Why You Should Be Watching ‘The Magicians’

Pop Culture Uncovered

Friends, we here at PCU have been neglectful, and we’re very sorry. Usually, we cover the best in geek television, from broadcast to Netflix.

Now, we admit we can’t keep a regular tab on everything. There’s far too much out there, not to mention shows that are just plain horrible or locked behind paywalls.

Still, there is no excuse for not covering shows that are fantastic and fun. Sadly, we did precisely that when we did when we didn’t include SyFy’s The Magicians.

Well, there’s no good excuse, but there are reasons you may not have seen the show.

I love The Magicians, but I didn’t watch until SyFy offered all of Season 1 online. I’d heard about the series, based on the novels by Lev Grossman, but I wasn’t sure if it would be my cup of tea.

I can tell you now, I binge-watched…

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It All Began by Kinkmeme – A Fanfic Story

So I admit that I trawl the (conspicuously anon) archives of the dcu/dceu/dccu kinkmemes. I do. I have no shame about this.

What I’d never done was actually submit to any of these communities.

Until now.

 

I took on a prompt that seemed at first glance to be an “easy in’ – can’t take more than 2-5k, I thought to myself with unseemly glee, ready to flex my kink muscles.

Yup. That was me…

….back in late April.

 

Now it’s January, and I’ve managed to post about 100k and am in the fourth in said BDSM, Bottom Clark, Dominant Bruce (though Dominant b/c of dynamics, not who tops/bottoms!!) series.

I’ll be posting chapter 7 of 14 in part IV sometime this week, adding 6k to my wordcount.

I have another 40-60k in the wings waiting for my longsuffering beta reader.

AND

• It’s been rec’d. More than once!! What is happening in the world?
• It’s inspired/prompted two fan-covers (by ManicMea):

• A particular fanartist  (handled ‘Albi’) who Ive followed for some time (you may recall the Superbat manga of ‘right in front of my salad’ with Diana at the counter? Yeah..Albi) both rec’d and contacted me with these amazing beauties!

(The other two are in-line on the AO3 host page and the available epub from AO3)

So I’ll just leave that story link right here…

Position Assurance Series by Holdt

How long will this go on? Well, until the story is finished, I suppose. Aiming for 200k written this year (in total, not just this project).

Wish me luck!

All of this is just to say how incredibly honored and amazed I am at the top of this year. Fandom, fam… fandom is fucking amazing. 

And it requires a response.

Thanks everyone for their help, whether reading, encouraging/cheer-leading, creating art, having written something that further inspired me,  alpha views, arguing canon vs fanon over pastries with me, debating/interrogating the differences between bottom-shaming/misogyny and BDSM subbing when the sub IS the bottom…

You know who you are. Thank you.

ETA: FYI, if you know this is trggering/disliked/material you as an adult CANNOT HANDLE, then do us both a favor and just skip the links. You will not be welcomed. You will not convince me that I am doing wrong. You will only waste your time with a non-hetero genderqueer feminist who is in no mood for your shit. 😀

Diverse OCs in Fanfic

Recently had a conversation with a friend today who shared with me how hesitant she was to include a “diverse” OC in her fic because Racefail. Okay…

Look.

Writing the Other isnt your problem, friend.

I’ll be clear: I write “the Other” all the time, and Im forced to because thats the “majority lens” of media that I, as a PoC, even with my background– (D.C. born & raised, our home had etageres, china cabinets and paneling)– have available in this culture. And I’ll tell you – it isnt easy.

It’s *work*.

You may make mistakes. You may mischaracterise some very important cultural business (though probably not if you do the proper groundwork). You might have to do twenty rewrites.

But at the end of the day, you are writing a PERSON. So do that.
**Yes it will take time. Yess, it will take serious thought beyond “how do I get them naked” or “I want them to be edgy – they’re brown, I know – they are career criminals!”.

But a lot of the work has already been done for you. Its STILL being done, fam. All you have to do is engage with it on a deeper level.

Resources added: GIYF racefail + thinkpieces

https://fanlore.org/…/List_of_Discussion_Posts,_Sorted_by_D…

http://annsomerville.net/a-themed-summary-of-racefail-09-i…/

Anyway, this is seeming more like a rant and less like what I intended – a suggestion and support of those who work to involve more cultural and caste-based worldbuilding in their fic.

Hope it helps.

ETA: No, sensitivity readers are not really optional.

ETA 2: Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl is an excellent resource

Why So Many Men Hate the Last Jedi But Can’t Agree on Why

Bitter Gertrude

Carrie Fisher and her daughter, Billie Lourd, as General Leia and Lieutenant Connix, in a PR shot for The Last Jedi taken by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair

NOTE: Many spoilers.

My feed (and yours, I presume) has been filling with people, mostly men, denouncing The Last Jedi for all sorts of reasons. Here are a few I compiled out of my own feed over the past week:

It’s too draggy and long
It’s too fast-paced
It is magically both draggy and fast-paced
It’s too much about one family
It’s not about family
The plot is terrible
The plot is fine but the acting is terrible
The plot and acting are fine, but the pacing is terrible
The plot, acting, and pacing are fine but the characterizations are terrible
It needed more humor
It needed less humor
It needed a different kind of humor
Not enough character development
Too much…

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