Day Forty-five

It’s 10 pm

Me: hmmm I guess I should watch last night’s SNL episode that I pvr’d and get to bed before midnight tonight ...

( the sound of AO3 notification emails hitting my inbox)

Recently Updated Clexa Fanfics: HA!

This! Thank you @entirelytookeen :)

How come you didn’t ship bellarke before clexa happened, and now that clexa is finished, why not ship bellarke? I’m just curious and also a little envious as our fandom does not have as good writers as you (yes I am a bellarke shipper)

I confessed in a post about why I love Bellamy that when I started the show, I did so because I found the aesthetic and premise appealing, but I’d first heard noise about it because there was a really popular femslash pairing. (This was midway between season two.) I thought, “with my luck the dynamic between the girls will be boring twee sweetness and I’ll end up shipping the heroine with this goober I can tell is CW-flavored endgame from the first ten minutes of the pilot. Because I already love that goober.”

But I was wrong! Not just about how Clexa played out, but also about Bellamy and Clarke, as I further expand on in that post about him. I tend to ship characters who believe in the same thing, but have wildly different approaches to how to get it – so the fundamental understanding between them is there, but the tension between their methodologies leads to interpersonal friction that (hopefully) leads to better mutual understanding. (I didn’t sit down and decide I would do it this way, of course, I’ve just noticed a pattern.) That’s Clexa in a nutshell.

But it’s not Bellamy and Clarke – they’re the polar opposite in my opinion. They believe and strive for very different things, and all they share is an investment in propping up the system they believe will lead to their different goals, or prioritizing the people who will do the same. If anything I anti-ship them, not because of silly fandom squabbles but because I think they bring out the worst in each other if unchecked. 

So much of their interaction in seasons one and two (again, I stopped watching after three and I’m completely uninterested in any other seasons, so please don’t write me saying I’m “wrong” because of them) leads to the most grim and traumatic outcomes: Lincoln’s torture, pulling the lever at Mount Weather, even Bellamy’s undercover mission and the fall of TonDC. They weren’t the only variables at work in those situations, of course. But because of their lack of similar ethos but shared logos, when it’s just the two of them? In close quarters? That’s when bad shit goes down. 

To be fair, this is also why I like them as friends. They’re both carrying really deep emotional scars from life on the Ark, so they’re kinda like… trauma buddies. The emotional abuse they’ve both suffered really has removed their sense of when to put on the breaks, as it were, and I like the idea that they can look at each other and say, “thank goodness for someone else who realizes there is no such thing as constancy, or permanent safety, all we really have are coping methods that help us get better at pretending. Someone else who will do, quite literally, whatever it takes.” But at brass tacks this is a really poisonous worldview, as even their behavior acting as individuals can back up. And while I like the idea they can look at each other and feel less alone to see someone who is broken in similar ways, if I want them to heal, they need to be shaken up and shaken out of it. 

I don’t think they’re capable of doing that for each other. Together, Bellamy and Clarke tend to fall back into old, Ark-era roles or patterns of behavior – understandable, since they’ve been conditioned to see each other in those roles since birth. (Even when they fight, they’re more fighting the ideas of each other left over from the Ark.) Turning that into a romance feels like romanticizing those abusive systems, i.e. “their love cancels out their trauma.” And I have to be honest, the fandom surrounding them seems to buy into that, with the whole “she’s his princess, he’s her soldier” shtick which I find… repellent.

(not to bash your ship, bunny, but you did ask)

So I was never going to ship them, regardless. And even now, the thought of them ending up together is less upsetting because of Lexa’s presence or lack thereof, and more because Raven and Bellamy are the clear standouts as a (still-living) couple: thematically, narratively, and even in terms of actor chemistry. If Bellamy and Clarke are endgame, it’s just another nail in the coffin of incredibly poor writing and tone-deaf characterization that led to the show becoming unwatchable in its third season. (Instead of, again, Lexa’s presence or lack thereof.) When I used to get angry at the thought of Clarke and Bellamy together, it’s because I believed the show was better than that; I don’t anymore, and that’s what makes me sad. 

… so now that’s cleared up, let me take a moment. 

Not to rap your knuckles or anything, but Clexa is not “over.” I’m sure you were just speaking in terms of continuance in canon… but still. I’m going to take this opportunity to put it out there that coming into the blog of someone who so (passionately) ships two female characters and asking them, if one was killed off, why they don’t just switch to the heterosexual pairing that involves the character left standing, is not a good look! I’m flattered you like my writing so much and I’m going to take your question as the compliment I’m sure you meant it, but I feel like I would be doing you something of a disservice if I gave the impression that it didn’t also cross a line.

Even if you missed my posts on what an amazing, perspective-shifting experience it’s been for me as a lesbian to write romances between two women for an audience who is hungry for exactly those stories, this remains a Not-Good Look. Considering the rate at which lesbian and bisexual female characters are killed off, taking their deaths as a reason to stop shipping – as in, stop celebrating their stories and love, stop writing the potential that was unexplored, stop honoring what pieces of representation they did provide and why death does not impact its importance – would basically mean the death of femslash fandom as a whole. Which is exactly what the wrong kind of people want. Especially the predominantly male, cis, white, and heterosexual showrunners who see any story that is not an extension of their own lived experience or reflective of how their experiences are the best and should be taken as universal. (#notallmaleciswhitehetshowrunners) 

I think shipping as activism is misguided, but at the same time I can believe that an audience caring about the “wrong” couples is a finger in the eye of people who make their livings persuading others that whiteness and heterosexuality are the only valuable commodities. Those people are genuinely threatened by an audience who wants the girl to get the girl, or who rallies around heterosexual couples where not just one but both characters are played by actors of color. Because American television is very much part of the capitalist machine, and if they can’t use it to skew the value of concepts they feel they “own” – that the main dude has to prioritize the white female lead over all other romantic prospects, that the bisexual heroine can suffer interestingly in relationships with other women but her happy endgame has to be with a dude – they have to fall back on things like writing talent, and, well. 

I’m wandering into the weeds a bit, but my point stands: if I stop shipping the characters I love just because the people in charge decided one of them had to die, the terrorists win it would be antithetical to fandom itself. A large part of the purpose of fandom is to reclaim popular narratives from those who would use them to toxic ends, to prove that systematic privilege does not mean you get to completely dictate the destinies of those who lack it – even in fiction. 

So they killed Lexa. That’s within their purview. But that can’t touch Clexa. It would be an error to translate their mistakes as impact. Or to believe their actions should, in any way, guide my own. 

Day forty-six

of @the-wip-project‘s challenge.

Q46: What does your editing/revision process look like?

A46: I’ve been thinking a lot about this. My former process was not working for me as I ended up with multiple drafts of the same scene. My current approach (and subject to change) is to write out the whole story then perform a series of editing pass throughs with specific intentions, e.g., plot structure, characters behave within character, believable science, doing rather than saying/explaining, appropriate tech/ fashion/ music per era, grammar and spelling, “awesome” eradication. 

The deal

An Open Letter to Tumblr about the Adult Content Ban and How it is Hurting Your Users:

Recently, Tumblr was removed from the Apple app store due to an incident involving child pornography. This incident is incredibly unfortunate, but it doesn’t stand alone. Tumblr was also removed from the app store due to the large influx of porn bots and pornographic spam, users claiming to be proud to be pedophiles, blatant Nazism, racists who are not deleted for sending hate and harassing users, and more. I myself reported someone for harassing me, but because I had blocked the person and couldn’t access the messages where they harassed me, they were still able to send me anonymous asks. Your support staff, with back doors to the website (presumably), claimed they could not access the messages, and I was left SOL. Many features on this website do nothing to actually protect your users from harassment, racism, homophobia, transphobia, Nazis, pedophiles, predators, porn bots, and more. 

You claim in your statement to us that you “have been working on these problems for a long time”. This is blatantly untrue. Please do not lie to us and patronize us. We’ve been here. We’ve seen you do nothing over, and over, and over again. 

We complained to you for months and months about the rampant porn bots, and you did nothing except add a report button on mobile which only reported sensitive content or spam at best. You could have addressed this problem with an effective algorithm, but you did not. We complained to you about being harassed and sent hate speech for being LGBT+, and you did nothing. We complained to you about blogs being randomly deleted, and sometimes you’ve restored them, other times you have not. We complained to you that there were people proudly claiming to be “Minor Attracted Persons”, or pedophiles, and you did nothing. We complained to you about people proudly claiming to be white supremacists, and you did nothing. All of these things are “against the community guidelines”, and yet over and over, you have not found effective ways to handle these problems or suppress the feeling of welcome that these users claim to get here. You have had a long time to work on these problems, but you haven’t addressed them. To say you have is untrue. 

 Multiple other social networking websites, such as Wordpress, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and others have effectively dealt with rampant pornography, racism, pedophilia, and other problems without causing massive issues for their users who are not misusing the platform. They are continuing to find new, effective ways to deal with these issues without causing problems for their userbase as a whole.  There is no reason that you are unable to do this effectively other than that you wanted to do it quickly. You have once again chosen your stock holders over your users. And we have had enough. 

You have already started to ban “Adult” content with a new algorithm. Here are screenshots of just a fraction of the posts you have flagged as containing adult content:

Your new system of simply tackling everything at once is not working. At all. And each of these screenshots is proof of your utter incompetence. None of these posts contain pornographic acts, “female nipples”, or any community violation of any kind. 

We, the users, have been asking you for months to deal with these problems - particularly, the porn bots and bots that spam. In order to block a bot from a side blog, I have to do it manually, even though they are in my side blog’s feed. This is a huge issue for mobile - only users. They keep cropping up in droves, taking over our posts and tricking google into making it look like a legitimate blog linked to a pornographic website. We have complained to you for months and months now, and your solution to simply “ban all adult content” is ineffective. I agree that children should not be able to access pornography - but this is not how you tackle a porn bot problem. Your system is utterly useless, allows for racists, pedophiles, porn bots, and Nazis to remain untouched. It also harms sex workers and real people who may use this website for some forms of adult content responsibly. Moreover, as seen above, it harms plenty of users who have in no way violated your terms of service.

 If you keep this up, you threaten your website and company as a whole. Many of us are backing up our blogs and planning places to go to. 

You already have a content filter for “sensitive” content (content inappropriate for younger viewers). You could have improved this, instead of attacking your entire user base. It seems to be a very lazy “solution”, if you could call it one at all, and one that harms your entire userbase.

If you are going to keep this filter in place and make Tumblr, a website that has never been known for being family friendly and has never claimed to be, you are going to lose millions of your users. We are already planning our exodus. It isn’t hard to follow. Censor us, and we will go somewhere else. That is not a threat. It is a promise. 

Sincerely, 

The users of your website. 

@staff @support

clexa college au fics? sorry if you've already done this, i'm on mobile so i can't browse your fic rec tag

hey there! first of all, SORRY for the delay. idk if I’ve done it either, so here’s some (also, only gonna include reasonably recent fics that either have been updating or are complete):

Help, I Need Somebody (Not Just Anybody) — IT UPDATED! IT UPDATED! IT UPDATED!

Open Windows, Open Hearts — this is the smutty fic you’ve been looking for.

Room 615 — lexa is the stoic RA, clarke is the annoyingly obstinate transfer student. read it read it read it read it!

Breaking Out — this is one of my faves :) check it out!

don’t wanna be your girl — filth. delicious filth. hilarious too!

A Forest Fire — this is painful but 100% worth it.

Chasing Shadows — lexa is a French hockey player, clarke is more of a rugby gal, and this is a super awesome fic. read it!

Rude Awakening — clarke doesn’t like early mornings. great one-shot with the possibility (please please please please please) of more chapters!

Butterflies — this is a really great take on love and how the media (and ourselves) portray it. Seriously worth a read!

Waiting For Love to Strike — football! striker lexa and midfielder clarke! football!

She — you know it, I know it, your dog knows it, your neighbour knows it, everyone knows it. but just in case you don’t, here it is. a fandom favourite.

Remember when (we used to be between the sheets) — my good friend Carmen does it again: an honestly great fic, sequel to between the sheets.

Civil War — “And Clarke Griffin opened her annoyingly attractive, opinionated, and this time entirely wrong mouth.” No words needed.

Habromanic — REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADD

Broken Rules — this is seriously great, a college and no strings attached sex au must read. read it.

To You, I Give Myself — ;))))))))

From You, I Take My Pleasure — ;)))))))) 2

The Favour — sweet and sexy, showing there is no right age for anything

April Fools — a fest of clexa hilariousness and sweetness. a great read :)

been lovin’ you for quite some time —CHRISTMAS!!!

She Was a Storm — haven’t read this one yet, but have been wanting to.

These Walls Are Paper Thin — an oldie that never gets old :)

There’s so many more, but then I’d take another century to post this. Besides, this is quite lengthy already, isn’t it? I think so. I hope you think so too ^-^

Lexa’s eye roll is my fave 

#stubborn girlfriends

10 Free Alternatives to Final Draft

1. Adobe Story: An online collaborative screenwriting suite by Adobe that won’t cost you a dime.

2. BPC-Screenplay: A free screenwriting software developed in Berlin for Microsoft Windows. 

3. Celtx: This popular browser-based screenwriting software has a paid and a free version.

4. DramaQueen: Also available as free and paid version.

5. DubScript: A mobile based free script writing software reader and writer for Android operating systems.

6. Page 2 Stage: An open-source software designed specifically for Windows users.

7. Plotbot: A browser-based free screenplay software that’s great for collaboration with another writer.

8. Story Touch: There’s a free version of this professional screenwriting software. Allows you to write and analyze your screenplay at the same time. 

9. Trelby: Another open source free screenplay software currently only available for Microsoft Windows and Linux, but a Mac version is said to be on the way.

10. Writer Duet: A program that allows real-time collaborative work in which the writers immediately see all edits.

Day forty

of @the-wip-project‘s challenge

Q40: How do you start a new story?

A40: I start with the scene that the idea came to me with. I write out that scene as completely as possible. Afterwards, I re-read it and think of what is needed to make this scene make sense.

And there was much rejoicing!

KL_Morgan aka @entirelytookeen has posted the first chapter of The Red King Awake, the sequel to The White Queen Running. Happy Day!

Fantastic

Presented without comment.

EXCEPT to say- commonplacecaz.