INDEPTH//
Awareness for asexuality BY KASTURI PANTVAIDYA AND SHEFALI VIJAY
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BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD
O GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY JEFFREY YANG
n Nov. 15, a team of four Lynbrook and Monta Vista High School students calling themselves Team Trance hosted the Winter Beats mixer at the Camden Community Center. At 8:35 p.m., more than two hours before the projected end time of 11 p.m., the event was terminated by the San Jose Fire Department due to concerns of overcapacity in the facility as well as a medical emergency. At the time, members of the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) were present as well. Those who attended the mixer were not refunded for their tickets. Students were disgruntled because they were not recompensated for the event’s premature shutdown. “I bought tickets at the door [for $20], and I was only at the event for an hour before they shut it down,” said sophomore Lisa Cao. “I was actually pretty pissed, because I paid
$20 that isn’t going to get refunded.” The attendees were told that no refunds were issued due to legal reasons. “I heard from others [who heard from the event organizers] that the money had been confiscated by the police, and that’s why it is not going to be refunded,” said Cao. When attendees asked the hosts further questions regarding the possibility of a refund, Team Trance claimed to not have the money. “I heard the money was confiscated by police, so they did not have any money to give back,” said senior Gregory Lerner. In the report synopsis obtained by the Epic from the SJPD, however, money seizure was not mentioned. In response to the rumors of money being confiscated, Sergeant Heather Randol of the SJPD stated that “...there was no money collected from the event coordinators.” see MONEY page 2
FEATURES//
Fanfiction: the answer to all the “what ifs” you’ve had BY PRASANN RANADE AND STEPHANIE LU
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hat happens to Harry Potter after the war against Voldemort finally ends? What adventures does Harry’s son James Potter have in his Hogwarts years? How would the story of Harry Potter look if performed as a comedic musical? Those questions might sound out of the blue to some readers, but these stories, published online, attract thousands. They are all part of the literary realm of fan fiction, often abbreviated as “fanfic,” a broad genre pertaining to stories building upon another’s work. While fan fiction and its fans have a bad rep for being obsessively focused on romantic relationships or erotica, Lynbrook students reveal that there is more to fan fiction than just its stereotype.
“Usually the image people have of fan fiction is the anime stuff, especially the inappropriate or weird aspects,” said junior Ted Leung. “That part exists, but it’s really a sliver compared to the rest of fan fiction.” Far from being merely caricatures or parodies of previously written work, the term “fan fiction” encompasses a number of other categories. Roughly divided into three areas based upon the subject matter, the world of fan fiction includes jargon of its own: slashfics, plotfics or alternate universe (AU) fiction, and second generation or epilogue compliant material. Slash fics are fan fictions that revolve around the relationship between two characters, with the name originating from writers who indicated the relationship their stories focused on by titling them “Character 1/
Character 2.” Plot fics, of which AU fiction is a subset, revolve around a set of characters adapting to a new set of circumstances, and relies heavily on an author’s imagination. Lastly, second generation or epilogue compliant fiction continues an author’s work after it ends, looking at the characters’ canonically unwritten future. Senior Archita Jain first happened upon fan fiction in sixth grade after reading the romantic young adult novel “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer. “I hated the book, so I thought there’s got to be some kind of parody out there, and I stumbled across this fan fiction that was relatively good called ‘Bella, Baseball, and Boys,’” said Jain. “I enjoyed it, so I started looking around and I created my first account. see FANFICTION page 9
uman growth and development books all tell you you may start experiencing sexual attraction in your high school years,” said senior Elena Parker*. “I never did.” After getting involved with Tumblr and learning about the wide variety of genders and sexualities, Parker wondered about her own sexual identity. Subsequently, Parker did more research during her junior year and began to identify as asexual. “I spent a lot of time learning about the spectrum of genders and sexualities,” said Parker. “Hearing about other people’s experiences made me start thinking about my own, leading me to realize that I’d never felt sexual attraction.” Though asexuality is relatively new in terms of scientific research, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) defines asexuality as “...not being able to experience sexual attraction.” Asexuality, like heterosexuality or homosexuality, is a sexual orientation. But instead of being sexually attracted to men, women, or both, people who are asexual do not experience sexual feelings toward anyone. “I don’t understand what goes on in people’s heads when they’re sexually attracted to people,” said Parker. “After doing research to see what it’s supposed to feel like, I realized that I didn’t identify with any of those feelings, which confirmed my beliefs about my sexuality.” For years, Parker thought that she would eventually feel the physical attraction that is coupled with puberty and the maturation of teenagers. By the end of her junior year, it occurred to her that she was almost an adult, and while she had developed romantic thoughts, the sexual aspect remained absent. After conducting online research and reaching out to various members of the LGBT community, Parker came to her conclusion. A week after discovering her sexual identity, Parker decided to come out to her friends and family. She found that while her friends were instantly accepting, her parents were dubious. see ASEXUALITY page 12