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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta
@dklatta.bsky.social
66 followers 65 following 490 posts
I write sometimes: F/SF/H/Myst &, when I can, superheroes! Tweets a mix of self-promotion, pop cultural musings, whimsy, politics. Older than I used to be. http://www.pulpanddagger.com/dk_latta.html https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=dk+latta&crid=3MO9V7TS40KDB&spr
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 16d
Probably shouldn't say but...God, I needed this; us little writers don't expect fame/fortune, but thrive on the crumbs of kind words :)
"What I particularly love about it is how Latta fits such carefully drawn characters and so much subtle emotion into a very action-packed short story." ~M. Haskins
mariahaskins.com
Maria Haskins @mariahaskins.com · 16d
Strange Horizons turns 25 this year, which is pretty much an eternity in the world of spec fic zines, and I had the privilege of going through the archives for a special short fiction roundup: 2 x 25 Gems from Strange Horizons’ Archives

strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...
A Short Fiction Treasures Special: 2 x 25 Gems from Strange Horizons’ Archives
Going through the archives of Strange Horizons for this special column has been a bit like exploring a treasure chamber. I’ve picked fifty stories. I could have picked hundreds. Meaning: I left a l…
strangehorizons.com
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 3h
I'm also thinking of time where I'll be watching a movie/TV with characters behaving in an archetypal way and I'll ask someone from that group if it reflects their experience. They'll say "No" but they assume *they* must be unusual
But...maybe they aren't. Maybe the cliché is wrong
lol
dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 3h
An example: High School. Read a story where a teen groused ALL HSs are the same w/ the jocks, sluts, etc. The ALL bugs me, the author imposing a definitive reality. HS dramas depict cliques: mean girls, bullies throwing nerds into lockers. I don't dispute that's an experience. But it wasn't mine.1/3
dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 4h
In the talk of room for diversity in fiction (ie: not white/West/male) there's a diversity I don't see addressed much. A diversity of experience/POV.
How stories flatten lives into a single dominant archetype.
And whether many of us are too scared to point it out (for fear of looking the freak)? 1/4
dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 3h
I think it depends a lot on the media/genre; kids shows have often striven to be racially diverse but tapered off as the target audience aged. And it can backslide: US TV was more diverse in the 1970s then it was in the 1980s! Tho my point is less ethnic divers and more social experiences.
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 3h
But that's my point: my experiences were as legitimate as anyone else's. We can argue the cliched archetypes make better drama/comedy: that's why they get locked in. But it's the "ALL" that gets me, the "if this isn't your experience you don't count" mentality imposed by reiterated clichés. 3/3
dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 3h
I don't recall bullies in the halls; I was barely aware of jocks/cheerleaders, certainly not some ruling elite. I prob hung out w/ "nerds" (drama club, high achievers) but we weren't bullied/bullied anyone else. Maybe it was the school/neighbourhood, or maybe it was happening but not on my radar 2/3
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 3h
An example: High School. Read a story where a teen groused ALL HSs are the same w/ the jocks, sluts, etc. The ALL bugs me, the author imposing a definitive reality. HS dramas depict cliques: mean girls, bullies throwing nerds into lockers. I don't dispute that's an experience. But it wasn't mine.1/3
dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 4h
In the talk of room for diversity in fiction (ie: not white/West/male) there's a diversity I don't see addressed much. A diversity of experience/POV.
How stories flatten lives into a single dominant archetype.
And whether many of us are too scared to point it out (for fear of looking the freak)? 1/4
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Reposted by DK Latta
dalloyd.bsky.social
David A. Lloyd @dalloyd.bsky.social · 5h
books2read.com/ap/nlyB32/Da...
Find books by David A. Lloyd at your favorite digital store!
Books by David A. Lloyd
books2read.com
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 4h
I think it can reflect laziness: a storyteller (and their editor) settling on a comfortable "normal" archetype that they borrow from other stories rather than run the risk of their characters being called out as unrealistic or atypical! The "norm" might very well be real...but is it ubiquitous? 4/4
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 4h
Men must like sports
Teetotalers=recovering alcoholics
High Schools are divided into cliques
Etc. These may seem frivolous but it's about imposing a "norm" that may or may not conform to reality. And if it doesn't reflect your experience you keep your mouth shut for fear of seeimg weird. 3/4
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 4h
So often I'll read a story/watch a movie and I'm just begging - begging! - the characters too be a little quirky, a little individulatistic, "atypical" in some way. But too often characters are written to conform to entrenched dominant archetypes.
But are writers imposing a false reality? 2/4
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 4h
In the talk of room for diversity in fiction (ie: not white/West/male) there's a diversity I don't see addressed much. A diversity of experience/POV.
How stories flatten lives into a single dominant archetype.
And whether many of us are too scared to point it out (for fear of looking the freak)? 1/4
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
My late brother's spooky epic ballad (put to music n sung by Meaghan Smith ftr: Sean McCann)

"Oak Island clasps her secret close,
The Mary Celeste calls home
Where Glooscap walks
And Combers Know
That he doesn't walk alone...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhWO...
The Legend Of Murray's Light (poem by Jeffrey Blair Latta, performed by Meaghan Smith & Sean McCann)
YouTube video by Allyson Latta
www.youtube.com
dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
I wrote a poem (not my usual métier) and was gonna post it here for fun, because I lack confidence and doubt I could find a home for it in a mag or webzine (since, as noted: not usually a poem writer). But then thought: should I submit it somewhere? Dunno.
dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
..a hole of sadness and regret inside, a man who's outlived all 4 of his parents and must make his own moral choices. A man of noble virtues and ideals...but also plays childish pranks and has an "establishment twang*" (*OK, that's if I write a thread on the Bronze Age)? 19/19
dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
Which sounds like a real (messy) person? A well-adjusted All-American Supes imbued with pure heartland values who, even as an adult, needs his parents to provide moral guidance? Or a guy shaped by a mixed ethnic background, superficially happy but with...18/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
..survivor's guilt being perhaps an impetus to his heroics as much as Batman avenging his parents' murder. Which is maybe a good point to finish on (for now): that the desire to define these characters as pure archetypes can rob them of the maturity fans want the genre to have. 17/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
A final thing to consider is that while Supes of this era seemed fairly chipper there was an inherent sadness and melancholy to him: twice orphaned and with wistful nostalgia for a world that no longer existed (he, literally, couldn't go home again)with...16/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
..the whole: is he Supes pretending to be Clark or Clark pretending to be Supes? The short answer (tho deserving its own thread) is the era I'm discussing here he was mostly Supes pretending to be Clark...but with more of Clark in his identity that even he always acknowledged. 15/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
..but the idea that Supes saw himself as both Krytponian and earthman seems a duality that many juggle every day; mixed backgrounds, blended families, code switching, etc. Perhaps symbolized by the whole Superman/Clark Kent thing. Oh man, I haven't even gotten into...14/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
..tried to erase the Krypton influence, was quoted in an interview saying Superman identifying as Kryptonian was an insult to the Kents who raised him. Byrne himself had a complex background (UK-Canada-USA) so far be it for me to gainsay him...13/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
..ran home for guidance from his "Pa" (but that's for later if I write further threads). Another interesting aspect to this (however unintentional) is that arguably it better reflected the true immigrant experience. John Byrne, who was involved in the 1980s reboot that explicitly...12/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
..less pompously than some TV sitcoms!) Indeed, the later revision where the Kents remain alive, while simultaneously emphasizing this sagacity (inspired no doubt by Glenn Ford in the movie) served to infantilize *that* Superman, as even as an adult he constantly...11/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
..the source of Supes' ethics) is arguably not as implicit. As mentioned: in the Superman stories the Kents are dead, remembered mostly as family rather than Heartland Yoda; while in Superboy they serve the same avuncular role as any parent in a teen story (arguably...10/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
Indeed, the whole Smallville milieu, tho Norman Rockwellian/Andy of Mayberry, feels less like the explicitly "conservative" environment RWers seem to envision. It's also worth noting the idea of Jonathan Kent as some sage heartland speaker of truths (and...9/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
(Presumably living in town, working at a community hub, made more sense, story-wise, then having Clark isolated on a farm). So instead of elderly farmers the Kents are middle-aged (due to a rejuvenation formula!) townies. And so less "conservative" coded. 8/
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dklatta.bsky.social
DK Latta @dklatta.bsky.social · 2d
But Smallville isn't quite how some assume. Is it the Midwest, let alone Kansas? Unclear. Some stories imply it's adjacent to Metropolis! More: the Kents aren't "salt of the earth" farmers! They were (when he was a toddler) but mostly own a General Store for the Superboy stories.7/
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