#I need an essay detailing why some people are so quick to see Alicent as a victim but not Rhaenyra because I don't get it

[maglors-grief]

I saw this photo on pinterest and why are Alicent and Cersei here as if they did not help cause most of their own problems 😭

Why is Alicent here instead of Rhaenyra??

In one of the asoiaf books you have Stannis Baratheon referring to Rhaenyra as the usurper woman who tried to steal her brother's throne, you have Fire & Blood written by a maester who was sympathetic to the Greens, you have Rhaenyra getting the most misogynistic labels such as Maegor with teats, Rhaenyra the Cruel, the bitch queen, the whore of Dragonstone, even though none of her misdeeds even come close to what anyone else did during the war, Rhaenyra's sons couldn't even let her be recognized as Queen after the war so they could please the Green sympathizers they were surrounded by, but yes Alicent, the woman who helped her father start a senseless war and placed her son on the throne, is actually the biggest victim and everyone unfairly hates her 😒

I truly hate the narrative the show started that Alicent was actually the one unfairly slandered by history. They really try so hard to make her the victim over Rhaenyra and so many people fall for it and they won't even recognize how wronged Rhaenyra was by nearly everyone. Rhaenyra has one of the saddest stories but it feels like most people refuse to see that for some reason.

In one of my last posts I said that Rhaenyra can't have anything to herself without the show making it all about Alicent too. Like Rhaenyra can't even get unfairly smeared by history without Alicent coming in and claiming that for herself as well even though it doesn't make sense. What reason would Westerosi history books have to hate Alicent? She was like the model housewife. She obeyed men, she advocated for her son to have the throne over a daughter, she was a boy mom who thought her sons could do no wrong in the book, she knew her place, etc. Why would the men who write these history books have reason to hate Alicent of all people?

[heartlessromanticc]

The Princess & The Snake || S.P.

PART ONE

a/n: This was not requested, but I have been thinking a lot about Sweet Pea and how he needs a LOT more recognition. So, I wrote this. I absolutely adore him and I really hope you guys like this possible fic!?!?! I am really excited about this so, here is “The Princess & The Snake.”

P.O.V: first person

summary: Y/N grew up alongside Archie, Jughead, Betty, Cheryl, and Josie. Her mother was a hotshot realtor on the Northside of Riverdale and she was one of the girls lucky enough to call themselves a River Vixen. When a bunch of Serpents show up across the street to start trouble with Archie, she meets the one person who could flip her whole world upside down.

warnings: Cussing, violence

word count: 2,497 :)

(gif not mine)

KEY: Y/M/N= your middle name; y/h/c= your hair color; Y/L/N= your last name.

Part Two  Part Three  Part Four

MASTERLIST

❝A bad boy can be very good for a girl❞  

- Melissa de la Cruz

I groaned as my mother ripped open the curtains, letting the sunlight fall into my room. She pulled the covers off of my now cold body, “You are going to be late for school if you don’t get out of bed this instant.” 

I pulled my pillow over my head, “You couldn’t have turned on the light like a normal parent? I know you love your dramatic flare, but that was a little eccentric.”

“Y/N Y/M/N, get out of bed and into the shower now.” She yanked the pillow off of my head then proceeded to pull me up into a sitting position.

“Aye Aye Captain.” I saluted sarcastically. She just smiled and left my room. I huffed as I got out of my extremely comfortable bed and crossed the hall to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth, and taking a quick shower, I grabbed a pair of light wash jeans and my white, lace-up blouse. I applied a thin layer of mascara to my eyelashes and swiped on some red lipstick. I threw the top half of my Y/H/C hair into a small ponytail, leaving the rest down. I slipped on my red converse, grabbed my backpack, and headed downstairs.

As I set my backpack on the stool next to the one I sat in, my mom slid a bowl of Cheerios in front of me, “Eat.” I shoveled a spoonful of cereal into my mouth, “Big day, mom?” She was dressed her very best and she was fidgeting with everything she could get her hands on.

“Please don’t talk with your mouth full.” She started.

I mumbled a cereal filled, “Sorry.”

She gave me a sideways look, “What did I just say? And to answer your question: Yes, it is a very big day.” 

“Do tell.” I smiled, pouring myself another bowl.

“I am showing Hiram Lodge a few properties he may be interested in.” She said proudly.

I choked on my cereal, “Hiram Lodge? Mom, I’ve told you countless times that V thinks he is up to no good. Why would you do business with him?” 

“Sweetheart, not everything your new friend Veronica tells you is true.” 

I scoffed, “He is her dad. I trust her word over anyone else’s.” 

A knock on the door pulled us from the conversation. “That’s probably Betty. Go.” My mom ushered me toward the door, “I’ll take care of the bowl.”

“This conversation is so not over, mom.” I grabbed my backpack and walked out the front door. My mother’s soft, “I’ll be fine” was the last thing I heard.

“Hey, Betts.” I trotted down the front steps.

“What was that about?” Betty motioned back toward my door.

“My mom is doing business with Hiram.” 

“What?”

I looked at her, “You heard me. Hiram fucking Lodge. I swear to god, if he screws over my mom in any way, I don’t care if he’s Veronica’s dad; I’ll end him.”

“Well, what business are they doing together?” Betty pushed further.

“She is showing him a few properties to sell him, but she could still get hurt. I mean, even V is skeptical that her father doesn’t have some master plan in the works.” I gripped my backpack strap tighter, “I just don’t want to lose my mom too.” 

“You won’t,” Betty reassured me.

“How can you be so sure?” I asked as we walked into school.

“Because your mom is-” Betty’s answer got cut off by Archie.

“Hey, guys.”

“Hi, Archie,” We said in unison. I sighed and headed towards my first class, worry taking over my entire being.

Later that day, Archie was pulled out of class because a Southsider saw him waving a gun around in some Serpent kid’s face. When they checked his locker, they found a black hood, putting Archie in more even trouble. 

With all of the Black Hood versus the Red Circle and the Southside versus the Northside drama, I was exhausted; so, I opted out of Vixen practice. I told Cheryl that I had been feeling nauseous all day and luckily for me, she let me go home. It helps that I am one of her only real friends and I actually give a shit about her.

“Hey,”  Cheryl’s voice called from behind me, “Feel better. Call me if you want me to come take care of you, yeah?”

I laughed, “I will, C. Love you.” I ran down the steps of the school and headed home. 

As I closed the front door behind me, I realized that my mother wouldn’t be home for another hour or so. I grabbed an apple from the kitchen and trudged up the stairs to my room. I threw myself onto my unmade bed and took a bite out of the apple. I sat up and looked at the clock. 2:28pm. I grabbed the picture next to the clock and tears began to well up in my eyes. It was of mom, dad, and I sitting on the shore of Sweetwater River. We were so happy back then, before the constant fighting, before the divorce. My dad and I haven’t spoken since he and mom split. She was awarded sole custody of me, meaning my dad could not see me unless my mother let him. She didn’t. 

I placed the picture frame back on the nightstand and cleared the tears from my cheeks. I grabbed my laptop from the edge of my bed and began to write an essay that wasn’t due for another three weeks, just needing to get my mind off of my dad. 

An hour and a half later, the front door opened and closed, signaling that mom was home. I hopped out of bed and ran down the stairs, “So, what happened?” 

My mom let out a small scream as she jumped, “Jesus, you scared me. It went well.” She placed her purse on the table in the foyer, “Actually, I have to get changed. I am joining Hiram and Hermione Lodge for dinner over in Greendale, to celebrate finding him a property. I will leave you some money for dinner. I won’t be back until late this evening.”

“You are leaving again?” My shoulders dropped in disappointment, “But it’s movie night. We were supposed to watch the Proposal.”

She kissed my forehead, “I promise I will make it up to you.” She waltzed up the stairs to her room, leaving me alone again.

“Mom?” I knocked on her door, peaking in.

She rounded the corner from her bathroom fastening her one of her earrings, “Yeah, hon?”

“Are you su- uh,” I paused, “I just get worried with everything going on in Riverdale that you leaving me alone in the house is reckless.”

She let out a tiny laugh, “Reckless, huh? Sweetie, call Betty and ask her to come over if you are afraid of being alone.”

“Pfft, I’m not afraid. I just think you going out with the Lodge’s isn’t a good idea.” I was perched on the edge of her bed with my legs crossed. I fidgeted with my fingers, refusing to make eye contact.

“Y/N enough of this ‘The Lodge’s are evil’ nonsense.” She scolded, “They are wonderful people. I am the parent here, not you. You don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself. I’m tougher than I look.” 

I stood up, “Only because you grew up on the Southside. Don’t think I haven’t seen the tattoo you try to so hard to keep hidden from me.”

“Enough, Y/N Y/M/N. You have no right to bring that up.” She glared at me. 

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I do!” I began, “You say you’re entitled to every single detail of my life and you don’t tell me anything. How is that fair?”

“I am the parent. What I say goes in this household, got it? If I say I don’t want to talk about it, drop the subject.” She fumed. This happened every time I brought up anything she didn’t like. For example, the fact that she has a Serpent tattoo on the inside of her right arm or anytime I even mention my father.

“You know, you always say how different you and Alice are, but you’re exactly the same. You watch your kid’s every move but as soon as they question you, you act like it’s the god damn end of the world. It’s probably why you are best friends.” I argued.

“Watch your language, young lady. Go to your room. I will let you know when I am leaving.” She closed her bedroom door behind me as I stormed off into my room. 

About twenty minutes later, there was a small knock on my door. “Come in.”

My mom pushed the door open and sat on my bed, “I am sorry that you feel like I keep things from you. I do, but it is for your own good. One day, when you are older, I’ll explain everything. I will tell you everything, I promise. I don’t want to leave with us on bad terms. I love you always.”

I sighed, knowing when it comes to my mom, it’s better to just drop the subject than to push further, “I love you too, mom. I’m sorry I kept pushing.”   

“Here,” She handed me $20, “Order Chinese or pizza or whatever your heart desires. I will be home late.” 

“Please be safe,” I whispered.

She pressed a kiss to the top of my head and left the room. I heard the door close as I walked to my window. I watched as her car pulled out of the driveway, then ran downstairs to grab the takeout menus.

The Proposal was blaring through the television speakers, Chinese takeout containers littered the coffee table, and I was curled up on the couch, shoveling orange chicken into my mouth. The roar of motorcycles caused me to jump. Curiosity pulled me towards the window where I saw several of the younger Serpents storm up the front steps of the house across the street. Archie’s house. The biggest one seemed to be threatening Archie as Reggie appeared next to him. What had Andrews gotten himself into now? 

Deciding to mind my own business, I returned to my spot on the couch and picked the chicken back up. Ten minutes later, there was an urgent knock on the front door. I paused the movie and went to open the door, “Veronica?”

The raven-haired girl stood in her black cloak, “There is a fight going down, Serpents versus Bulldogs. I need your help or someone is going to die.” 

I grabbed my shoes and keys and left with Veronica. She told me she had to go get something, and sent me to where the fight was going down. 

I ran through the parked cars towards the boys standing several feet away, the rain drenching everyone in sight. The fight had already started and I watched Archie punch the tall serpent in the eye. I screamed for them to stop, pulling one of the Serpents off of Reggie. I ran for Archie and shoved the Serpent away from him, “Get off of him, you giant oaf.” My bracelet got caught on his jacket, so I shoved him again trying to break free, the clasp broke and it fell to the ground. 

“What the fuck did you just call me?” His attention directed entirely on me. I backed up towards Archie as the Serpent towered over me.

“Y/N what are you doing?” Archie yelled, “Get out of here.”

Strong arms wrapped around my torso as I was lifted from behind and dragged away from Archie. “No! Get off of me!” I thrashed in the assailant’s arms, “Let go of me.” He easily held me against his chest as I watched as the Serpent kicked Archie in the stomach. He went to kick Archie again when a gunshot rang through the night. Veronica was standing in between two cars, the gun in her hand. The Serpent holding me loosened his grip and I rammed my elbow into his ribs, causing him to let go of me completely and double over in pain. I ran past Dilton, who was bleeding from a stab wound to his leg from his own knife. Moron. 

Running to Archie I helped him up. “Come on,” I rushed, “We have to get out of here!”

I took one last look at the tall Serpent before running off in the other direction. 

The Bulldogs and Serpents scattered as Reggie put Dilton in his car, no doubt taking him to the hospital. Archie and Veronica went a different way than I did, leaving me to walk alone in the rain. 

I was roughly three blocks from home when I heard a motorcycle pull up next to me, the tall serpent from the fight getting off the bike. I tried to walk away, but his voice made me stop in my tracks, “I thought you might want this back. Looked too pretty for it to be left in the street.” 

I turned around to see my bracelet dangling from his fingertips, a teasing smirk on his face, “Oh, c’mon princess. I don’t bite.” He paused and smirked again, “Too hard.”

I reached out to grab the bracelet only to have him pull his arm back towards his body, “You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you? I really don’t like being called a giant oaf. It’s not nice.” 

I scoffed, “Like you’re nice.” I took a step forward, mustering up every ounce of courage in my body, “Just give me my bracelet, you asshole.” 

He just laughed, “What’s your name, princess?”

“Stop calling me princess,” I growled.

“You live on the Northside, automatically makes you a princess. Bet you’re a cheerleader.” He smirked yet again, his wet hair falling in his face.

“I am not.” I stepped forward again, trying to seem unbothered by this situation and by him.

“You’re a liar, princess.” He laughed, playing with my bracelet. His broad shoulders moved up and down with his laughter.

“Stop calling me princess,” I said, not hating it nearly as much as I was letting on.

He took a step towards me, our bodies nearly touching, but I stood my ground and stared up at him. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Make me.”

A shiver raced through my body as I took a step back, losing my footing. I would’ve fallen over had his hands not latched themselves onto my waist, steadying me. My breath caught in my throat. Gaining my focus back, I pushed his hands off of me, “Do not touch me.” 

“Alright, princess.” He walked back to his bike, got onto it, and held up my bracelet, “You’ll get this back when you tell me your name.” He sped off down the street without so much as another glance. Whoever he was, I  knew that wouldn’t be the last time I would see him.

Part Two

[katranga]

Disclaimer: Fic is just for fun. Nobody on ao3, or tumblr, or wherever, is expecting perfection. Most of these tips are gonna take a little extra time and effort to implement, and if you don’t feel like doing that, because you just wanna post the darn thing? Go for it! I’m not here to tell you what to do, and I’m certainly not saying that your writing is bad if you don’t follow these tips. These are just suggestions that will hopefully help you improve your work, if that’s what you’re after.

Intro: Why Revise?

To kick things off, I’d like to go over the importance of revision!! This is more of a general writing tip, but it’s a great starting point, because I DON’T want you to be thinking about most of my future tips while you’re writing the first draft. 

I want you to get. those. words. on. the. page! That’s all you should be worried about when you’ve got a blank page staring you in the face. 

There’s so much pressure to get writing right the first time, but I’m here to tell you that’s pretty much impossible. So, pressure’s off! Just write the basics so you get to know your story first. I

I know it seems like writing it perfectly will save you editing/revising time later on, but you can’t revise—let alone post—what you don’t have written because you’re stuck on one line that doesn’t sound just right. You with me so far? Great!

Honestly, writing gets so much faster when you remind yourself that no one is going to see your first draft!

So I cannot overstate the importance of revision.

Because guess what? Everything you don’t like about your first draft can be fixed in revision!

Okay. What is it?

To clarify, when I say first draft, I don’t mean the stuff you do in high school, where you write out a shitty essay on paper first and then type it up basically the same, just to prove to the teacher you wrote a first draft?? Or whatever.

I mean you just write the absolute basics of your story down, and fill in the rest and perfect it later (I’ll go into detail about how exactly to do that in my motivation post).

Now, grammar, spelling, and overall readability, are all important things to fix before you post. But that’s little stuff, and your word processor will be able to pick up on some of that, and just rewording a few sentences to make them clearer probably won’t take too much effort on your end (though I am gonna have a post about filler words and clarity and stuff like that, so if that tends to be a problem for you, I gotchu).

Besides basic grammar/spelling, most of what I change as my first draft transforms into my second or third is: 

Improving the flow of a scene (it can’t all be dialogue, unfortunately)

Pacing throughout the fic (are they falling love too fast? is this scene too long? etc)

Overall clarity (I know why the character did that, but will the reader?)

It may be different for you. Basically, you’re polishing up whatever you didn’t worry about writing the first draft.

My first drafts, for example? They’re 80% dialogue. Because that’s my favourite! And that’s what comes to me when I’m dreaming up fics. But then I go back later and beef up the rest—the characters’ movements in a scene, their inner dialogue, description etc.

Because as much as I love dialogue, scenes feel empty and too-fast with just characters talking. Similarly, scenes can feel bogged down and slow with just characters thinking about things.

But revision isn’t just about adding things! Sometimes you need to take stuff out. Inner dialogue that later gets covered by dialogue? Cut it. (Or vice versa—maybe the detail isn’t important enough for the characters to talk about, and just the mention of it within the narration is enough).

The point is, repetition needs to go. The reader rarely needs to be told the same thing twice.

Quick example from the top of my head:

Lance had lost his jacket. He’d looked over the whole castle for it, but couldn’t find it anywhere. His brother gave him that jacket. One of his last ties to Earth, and it was missing in action.

Maybe Keith took it to spite him, that jerk.

“What’s up, Lance?” Hunk asked when he passed him in the hall.

“I lost my jacket!” Lance said. “My signature jacket, the one Marco gave me! I’ve looked everywhere, but it’s gone. Do you think Keith stole it?”

Same information twice: Lance can’t find his brother’s jacket despite a thorough search, and suspects Keith stole it. No reason to repeat that. Something’s gotta go.

I know cutting stuff isn’t fun. You worked hard on that! You spent hours/days/whatever perfecting a sentence until it gleamed like a diamond, and now just because you thought of a better way to get that information across you have to get rid of it? No way!

I’ve been there, trust me. But hanging on just slows down the whole writing process. Because, for me at least, I know when stuff needs to go, or needs a massive overhaul, or whatever. I’m just digging my heels in because I don’t wanna do any additional work.

Luckily, this is where your shitty first draft comes in handy! If all you did was spit words onto the page as soon as they entered your head, then you didn’t spend a lot of back-breaking effort on whatever you need to cut! And what you need to cut isn’t anything awe-inspiring, it’s just your rough notes, so tossing it aside isn’t nearly as stressful!

Remember, you can always save scenes/dialogue/etc in a separate document! Maybe you’ll be able to salvage some it later. Alternatively, create separate versions of the doc as you edit/revise. If you end up actually needing part of a deleted scene, you’ve still got it somewhere!

And please, never think of the stuff you cut (or fics you never finished) as “wasted time”. Writing time is never wasted! You’re practicing, you’re honing your craft, and even if some bits never see the light of day, you’re still benefitting from all that work you did!

Now, I know I know I know most people edit/revise as they write. Can’t think of the next scene? Reread the previous scene and fiddle with it until something comes to you. That’s great! Revising already written material is loads better than just staring at your screen!

BUT I’ve recently started writing the whole gosh darn diddly thing without looking back and that is so much faster! While I highly recommend it, that’s obviously difficult to do when you don’t know what’s going to happen next in the fic.

Or if you just don’t have the motivation. So! That’ll be our next topic: Getting words on the page!

But for now, I’ve got an example under the cut, as well as additional resources and links if you want to learn more about revision!

Here’s where I take an old embarrassing fic of mine and revise it, hopefully clarifying the points I’ve been making, as well as proving that only practice makes better!

Okay so this is an excerpt of one of my unpublished fics from 2011. I’m just gonna be honest with you here, it was a Twilight human!AU where Edward was a massive nerd. 

For background, Bella has been at the new school like a week and is appalled at the bullying happening to Edward, who she barely knows. (It’s first person bc that’s how the books were written. Just deal with it.)

Here we go:

“They gave him a swirly yesterday,” I announced, appalled.

“Who?”

“Edward!”

Jessica shrugged, unaffected. “Nothing new.”

“Well what are they, twelve?” I demanded angrily.

“He kind of needed a hair wash,” Mike muttered.

Snorts of amusement followed.

“Stuffing his head into a toilet is not funny,” I argued.

“Yes it is, Bella,” Alice chuckled.

“Kay, next time we go to the bathroom, I’ll shove your head into a toilet,” I offered. “And we’ll all laugh about it.”

This was a whole scene, I kid you not. Now, this isn’t bad because it’s just dialogue. It’s ten lines. That’s a reasonable amount of space for a quick dialogue exchange. HOWEVER, there’s about four people in this scene, so the dialogue tags are a little sparse. ALSO, this is the first time Bella’s bringing her concerns about Edward to the group, so there should be more inner reflection on that.

Overall, it’s just way too minimalist lol. So  this is a good example to beef up.

First of all: where the fuck are we? Notice how no setting was given? Not the greatest habit to get into. If it’s already been established in the fic where people are, and the setting’s not that important, I guess you can skip it, but a quick mention isn’t gonna hurt. You don’t want the reader confused!

Since this a Twilight fic, let’s say they’re in the caf. (In Voltron fics, you’re probably gonna be on the ship, but you can always mention what room they’re in. Or, if it’s a new planet, give a line or two of description).

Explanations for changes I made are in [square brackets]:

I tossed my lunch tray onto the table before throwing myself onto the chair next to Alice. “They gave him a swirly yesterday.”

[Indicated setting. Also implied she was feeling “appalled” using verbs instead of outright stating it. Showing not telling!]

Across from me, Angela looked up from the sandwich she was picking at. “Who?”

[Indicated who was speaking—always important—as well as gave brief description of speaker].

“Edward,” I said like it should be obvious. I scanned the cafeteria for him, but the corner he usually sat in alone was empty.

[Another mention of setting. Also backed up her concern for Edward with action and not just talking about him].

Jessica shrugged, unaffected. “So what?”

“So?” I repeated incredulously.

So I’d never heard of someone actually getting a swirly. In real life. Shitty teen dramas? Yeah. Actual high school? No. It was ridiculous, and gross, and… I hadn’t seen anything to indicate Edward deserved it. (Nobody who’d ever deserved a swirly had ever received one, I was sure).

[The almighty character motivation! Note that you don’t actually have to explicitly state why they’re doing something—obviously we as the reader know the deep-down motivation is because Bella cares for Edward. But characters are not always forthcoming with information, even to themselves. Right now she’s focusing on the unjustness of the situation, and partially trying to convince herself that’s all it is].

Mike slung an arm across the back of Jessica’s chair, snorting a laugh. “He needed to wash his hair, anyway.”

“A toilet’s not gonna do that, Mike!”

[Just a cleverer response. Also, a dialogue tag isn’t needed, because no other speaker at the table is gonna be defending Edward. We know it’s Bella.]

He ignored my glare, choosing instead to steal a fry off my plate. I smacked his hand away.

[Again—action. The characters aren’t just static in their seats.]

“Well, really,” Alice began. “What’s it matter?” She sat up sharply, an idea just now occurring to her. “You haven’t been making friends with him, have you? I told you, Bella, it’s social suicide!”

[Gives Alice a chance to respond to Bella’s outburst—in this AU Alice is very concerned with popularity and does not want Bella associating with Edward. She would definitely have a problem with Bella sympathizing with Edward.]

I rolled my eyes. “No, I just…”

The whole situation was ridiculous. This wasn’t how people should be treated. Was I the only one who realized that? Was I really the only one who cared?

“Whatever,” I grumbled, crunching down on a fry.

[This feels like a more natural resolution to the conversation. Alice directly asks why Bella cares, and Bella reiterates to herself it’s just because. And then decides it’s not worth the argument. This is 2k into an (unfinished) 30k fic. She’ll make a bigger deal out of stuff later.]

Now it looks more like a real scene! 

So, to summarize, I added: Description—both setting and character! Character musing! Cleverer comebacks! 

These are just some of the things that you can fix with a keen-eyed round of revision.

--

And that about wraps this up! I didn’t want this to get too long, but it did anyway. (I’m sorry about the graphics I’m a writer, not a graphic designer. But I had to split the post up so it wasn’t one big block of text)

Was any of that helpful? Was it too long? Did the example clarify things? Let me know, I wanna make sure these tips are helpful!

--

Additional Resources That I Highly Recommend:

DRAFTING: THE THEORY OF SHITTY FIRST DRAFTS -- This post probably explains shitty first drafts better than I ever could! If you still have concerns about it, definitely check it out.

Editing & Revision Answerathon -- Okay, this video is pretty long, but I looove Max Kirin for anything writing-related and especially revision!! They’ve got a tumblr and a Youtube account filled with writing tips! If you like getting your writing info through videos, definitely check out their stuff.

Top 5 Writing Tips: Revision -- Here’s an infographic by Max if you don’t want to watch a 44 minute video lol. Also, you can go through their /tagged/revision for more!

[nevssporking]

Women in the DAYDverse rebuttal- Quick summaries of basic arguments re Analysis and Transformative works

So, someone sent me the link to the original link to the Women in DAYDverse Essay. My sporking of that essay is lost now, but I just wanted to summarize a few arguments I had with it back then in a slightly more scholarly way. This is not out of a desire to attack the essay which I’m sure the author worked very hard on, but merely to outline one of my beliefs about how to approach feminist analysis and transformative work. I’m very much over sporking this old fanfic specifically or any of that, I just had some thoughts that I thought also applied to general analysis I wanted to show.

 It’s going to be kind of dry and hopefully relatively short, where the original sporking wasn’t, just hitting a few basic points. 

I’ll probably reblog this on my own blog SO If you’re not familiar with Dumbledore’s Army and the Year of Darkness, it was a Harry Potter fic that was popular back in the day and it was a...thing. A very dark and edgy take on Neville’s seventh year at Hogwarts that made his character basically unrecognizable. The author of it did some things and is probably a person one should be cautious around, full details here.

 I sporked the fanfic several years ago for various reasons. I don’t do stuff like that anymore, but I have archived my old work on this tumblr since i did put a lot of effort into it back then.Some of this work is lost though, including the sporking of the essay below 

Here is the original essay.

The essayist starts out admitting the fanfic she is a fan of is sexist, but then defends the sexism thusly:

 I would like to point out that, for the most part, the characters are exactly the same way in the original works, so you can hardly blame the author of a fan fiction, who actually adheres very closely to canon, for that. I would also add that the overall tone (for women) in DAYD parallels the original works, so to call DAYD sexist and misogynistic also calls JKR's work the same and that's something that critics of DAYD ignore unfairly.

First of all, I acknowledge Harry Potter as a work is sexist in several ways. Howevever, I also argue the fic in question is far more sexist than the original Harry Potter series in several instances. It diminishes and erases the accomplishments of several female characters who had more to do in canon. You can see my old sporking for a look at that, so I won’t elaborate. It also does various bizarre things the original text never did, like describe literally every female character as “dainty” several times, constantly comment on their physical frailty and need to be protected and place way more of an emphasis on the physical appearance and desirability of the women than the original text. That’s the tip of the iceberg.

But more importantly, sexism in the original work does not excuse sexism in a transformative work. That’s the entire point of fanfic, it’s transformative. You are able to change things. If you unquestioningly reproduce sexism from the original work, that’s a choice you are making as a fanfic writer. You should still be held accountable for it, especially if you actively make the problems of the original work worse. So yes, I can and will blame a fanfic author for their sexism, regardless of how good or bad the original work was about gender. 

Fanfiction gives you an amazing opportunity to transcend the original work and do your own take on it. It’s so boring and uncreative to say “I know this is flawed but the original did it so obviously I have to reproduce it”.

If a fanfic took no other liberties- if it was rigidly canon compliant, didn’t tweak ANYTHING from the original work, was stolidly insistent on reading like an entry in the series itself, clearly did not have the aim to comment, criticize or improve on the original work in any way and simply wanted to do something exactly like that- well, fine. I think that’s very boring, but if an author is taking zero liberties in a fanfic, it’s understandable that the fanfic will reflect the problems of its source material.

However, the fanfic we’re discussing, like most fanfic, takes a TON of liberties to indulge the author’s vision and really isn’t canon compliant at all. This is very clearly the author’s own take on the material, not a dedicated exact imitation of JK Rowling. There are several characters who do not share a single similar trait with their canon counterparts. The blood and gore is amped way up. The author also makes his problems with canon clear multiple times, using characters as a mouthpiece to criticize characters or decisions he does not like. He took so many liberties and he could have easily taken liberties regarding gender and female characters. But he did not. He chose what to change, what to remove and what to exaggerate and his priorities are very obvious and open to criticism. 

So yeah, if the transformative work is taking liberties, the original work being problematic doesn’t let the fanfic writer off the hook. It certainly doesn’t give them the right to exaggerate or double down on the problems in the original work, as well as add new problems of their own. And that’s just a belief of mine I want to make very clear.

The essayist makes some good points about the lack of working mothers represented in Harry Potter. However, her analysis is pretty troubling at this part, and I think represents the kind of analysis I’m uncomfortable with:

Neville's mother was an Auror. How many of you felt the implication that if she'd just have stayed home, and taken care of Neville, that she'd still be alive? I did. I think there's a clear implication that it's her own fault that Neville's an orphan. Of course this was not stated outright; JKR would have been strung up, but it's there and it probably comes from JKR's own feelings of inadequacy of being a single mother.

Okay, first what? Where did that implication come from? Like seriously, you can’t just throw something like that out there and not back that up with evidence from the text. Cite where the text implied that. Explain your interpretation. Don’t just excuse it with “well of course she didn’t say it say it but it’s there because I say so”.

Also, Neville’s parents aren’t dead, they’re mentally ill which is different but okay. we’ll ignore the essayist killing them off.

Like, to my memory, the Longbottoms were attacked in their home, so whether Alice (or for that matter, Frank) was staying at home and taking care of Neville wouldn’t have mattered. Alice was never mentioned seperately from Frank or vice versa by the narrative, Neville’s parents were always mentioned as a collective unit. They BOTH could have come out alive if they’d never become Aurors, but so what. Alice was not singled out by the narrative at all, so it’s the essayist who chose to single her out in this case. Which seems to be a result of the essayists own biases rather than anything else. 

But where this really gets “wtf” for me is the attempted amateur psychoanalysis of JK Rowling. Why do you think she feels “inadequate” as a single mother? Why do you assume that? Isn’t it extremely over-the-line to just assume if someone’s a single mother, they must feel bad about it? (Not to mention I’m fairly sure JK Rowling was married by the time she wrote Goblet of Fire but whatever).

See, this analysis gets uncomfortable to me because it seems like it’s putting JKR on trial for having struggled as a single mother. It’s deciding she must feel damaged by it somehow, that she must bad about it, she must BE bad or hold bad opinions because of it, based on no evidence. Just...don’t do this. Don’t drag out very personal struggles female authors went through and try to use it to shame their writing or make suppositions about how they must hate themselves and other women. Don’t make them have to answer for their struggles. Analysis that does that makes me extremely uncomfortable, because it inherently holds women to a different standard than men, inherently makes it seem like they should be more open to shame and scrutiny just based off their gender. And that’s all I want to say about that. 

The essay sort of meanders after this, talking about things to do with the fic and it’s hard to follow what the point is for me, but it’s certainly very detailed. There are a couple more lines that stick out to me. There’s the all important Ginny bashing:

We're expected to believe that this great woman's daughter is relegated to a simpering, lovesick puppy who pines away and waits for her true love who only noticed her when she stopped noticing him.

So yeah, that’s a pretty reductive and dismissive view of a female character because she has a crush on someone, but whatever. Having a crush on someone doesn’t mean you’re not strong, nor does actively decide to move on with your life and date other people for a while when they’re not noticing you back. (The fact the essayist has a problem with both her focusing on her crush and choosing NOT to focus on it is weird. Guess Ginny can’t win, as long as she dares to have a crush in the first place.)

I also believe that calling the work sexist doesn't make the author sexist, and vice versa, so we shouldn't make that mistake.

Yeah, no, if someone writes something uncritcally sexist. they’re almost certainly sexist to some degree. That doesn’t make them a bad person. We all have sexism ingrained to us to a certain degree by society, even the staunchest of gender role rebels. We shouldn’t reassure authors that they’re not sexist because of the problems with their work, but just be like “yo, author, here’s something weird that showed up in your work you could examine and confront on your own time, and I totally get how hard it is to write free of bias.”

Also where was this attitude when you were deciding JKR’s writing means she feels inadequate as a single mother? I agree that not getting personal with authors is a good idea, but I think if you’re going to let the writer personally off the hook for their work, why does that nicety only extend to the dude one?

~Anyway, those are just some dry, basic thoughts I have regarding feminist analysis and fanfic, as demonstrated through my criticism of this ancient essay that I sporked way back in ancient times. Now I’m done, thank god.

[girlsagainst-archive]

GA Bookclub#1 // Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay - written by Alice Porter

‘Books are often far more than just books’ writes Roxane Gay in her essay ‘I Once Was Miss America’. This statement rings true to me when writing this blog post and epitomises why I want to use this book club to discuss important issues. The meanings and implications that many of the books I have read have helped shape my perspective of the world. ‘Bad Feminist’ was one of these books, as I first read it a couple of years ago when I was beginning to discover feminism as something that aligned with my beliefs, but was fearful to outright call myself a feminist in fear of ‘getting it wrong’. This book allowed me to realise that I could still be a feminist even if some of my past and present habits did not align with my beliefs, as long as I was working on improving these things. As the last line of the book states, ‘I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all.’ ‘Bad Feminist’ is very accessible, not only because of its conversational voice throughout but because of Gay’s complete willingness to admit that she is far from the ‘perfect feminist’, if such a thing really exists. The book also begins with the claim that feminism is flawed ‘because it is a movement powered by people and people are inherently flawed’. This is important to remember, especially for people who are quick to denounce feminism, and the statement allows a reader who is sceptical of feminism to find a middle ground with Gay, perhaps making them more willing to listen to what she has to say. ‘Me’ The first set of essays have a confessional tone, as does much of the book, as Gay, amongst various other things, goes into detail on her competitive scrabble wins and losses. These essays are humorous and portray Gay as relatable and charismatic to the reader, allowing her to discuss the hard-hitting issues this book is about whilst remaining approachable to the reader. This aspect of the text makes ‘Bad Feminist’ a really great book for someone who is still finding their feet as a feminist and is perhaps feeling overwhelmed, and Gay’s discussion of popular culture would also be useful for this reader as it is something most people can use as a reference point and reflects how the promotion of intersectional feminism is still absolutely necessary. My favourite essay from this section is ‘Peculiar Benefits’ as Gay discusses the necessity of acknowledging privilege but the dangers of completely silencing those with it, which would create ‘a world of silence’. She claims: ‘we need to get to a place where we discuss privilege by way of observation and acknowledgment rather than accusation’, which is crucial as I have witnessed how excluding individuals from conversation has dwindled discussion rather than encouraged it. ‘Gender and Sexuality’ These essays have an autobiographical format, which allows Gay to use her own experiences to discuss gender and sexuality, whilst also considering their portrayal in popular culture. In ‘How We All Lose’ Gay denounces the view that women should be grateful because of the progression of our position in society over the last 100 years, stating, ‘better is not good enough, and it’s a shame that anyone would be willing to settle for so little.’ As a woman who has been told that the cat-calling that makes me feel physically sick from vulnerability should be taken as a compliment, I can vouch for the fact that just because our rights have improved, we are yet to gain total equality. Gay states ‘if the patriarchy is dead, the numbers have not gotten the memo’ and, from my experience, neither have the men who shout sexual remarks at a women walking home alone at night. ‘The Careless Language of Sexual Violence’ is an essay that explores how damaging the casual ways in which we deal with rape can be, from living in a time that ‘necessitates the phrase rape culture’ to it’s gratuitous portrayals in television and film. Gay discusses how language is often used to ‘buffer our sensibilities’ from the brutality of sexual assault, leading to sympathy for the perpetrator and isolating the victim. This is something that is hugely relatable for me as someone who would shrug my soldiers when I was sexually assaulted at gigs saying things like, ‘they only pinched my bum, it’s not a big deal’ whilst feeling completely uncomfortable for the rest of the night, Even at a gig around a year and half ago when I spent the last two songs being grinded on and groped despite my clear unease and efforts to move away leading me to leave the gig early, I refused to accept to myself that I had been sexually assaulted and even attempted to make up excuses for the perpetrator in my head. Being sexually assaulted felt a great deal more significant than being ‘felt up’ but had I immediately accepted that that was what had happened to me, I know it would have been much easier to remove any responsibility for what happened from myself. This essay does a great job at bringing the importance of the language around sexual assault to light that, as Gay states, is not just careless but criminal. In ‘Beyond the Measure of Men’ Gay discusses how the actions of women are often compared to and measured against those of men and portrays the prevalence of this this through certain books written by women being labelled as ‘women’s fiction’ but similar books written by men being simply fiction for everyone. She states ‘narratives about certain experiences are somehow legitimised when mediated through a man’s perspective’. This is something that I had never considered but found really interesting as a book-lover. In the essay ‘Some Jokes Are Funnier Than Others’ Gay considers the humour behind rape jokes. She concludes that they not only serve to remind women that their bodies are open to legislation and public discourse but also that it is because sexual violence is embedded into our culture so deeply that people feel comfortable in making these jokes. Gay talks about her experience of rape in this book and, for me, her story alone would be enough to make rape jokes unfunny and completely insensitive. She also explains why women are allowed to respond negatively to misogynistic humour, ‘We are free to speak as we choose without fear or prosecution or persecution, but we are not free to speak as we choose without consequence.’ The final essay I’m going to discuss from this set is ‘Blurred Lines, Indeed’ as it discusses how music and feminism are linked - something that is particularly relevant to Girls Against. She looks at how rape culture is embedded and accepted in popular music such as in Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ that ‘revisits the age-old belief that sometimes when a woman says no she really means yes.’ Gay comments on how the culture that supports entertainment that objectifies women also elects lawmakers who work to restrict reproductive freedom. Gay describes this as a ‘chicken and the egg’ situation and as ‘trickle-down misogyny’. If we cannot deduce whether it is the lawmakers influencing the media or the media influencing the lawmakers should we really be willing to treat these songs as insignificant? ‘Race and Entertainment’ The next set of essays are significantly shorter, seemingly because they are much more focussed and specific than the previous set, as Gay discusses how race is portrayed in entertainment through considering various films and their significance. The first essay is centred around The Help and Gay’s take on a film/book that I initially enjoyed was really interesting and helped me to see it in a different light. She explains how The Help is a white interpretation of the black experience and is ‘an unfairly emotionally manipulative movie’, offering us a ‘sanitised’ picture of the early 1960s portraying life as hard for white women, and slightly harder for black women, when in reality life for black women was immeasurably more difficult in segregated America. Gay also describes the black women in this book and film as ‘caricatures…finding pieces of truth and genuine experience and distorting them to repulsive effect.’ After reading this essay I can see that this film that I initially enjoyed was seemingly created for the purpose of enjoyment alone. It uses real historical events that are distressing to provide entertainment and not to truthfully portray the painful history of black Americans because if this were the film’s purpose, an accurate depiction of their experiences would have undoubtedly been more of a priority. Gay feels similarly about Django Unchained, a film that I have not seen and so have less authority to comment on, describing it as ‘obnoxious’ and ‘indulgent’ as Tarantio uses a traumatic cultural experience to ‘exercise his hubris for making farcically violent, vaguely funny movies that set to right historical wrongs from a very limited, privileged position’. She also touches on the Oscars and how ‘Hollywood has very specific notions about how it wants to see black people on the silver screen’, as critical acclaim is often dependent on black suffering or subjugation. She asserts that despite this, audiences are ready for more from black film and I certainly agree with this- there is a great deal more to black experience and history than slavery. In a further essay ‘The Last Day of a Young Black Man’ Gay discusses the detrimental effects of demonising young black men in contemporary cinema in reference to the shooting of 22-year old, defenceless Oscar Grant. The effects of the demonisation of young black men in society are terrifying and Gay’s examination of how this is reflected in film is harrowing. Orange Is The New Black is the subject of the last essay in this set ‘When Less Is More’ as Gay explains how its source material concerning a privileged white woman serving a prison sentence will never be anything more than this. She also states that ,as black woman, she is tired of feeling like she should be grateful ‘when popular culture deigns to acknowledge the experiences of people who are not white, middle class or wealthy, and heterosexual’ and that the way in which we are focussing on OITNB’s attempt at doing this shows the extent to which we are forced and willing to settle. ‘Politics, Gender and Race’ These seven essays cover a broad range of issues and are much less focussed than the previous two sets. In the first essay ‘The Politics of Respectability’ Gay discusses the danger of encouraging respectability politics, stating that the targets of oppression should not be wholly responsible for ending that oppression. She uses examples to portray the problems in suggesting that just because one person from a marginalised group has been successful this does not mean everyone is able to reach this same level of success. This is an interesting essay that shows the many ways in which different groups of people can be diminished and the difficult consequences of this. In perhaps my favourite essay of the entire book, ‘The Alienable Rights of Women’, Gay discusses reproductive healthcare and why it is so important to women’s freedom. Repeating the phrase ‘Thank goodness women do not have short memories’ throughout the essay, Gay explores how trivially reproductive freedom is discussed by certain politicians and why the ongoing debate surrounding it, usually instigated by men, is ‘the stuff of satire’. People have actually questioned me on why reproductive healthcare is a women’s rights issue and although I usually have a long and detailed answer to this, Gay sums it up neatly, ‘There is no freedom in any circumstance where the body is legislated, none at all.’ ‘The Racism We All Carry’ explains how racism is embedded in pretty much all of us because ‘We’re human. We’re flawed. Most people are simply at the mercy of centuries of cultural conditioning.’ Gay comments on the fact that for many people, there are times when you can be racist and times when you cannot, depending on your company and setting. Sadly, I feel this is true for a great deal of people, proving Gay’s previous point. ‘Back To Me’ In the final set of essays, Gay plainly states that she ‘falls short as a feminist’ and describes the ways in which she does. Not only this but she describes how feminism has been ‘warped by misperception’ and that her main issue with it is that it ‘doesn’t allow for the complexities of human experience or individuality.’ Gay’s rejection of a prescribed form of feminism is really what makes her approach so accessible. She concludes in stating that although she might be a ‘bad feminist’, she is committed to the issues feminism promotes despite its issues and that it’s importance and necessity cannot be denied. I enjoyed reading ‘Bad Feminist’ this time round as much as I did reading it for the first time, however there are some small issues I have with it. Gay’s complete acceptance in sometimes falling short as a feminist and straying from the principles that she believes in provides reassurance for the reader but perhaps too much leniency. It’s okay if some of your habits don’t completely align with your views but I think rather than completely accepting it, it’s important to work on changing them and improving yourself and Gay’s approach is often a little too laidback for me. I would have also liked Gay’s essays to have been more focussed on the topics they were supposed to be centred around according to the sub-heading they were under. Although I enjoyed the essays themselves, I felt like the way in which they were organised into sub-headings was a little bit lazy and last-minute and this is especially relevant to the penultimate set of essays, ‘Politics, Gender & Race’. Despite these arguably minor issues I took with the book, I think it is great because it covers such a wide range of topics in an informative, thought-provoking way and I would recommend it to feminist newbies and veterans alike, so much so that I rated it 5 stars on Goodreads, which is rare to say the least! If you can’t get hold of the book, many of her essays are available online including some of the ones I have mentioned. For the month of August, the Girls Against Book Club will be reading ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker. If you aren’t familiar with this feminist classic, it’s a novel, first published in 1982, set in rural Georgia that focuses on the life of women of colour in the 1930s. I’ve wanted to read this book for a while and I hope that you will join me in reading or re-reading it! If you do have any thoughts on ‘The Color Purple’, the Girls Against Book Club would love to hear them and we will feature any comments we particularly enjoy in the September blog post. You can send them to us any time before Sunday 3rd September using the hashtag on twitter #GABookClub, email us at girlsagainstbookclub@gmail.com or join our GoodReads group and contribute to the monthly book discussion here. All credit to the wonderful Alice Porter