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Posts Tagged: 'glbt'

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Issue #129

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[info]rubyfruit_pixie: Too Much for (Hurt/)Comfort: The most Topic-Hopping Post EVER!: "Most people who read Hurt/Comfort fics want to see their favorite characters hurt and subsequently comforted, and it's really not my fault that my favorite characters Just So Happen to be female." (Warning copied from author's note: "The topic of this here piece of ranty meta (and possibly the comments as well) will deal with potentially triggering subjects.")

[info]elfwreck: So-called self-identified bi women: "Plz to ignore the huge swarms of bi women writing & reading slash--because hey, they're maybe fake!"

LiveJournal:

[info]stewardess: Your Journal - Your Money? My Ass. (explains how LiveJournal's new Google AdSense program called Your Journal - Your Money actually works, has links to related articles/blog posts e.g. LJ's ads serving malware)
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Issue #128

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General Meta:

[info]the_shoshanna: A handy guide to media fan convention art shows: "So just as fans shared fanfic and art in the zines that were and are displayed, shared, bought, and sold in convention dealers' rooms, one of the places that fans shared, admired, and bought and sold fan art was in convention art shows."

[info]elfwreck: Ethics of commenting: "Is it proper to comment (squeefully) on the fic of people you know don't like you? How about people who you suspect don't like you and might rather just forget you exist?"

[info]beccastareyes has some short thoughts on Flash Fiction.

Fandom-specific:

[Supernatural] [info]yourlibrarian: SPN 5.11- Where have I seen this before?: "One of the issues I have with all the Kripkeing that goes on in this fandom is that more often than not the fan version is better. And as we head through S5, I have often read/seen the fan version first, so the show really needs to do something special with its take." (With quite detailed episode discussion starting after the first three paragraphs, is therefore spoiler-heavy)

[Queer as Folk] [info]xie_xie_xie: I love my big gay show... (commenting on InsaneJournal QaF fandom): "We all have our favorites, and our least-favorites, but true character hate is just not something we see a lot of here."

General Meta related to the debates about a) m/m slash and b) misogyny in fandom:

[info]tigresslilly: A Few Questions I Haven't Seen Asked or Answered: "... it occurred to me that I haven't seen anything about threesomes. It all seems focused on m/m or f/f pairing and I wondered if it had a place that had been excluded here too."

[info]magpyr: Half-baked thoughts on the male slash debate: "Can't we ditch the m/m debate everybody's so sick of, and talk about the serious lack of femslash in any fandom but The L Word? Why is it so easy for people to see "queer subtext" in a work concerning straight male characters, but not females?"

[info]musesfool: it's all how you use it: "It never fails to amaze me that we place female characters in such an awful catch-22." (One example given in the text: "They can't be interested in (ew!) traditionally feminine pursuits or they're setting back the cause, but they can't be too tomboyish, 'cause then they're just men with boobs!")

[info]havocthecat: Misogyny is wrong. Who knew?: "You know, just because I can generally structure my fandom experience to avoid misogynistic jerks - by avoiding adding them to my friendslist or circle - doesn't mean I can avoid misogyny in fandom altogether."
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Issue #127

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[info]spacelogic: tossing my two cents into the slash debate: "The point is, to me, slash has always been a queer narrative: I, the queer reader, am seeing someone like me, and it is making me happy."

[info]das_dingsi: Why the current m/m slash/appropriation debate is making me feel exhausted: "... as a gay trans man without ties to a gay community, who also is a slash reader, ... I feel like I'm being erased or shouted at from [nearly] all sides for Doing It Wrong."

[info]telesilla: Write ONLY what you know and an unpopular fannish opinion.: "This latest round of gay men having fits about women daring to write about gay sex? Feels a lot more like "hey! Keep out of our fort! Didn't you see the big NO GIRLS ALLOWED!!!! sign?" than anything else."
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Issue #126

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InsaneJournal's daily backups have been moved from 1:30PM (EST) to 5:00AM (EST).

[info]xie_xie_xie: Where on the fail spectrum am I?: "What is a lesbian who doesn't "write slash" generally but does have this strange fascination for one male/male couple and writes about them constantly, for years? Am I on the side of the outraged disenfranchised queers, or the women squeeing softly at the buttsex?"

[info]spacelogic: what is a gamer?: "The reason girls/women don't play games, Serious Gamers? It's because you've defined "games" as the sort that (mostly men) play on consoles, and written us out of the history books for good measure." (Also about the definition of "serious" gamer.)

[info]morgandawn: I'm Gonna Wash That Fandom Right Outta My Hair....or Dive! Dive! Dive! or Marketing Speak?: "What do we call it when a fan starts selectively 'scrubbing' her online presence (systematically removing some content from both online as well as archived blog/websites/mailing lists/forums) without actually leaving fandom?"
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Issue #118

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[info]yourlibrarian: Reactions to a few articles: "Henry Jenkins' post on the Future of TV surprised me by not mentioning what I consider the most important change to TV in the last five years -- shortening seasons. [...] I do wonder about fandom effects of ever briefer shows."

[info]spacelogic: [SPOILERS] Babylon 5 and the LGBT community: "Today's post looks at Babylon 5 as a queer-affirming work, while acknowledging its many failures, and attempts in a lovingly biased way to determine its overall queer-friendliness level."

InsaneJournal-related: There's been an influx of anonymous spam comments. The IP seems to be 110.132.116.84. You can edit your comment settings to disallow anonymous comments. When deleting these comments, don't forget to mark them as spam so the site administration will be informed about this.
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Issue #92

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[Katekyou Hitman Reborn] [info]branchandroot: Women in KHR, a rant: "I can engage with a series that leaves the women out, but I can’t fully engage when women are so explicitly positioned as inferior." (Spoilers!)

[Harry Potter] [info]beccastareyes: Harry Potter Houses...: "So, I said on Fanficrants that I tended to think of Happy Potter Houses by 'what they want and how they prefer to get it', and was asked for details... so, here goes."

[info]alchemia has an untitled post about naming conventions in genderswap fic and how they (don't) relate to actual transsexual experience. (Uses Harry Potter characters as examples, but the topic itself isn't fandom-specific.)

[Supernatural] There've been lots of episode reviews/reactions for SPN 4x09, and what I found interesting is how many people mentioned it as either bringing the fanservice or having a fanfiction feel. (Heavy spoilers for that episode, of course, as people talk about all kinds of things they liked or disliked, including plot and various relationships.)
[info]the_shoshanna: Wow, it's like they were taking notes on everything that had been pissing people off.
[info]musesfool: Which one of you is Sera Gamble? Because that was totally fanfic on my tv laptop last night.
[info]ann_tara: And last night's episode was practically a word for word fan conversation I've read more than once - so much so that I think they wrote a lot of this episode based on TWoP conversations and what they thought fans wanted to see and what they had to do to get us all to accept Ruby.
(And speaking of Ruby, [info]yourlibrarian's review dedicates several paragraphs to the direction of the character as compared to S3.)

LiveJournal: more hacking attacks occured, apparently targeting high-traffic communities/journals and/or the people who moderate them. [info]maureenlycaon wrote a summary with helpful links.
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Issue #88

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[info]branchandroot: We’re here, we’re academic, get over it: "I will make this simple in hopes that it gets through this time: For academics, writing articles about things is how we fan."

[info]twistedchick: untitled post: "I have yet to hear of anyone who reads or writes science fiction being told they're not smart enough to understand the discussion of their own work -- but it has happened to me, and to several other people I know, more than once, with the stories we wrote in media fandom."

Eta: whoops, after posting and refreshing the friendslist I saw this:

[info]elfwreck (in [info]metametameta): Acafen vs Squeefen, round 235: "The last few rounds of [info]metafandom have focused on the aca-fen vs anti-aca perspectives on enjoying fic. And it's moving along in predictable patterns. (Not because they're inane or boring patterns--I find them fascinating every time--but because they've been done before, and there's only so many directions this can go.)"

[info]lilithilien: New US shows; or How To Drop A Few Stone Crossing the Pond: "... this is about the fact that Americans are not allowed to see fat. Don't believe me? Take Annie Cartwright from Life On Mars."

[info]rood: Why Heroes is disappointing.: "One of the reasons I liked Heroes so much more than any other superhero story was that it was about normal people with normal lives who happen to have superpowers."
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Issue #85

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[Brokeback Mountain] [info]yourlibrarian: Things that made me go "Hmm" today (1. details on Annie Proulx's disapproval of the fanfic that was sent to her, 2. Torchwood fandom; on LJers' reviews being quoted without permission in a for-profit book [see also next link]: "I had to wonder if part of the upset over both cases had to do with the format change rather than the copying issue itself."

[info]branchandroot: Ruminations on copyright and blogs: "So, in the wake of The Telos Affair, I’ve been thinking about the astonishing tangle that is copyright law and the even more astonishing tangle that is copyright law applied to online documents." (gives information on whether it's possible to copyright one's personal blog)

[info]stele3: Everything I know about Clay Aiken I learned from F_W.: "So, in case anyone hasn't heard yet, Clay Aiken is gay. [...] I do think, however, that his fanbase reaction is an earmarker for how America stands at the moment vis-a-vis the queer community and people coming out."

Two posts by [info]xie_xie_xie:

Preserving fandom history and heritage: "Of course it's your site and your work and you can do with it what you want, but it's also a part of our history and legacy, and people have a strong stake in it. It is, whether you meant it that way or not, our heritage. Think hard before you take that away."

The Big Chill: How LiveJournal's culture of invisibility threatens fandom: "By going along with the sort of hybrid requirement/cultural norm that all "adult" content needs to be locked away from anyone but your "friends list," you both increase the invisibility of fandom in general and remove fandom works -- fic, vids, icons, graphics, meta -- from public view, particularly that of new fans and those seeking information on the fandom."

Poll: [info]only_gremo: I learn, because I am a fan - The impact of fan identities on learning (has discussion in english and german)

Mini-Meta:

[info]ms_treesap ponders "[t]he shipping plotline of 'Two characters get together because one is really awesome and deserves the romantic and/or sexual attentions of the other'".

[info]spacelogic did some number-crunching for GLAAD's new "Where We Are On TV" report (ethnic minorities, GLBT characters)

Meta tied to Episode Reactions (contain spoilers!)

[Bones] [info]justhuman: This week's Bones: "Dear Bones Writers, Either find your balls [or] give them up completely. You went the "dark" route. You came out of it looking mighty dim, but you went there. Now you want to be all sweetness and light again?"

[Supernatural] [info]yourlibrarian: Review of SPN 4.01: "Perhaps because of the diminished expectations set up by S3, this opener seemed both richer in content and an interesting set-up for things to come."
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Issue #55

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Attention: because the following entries deal with a) character development or b) themes of a series over the course of all Seasons, there'll be SPOILERS.

[Supernatural] [info]musesfool: dear mr. kripke and crew: "I'm not giving up the show - I love Sam and Dean too much, so I bear all of this and cringe, trying to remedy it for myself via fanfiction - but you are definitely on notice. I really wish during one of those many interviews and Q&As you like to do, some smart fan would ask you what the hell you are thinking (or, more pointedly, why are you NOT thinking) when it comes to race and gender ..."

[Stargate: Atlantis] [info]pouncer: Tarnished Idealism: Elizabeth Weir in the Pegasus Galaxy: "In short, I was arguing that her time in the Pegasus Galaxy shifted Elizabeth's view of the way the world worked, which is incredibly significant if you're an international relations geek like me."

General, polls, etc.

[info]telesilla: okay so here's the thing...: "This slash/fic/art/vids we make? It is transgressive. [...] But I hope you can all understand why, if you call it queer, I get hurt and angry."

As a follow-up to this post in the previous issue, [info]reijamira set up a poll to determine interest in a Supernatural newsletter on IJ.

Deutschsprachiges Meta: [info]rood schreibt über eine neue Fic-Archiv-Regel bei Animexx (Harry-Potter-Fanfictions mit "Verwaltigung an Minderjährigen [...] sind absofort verboten") und listet Kritikpunkte auf.
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Issue #46

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IJ / Asylums / Community-building

[info]greenwitch: Asylum Usage and Habits (poll and discussion) - "[A]sylums here have... not really taken off, and it seems like even asylum creation has dropped (or maybe just outnumbered by the RPGs that seem to be taking over.) So what's the reason? (...) Let's try and figure out what's going, and how we can work on improving the community here."

[info]squeaky announced the purging of old, inactive accounts.

Misc. Fandom Meta

[info]julia_linnea: "Genderswitch" and "Genderplay": What do you think they mean?"

[info]branchandroot: Distribution of labor: "Writing isn’t just having a neat idea, it’s getting a story to coalesce around the idea, complete with transitions and motivations and all the parts that aren’t neat ideas but rather the bones of narrative (...) Given that, I find it a bit surprising that both professional and amateur writers will carry on in equal measure about writing being stolen and ideas being stolen."

Quuer As Folk:

[info]xie_xie_xie: Why they fuck: "I've been thinking about the issue of sex in Brian and Justin fan fiction lately quite a bit ... Of fics that don't just suck totally, there are three broad categories into which I'd put their use of sex scenes ..."

[info]rebeccama: Michael and Ben: "Ben's and Michael's relationship has some real difference from Brian's and Justin's, but that does not make either of the relationships inferior."

Organization of Transformative Works

[info]alchemia: Why I'm not behind the OTW...: "While OTW claims to be inclusive of all, the emphasis has been on the female fanficcers and female vidders, and I wonder where that leaves fandoms that are not predominantly female, and fans that are men, transmen, queergendered, etc., or that enjoy fandom through other avenues, such as fanfilms, re-enactments, cosplay, etc."

Posts for the "Why I Joined The OTW" Week:

[info]bethbethbeth's entry: "Helping to make things better fannishly - even helping to make a single story better - felt great (...) how could I not want to help?"

[info]mirabile_dictu's entry: "I want those opportunities available to everyone possible: to girls of thirteen and women in their eighties, and I don't want them to have to pay for it except with time and energy and love. The world needs safe places for freaks, and fandom can -- no, fandom should! -- be one."

[info]watersword's entry: "OTW's message of pride -- pride in fannishness, pride in the female space that fandom is, pride in the skill it takes us to be fans (meta is hard, y'all, and fiction is harder, I can't even begin to imagine how hard vidding is) -- is one that resonates deeply with me."

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As usual, you can leave links to meta entries by commenting here or on the screened comments entry. General questions can be asked on the FAQ post. :)
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Issue #27

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[info]elfwreck: The other side: Oh Noes! Teh Gay has infested Hogwarts! (A link roundup, summarizing the negative reactions to JKR's outing of Dumbledore, ranging from open homophobia to denial.)

[info]sapphoq: Dumbledore Love (an essay with lots and lots of links on GLBT issues, contrasting fiction with reality.)

[info]seraphcelene posted a Meta-thon Masterlist (part fic commentary, part meta on writing or fandom).

[info]mythdefied: Writing musings: "The problem is, I see it so clearly in my mind that I end up forgetting to mention things, and sometimes I just don't catch it until later because when I do a readthrough, I still see it in my head and my mind supplies the missing things."

[info]seraphcelene; Fighting with Fandom: Characters who won't behave: "Then you sit down to write and suddenly the characters refuse to cooperate. They are difficult and unwieldy, and I'm not just talking about characters you don't like. I'm talking about even your most favoritest character ever in the history of the universe and fandom."

[info]lilithilien: Season so far? 2-3: "I've been watching a lot of Farscape lately and I can't help but compare how the women are written/developed in that show vs. in SGA. [...] If you were called in as a consultant for SGA and you could make three improvements/suggestions, what would you say to them?" (minor episode spoilers for October)

[info]skuf has a poll on Andy, Supernatural ep. 2x05.

[info]yourlibrarian (in [info]mind_over_meta): Between the dotted lines: "I will be interested to see if 2007 will bring more stories about a post-Shansu Spike. Given that AtS: After the Fall will start next month, the trend that seemed to build in 2005 may die out. [...] And I wonder if this is because, well, we really have no idea what he’d be like. We’ve seen all those other incarnations in canon, but from the sound of it we will never see a Shansu!Spike, so that one is left completely to our imagination."


Somewhat related:

- [info]telesilla is compiling a list of Heroines Who Kick Ass.
- [info]chal started a Supernatural Slash & Wincest Halloween Friending Meme of Doom.
- In [info]obscurefandom, [info]chichirinoda revealed the 2007 Challenge (requesting and fulfilling fic wishes in rare or small fandoms).
- [info]holiday_wishes is now officially open for posting your fannish (or even non-fannish) wishlists.

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Issue #24 b

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This issue has been split; 24 a has the Dumbledore / HP / JK Rowling meta.


[info]blktauna: untitled post: "Sorry, but if you can't participate in Yuletide, for whatever reason. Then you can't. [...] It's not "exclusionary" its just the rules done to suit the organisers."

[info]brownbetty: Some thoughts on writing outside my experience: "Recently, and not so recently, I've come across a couple of stories, or had them pointed out to me, within greater fandom, where the history or culture of marginalized groups was employed to make a story more exotic or interesting, with the result the story was offensive. So I'm trying to think of how one can avoid this."

[info]xie_xie_xie: REPOST: A QAF Fanfic Writer's Guide to HIV/AIDS: "But having lived through the emergence of the HIV epidemic, seen many friends get sick and die of AIDS, and knowing a somewhat unnaturally huge amount about HIV testing and treatment, the many fics that make very basic errors in dealing with HIV kind of grate on my nerves more than anything other than Brian calling Justin "baby." So I thought I'd write up this little guide, for those who might want it and find it useful."

As usual, you can leave links to meta entries by commenting here or on the screened comments entry. General questions can be asked on the FAQ post. :)

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Issue #24 a (Dumbledore Edition, part two)

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Again, I'm splitting up this issue. The general meta goes into the next entry.


[info]yonmei: Actually, I’m kind of annoyed.: "For two reasons: One, saying Dumbledore was gay after Book 7 was published and there aren’t going to be any more is kind of a cop-out. [...] The other: Lupin was gay. Tonks was a dyke. They got married off to each other as soon as possible after some fans pointed out to Rowling that Lupin “read” as gay, and they were both killed off ..."

[info]rian: My ass is twitching. You people, you make my ass twitch.: "Please, someone, point out to me anywhere - in any of the books - it would have been appropriate, or relevant in any way to the main plot of the books (ie Harry's quest to defeat Voldemort), to reveal that Dumbledore (or, indeed, any one of the adult characters) was gay." (Cont. in My ass is still twitching.: "It is not Jo Rowling's job to teach children tolerance towards gay people.".)

[info]svartalfur: *grumbles about Dumbles*: "The HP books aren't all of a sudden gay-friendly or less conservative. The hetero-normative world view still prevails, (heterosexual) marriage and breeding is still the way to salvation."

[info]accio_arse: Dumbledore is gay' sez JKR: "So, fair dos. A big, major character is gay. Okay, my statistical annoyances are mollified. Yet I still gripe..."

[info]emiime: Oh look! Another Dumbledore post on your flist!: "She definitely hinted at it in the text--I think we all saw it. But, looking at this from her perspective, she is in this to make money. And with the homophobic contingent [...] making up a portion of her sales, she was probably smart not to do so, from a financial perspective."

[info]memorycharm: the news. yes, THAT news.: "This is GOOD news, y'all! It's a major character, not some random one liner Blaise/Ernie/whoever."

[info]tigresslilly: Here we go from the top: " I predict that JKR's announcement that Dumbledore is gay is about to create a sexuality wank. Sure we're talking canon vs non-canon right now, but we'll move past that. [...] Also, I wonder about what sexuality means in the HP world."

[info]lilithilien: I can't believe I'm glad the weekend's over!: "My personal opinion on all this? I just really wish the woman would shut up. [...] I've seen others who think we should just give her a break because gee weren't her books great (sorry, but a BIG no -- she should be held to the same standard as any other author is)."

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Issue #23 b (Dumbledore Edition)

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Because of the (comparably) massive amount of news on the Harry Potter front re: Albus Dumbledore is gay, I decided to split today's issue. #23 a has the general fannish meta.

[info]bethbethbeth: The...news.: "For the record, even in light of the recent JKR 'revelation' (i.e., that Dumbledore was gay), I still stand by my July 26th post in which I said '...the only canon is book canon.'"

[info]amilliondays: I was going to say something about it ...: "Dealing with queer identity in your stories is not the same fucking thing as making it a Very Special Episode. [...] There's gonna be a whole lot of queer kids who won't have any knowledge that they had a role model in those books. Because he's trapped in a paperback closet."

[info]ishtar79: OMG: "But I’m leaving aside all those quibbles because even if a portion of the millions of children who read this book worldwide hear of this, if it makes them think about the fact that one of their favourite figures in the book is a gay man, if this makes it more ok to be gay or more accepting of gay people... well. This is HUGE."

[info]djin7: OH HAI GUYZ: "Many people will find fault with it. [...] I just wanted to say I find it charming and wonderful, and it's making me smile during a week where those have been sadly lacking."

[info]firefly124: The outing of Albus Dumbledore and other things JKR said yesterday: "That inner cynic thinks her point might well have been, "I know you people are writing slash about my characters, and so I give you a canonically gay character about whom I can't imagine in a million years anyone would ever write explicit sex about! Take that!" Which, er, won't work."

[info]babydraco: Oh wow: "I have posted something on JKR and sexism and something on JKR’s confusion over how her characters are perceived. I’ve written about her racial issues JKR and child abuse and her Christian themes. However, this awesome piece of news reminded me that I need to write more about what I like in Harry Potter. Because with all the complaining, maybe people wondered why I was even bothering to be involved in the first place."

[info]chet_lemon (in [info]forwardthinking): I am oh so torn...: "I suppose you could say that Dumbledore's sexual orientation doesn't matter, and not discussing it explicitly in the books just shows how orientation isn't a big deal. That just feels very cheap to me in some way. Orientation does matter in this world. It absolutely shouldn't, but we're not living in a utopia."

As usual, you can leave links to meta entries by commenting here or on the screened comments entry. General questions can be asked on the FAQ post. :)

[info]das_dingsi
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Roundup Issue #10

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First, a big Thank You to the users who took the fandom poll, as well as the roundup frequency poll, and commented to share their thoughts on the issues!

1. I'm going to evaluate the fandom statistics some time next week, so if you want to rec the poll, this is the last chance. ;)
2. After this issue, [info]meta_roundup will have shorter, but more frequent updates. Most people either chose this option or felt completely neutral about it, so I think the change is a good thing for the community at large. If, at some point, the workload should become too much for me to handle, I'm going to look for co-editors to guarantee that the asylum will run smoothly.

Now, on to the meta...


[info]zulu: I don't know if I can textually render my love of vidding.: "So--what've you guys learned about vidding that is awesometastic?"

[info]rubyfruit_pixie: re: Pronouns and slash and things.: "I see lots of people who say a lot of things about epithets (...) When one uses pronouns when dealing with two or more people of the same gender, does pronoun confusion happen a lot?"

[info]fabu: Holmes Sweet Holmes, As My Whimsey Takes Me, and Safe as House, or Adventures in Intertextuality: "It's my understanding that House was deliberately modeled on Holmes (...) Both Holmes and House are superficially cranky and misanthropic, with hidden soft-spots, both are brilliant enough that others overlook their eccentricities because they're so damn good at what they do ..."

[info]babydraco: No, no,no! Stick to the Status Quo!: (Harry Potter) "And yet… there’s a definite theme of popular kids versus unpopular kids with the author clearly on the side of the popular ones. (...) Of course, yes, it’s JKR’s fault but then again, this is how the world really works. This is how fandom works, but nobody wants to say that out loud."

[info]jamie2109: "questionable" Harry Potter art: "I just don't get why slash is still seen as something dirty or as somehow sick or disgusting. (...) And I'm not talking about people having sex in the streets, I'm talking about censoring people's creative abilities in the name of your own value system, and hiding it under the guise of 'offensive art'. - No, this isn't about the LJ/6A kerfuffle, because they're not the only homophobic entity on the planet. It happens everywhere."

[info]the_willow: Cause I Said I'd Write This Out: Single Black Friend: "You know what I'm talking about. There's a mainstream protagonist in a majority white environment and the creators of the show in order to show their diversity throw in, the one. black. friend. Not even one Asian friend. Or that one black friend out of three ethnic minority friends. It's just that one black friend. That one token."

[info]odditycollector: Why I Hate The Legion of Super-Heroes, by Karen, number one fan.: "I could usually suspend disbelief for the Legion stories, because it was easy to imagine that in 1000 years we would have spaceships and homicidal computers with disintegrator rays. It was harder to imagine that we *wouldn't*. However, the world I lived in had people from all over the pigment spectrum, and the world the Legion lived in did not. I could not get back into the story until I figured out where they all went. -- Maybe, I thought to myself, everyone died in a catastrophic event between now and the future. Except for the white people, of course."

Two posts by [info]morgandawn:

Copyright: Using Work Licensed Under The Creative Commons For Fannish Purposes: Gives a short definition of CC, explains how to find royalty free images/video footage, and answers the question whether you're allowed to use Creative Commons licensed work for charity purposes.

Copyright: Liability Is A Two Way Street (How Fair Use Users Are Fighting Back): "Note to those out there who would send in frivolous 'take down" notices: be prepared to be boarded. Do your research before you complain to [insert name of website/company] or face legal and financial penalties."

[info]mllesatine has a poll on what 6A might be doing at the moment.

[info]happier_bunny: untitled post: "No one understands better than I do that 6A/LJ is a private company that can make it's own rules and regulations as it sees fit. (...) However, what they've done this time is entirely different. In attempting to define LEGAL terms (and make no mistake that's what these are) and interpret the law, 6A/LJ is invoking the government as the reason for their new method of enforcing their TOS. It's not 6A/LJ's job to tell people what's criminal or to define it, that's the job of our legal system...our Courts."


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[info]das_dingsi
[info]meta_roundup
[info]das_dingsi
[info]meta_roundup

Roundup Issue #9

[info]das_dingsi
[info]meta_roundup


The InsaneJournal FAQ has been updated, specifically #132: "To what level of decency are journals held?" -- I'd also like to use this opportunity to say that the rumours of IJ using the Miller Test to determine obscene content are NOT true ([info]ceruleagos explained it in this thread).

[info]reijamira: Rambling about the genre "hurt/comfort": "I think if one is confronted with the mortality and vulnerability of the other only then would he show his truest feelings. It's the aspect of recognizing how much the other really means to you, of recognizing how close you came to losing your beloved one which let's us express our deepest and innermost emotions."

[info]das_dingsi: Slash Fic As Much-Needed Escapism: "E.g., if Tim and Dick in the DCU Batverse decide to fuck each other senseless, their conflict in the story usually is NOT based on "oh shit am I gay? will society hate me? how will my life be as a gay superhero?", but on dynamics which stem from their issues as characters -- their previous relationships, their emotions, their needs and obligations. The focus is not on the outside (society, moral values, etc.) but on the inside. From that perspective, slash is a sort of safe haven for me."

Three posts by [info]xie_xie_xie (some might not be worksafe due to images/icons):

Teh Evil!Censorship: "Maybe I love words too much. Maybe the thought that someone might try to control or limit what I can write is so terrifying to me that it makes me feel like throwing up, and I don't understand why anyone would feel any other way. But I don't think it's just about words. I think it's about ideas and creativity and liberty and communication."

Labels: "I write queer fanfic. That's what I write. My pairings are canonical and queer and are not slash. (...) So I want another word!"

Wherein Xie rants: "But really, more than I'm upset at the authors of these crappy fics, I'm upset at the readers who suck them down like teenagers at the mall suck down high fructose corn syrup. (...) For the love of god, would it freaking kill you to learn to use some form of critical thinking?"

[info]yourlibrarian has taken a look at some statistics on fan fiction sites.

[info]brownbetty has gotten the script called "lj instant tag" to work on other LJ clones. (Needs the Greasemonkey script.)

Also: the [info]potter_prophet, an IJ-specific HP newsletter, is looking for editors.