pain and suffering in various tempos

Now I remember why I stayed away from message boards for SO LONG. I haven't seen much of this on LJ, but, oy vey.

I'm torn between laughing at everyone who is so angry about being "jerked around" and "omg I'm never gonna watch this show again if they keep going on hiatus wah wah" and repeatedly smacking my face into my desk in frustration. I think these people are new to television-watching or something.

Nevermind the fact that all the news I read said the current hiatus, after this week's episode, would only be for five weeks and not six. (links to articles for proof of that; last and longest one mentions hiatus about half-way or closer to the end.)

We are lucky with this show! So lucky that they give us eleven, then seven, then five episodes in a row. Heroes is only one of three current-run shows I watch. Allow me, if you will, to rehash the current (third-season) airing schedule for House:

Season premiered September 5, 2006 -- aired 4 consecutive episodes, then went off the air for 4 weeks (the World Series - fair enough). Fox aired 5 eps (Oct 31-Nov 28), and now this is when it gets fun. It was off for 1 week. They aired 1 ep; were off 3 weeks; aired 1 ep; off 2 weeks; aired 3 episodes (ooh! this was February sweeps) and finally off for 2 weeks. This leads us to present, today, March 6, 2007, when there'll be 1 new episode, then another 2-week gap, then there'll be 1 new episode, and then my usual sources (including TV.com) has no new dates for new episodes.

The show premiered three weeks before Heroes, and has managed to be two episodes behind! And it's got one fewer episode, with the standard 22-episode seasons. The beginning really wasn't that bad. Four on, four off, five on.

So does everyone want a new episode, no new episode for two weeks, new episode for three, no new episode, new episode, no new episode for three weeks, and on like that?

Or! How about Stargate SG-1, which aired ten consecutive weeks from July to September, and then will air the final ten episodes in North America starting in April? Hello, seven-month hiatus! Nevermind the fact that the show has only ever had 20-episode seasons.

Which TV-show Powers That Be(tm) has been jerking which fans around, exactly? Isn't it easier to maintain interest in a show when you're given a few months' worth of episodes at a time to watch, rather than just a few weeks? Wouldn't you rather watch seven episodes in a row, rather than just one or two before they pull it off the air for some reality TV show?

Buncha whiners. Try being a House fan. What does FOX actually have going for them, besides American Idol? 24 and House. I know 24 just airs all its episodes from January to May, no repeats or hiatuses -- I guess that's the other option. But NBC is being very, very kind to its fans with the Heroes airing schedule.

People who complain about receiving feedback that just says: "I love it!" or something similar...

STFU. At least you're getting feedback.

</wank>

You know, it's funny. I've been working on a vid for Phantom, and thinking about how, well, pretty much everybody hated it -- in stark contrast to the way I hated Troy, whereas just about everybody I seem to know enjoyed it.

And, you know, I think I've really come to understand why I liked the film version of Phantom so much.

1) I never actually liked the play itself. Don't get me wrong, I love the music. A lot. But as a production, it never worked for me. I saw it once, and that was enough; but I've listened to my soundtrack countless times -- to the point where I actually wore out my tape and went several years without until I managed to get my hands on a CD copy.

2) The only Phantom and Christine, until the movie, that I liked were Colm Wilkinson and Rebecca Caine. Yes, that's right. You heard me. This is my big confession: Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman make my ears bleed. They really do. Can't stand their voices.

I've always felt rather like a heathen for feeling that way. But there it is, the truth is out, and I go now to keep working on viddage.

(And you know, what was kind of fun was that there are moments in this movie that look kinda like I could have edited them together. Heh.)

Incidentally -- I'm rather feeling the need to watch HHGttG again. Hee!

( #1-#3, hidden cuz they have the potential to make someone rip me a new one )

(4) How come I am having so much trouble drawing a frelling ball of yarn (for helens78 *waves*!) in Illustrator?

(5) Why haven't I heard anything about when the Farscape miniseries is being aired in Canada?

(6) How did I not know about Frou Frou's music earlier? ♥

(7) Why don't I ever have anything to talk about anymore?

Wolfsbane potion. Remus takes it. I know that at the time of the full moon, he'll turn into a wolf, then curl up and go to sleep. Now, what I'm pondering is, does he curl up and go to sleep because:

(a) the potion essentially knocks him unconscious (it's like Contac C for werewolves!)
or
(b) when you're a werewolf with no desire to hunt human prey, it's better than spending all night scratching your ears and licking your bum.

I can't remember having the explanation for this in-text, but then, I'm a pretty typical dumb blonde and could have possibly missed it. Hee! Ahem, yes. Or has it been said anywhere, or is there one that makes more sense, or... what?

---

It's sad when you're reading a genuinely funny essay about the frustrations of fandom and fanfiction and poor characterisation and bad sex scenes when BAM! Everything is destroyed once again by yet another writer saying something about "badfic" writers turning grown men into weepy thirteen-year-old girls. GAH. Dude, do NOT make me write another essay about the inherent sexism in that.

Weepy != girly

Got that?

Weepy = baby. Weepy = immature.

How could saying otherwise, that someone who cannot control their emotional reactions must be a girl -- how can that possibly be anything but a sexist remark? The one person I have known in my life who cried over every little thing that went wrong was a very emotionally fragile teenage boy, whereas my two best girl friends only ever cry when they are under extreme stress because they've always had good, mature, adult coping skills. The people who have absolutely no control over their reaction to cry over every upset, who have such poor emotional coping abilities, are infants. Children. People who are very, very immature.

It is not. a. female. thing. All right? Stop giving in to society's gender expectations by saying it is. Just stop.

Something interesting I read --

Kids shouldn't be reading or writing slash. And they are probably only
writing it because they've read it from some adult site or zine. I doubt
that they would have come up with the idea on there [sic] own.

*raises hand* Ooh! Ooh! I was writing Legolas/Gimli when I was twelve. Xena/Gabrielle when I was thirteen or fourteen. Fraser/Vecchio when I was seventeen. Of these -- only the Fraser/Vecchio after my awareness of the existence of slash online. And I would have written it ANYWAY.

So c'mon, people on my flist. Anybody else out there writing slash when they were underage and/or unaware of the existence of it as an actual "thing"? Tell, tell.

And, yes, sara_elf, it was a tad on the painful side. I will have to take it easy for the rest of the night, my brain may not be able to cope with the thinking. Ow.

Anyway, yes, I had a thought. After reading about the wank on the Sirius/Remus ML, about how it's pretentious and immature to end a story with "the end" or any such thing, my brain said something to me.

My brain said: "I hope whoever this person is, has not seen Return of the King."

Because, really. The end. The end says, The End.

If it's pretentious for a writer to say "The End" so as not to make people think there's more to the story, what does that make Peter Jackson?

Something to ponder as I respond to comments to my rantage of the other night.

I'm sorry to anybody who may have already seen it -- I thought there might be some people who would want to read this, despite the fact that I don't think I'm saying anything that hasn't been seen before. But this doesn't appear to have shown up on anybody's friendslist but my own. Wonder if I accidentally set it to private? Hmm. Anyway -- here goes, one more time.

Instead of sleeping like I normally do, I spent my train ride into Toronto composing this. I considered not posting it, but, dammit, the pants don't make me feel any better, so I am typing this up and posting it. And I am not putting this behind an LJ-cut. Cope. There aren't any pictures, no quizzes. Deal with it.

I have noticed that there has been a great deal posted about fan theft in the SV fandom from elke_tanzer's journal. I've also come across several links to old posts about such things. There is also what I posted about two weekends ago, and the fact that Miss Desiree obviously doesn't get it.

It is entirely unlikely that any potential rat bastards lying little twerps thieves will see this rant. This makes me sad... they obviously spend enough time at our websites.

There's the idea of intellectual property. There's the idea that we, as fan artists, are stealing the original content. There is that entirely lame-assed excuse that "Well, my FRIEND gave it to me!"

Not once have I ever claimed to be Peter Jacson, JRR Tolkien, Chris Columbus, JK Rowling, or Gregory Widen (director of The Prophecy). If I was indeed any of these people, I wouldn't be doing fanvids, nor would I be writing slash (well, perhaps I would be if I was Philippa Boyens... hmm, something to ponder). Also, if I was indeed Tolkien, I'd be a bit on the dead side. Just sayin'.

This, as we all know, is why I disclaim my work -- as will any good fan. Despite the fact that anyone with half a brain knows that I am not Peter Jackson. He's been far too busy these past few years to go about making slashy Boromir vids, and besides -- he's undoubtedly far more enamoured with the character rape that is his vision of Legolas, than I am. I simply can't be Jackson.

Anyone with half a brain who has watched Fellowship, The Two Towers, Philosopher's Stone (or Sorcerer's Stone, for our American friends), Chamber of Secrets or The Prophecy a fair handful of times -- you are the people I share the vids online for -- know which bits are directly from the source material. You know and I know. I am not trying to pass these bits off as my own because that's just downright dumb. Therefore, it's just wrong of you, dear potential or current rat thief, to take someone else's vid -- in whole or in part -- and say that you edited the thing together yourself. Sure, you edited other people's vids together, but you're taking credit for other people's work. Anything that's not directly out of the movies you're working with, people are going to think you slaved over, and it's just not cool to pretend other people's hard work is your own. The same applies to art, the same applies to fic. Allow me to take one moment to discuss the people who steal hand-drawn/painted fan art and manipulate or ass that off as your own: You frelling suck donkey balls. JUst because it's not hanging in the Louvre or have a name like Da Vinci, Monet or Van Gogh on it doesn't mean it's okay to filch it for your own self-gratification, jerk. Thanks, have a good day now.

Oh, and copying and pasting fanfiction? Just so you're aware: this sucks too. I don't make this shit up. You wouldn't actually retype Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, change the names, and try to get it published, would you? Of course not. Please, out of the basic decency that is supposed to be in you because you should know right from wrong -- please don't copy, paste, search and replace names in fanfiction, either. It still takes time and efford and blood and sweat and tears, even if the characters aren't ours.

Similarities in fic? Hmm, that's something else entirely. There are cliche'd situations and phrases that come up a lot. I'm almost waiting for the point where we have fanfiction author A write a story about, say, Remus and Sirius getting stuck together in, say, a broom closet, that involves the phrase "'Oh, well, shite,' said Sirius", and then for author B to use the same situation, write a completely different story, but include the same phrase. Then, author A and all her little friends going to hang author B out to dry. Or, maybe not even author A, because author A is a perfectly sensible woman -- maybe just people who read A's story. Now, I want to make it perfectly clear, that in such situations, I will not bother author B. Don't expect me to. Do expect, however, to find me pointing and laughing at everybody who is spazzing out for being, well, a bunch of silly spazzes. Mmkay?

Moving on to the old excuse "My friend gave it to me!" If your friend gave you an essay, and said, "It's okay to hand this in!" ... would you? Maybe I'm either too much of a goody-two-shoes, or way too paranoid, but I sure as hell wouldn't. Even if this doesn't hold water, why wouldn't your friend want their name attached to a full vid with these clips, or post the story, themselves? Probably because they know it's not cool for them to do so -- but hey, they get off fairly well scott-free if you do it for them like the dumbass you are, dumbass. I think, then, that it follows that your friend is a rat who obviously doesn't care if you end up with your name dragged through the mud.

You do not live under a rock. Nobody vids for a fandom if they have never seen the movie. Therefore, you know that it did not look like this in the movie. You know that somebody made the vids/clips you have. I think this makes it pretty clear that you should know it is in fact NOT OKAY to pass them off as your own work. Because you're not six. (Actually, I think I know six year olds who wouldn't do these things).

Fan artists are not movie studios. Yes, some will tell you that no, you may NOT use their work in any way, shape or form. Writers, with good cause, will ell you that no, you may not change the names of the characters and post the story as your own. Vidders may just send you copies of their source, if you need it. And yes, you'll be told no. Others will say, credit me cearly, and you may alter my art, or use a few of my clips. If they say do say no, they are not a bitch, no matter what you think. "No" is a part of every human language. You will have problems later on in life, my dears, if you don't learn how to cope with this word. It's a lovely, simple word. Embrace the "NO" and move on with your life.

You do not have the right to pass off my work as your own, and I do not have the right to pass off Peter Jackson's or Joanne Rowling's work as my own -- which is why I bloody well don't.

So grow up, okay? The world is your oyster, but there are other people and you have to share the oystery goodness. Writing and drawing are things that sometimes people just can't do. But anybody, with enough practice, can learn how to use Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop, Premiere, or any other video editing program. Teaching myself editing and Paint Shop was a difficult, long process. I am still learning. But it has been deeply satisfying to see myself improve as an artist. Even the writing took practice, I wasn't born with that ability, either. And you know something? You can experience this satisfaction too. Kind of like when your training wheels came off. Would you take away somebody else's post-training wheels euphoria and live that as your own? Of course not; you want to experience that on your own.

So don't steal that feeling from somebody else, okay? Please play nice with the other fans.

And please, from the bottom of your hearts, thank people like nigellus/Desiree for doing what they do -- because the vids at Drawn To the Rhythm are very likely not going back up, unless I re-edit them, because the old vids with my old source won't take watermarks. They need to be re-edited if I want the watermarks on them, and I do. (Hopefully, these thieves don't have a network, going around sending each other my un-watermarked vids.)

Ahh, I do love a good cause. And shameless fawning upon others ;)

First -- thanks to Sara, and to Jo, because without my two loveliest of lovelies, I'd never have started sharing in the first place.

Thanks to a lovely lady named Sally, from way back in the day in the Due South fandom -- I used to bounce everything I wrote off of her, after bouncing it off of Sara and/or Jo.

Thanks to Lavonne, and AC Canadensis, wherever they may be right now, for their help with my first Lord of the Rings stories.

And thank you to cruisedirector, zasjah, kirbycrow and to rushlight75 (I know, I still owe you a story! *sheepish*) for the efforts and patience they have provided at various times.

You all rock so much.