Meta Roundup

rood: Meine Kritik an Fanfiktion.de, von Rodo, einer enttäuschten Nutzerin.

the_rck wrote an untitled post about entering new fandoms through fic, without knowing the canon, and the downsides to it.

elfwreck wrote about the Fanlore wiki: "I love fanlore, the idea of it, the way it does work in some areas. I just haven't figured out how to be involved with it."

celandineb's Fandom Friday Poll is asking the question of fic length, i.e. how do you define a drabble, and a fic novel?

[Pro Wrestling] mllesatine: meta: I will try and analyse one of my "quilty pleasures" today.

[Coraline (movie)] yayforjae describes "a strange phenomenon in the Coraline fandom - Portraying Wybie as white".

[Supernatural] yourlibrarian: Missing the Music: Song Use in SPN: "I'm sure everyone has favorite songs in the series. I definitely have my own, but I wanted to think about what we're losing when we don't have music, which goes beyond just having a kick soundtrack. So, just for fun, I decided to do a little meta on what the 10 most significant uses of music have been so far."

Posts about Dreamwidth:

telesilla: Because I'm just a cock-eyed optimist; or why I'm going to be paying for Dreamwidth (also deals with JournalFen and InsaneJournal for comparison/background)

branchandroot, in a post titled In which Dreamwidth is not Microsoft, explains the difference between open beta and site launch.

skuf: April Posting Pact Meta Post the Firste: Dreamwidth's Subscribe/Grant Access To and You (thoughts on Dreamwidth's filtering/friending system and wondering how to handle it)

[Harry Potter] magpyr: Some scattered thoughts on languages in HP: "I'm in the middle of re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here's some language-related things I've been thinking about ..."

[Watchmen movie] stele3: "No" means "no" means "I will stab you in the fucking face.": "Thank you, Mr. Hayter, but NO, I do not want to have your movie 'bend [me] over the pool table,' and I will not be going back to see it, 'just like Sally' (classic trope of a woman falling in love with her rapist, hi there)."

brownbetty: Let's talk about books!: "Today's topic: Oh My God, I Can See Your Id!"

spacelogic: reading historical fandom battles: we need more [x]!: "The thing I found myself thinking most about, though, was that the thing dealt with some people getting very upset over the prevalence of [het/slash/saffic] vs. other types of fic in a particular fandom, and I bethought myself of my past experience going between fandoms, and wondered: why didn't they just find a different fandom to supplement?"

betbethbeth has a post on everyday cultural appropriation.
stewardess wrote about Reckless Eyeballing in the 21st Century: "While RaceFail09 has many similarities to imbroglios about race and racism in the past, I believe its events have gained a unique momentum because they are not focused on one instance of racial prejudice, but spring from something enormous: challenging white authority. I didn't grasp this until I compared RaceFail09 to Jim Crow era reckless eyeballing ..." (Has lots of links and a timeline, too.)

Also, bridgetmkennit is looking for submissions (and/or suggestions) for the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, e.g. character spotlights, fic focusing on Asian/Pacific Islander characters, and the like.

As for the recent username purge, all asylums should have been reinstated - they actually weren't supposed to get deleted and future purges won't affect them.

spacelogic: on whitewashing: "Let's just take a moment to review the damage done by whitewashing, shall we?"

yourlibrarian is not only looking for The Dresden Files fanfic recs (as the post title suggests), but also created a poll to discuss what factors a canon text might have that contribute to also having lots of good fanfic.

In a post titled How Much For That Fan Fiction In The Window?, morgandawn talks about 'binding' fic for offline reading, and also asks "What's your favorite way of assembling your fan fiction to read offline?"

[Queer as Folk] vl_redreign created a fun 'crossover' poll to sort QaF characters into Harry Potter houses.

[Doctor Who] versaphile ponders Journey's End might-have-beens, in regards to the Doctor's regeneration and what it might have meant for the series.

[Prince of Tennis] branchandroot: Problematic: "The thing about shounen sports is that it is, by dramatic necessity, limited to one season unless downright heroic measures are taken to alter the venue and cast. One season tends to exhaust the dramatic tension."

[Supernatural] bridgetmkennit: Because I feel I am right on this and I really don't want to be: "Would Castiel have been as popular if he'd been played by a woman (as one meta questioned) or by a person of color? [...] Will I see the same amount of attention on Uriel that I've seen on Castiel?"

[The Matrix Trilogy] jazzymegster wrote a post on Neo as a canon Sue (or Stu).

brownbetty has quick thoughts on fandom timelines and "fandoms-that-ate-fandom", and whether there are ways to measure them objectively.

[Harry Potter] cluegirl: A wee little fandom 'argh': "I know that people don't like to feel obligated to warnings on their fics, and I know people's character perceptions are highly subjective, but if I was Empress of the Internet, fan writers would have to warn for Chump!Harry."

[Supernatural] brownbetty started a list of instances of racialized violence in SPN.

rood: Meta (Again?): "Most of my personal archive (about 75%, I'd guess) consists of abandoned WIPs. [...] I also tried to find new fics to read via rec-lists, and more often than not I ended up following a dead link. Websites vanish or aren't updated, and that makes me feel as if fandom is like Venice with its dead-ends and canals and narrow streets. Just without the signs that make Venice less of a maze."

musesfool: i know the words that you long to hear: "No one ever got more X-type fic by demanding people stop writing Y. Telling someone their way of engaging with fandom is wrong and that it's somehow oppressing you when you don't ever have to see it or participate in it is completely anathema to what fandom is."

For people who also have LJs: there's a new FanHistory bot intended to scrape LJ userinfos, apparently it uses member lists of fannish communities to do so. It's opt-out, meaning you have to change your journal settings if you want the bot to leave your journal alone. morgandawn provides "How to" info/links, elfwreck muses on the possible outcome of the endeavour.

Meta

alchemia posted a list of mainstream/canonical Mpreg examples.

elfwreck (in metametameta): Class issues in U.S. television: "Okay, let's make it a game. The rules are: Name a show, or if we're really lucky, some shows, that are centered around lower-class or working-class characters, and are not sitcoms."

[SGA] telesilla: it's been 3.4 weeks since the last time my fandom showed its ass: "In a conversation--which has since been frozen--elsewhere today, more than one person said they were glad the dreads stayed because they made Ronon look more alien. Actually, the word "non-human" was used. I'm sorry, but what?!"

[Harry Potter] In snapedom, there were two recent posts comparing anti-Muggle sentiment in HP to racism; Playing the Race Card: Is Anti-Muggle Prejudice Really the Unpardonable Sin? by bohemianspirit, and an untitled followup commentary by ether_bunny.

Other

squeaky started a Weekend Sale for Permanent Accounts and Insane Userpics, ending on Sunday at 8:00 p.m., and also asks for reports on still existing site bugs.

For Firefox users who also use LJlogin to manage their InsaneJournal accounts: Firefox 3 does not support LJlogin. I've read about at least ten other addons not working, either (e.g. CookieSafe), but apparently there's a workaround for at least some of those. darkrose posted about it here.

janecarnall: On writing PoC (when I am not one): "But there seems to be, in some people's minds, a barrier that says "I can't write about that because I'm not the right colour to do it" - and really; kick that crap out."

justhuman: Meta topic - Fictional Responsibility to Real Life Issues: "How much responsibility do authors have to present a controversial issue with all of its nuances? [...] Is the author required to insert a potential anvil of information in the fic to let you know the character is at risk?"

ingrid: "In writing, Viscount ...": "See, the problem with finding (and creating) the perfect rec community is that the responsibility of discovery is on the reader, not the reccer."

slashpine: Short rant on LJ suck-ups, and then a longer bit on OTW: "I. Lap dogs of LJ [...] I have a bone to pick *g* with the people ranting about LJ last summer and now quietly giving them money again. // II. OTW: Like LJ-Biz minus the cat macros [...] OTW stakes out new territory for fandom. Why is it doing it the same old mainstream society way?"

amireal: In which we talk about definitions and paths and all the stuff in between.: "I'm saying that there is a historically female dominated fandom space. [...] It wasn't a purposeful creation but a bunch of women fell together and realized they had a common way of playing."

Polls

letmypidgeonsgo has a short Doctor Who companion poll on Rose, Marta, and Donna.

tommygirl asks if there'd be interest in a MST3K/snark asylum for Supernatural.

Deutsch: lenija möchte einen "Porn Battle" im deutschen Fandom starten.

LiveJournal: The new LJ Explore Area

In short: this feature picks up public content from your journal/community and showcases it in the Explore Area categories. Communities can not opt out of it, only individual users. For more information (incl. how to opt-out), see xie_xie_xie's post in 07refugees. morgandawn and elfwreck both have examples for what kind of entries ended up in the spotlight.

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.

reijamira: Instructions On How To Upload Mood Themes: "First of, as far as I know, uploading mood themes is only possible for user with permanent or payed accounts. There are actually two ways how to upload your mood theme! You can use the Mood Theme Editor or the Admin Console. Personally, I like the Admin Console more, because it's much faster and it's not half as difficult to use as it sounds."

ilysah: Tags Might Not Be Your Friend: "As a fandom, are we exposing our hobby to mainstream public by tagging our posts? (...) I suspect, though, the owner of this site is using some type of software, trawling the net and gathering up data based on Tags."

lordhellebore: Fanfic =/= Inferior writing: "So, that doesn't mean, as I said, that I expect everyone to like fanfic, or even really get why we do it. But the "OMG you could do so much BETTER!" and "You're just afraid/incapable of doing something of your own!" comments are ridiculous and condescending and show that those people have no clue and no interest in learning about the WHY."

otempora01 (in writers_cafe): let's talk harry potter: "I mean, sure, every book in the world is always compared to at least one other book, but does it bother anyone else that you can't even say the word witch/wizard in relation to your own novel without someone mentioning Harry Potter? I'm not speaking out against Harry Potter as I'm a fan, but I was just wondering."

babydraco: OOh! Have I won the insane Welshman?: "Don't the Malfoys and their friends strike you as the sort of people who would normally be bothered by the presence of a Person of Color in their midst? I guess skin color doesn’t matter as much when the issue is more who has magic and who doesn’t. The wizarding world considers wizard as their race."

its_art: Minor Characters: Are They Original or Canon?: "So I have to ask all of my HP fen... When does a canon character ceased being canon and start being original?"

Two 07refugees posts:

calime: On fandom migration, safe spaces and keeping in touch with your flist: "I'd love a place that would make it easy for readers to follow them - a kind of all-in-one project that could host content, but also could serve just as an linking hub with a profile page, an address book etc. So, for me the [squidge.org] project sounds very appealing."

emilie_burns asks: "Is it, or is it not, more or less mandatory on IJ to flock explicit material?"

And last but not least, j_crew_guy informs us that Dan Didio, Senior Vice-President and Executive Editor of DC Comics, has no idea what the word "fan-fiction" means, but likes to use it anyway.

Additional note for the people who are members of the fandomdirectory, but don't have it on their friendslist because of the many new entries each update: I'd like to know if fandom asylums that only cross-post from LJ should be included in some way.

Coming soon: general fandom poll. Stay tuned.

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.