Begging for links

[sophinisba]

We are collecting recs for hurt/comfort fics over at lotr_fic_recs. These can be LotR FP or RP, gen or any pairing, any rating or level of medical explicitness. (And in case you were wondering, Elanor and I had decided on this challenge theme before the latest round of controversy arose around Stories of Arda.) Even if you're not in a reccing mood, you might want to check out the entry to see the past and new h/c recs and find something to read. We already have three recs since late last night and I expect this to be a popular one. Hurt/Comfort recs

Lately I find myself saying and thinking "That's unfortunate" a lot. For instance, about the New York Times story about John McCain and that lobbyist, and about readers who read fics that squick them because they don't bother to read the warnings, and about the insanity theme at IJ, and about the LJ strike/boycott happening on Purim, and a bunch of other things. This is my way of being sad about things without assigning blame or responsibility, and I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. I mean, there's a phantom writing coach in my head (the same one who's yelling at me for saying "really" and "very" all the time) who detests this kind of vague and wishy-washy language, especially because most of these don't have anything to do with fortune but rather with bad decisions people have made. On the other hand, this is how my mind works (or has been working lately) and it's probably safer, as far as getting along with people in a community and all, than pointing fingers. I don't know. Maybe I am just a wishy-washy person.

Anway, I think it's unfortunate about SoA, but it has been nice to see an increase in posting at The Last Ship lately. I have been very lazy and haven't done much work there since we started up in November, but baranduin has been working on the site and just fixed the thing with e-mail notifications so now they'll take you directly to the reviews. You can also choose between several really pretty LotR-themed site schemes that we didn't have at the beginning. The thing I did work on early on and that I'd like to get back to now is the help site, which is a wiki, meaning that anybody who wants to can contribute to it. We did disable anonymous editing because we were getting some spam, but anyone who wants to can set up an account. If you're looking to contribute something, it would be great if you could add some links to other archives and communities on the External resources page. Just click on the "edit" link at the top of any page or section, and if you're not familiar with wiki language you can use the little icons at the top of the box to add links. It's easier to get used to than you probably think. :)

Comments

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

I found the timing on this particular rec request ironic, though. :)

And I've certainly been mentioning The Last Ship to anyone who asks where the fic went, and that I find it to be a delightfully flexible and inclusive archive. I'm such a non-linear writer at times that I love the fact that I can upload a fic and then maneuver it into the appropriate position in a series. It's a happy place.

[sophinisba]

The timing was indeed ironic, but not intentional! I didn't even make the connection myself until I started composing this post. I am sorry you've had to deal with all this unpleasantness!

I too really like TLS for the inclusiveness. I'd never posted at an archive before because they all had rules that exclude some of my fic and so made me uncomfortable. Even LJ is more restrictive than it used to be so I'm really happy to have an archive where I can keep everything.

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

Well, SoA's site owner is naturally free to do as she likes with her site, and I completely acknowledge that. What annoyed me wasn't really being asked to take down what I think was around 300,000 words of fic - again, her site, her perfect right to host what she likes. It was the no warnings (despite the fact that guidelines on the site say that you'll be warned and offered the chance to fix your offenses) and the wording of the request (which not only insulted me, but a fair number of my readers). She may well be a perfectly lovely person, but this really stuck in my craw.

[sophinisba]

Yeah, I remember going through the policy guidelines back when Claudia got asked to take down her deathfic, and there was a vague statement about how some AUs were okay but not others, as well the part about how authors would be warned and would only have their stuff taken down without warning if they were repeat offenders. :/

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

And I was not a repeat offender either. *nods* Some people are more equal than others. *nods* :D