Anybody want to join this analysis?

[deelaundry]

Bammel? Sabine? Spoggly? Namaste?

queenzulu makes a compelling case for a House-AU of mine being anti-feminist here. It's very thought-provoking. Anything you'd be interested to add? I'd love to hear more analysis and opinions.

Please note that this is critical analysis of text/writing, not of me as a person. There is implication throughout the commentary about an author's responsibility for the end product of a work, which is an important idea that needs to be considered.

Comments

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

That did look interesting, though I didn't finish reading when I first saw it. I'll have to go back and take another look when I've got time.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Lotsa comments now!

[recrudescence.livejournal.com]

*tilts head* I got the impression that we, as readers, were supposed to be unsettled by a universe where the sexes were so obviously and complacently stratified. It never occurred to me to feel outraged over the secondary role of women; what made it such an interesting read was the way in which we saw Wilson ruminating on his own societal position, yet leaving so much else about his world unsaid.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

That was my intent! Zulu provides a good explanation for why it doesn't turn out that way for her.

[bell]

Hello! I debated whether or not to mention this to you, but ultimately I felt it was the fairest thing to do, so here goes. I quote you in the discussion post, here, and I use your words in my analysis of the reaction to Dee's story. I apologize if I dragged you into a discussion you did not wish to have; I did quote you in the spirit that you said your words in a non-locked post (and therefore public). If you do not feel like responding, I more than understand.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

What recrudescence said.

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

Thirding what's been said - I thought that was one of the major points of the work, and didn't need to be remarked upon.

[bell]

Hi! I debated whether or not to mention this to you, but ultimately I felt it was the fairest thing to do, so here goes. I quote you in the discussion post here (for more context, in this thread) and I use your words in my analysis of the reaction to Dee's story. I apologize if I dragged you into a discussion you did not wish to have; I did quote you in the spirit that you said your words in a non-locked post (and therefore public). If you do not feel like responding, I more than understand.

[debbiel66.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with everything above. I really like the way the story is filtered through an unreliable and flawed narrator. The first person POV is unnerving, but it's a testament to the writing that it works as well as it does. I can't imagine a better way to show how screwed up this world really is. Anything else would be didactic and even worse - predictable. One reason why I enjoy Dee's stories so much - they are never, ever predictable.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. Have you been watching Season Six of House? It's really quite good.

And I've been meaning to ask: Do I have to know Supernatural to read your fics? I don't have time for another fandom, but I miss your writing.

[debbiel66.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks. I wouldn't recommend any of my Supernatural stories without a passing knowledge of the show... I doubt they would make much sense, but I've been having a lovely time in my shiny new playground.

I really, really have been enjoying Season 6, which was not the case for Season 5. (I am also very excited about certain upcoming episodes.) I would love to try another House story eventually.

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

Fourthing.

[purridot.livejournal.com]

This was very illuminating for me because I know absolutely nothing about feminist theory, and it made me want to know a bit more, particularly the terminology.

There is implication throughout the commentary about an author's responsibility for the end product of a work.

I think that ultimately I subscribe to the Roland Barthes' notion of the The Death of the Author (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_death_of_the_author) -- that the readers bring their own interpretation to a text, regardless of the author's intent. This may be an old-fashioned notion (1967!) but I can't help but believe in it... I think that each one of us brings something new to old texts. That is what continually renews them and keeps scholarship fresh.

Fanfic is a highly unusual medium b/c it gives the readers a chance to discuss with the author. This never happens in my world :D

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

I believe in the "Death of the Author" idea as well, which increases my responsibility as a writer to be as clear as I can in what I want to portray. Without, of course, turning a fictional narrative into a treatise. : )

[srsly-yes.livejournal.com]

*raises shaking hand over head* Fifthing. House and Wilson deserve to pursue there screwed up relationship in any venue.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

I've talked about you a lot in the past few days, name-dropping like a shameless thing. : ) Seriously, you would not believe the lameness of the current batch of Wilson-haters. They have to make up reasons to hate Wilson instead of hating on his actual pathetic characteristics. LAME.

(Not in the linked post above -- Zulu's an old-style House OTCer.)

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Heh, I never thought you were immature about disliking House/Wilson. You were funny about it, which made it fun to play back and forth. Speaking of, did you see Simmy's comment about H/W in her Eps. 1-2 (http://simmysim.livejournal.com/592442.html#cutid1)? Oh, I laughed for ages! So true!

Doesn't liking a pairing imply that you like both partners?

That's what I've been saying! But no one will hear my cry!

I was going to debate your statement that all fans are mad, but... Yeah, they are. *sigh*

[spoggly.livejournal.com]

I mostly agree with queenzulu's analysis, but idk if this is a conversation I want to enter, in either post.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

OK, makes sense. The way Zulu set up the discussion makes me feel particularly open to listening to critical analysis, so I thought I'd extend the invitation. You can PM me, too, if there are any points you want to share privately.

[hwshipper.livejournal.com]

I'm with recrudescence & others above.

[daisylily.livejournal.com]

I remember how much to-and-fro we had when I was betaing - we had some great discussions over how the Pillory universe worked.

To me, a major point of the story was what a dystopian world they were all living in (and FWIW, I never felt that your treatment of Cameron was 'fail' - it fitted with the rest of the story, at the time you wrote it, and now).

Also, pretty much what most of these comments are saying :D

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

You and I know that in the AU House has a plan for Cameron, and she's going to end up in a better position than she started. But specifically in "Pillory" there is no hint of that whatsoever. There's only Wilson's hate of her, and as Zulu points out, it mirrors the hate much of H/W fandom had for Cameron at that point in fandom without criticizing it.

I had an expectation that readers of the fic would find the gender roles appalling, but I also should have had the expectation that they would be inclined to dislike and dismiss Cameron, so I should have made it clear that I as the author didn't. That's the fail.

[taiga13.livejournal.com]

It was clear to me, but I KNOW you. I'm not sure how I would have perceived it if I didn't know the author, but I still think I would have perceived that the author meant the reader to be appalled - there was so much emphasis on women's lot in this story, it was made so clear how bad their state was. It was like a Margaret Atwood story.
One thing that wasn't clear to me was how James ended up in the pillory in the first place. Greg says he wants James to speak his mind, to be his equal, so why did he have James pilloried for doing just that? Because other men saw it? Could he have refused to punish James?
Are you planning on writing more in this ficverse? I'd be curious to see how House and Cameron's children are raised.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Yep, it was because other men witnessed James "being disrespectful." If they'd been alone, House wouldn't have mentioned it to anyone (even though not reporting it is a violation of the Code). As James says at the end, James will have to act as a man at home and as a woman -- based on their society's restrictive rules about that -- when around other people.

No, there's no way Greg could have refused to punish James. As it said in the fic, the Code is clear that the "offended party" has to carry out the discipline.

I have planned sequels but I don't know when I'll finish them. Could be years : ) The next sequel, though, would definitely be about Cameron and the children of the House line.

[daisylily.livejournal.com]

But Pillory is narrated by James, so I don't see how you could have made it clear that you didn't dislike and dismiss Alison/Cameron without an author's note, and I never see the point of that kind of note. The author's opinions are not those of the characters, and if someone can't grasp that, it's not the author's fault (presumably they don't think that, for example, Stephen King goes around torturing and murdering people...)

It would be like saying that it was wrong or bad of you to make Cuddy have to be a 'man' before she was allowed to do anything 'man-like' - IMO, if you hadn't, it would have been totally wrong for that particular universe.

I have to say that I find it irksome when people say you shouldn't write something because it's bad for some group or other. The whole point of writing fiction, to me, is to explore the 'what if?'

Edited because one word can make all the difference... *rolls eyes at self*

[debbiel66.livejournal.com]

The whole point of writing fiction, to me, is to explore the 'what if?'

Yes to this. *nods emphatically*