Rushlight's Journal II

There is a survey on http://community.livejournal.com/pay_no_more (thanks elke_tanzer for the link) asking for LJ users who have decided against renewing/upgrading their accounts to participate in a headcount and answer a few brief questions about their experiences with 6A/LJ. There are separate surveys for free, paid, and permanent account holders. If you're willing to participate, just read through the community's three posts and then comment on the appropriate one.

( My Responses )

Just a note that I'm mirroring nihongodesu over at InsaneJournal (under the same name). I'll be making future posts to both journals. At first I didn't think it would be necessary because it's not a fannish journal, but then I figured that it's better to be safe than sorry. LJ apparently has no problem with wiping out the entire existence of its TOS-felons, including every journal they've ever created. *sigh*

Title: Want
Author: Rushlight
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: Naruto/Sasuke
Rating: R
Summary: Naruto gets bored.

*
Want

RJ and I drove out to see the house again today. They're working on putting on the roof, and it looks like they just laid down the tile in the entryway and kitchen. RJ was disappointed that we couldn't go inside, but there was a sign up warning that the tile had just been put in and to KEEP OUT while it dried. We walked around the house, though, and peeked in through the windows. I still have trouble believing I'm actually going to live there someday soon. They have the cabinets installed in the kitchen now -- no counters yet, but it's actually starting to look like a kitchen. There's also a lamp hanging over the dining room that looks really nice. There wasn't much else I could see from outside.

The backyard is entirely walled in now, with only the gate at the side still needing to be added. Plus it looks like they're getting ready to pour the concrete for the driveway and the sidewalk leading up to the front door. I think when we go back next weekend the outside will be pretty much done.

I'm looking forward to seeing the counters and the carpets because I can't remember what colors I picked out. LOL. It'll be a surprise. ^_^

Eee! I just read a post in LJ's pornish_pixies that they're asking all author/artists to friends-lock their posts. Is there no way to just lock the entire community down as friends only? *frets* I have no idea how to go back and find the stories I've posted there. Is there an easy way to do that? Or even a reasonably not-impossible one?

Many thanks to shirahime (@IJ) for the new icon. ;)

I'm really starting to lean toward InsaneJournal lately... it's easy to use, and they seem very, very welcoming to fandom. What initially drew me to the site was the welcome message on their front page:

I see that we have a bunch of new users and a lot of people checking us out. I do welcome all of you. I want to point out to you, that although this site is based in the LiveJournal engine, we are not affiliated or associated with LiveJournal or Six Apart in any way. We are an independently run site.

We understand why a lot of you are coming over here, and we do not believe in censorship beyond the letter of the law. We will not remove any content from the site unless we receive an official DMCA take down notice or are contacted by an official law enforcement or other legal agency.

That said, we welcome all of you and if you have any issues, please feel free to visit our support area.

That just makes me feel all warm and happy inside. ^_^

From what I've been reading on my friendslist(s), GreatestJournal does not allow porn to be posted unlocked, and they have a history of permanently suspending journals for adult content without warning. Yikes.

Last night I finished moving all of my LJ posts over to my IJ, and worked on updating a lot of the tags there. It's starting to feel a bit like home now. I will probably be cross-posting to all four of my journals for a while now, but fiction will only be posted to IJ and LJ (because that is still where the majority of you are, as near as I can tell). Plus I have a paid account on LJ, and for as long as that lasts, I want to get my money's worth for it.

My decision to find another journal home really has nothing to do with "OMG, LJ is going to delete my account!!!" It has everything to do with the attitude of TPTB there. I don't feel welcome there, and I tend to feel constantly irritated whenever I think about the statements they've publicly made. It feels like high school all over again, with all the backbiting and name-calling and popularity contests. Fanfiction should not be a stressful experience; this is where I come to get away from all that crap.

This is priceless: Violent Opposition to Livejournal by beefcake_cop. Thank you maeglinyedi for the rec. ^_^

The recent drama on LJ has made me think a lot about fandom lately, and fanfiction, and the reasons why I'm here and why I do what I do.

I've been involved in fandom "officially" since about 1999. That was the year I discovered my first internet fanfic archive, joined my first internet mailing list, began toying with the idea of creating my own personal internet website to house the fiction I write. Before that, I had no idea what fandom was or that it even existed, although it's not accurate to say I wasn't involved to one degree or another in fanfiction-writing (however unknowingly) before that.

Prior to 1999, Rushlight did not exist. But I can remember clearly sitting hunched over the desk in my bedroom in upstate New York writing stories about G.I. Joe and Thundercats (my favorite cartoons) when I was a kid. Drawing pictures, creating fantasies, giving voice to the elaborate adventures these beloved characters were having inside my head. Because they and the world they lived in were so interesting to me, so rich and captivating, I couldn't not express that feeling in the only way I knew how -- through creativity.

As I grew up, the television shows, movies, books, and characters that sparked my imagination changed, but the means I used to express my love for them did not. I continued to write, continued to create worlds and fantasies surrounding these characters I loved. It seemed natural to me to explore their relationships in this way, expanding on the characterizations I was given in the source material with the intention of answering that all-consuming and enthralling question: "What if?"

I wrote, and I created, but I never shared a word of my fanfiction writings with anyone. Why would I? No one else I knew felt the urge to write stories about other people's fictional characters. Original fiction (as I've come to think of it now) was "real" writing, after all; I doubted very much that people would understand if they found out I was playing in these borrowed worlds. I didn't feel ashamed of my writing by any means, but it was a very lonely place to be.

Then came the spring of 1999. I was browsing the internet looking (in all innocence) for the title of an X-Files episode when I accidentally stumbled across the Gossamer web archive of X-Files fanfiction. I was stunned. Here was an entire library of stories just like the ones I was writing, about characters from a television show I enjoyed, organized in such a way that I could easily navigate it and find stories I wanted to read. I was amazed. I was flabbergasted.

I was addicted.

I think I must have spent a week devouring every story I could find on that website. I didn't go outside, didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't communicate with friends. I literally could not believe what I had found. Here was a community of people who wrote stories just like I did, and not only that, but they SHARED them with one another. The idea was completely alien to me. Alien, but exciting.

I played follow-the-link and eventually came across the Master & Apprentice archive. I'll admit it was the fanart on the website's front page that stopped me -- Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan looked so natural together there, so comfortable with and devoted to one another, it intrigued me. I explored further, again devouring every story I could find. I subscribed to my first mailing list there, and joined in my first tentative fandom discussions. I wrote my very first fanfiction with the intention of sharing it, and posted it, and received my very first "Letter of Comment".

Just hearing that another person had read my story seemed like a miracle. That sense of joy, of wonder, has not diminished at all over the years. I've since expanded into multiple fandoms, written and shared dozens of stories, but the basic intent behind my writing hasn't changed. I love these characters, and I'm intrigued by them enough to want to ask "What if?". The only thing that's really changed from the days when I wrote adventure stories about Lion-O and Snarf and Lady Jaye when I was a kid is that now there's a sense of community about it. I am no longer writing in a vacuum. Fandom as a whole is about sharing, and forging relationships with one another, and encouraging one another, and supporting one another, and learning from one another's mistakes. It's about providing a safe environment where ideas can be presented and challenged and shared. Some of my best friends are friends I've met through fandom. There are a number of you I would go so far as to say I consider family.

That being said, I think it's clear that there is nothing Livejournal or Six Apart or anyone else can do that would detract from that in the slightest. Fandom doesn't have a web address. It's a community of people -- people who may not always agree with one another, who may not always get along, but who choose to communicate and co-exist with each other regardless. And we will continue to do so no matter what ambiguous new rules 6A decides to lay down or what ill-conceived actions they choose to make. Livejournal is not fandom; livejournal is a tool that a part of fandom has chosen to use, because for a while it has been convenient for us to do so. If that tool breaks (or in this case, breaks itself), what does it matter? There are plenty of other ways for us to communicate out there. ^_^

I am Not Happy with livejournal.

Whether it's enough to induce me to leave LJ for good, I don't know. I will probably not be paying for any more services from them, just because the way they do business leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The banning-without-warning and the broken promises and the almost-amusing sidestepping they do in their public posts and their refusal to clarify what a banning offense is before taking negative action leaves me feeling very unsure of my place here.

I'm not really convinced it will be any better any place else, however. Business is business, and TPTB will always have the right to delete journals or refuse service to anyone they choose.

That being said, I've begun tentatively cross-posting to my many alternate journals for the time being, because so many of my friends have departed LJ for greener pastures of one kind or another. :( I toyed with the idea of moving all of my LJ posts over to one or all of them, but haven't done it yet. So far, I like IJ the best, but GJ is also growing on me. I just recently got a JF account, but I can't seem to get used to that one. Only 10 user pics, no tags, and very VERY limited choice of layouts. Hmm.

It would be easier to think of leaving if I could actually find some kind of interesting fandom interaction on the other journaling sites. When I search interests, all I find are other users, not comms. When I'm lucky enough to find a comm in one of my fandoms, it inevitably has something like five members (if I'm lucky) and hasn't been posted to since 2003. :/

This amuses me:

Bannination!

Although it's a sad, rueful kind of amusement because I really did enjoy LJ very much at one time. :(

Once again, I'm rushlight at GJ, IJ, and JF. Feel free to friend me there if you'd like.

I haven't posted anything new about my Japanese studies since I created nihongodesu, but I have been diligently studying amd learning. Kanji is turning out to be a wonderfully exciting and challenging adventure. It still amazes me how elegantly it all fits together. It feels somehow that it should somehow be more difficult than it is...

( Japanese rambles )

Which reminds me, echse, I still have to go back and finish translating that Kakashi/Iruka doujinshi. I let it slide while I was stressing over the interview for the promotion I wanted at work, but I don't have any excuses to let it go any longer. ^_^ It's a bit intimidating, but I think I've got a grasp on a good portion of it anyway.

This afternoon RJ and I took a drive out to look at the new house, and what a surprise! They have the outside painted already. It looks reeeeally different from how I'd pictured it would look, but I figure I'll get used to it, LOL. We were able to go inside and walk around, which was tons of fun. Everything smelled like paint and none of the doors were up and there are no carpet or counters or cabinets yet, but it actually looks like a house in there now. Soooo exciting. We had to take the grand tour while RJ gave me a running commentary of where every piece of furniture we own is going to go when we actually move in. ^_^

I am soooo excited at the idea of owning my own home. It's not huge, but it's ours. I am so very tired of apartment living.

Some of the neighbors have already moved in further down the street. The houses look beautiful there, with nice grassy front yards. I was expecting the front yards to be desert landscaped because the HOA is paying for the upkeep of them, but no. Apparently we're going to have grass after all, wihch is really neat. I love grass, especially when I'm not the one responsible for mowing it. Heh.

The estimate is late September for our move-in. I think we'll be getting a more specific date within the next couple of weeks. *tries very hard to wait patiently*

Just a note that "The Pendulum of Choice" is done at last! You can find the entire series on my website here:

http://slashcity.org/rushlight/hp/pendulum.htm

I'm going to be migrating some of my journal entries over from LJ this afternoon, so any entries before this point were most likely LJ entries (which means that some links, etc. may not work properly). The comments and tags don't come with them, which is a bummer. :(

I can't imagine I'll be moving here permanently from LJ unless my whole corner of fandom up and moves (which I really don't see happening no matter how many comments I see flying around that fandom is leaving FOR GOOD THIS TIME). But still, backups are nice. And multiple redundant backups are even better. :)

If you're interested in doing the same, you can find out how to do repost backdated entries to another journal here. I used Method 2 without any problems (thank you, maskofsmiles!).

Okay, so I've finally taken the time to customize my GJ with a S2 style. I didn't think there were any styles on GJ that have all the customizations I love about my style on LJ, but I was wrong! Either it's new, or else I just missed it last time I looked.

However, I can't figure out for the life of me how to add links to the links list on my sidebar. Or how to put anything into that "Other" box. Is there a link to update those that I missed somewhere? Have any of you been able to figure it out?

ETA: Okay, I figured out how to add links. But we can only list five????

I just downloaded Semagic and am testing to see if I can get it to work...

ETA: Success! Multiple posts to three journals!

Once again the recent fracas on LJ has reminded me that I have a GJ account. I kind of like the idea of having a backup to keep in touch with people when LJ goes insane or is down, but I probably won't be using this for much more than that.

For anyone who's interested, you can also find me as 'rushlight' on InsaneJournal and on Vox. I have no idea why I have so many journals. I think partly it's a compulsion to grab the username 'rushlight' whenever it's available, just in case. Plus I like playing with new toys, however temporarily.

I can't imagine that fandom will ever really abandon LJ, unless LJ abandons us. There's just too much of a history there, too much of an already established network of friends and communities.

Hey, I just noticed that there's an option to change GJ's color scheme on the sidebar. I'll have to play with that a bit. One of the things I've found annoying here is that it forces me to work in Gryffindor colors...

Aargh. I'm in the middle of writing, and there's a word I need that's on the tip of my tongue, and I can't think what it is. It means being on the same wavelength as another person, and thinking of things in approximately the same way. You'd say that these two people have a (blank). Not 'camaraderie', but I'm thinking it has a similar rhythm to it.

Any ideas? @_@

My latest sword arrived in the mail today:

( Sword Pics )

This officially marks the end of the indulgence money, so if I want any more I'm going to have to start saving up for them all over again....
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*blows dust off Greatest Journal*

Well, I decided to play with this journal some more. I'm not even sure there's anyone here I know -- I'll have to browse around a bit later and see what I can find. I'm rather impressed with myself for remembering my password. And it only took me eight tries to get it right!

I have absolutely nothing of interest to say, really. :/

The promised zoo baby pictures...

( Storm the ocelot and two baby tigers )
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I finally got around to getting my pictures of Storm (the baby ocelot I worked with at the zoo last year) developed and put onto a photo CD. To mark the occasion, I made this new icon. Isn't she pretty? :)

I also have some pictures of the baby tigers, which are entirely too adorable. I'll go ahead and post them here as soon as I get around to getting them uploaded.

In other news, Peanut the ferret came to live with us this weekend, thanks to jdgreybraid's willingness to brave the desert heat and drive her into town. So far, Peanut and the other two ferrets seem to be hitting it off rather well, although poor Gilbert is still keeping his distance. It'll take them a while to get used to each other, I think, but at least there doesn't seem to be any serious personality clashes. Peanut even deigned to snuggle with me a bit this afternoon, although she was far more interested most of the time in exploring her new home.

I'll have to put up some pictures of her later...
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