Oh, so, I meant that, about good bye.

[lettered]

Thought about it a lot, and I'm leaving Livejournal.

That's all dramatic and stuff, but I probably won't be gone until the end of the year. If most people decide to leave, and there's a mass exodus before then, I may be gone earlier. But this journal, my fic journal, and my private backup journal will be gone for certain by January 1, 2008.

I have a lot of stuff to say about the whole LJ/6A debacle, but for some reason every time I start a post on it I just have to get up and walk away from it, give it some time, read lots and lots of Harry/Draco, spend time with my family, or eat ice cream. Can't decide whether I'm too angry about it, depressed perhaps, lazy maybe, or possibly I'm an ostrich? Anyway, during the strikeout in May I felt very energized, but maybe that was because I thought that it was possible that LJ had made a mistake, and after hearing customer complaints, would fix it. In other words, I knew I was going to give Livejournal another chance. Well, I did, but I am still displeased as a customer. So, I take my business elsewhere.

I don't know where. One of the reasons I'm staying on LJ for another few months is that I want to see how many other people leave and where they go. Even if a lot of you leave (which I sekritly hope you will), it will not be all at once, and LJ will still be the place to be in the thick of fandom things for a while. If there is a mass movement, decision making, support/rallying/reasearch/etc to be done, I want to be involved. And if people are going to continue to discuss the issues connected to why I'm leaving, I want to be a part of those discussions. Because I do have a lot to say, and I want to say it to my flist, people who I'm interested in having around wherever I end up.

I'm going to back up the journals I have here and copy them to Insane Journal for now. I'm going to be cross-posting to Insane Journal (where I am tkp) and possibly Journal Fen over the next several months. I hope to gradually phase out: to just post links to fic here, instead of actual fics here, etc. Then I will be gone. I know I can make myself do that, but I know I can't make myself never visit LJ again. If you do decide to stay and not post elsewhere, I may still visit from time to time, but I will not have an account here ever again. I don't want to lose touch with any of you. I mean, well, except you; you're always talking about your grandmother's corns.

So, um, this isn't quite yet goodbye, and won't be for a while. Mostly I'm just posting this because once I say I'll do something, I'll do it. And now I've said it.

Okay, now that announcements are over: what're your thoughts? Leavin' on a jet plane? Why? Staying, why? Cat macros? Why not? Where are you going, if you go, where're you lookin' at, what are your hopes and dreams for fandom future? What did you think of the last ep of Mad Men? Is Jason Isaacs the man, or what? How 'bout that burr86, Barak, and Brad? Does the news comm make you laugh, cry, headdesk, or wha...? Did anyone even like the first two Bourne movies? What's your favorite pizza delivery service? Do you think Livejournal would disallow canon!Buffy/Angel fanart? How come I can't spell misogyny? What's the difference between a psychiatrist and a psychologist? And the number one question all of us are asking: how come Buffy never wore the go-go boots again?

Comments

[ravenwings-7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I meant about IJ. If someone could construct a journaling site for fandom - more to the point, a good journaling site - that would be cool. I'm... not certain it's going to happen soon, though. The way I see it, making a fannaling site would require a group of skilled fannish webmasters to get together, quit all of their jobs, and start up the site as a business (they'd need to, to afford the servers). If done right, it could go really well for the newfound entrepreneurs (possible instant success if news of it gets to fandom quickly)... but since fandom is pretty much a (brain-eating, soul-consuming) spare time hobby to most, I don't know if the combination of ability and inclination exists in enough people that 1) know each other and 2) are able to work together to make it work.

As to the strange combination of people to agree with... Barb and Liz have great point on the reason why they're angry. It's not that the journals were deleted, it's because they were deleted permanently without warning or chance of appeal. And I really, really get that (plus, Barb quietly made the point about not wanting the kiddie porn policies clarified either, IIRC).

But I'm not as mad as they are, mostly for the reasons that vw & ll (especially ll) stated. Not because I hear the phrase "it's a business" and automatically all is forgiven, but because I'm a little surprised that deletions aren't more common than they are. Primarily due to the whole "most fannish activities are illegal" thing. It's startling to me that more fic communities aren't locked (or weren't - some of them are getting the idea) just out of a fear of copyright infringement laws. Add to that my pre-existing paranoia about kiddie porn laws... I don't post pictures of my cousins in the bath, no matter how cute they are, for exactly that reason (our family rejoiced when we got digital cameras, because then we didn't have to worry about being arrested for developing photos of the wee nudists). Two plus two equaling duh, the recent deletions come as no surprise to me, especially since LJ is indubitably looking a bit harder for things that squick them after the first strikethrough. So since I'm less surprised, I'm also less mad (it also helps that I'm squicked enough by the "art" to not terribly mind their absence, no matter how free-speechy I am).

LJ/6A may have come down too hard and too fast, which is worth some anger... it's being offended (very small, but noteworthy difference) that's uncalled for. Which is where I think lornelover really hit the nail on the head with her comment about entitlement.

***

I'm in ur internetz, harshing ur flounce.

Oh God not more stupid people and wank!

I didn't start MM because 1) I don't need more shows to watch and 2) I have a hard time getting into standard form dramas (which I gather MM is) - I prefer monster/crime/adventure-of-the-week form, it gives me something to pay attention to while I get to know/like the characters.

Okay, Jason earns major points for geekery. He may have passed Alan and taken second place. But Gary has geekery, too! He wore black on the day he finished reading OotP because he was in mourning for Sirius! And the was in the R & G Are Dead movie! And Sid & Nancy! He recorded a duet with David Bowie!!!

...I don't even know you. I tend to view the Bourne movies as a higher quality action movie all around. Believability and excitement in the same movie - definitely to be cherished.

Regular or pan? I can't speak to regular, but the PH pan pizza beats everything. It's fairly difficult to find a Godfather's (it's actually been long enough since I've had one that I can't be certain it's not all down to nostalgia), but they may not have made it to Texas yet (but they are in Montana, so I know they've gone national).

I think we're saying basically the same thing about Buffy's early wardrobe, just I'm being way more sarcastic. It's been that kind of week.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Not because I hear the phrase "it's a business" and automatically all is forgiven,

Okay, good. Because I do seem to see people saying that, or suggesting I feel that way. That line of reasoning make me go bzuh? just as much as those who feel entitled to have any damn thing they pleased and oppressed because they can't.

I'm a little surprised that deletions aren't more common than they are. Primarily due to the whole "most fannish activities are illegal" thing.

Oh, sure. I'm surprised fandom has lasted so long in the midst of what's becoming a more and more mainstream site. But just as the fact that it's a business isn't really a defense against the way LJ has been treating its customers, this isn't either.

(it also helps that I'm squicked enough by the "art" to not terribly mind their absence, no matter how free-speechy I am)

If you are for free speech, I don't understand what being squicked has to do with the situation. At all.

it's being offended (very small, but noteworthy difference) that's uncalled for. Which is where I think lornelover really hit the nail on the head with her comment about entitlement.

There are those who are offended because they think LJ won't give them what they want; as you (and ll, and vw) say, they feel entitled. And that's stupid. But there are those who are offended because they're being badly treated as customers, which to me is a world of difference.

You go into a store to buy a pink pony. Turns out they've discontinued their pink pony line. It's stupid to get angry with the store about that--the store is not obliged to carry pink ponies and you are not entitled to buy one there. But if the store is shitty about it--like they say they might order a shipment of ponies, but then don't, and their terms about getting the next shipment of ponies in is unclear, and store managers are unavailable to question about pink ponies, and so on and so forth--it's understandable to feel offended that you're getting bad customer service there. I hope that very poor and hopelessly wanky analogy makes some sense.

***

OMG on Oldman wearing black. SO cute! And he and Mr. Rickman totally outclass Mr. Isaacs (Mr. Rickman is Hans Gruber AND Colonel Brandon, fer chrissakes!) but then again that makes him so underdoggy! He just wants to do his ickle best with his long blond wig and pimp cane! It's hard out there for a Malfoy!

Yeah, the Bourne movies are utter yawners to me. Though I recently rewatched the 2nd one and didn't fall asleep; it was more compelling than I remembered, though maybe that was 'cause I ff'ed through the chase scenes. I don't like the muted colors and shaky camera; it depresses me and makes me feel sick. And I'm sorry, I don't find any of that stuff realistic at all. In fact, I prefer the action movies that bend reality (like the ridiculous chase scenes in the latest Bond movie) because then I know no one actually expects me to take them seriously. ZOMG don't kill me.

Not sure I've had Pizza Hut pan pizza! So sad. Will do! I've seen a Godfather's or two down here--don't know if one would deliver to my house, but we actually had them being sold in highschool for a while! I just never got around to buying it.

[ravenwings-7.livejournal.com]

If you are for free speech, I don't understand what being squicked has to do with the situation
Okay... don't disown me or anything, because I'm not even sure how to explain this. There's going to be a lot of hyperbole and flailing about for the right words here... (Did I mention the hyperbole? I'm intentionally exaggerating by quite a bit, because if I presented this opinion to the much smaller degree I actually believe, then my point would never make it through the sea of "kinda," "sorta," and "almost.")

There's... a kind of line between what squicks me, pisses me off, whatever and things that I will take action about. My general guide is to stop and ask myself "what would I do if I saw this person standing on a public street corner saying/showing this, instead of on the radio/tv/internet/etc.?" Usually the answer is "roll my eyes and keep walking." But in this situation (at least for the first illustration, I think the second one was an overreactionary smackdown that happened due to association with the first one)... I'm quite certain that I'd be torn between calling the cops and picking a fight. It crosses the line.

Because sexual attraction to a para-pubescent 12-year-old is still pedophilia, even if it isn't quite as scary as attraction to a 5-year-old. Because I don't care if it's a fictional character and the artist in question probably isn't about to seek out actual 12-year-olds to molest (never mind that LJ/6A don't know that). It's still fucking scary and crosses the line into one of the very few things I will actually step forward and denounce as WRONG.

/hyperbole

If you haven't disowned me yet, I'm very grateful, 'cause I still like you quite a lot. Now I will clarify, and tone it down a bit:

Yes, the OPs should have gotten a warning. Or LJ should have just deleted the post with the offensive content instead of the entire journal. Something more fair than what they did.

Yes, the illustration posted was still within touching distance of the line, even if they had crossed it.

No, I don't blame LJ for not wanting that crap on their website, because I wouldn't want it on my website either and I can't guarantee I'd handle it better than LJ did.

...Great, even the not!hyperbole comes across harsher than I mean. :/ There may be PMS involved. Well, in the hopes you're still speaking to me:

I hope that very poor and hopelessly wanky analogy makes some sense
It makes a whole lot of sense, actually. It's just that it seems to me a whole lot of lemmings aren't getting that far in their train of thought when they start getting offended. Even so, it's not like lemmings will jump off a cliff if there's no cliff to jump off of (and boy howdy, did LJ/6A build one Hell of a cliff...).

(You are not a lemming. You are a graceful and clever squirrel, clambering down the cliff face with your nifty backwards-turning ankles and stylish fluffy tail. Liz, Barb, and company are high-tech hamsters with fancy rappelling harnesses. ;))

Personally, I like Stoney's approach to the whole mess: Cover her ass (or her fic, as the case may be), stay mostly put, and buy the shit out of LJ stock when they go public (if only I had enough money to buy stock).

***

Ooh, you just had to play the underdog card, didn't you? ;)

I'll give you that the shaky camera work in the second one got a bit annoying (overall, it's not as good as the first one anyways). The thing that bugs me about the really stylized chases in other movies is that there's no risk to them - I just can't get involved (think Italian Job - never been so bored watching mini Coopers before). Funny you should mention CR (best Bond ever, BTW), because that was done almost entirely live, no CGI, and the only time they were on wires in that first chase was when they were up in the crane... Wait a minute. People expect us to take action movies seriously? Whoa. I never knew.

It's the custom toppings that really make Godfather's what it is - I seem to remember shrimp & black olives being quite excellent.