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exbexI am a bit of an asshole, tbh.
Also, this is all actually about tumblr but I am 35 years old and even though I devote large portions of my evening to tumblr, I'm honestly either too old or too introverted or too much of a luddite or something, so I default to here. *shrugs*
a) I just can't fucking deal with those posts on tumblr that are always admonishing everyone to "don't just leave kudos, leave comments" and "don't just like, reblog." Listen. I work full-time, I am in grad school, I have to deal with home ownership, and I have generalized anxiety disorder. I have clawed my way out of the poverty I grew up in but my family still lives in poverty. And then there's the reality of the world and politics bearing down, of course. You see where I'm going with this: I cannot do all this emotional fucking labor. And I say this as someone who has massive amounts of privilege and who doesn't have children, pets, or partners demanding attention (so I know. Yeah, I'm saying it: write/make art for yourself. Write/make art because it helps to keep your head above water, because to stop would be almost tantamount to ceasing to breathe. If we do it for attention, will it ever be enough? I mean, I don't know; I'm not a BNF by any means. But if I wrote for rewards, would I get to write the niche stuff I love to write, or would i only be writing for other people and therefore changing my style and everything that makes me the writer that I am?
b) Fighting about fictional characters/emotionally investing in fictional characters/hating or loving fictional characters intensely....I've been in fandom for almost a decade and I teach English language arts, so I get it. I also wrote a term paper last semester about representation in literature, so I get it. It being that they're really not just fictional characters. At some point though, I think we need to remind ourselves that, well, they aren't real.
Also, this is all actually about tumblr but I am 35 years old and even though I devote large portions of my evening to tumblr, I'm honestly either too old or too introverted or too much of a luddite or something, so I default to here. *shrugs*
a) I just can't fucking deal with those posts on tumblr that are always admonishing everyone to "don't just leave kudos, leave comments" and "don't just like, reblog." Listen. I work full-time, I am in grad school, I have to deal with home ownership, and I have generalized anxiety disorder. I have clawed my way out of the poverty I grew up in but my family still lives in poverty. And then there's the reality of the world and politics bearing down, of course. You see where I'm going with this: I cannot do all this emotional fucking labor. And I say this as someone who has massive amounts of privilege and who doesn't have children, pets, or partners demanding attention (so I know. Yeah, I'm saying it: write/make art for yourself. Write/make art because it helps to keep your head above water, because to stop would be almost tantamount to ceasing to breathe. If we do it for attention, will it ever be enough? I mean, I don't know; I'm not a BNF by any means. But if I wrote for rewards, would I get to write the niche stuff I love to write, or would i only be writing for other people and therefore changing my style and everything that makes me the writer that I am?
b) Fighting about fictional characters/emotionally investing in fictional characters/hating or loving fictional characters intensely....I've been in fandom for almost a decade and I teach English language arts, so I get it. I also wrote a term paper last semester about representation in literature, so I get it. It being that they're really not just fictional characters. At some point though, I think we need to remind ourselves that, well, they aren't real.
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Date: 2017-05-16 06:14 am (UTC)I fucking guarantee you that if all of us Olds who fucking built AO3 stopped right now and handed the board and the organisation and all the existing money over to The Yoofs, they'd be bankrupt in five fucking years, have lost their non-profit certification and someone would be charged for fraud.
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Date: 2017-05-17 02:20 am (UTC)I see those posts occasionally but I always see them followed up with great retorts, so they don't weary me as much as some of the other stuff.
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Date: 2017-05-16 08:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-17 02:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-16 03:53 pm (UTC)I love comments on what I write, but I don't write for comments. If I can think of a witty/silly/snarky/insightful/profound/helpful/thankful comment on something I read AND I have time to post it, I'll do so, but sometimes it's a 'drive by' visit and I just need to touch base for a smile or sigh to get me through the day.
Looked at Tumblr, it reminds me of graffiti-ed wall - LOTS of "I wuz here" damn little actual content.
Oh, well. Off to my nephew's high school graduation. 90 degrees on a football field in a region where every speaker will start with a Christan prayer and not get why anyone would object.
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Date: 2017-05-17 02:26 am (UTC)Oh boy...that makes me very forgiving of the graduations I attend every year.
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Date: 2017-05-23 11:16 pm (UTC)It was worth sitting on metal bleachers in the evening sun surrounded by smokers and tipsy people and mosquitoes to 1. see my nephew graduate 2. visit with family and 3. try not to laugh out loud when several freight trains passed by the field about every 30 minutes, drowning out the prayers, the 'I made it by the love of Jesus' valedictorian speech and the 'as you go forth' speech. (By county law the trains have to sound the horn as it passes through populated areas.)
After the ceremony was over, most of the families piled in the cars to go to the newest eatery in town - Burger King! (We got home grilled steaks, my BIL is a great cook)
On the 2 and 1/2 hour drive to the airport, hubby once again brings up the theory that I am a changeling, dropped off in this town by evil enemies of my fey parents.
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Date: 2017-05-26 04:57 am (UTC)I taught at the high school in this town for nine years, and the past two I've been teaching at the alternative high school. One of the grads last night carried her newborn up on stage as she walked to receive her diploma, and I think everyone got a little melty when the principal referred to the baby by name and as "future graduate." Future graduate not only was polite enough to make her entrance a few days prior to graduation so Mom could walk, but was slept peacefully throughout the ceremony. One of the other grads was in labor during the entire ceremony. Apparently she's been in labor since Friday, but she reverse dilated (a new term to me). I have to wonder how long before they just call a C-section. I mean, she's a couple of weeks before her due date, but she's not super premature. But at least she didn't have to miss her grad ceremony. And United Parcel Services came through by delivering the last cap and gown literally six hours prior to the grad ceremony. It was a bullet-sweating moment in our school, as this is a town of 9,000 people and there are no larger cities within a 100-mile radius. Not even sure where one goes to find a brick-and-mortar store that sells graduation gowns, but one of the other teachers was trying to decipher if he could make it to the next state over and back in time if cap and gown was not on the UPS truck. I do wonder if Highway Patrol would have understood....
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Date: 2017-05-16 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-17 02:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-25 11:52 pm (UTC)I'm not on tumblr so can't relate well to that platform but I get the gist of your issue. I'm always surprised when people feel obligated to do something for a fandom or expect someone else to do something for it. I'm with you. I have plenty of work outside of this stuff. I don't want it to become work.
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Date: 2017-05-26 05:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-26 01:42 am (UTC)hello.
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Date: 2017-05-26 05:02 am (UTC)