soon you will have a chinese baby sister who will surpass you academically

[bossymarmalade]

Lori demanded that I do some recs so she'll know what to read from the recent ficmemes, so the rest of you have to suffer as well. *g*


++Content notes are grey-blocked within brackets; highlight to read++

For the Awesome Ladies Ficathon, I'm linking to the prompt comment for context. Also I'm not bothering to code usernames, dammit.


. houses out of cardboard boxes by omfgsh | the oc -- I always did love Julie Cooper, and this feels exactly slap-on right: she's clever and insecure and wanting and strong, no deviations into secret woobiedom or ordinary bitchery. {unexpected pregnancy, classism}

. only a rebel from the waist downwards by janie_tangerine | 1984 -- I really like the sense of sexuality in this, how Julia uses the power in it but also derives so much pleasure. It's a balance you don't get to see often for female characters, especially in dystopic fiction. {illicit sex, control}

. lethal poison through the system by asimaiyat | star trek reboot -- The voices here are fantastic (Jim's lapse on formalities, heh!), and I am utterly in love with this Uhura and her fine fierce endless desire to *do* more and *be* more. {civil conflict}

. hedge witch by white_aster | harry potter -- Minerva McGonagall in a backwoods!AU, which is unexpectedly and most incredibly fantastic in every possible way. I love fandom sometimes, I really do. {no warnings}

. worlds away by hyacinthian | x-men -- Jubilation Lee, as American a girl as all fucking get-out. I can't even tell you how much I adored this one. {racism, runaway, mild violence}


For the Racebending Revenge challenge:

. 春雨 (spring rain) by mercredigirl | firefly -- Simon and River and the names they should really have for the people they should really be. I love the show and I love the characters, but I was always upset with the fact that they weren't Chinese when -- out of *everybody* -- they seemed like they were coded to be. This makes me ache for what might have been. {some of the fic uses Chinese language fonts, so there may be an accessibility issue; fic itself deals with imperialism, racism, references to abduction/torture/rape}


Just random but awesome:

. the third student by schemingreader | sherlock holmes -- Anybody who's read any of the canon knows it's full of shitty colonialist tropes in-between the more fun Holmes-Watson shenanigans; I remember as a girl wincing at the way Watson wrote about this Indian student while at the same time being grateful somebody Indian like me was even *in* the canon.

So, um, yeah, this is a cathartic and beautifully-written story without being all anvils and Special Lessons. It also eviscerates the whole PANIC! TERROR! in fandom about white people writing chromatic people and being "attacked" no matter what, because reading this fic, I connected with Daulat Ras as *hard* as if I'd written his voice myself. I can't recommend it too highly, even though it kind of makes me feel raw enough that I haven't left feedback yet (sorry, bb!). {racism, colourism, colonialism}

Comments

[schemingreader]

I am so incredibly pleased that you liked the Daulat Ras story. I don't know why it was this particular instance of racist stereotyping that got me off my butt rather than the 5 zillion others in canon. Perhaps it was because I have friends and contemporaries who have been stereotyped in this way by their teachers.

[bossymarmalade]

I don't think it would be exaggerating to say that I LOVED your Daulat Ras story -- his wry voice, his awareness of how people treat him and who he is, his love for his studies despite it all. The Holmesian bits of the story make a lovely backdrop. *g*

I'm so happy you wrote this, and even happier that you made it public!