Real Life Update

Forgot to mention this yesterday, because of teh FMA dramah. (More on that later)

So, I talked to some of the planetary scientists at Cornell yesterday. Learned the following things.

1. I (and the rest of the first years) need to start talking to people who are not first year grad students. The professors have noticed that we tend to travel in packs, and they think that's preventing us from integrating well into the department. A lot of that is because five first years share an office, and it's easier for us to socialize with other 'outsiders' (who share our classes and office) than people with established relationships in the department.

2. Dr. Nicholson is looking for grad students, since he only has one (who has been here far too long and is on the 'leaving when thesis is complete' plan). He made the offer to me, since I'm a first year who is into planets and not gravitating towards surfaces like Briony and Barbara. Not sure if I'm interested, but it's something to think about. At the least, it'll give me a summer job.

Fandom/Shipping Thoughts

So, FMA makes Fandom Wank again. The gist of the matter is this: Roy/Hawkeye shipper makes a rant to fanficrants, and tacks on a request for some of the yaoi shippers to explain those ships to her, since she did not get them. This was (a) poorly worded to sound more confrontational than she intended, (b) not really related to to her rant (which was about stupid trends in Roy/Hawkeye fic), and (c) not really on-topic for FFR. A Roy/Ed BNF took offense, and her followers came out of the woodwork. Roy/Hawkeye shipper deleted the post to avoid this degenerating into a ship war, and everything gets taken into personal journals, including personal attacks.

So, zannechaos brought up the point of ship discussion. I'm like Winry with ideas -- I see an idea and I want to take it apart to see how it works. Especially if I don't understand it. But, it seems like a lot of fen are sensitive about the 'What's the deal with ___?' question. (Why I like fanthropology's WTF Wednesdays, since any question is fair game, as long as it's polite.). I've also had civil discussions on Slayers slash pairings with people -- Slayers, the only fandom where the alt slash pairings seem to be saner than the alt het ones (and the occasional batshit trad shippers).

I would almost like to see a community like ship_manifesto, but instead of essay-response, it could be more debate -- like someone could post 'Could someone explain why they like pairing X?', and fans were encourage to discuss: e. g. -- Roy/other military people shippers -- how do you reconcile military fraternization rules? It would require heavy modding to keep appearances on Fandom Wank to a minimum, and good rules on the difference between noting problems ('I don't see Roy/Maes post-Gracia because of Maes Hughes' devotion to his family') and attacking a ship ('Roy/Maes doesn't work because Maes/Gracia OTP!').