Eighth Post!

[hoisinsauce]

It's one thing if mankind is hunted to extinction by ChatGPT, but I really do object to being executed by Bing.

(https://secretfanspace.dreamwidth.org/2511.html?thread=3169743#cmt3169743 )

Welcome back! Fandom chat, misc creativity, internet weirdness, books, films, anything! Tell meme about it so we can get to the next post title!

(start a comment thread by replying to this post)

Comments

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

Flashback to a fencing competition the tim took part in in the past, which his estranged dad crashed. This book is unintentionally doing a very good job of making me feel terrible for the kid's dad:

https://imgur.io/29BlZsu?r

:'(

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

And we discover that tim's ex bf dumped him, NOT for being trans, but for lying and pretending to have been female the whole time they were dating. The other kids have been making fun of ex-bf, saying he's too stupid to notice his gf has a dick. Ex-bf feels humiliated, and so dumps tim.

So, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. The text tries to make it sound like ex-bf has thoughtlessly broken a wonderful promise to stay friends no matter what. But their relationship was founded on a lie, so I think he comes out of it fine (at this point. Obviously not with the bullying that we know is to come.)

Also tim mentions that after the whole school finds out, some of the kids are nice to him. Some stare, most ignore him. This book isn't doing the BEST job of depicting the cruelty of teens, or the trans oppression we hear so much about. Would bet a terven teen would have it worse at this school! But then I normally read the "trans" prefix as meaning "not", so that'd explain it.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

(ex bf is not murder bf. Sorry, this is probably confusing as fuck. tim has had 2 bfs. First one dumped him when he found out he was male, and bullied him on prom night. Tim then made suicide attempt. Tim moved, then got with new bf. Then tim got murdered. Culprit unknown, bf on trial. Hth.)

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

Anyway, we see new bf abuse tim again, grabbing his arm and dragging him because he's talking to another guy. I am pretty much sure this book is gonna go the 'happy ending' route and say that the bf didn't kill the tim, but his behaviour is the best depiction of escalating abuse in the book and he 100% fits the mould, whoops. So from the realism angle, he did it.

But I still think the authors are gonna make creepy!jock culpable instead. Let's see if they surpass expectations!

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

Speaking of failing to surpass expectations, another agp interlude:

https://imgur.io/dVu9aG0?r

(Maya does not know tim is tim)

(We all know why these clowns chose the name "Maya" 🤢)

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

And oh hey! I hit a paragraph that I recognise, because I've seen someone somewhere taking the piss out of it before!

"Dr Monica Powers lives up to her name. She is tall and self-assured, and arrestingly beautiful. Her chestnut hair is pulled back from her face in a low twist, and she commands the witness stand instead of being cowed by it. If not for the power suit and the lack of a lasso of truth, she could be the incarnation of Wonder Woman-- smarter and stronger than most people, and weary of being underestimated."

(Photo of Bowers: https://static.oprah.com/2015/03/ep503-own-watn-13-949x534.jpg)

(I think someone posted it on the interfnet, and I wrote my own parody version about Levine. I don't think I ever posted it, though. I remember I was tempted to submit it to TRN but I thought they'd find it too lowbrow.)

(Even I look more like wonder woman than this guy does)

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

The attorney asks Powers what he does. Powers says he's a "genital confirmation surgeon" (😑), and that he performs "pro bono reversals of clitoral circumcision and genital mutilation in Africa and other countries".

Africa and other countries

AfRiCA aNd OtHeR CoUnTrIES

I'm headcanoning that the judge, who is black, is deeply unimpressed, and that this is yet another way the defense have fucked up.

(sidenote: I also dislike the choice to call it circumcision; this is clearly a result of this guy not wanting to say FEMALE genital mutilation. This guy should not be anywhere near these poor girls.)

So, anyway, our geographically-challenged prickdoctor tells the court that he is a "trans woman". AND THEN EVERYBODY CLAPPED. All right, not quite, but we do get: "Some [of the jury] look patently surprised, as if the act of seeing a stunning woman and hearing her say she is transgender is already forcing them to re-evaluate their opinions."

Always with the "forcing" with these people.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

A wall of transactivist propaganda follows, in the mame of "educating" the jury. Sure enough, Bowers uses "female" and "male" to refer to gender, not sex. Prosecution attorney tries to keep things on track and raises an objection, but she's outta luck; the judge is just desperate to hear it! I like to imagine she just wants to hear the bullshit in full, for the lulz.

So Bowers claims you can be XY and not male, bc that's ur idennntityyyyyy. We get the left-handedness blah. We get mentions of murders, although the raw numbers given are so low this sounds like they maybe actually researched them???? But they present them as though they are dramatically high, so who knows.

We get the closest we're ever going to get to a definition of gender not matching sex: they "know that being in the body they are in feels not quite right". Welp, boom, that's unterfed me.

We are informed that "being tired" is what it means to be transgender. God, they really won't let women have anything.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

There follows a bingo of the usual shit. A neovagina is described as "fully functional". Fuck these men.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

LMAO

Turns out I know this book's continuity better than the authors do.

Pg 1:

"When I gave birth, and the doctor announced the baby's sex, I did not believe it at first."


Pg 332:

"I think about how, when Braden and I went for our ultrasound of Asher, the technician asked if we wanted to know the sex. She had pointed to the tiny thorn of a penis on the grainy screen."

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

More manipulative shit about how "trans teens" are guaranteed to die without parental support.

But then Asher's mother briefly wonders about the tim's mother's feelings, wondering if she's "grieved twice".

Careful there, them's perilously close to terfin' thoughts!

Powers insists that men can't tell the difference between putting their dick in a vagina, and putting their dick in a surgical wound that a man has made where his genitals used to be. Well, maybe, though I doubt it. Personally, I think this was a bad point to make your court case hinge on.

But the narrator is too busy droning on about honey. She mentions ancient Egypt, for some reason. (I wonder if these authors even know that Egypt is a country in Africa?)

Prosecutor asks why on earth they gave hormones to a middle school kid, and cut the dick off a minor. Go prosecutor!

Powers responds with "I look for a combination of physical and emotional maturity in the child". That's... pedo talk. No other way to read it.

Powers claims that even a pathologist would not be able to distinguish between an actual vagina and Powers' attempts at imitating one. This should be taken as evidence that Powers is delusional and not to be treated as a reliable witness, and seriously needs to be kept away from kids in Africa and anywhere else. If the writers of this book thought that this depiction would make the man who inspired the character look *good*, it's had the opposite effect, to put it MILDLY. The character sounds like Jimmy Saville x10000. Let us hope that fiction is not reality.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

Asher's mother then has a romantic-leaning scene with an old ex bf of her own at the courthouse. The guy hits on her and she is pleasantly flustered. Because nothing like a bit of flirting on the second day of your kid's trial for murder.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

"Judge Byers calls for a lunch break, but I have lost my appetite. Dr. Powers did more to validate Lily's life than to clear Asher from being involved with her death"

Well... yeah. That's why you don't put some random on the stand just to Educate the room on transactivist talking points when you're supposed to be trying to clear your son of murder.

But I do love how this implies that transactivists will take whatever you're doing, and make it all about them, at cost to you.

mother's abusive ex husband, asher's dad, shows up. he tells the defense that he needs a better witness. eh, no argument there.

(just in case you're wondering if the prose has improved with the experience these authors have gained over the 339 pages they've written so far, here's a snippet:

"He exudes power and privilege, a superhero coming to save the day in his tailored suit. But you don't get to be the hero of the story when you're the villain."

Profound.)

Son reveals he has been meeting up with his abusive father every month without his mother's knowledge:

"I didn't know how to tell you that I was seeing him," he says. "Remember when Uncle Jordan found texts on my phone to Ben Flanders? That wasn't a guy on the hockey team. That's Dad. I gave him a fake name so you wouldn't find out."
Ben Flanders. Braden Fields. "Why, Asher?" I ask.

(fair play, this nonny did indeed think 'Ben Flanders' was a fucking stupid name when she saw it, but she figured that was just in keeping with the rest of the book)

Anyway, yeah, the abusive dad is called Braden, fyi. I find this funny because the only Braden I've ever met was a gay mormon teen who was utterly, pathologically obsessed with Lady Gaga. It's the wrong name to choose if you want this particular nonny to feel a powerful sense of dread.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

>When you're the villain

Why am I reminded of the 'He was an hero' meme, awful I know, but somehow fitting.

>Gay mormon teen
These _exist_???

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

Where I am, every combination of adjective exists! Not sure if he stayed mormon; he was an irritating person and we didn't stay in touch.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

We get this bit, that sounds rather implausible to me:

"As fiercely as Braden loved me, he hurt me. If I had known that his love came at such a high price, would I have married him?

The answer is, sadly, yes. Even if someone is violent, or a liar; even if he breaks your heart every time you hand it to him-- that doesn't necessarily stop you from loving him. The two are not mutually exclusive."

Right, but the question wasn't 'would you still love him?', it was 'would you have married him?'. And you fled from him. So I don't think you'd be there like 'well, if I could do it all over again with full knowledge, yeah, sure, I'd choose to get beaten and then at some point when it got too much I guess I'd leave AGAIN'.

But I don't know why I'm bothering to look for consistency in this book. The authors already forgot the main detail they opened with on the very first page.

Ooh, but! Now we've reached the part of the book where the title is featured in the prose! We cut from a scene where the mother silently worries that the son is lying and that he is an abuser, to:

"There is one type of honey you should avoid at all costs. Mad honey"

Alright, alright, I've clipped that so that it looks stupider.

"There is one type of honey you should avoid at all costs. Mad honey comes from bees that forage on [blah blah blah blah blah]"

She describes all the ways that mad honey makes you ill, and can kill, and then we get this dazzling metaphor:

"The secret weapon of mad honey, of course, is that you expect it to be sweet, not deadly. You're deliberately attracted to it. By the time it messes with your head, with your heart, it's too late."

So there, at last. That's why this book is FULL OF BEES. Your honey was your abuser all along!

There are not enough Pulitzer prizes for this book.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

another flashback to her abusive ex. He is a heart surgeon, and it has just hit me that this profession was chosen purely so that the narration could do wordplay involving broken hearts. +_+

He claims that a woman's heart beats faster than a man's. Not true, in my experience. Admittedly, I have a very small sample size. But my heartbeat is MUCH slower than those of the men I have had a chance to compare it to. google search agrees with the heart surgeon character, but the same resources refer to women as afab, so I am abandoning the whole medical establishment and am henceforth fixing all ills with a trusty poultice. I'll take my inspiration from history; an older relative says that when she was a kid, the treatment for ear-ache was to put a pouch of warm onions against one's ear. still better medicine than the stuff promoted in this book!

I'm getting tired, as is probably apparent. More tomorrow, methinks. (we've reached page 343)

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting article, in which a bbc journalist is far too credulous for my tastes:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26577358

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

I wonder if anyone ever followed up with the women who were operated on.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

More detail about the cult funding Bowers' 2014 activities in Burkina Faso:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%ABlism

I... don't think the reason the local authorities shut it down was that they were stuffy religious meanies who just hated fun, dear bbc journo.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

Nonnie, thank you so much for this. I have been reading through this and being entertained and laughing at the freakin' _period party_ and how transparent this thing is, and how bad it is.

Thank you for confirming my bias against recently-published books.

You've worked so hard, well done. This should go down in meme history as one of the big things.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

dyrt

<3 <3 <3

This means so much to me!

But, so help me god, I still somehow have another 100 pages to go... D:

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

Cheering you on, nona! You can take a break if you want, it might be late where you are, and you've done a sporting job of it today.

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

> I wonder if these authors even know that Egypt is a country in Africa?

You can’t have a country inside another country! That’s, like, totally fake, man

Re: Books - mad honey (Jodi Picoult, Monsieur Boylan)

[(Anonymous)]

I identify with how done mad honey reading dan is tbh