Kerfuffle windfalls

[vulgarweed]

One thing that for me has come out of my fortunately-very-limited participation in recent spitsfests over the merits and irritations of Certain Archives has been this revelation:

In Tolkien fandom, those of us who read and write both het and slash and things in-between can have a hard time of it on the archive front. Mind you, I'm fine with putting my slash stuff up at Library of Moria and my het stuff at Open Scrolls, but then there are things like this, which are kind of both and neither (Thank you, Tolkien Fan Fiction! And I'm interested in writing and reading many more stories that blur the boundaries, or just refuse to honor that silly distinction in the first place.

So I really enjoy this community: hp_bitextual, and I'm wondering if there's interest in a sort of Arda Bitextual. (All time periods/cultures/characters inclusive).

What say you? Mind you, I'd still have to ask the hp_bitextual folks if they mind other fandoms nipping their M.O.

Comments

[tyellas.livejournal.com]

I hear you. I like the idea of a community, but are there enough of us? I've written an in-betweeny thing or two, but I don't make a habit of it, and I only write from challenges irregularly.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Well, the nice thing about an LJ community as opposed to an archive is that they're not very labor-intensive to set up, and it doesn't really matter how high-traffic they are.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Tolkien Fan Fiction is great, as long as you're willing to be a member of Teh Evil HA Mailing List. No doubt some people will eventually start grousing at that requirement. Well, they're always free to post at ff.net. As for me, I'm hoping to slowly transfer all my old fics onto Mike's new archive over the next couple of weeks. Here's hoping TFF thrives!

The 'everything goes' Tolkien LJ community you're proposing sounds interesting. I think all the divisions in this fandom are so silly, especially the big het/slash division. Since when are all story ideas pigeonholed so easily?

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm gradually moving my stuff over there too. Honestly, it seems like such a simple thing: an archive that allows everything (all characters/time periods, all ratings, all 'orientations') but also has some some quality control. Why does it seem like such a hard thing to achieve in this fandom?

The way hp_bitextual works, as I understand it, it's for stories that are in some way both het and slash. It might be a mixed-gender threesome, or different pairings with some of each, or a character(s) in some way gender-bent. Tyellas is right, it is a very small number of stories in this fandom -- but it could be a neat place to post or rec and discuss them.

[fyrdrakken]

I can't help but think there should be more F/S/R out there -- but I'm probably not looking in the right places.

[erunyauve-e.livejournal.com]

The 'everything goes' Tolkien LJ community you're proposing sounds interesting. I think all the divisions in this fandom are so silly, especially the big het/slash division.

I find myself really stuck in between the whole mess (which is one reason I've been looking into web space options). I follow my plot bunnies, which sometimes want to write het and sometimes slash (and my femslash story is actually f/f and f/m). The trouble is that I can't post the NC-17 stuff to ff.net and aff.net has become completely unreliable. I hate dealing with LoM - I don't understand why anyone would want stories in a .txt format and the delay in posting stories is a problem, particularly when you need to fix an error. And I'm still resisting HASA - the whole MA blowup has been a very draining distraction and I'm not sure if I can handle the politics at HASA.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Join the HA yahoo list (if you're not already a member), and you can post your stories at Tolkien Fan Fiction. Mike Kellner created the archive for HA members as an alternative to HASA. It takes everything, including adult material, and you don't have to go through the intimidating review process that HASA has (as long as a story meets minimal requirements of grammer, formatting, etc., you can post it).

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

Well, at HASA you can post any kind of story you write (as long as it's Tolkien-based, that is); it's just not going to show on the public side of the site unless it goes through review. Which can be a plus or a minus, depending. If I'm working on a story that is still in progress and rough, I'm usually happy that it doesn't show. Other members can see it if you want them to, though, if you're looking for feedback. The member forums are good for discussion, and there's also a Resources area if you're trying to remember some detail like the order of birth of the sons of Fëanor...

[eyebrowofdoom.livejournal.com]

There's lotr_canon which allows het and gen: in effect it's mostly a "slashers who occasionally experiment" community. The gen and het LOTR folks on lj don't seem to be very cohesive; that or there's just very few of them (or I'm not well-connected n that field), I don't know. It's possible one could forge an actual community out of an lj community... :)

[teasel.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link to Tolkien Fan Fiction; it's a beautifully designed site, and I love the idea of a place that does not over-insist on the distinction between slash and gen. I hadn't heard of TFF before (like everyone and her sister I'm on the HA mailing list and am archived at HASA, but must admit that I haven't kept track of doings at either place for a very long time, apart from popping into HASA now and again to review stories).

Um, I have a curiousity question: I call it that to wave a big flag that says "harmless! harmless!" and to distinguish my question from the sort of question people ask when they intend to start fulminating at some point. I haven't followed the HA list for almost a year, but when I did follow it, HASA itself was more or less HAs archive. Membership in the two was distinct but, well, "Henneth Annun Story Archive" and all that. Um, do you know the reason why TFF seemed necessary to the folks who founded it -- what its distinct mission is that HASA does not fulfill? Oy: even asking the question feels like dipping my toe into a gigantic heaving sea of controversy that I know nothing whatsoever about, but, well, I'm curious, and the FAQ file and rules on the site didn't seem very enlightening on this point.

[teasel.livejournal.com]

ETA Erm, a friend of mine just emailed me with an answer to this question, so if you don't want to go into whys and wherefores here, my (innocent! non-wanky! promise!) curiousity has been assuaged. :)

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Basically, Mike Kellner (who moderates the HA mailing list), felt that HASA's review system can be very intimidating for newer writers. The whole review system there has become problematic for many reasons, as I'm sure you're aware. So he created an archive without the review system, but which still allows some quality control, as a supplement to HASA.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Hee. I appreciate your caution! I would say I'm doing my best to keep my LJ a Wank-Free Zone, but that would mean I could never wank myself, and I know myself better. :)

Glad to see your question's already been answered. There are a lot of good writers out there who, for many reasons, don't want to deal with running the HASA gauntlet. I hope TFF proves more welcoming.

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

I don't have any comments that anyone else didn't make, really. I just wanted to say that I adore the idea of an arda_bitextual, and would really love to be able to participate in it.

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

In fact, the idea has rather been haunting me. Are you still thinking of creating this community? Because I very well may, if you do not, but because it was your idea first I wanted to ask your permission to do so.