Testing out the new crossposting capabilities of dw.

A few meta-ish thoughts; I’m not a contributor to fandom, at least not in the ways of fanfiction, fanart or other fan-activities. I do reviews, I meta and I squee, but mostly I consume fan-products; fics, arts, music-mixes and so forth. Even then I don’t do these activities with much discipline as my attention span is like that of a gnat. Sparkly things will distract me, and if a show becomes ‘bad’ or becomes something I no long care about I tend to stop talking about it all together. This is a bit of a double-edged sword; on the one hand it means I don’t get caught up in wank and have a much saner outlook on fandom (LAUGH people, laugh, we READ porn about FICTIONAL people, how can we take it seriously?), however, it also means I don’t have the social capital (thank you charmian) to influence others into my way of thinking (I like to be right, being wrong ruffles my feathers, I’m trying to change that) or to even discuss my pet-theories because no one knows me. Thank gods I have RL people to blather to.

Anyways, my next fannish/meta-ish thought, the one I have had since Dear Awesome Bela was killed, and Castiel became the new bicycle for the SPN slash fandom. To put into context (post via fools_game... I wonder how the user name tag will crosspost), when Misha Collins was asked why he thinks certain guest-stars are more popular than others.

"It's because I'm not female."

And with that I’m going to go and have some lunch.

ETA: Some minor issues with this. I'll need to work on the cross-posting aspect of it.

Testing out the new crossposting capabilities of dw.

A few meta-ish thoughts; I’m not a contributor to fandom, at least not in the ways of fanfiction, fanart or other fan-activities. I do reviews, I meta and I squee, but mostly I consume fan-products; fics, arts, music-mixes and so forth. Even then I don’t do these activities with much discipline as my attention span is like that of a gnat. Sparkly things will distract me, and if a show becomes ‘bad’ or becomes something I no long care about I tend to stop talking about it all together. This is a bit of a double-edged sword; on the one hand it means I don’t get caught up in wank and have a much saner outlook on fandom (LAUGH people, laugh, we READ porn about FICTIONAL people, how can we take it seriously?), however, it also means I don’t have the social capital (thank you charmian) to influence others into my way of thinking (I like to be right, being wrong ruffles my feathers, I’m trying to change that) or to even discuss my pet-theories because no one knows me. Thank gods I have RL people to blather to.

Anyways, my next fannish/meta-ish thought, the one I have had since Dear Awesome Bela was killed, and Castiel became the new bicycle for the SPN slash fandom. To put into context (post via fools_game... I wonder how the user name tag will crosspost), when Misha Collins was asked why he thinks certain guest-stars are more popular than others.

"It's because I'm not female."

And with that I’m going to go and have some lunch.

We are fans, we can love, bitch and generally make lots of noises at each other, but the fundamental rule, the one that everyone understands and sticks to is that fans do not out other fans. I am honestly shocked and disgusted at what has happened.

Not liking someone in fandom and lj means you can ignore them, bitch about them to your friends or hell makes other fandom related drama. You do not go out there and purposely harm them, by harming her relationship with her family.

So, fuck you and your friends who decided it was a brilliantly idea, I hope they find you and let fandom finish you off.

Dear Friends,

FanLib.com was founded on the belief that fan creativity is a true art form that deserves a first-rate showcase for cultivation and celebration. Over the course of the past fifteen months, you have triumphantly confirmed this notion with an astonishing display of talent, enthusiasm, imagination and camaraderie.

So, it is especially difficult to announce that FanLib.com will shut down on Monday, August 4, 2008.

Na na na na na na na NAAAAAA!

This has brought a smile to my face despite the cramps, the coughing and the headache. Take that money-hungry dicks, you CANNOT make the profit you were thinking of from what is freely given and produced in fandom, no matter how much you want to. Fanfiction is created out of love/insane obsession/passion and it is FREE.

The Open Source Women Back Each Other Up program.

I would like to start the Open Source Women Back Each Other Up Program. Here's my pledge: if I see somebody groping you in public, and you're not moaning Yes! Yes! Yes!, I will break through your Somebody Else's Problem invisibility field and come over and ask if you're okay. If your situation looks dangerous enough I can't help on my own, I will call over friends or, if it's a situation in which I think the cops would be on your side, I will call the cops. If you're being harassed by a guy, you can say so to me, even if you don't know me. I pledge I will distract him so you can get away, or I will tell him that he needs to leave, or whatever I can do to the best of my ability. I pledge that yes, actually, because you are a woman I will give you the benefit of the doubt. If you tell me that a guy just did something shitty to you I will not refuse to look at any evidence and tell you that I know him and he's a great guy and you must have been imagining things. I have great loyalty to my male friends but I will not allow that to blind me to the fact that none of us are saints and even my best friends can screw up and may need to be called on it. I pledge that I will walk you to your car if you don't feel safe walking alone at night, and then you can drive me to mine.

LOVES!

Also, casting spoilers for season 4 of Supernatural. Um, I'm actually not too happy about it, I mean I'm not disappointed or anything but ( spoilers )

So, I was in the process of describing what it meant to be a fan to someone at work today (and not just a fan of the football, sport fans confuse me). I told them that a fan is someone who is in love with an item. The item can be fictional, real; it can take the form of a book, a television series, a celebrity and so forth. Being a fan means you want to know everything about the object of your love.

There was a lot of more hand waving and gesturing, and I’m still unsure whether I came across as sane or not.

The whole thing got me thinking, but how would you explain to someone what a fan is, and do it in a positive manner?

Interesting meta post titled - The Long-Delayed Fourth Wall Meta. It discusses the crumbling 4th wall between fans and celebrities, and the possible repercussions of this disappearing wall.

As I said in my comment I find this topic unbelievably fascinating because this concern for the crumbling of the 4th wall seems to be a very western concept. Asian pop culture pander to their fans to the point that there don't seem to be an existence of the 4th wall; pop artists purposely play up the popular 'couples' within bands for their fans, fanfic and the love of m/m couples are so well known that they are often exploited for generating money and/or popularity on variety and talk shows.

Lately I have been saturated by Korean celebrities and their antics. After much viewing I have come to the conclusion that there is no 4th wall between fans and their favourite celebrities in the Korean entertainment industry. Celebrities are very open on television; embarrassing experiences are shared, sob stories come out, and an idea of their real personalities shines through. Stars share and let their vulnerabilities show, and fans latch on those moments with ferocity, creating a connection between them and their favourite celebrities.

There is a sense self-awareness on the parts of most celebrities, especially boy bands where the norm is to hug, pretend kisses (from certain angles they seem to be honestly going for it), and basically attempting to get fans (predominantly female) to scream out their little hearts. An example; Dong Bang Shin Ki parodied a scenario of a m/m fanfic about them in a short drama series, couple talks has been filmed and delivered in their official DVD release (they go so far as to use fan created acronym/shortened names to describe different couples). Super Junior members play kissing games with one another, pretend to kiss on national television, and fool around like romantic couples on camera. They know what they are doing, and they know there are fan followings based on a perceived closeness on the part of the fans, and they play it up to drive their fans to a near frenzy.

Both sides are quite aware of this; the Korean celebrities entertain their fans, love their fans, attempt to be truthful to their fans, and in turn their Korean fans love them, protect them and are the most organised and obsessive fans on Earth. There is a level of organisation on the part of the Korean official fan clubs that borders on the militaristic; presents for celebrities reaching 10s of thousand dollars, fan meetings that are regimented with booklets and schedules that your average OCD/perfectionist would kill to obtain, and a level of dedication to their icons that most dictators in the world would sell their soul for.

It is absolutely fascinating how differently the 4th wall is treated by western and eastern fans. I’d love to hear some feedback from people who are involved in RPS in both a eastern and western fandom.

Organization For Transformative Works.

It has been boingboinged!

"- the board chair is Naomi Novik, bestselling author who's been vocal about her support for the fanfic community

- the organization explicitly recognizes the role of women in the fandom community, and has launched with respect for that history as part of their values statement (not to mention an all-female board)

- the word "transformative" looks like they're throwing down the gauntlet in copyright battles, insisting that fic is fair use as a transformative work"

Today I love fandom.

I have been avoiding (internalizing over) the Yuletide controversy because when it comes to issues of race I react rather than act. On a personal level it is also very difficult for me to say something when I know that more than likely I will end up hurt and angry, and honestly I don’t want the grief.

Except – except it has been several days and some amazing, beautiful and truthful things have been said, and some truly awful, disgusting and wrong things have been stated. And I want to have something intelligent, something monumental to say except I don’t because I can’t understand how so much anti-semitic sentiments has arose from it.

I just can’t understand how people can go blindly ahead hurting other people. To assume that when someone who is not of the majority sees something wrong in the depiction of the minority (or lack of depiction) they are said to be just ‘overly-sensitive’ or have a ‘chip on their shoulder’ is insulting and hurtful.

It makes me hurt and angry because when I tell people how something makes me feel uncomfortable, I’m trusting in that person to at least take the time and effort to understand me and not dismiss my views and opinions. I don’t expect people to agree with me, but I would like them to respect me enough that they would consider my views rather than just dismissing them.

To summarise - chopchica does a links round up of the Yuletide controversy. Also, em_h’s post on the subject as a semi-professional Christian in many ways sums up what I think of western racism.

And that’s that.

So, I have been reading/watching everything related to Super Junior... SHUTUP perseid! Anyways, as a result I have begun to read about the whole 'fan' culture in Asia, of course this is more related with the Korean fans, but since the suicide of a father a few weeks ago because of Andy Lau, the whole Asian fan-phenomenon is mind boggling. Anyways, apparently a Korean fan put chewed bubblegum in HanKyung’s mouth (one of Super Junior’s member), it is kind of insane. Also, I'm not even sure what to say about the anti-fans; making death threats, poisoning a pop-star, and admitting to sabotaging a vehicle that caused a major accident is just insane.

In conclusion - the Western fans have nothing on the Korean fans.