Nico's Journal

Remember the Itty-Bitty-Kitty Committee kitten who got adopted by Vorkosigan fans and renamed Miles (along with sister Cordelia)? There's a picture of him curled up beside the book Young Miles in this Itty-Bitty-Kitty Committee post. :-)

And I think I've either broken a toe or sprained it badly. OUCHIES! I did it at work when I slipped on some water in the kitchen and landed flat on my back (which I reported). I was OK but for that toe which must have hit the wall, I dunno. I suppose I'll have to go to A&E tomorrow and waste half a holiday-weekend Saturday getting it x-rayed only to be told to do what I've done and strap it to the next one. It's extremely painful to walk on though and I just want to check it's just the toe and I haven't damaged anything in the foot. :-P

Further to my last post about xkcd's Strunk/White cartoon, there's a link to it on Language Log including some fun (and not explicit) slash in the comments.

I'm now going to explore their Linguistics in the Comics tag.

I also found a link there to the best article on fan fiction I've read, and no, it's not all about Harry Potter despite the title.

I took Jasmin back to the vet this afternoon for a check-up to ensure that the infection in her ear had cleared up (which it had) and while I was paying, a woman came in with a little brown and white dog on a leash. "This is Bodie," she said to the nurse in reception. OK, I have friends who have talked about this fandom and I couldn't resist; I asked if she had a Doyle as well, and she laughed and said yes. The same breed? Yes. I said that was very cool and cute, then when I took Jasmin out to the car, there was Doyle in the one next to it, barking wistfully through the windscreen at his owner whom he could see through the vet's window. As I pulled out, she came out to get Doyle to take him inside to be with Bodie. Awww. :-D

After realising that Hiro Nakamura of Heroes makes the perfect crossover character with his ability to travel in space and time (and without a blue police box), and getting two prompt and enthusiastic responses to the suggestion of a ficathon ... I have decided to run one!

It's at hirothon.

The rules (few and simple) are in the user info and the signup post (edited to be simpler) is here.

Please pimp this to your flists, anyone you think might be interested, and in any Heroes communities.

[bows] Thank you!

In her post about the circular nature of fandom kerfuffles,veritykindle mentioned this article from 1954 about the conflict between BNFs (big name fans) and 'neofen'. I was amazed. I only learned the meaning of 'BNF' last year, and here's this ancient article about them, fen, fanzines, fandom--and even egoboo! I even wondered if it was faked, but veritykindle said that someone on another thread remembers that the author was well-known (a BNF in fact) back then.

The 'neofen' are now called 'newbies' but I'm still stunned. I know that Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Arthur Conan Doyle had large numbers of fans, some of whom even wrote fanfic (hell, Homer doubtless had them too), but I didn't know the terminology predated Star Trek: The Original Series which was when I'd thought Fandom As We Know It had started.

I suppose these 'fen' were fans (fanatical enthusiasts) of SF magazines like the ones I bought recently, rather than a particular TV or book series as we tend to be now. But still: 52 years ago!

On selenak's journal, there's an interesting discussion about gender: why there are more men than women on bulletin boards, and more women than men on LJ and in fandom RPGs, and whether gender is a factor in the characters one likes. I didn't get into the LJ/BB discussion (I think there are greater differences between individuals than the sexes) but some very perceptive comments from alara_r made me think about the characters I go for.

( Thoughts on the characters I like )