ishtar79 | (no subject)

-It’s rather ridiculous how hot it gets here in the summer. It’s sort of bearable if you’re lying on a beach feeling the summer breeze, but in the center of Athens, with the concrete and the fog? Kind of what hell must feel like.

-My (very) belated answers to the “ask to blog about anything” meme:

mimine asked me to blog about underwear

I’m actually fairly neutral about underwear bottoms, except that ever since I started wearing thongs over a decade ago, I can’t wear normal knickers (I keep feeling like I’ll get a wedgie), and I hate VPL anyway. Apart from making sure they’re the correct fit, made from natural fabrics and that the waistband doesn’t show, I don’t give them much thought. I will point out that I recently got in the habit of wearing shorts-type knickers when I’m wearing very short skirts (leading

ariadneelda to ask me if I was taking fashion tips from ST:TOS. I’d like to point out that my skirts aren’t quite that short-barring a strong gust of wind and bending over the wrong way, there’s little danger of my flashing my ass to the world). The thing is, practically none of my bottoms match my bras, which brings me to the really thorny issue:

Bras. I can not has them. You see, the thing is: I’m a flat A-Cup. And body issues during my teens and early 20s aside, I’ve made my peace with that. There are certain advantages, especially during the sweltering hot summer months, when I can go braless and wear certain tops than on anybody with a bust would stop traffic/threaten to unleash the girls, while on me they just look…summery. I hate the feeling of a bra sticking to my sweaty skin when it’s 40 degrees C out, so it’s lovely to not need them all the time. Having said that, I’ll like the option of a bra. Because I like the line of certain clothes better with some extra padding, because some clothes just don’t work with one (unless I want to announce temperature changes to the world via the state of my nipples) and because damn it, some bras are just pretty.

The thing is, the Greek shops, in their infinite wisdom, refuse point blank to store any size under a B. Brands that provide a variety of sizes abroad only store a limited range here. Then there is the dreaded Greek sizing, which only has sizes 1, 2, 3 and so on, meaning that the band increases as the cup does, and for somebody with a wide back and small breasts, to get the proper cup I need the band as tight as some sort of torture device.

It’s the same kind of assumptions of women fitting a narrow body-range that leads to “tall” and “petite” clothes sizes being unheard of here, and as for actual clothing sizes…most fashionable/youthful shops in Greece only have S, M and L sizes, where the L is often…I’d say a UK 12 (I believe that’s an US 8). My slim and althletic mum can barely fit into some of the L sizes in this stores, often not because they’re not wide enough across the shoulders. That’s ten kinds of fucked-up, especially considering that the average woman I see on the street is hardly model-sized.

But yeah, back to my issue. Like I said, I don’t have too many body-issues. At the stage of my life I’m in, I’ve accepted that I was built a certain way, and aside from getting implants (the very thought freaks me out) well, I’ll just have to live with it. But that confidence is shaken every time I go bra-shopping. Because I’ll try about 40 bras, often allegedly in ‘my’ size which don’t fit because of cup/bra strap issues. And on top of that, I’ll have to deal with snooty saleswomen who will often sneer “Oh, we have nothing that small, people don’t just ask for them” , or even worse, pitying looks that imply my (lack of) assets is just so unfortunate. And I’ll bite my tongue, and smile, and refrain from snarking “I think your FACE is unfortunate” because that’s how adults deal with situations. I the meanwhile, I’ll wear my six bras (only two appropriate for everyday wear due to bulky lace/other decorative crap”) until they fall apart on me, because bra shopping is fucking exhausting.

anehan asked for my thoughts on Snape/Hermione

Now, I’ve blogged about this before, at length. And one theme I can not get away from is that for all my love for this pairing which introduced me, after all, to HP fandom, that love remains for the most part largely theoretical.

Here’s the thing: I love the idea of the pairing. I just happen to hate, oh, 99.5% of fics written about it. It’s not that I don’t think there are talented authors tackling the pairing. It’s just that with every fannish subgroup, a certain fanon/writing trends develop, and when it comes to the Snape/Hermione preferred writing approach, it’s not one I care for at all.

A softer Snape, the horrifying Rickman spectre, fucking Heathcliff, Marriage Law Challenge, “witty” dialogue, the Time Turner Magically Aged Hermione About A Decade, cringe-worthy “classics” quotes out of Snape’s mouth, Hermione stripped of all her edge, love declarations, using first names too soon, Snape is secretely misunderstood, pregnancy and kidfic, traditional gender roles, take your bloody pick, and it’s not het, I know het that can push that buttons, but with this pairing?

Here’s the thing: I don’t want Snape “fixed”. I don’t want him dealing with his emotional issues-I very much doubt that at his age he can. I want him nasty, emotionally stunted, petty, bitter, broken…you know, that guy in the books, the one that captured my attention in the first place. And Hermione, for all her love of knowledge, is far from a identification-friendly model for the Average Geek Girl. Hermione can be utterly ruthless (ask Skeeeter or Umbridge), incredibly self-righteous and short-sighted (ask the elves) and often arrogant/smug in her superiority (ask…anybody). It’s the flaws that attract me to the pairing-if I want to read about two functional, honourable people (or, since DH, two bored, functional middle-aged people), I’d turn to a number of pairings in all my fandoms that fulfill the criteria. And while we’re on the “fucked-up” topic, why must you deny me my Student/Teacher-Underaged kink, fandom? The man was a Death Eater with all the murder/tortute/blind prejudice that entails in the past and a nasty, belittling, bullying piece of work as a teacher during the books, but the implication he’d sleep with a student who’s under 18 (and for the last time: the age of majority in the WW is 17. The age of consent in the UK is 16. Stop invoking 18 as the magic maturity number, and stop projecting your own cultural baggage on the source. Also, fics that even hint on an anti-choice Hermione make me want to stab things), suddenly he’s not someone you can write/read about?

The sad thing is, the people who would be likely to write the kind of thing I want are unlikely to read Snape/Hermione, for the above reasons, and fic characterizations influence pairing-love and writing as much as, and often more, than the source canon. And thus the circle continues.

Gen:
Family by

schweinsty Summary: James Tiberius Kirk does not need a family. He's got everything else. Lovely Kirk character study and look at what the crew means to him.
We start with the small things by

black_eyedgir Summary: Leonard knows, in a vague, frustrated way, that he needs to fix the problems he’s having with Spock. A lot of people took issue with McCoy’s speciest language in the film-this is a good explanation of his behaviour, without attempting to excuse it.
Giving Her All They've Got by

jedibuttercup Summary: ... or, Ten People who Were Seduced by the Starship Enterprise. Really, the summary tells you all you need to know.
Redemption Song by

igrockspock Summary: No one is going to rescue Gaila. Except maybe herself. Because when you really sit down and think about the life of Orion women, the wrongness of it is overwhelming. Dark look at Gaila before the Starfleet, at sexual slavery, and the Federation’s complicity.

Spock/Uhura
What She Wants by

strangeallure Summary: There are things he simply can’t give her. Very hot look at one aspect of a relationship with a Vulcan Uhura might have problem with.

Kirk/Bones
Body of Evidence by

the_dala Because I love the take of the Enterprise as a place of wild gossip, betting pools and chair!sex.

Five Reasons Why McCoy Should Dislike Kirk by

syredronning Poor Bones never stood a chance. *g*

Kirk/Spock:

You'll Get There in the End (It Just Takes a While) by

seperis Summary: "Spock. Just say 'I don't trust Starfleet not to mess up the only captain in the fleet who I can train up to my expectations and enjoys running into danger wearing a blindfold as much as I do'." This is in fact the first and possibly only K/S story I’m ever likely to read, because I don’t trust most writers to avoid the character bashing/Amazing Disappearing Girlfriend Syndrome/general misogyny when it comes to Uhura. This story deals with the issue in a non twich-inducing way, but more than that, it is the most absolutely spot-fucking-on portrayal of either Kirk or Spock I’ve seen ever, takes an age-old fandom cliché and turns it on its head, and deals in a highly satisfying way with many of the inconsistencies and open questions left in the film. Highly recommended.

Threaded | Flat

Oh my god, your rant on Hermione/Snape reminded me of that horrible pregnancy fic you linked me to ages ago. *shudders*

I missed when you posted this meme?

I can’t wear normal knickers (I keep feeling like I’ll get a wedgie)
Thongs give me a wedgie - I don't understand how people can wear them.

Shopping for everything, including underwear, in this country is a traumatic experience, unless you are within that (something like) 5% of the population who have 'acceptable' body types. For this reason, I seriously *heart* online shopping. Oh yes.

I hear you about not fixing Snape! Why anyone (into any ship) would want to do such a thing is beyond me!

I'm completely surprised by the impossibility of finding A-cups in Greece. It's so strange. I mean, because, well for me A cup is normal because it's what I am. What do they do for all of us? Why wouldn't somebody ask for them that size? Where's the love for the perky and small?!

I tend to be slash-oriented for the most part, and I have a genuinely hard time seeing Snape as anything but gay, his past with Lily notwithstanding. That's my personal canon, of course, and I wouldn't use it as a reason to dismiss Snape/Hermione. I just don't see the chemistry there - or, to be more precise, don't find it in myself. And I do like Hermione, partly because her flaws are the kind that interest me. But as pairings go, I'm much more likely to hook her up with Ginny, although that may owe something to their antagonistic relationship. There's at least some emotional charge there, and Ginny would never be cowed by Hermione's snotty intellectual pride, although I imagine she'd know enough to value it more than Ron does.

Apart from that, I avoid Snape/Hermione for all the reasons you list, even when I'm in an omnivorous Snape mood and willing to read outside my usual haunts. Not that the Snape/Hermione community is alone in turning Snape into a woobie or a reformed and reasonable man. Many Snarry writers leap blithely over his unsavory character traits without explaining where half his personality disappeared off to, and head straight for the heartfelt declarations.

Also *puzzled headshake* why anybody would think Heathcliff of all people is a suitable role model for romance is beyond me. He's a good template for Snape precisely because he's a vengeful and obsessive prick who destroys his own life and the lives of those around him; because he carries a motherfucking grudge and dwells on the past.

I could natter on, but alas, gainful employment beckons and I must heed the call.

Oh, mate...

Bras. God. So much hate. Where to start...

I have the opposite problem and you'd think that in a country with so many breast implanted women that getting a 34DD would be a piece of cake but I DON'T KNOW, APPARENTLY PORN STARS JUST DON'T WEAR BRAS HUH!?!?!? What I have learned is that women don't wear the right size. Seems like everyone wears a 36C and is either shoving their back-fat into the cups while looking like they can't breathe or spilling their tits outside of the cups while swimming around in the band like a gyroscope. Amirite? Can't believe what we do to ourselves. Don't get me started on stiletto heels.

Anyway, to make matters worse, I will only wear cotton bras because I too hate sticking to a sweaty bra and am allergic to plastic - gives me huge lumps like hives or something. Dreadful.

A cotton 34DD for less than 60 bucks that's not a nursing bra or custom-made???? There's like 2 in existence at any one time and they are always being discontinued.

I never put my bras through the dryer so that they last longer, but I assume most women would be appalled at how old they are. :/