If it's FictionAlley, wank must inevitably follow

[snorkackcatcher]

Sequence:

(1) FictionAlley apply for $25K from the Pepsi Refresh project in order to keep their servers running, and send out emails to their users asking them to vote FA up.

(2) Lots of people take objection to the idea of using money that could have gone to a worthwhile charity for a fanfiction archive.

(3) Wank. (This is the usual end result for anything to do with FA.)

You can get links here if you want more details and discussion.

Yes, there do indeed appear to be many more valuable projects among the applicants that Pepsi could dole out cash to. I wouldn't be particularly miffed if they junked the entire "Arts & Culture" section, for that matter, but still -- they do have it, and presumably have money earmarked to make awards under that heading.

Personally, I'm not going to flame FA for trying their luck. I might well do if the projects they were competing against were all or mostly ones that helped people suffering serious hardship, but there's apparently no way to tell what they might be before they're all published, and anyway -- well, basically they're not: a casual glance at the list produces things like the following, all ranked higher than FA's proposal at the time I wrote this:

• Build a statue/monument for Civil War General William Stark Rosecrans (who? This bloke, apparently. They're asking for $50K)
• Support Roadside Poetry in Rural Minnesota! ($25K)
• Continue How Philly Moves, a celebration of dance in Philadelphia ($50K)
• Refresh and Restore the Preston Castle ($25K)
• Save and rebuild the oldest wooden roller coaster in Florida ($250K!)
• Showcase creative-student work and enable business collaboration ($25K)
• Save the Greenville Ave St Patrick's Day Parade ($50K, mostly for police bills)
• TeachTeens Ballroom Dancing = Social Skills, Good Manners & Respect ($25K)

There are others, obviously, but there's a limit to how much cutting and pasting I can do before getting fed up. The point is that while they may well all be perfectly worthwhile things to do, they're equally someone's pet project, the proposals contain the same sort of unconvincing hype and handwaving as FA's about the wondrous benefits expected (one hopes that critics of FA's project for triviality haven't previously blathered on about the enormous importance of fanfic during previous wanks), and they're hardly any less self-serving. Under those circumstances, FA aren't out of place, and much less likely to actually win.

Look ... it's FA we're talking about here. (Disclosure FTR: I suppose I'm theoretically on-staff there as my name's on the techie mailing list, although my connection was always tenuous and they've managed to piss me off on multiple occasions.) They get bashed frequently. The top brass can be annoying and thoroughly precious, and it seems many people still haven't forgiven them for the Cassandra Claire nonsense (even though it was the best part of a decade ago and I suspect most people now in fandom probably have only the vaguest idea what it was all about). Yeah, it was probably a bad move on FA's part; but as so often with these things I really can't rouse myself to standard Fandom/Daily Mail Letters Page Strength Rage about it.

Comments

[plaid-slytherin.livejournal.com]

Lincoln on "Old Rosy": he seemed "confused and stunned like a duck hit on the head." Yeah, he needs a statue.

[snorkackcatcher]

Abe always had a nice line in snark, didn't he? :)

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. There are a lot of worthwhile projects on there, and given the amount of grants being handed out, it's not likely that FA will win. I mean, they're at #200 right now. (Or were this afternoon.) There are only, what? 5-10 grants being handed out?

I really feel like this is a case of overestimated purpose. FA is a fanfic site, but I see where they're trying to go with online writer workshops and the like. I don't have a lot of faith in that, but hey, I'm not the one to say, not really. I'm not calling them saints, but I'm not nailing the horns and tail to them, either. I won't vote for the proposal, but it really bugs me to see the personal attacks.

(I also find it convenient that everyone will blast the brass for the CC thing, which I don't even remember, it was before my time, and Charitygate (ditto) but I've yet to see one mention of the fact that pinkfinity organizing help_haiti.)

But then, what would fandom be if it couldn't be reactionary? ::sigh:: I suppose that's part of the fun.

Also? If you're really bored, check out the actual application. The criteria is vague in the extreme, and some of the projects that were funded last year aren't exactly stocking soup kitchens and giving beds to the homeless. Reading just the applications and funded projects (which is what FA would have had access to- not what they were up against) makes it seem much more reasonable that they would have applied.

[snorkackcatcher]

I hadn't checked last year's winners, but yeah, I see what you mean -- if grants were awarded to things like completing a sculpture garden, or building community through swing dance, or in particular "Start[ing] a nonprofit online magazine to promote literature, music & art", they must have felt "hey, we might qualify for this".

Maybe it just bugs me that a few rounds back, on various occasions when somebody or other was dissing fanfic as an activity, there were passionate defences of its transformative and empowering value yadda yadda. Now it's apparently a trivial activity only indulged in by a few bored middle class housewives or something. Eh, whatever. It's probably different people posting, but I wouldn't be entirely surprised to find a few names in common.

It was part of the fun once, I guess. The general tone (yes, sorry, the T-word, wash my keyboard out with soap) of sanctimoniousness and self-righteousness just gets wearying,though.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Tone is definitely getting even more evil. Apparently, FA has withdrawn their application, and that's STILL not good enough. And you're right about how it swings between "fanfic is empowering!" and "fanfic is just porn."

I keep wanting to reply. I keep wanting to use reason, and say that, you know, I think the people involved made a mistake, but after reading the application and all, I can understand why they made it. And that hey- would you guys kindly remember that 1.) an online persona isn't everything about a person and 2.) hey, some of these people have done a hell of a lot, and 3.) telling people to "die in a fire" and calling them horrible names is hardly the tolerance and forgiveness that people supposedly want for themselves. Please remind me that reason and niceness do NOT fare well on wank sites!!!!!

Makes me appreciate the BSG fandom more and more though. The wank quotient is relatively low. :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Probably a good ideas to withdraw the application, especially as maybe WB have come through with some freebies to raffle?

3) But then, it's just bog standard psychology: if you pride yourself on being a person of X it gives you an automatic free pass on any instances of not-X.

There's a wank free fandom? How is that even possible? :)

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

There's wank about this? Seriously? Mother of god...

[snorkackcatcher]

First law of fandom, I guess -- there can be wank about anything. Especially if Heidi is involved.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I am inclined to agree. The general arguments against it could equally well be used against any funding for the arts. If there is a category for this sort of thing, then the funder presumably wants applications from this sort of thing. There are potential arguments about a popular fan-site being able to skew the voting, but that's an issue with any public vote - the same applies to a church with dedicated members. Frankly, if Eton counts as a charity, I don't see why FA can't have a shot. Some of their campaigning has been deeply crass, but that's different from the principle as to whether they are horrifically presumptious in applying in the first place.

ETA: It occurs to me belatedly that what might be a really bad idea is bringing FA to the attention of a really big company, given the not-entirely-accepted/proved legality of what FA actually does...

Come to that, the arguments "You're taking from the needy" could equally be given to all those posts on LJ for healthcare costs. If I am asked to give to meet the needs of someone in the US (having paid my taxes for my local healthcare), then I am de facto being asked not to give money that will not not help the most needy in the world...

[snorkackcatcher]

Yeah -- probably sensible to withdraw the application, which I gather they've done, but making it in the first place was worth a shot.

Don't get me started on the insanity which is the US political debate on healthcare ... Or indeed the US political debate in general.

FA (or at any rate Heidi) seem sure that the legality (or more precisely, non-suability) would be proved in court. I'm ... not exactly convinced of that, but they do have links with WB and so they're probably safe in feeling they're not a target.

[maple-clef.livejournal.com]

Ah, so that's what was happening with Fiction Alley... Having been in hibernation, it's been taking me a while to catch up with internet goss.

It does seem that there must be a certain number of double agents in the fanfic-what-is-it-goodfer war.

(I like the Fandom Rage/Daily Mail letters comparison - although I think Fandom generally tips the scales on enraged eloquence and S,P&G while the Daily Mail has the edge on bile.)

[snorkackcatcher]

Yeah, you'd have to work hard to beat the Daily Mail on bile!

Nice to see you're still dropping by the fannish world, anyway -- to be honest, I'm rather semi-detached myself these days.