Reading you say you just don't feel like writing fanfic anymore made me sad, because I've felt the same for years. Even shows I really did like just.. Arent inspiring? I watch things and enjoy them, but I don't feel any desire to produce something from it, and I no longer even look for fanfic that much. I felt the grief, too, so in a way, I'm glad it's not just me :/ It's a sucky feeling, really.
I hate it, honestly. I haven't closed the door to it, in weird ways it feels like the door has been closed on me instead (because of the pandemic, and life, and fandom changes).
I'm definitely not ruling it out! I'm also just not sure when things will change.
And then additionally, I've been in a 6 month lockdown that shows no signs of changing because I'm immunocompromised and disabled and everyone else is living kind of selfishly as though people like me don't exist and don't deserve protection (specifically re: masks and mask-wearing). Protecting disabled people really stops at mask wearing, even though folks wearing a mask does less protection for you and more protection for the *people around you* and vice versa. I've gone to a cafe once this year. I've been inside a shop once. It's kind of hard to get that old enthusiastic fandom vibe personally.
I think it will change eventually re: fandom because the media landscape is changing all the time, and nothing is static anyway. Things feel like they may have changed forever, but the reality is it's only been about 2 years out of about 13 of writing fanfiction?
But yeah I also no longer look for fanfic that much. It's harder than it used to be. People used to joke about looking for needle in haystacks but the reality is with AO3 and tag-surfing/narrowing/limiting it was, at least for a while, a lot easier to find fics you liked. These days it feels like...idk...
Also just factually, there's less longfics then there used to be. I talked to a friend about this and we both agreed it's probably connected to how short-lived fandoms are these days. A lot of the time it can take time to come up with a longfic concept, and it can be even harder to execute it in a dead or quiet fandom. I am primarily a hurt/comfort + happy ending longfic reader, and a PWP reader. There are still a lot of PWPs, but I've found no longfics I've really enjoyed in about 2 years. At some point, I just...gave up. I'm sure they're out there, but not really in the fandoms I was last active in, and not with the pairings I was looking for. And by the time I thought 'I'll write a rarepair longfic' the fandom was dead and I think every fic writer can write for a dead fandom a few times, but not many can do it forever. Even the last fanfiction I wrote was way way shorter than my normal ones, almost as though even then I was afraid to commit to anything longer than around 20k.
Anyway! Yes. It does suck and it is sad and it's kind of depressing. I'm very lucky that I can still get 'fandom feels' with Fae Tales, which has helped. But my writing life doesn't really feel complete without fanfiction, so it's been a weird two years. Falling Falling Stars came close to filling that gap because it's so whumpy and hurt/comforty, but that's going to be over soon.
Be interesting to see what happens to fandom during the pandemic/s (1 million cases of monkeypox now predicted by September). And hopefully you find your way back to fandom eventually, or that many of us do. You're definitely not alone. I know so many people kind of deep in this issue (many of them previously longfic writers), and while I do know a few people still writing fic, the 'old guard' of writers who actually still kind of want to be writing, or in fandom, or feeling that feeling, just...can't.
I don't think it's 'growing out of fandom' personally. For me, I really think it's connected to the change in the fandom experience + global issues + personal issues. So I am hopeful it's not permanent. But still sad that I can't tell people when I'll be writing fic again any time soon either. x.x
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I don't know who needs to hear this, but as a creator -
I am fine with "the audience" -
downloading my fics
printing my fics
copy/pasting or screenshotting my fics
sharing your saved copy of my fics with anyone else who might want them in the unlikely but never impossible case that my fics are no longer available on ao3
making a book of my fic(s) and running your fingers across the pages while lovingly whispering my precioussss
doing these things with anything I create for fandom, such as meta, headcanons, au nonsense like 'texts from the brodinsons,' etc
I am not fine with "the audience"
doing any of the above with the purpose/intent of plagiarizing my work or passing it off as their own in any capacity
feeding my work into ai for any reason whatsoever
Save the fandom things. Preserve the fandom things. Respect the fandom things.
Enjoy the fandom things.
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ICJ Ruling
Okay, let's get into this.
First of all, I get the frustration at the court not ordering a ceasefire. I was disappointed and frustrated at first too, since a ceasefire was the biggest and most important preliminary measure South Africa was requesting - and of course we just all want this horror to finally end for the people in Gaza. So I get the frustration and disappointment, I really do.
However, I do think this ruling is still a major win for South Africa, Palestine, and international law as a whole and here's why:
The court acknowledged that it has jurisdiction over this case and completely dismissed Israel's request to throw out the case as a whole. It will now determine at the merits stage (that will probably take years) whether Israel is actually commiting genocide.
The court acknowledged that Palestinians are a "distinct national or ethnic group and therefore deserving of protection under the genocide convention". Pull this out next time someone tells you "there's no such thing as Palestinians, they're all just Arabs".
The court acknowledged very unambiguously that "at least some" of Israel's actions being genocidal in nature is "plausible". South Africa has a case, officially. Israel is accused of genocide, in a way the ICJ deems "plausible", officially. This is huge. (And seriously, how freaking satisfying was it to hear all of those genocidal statements by Israeli politicians read out loud and used as justification for this rulling?)
The court might not have ordered a "ceasefire" in those words, but they did order Israel to "immediately end all genocidal acts" (which includes killing and injuring Palestinians) and submit proof that they actually did. How are they going to comply with this ruling without at least severly reducing or changing what they're doing in Gaza?
In fact, this wording might actually be more appropriate for a genocide (vs a war), as author and journalist Ali Abunimah notes on Twitter:
He's completely right. Israel lost today, by overwhelming majority (I mean, 15 to 2? I heard people predict the rulings would be very close, like 9 judges vs 8, but instead we got 15 to 2 (and even 16 to 1 on the humanitarian aid). Holy shit.) The court disimissed almost everything Israel's side of lawyers said, while acknowledging that South Africa's accusations are "plausible".
And this is important especially because of Mr Abunimah's second tweet there^. Because the question is, where do we go from here?
This ruling means that Israel is officially /possibly/ commiting genocide and that should have huge international consequences. The rest of the world now HAS to take these accusations seriously and stop arming and supporting Israel - and if they won't do it on their own, we, the people, have to make them. This is THE moment to rise up all around the world, especially in the countries most supportive of Israel (the US, the UK, Germany): Protest, call your representatives and demand a ceasefire and an end of arms deliveries to Israel.
We now have a legal case to back our demands: If Israel is, according to the ICJ, "plausibly" commiting genocide, then all of our governments are, according to the ICJ, "plausibly" guiltly of aiding in genocide. And we need to hold that over their heads and demand better. We need to do that right now and in huge numbers. Most politicians only care about themselves and saving their skin. We have to make them realize that they could be accused of aiding in genocide.
(As a German, I'm thinking of Germany here in particular: After South Africa's hearing, our government dismissed their case as having "no basis" - how are they going to keep saying that now that the ICJ officially thinks otherwise? Over the last months, people here have been arrested at protests for calling what's happening in Gaza a genocide. How are the police supposed to legally keep doing that now that the ICJ has officially deemed this accusation "plausible"? I used to be scared to use the word "genocide" at protests or write it on my protest signs - not anymore, have fun trying to arrest me for that when the ICJ literally has my back on this one 🖕🏻.)
So yeah - don't be defeatist about this, don't let Israel's narrative that they "won" (they didn't) take over. This might not be everything we wanted, but it's still a good result. Don't let what the court didn't say ("ceasefire"), distract you from the very important things that they did say. Let this be your motivation to get loud and active, especially if you live in any country that supports Israel. Put pressure on your governments to not be complicit in genocide, you now officially have the highest international court on your side.
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i'm sorry but i don't think we should call this the "autism website" when there's still posts with tons of notes mocking people who:
struggle with social skills / have anxiety around social settings
are unemployed / unable to work certain jobs
have intense or "age-inappropriate" interests
haven't had certain life experiences that are deemed universal/essential
struggle with personal hygiene
don't have any friends or dating experience
don't go outside much or at all
take things literally / don't get sarcasm/jokes
have unusual ways of speaking
generally aren't "normal"
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Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".
Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"
And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".
Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.
At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.
So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!
Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!
Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!
Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.
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