, and comments on it than my usual. I still have no idea how Flickr decides that. The funny thing is that I have a very practical reason for shooting this monument this way: her nose has taken some damage over the years, and this angle disguises it.
I have some more recent St. John Cemetery photos up at my Flickr.
But here's a mystery: ( photos )
What happened here? What could have been rubbing at this door like this?
Not so random peeve of the day
Apr. 3rd, 2026 09:31 pmjames_davis_nicollIn the TV show I am watching, the protagonist keeps looking away from the road while driving.