Just some ranting

[meridian_rose]

I just saw a Good Omens big bang post at tumblr. Requirement only 5k I think, not really Big Bang but whatever. I may or may not have started a fic that will exceed that and thought it might help me actually finish the fic because I've stalled on it a bit while doing other things.

Upon reading the many, many, rules I decided against signing up (2 days left to do so, details at the tumblr, https://goodomensbigbang.tumblr.com/)

1) It's on tumblr which is a clusterfuck at organising this sort of thing. I did it once for a Black Sails Big Bang and missed an important post because notifications only work on mobile and mods weren't bothering to @ people nor email them. LJ and DW are superior mediums for this sort of event

2) You MUST have a beta. If you do not have a beta you WILL be assigned one. I don't know how they're going to find enough willing betas to fulfil that or why they're insisting on it. Having a beta does not guarantee a fic will be readable, free of spag errors, or inoffensive. This, which was always a ridiculous rule (you can just set up a sockpuppet journal or secondary tumblr account and be your own beta, or say you've got non-fannish roommate betaing?) has gone from LJ/DW events but been resurrected like an unwanted zombie

3) None of this, or that, or the other, even where some of things seem impossible or highly unlikely in this fandom (incest in Good Omens? Couldn't one argue all angels and demons are siblings anyway? I kind of want to write that now). Some LJ/DW events have rules about content but the amount here seemed in line with Tumblr purity

4) You will make a slideshow of your fic for potential artists to view. IDK...slideshow? Like, Powerpoint? Do most tumblr users who whine if they have to use email or an rss feed or a desktop computer and not their mobile app for every single thing even know what Powerpoint is? I write extended outlines/story treatments for Big Bangs along with brief summary, but never have I seen such a bizarre requirement.

5) There's an understandable rule that if you miss your first author checkin you're out. However there's a bizarre and oddly worded (I think, as with the troublesome Black Sails Big Bang, all of the mods are ESOL which can lead to some awkward miscommunications) rule that if you check in a day late after that there's a five minute penalty on claiming things...but only artists claim fic, authors don't claim? This made me lose faith in the endeavour but I still peeked at the schedule

6) The schedule; this happens with all Big Bangs. Do you want to wait months to post the finished fic? Sometimes you just want to put the thing out there, especially if it's been written and edited three months ago.

7) It's on TUMBLR.

And that was a rant which I posted because I felt like ranting a bit and weren't we all going to use DW more including mini rants and quick yay posts instead of a) putting them on tumblr and/or b) not posting?

And while I'm ranting, here's another 'oh tumblr' rant from a post I saw today.

While I've had a couple of decent interactions on the Writeblr side of Tumblr, the past fortnight, I have this week unfollowed a writeblr who posted some crap about how Writers Are More Environmentally Unfriendly Then Anyone Else. Because we use paper notebooks and loads of electricity for our laptops/mobile phones and drink loads of drinks from disposable cups. The stupid, it burns.
As if writing as a hobby or profession uses more paper than any other; the joke is writers love notebooks but honestly who really writes entire novels in their a5 pads? I think most people use notebooks sparingly for outlines and notes on characters and do most work typing directly into their device.
As if almost everyone doesn't walk around with a permanently charged mobile phone, use a laptop or desktop at work and/or home, and many have access to a tablet. JFC hairdryers use electricity, perhaps OP can bitch about everyone who owns a hairdryer or has hair.
As for the cups...go somewhere that has actual cups that go in the dishwasher afterwards. Take your own mug, that's something many places now encourage. Some even sell you a mug and offer a small discount on each subsequent refill of their branded mug. I'm all 100% that writers are not the only ones frequenting coffee shops nor drinking most of the coffee.
If OP thinks writers are destroying the environment more than anyone else wasting precious electricity scrolling tumblr while sipping from their single use mug and possessing a paper notepad or a paperback book, they're an idiot and I don't need that kind of bullcrap on my dash.

Here endeth the rants!
Next post will be more fun. I might even try and do more for the sunshine challenge :)

Comments

[shadowhive]

Oh wow, that just sounds so insufferable, the usual tumblr nonsense

Ahhh people, they’re so annoying

[meridian_rose]

Yes...everything has to be 'woke' and over complicated!

[singedsun]

A slideshow? I've never seen that requirement before and it sounds ridiculous. Like isn't the whole point is that the artist is doing the art for the story you're writing?

[meridian_rose]

You would think so! I'm guessing you put an outline of each scene per slide but who knows! Seems incredibly complicated and unnecessary when you could have links to google docs or tumblr posts or something for artists to look at when choosing fic. When I've done Small Fandom Bang at LJ indepth summaries and key warnings go up in a single post for viewing.

Tumblr

[oldtoadwoman]

Thank you for reassuring me that I made the right decision when I fled Tumblr. Every now and then I have moments where I think I overreacted, but… that site caused me so many headaches.

I like it here under my rock.

Re: Tumblr

[meridian_rose]

It's a hellsite. Sadly there's still a lot of content that you don't get elsewhere; I keep refining how I use it (rss feeds, trusted follows, unfollowing more, blocking more, etc) and using it less but can't fully quit. I understand those who have, because, hellsite!

Re: Tumblr

[oldtoadwoman]

I tend to be very all-or-nothing, so it is easier for me to give something up entirely than to wean myself down to moderate levels of reasonable engagement. I went from wasting hours a day scrolling to deleting my account in a huff.

But it really wasn't good for me. I would get sucked in to all the angry rants and would be far too invested in how many "notes" my posts got. It ended up just stressing me out and in many ways making me less active online because of the fear of doing anything "wrong" and getting called out. So I wasn't doing much more than just passively reblogging stuff.

[grayestofghosts]

>but honestly who really writes entire novels in their a5 pads?

I do.

To put this in perspective, 500 sheets of paper, which is probably close to my output in a year, produces about 5 lbs of CO2. One gallon of gasoline produces 20.

http://www.standardcarbon.com/2008/06/do-you-really-need-to-print-that-the-carbon-footprint-of-copy-paper/

https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle

[meridian_rose]

An actual paper writer :) Thanks for that stat it really puts it into perspective! So anyone driving to and from their fave coffee shop is going to rack up far more CO2 use in travelling than from their notebook if they use one?
I mostly use my notepads as bullet journals while my fic writing goes straight onto the computer so I'm probably a little below if not nearly on par with your fic writing use :)

[grayestofghosts]

Yeah, I think the driving one does would far worse than any paper usage. And I do paper planning too. Right now I’m using planners imported from Japan so the CO2 to get them to me is likely much greater than the amount going into producing them, I think.

I mean I guess it depends on how much writing you can actually do. Writing by hand does slow you down somewhat but it gives you some advantages when editing. A novel is going to take about 2-5 composition books, and that’s similar to what the average school kid uses per year. Also the number of people who actually write this way is pretty low... it’s a drop in the bucket compared to paper waste in offices, etc.

[rivulet027]

A lot of big bangs seem to be doing 5k recently. The last one I did the artist I worked with was nice enough to beta for me.

[meridian_rose]

That's interesting because for me 5k is where I say it's a longer fic rather than a medium when tagging my own work, but 10k used to be minimum for a big bang. I guess the lower wordcount makes it more attractive for writers :)
That was nice of your artist :)

[tinny]

yay for rants at tumblr! I always appreciate those, a) because I feel the same and b) because it makes me feel better for having left tumblr.

The amount of electrity the Internet consumes is incredible, and I would be inclined to believe that *all of us fangirls* use more resources simply because we're online all the time. Forget notebooks and cups. Servers are worse every time.

[meridian_rose]

:)
I think the majority of people are connected via their phones most of the time, or at work via laptops/pcs etc, so blaming writers is a huge stretch! Renewable energy would help a lot since no-one wants to ration their internet access. I recall Sundays being my dial-up time for 2-3 hours to download email and surf the web, and now it's a minor disaster if I can't access the wi-fi *right now* when I want to google something or use Whatsapp!