8FOLD: Mighty Medley # 21, September 2015, by Brenton, McClure, Perron, Russell, and Russell

[Tom Russell]

On Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 11:47:14 PM UTC-4, Adrian J. McClure wrote:
> On Sunday, September 6, 2015 at 10:07:19 PM UTC-4, Tom Russell wrote:
> > CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
> > 
> > "Detour" by Adrian McClure
> > In which the esteemed Mr. McClure makes his Eightfold debut.
> 
> Heck yeah! I mean to contribute to this with reasonable regularity. Writing short-short stories is . On the other hand, it's really damn hard--for me in particular. My ideas tend to be pretty big and expansive, and compressing them is an useful and interesting challenge.
> 
> > As is ever
> > the case, Real Life sometimes intrudes on these proceedings, and in
> > this case, delayed the esteemed Mr. Stokes from presenting us with a
> > new installment in his engaging serial, "Mistress of Pages".
> 
> Boy do I know this feeling... Good luck to Colin, and I look forward to what's next.
> 
> > 
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > ------------------------DETOUR----------------------
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > ----------Copyright 2015 Adrian McClure-------------
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> 
> So this piece--it was inspired by a bunch of things. There was an actual visit I did over this summer, for one thing, and the surreal experience of taking a long trip on a Greyhound bus. (I don't own a car. I wish to God the USA had an actual functioning system of public transport.) It was also inspired by Ray Bradbury's book To the Dust Returned, a collection of his stories about a family of supernatural creatures. The mummy was straight out of that book, but mainly it was the mood. I love writing in the kind of reflective elegaic mode that Bradbury did so well, but I often don't get a chance to in my big and plotty recent LNH stories.  And also the sense of a world thick with different kinds of strangeness, which is something I aim for in everything I write.
> 
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > ------------------BEYOND THE GATE-------------------
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > -----------Copyright 2015 Andrew Perron-------------
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > 
> 
> I really love the ideas and approach behind this piece. It also makes a really interesting counterpoint to my piece, since both are about people being at a point where they have to rethink their course in life. And it's also a response to Gamergate, and I ended my story with a reference to the previous 8fold response to Gamergate. Tom's story was about calling attention to the ugliness, and--as with similar things in Gillen and McKelvie's Wicked and the Divine from what I've heard--I thought it was good and necessary, but it's easy to just get fixated on that, and get in a trap where that kind harrassment and ugliness and misogyny seems overwhelming and inevitable. And that plays into narratives where women are eternally and inevitably victims.

I'd say that the ugliness and misogyny *is* overwhelming, but not inevitable. (Certainly, I was feeling overwhelmed when I wrote the piece you mention.) Generally my work in Eightfold, especially of late, focuses on gender parity and female empowerment-- on positive movement forward, while still acknowledging the obstacles that exist. In certain periods this is easier to pull off than others-- I think, for example, that when say doing an Old West serial, one is obligated to recognize the plight of non-white non-males and the restrictive, oppressive strictures of the prevailing social order.

> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > --------------SEVEN 'GAINST THEBES------------------
> > ---------------------Part 19------------------------
> > ------------Copyright 2015 Tom Russell--------------
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> 
> As someone who studies medieval literature, I enjoyed the digression into Anglo-Saxon history. I gotta say, though, this story has been going on long enough I sometime forget who's who and what they're doing. Maybe a recap would help?

It doesn't help that they've been eating breakfast for the last five or six months. I'll see what I can do.

> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > ---------------DOCRATES IN DIAMONDS-----------------
> > -----STARRING DOCRATES THE MIGHTY SUPRAGATO AND-----
> > ---------EXTRA-SPECIAL AGENT STEVE SHOOTER----------
> > ------------WITH A SPECIAL APPERANCE BY-------------
> > ---------FBI FORENSICS SPECIALIST MANDI LI----------
> > -------------------Part 1 of 2----------------------
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > ------------Copyright 2015 Mary Russell-------------
> > ----------------------------------------------------
> > 
> 
> This story was super adorable and had a lot of great details. The fact that 8fold's Superman equivalent is a cat is one of my absolute favorite things about that universe. 

Mine too. :-)
 
> Oh, and the title is perfect.

Mary will be pleased to hear it. :-)

> Adrian

==Tom