Gray and Words. And oh god I’m bored.

[erastes]

I watched “Dorian Gray” last night. And actually I really enjoyed it. I didn’t mind the changes—I could see the reasons they did it – I suppose they had to have a much more exciting ending than the book, but I’d have preferred that Dorian’s death was his own choice, as the book, and not bloody Firth’s. But it all worked pretty well with what I do remember. Not too sex obsessed and enough male interaction to make it clear that’s what the author meant Grey got up to (well der). Barnes is beautifully pretty, but he still isn’t my mind’s eye of Dorian. Who is quite like Barnes but … more so.

Isn’t it funny how sometimes people can make you doubt yourself? I remember when I was doing the copy edits for Transgressions, and it was quite a long time between me having written the book and doing the edits (about 4 years) that whenever the editor asked me “is this fact correct?” I found myself rechecking everything, and doing the research all over again (and believe me, some of the research made me scream in frustration the first time.)

I didn’t really want to know the 40 positions used when firing a matchlock musket the FIRST time!

When I had the Brownworth Blather recently, she accused M/M of using “incorrect” words (because heaven forfend we ever play with the language) and one of the words she quoted was “fisting” – used in the context of “fisting one’s cock” and she made Great Mock of this. I’d actually put it to the back of my head, along with the rest of it, but today I was re-reading some gay porn: one of John Patrick’s anthologies (JP is pretty much one of the godfathers of gay porn) and over and over again, I read “fisted my cock” and “he was fisting my cock” and so on. Well, that explains where I got it from, anyway! 

I guess my point is, if I ever have one, is that you shouldn’t necessarily be swayed by one person’s opinion, and to change your writing vocabulary, just because someone Makes Mock.

 

 

Comments

[essayel.livejournal.com]

I was betaing for bg_thomas today and he used it in the same context. I'd have thought that if anyone was going to use it correctly he would.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

well yes - i didnt know where i'd got it from - although i assumed it was from my experience having sex with men - VB assumes she can knock down skittles that dont exist

[m-barnette.livejournal.com]

That's a common usage in -all- gay porn, but less commonly used in m/m actually. (I should know, I publish the stuff.)

I helped a friend build a damn flintlock pistol. *twitches* Took us most of a year but at the end it did fire--once. We didn't want to push our luck.

Never doubt yourself. Do your research and stand by it. Just think of how much more you could have gotten done if you hadn't done all that fact checking a second time?

Clicked the egg. I need more of that type of dragon. I accidentally freed the only male I had.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

you can have the egg if you want to set it up, no prob

[m-barnette.livejournal.com]

I'm at my egg limit at the moment. If it doesn't hatch before I'm back down to 3 eggs I'd love to have it.

Other wise I'd take it as a hatchling. *grins*

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

By her own account, she doesn't LIKE gay porn (even if her Amazon account says she writes it) or M/M romance, so I'd hardly think that she knows anything about what's accepted usage in the genre.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's what annoyed me far more than any attack she made on me - that she set herself up as some kind of expert, and people who didn't know that she hadn't a clue what she was talking about would believe what she was saying.

[jean-roberta.livejournal.com]

The only film version of The Picture of Dorian Gray I've ever seen is in the film library of the English Dep't where I teach - a b&w hetero version (of course) made in 1946. Could you give more details about the one you saw? It sounds much more current.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It came out last year - and is very beautifully done. Far better than the Angela Lansbury version!!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235124/

[josephine-myles.livejournal.com]

When I read that about the use of the term "fisting", I just figured it's always clear in context that it's not the other kind of fisting. And yes, I've read it in gay porn plenty of times - you make a fist around your cock - what's so odd about that?

But there probably are some terms that should be avoided at all costs - there are some pretty awful euphemisms out there in purple prose land . . . .

[erastes.livejournal.com]

*blush* and yes, I agree... I made some real bloomers!

you shouldn’t necessarily be swayed by one person’s opinion

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

Hear! Hear!

*climbs up and stomps on the table!*

Re: you shouldn’t necessarily be swayed by one person’s opinion

[erastes.livejournal.com]

:) *kisses*

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I don't even like "fisting" as a synonym for that activity because it creates such a weird mental image in re the other use of the word... and it's one of those robust verbs that I've always found a little silly (would you say you 'eared' a new song?) but considering the source... "FISTED FISTED FISTED!"

Sometimes you just gotta communicate with certain folks at their own level.