Well, it's an old story, looks like it was probably written around season 3 or 4, though I could be wrong. It's just... bleah.

I'm sure the writer and many readers got a lot out of it. It was just a little too designed to appeal to a certain set of kinks for me to feel comfortable with. It's just so very far from what appeals to me about the show and the characters, as well.

::twitches uncomfortably::

You know, I was mentioning to Dana just this weekend that certain stories are like my anti-kink. I read them, and they push none of my buttons, even though there are elements that have worked for me in the past. In fact, I read these stories and my buttons say, "We're rethinking our buttonosity."

In fact, I read these stories and my buttons say, "We're rethinking our buttonosity."

Heee.

I think I like a little more story with my kink, you know? Plausible deniability of kink. This was all kink, all the time. Plus with the questionable characterizatons and fuckedup universe. And the happy ending was just not believable.

But it's not like women are badly treated: they simply don't exist at all.

The scary part is, I've read almost that exact scenario (variations due to canon source), in XF. All the women on earth (except, inexplicably, Scully) die, and the violent sexual ownership olympics get under way!!

I would say "Oh the nostalgia" except that I don't remember it fondly in the slightest.

Oh, ew.

So the majority of adult men, who would IMHO be mourning the loss of wives or steady girlfriends (not to mention their daughters, mothers, sisters, etc.), just jump as one into a planetwide Oz scenario with no hesitation? ick.

Well, in the case of that XF series -- and I don't remember how many stories it was, but it was a lot more than I read -- there was, um. How to say this in a not-silly way? People had a bad habit of turning into ogres and ghouls and warlocks. In a textually (but not extratextually) not-silly way. So they were very busy with other things, and did indeed not seem to give a shit about their wives, sisters, daughters, etc.

It was a very peculiar psychological portrait of the victim-kink, nested in the middle of one of the most ridiculous plot scenarios I've come across. (That includes the "Mulder and Scully fight mastodons" scenario, as well as that Sentinel story that involves evil hyperevolved cat overlords.)

Oh, I know which story you're talking about. Ick.

involves evil hyperevolved cat overlords

Eh, I can kind of see that.

that Sentinel story that involves evil hyperevolved cat overlords.

With The Sentinel that's a less improbable plotline than it would be in most other fandoms.

This seems most appropos here. From a CNN article about "Brangelina":

Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television, said the coupling of A-list stars like Pitt and Jolie -- or in years gone by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton -- was "a paparazzi's dream come true."

"As silly as it sounds, this new tendency to make up single names for two people -- like 'Bennifer' (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez) and 'TomKat' (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes) -- is an insightful idea. 'Brangelina' has more cultural equity than their two star parts," he said.

a) It's called a portmanteau. Duh.

b) "cultural equity"?

c) Still no excuse for "Spuffy".