(no subject)

I should be writing, or possibly grading, or perhaps reading Middle English.

Instead, I am examining the possibilities of Regender, a different kind of translator.

For instance, what would today's news look like if Harry Miers had been nominated for the Supreme Court?

From the Fitchburg, MA Sentinel and Enterprise, modified from this article with the help of Regender:

( The White House limited its list of potential justices to men. )

Thanks to catamorphism for the link to Regender.

ETA: angevin2 and her readers are trying Regender with Shakespeare.

(no subject)

While taking yet another break from the current project, I went looking for an online copy of George Eliot's Middlemarch.

In the course of my search, I encountered a massive work of panfandom crossover fanfiction. Yes, I encounter massive works of panfandom crossover fanfiction all the time. The one I found today is special because it was published in 1890. Andrew Lang, author/compiler of the Fairy Books, wrote a series of letters between fictional characters in Old Friends. Sadly, most of the letters are nearly incomprehensible for readers who, like me, lack a strong background in nineteenth-century popular fiction. (I do recommend the hilarious letter in which Catherine Morland of Austen's Northanger Abbey describes her experience at Mr Rochester's house party.)

The best part of Lang's book, especially for those of us who are otherwise interested in crossovers as genre, is his introduction:

( Did the persons in contemporary novels never meet? )

( What if the readers aren't familiar with the characters in the crossover? )

(That, of course, is why half my friendslist has seen Firefly and read Dark Tower.)