Meta Roundup

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.)

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

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

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."

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."

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)

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

yourlibrarian (in 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:

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

General meta (including HP)

telesilla: Stories I can't write: "Do you ever read something that is not only really quite excellent but is also something you know you can't write because it isn't how you tell a story or it isn't one of your core stories? It happens to me and sometimes I'm filled with something that can only be--pretentiously--described as yearning."

celandineb: Commentary on commenting on fanfic: "There's a certain amount of dispute as to the etiquette of commenting on fic. To what extent is it expected, what kind of commentary, and whether the author should reply in turn, are the most common points of interest. So I figured it was worthwhile to add to the mass of posts out there about the subject, given that we're starting to get close to the Great Holiday Exchange season."

dmitchell1985: SGA Renewed for Season Five? Aww, man!: "Okay, so I already mentioned how I'm not exactly fond of the new SGA. Well, it seems that New SGA has been renewed for a fifth season. I am well aware of the fact that this makes me a "bad Stargate fan," but I was kind of hoping that they wouldn't be." (Spoilers!)

ldybastet: Dumbles: "I felt as if I really should just keep quiet after reading quite a few acerbic posts and comments about how those who don't squee about it are only wanking. So, if we don't 100% like it and express it, we're apparently fuelling the wank. *cough* And that is the kind of statement that is making people hesitate to express their honest opinions and want to discuss the subject."

lysa1: Metaish: Heroes and Morale in HP: "Through the lack of a (reader-contract-acceptable) morale for the story, and especially the way the search for redemption is rewarded, JK leaves the myths and the ancient history she uses, hence leaving the reader (me, you are welcome to an entirely different opinion) unsatisfied and wanting more/less/a different hero." Eta Dec 8th 2007 - entry is now locked, I removed the link..

InsaneJournal

In ideas, squeaky discusses the option of purchasing more user pics. "Possibly a new item called "Insane UserPics" which offers 5,000 userpics. How much would you guys be willing to pay for that many?" (No, that wasn't a typo. 5,000.)

skuf: Interaction on alternate blogging site(s) vs. LJ following Strikethrough/Boldthrough: "So I wonder how typical/a-typical my experience is - do I just have an awesome IJ f-list, who is interested in interaction, or are more of you, who have moved at least half of your focus to IJ, getting more comments/interaction on IJ than on LJ, too?"

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

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."

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."

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. :)

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."

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?"

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

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."

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."

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."

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":

spacelogic (in 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?"

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."

General Fandom Meta

shusu: we are all naked, our voices all clear.: "I see other people in fandom, men and women, who hesitate, who do the same thing that everyone else does but with that hint of shame, who apologize for who they are, and I think why? Why? Life is so short and the internet is so anonymous. Golden Rule aside."

the_willow: Excited About Anime: Claymore: "Before the cut, however, I will say that there are amazing similarities between Claymores (the female warriors in the series - which is also a manga - and Slayers, as in Btvs. Like there are serious similarities, but in a very interesting, if occasionally frustrating and potentially gender wtf way."

brown_betty: Bring out your dead!: "Anyway, what are the little details that have broken your suspension of disbelief?"

tigresslilly: The Question of Race from the Writer's Perspective: "Part of my problem with adding race into a story is that I'm not 100% how to do it. [...] How do I and other authors avoid being racist when adding race or is this more of a trial and error sort of thing?"

justhuman: Fall TV season so far: "So I get a response from a different person that starts off with I hate slash - and repeats it *3x* in the comment. Then he goes on to say how much he loves how they show a close friendship between straight guys and that the fangirl squee goes too far sometimes.[...] And this right after I've been in a couple of meta discussions when I was chatting to newcomers about the crap I put up with as a slasher 4-5 years ago."

animehime (in fanficrants): How to turn a reader off on one easy step.: "I don't care how good your fics might sound (not that they sounded all that interesting in the first place), consistently insulting your potential readers and their intelligence is the quickest way to get me to close the tab that contains your profile."

reijamira started a friending meme for Supernatural fandom.

LiveJournal

elke_tanzer: Thank you Erica from LJ Account Payments.: "[...] my elke_tanzer LJ is now an unpaid Basic account, and the very-recent charges to my credit card for the next year and extra userpics have been reversed. The email situation and the very-recent-ness of the charges were apparently sufficient grounds for an exception to the standing LJ policy of no refunds for charges. Below, in case anyone's curious, is my half of the correspondence I had via the support request."

das_dingsi: More News on Snap.com and LJ's New Snap Shots Feature: "So, not only do we have the theory that LJ's new link policy has only been implemented so LJ can keep the Snap Shots previews nice and clean... now there's also the fact that, again, it's all about ads and making money instead of the needs and concerns of the actual user base (who never asked for Snap Shots in the first place)."

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, 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...


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?"

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?"

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 ..."

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."

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."

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."

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 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."

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

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.

brimac13: Random About Fandom: "I'm going to post a list of various things about fandom that I find either annoying or implausible--or both, actually. As a precursor, this list is meant to be funny, not to offend." (Example: "5. Writtn' in accents is annoyin', doncha thahnk?")

entrenous88: the return of fannish glee!: "Maybe we should challenge each other in exchanges -- if this person updates her fic, that person might make a set of icons; if one fan posts thoughts on a show or book she's been vaguely meaning to post for a while, another fan will do a great picspam that will get more people invigorated and excited about a particular aspect of one or more fandoms."

babydraco: untitled post: "I have met some of the darker parts of myself in my fic writing and reading-stuff I’d never have otherwise told people I thought about and found that not only did tons of other people understand, but lots of people thought up stuff that was even darker or scarier or more perverted. And that taught me about my limits too."

dfasgiles (in fandom_love): Bless you.: "I have also noticed that there is absolutely no room in fandom for those of us who have mental disabilities and/or illnesses. We are considered to be the people to ban, rather than the people to put on moderation (even if we ask to be)."

morgandawn: Ode To Vid Shows And Fan-Run Conventions, part one and part two. Deals with con expectations and promises, as well as gender and what is it like to be a woman and a fan of popular culture. Part 2 ends with some general questions: "So why do you all attend fan conventions? What do you want out of your vid shows?"

musesfool: still trying to change this mold: "There's a lot of discussion going on about sisabet and sockkpuppett's SPN vid "Women's Work" (...) In looking at it, I don't think the vid is saying, "This show we love is anti-women," so much as it is saying, "Look at how endemic sexualized violence towards women is in our society - this is our culture, our entertainment - and it's so prevalent that we often don't even notice unless we're hit in the face with it."

yourlibrarian (in mind_over_meta): Becoming a fan: Supernatural: "In fact SPN was hardly ever mentioned in reviews at all. This is where fandom comes in. (...) What did make a difference was the fact that people’s posts about SPN kept reminding me of it, whereas otherwise it would just be another vague name on a TV schedule."

telesilla: art vs child porn and why fandom needs to stand with our artists: "Right now, LJ is home to a pretty vast fannish population. I don't know how the actual fan artists on my flist feel about this, but if I were one of them and LJ/6A said "we're going after art only" I'd fucking bail. (...) And if the fan artists start leaving, fandom is diminished."

diachrony: the latest and greatest: highlights in the "LJ shenanigans show" (a very informative rundown / link roundup on recent events, including the new v-gifts advertising strategy).


If you have a meta post you'd like to see included, leave a comment to this entry, or if you are more comfortable with screened comments, go here.

General Fandom Meta

ignazwisdom: Great Ways to Get People to Not Read Your Story, #7: 'Put something like this in as your author's note: "Again... Not very good. I'll try to do better next time."'

thete1: On Fanart, Graphic and Otherwise.: "When we say to ourselves, "well, it's not like they're going after the *writers*," what we're really saying is that fanart isn't important. We're saying the fanartists are, at best, second-class fans, undeserving of the rights and appreciation due to the rest of us."

rubyfruit_pixie: Your thoughts?: "If there's no profanity, and there's no sexual content beyond hand-holding and kissing, is it possible to give a G-rating to those fics and art with a gay couple, or does it get bumped up a rating because of the fact that there's an M/M or F/F couple?"

shannon730 (on fandom_love): Intro and Artisitc/Literary Merit?: "Artistic and Literary merit to me are about the story the work tells. That's why art is being hit harder. It's not about the art being good or bad, it's because there isn't a story behind it."

hphaeton: The Warnings Discussion: "First of all I have to say that I want - no, need - to read warnings before I start reading a fic. (...) When I read an original novel/book I haven't invested any emotion yet. (...) But fanfiction is something completely different for me. (...) Often enough warnings are either too specific or not specific enough for my taste."

bitterfig: delusions?: "Basically, the recent controversy about Livejournals suspension of users for posting sexually explicit fan art is making me take a look at the role fandom has come to play in my life and what my shadow career as a fan fiction writer means to me."

thete1: Fannish Activities As Therapy: Making It Better: "One of the things that keeps me in fandom is the opportunity to therapize myself, and one of my favorite ways to do that is to make some of favorite characters happier. Just plain 'happy' is, for a lot of these guys, asking far too much, but *happier* is possible. (...) Do you find yourselves doing this sort of thing? If so, how do you set out to make characters happy? What's your perfect story of both personal and virtual fulfillment?"

zulu: Writing Bad Habits: "Any bad habits you know you have to go looking for on an edit, or avoid during writing?"

luzzu: Fuck's sake fandom: "Fandom hypocrisy for the lose. When you find yourself the victim of a witchhunt, the answer is, to start another!"


InsaneJournal

emilie_burns collected links to various statements by squeaky, regarding InsaneJournal's policies and stance towards fandom.

Also, squeaky just upped the friends limit, as well as the links limit for the sidebar.

snakeling: IJ Siteschemes and how to modify them. Tutorials for Firefox, Epiphany, and Opera.

tinnidawg found two Firefox add-ons that help you download all your memories and userpics/scrapbook pictures.

guiltyred (on 07refugees) points us towards the email notification center, which also has the option for new friend notices. Unfortunately, it does not work (yet).

telesilla shares her thoughts on the various journaling options (InsaneJournal, GreatestJournal, JournalFen, Blurty and Scribblit).

mythicdove: Poll: "For those of you who have/had a LJ and wrote fic, curious as to what you are doing currently."


LiveJournal

diachrony started a discussion (on 07refugees) about Matthew Skala's online article, "The Terrible Secret of LiveJournal".

p_zeitgeist: You know that thing about killing all the lawyers? (crossposted from LJ): "But horribly, thanks to a potential flamewar I turned away from at the last possible moment, I have a new hypothesis about what's been going on with 6A. And I almost resent the fact that if it's correct, it will mean that I was right in the first instance, they really do mean well, and every single thing we've objected to is by way of being a hideous accident."

justhuman: I should be sleeping, but I’m going to post potentially fannishly unpopular stuff first: "Back in June sometime between Strikethrough and Boldthrough, I said in a comment somewhere that it was good fandom was pushing back, but eventually we’d need to back down on some of the issues because freedom of speech has never been absolute in the US and there are laws against distributing certain types of images and content. (...) Getting the California Attorney General involved in Fandom vs. LJ ... this cannot end well."

diachrony: now about making text or hyperlinks, and what LJ thinks of that ...: "It seems (...) that there is now a strong possibility that LiveJournal will summarily ban and delete users for merely providing a text link to another site that hosts content LiveJournal deems 'objectionable.'"


Other

the_willow: IBARW: Grab Your CoC meme - C. Fillmore: "A cop's show with a black title character, who despite the laughs, is an intelligent hero. How could he not be one of my absolute favourite Characters of Colour."

[german] Da bei LiveJournal nun auch Links zu illegalen/obszönen Inhalten zur Suspendierung führen können, hat mllesatine sich mit der Rechtslage zu Verweisen und Hyperlinks im deutschen Raum beschäftigt.