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So I was thinking about Bechdel's law earlier. In a comic strip by Alison Bechdel, a character explains that she only watches a movie if it
"one, it has to have at least two women in it, who
two, talk to each other about,
three, something besides a man."

And then I was thinking about Firefly, as you do, and I was thinking... does Firefly ever meet the standard? Even in Inara's lesbian sex scene they talk about men. Inara and Kaylee have conversations - about Mal, or occasionally Simon. Does Zoe ever converse alone with anyone other than Mal or Wash? And then I was thinking about Angel, and I'm pretty sure that fails in almost every episode (many of them right at the first step.) And then I was thinking about Buffy, and then I got depressed, because I have a sinking feeling that even Buffy the Vampire Slayer wouldn't meet the standard more than 50% of the time.

Dear f-list, please tell me I am wrong and give me evidence?

Also! Fandom questions!

Do you regret taking on a [info]fanfic100 table? Does it bore you? Do you forget it? Do you have a tingling sense that you *should* write for your prompts and not do it?

I don't regret it, because I'm still fiddling around with bits and bobs that wil eventually be published. It doesn't bore me because no-one's making me do it; I do occasionally forget it because I'm so damn busy at uni, and I do get tingling guilty moments every now and then. I'm glad I took it on, though, because even though it's a big challenge, it's good for me. :)

Can I directly blame *you* for getting me my first table and the fact that I've followed up with an encore of 306 active prompts?

No! Because I told you not to and everything! I am completely innocent of all blame! :D

Uh....how do you feel about Simon/River as a ship? Complete squick, that-sort-of-works-with-canon-but-no, or they're-so-fucked-up-of-course-they-are?

Hnn. Remember those conversations we've been having about fandom breaking squicks? Right. Well, Simon/River doesn't make me want to throw up in my mouth any more (although it sort of did squick me the first time I thought about it.) As it stands now, I understand why people 'ship it (especially with some of those deleted scenes) and it does sort of work with canon, and I'm not totally devoted to any other Simon or River 'ships so it doesn't bother me too much, but it doesn't really appeal to me all that much, either.

They're still pretty damn fucked up, though, which is why it in some ways works for me.

And, bonus question: writing, first person or third person?

Ah... original fiction and poetry sometimes first; fanfic, NEVER in first person. Ever. I can't even read fanfic in first person, that's how much I hate it. I do like second person sometimes though.

If you ship Rose/Doctor at all, which is the more OTPish ship--Rose/Nine or Rose/Ten?
Definitely Rose/Nine. I enjoy Rose/Ten well enough, but I really deeply believed in Rose/Nine. He was so damaged and needy and he kind of fixated on Rose, whereas Ten is more his own person and he's way more aloof from Rose, which does not OTPishness make.

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One conversation that is not about a relationship. That's all that the rule requires. But it is surprisingly hard.

Buffy probably achieves that once in a while, maybe... they talk about the monster, surely? But, like you say, there's stuff I'm not entirely comfortable with, particularly in later seasons.

For men, there is probably never this much of a problem. You've always got stereotypical conversations about sport to fall back on, at least.

Mmm, it's always best to go with the canon POV, actually. Unless one's efforts sound like a pale imitation, in which case it's best to go with third person omniscient.

And there's always the good author caveat. *grins* Or the experimental technique, in which the story has to actually be that POV in order to work (say, a mystery, or something central to the character). But, yes.

(Actually, my own rules are kinda flexible. *grin*)

Actually, Buffy is surprisingly bad for this. Think about it: most of the time when Buffy is talking to Willow, they're talking about Angel. Or Xander. "Work" discussions are usually held in co-ed groups. Anya: only talks to the other girls, alone, about Xander. Dawn/Buffy convos might pass, but that's in a completely different context (familial.)

Hell, even a show like Bones fails this in situations where it shouldn't. Female boss has three subordinates, two male, one female. 90% of her solo conversations with male subordinates: work-related. 90% of conversations with female subordinate: about men, even though they have exactly as much narrative and situational reason to be talking about work.

Hmm, true. That's rather worrying. Mind you, I don't expect much from a show that puts one female character out there to kick ass and take names... and then... yeah. You know better than I do.

You make me feel tempted to watch a show or even an episode, and tally up different conversations. Hmm.