Res Gestae

ICFA 32 just ended! I gave a paper entitled “Fandom kerfuffles as expressions of agency.” (I’m sure you noticed that I do not have a subtitle.) I assess fandom kerfuffles, and I used as my example Strikethrough ’07. I argue that kerfuffles are an important way for members of the fan community (broadly conceived) to exert collective agency. This agency may or may not result in change, but regardless, fans, through a process of consensus, come to act as moral agents who exert agency and impose value judgments. ... read more »

Journalist Matt “Darcey” Buttell, writing for the Web site So So Gay, interviewed me via e-mail for a story about slashing the characters in comic books: “Slash: Fan fiction’s sexist sub-culture.” Admittedly I know nothing about comic book slash, other than that Wolverine is hot, but I like Buttell’s thesis: that until comics’ TPTB get it together and introduce more canon gay characters, well, the unofficial stuff written by fans will have to do. ... read more »

You know how much I love the fansubbed version of Verbotene Liebe, the German-language soap opera. While rewatching the episodes on YouTube, I came across a Bulgarian soap with the same title: Forbidden Love. Zabranena Lyubov is based on the same originary source as VL: Australian soap Sons and Daughters. ... read more »

Yes, it’s happening again: I am engaging in endless research that in no way is time effective. I suppose I’m not the only one who would rather spend time than money. Last time I angsted this hard, I was attempting to optimize my Palm Tungsten E. I blogged about that experience, but months later, the Palm died utterly and I was forced to buy an iPod touch. Only recently, now that the new OS supports a foldy full-size Bluetooth keyboard without jailbreaking, have I become reconciled to the touch. ... read more »