[Archive] Meta Roundup: Fannish Stuff of Interest

May 2010

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Posts Tagged: 'legal+issues'

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Issue #133

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[Avatar: The Last Airbender] [info]rood: How Trademarks Can Threaten Fanficcers: "I know there are no Lightbenders, but some fanficcers like to make up superspecial powers for their OCs. The German word for Lightbender is Lichtbändiger. Quite harmless, right? Yes, until a firm that designs glasses registers "Lichtbändiger" as a trademark."
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Issue #114

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[info]yourlibrarian: Commentary!: "I like reading people's fic commentaries too, but I suppose there are a number of things holding people back from having such discussions."

[info]darkrose quoted a blog entry by Leverage showrunner John Rogers (wherein he answers questions about his attitude towards fan fic) and comments: "But especially coming out of SGA fandom, and Joe Mallozzi's condescending and dismissive attitude toward fans of the show, it's pretty damn cool to see a showrunner who gets it."

Quick Questions:

[info]drachenmina has a question about copyright: "When is it legitimate parody, and when is it plagiarism?"

[info]msilverstar: "Anyone have a nice delicious to LJ/DW script that runs on Macs?" (Scroll down; it's at the bottom of a recs post) You can either use the ?style=mine link and scroll down, or jump directly to the question)
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Issue #106

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[info]telesilla: it's like rain on your wedding day*: "Apparently it's okay to dismiss/ignore copyright law when it's, oh say, Acme Shark's copyright on everything connected with the SG universe, but if it's comments on an LJ being moved without your permission? OMG UR IN MAH COPYRIGHT VIOLATIN ME!"

[info]bridgetmkennit: Fandom, you're doing it wrong: "You know, I come to fandom to escape real life, just as most people do. But the fact that I, other PoCs, and white allies have to see your skeeve all over the fics they read? [...] These characters that are written about and the PoCs who read about them deserve better."

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Issue #104

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[info]slashpine created two polls on recs: part one is about general reading habits (so to speak) and definitions, part two asks more specific questions about what you like to see in recs. (If you're confused about the term "hot rec", that's answered in this comment thread.)

[info]celandineb's Friday Poll is about pairings, and how important they are to you when choosing to consume or create fanworks.

[info]duskpeterson wrote Daily life: Slashers rule OK, which deals with the events called "Amazonfail", and how many of the early posts about it were apparently written by slashers.

[info]rood: How To Archive Your Fics On LJ/IJ/DW/JF: "And that, of course, reminded me of how ill equipped journals are for fic archiving."

[info]slashpine: Meta with recs: There's "slash" & there's *slash*. I want *that* one: "I think the 'tough-guys' atmosphere that Judith Warner discusses illustrates one reason for so much m/m slash. Slash is the opposite of boys mocking each other as 'gay'. [...] But why are we rewriting the *mens* script, not the womens?"

Also by [info]slashpine: Environment & HP. Or really - envt & all of fandom, an entry "on the whole theme of environmental awareness in HP, HP fanfics, and HP fans" (including thoughts on tree!fics).

Dreamwidth-related / Fandom migration:

[info]branchandroot: Demystifying Dreamwidth some more: "Since I've seen a number of odd notions running around lately, I figured I'd post some quick explanations." (Adresses, among other things, the invite codes, the fandom factor, or accusations that DW wants to sink LJ.)

[info]elfwreck: Coming soon on Dreamwidth: Patience.: "Enjoy it while it lasts, folks. It fades. That shiny feeling, that rush of activity and spark of delight, that gleeful manic commenting on random journals, it doesn't last."

[info]skuf posted a question (and got answers) regarding DW's TOS, namely about Content and the rights to remove / adapt / modify ... it.

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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 #79

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Privacy / Legal Issues

For Gmail users (in case you haven't heard the news yet), a hacking tool has been introduced that automatically steals IDs of non-encrypted sessions and uses them to break into the accounts. The developer is planning to release it in a few days. You can protect your accounts by switching to SSL permanently. If you're unfamiliar with the procedure, [info]blue_rose posted a step-by-step guide and also linked to a patch that would ensure that Gmail Notifier is still working afterwards. I'd like to include two off-site links, an article on HungryHackers.com which explains how Gmail and the hacking tool work, and for Firefox users there's the extension Customize Google, which can also help remove or block unwanted content, including ads and Google Analytics cookies.

[info]skuf wrote a quick tutorial on how to block LJToys from tracking you on LJ/IJ/clones (Firefox only).

[info]morgandawn mentions the RIAA’s Anti-Piracy Trade Agreement Wishlist.

Meta (posts are from the 15th and 23rd, but I don't want to pass them up -- my apologies for not including them earlier. I'm trying to change that, as stated in the previous entry.)

[info]spacelogic: How Star Trek Made Me A Feminist, and Why I Don't Think STXI Is Going To Be Worth It: "I remember being freaked out by the first episode, being wary of the next several, and gradually being won over. And at some point during the entire process, I came to a shocking realization: Star Trek was more feminist than a lot of more modern TV/film productions."

[info]the_willow: Watching The Show In Your Head (Pt 2): When You Can't: "I guess I feel like there probably needs to be respect for the fact that when you can't watch anymore, it means there's too much weighed on the side of dislike and disappointment. And those weights can be aspects of racism, sexism, classcism, national isolationism or just not enough plot ..." (talks about "Monk" and SGA as examples)
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Issue #75

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Note: Spoilers for the TV fandom posts (definitely for Doctor Who, quite possibly for Avatar and Scrubs).

[info]stele3: Freedom of Speech? Not Online: "There is no such thing as free speech online, not in places like LJ, IJ, MySpace, or Facebook. There is only what they allow us to say."

[info]brownbetty asks: "If you were designing a 6 credit, second year course on "Our Fannish Heritage", that is to say, in imaginary Fandom U where you inculcate fresh young fans, what would the syllabus look like?"

[info]lore: Coming out of the Yaoi closet....: "So, you want to read some Yaoi manga, do you? Well, here's what I know, based on my usual roam-and-learn web-surfing."

[Doctor Who] [info]yonmei posted about the S4 finale in regards to Donna and the Doctor's character / characterization.

[Avatar: The Last Airbender] [info]beccastareyes discussed parenting and parent/child issues in the series, with focus on Toph.

[Scrubs] [info]shadowvalkyrie wrote about the perceived change in tone and focus in the later Seasons.


InsaneJournal:
News about siteschemes: there's now an option to remove (or add) Tweak and Tweak says via the browser settings. Additionally, CSS style sheets to do the same in user styles are listed here.

LiveJournal [links go to LJ]:
SUP are going to bring Basic Accounts back, but with ads (see original LJ news post). This goes for ALL Basic accounts, old or new. There's a discussion in [info]07refugees.
Also, spam on LJ seems to be increasing - not just anonymous spam comments, but from registered journals, who also use off-site links "disguised" as tags in their posts. Liz_marcs has more info, and a list of the mentioned journals to copy-and-paste into the admin console is here. For a list of other measures to take, read voiceboxx' comment. Most of these apply to InsaneJournal, too.
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Issue #69

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[info]shadowvalkyrie: Feedback thoughts: "Somehow, when you write a fic for someone, you expect getting a reaction -- any reaction -- from them."

[info]yonmei: Class on TV: "Just out of interest, what's your impression, imaginary Internet people, of the difference between class representation on British TV and American TV?"

[info]kabal42: US laws that fandom, no, heck that everyone! needs to be aware of: "Yesterday it was brought to my attention that security personnel at US airports now can search, copy and keep (a copy of) any data you carry with you into the States. [...] The staff are not necessarily educated in knowing the difference between lawful and unlawful use and transport of copyrighted material, nor in the difference between fiction and reality with regards to certain laws."

[info]elfwreck (in [info]metametameta): Warnings for "chan;" archive content policies: 'So... while I'm pondering, I'll open it up to the f'list: what do you consider "chan" is? Or "underage sex" in fanfic? [...] For a rating system of "chan/not-chan," where do/would you draw the lines, epecially when normal human biology isn't involved?'

[info]the_willow: How Slash Changed My Feminism: "The best thing about reading slash and slashy coming out stories was watching male character after male character do this questioning of self and this questioning of what they'd learned from society. And I realized that I'd never questioned what I'd learned from society about men."

[Supernatural] [info]chal created a wishlist of "Things I Would Love to See ..." in Season 4. (Discusses some events from S1-3.)

Polls:

[info]aristoboule asks how you find new communities/asylums, and what factors influence your participation (or lack thereof).

[info]celandineb on the use of sensory description in fic, particularly smutty fic, and reading preferences.

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Issue #65

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[Supernatural] [info]yourlibrarian: Story types in SPN: "This is not just an essay but a question to the group. [...] Now that I've been reading around in SPN fic for a while I think I can identify a few categories, but I'm interested in other ideas. I'm not focusing on what typical fanfic plots tend to get used [...] but rather, how canon and characters tend to get repeatedly reshaped."

[info]musesfool: the calliope crashed to the ground: 'See, the thing is, I really don't like the "feedback = payment" equation.'

[on IP law] [info]branchandroot: Oddities of ownership: "[O]ne thing I find curious is any author getting wound up over what another author does with “their” character. As though it were the same character. Which, of course, it isn’t."

InsaneJournal's move to another provider is on the way. According to this post in [info]announcements, although the prices of Self-Commited (paid) accounts will have to get raised in the future, it won't be as much as previously stated, and [info]squeaky said they'll "work on delivering some new products" instead.

In [info]ideas, [info]sweetsorcery asks for an increase in interest slots. (YES, PLEASE.)

Updated the Asylum Master List (+1 general asylum promotion).

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Issue #64

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Meta

[info]boomshadow: Mary Sues and Gary Stus in Various Continuities: "[T[his short guide should help you identify a Mary Sue or Gary Stu character in your favorite fictional universe ..."

[QaF] [info]xie_xie_xie: Hungry!Justin: "But when I use it in a story, Justin's appetite is really a metaphor rather than simply a characterization point. And I think it was in the series, too [...] food, hunger, eating and not eating, preparing food, and offering food are all very strong themes for Brian, Justin, and Brian/Justin not just in Season One but in all five seasons."

[info]metametameta's Thursday prompts are about IP Law. JK Rowling's HP Lexicon suit has been the topic du jour, with [info]slashpine commenting on an AP article and doing a link roundup.

InsaneJournal

No doubt prompted by the recent outage, [info]skuf worried about the future financing of IJ (context) and later linked to [info]synecdochic's LiveJournal post on the topic, where [info]squeaky weighed in via OpenID.

Several polls:

[info]squeaky asks for your opinion on the move to a different hosting provider here.

[info]aristoboule asked if, and why, you have paid or permanent accounts (on IJ and elsewhere).

Follow-up to this post: a poll on people's preferences for off-site IJ refuge communities, here.

(Also: Happy birthday, [info]squeaky! Have a great day!)
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Issue #60

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Fannish Meta

[info]nosselinfea: Plagiarism in fandom: "We are on the whole, writers of fanfiction, which in itself stands on shaky ground from a copyright point of view. It takes a brave person to point fingers when you fear that the same fingers can be pointed right back at you for writing stories that rightly belong to JRR Tolkien or JK Rowling etc. We can argue Fair Use til we're blue in the face, but the truth is no-one knows where that line is drawn."

[info]celandineb: Writing Plausible Rare Pairs: "So the question is, then, how does an author make a pairing plausible? I'm going to try to talk in non-fandom-specific terms here, because I think that the two basic aspects I see as necessary, proximity and cause, apply across fandoms when it comes to writing rare pairs."

[Torchwood] [info]andreth_47: TW: Better or Worse When Subtext Becomes Text?: "What happens to slash when, suddenly, it's canon? Where's my delicious subtext gone?"

[Death Note] [info]branchandroot: Death Note: Duology: "You know, I quite liked the first half of the Death Note manga. And I might well have liked the second half if it hadn’t followed the first. My problem with DN is that it’s two stories in very different styles, and those styles don’t go very well together–certainly not in the order they fall."

[SG1 / Stargate: Atlantis] [info]mirabile_dictu: Do not read this post; guaranteed to harsh your SGA squee: "I have a friend who has gently pointed out that SGA is television, and that, as such, I'm expecting too much from it. I say no, I'm not. I'm not wrong to demand more than the shit-flavored pabulum that we're fed each Friday night."

General: [info]mercurychaos wrote a tutorial: OpenID Explained (with screenshots!).

LiveJournal-related

(Note: because there's been so many posts about this, I tried to include mainly the ones that summarise issues and/or collect a lot of links for further reading.)

[info]diachrony: that really wasn't a good move, SUP. (rant on LJ failboating)

Two posts by [info]stewardess: Nostalgia: 6A/SUP's Greatest Fuck-Ups (a timeline) and Six Apart/SUP Erases Porn, Sex... and Fandom (on the change/removal of interests).

[info]rood has a déjà-vu: It's LJ-drama again, surprise, surprise: "Every time I read sentences like "I just renewed my paid account because I believed you last time" or "You have to work on your communication skills!" I just want to tell the poster to shut up already because LJ proved that they won't do that."

And [info]skuf has a poll on general LJ vs. IJ usage.

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Issue #44

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Misc. Fannish Meta

[info]yayforjae: gender and fandom: "[T]he male vs female space and the gender of fandom are two really interesting topics ... I don't have any really coherent thoughts about gender in fandom at the moment, but I wanted to start writing about my experiences. So here's a bit about my first two fandoms ..."

[info]elfwreck: Anti-Fanfic Bingo, Line three: "I look at this line on the card, and I just get hung up on one topic: Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. I want to weep."

And an entry that's from December, but I just it found today... [info]gonewithoutjam: I'll Sail this Ship Alone: "So you're new to a fandom, or you're a lurker, and it seems everyone ships Y/Z. But hang on a minute. Are you sure about that?"

[info]bethbethbeth wonders if there'd be interest in a Harry Potter Fic Fest that would let characters who are usually seen as too old or too ugly or in some other way undesirable get a little action for a change.

[info]skuf: Bouncing off idea: fandom-related polls comm/archive

InsaneJournal / Siteschemes and Layouts

[info]skuf: Poll: which IJ sitescheme are you using?

Also, the new sitescheme will soon be available as a template and go into beta-testing stage. There's a call for volunteers at [info]ij_siteschemes (writing FAQs, Stylish, finding styles for different browsers).

[info]sherlock suggested an S2 style contest in [info]ideas. See also this post by [info]pen.

Other

[info]data_warrior has a detailed poll on icon creation, use and crediting.

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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 #38

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Fan Fiction & the OTW


[info]elfwreck: Some arguments against fanfic: "It's fascinating watching the anti-fanfic crowd; here in my niche in fandom, I tend to forget what a lot of people think about our beloved hobby."

[info]morgandawn: Fandom: Stop Breathing This Instant! (on why Corporate America is still stuck inside the paper bag): "I suspect that many who are objecting to the OTW's work (and fandom as well) aren't looking at fandom as part of a larger global trend of moving away from passive consuming and towards participatory culture."

RPF

Two entries by [info]hector_rashbaum:

RPF Wives and Girlfriends: "I've never really liked the idea of nonfamous wives/girlfriends showing up in fic (...) But a post championing the use of nonfamous wives/girlfriends ... had me examining why I don't like it, because I wanted to jump into the discussion with more than "it's bad because it is."

The Fourth Fence, Blurry Boundaries, and...Something Else Alliterative: "We, and by we I mean RPFers (although maybe I should specify sane RPFers ;]), do have a fourth wall. (...) Our fourth wall is more of a fence and our respect issues have some pretty significant differences; but we have a fence and we understand respect."

Vidding

[info]elfwreck: Fannish news - Change in YouTube TOS

[info]morgandawn wrote Vidding Basics (PC Version) (including links to basic tutorials).

Other

[info]kaesa: untitled post: "They're clearly not, you know, the voice of God or the Devil or, like, soulbonds or otherkin or Things from Another World. (...) I know they're just made of brainclay -- but they're there in my head, little cordoned-off bits of mind that say "This is how so-and-so thinks, feels, acts, what hir quirks are, why sie's an asshole to this person but not to that person."

Link removed 2009/01, IJ got deleted [[info]prophet_maid: "I have spent many an hour writing, researching, analyzing, and railing about the media's portrayal of women. Hell, I wrote my thesis on it (in medieval England), and I am sorely disappointed with what the Pirates franchise did to [Elizabeth]."]

[info]aristoboule created feeds for the News communities on DeadJournal, GreatestJournal, and CommieJournal.

[info]morgandawn explains how to move your Journal memories to Del.icio.us (Firefox only).

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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 #36 b

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[info]yonmei: Copyright and plagiarism and derivative use: "Certainly, while (for example) Paramount could step in and say "Wait, we own the copyright of Star Trek and we are claiming this work is unfairly derivative of Trek" a third person who doesn't own the copyright of Trek cannot step in and say "Hey, this story is illegal, that means I can steal it."

[info]mythicdove: please to be helping dove for she hath questions on life mystery: "Have any of you ever developed a crush on a fandom character, or an actor, sports figure, musician, ect and you can't figure out WHY?"

[info]das_dingsi: InsaneJournal: A Beginner's Guide

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Issue #19

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[info]elfwreck: Collecting info on copyright misuse: "I know there are several teachers on my f'list; I'm hoping some of them (or their associates) will have stories or even documented incidents related to this. [...] For example, a teacher who chose not to use a television, movie, or music clip in the classroom out of fear that his or her actions violated copyright law."

[info]gueneiriol: Ideas for The Con (tm): "So, if you were going to attend a virtual con, what would you like to see happen at it?"

[info]mizbean: Harry/Draco Clichés: "So what is your favorite Harry/Draco cliché, and which is your least favorite?"

[info]musesfool: you think i'm gorgeous, you wanna date me: "I write and read slash, and I have some slash OTPs, and I am a fan of slash, but I am not a slasher, and I often have to preface my contributions to fannish discussions that way, and sometimes it feels weird."

[info]deborak: Why I'm Not a Grammar Nazi: "When it comes to fan fiction, there are those who want to be strict about spelling, punctuation and grammar. As a historian, I cannot get worked up about textual correctness. The rules and spellings that are cherished today will mean nothing a few centuries from now."

[info]loud99: I'm annoyed.: "It's one thing to create a community for the sake of creating it, but to do it out of some sense that the fandom is dying because some things have moved out of LJ is completely and utterly ridiculous. LJ is NOT fandom. Fans make fandom."

[info]dmitchell1985: And we're hypocritically together ever after!: "For a stretch there, everyone seemed to be all over this racism business, but would cry bloody murder if someone ever nudged them to say that something they may have said or written was offensive. Where is the ability to step back and write reflective meta then; when a situation that truly calls for sincere thought has arrived? Where is the moment where the person doesn't simply jump to the defensive and have all of their fangirls swoop in and attack?"

On Warner Brothers' president of production Jeff Robinov's new decree that "We are no longer doing movies with women in the lead":

[info]spacelogic (in [info]feminism): women in entertainment: "When my family picked up the first DVD of Star Trek: Enterprise [...] we played a guessing game. I held the DVD box where nobody could see it, and asked a series of questions: How many women are there on the DVD box? How many people of Asian ancestry? Are those people male or female? How many of African ancestry?"

[info]yourlibrarian: The future of the female hero?: "Other issues are being brought up in the gender in fan studies discussion, namely that men have less reason to transform material that is being created for them whereas women modify it or focus on certain parts to satisfy their own interests. It’s not like that’s an exclusively gendered practice, since any minority group is likely to do so with entertainment targeted at a different/larger audience."

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Issue #18

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General Fannish Meta

[info]lenija: ExcorcismMetaPuzzle (1) - recipient positions: "There are at least two levels on which you can like or dislike a character. [...] I suspect that people who have one OTP and one favourite character in a fandom tend to read that fandom mainly on Level One, especially when they fight over who is to be seen as the "best character" and which ship is most "true"."

[info]yourlibrarian: Ship stats reviewed: "I was curious about where the SPN fandom, which seems active and growing, stood in comparison. And it kicked up something interesting. In most of the Buffyverse pairings there was clearly a preferred order for the characters to be listed in. Yet for SPN, whose biggest pairing are its main characters, there is a virtually equal number of Sam/Dean (493) Dean/Sam (492) and Wincest (491) listings on LJ."

[info]rebeccama: QAF: The more things change the more they stay the same: "I have changed my mind about a number of things both since I started watching QAF, since I joined the fandom, and since the show ended. [...] However some of my opinions, views, and interests have remained the same from either 101 or at least early in the show. [...] Does anyone else have a list of things that have stayed consistent?"

[info]babydraco: untitled post: "As someone who writes erotica with older teens frequently, but has only ever once written a story that involved what I thought chan was- I don't like people just lumping all of that together. It makes you as bad as the anti Potter porn people, because you're taking away the "Sorry, but I don't write chan" defense - don't call it chan when it isn't."

Other

[info]elfwreck: Strikethrough links: it's not about law: "Links to prove that LJ's new interpretations of their polices aren't based on avoiding liability; they're based on management's content preferences."

Perhaps relevant to fandom: The Karen Fletcher Case. Miss Fletcher published original fiction online which was pretty graphic and dealt with the sexual abuse of minors, torture, and murder. She is believed to be "the first person in Western Pennsylvania charged with exclusively text based obscenity" (emphasis mine).

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Issue #13

[info]das_dingsi
[info]meta_roundup


[info]stewardess: Behind the Buzzwords: Why Track Only 5% of LJ Users?: "The change, effective around September 27, 2007: Six Apart will track usage within personal journals and communities. Navigation patterns will be examined, as well as browser type, operating system, browser window size, and other things useful to advertisers. [...] Makes me wonder if 6A picked 5% because that's nearly everyone still using Livejournal."

[info]its_art: Fox is Enfocing Copyright: "Fox is going on a rampage and yanking Buffy and Angel fanvids off of YouTube."

[info]stellar_dust: *runs with the big kids now*: "YouTube took down my Boston Legal fantrailer "as a result of a third-party notification by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation claiming that this material is infringing." [...] And this is nothing new at all, but it blows me away that media corporations go out of their way to alienate their fans, and don't see the contradiction there."

[info]xie_xie_xie (in [info]qaf_coffeeclub): I want you safe....: "When I write Brian and Justin having unprotected sex, it's always [...] in the context of them having made the decision to do this, become monogamous, gotten tested, waited, etc. [...] But when you just read these stories by themselves, that's not always absolutely clear. [...] I wonder about the effect of this body of fiction on people just casually reading in our fandom, or on new writers, or on younger fans in general, who might not remember the dawn of AIDS and just why this is so important."

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

Roundup Issue #10

[info]das_dingsi
[info]meta_roundup


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."


If you have a meta entry to contribute -- be it yours or someone else's -- reply with the link here, or here if you prefer screened comments.

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

Roundup Issue #5

[info]das_dingsi
[info]meta_roundup


InsaneJournal / other journaling services

Layout issues: [info]uniquewonders posted about some journal layouts, namely Smooth Sailing, Nebula, and Flexible Squares, that using them on any other site than livejournal.com is illegal. [info]lilbreck asks for clarification. The discussion thread on [info]nameless_layout can be found here.

[info]fizzyblogic: livejournal / insanejournal / scribblit / fic: Four parts: Why I Left Livejournal (And Why I'm Not Going Back) / Why I Am Using Insanejournal And Intend To Continue Doing So / Why I Am Excited About Scribblit (And Will Be Over There Like A Shot When It Goes Live) / Scribblit, Those Canadian Laws, How It Applies To Me, And Why My Fic Will Be On Scribblit

[info]luzzu: Is it just me?: "I like this site, a lot. I came here to get away from LJ and it's like some of fandom are trying to bring all the wank with them rather than leave it where it should be - on LJ."

[info]buggery: Hold that 'yay' -- everything is NOT suddenly okay.: "Yays, LiveJournal/SixApart are being reasonable again! -- or are they? -- Let's have a look."

[info]ishtar79: Lie to me some more, I LIKE it!: "Granted, the ingenuous code they use might be hard to crack, but fear not-- I speak fluent Bullshit. So in the interests of clarity: ..."

[info]lilbreck posted a tutorial (with screenshots): How To: Getting Semagic to Post Tags to InsaneJournal.


General Fannish Meta

[info]rubytuesday5681: *CLAPS HANDS LOUDLY**: "i know that the situation sucks right now and we are all angry and bitter. but going on and on and on about it is not going to fix anything. let's show the world that we can't be held down! it's time for everyone to do their best to brighten the mood a bit!"

[info]elfwreck: Stop Calling Yourselves Criminals!: "Copyright infringement is illegal. Is fanfiction 'copyright infringement?' Plenty of authors think so. Plenty of fanficcers think so. But that doesn't make it true."

[info]nosselinfea: fandomcrazy: "So now, in comes the California State Attorney General, and suddenly fandom is pulled out of hiding, kicking and screaming into the glare of public scrutiny. (...) It'll be DMCA takedown notices flying like confetti (...) Ironically, RPS isn't covered by copyright law, so it is probably the only area of fandom that's actually relatively safe."

[info]elgraves would like to know if there's some sort of fannish newspaper covering news that may effect fandom community (e.g. DMCA notices).

[info]badonkatonks: Why I approve of sexually graphic young adult literature, novels, and fanfiction: "There are many more young adult novels published than we realize that deal with teen sexuality and how it affects self-image, especially for young girls. I happen to believe there is an area of fanfiction that should be included in a 'safety net' that would protect the writer and the fanfiction from being banned and deleted only because of the fact that the character(s) are teenaged minors."

[info]rubyfruit_pixie: Fannish Thoughts from Jordi: "I wonder why there's such an outcry among fans of female characters when one chooses a different character, be they male, female, or humanoid creature of indeterminate gender, to pair her up with than there is for male characters."

[info]ranalore: today's psa brought to you by the reactions to my latest posted story: "More angsty =/= more realistic."

[info]florida_minxie set up an Art/Fic Collaboration Poll and needs some input.

So does [info]greenwitch, regarding possible issues (and solutions) of the [info]holiday_wishes project. "Any thoughts or comments, even if you weren't involved in the project in the past, would be appreciated."