Science fiction

the culture...

Dom just started this thread so he could sit back, watch it develop and bust a "lol geeks" zing.

I'd fucking love to live in the Culture. Drug glands!

Being laughed at for being a geek by denizens of the internet really doesn't bother me. This is where I come to do my geeking.

Not read Greg Egan, looks interesting. I didn't really get on with the MacLeod book I read.

Yeah nor did I but thought it was worth a mention, the politicking might appeal to... people who like that kind of thing. Greg Egan: Permutation City also good, possibly more philosophical than Diaspora, gets into the nature of mind & matter.

Definitely gonna give some of your list a go.

Have you read "Report on Probability A" by Aldiss?

No, not read that one. Is it a novel?

Yeah it's... kinda nutso. Takes a single idea and stretches it to breaking point. Can provoke a reaction of extreeeeme boredom and irritation but I love it.

Cool, it's on my list. He's a very interesting writer.

Ark. academic conference examines TV hit 'Buffy'

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Aristotle. Nietzsche. Buffy?

The blond heroine of the campy television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," as well as other works by creator Joss Whedon, will be the focus of a three-day academic conference beginning Friday at Henderson State University. The show starring Sarah Michelle Gellar won cult fame and critical praise during its seven seasons on The WB and UPN networks.

Since it ended, the series has spawned enough academic books on the philosophy surrounding the roles of friendship and feminism to fill a 15-foot-wide bookshelf at the college in Arkadelphia, said Kevin Durand, an associate professor of philosophy.

"It has staying power," Durand said. "It's like I tell my students in philosophy a lot of times: We're not so much about necessarily finding all the answers as wanting to ask better questions. `Buffy,' I think, does that. `Buffy' never really leaves you with nice, pat answers. You have even more questions than when you started."

Durand said more than 90 academic papers will be discussed at the conference. He expects about 150 people to attend and discuss the vampire slayer and Whedon's other works, including the television series "Firefly" and "Angel." Another point of discussion will be a lesser-known part of Whedon's work — his screenplay for the hit animated film "Toy Story."

Among the papers: "Buffy and Feminism," "Buffy and Identity," "Gender Stereotypes and the Image of Domesticity in `Firefly,'" "`Firefly:' The Illusive Safety of Big Damn Heroes" and a Durand favorite by a British scholar, "Hero's Journey, Heroine's Return: Buffy, Eurydice and the Orpheus Myth."

"That one just sounds cool," he said.

Durand, who contributed an academic paper at each of the two previous Buffy conferences, often focuses on how power plays into the "Buffy" series. He said much of the heroine's strength came from others and her willingness to work with friends in her fight against creatures of the night.

http://users.livejournal.com/_allecto_/34718.html

^^^realest of talk

Did you actually read it all? I got about 2 paras into the 1st page before TL:DR struck. Probably not helped by me never having seen an episode of "Firefly", and not giving (1) fuck about "Buffy" either. I did like the link @ the second page though that read "More ranting about Firefly here"

Why do people give this much of a fuck about a stupid, trashy TV program?

i'm sure this can't be the first academic conference on buffy. you'd have thought it was a regular thing -- i wish i could name names here but there's one particularly choice cambridge academic whose homepage listing her interests is all kristeva blah blah blah shit and then finally 'buffy -- aaaaah, bet you didn't expect me to say that, i like POP CULTURE too'.

maybe my mission is to put together the first hackademic conference on 'the shield'.

...more has been written on an explanatory and critical field about trash like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The X-Files rather than, say, The Sopranos, The Wire, or Mad Men.

Results 1 - 10 of about 2,920 for "the sopranos". (0.12 seconds)
Results 1 - 10 of about 2,210 for "buffy the vampire slayer". (0.20 seconds)

What I really want to know is where is the The Wire slash?

well you can strike out 'mad men' coz academics are generally johnny-come-latelies, but yeah.

Soft lips lightly traced a pattern of kisses along the
back of my neck. I sighed, savoring the delicious
sensation of being awakened from a sensual dream, and
settled my back more firmly against his chest.

Mmm… Sam… I thought, drifting back into sleep.

The soft kisses gave way to the nuzzling of teeth
against my skin, then to a series of love-bites that
became ever sharper as they ascended to my jawline.

*Not* Sam.

The idea shocked me awake--or it would have, but I
felt as drowsy and lethargic as if I'd had far too
much ale and couldn’t quite clear my head. But the
little bites were quite enjoyable, actually, teasing
the fine line between pleasure and pain, and I let
myself be swept away by this hedonistic dream… this
dream lover… so unlike my always gentle Sam…

His lips took mine roughly. I felt no need to resist;
indeed, I could not have, so overpowering were the
kisses. His tongue parted my teeth and plunged inside,
probing, demanding. I yielded utterly, opening to him,
the intensity of the kiss making me arch my back,
begging for more.

I became hazily aware of strong arms encircling me
from behind. Soft fingertips explored my throat, my
chest, lingering over the ring on its silver chain.
The smooth circle always felt warm with my body heat,
but now it seemed to burn. Without warning he pinched
my nipples quite hard, leaving them tingling. I gasped
and was instantly silenced by another insistent,
bruising kiss. I struggled to force myself awake, to
protest, but my eyes were so heavy that I could not
hold them open. Then the kisses on my shoulder and
throat became soothing again and the hands stroking my
skin grew gentle, and once again I lost myself in a
shadowy cloud of desire… Nothing to fear, no need to
think…

He traced little shivery waves on my skin as his
caress moved ever downward. When he took my hardness
in his large hand, I gasped at the heat of his touch.
He began to stroke me masterfully, quickly bringing me
almost to the brink before he abruptly stopped. The
other hand took over then, parting my cheeks to seek
out the tight opening there. I spread my legs and
pushed against his touch, feeling wanton. His hand
left me for a moment but quickly returned, wet and
slick. He slid a finger inside me, suddenly,
forcefully, and I shuddered. He began pulling me off
again in long, sure strokes, his finger moving in and
out rhythmically. When he impaled me with a second
finger I thought I must surely die from the intensity
of it. Once again he took me right to the edge … and
stopped. I writhed against him shamelessly, grinding
my backside into his hips. His hard member felt hot,
too hot, slippery against my skin, and then he was
pushing slowly but relentlessly into me. I cried out
then, I know, but there was no sound, and the world
ceased to exist but for the spot where his body
invaded mine.

I gritted my teeth against the pain, willing my
muscles to relax. He grasped my hips and directed me
wordlessly to move with him. As I did so, the pain
gradually ebbed until wild pleasure surged in its
place and I thrust myself hard onto his thick shaft.

Suddenly I felt something smooth and hot against my
face. The ring. He stroked my face with it, though it
was still bound to its chain, then parted my lips and
placed it into my mouth. His finger followed it and I
sucked on both, tracing the contours of his knuckles
with my tongue, pushing the ring against his skin. I
knew what he wanted me to do and, swept away by
passion, I no longer resisted. I pressed my tongue
into the burning circle of the ring, tracing its
shape, feeling it pulse, then pushed it onto his
finger. He gave a final mighty thrust and exploded
within me, sending massive shock waves ripping through
my body. My eyes flew open, though all remained dark
and silent. Then his hands sought out my hardness and
squeezed mercilessly. It took but a stroke or two to
push me over the brink. I gasped for breath, my head
spinning and my heart pounding. An image began to form
in my mind and with it a dreadful, shocking
realization. A circle of flame, an eye, *his* eye.
Then I knew it had been him and not a dream--though I
was quite alone except for Sam, sleeping peacefully by
my side as if nothing had happened.

I lay spent and stunned for a long while. Despite the
disbelief, the revulsion, and the shame beginning to
well up, exquisite aftershocks still tingled
throughout my body. The physical sensations of
lovemaking remained vivid, tangible, undeniable. I
cradled the ring in my hand. It remained white hot,
still slicked with saliva. And it whispered to me, as
it did more and more often these days, "You and I will
soon meet face to face, Frodo Baggins, very soon. I am
waiting."

"I said DON'T MOVE," Starsky repeated, the last two words each punctuated with another slap to Hutch's behind. The blond was holding still now and Starsky smiled at the sight. Pushing his finger in all the way, he found his lover's prostate and stroked it.

Hutch tried not to move, but the sensations were too much and he ground back against Starsky's hand. As soon as he did Starsky brought his hand down again leaving a bright red palm print in his wake. Hutch yelped at the pain but managed to stay where he was.

"You're such a good boy, Hutch," Starsky whispered as he bent over his lover's back. "You make me really proud."

"I...I do?" Hutch whispered back, his whole body shaking with the effort of not moving while Starsky's finger continued to torment him.

"Yeah," Starsky said. "You're tryin' so hard not to move. I can tell how bad you want to. How bad you want to grind your ass back on my finger. How bad you want to thrust that hard cock of yours into something."

"Staaarsky..." Hutch cried out when the man pressed down hard on his prostate.

"I need more, Hutch," Starsky said as he pulled out his finger.

"What...whatever you need," Hutch stammered, fighting to remain still. "I love you."

"I love you, too, beautiful," Starsky said.

"What do you need, Starsk?" Hutch managed to ask.

"Fight me," Starsky whispered in his ear.

Hutch shivered as those two little words sank in. He felt his cock grow harder and wondered for a moment which one of them needed this more. Leave it to Starsky to know just what to do to give them both what they craved. Tensing his muscles, Hutch waited a heartbeat before lunging up and back. He succeeded in throwing his lover off him, but he knew he only had seconds before Starsky was on him again. Using his longer legs to his advantage, Hutch dashed toward the bedroom, seeking the illusionary safety of the other room.

He didn't even get the door closed before Starsky barreled into it knocking him to the floor. Before Hutch could make it to his knees, Starsky had one hand fisted in his hair and the other wrapped around his throat. Arousal surged through Hutch as Starsky manhandled him onto the bed.

"Get off!" Hutch snarled as his lover pushed his face into the mattress and shoved a pillow under his hips. Hutch tried to rear up again and knock Starsky off, but a vice-like grip on his testicles stilled him.

"That's a good boy," Starsky purred as he gave the tender orbs a harsh squeeze. He laughed at Hutch's gasp of pain and surprise. His own cock was strangling in his jeans as the adrenaline surged through him again. Keeping one hand on Hutch's balls, he undid his own pants and pulled his hard cock out.

"Starsky, let me go," Hutch demanded.

"No," Starsky replied as he gave the balls another squeeze. "I'm gonna fuck you until you scream, blondie. I'm gonna fuck you so hard you won't be able to sit for days."

"God damnit, Starsky. I said no. Now let me go," Hutch yelled, though he was careful not to move his body.

"I don't give a shit what you said," Starsky yelled back. "I'm gonna have you and there ain't fuck all you can do about it, partner."

"Damn it! You son of a bitch, let me go!" Hutch yelled. The pain in his testicles was making his eyes water. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.

"What did you just call my mother?" Starsky spat. He jerked back on Hutch's balls and smiled at the shriek of pain it caused.

"No... Nothing," Hutch stammered as he fought the pain rolling through him.

"Apologize," came the deadly serious reply.

"I'm sorry," Hutch said immediately.

"That's better." Starsky relented and eased his grip on his partner's now bruised testicles. "Now I think someone here needs a little lesson in who's in control. And since I'm not the one cryin' over his balls being crushed, I don't think that someone's me. Am I right?"

"Yes," Hutch replied quickly. "You're right."

"What am I right about?" Starsky pressed.

"That I need a lesson in who's in...in c-control," Hutch stammered.

Starsky reached out and ran his hands over his partner's back. Hutch was shaking now, his body confused amid the cacophony of signals flooding through it. He rubbed slowly, easing the worst of it. This was, after all, Hutch and he would never truly hurt this man.

"That's right, babe," Starsky said. "Now tell me. Who's in control here?"

"You are, Starsk," Hutch replied.

"And what am I gonna do to prove that to ya?" Starsky pressed.

"Fuck me," Hutch said, his face flushing in unanticipated embarrassment. "You're gonna fuck me."

"What's wrong, babe?" Starsky asked when he saw Hutch flush. "Don't wanna be my pussy tonight?"

Hutch went beet red at his lover's use of...that word. Never in all their lovemaking had he ever thought of himself as that. Now here was Starsky telling him that was all he really was. A pussy. A pussy for his partner to fuck.

the comments on that lj firefly thing are hilarious, viz a viz:

So, I think Joss Whedon is a rapist because it is impossible for me to believe that a man who produces a show like Firefly, a man who openly objectifies women in his interviews, a man who based the character of Xander Harris (a pro-porn, sex-obsessed teenage male in Buffy) it is imposible for me to believe that this man does not pressure his wife for sex. If he has pressured his wife for sex even if she eventually consented he is still a rapist. I know far too many women who have been, and are being, forced, coerced, manipulated, pressured into sex that they do not want with their male partners. I'd bet anything that Joss is one of these men. And if he is then he is a rapist in my books.

Hasn't crossed her mind that his wife might actually like having sex with him?

i liked 'buffy' but never drank the 'firefly' kool-aid.

the SF/fantasy stuff was always the worst/most ignorable thing about buffy anyway. it had more in common with 'she's all that' than anne rice.

^ Yeah, the High School/college/teen anxiety smart-mouth zing stuff >>>> stunt men in rubber horror masks stuff.

but clearly it's all rape

I just read that whole series of 3 posts. The degree of intellectual dishonesty is staggering. Somebody calls bullshit on her using the Dworkin "all sex is rape" formula, and she basically shuts it down and says "go argue with Dworkin, what's wrong with you, I'm just talking about some sci-fi here."

A Firefly stan being not very bright, you say? For real??

Actually she hates the show pretty viciously.

Why the heck she be posting there then??

Okay are people (upthread) seriously dismissing certain (pretty arbitrarily defined) elements of pop culture as trash unworthy of academic examination? ON ILFuckingX? WTF.

Have you learned nothing from years of rockism debates? If a significant amount of people consume, enjoy, and identify with any form of media, it's worth examination. Period.

yeah i wrote that off as challops so boring that they weren't even worth the challops thread

No, the point is that aspie rube academics only chose to engage in aspects of popular culture that let them live out their still existent adolescent hang-ups, and as such they're excessively covered by "academia" despite being, let's be honest here, of minority interest from both a mainstream and, y'know, "any good" perspective. xp

"You're what?" Snape hissed out between clenched teeth.

"I'm pregnant, Sev," Harry repeated patiently, sitting down on a nearby chair.

"B-but how could this have happened?" Severus sputtered, all thoughts of the tests he'd been grading flying from his mind.

A twinkle in his eye, Harry said, "Well, when two people love each other very much..."

"I *know* that part, Potter. What I meant was, how could *you* be pregnant? You're a man."

"I am quite aware of that fact, Severus," Harry returned drolly. "But surely you must realize that while I *am* a man, I am also a wizard. A very powerful wizard, in fact, and sometimes very powerful wizards use their magic unconsciously. Remember how I beat Voldemort? He cast the killing curse, and even though I was almost unconscious, and didn't have my wand, I still managed to reflect it so it hit him instead?"

Snape looked at him skeptically. "So you're saying that unconsciously you *wanted* to get pregnant? For Merlin's sake, *why*?!"

Blushing Harry said, "Well, it was after we'd gone to see Ron and 'Mione's new twins. I was thinking that you'd make such a good father, and when you pounced me that evening, I must've focused in on that."

Severus looked surprised at Harry's words -- him, a good father? -- but thought for a moment about their situation.

"Well," he said finally. "I suppose it could happen. But in all cases where male pregnancy has happened, it was a planned event. It had to be, because both parties had to use their magic to make it happen..." He trailed off, his face draining of all color, as he realized what he was implying.

Harry grinned. "I guess it was meant to happen, then."

Severus was at a loss. "But I don't understand -- neither of us knew what the other was thinking, and without joint focus, it *still* shouldn't have happened..."

"Since both of us are powerful wizards, maybe we didn't need to know in order to focus," Harry suggested. "I'm more concerned about the numbers."

"Numbers?" Severus asked, floundering for understanding.

Taking a deep breath, Harry broached the topic cautiously. "Well, we each have at least twice as much magic as most Wizards, and we'd gone to see the twins that evening...and I'm definitely showing more than normal for not being even three months pregnant. My larger stomach was the first clue I had that I *was* pregnant."

"You think we're having twins?" Severus squeaked.

Harry nodded. "I'm not sure, though. But it's possible."

"Oh, wonderful," Severus snarked. "I never planned on us having children to begin with, and now you tell me we're most likely having *two*?"

"Well, Sev, as you pointed out, it takes two to make this spell work. You can't blame all of this on me," Harry said, voice hard.

Sighing, Severus put his head in his hands and said, "I know. But I wish I could."

"Whyever would you want to do that?" Harry demanded, exasperated.

Directing a glare at his husband, Severus said, "Because if I recall, your dog-father still doesn't even know we're married. How in the world are you planning to explain *this* to him?"

Harry gulped. "I-I hadn't thought of that."

Nodding, Severus said, "I thought not."

Practically hyperventilating, Harry summed their situation up in two words: "Oh, shit."

^what he said

I think that's valid in and of itself, though, given that modern Western culture is so lacking in universally accepted rites of passage that large swaths of society don't really ever leave adolescence.

Also, minority interest? Welcome to decentralized modern culture. Everything is a minority interest.

xxpost oh fuck it, the HP fanfic has been brought, shit is over.

Welcome to decentralized modern culture. Everything is a minority interest.

Increasingly true but not universally. (Mistaking Net-heavy life with its easily accessible multiplicity of choices for whatever constitutes reality is the problem here -- this ain't the past but it's not quite the future yet.)

Welcome to decentralized modern culture. Everything is a minority interest.

fyi dude is british

I just read that whole series of 3 posts. The degree of intellectual dishonesty is staggering. Somebody calls bullshit on her using the Dworkin "all sex is rape" formula, and she basically shuts it down and says "go argue with Dworkin, what's wrong with you, I'm just talking about some sci-fi here.

And it happens not just once but several times, and the women calling her on it are (allegedly) rape victims themselves who are offended by her rhetoric. Plus she gives a big-ol' middle finger to women of color too, as several folks point out.

Of course it's not really a secret that most radfem doesn't really give a shit about real-life victims, not to mention racism, but it's still pretty gross. But it's pretty clear she's living the lolcat life:

http://media.newschoolers.com/uploads/cache/images/1199518804-560780-400x266-lolcat-funny-picture-found-pills-ate-eat.jpg

Still, even the highest rated shows (in America) fail to bring in 50% of households (only three broadcasts in history, early years aside, have done this, all before 1985), and the highest grossing film of the past decade brought in something like 25%. I'm not saying it's totally decentralized or anything, but the idea of almost any piece of pop culture being a 'majority interest' is pretty much a dead idea.

xp This is a good point.

another xpost, obviously should be focusing on my ilx debatez instead of cooking

I suppose I've just got a problem with anyone saying any subject or reasoning for studying pop culture is invalid. If you don't like what's being said, cool, but criticizing the fact that it's being said just rubs me the wrong way.

Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.

Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.
Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.

Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.

Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.

Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.

Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.

Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.

Thanks and plot bunnies (MWAHAHA!) to GlimmerGirl, Angel and ‘The Girls’ for betas, comments, and laffs.

this is an odd thread.

And for what it's worth: the vast majority of 90's tv sci-fi* was shit. SOOOO much horribleness came about when people realized that you could make money with a weekly syndicated program shot on the cheap in vancouver that they just all dove in, and the programming line-up of the Sci-Fi Channel was born. Shit was so bad I stayed away from checking out the updated Battlestar due to memories of all those crap shows that my roommate would watch at like 2 in the morning on a saturday night on some UHF station. Hell, even the Doctor Who tv movie was infected with this, and shot in vancouver!

*at some point, should the discussion ever drunkenly wander back into that area again, it would be worth considering Harlan Ellison's distinction between "science Fiction" and "S.F./Sci-fi"

And for what it's worth: the vast majority of 90's tv sci-fi* was shit

http://home.comcast.net/~pccranford/sliders.jpg

hated that show so much

Neat idea, tho. First season or so was fun.

modern Western culture is so lacking in universally accepted rites of passage that large swaths of society don't really ever leave adolescence.

let's all gather to celebrate this fact with a conference on '"quantum leap" traversing the end of history'.

here is a blog post, by an academic, about the wire:

http://zunguzungu.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/you-know-i-blame-the-system-the-wire-barrack-obama-and-omar-for-president/

thats all folx

http://www.unmotivating.com/gallery2/d/4549-1/nerd_chicks.jpg

OTM

would