BAG post March 2019
Mar. 31st, 2019 10:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseMy monthly personal post. This time, some good ramblings, a bit about work, some anger at the bullshit that is #article13 and a couple of positive pieces of world news :)
Another month almost over. At least this time I can say I wrote plenty of words, largely thanks to the allbingo meet-ugly fest. I wrote 4 pieces of original fic for the professional blogs and 5 pieces of fanfic. 8735 words total according to AO3 which is pretty amazing, that alone is more than three quarters of my expected GYWO wordcount.
And that marks another month in which I posted weekly, #writingwednesday to the professional writing sites. Also I finally started using my writing AO3 (lmdee) by claiming the fairytale fics I posted to my fannish one, and "co-authoring" the meet-ugly fics.
Work has been good. I've had more responsibilities this year and felt more useful, more part of a team, and more able to ask for advice/support as well as helping more. The school whose governing board I clerk for is in the midst of a rebuild and we're all excited to see the finished product. Early June should see the pupils move into the new build, with demolition of the existing structures and landscaping to follow over the summer holidays.
I've stopped checking email frequently, unless I'm expecting email I need to deal with. I check work email on the web but I've stopped needing to keep personal email open all day every day. I check DW on a semi-regular basis, and set up a filter at DW and LJ for the journals/communities I especially need to read to make it easier to catchup if I'm away for longer periods. I already use rss for a mix of news, lj, dw, tumblr, and other sites. I'm trying to find ways to ensure my use of online services benefits me. Sometimes I just want to scroll twitter for a bit, sometimes I want to read 20 fics on AO3, sometimes I want to read my DW circle or sort my email. Most things don't have to be done immediately, despite social media making it seem that way. Posts will be there a day, a week, or more later.
Somewhat related; my goal this year was to be kinder to myself and I'm trying. Celebrating the wins when I write words instead of beating myself up over what I haven't done. Additionally I've found myself be more selective about reading. If a book or a fic pulls some neo-Puritan crap or has the heroine whining about how she'll never have a "real" marriage without sex or a "real" family without a biological child (fuck the sisters she'd spent the previous chapters raising they don't count?!), I toss it aside.
I actually have a list of LJ Idol competitors that I don't bother looking at any more. I used to read everything at the start of each round but I've learnt where I'll just end up angry. The latest writer to end up on the strike through list penned a supposedly humorous non-fic piece about the horrors of long-distance relationships which had nothing to do with emotional closeness or practical support but was framed as "oh no how will you fit in all the fucking? Every time you're together you have to do nothing but fuck to make up for lost time!" and I'm done with idea that relationships=sex and anyone who insists that's true.
So that's self-care, I think. Saying "I don't have to deal with this today/at all".
Quick rant. I'm really tired of rampant ageism both in fandom (anyone over 25 is now "creepy" in some fandom circles), around technology, and politically and that's all I'm going on say on it right now aside from, on the fandom side, 16 year olds don't run conventions or sites like AO3 or make the tv shows you're writing about.
Also fuck Article 13 (now renamed 17). What started out as an attempt to ensure music artists get reasonable compensation for their work being streamed has turned into a recipe for censorship by putting the onus on site hosters (eg Youtube, Google) to ensure no copyrighted material gets uploaded. Because see how well automatic filtering worked when Tumblr implemented it and decided pictures of male chests, and sand dunes, were female nipples. And how text posts get flagged when the onus was on explicit pictures.
If that's where we're at with Tumblr, where will we be when Youtube has to decide if something violates fair use or falls under the safety net of parody? Even "Family Guy" got Fox sued (twice unsuccessfully, one out of court settlement) despite clearly parodying the media they're referencing.
Many youtubers have reported false copyright claims against them when the material is clearly fair use. And many tumblr users have complained about false reporting of their blogs by disgruntled users (antis quite often) who dislike the content rather than the content being forbidden. Many users will choose to delete their work or even their account rather than fight these bans and Article 13 will make things a whole lot worse. Thanks, EU, not least for how you fucked up the voting to make sure it went through!
There's a tumblr called damnfandomproblems where people submit things they find annoying or difficult about fandom, everything from timezones to unfinished fics. Lately there's been a rash of "you shouldn't write for comments, you shouldn't expect comments, you don't deserve comments, you don't deserve praise for just writing some words*. It's at odds with the overall thrust from bloggers and authors and artists of all kinds who desperately want feedback.
(I wish I was joking but here it is: https://damnfandomproblems.tumblr.com/post/182399705281/the-sense-of-entitlement-of-fanfic-writers-who#notes I don't know where submitter thinks we should post given that AO3 is pretty much The One-stop shop for fanfic these days.)
Comments are love. Support fics. Comment on posts. Retweet/reblog/rec things.
I'm still doing the "leave a comment on any fic, over 100 words, on AO3, that I finish reading" and often on those with fewer word and on fic not on AO3, etc but I needed some parameters to make it feasible.
To end on a brighter note AO3 lays out why despite Article 13 passing fanfic won't be banned and AO3 is safe, being a non-profit site. This supermarket shows how banana leaves could replace plastic packaging on fruit. And study shows endangered carnivorous species such as otters, polecats and pine martens have staged a remarkable comeback in Britain
Another month almost over. At least this time I can say I wrote plenty of words, largely thanks to the allbingo meet-ugly fest. I wrote 4 pieces of original fic for the professional blogs and 5 pieces of fanfic. 8735 words total according to AO3 which is pretty amazing, that alone is more than three quarters of my expected GYWO wordcount.
And that marks another month in which I posted weekly, #writingwednesday to the professional writing sites. Also I finally started using my writing AO3 (lmdee) by claiming the fairytale fics I posted to my fannish one, and "co-authoring" the meet-ugly fics.
Work has been good. I've had more responsibilities this year and felt more useful, more part of a team, and more able to ask for advice/support as well as helping more. The school whose governing board I clerk for is in the midst of a rebuild and we're all excited to see the finished product. Early June should see the pupils move into the new build, with demolition of the existing structures and landscaping to follow over the summer holidays.
I've stopped checking email frequently, unless I'm expecting email I need to deal with. I check work email on the web but I've stopped needing to keep personal email open all day every day. I check DW on a semi-regular basis, and set up a filter at DW and LJ for the journals/communities I especially need to read to make it easier to catchup if I'm away for longer periods. I already use rss for a mix of news, lj, dw, tumblr, and other sites. I'm trying to find ways to ensure my use of online services benefits me. Sometimes I just want to scroll twitter for a bit, sometimes I want to read 20 fics on AO3, sometimes I want to read my DW circle or sort my email. Most things don't have to be done immediately, despite social media making it seem that way. Posts will be there a day, a week, or more later.
Somewhat related; my goal this year was to be kinder to myself and I'm trying. Celebrating the wins when I write words instead of beating myself up over what I haven't done. Additionally I've found myself be more selective about reading. If a book or a fic pulls some neo-Puritan crap or has the heroine whining about how she'll never have a "real" marriage without sex or a "real" family without a biological child (fuck the sisters she'd spent the previous chapters raising they don't count?!), I toss it aside.
I actually have a list of LJ Idol competitors that I don't bother looking at any more. I used to read everything at the start of each round but I've learnt where I'll just end up angry. The latest writer to end up on the strike through list penned a supposedly humorous non-fic piece about the horrors of long-distance relationships which had nothing to do with emotional closeness or practical support but was framed as "oh no how will you fit in all the fucking? Every time you're together you have to do nothing but fuck to make up for lost time!" and I'm done with idea that relationships=sex and anyone who insists that's true.
So that's self-care, I think. Saying "I don't have to deal with this today/at all".
Quick rant. I'm really tired of rampant ageism both in fandom (anyone over 25 is now "creepy" in some fandom circles), around technology, and politically and that's all I'm going on say on it right now aside from, on the fandom side, 16 year olds don't run conventions or sites like AO3 or make the tv shows you're writing about.
Also fuck Article 13 (now renamed 17). What started out as an attempt to ensure music artists get reasonable compensation for their work being streamed has turned into a recipe for censorship by putting the onus on site hosters (eg Youtube, Google) to ensure no copyrighted material gets uploaded. Because see how well automatic filtering worked when Tumblr implemented it and decided pictures of male chests, and sand dunes, were female nipples. And how text posts get flagged when the onus was on explicit pictures.
If that's where we're at with Tumblr, where will we be when Youtube has to decide if something violates fair use or falls under the safety net of parody? Even "Family Guy" got Fox sued (twice unsuccessfully, one out of court settlement) despite clearly parodying the media they're referencing.
Many youtubers have reported false copyright claims against them when the material is clearly fair use. And many tumblr users have complained about false reporting of their blogs by disgruntled users (antis quite often) who dislike the content rather than the content being forbidden. Many users will choose to delete their work or even their account rather than fight these bans and Article 13 will make things a whole lot worse. Thanks, EU, not least for how you fucked up the voting to make sure it went through!
There's a tumblr called damnfandomproblems where people submit things they find annoying or difficult about fandom, everything from timezones to unfinished fics. Lately there's been a rash of "you shouldn't write for comments, you shouldn't expect comments, you don't deserve comments, you don't deserve praise for just writing some words*. It's at odds with the overall thrust from bloggers and authors and artists of all kinds who desperately want feedback.
(I wish I was joking but here it is: https://damnfandomproblems.tumblr.com/post/182399705281/the-sense-of-entitlement-of-fanfic-writers-who#notes I don't know where submitter thinks we should post given that AO3 is pretty much The One-stop shop for fanfic these days.)
Comments are love. Support fics. Comment on posts. Retweet/reblog/rec things.
I'm still doing the "leave a comment on any fic, over 100 words, on AO3, that I finish reading" and often on those with fewer word and on fic not on AO3, etc but I needed some parameters to make it feasible.
To end on a brighter note AO3 lays out why despite Article 13 passing fanfic won't be banned and AO3 is safe, being a non-profit site. This supermarket shows how banana leaves could replace plastic packaging on fruit. And study shows endangered carnivorous species such as otters, polecats and pine martens have staged a remarkable comeback in Britain
no subject
Date: 2019-04-01 04:11 pm (UTC)And even though the subject matter (article 13/17) is so depressing in and of itself. :(
Basically, I think federated fandom is the way to go, all non-profit sites all the time. (DW has that problem, though, even if AO3 doesn't.)
And maybe Youtube will just refound itself every three years to escape that restriction. All problems solved. /o\
no subject
Date: 2019-04-03 04:30 pm (UTC)I mistakenly thought DW was a non-profit but I see I was wrong. I respect their reasoning but I do think a non-profit like AO3 would have been a better idea. They're certainly alike in their commitment to anti-censorship. Maybe they'll look closer at the details if article13 goes ahead without further amendment.
LOL, Youtube reinventing itslf! Although what would happen to all the vids, your account with your watched lists and playlists and comments on your videos...could it be imported to the Youtube2.0 because I would believe if it were possible they would absolutely go with that as a solution :)