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But why grade when there's a fandom debate going on?
So, in all the discussion about the Tiptree, some people asked what fanfic would meet the standards of exploring and expanding gender, and I've seen a couple of mentions of Iolokus.
First (and first big gender issue, not coincidentally): It's immensely flattering that people still remember the story. And yes, I think the stories – especially 1 and 3 – are quite good. The opening scene of Iolokus can't be beat for immediate tension, and I can say that without shame because MustangSally wrote it and sent it to me.
Second: I'm thrilled that people are willing to consider the story under the Tiptree standards, not just for quality, but for subject matter. Iolokus, the first story, was written in a white-hot fire of specifically feminist rage at what "Chris Carter" (standing in for the entire TV apparatus) had done to Scully in Christmas Carol/Emily. (Oddly enough, the thing that tipped me over the edge – Mulder's reference to "Miss" Scully – made much more sense when I rewatched last summer; I was able to read it as Mulder's attempt to help Scully present as an acceptable mother-figure by playing along with the CPS person's idea of mothering, rather than as Mulder's own casual dismissal of Scully's professional status. But that's not how I saw it at the time.) The story's title comes from Medea, which gives you an idea of how mad we were.
There are things I'd do differently now. Especially Scully and Marita; that was artificial and awkward and should have been cut. But I think Scully's reproductive vengeance was properly motivated and justified. I wouldn't call her sane, but I would call it a triumph of her strength and intelligence that she was functioning at all after what had happened to her, in canon and in our story.
By the end of the Iolokus series, we're firmly in heterosexual suburban utopia, albeit with plaster over the bullet holes in the walls. We were never quite serious about the end – but that's the big problem: how do you work on the XF with a baby not old enough to crawl? Mulder and Scully essentially concede defeat – they stop fighting the conspiracy – in order to buy the safety of their own miracle family. Could we have imagined something more? I have to say, I have difficulty imagining even Aeryn Sun continuing with constant firefights during her son's first year. Baby D is a wonderful hostage, even in his family's custody, because he requires his parents to withdraw (a lot of) energy from the outside world to take care of him. When I think of Iolokus now, I see it as something of a tragic ending. (At the time, I was so exhausted and relieved to be done that I didn't think much beyond that.) I don't think that makes the story a failure – it's not like lots of other writers, or people, have figured out a way to resolve that tension between the personal and the galactic.
Third: I'm always harping on the legitimacy and noninfringing status of fan fiction. Would I put my story where my mouth is and have Iolokus listed for something like the Tiptree? My answer is the same as the punchline to the old lawyer joke: Where's the catch? I understand people who fear exposure, but I dream of a day when our hobby is no more shameful than playing fantasy baseball. (And that's a gendered thing too, which may make the Tiptree a good place to start or maybe a far less useful place to start.) Yes, it could easily come up short in comparison with the best professionally edited and published works f/sf has to offer. At a minimum, most of those would have better punctuation than Iolokus! But fan fiction is not so different that it should be excluded, and works like Iolokus that are intended to respond to problematic aspects of the original text, like Scully's maternity, are fair uses, not copyright infringements, and I will fight for them.
So, in all the discussion about the Tiptree, some people asked what fanfic would meet the standards of exploring and expanding gender, and I've seen a couple of mentions of Iolokus.
First (and first big gender issue, not coincidentally): It's immensely flattering that people still remember the story. And yes, I think the stories – especially 1 and 3 – are quite good. The opening scene of Iolokus can't be beat for immediate tension, and I can say that without shame because MustangSally wrote it and sent it to me.
Second: I'm thrilled that people are willing to consider the story under the Tiptree standards, not just for quality, but for subject matter. Iolokus, the first story, was written in a white-hot fire of specifically feminist rage at what "Chris Carter" (standing in for the entire TV apparatus) had done to Scully in Christmas Carol/Emily. (Oddly enough, the thing that tipped me over the edge – Mulder's reference to "Miss" Scully – made much more sense when I rewatched last summer; I was able to read it as Mulder's attempt to help Scully present as an acceptable mother-figure by playing along with the CPS person's idea of mothering, rather than as Mulder's own casual dismissal of Scully's professional status. But that's not how I saw it at the time.) The story's title comes from Medea, which gives you an idea of how mad we were.
There are things I'd do differently now. Especially Scully and Marita; that was artificial and awkward and should have been cut. But I think Scully's reproductive vengeance was properly motivated and justified. I wouldn't call her sane, but I would call it a triumph of her strength and intelligence that she was functioning at all after what had happened to her, in canon and in our story.
By the end of the Iolokus series, we're firmly in heterosexual suburban utopia, albeit with plaster over the bullet holes in the walls. We were never quite serious about the end – but that's the big problem: how do you work on the XF with a baby not old enough to crawl? Mulder and Scully essentially concede defeat – they stop fighting the conspiracy – in order to buy the safety of their own miracle family. Could we have imagined something more? I have to say, I have difficulty imagining even Aeryn Sun continuing with constant firefights during her son's first year. Baby D is a wonderful hostage, even in his family's custody, because he requires his parents to withdraw (a lot of) energy from the outside world to take care of him. When I think of Iolokus now, I see it as something of a tragic ending. (At the time, I was so exhausted and relieved to be done that I didn't think much beyond that.) I don't think that makes the story a failure – it's not like lots of other writers, or people, have figured out a way to resolve that tension between the personal and the galactic.
Third: I'm always harping on the legitimacy and noninfringing status of fan fiction. Would I put my story where my mouth is and have Iolokus listed for something like the Tiptree? My answer is the same as the punchline to the old lawyer joke: Where's the catch? I understand people who fear exposure, but I dream of a day when our hobby is no more shameful than playing fantasy baseball. (And that's a gendered thing too, which may make the Tiptree a good place to start or maybe a far less useful place to start.) Yes, it could easily come up short in comparison with the best professionally edited and published works f/sf has to offer. At a minimum, most of those would have better punctuation than Iolokus! But fan fiction is not so different that it should be excluded, and works like Iolokus that are intended to respond to problematic aspects of the original text, like Scully's maternity, are fair uses, not copyright infringements, and I will fight for them.
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