Rhi’s Comments (group member since Nov 12, 2011)

Rhi’s comments from the Q&A with Rhi Etzweiler group.

Hey, Happy New Year to you as well!

This one was not deliberately structured within the DEoH storyverse. However, it's so short (under 50k) that there's a great deal of worldbuilding that /doesn't/ get to happen so anything's possible, really... :)

Thread for discussion of "Fragile Bond," due out February 18th.

BTB is part of Riptide's "Perfect Prose" bundle! This week only, get this anniversary special for 50% off, or any of the individual titles for 30% off.

Link here: http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titl...

Darkm wrote: "You and Vin, LOL!
I've never read this fic, I have to start :)"

I have a thing for Vin.
(In case that wasn't apparent. :) Riddick and Dom are two of my all-time favorite movie characters.)

I've migrated the fanfic over to AO3.
The 'series' is called "Cinnamon & Nutmeg" and I've done some revisions and expansions. There's also a link to a Spotify playlist that includes all the songs whose lyrics open the chapters.

This is my vacation from structured writing projects.
My indulgence.
I expect I'll be engaging it more often. I forgot how great an escape it is, and I love playing with the exploration of character, emotion, interaction. When so much of the equation is accounted for by canon plot and development, it leaves plenty of space and time to play in the grey areas and unknowns. More than I'd have usually, in some ways.

Enjoy!

(Some gratuitous Vin spam)

Okay, y'all.

This isn't my work but I'm sure you will find some generous appreciation for it:

"Two Two Bravo Baker" is a fanfic AU of Sherlock and Watson ... set in Afghanistan:

Summary:

A novel-length, pornographic case-fiction set seven months before and three and a half thousand miles east of A Study in Pink. Captain John Watson of 40 Commando, the Royal Marines, is assigned to protect and assist Sherlock Holmes as he investigates what appears to be a simple war atrocity in Afghanistan. An intense attraction ignites between the two men as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens everything they’ve ever known, but Sherlock’s as much hunted as hunter, and everyone close to him is in deadly danger. Can he solve the case in time to save himself and John?
Notes:

Warnings: numerous references to and depictions of combat, injury, murder, and mutilation of the dead; deaths of minor and major original characters.

Here's the link. I am supposed to be writing. I am getting horribly distracted. =)

I'm hosting a two-copy giveaway of my co-authored gay military scifi on my blog as part of the "Hop Against Homophobia" to promote awareness of the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia.

Giveaway closes 20 May. Stop by and leave a comment with an email address to enter the drawing!

It makes sense, since Black is really the only one who's deliberately presented in a non-gendered fashion for any length of time (barring Alyn/na) and certainly for the longest stretch.

The rest are very solidly acting within recognizable gender role/presentation parameters for the most part.

"I wondered early on about the possibility of Black being a hermaphrodite. I hadn't considered it for any of the other characters though."

Did it alter your perception of Garthelle, or any of the other characters, when you discovered the prevalence of the hermaphroditic aspect?

Hello and welcome, Kassandra! :)

(And that same thought goes through my head every time I write a blogpost...)

Agreed.
You can toss effort at educating people but if they've already entrenched themselves in a position, it's a useless waste of time. Doesn't matter what you say, they'll just shake their head, stick their fingers in their ears and yell, "you don't exist!"

Figuratively speaking. :D

(Everyone is like you, they just don't realize it yet!)

That's said entirely in humor. I swear.

Of course, I just had a random individual inform me that gender does matter, when you live in the real world. And so now I'm trying to stop twitching and figure out if I've just become so intolerant to belligerent ignorance... or if I'm in danger of becoming a rage-filled lunatic and need to unplug for a while.

I definitely think the unplugging thing is a good idea...

"you can't really have your perception challenged until you're really exposed to the challenge."

Absolutely... I couldn't see anything but a purplish black colored square until I realized, reading the description, that there was supposed to be something else there. Once I'd read the description and knew what should be there, it still took a little while -- I, too, have difficulty with depth perception although it usually isn't noticeable unless I'm driving at night or when it's overcast (I'm very cautious because I can't tell how fast oncoming traffic is actually going when I'm making a turn).

And it definitely makes for an interesting concept. Generally speaking, it takes a person being aware of the presence of a difference in order for them to see it. Not always. Some people are naturally more sensually perceptive than others and detect nuance without any prompting.
I'll admit I had a grand time playing with that "default blindness" in BTB, and even encouraged it in the reader. =D (yes I know, naughty cruel author...)

I know a veteran who's colorblind, doesn't see red/green shades at all. He taught himself to distinguish, though. And he has a certain hypersensitivity to light that means he's never "in the dark" even at night.

I've always wondered what color the sky is, to a colorblind person...

(Conversation pieces are fun, and it's interesting to get the perspectives of others about their sensitivity to different sensory inputs. :D )

One of my favorites, hilarious:




(Originally reblogged here.)

Volya wrote: "In my language, we don't have gender-based words, which I love. In fact, it's totally ok to call another human 'it'. Most of us do."

...I am horribly, insanely jealous. ;)
And wonder how I could have toyed with things in a language constructed that way.

Motivation for me to learn other languages. (Preferably all of them, but I'll be realistic.)

Actually I think it would be downright fascinating to translate it into a dozen different languages and see how various aspects of the neutrality and gender obscuring hold up. Or work even better.

But I'm a total nerd, so that sort of thing excites me.

Not boring at all! :) It was actually something I thought about a great deal as I was working the various cultural influences into the story. To some degree, each one presents obstacles when it comes to gender although I'll readily admit that some have an option of gender neutrality where the English language does not.

Translation would be tricky, and an arduous task for the editor involved. Would love to see it, though! :)

No need to apologize, I think you chose all the right words.

It's a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, if the characters present as male then they should be accepted as male by the reader regardless of the biological aspect.
That was the reason for the way the hermaphroditic biology was presented: late in the story, and a minor aspect of the individuals and the plotline.

And on the other hand, I felt it was imperative to "present" it as a trans* work simply because it was my intention as the artist to demonstrate the redundancy of gender labels and roles. As with all art, that was my intention but the audience interprets individually based on their unique perceptions. Which was why I thought it would be valuable to seed this discussion.

I didn't perceive Black or Garthelle or any of the other lyche by their gender based on the pronouns used or their presentation. Their appearance and mannerisms were simply aspects of who they were, their characters.

And while it was at times frustrating that the language itself limited and/or forced the use of a gender label, I did find it interesting to take that and use it as a tool to manipulate the perceptions of the reader. :D

Darkm wrote: "The cover may influence people, yes, but for me it was just how I felt Black. "

And that's a completely acceptable and legitimate answer. :) Sometimes there's no conscious or obvious rationalization, it just is and that's good enough.