Yet More Thoughts on Kittens and Spitefic
Oct. 10th, 2022 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetFirst, a quick check-in on yesterday's post: I'm planning on a rule where all "prompt" posts need to be under a cut, A) Because that makes it easier for me, and B) Because it can still be pretty unfun to unexpectedly come across an "I hate [your favorite character]!" post, even if you know that it's written with Opposite Day rules and its primary purpose is to summon cat macros and more content celebrating the aforementioned character. Fewer bad surprises for everyone!
Next up, we come to a problem that hadn't even occurred to me before yesterday: That is, what to do about any Harry Potter related prompts.
I think I would feel bad for forbidding them entirely? Like, I would prefer Kittens and Spitefic to be on the more permissive end of the spectrum in general. But I'm also aware of Rowling's stance that the existence and creation of fan media about that property is actually support for her ideals. Which... is definitely a hell of a stance to take.
I already know that one of the rules I want is for people to list the fandom(s), if any, that their posts apply to in the subject line, and between that and the mandatory cut, that would enable people to avoid any HP content with relative ease. But in recognition of Rowling's whole "If I can see people being fans of my books, I will attempt to politically capitalize on their existence to further my agenda!" bullshit, I'm also leaning towards asking that all HP related posts be community locked. Anyone who generates content for them can post that content wherever else their heart desires, but if people want to see or interact with it on the comm itself, they need to have a Dreamwidth account and join. Which I feel is a pretty reasonable compromise between forbidding HP posts entirely, and allowing Rowling and her ilk to even passively believe that I or anyone else their supports their ideals?
But this is just the thought process of one person, and I am open to more thoughts on this! That's why I'm posting about it in the first place! Is the above compromise enough, or should I forbid any HP stuff on Kittens and Spitefic? Is there another option I'm not thinking of, like requiring any HP related posts to have an ad for Trans Lifeline or something at the end? Ack!
Other than that, I would have to say that my main headache is back to yesterday's post, and how the hell to deal with more sensitive content. I think the comm would be in the clear for what content Dreamwidth allows, since all of the fake rants and responses are going to be posted in a space specifically designated for them, but it's still good to have that link on-hand so I can refer to the breakdown as needed.
I might get the comm set up in the next couple of days; just to have a place to do preliminary rules writing and test posting, set up some tags, that sort of thing, but not open it for its official purpose until more details are hammered out. Maybe host some of these rules/content discussions over there or something? Hmm.
Edit: Oh heck yeah, I think I figured out (at least some of?) the content rules!
More fine tuning may be required.
Up next: How to word posts whose goal is to get more religious representation, particularly for non-Christian religions! Pretty sure that most actual members of non-Christian religions have a decent idea how to make these posts without accidentally demonizing their own religion or creating something that gets a little too close to Christian supremacy, but people who aren't part of non-Christian religions might also want to read non-Christian religious representation, and they might not be aware of pitfalls there. (Related note, positive Messianic representation is going to be on the no-no list.)
Next up, we come to a problem that hadn't even occurred to me before yesterday: That is, what to do about any Harry Potter related prompts.
I think I would feel bad for forbidding them entirely? Like, I would prefer Kittens and Spitefic to be on the more permissive end of the spectrum in general. But I'm also aware of Rowling's stance that the existence and creation of fan media about that property is actually support for her ideals. Which... is definitely a hell of a stance to take.
I already know that one of the rules I want is for people to list the fandom(s), if any, that their posts apply to in the subject line, and between that and the mandatory cut, that would enable people to avoid any HP content with relative ease. But in recognition of Rowling's whole "If I can see people being fans of my books, I will attempt to politically capitalize on their existence to further my agenda!" bullshit, I'm also leaning towards asking that all HP related posts be community locked. Anyone who generates content for them can post that content wherever else their heart desires, but if people want to see or interact with it on the comm itself, they need to have a Dreamwidth account and join. Which I feel is a pretty reasonable compromise between forbidding HP posts entirely, and allowing Rowling and her ilk to even passively believe that I or anyone else their supports their ideals?
But this is just the thought process of one person, and I am open to more thoughts on this! That's why I'm posting about it in the first place! Is the above compromise enough, or should I forbid any HP stuff on Kittens and Spitefic? Is there another option I'm not thinking of, like requiring any HP related posts to have an ad for Trans Lifeline or something at the end? Ack!
Other than that, I would have to say that my main headache is back to yesterday's post, and how the hell to deal with more sensitive content. I think the comm would be in the clear for what content Dreamwidth allows, since all of the fake rants and responses are going to be posted in a space specifically designated for them, but it's still good to have that link on-hand so I can refer to the breakdown as needed.
I might get the comm set up in the next couple of days; just to have a place to do preliminary rules writing and test posting, set up some tags, that sort of thing, but not open it for its official purpose until more details are hammered out. Maybe host some of these rules/content discussions over there or something? Hmm.
Edit: Oh heck yeah, I think I figured out (at least some of?) the content rules!
If your goal is to get content about your favorite character handily outsmarting or otherwise beating the absolute tar out of bigots, be sure to focus your post on how it would be inappropriate or inaccurate for the character to be doing that, rather than the physical or moral prowess of the bigots. For example: "Character A would never try to punch a Nazi, they know that they'd get in too much trouble for fighting, and besides their weak noodle arms wouldn't be able to harm a fly, let alone anything bigger." Or: "Character B would never debate with TERFs, they hate getting into arguments! They're also terrible at it. They can't hold onto a train of thought to save their life, so arguing with TERFs is right out, let alone winning an argument. They'd end up making a fool of themself, rather than making a fool of the TERF."
More fine tuning may be required.
Up next: How to word posts whose goal is to get more religious representation, particularly for non-Christian religions! Pretty sure that most actual members of non-Christian religions have a decent idea how to make these posts without accidentally demonizing their own religion or creating something that gets a little too close to Christian supremacy, but people who aren't part of non-Christian religions might also want to read non-Christian religious representation, and they might not be aware of pitfalls there. (Related note, positive Messianic representation is going to be on the no-no list.)
no subject
Date: 2022-10-11 05:39 am (UTC)Hmm, that's good information about people interacting with community rules. I'm pretty sure I was leaning towards violations of the "Lock all HP posts" rule getting basically a slap on the wrist unless they go super overboard about it anyway. (Like, I make sure the post is locked and remind/alert them of the rule, then as long as they're polite about it and don't unlock the post, and otherwise make a good faith effort to remember to lock any future HP posts, we're cool.)
no subject
Date: 2022-10-11 06:10 am (UTC)Well, that's certainly an opinion all right! Not one that makes any sense, but honestly, none of her opinions make sense and I don't care about them anyway.
I do know that there are tons of reasons why some people do not want to do HP fandom because of JKR's beliefs, I just think she's gonna think what she wants whether or not there's any evidence to back it up, same as she does about her terfy stuff. If everybody collectively just stopped with HP 100% she'd just invent some new reason why this still proves people really support her.
Which is a tangent that has nothing to do with your new comm idea. I'm just still stuck in "Wait, what? How can she possibly justify that even to herself!?" mode.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-11 06:32 am (UTC)I'm pretty sure a bunch of people are also not interacting with HP stuff with the hope/goal that it will fade into obscurity (and therefore everyone can stop paying attention to JKR) rather than agreeing with her ridiculous "If you like my books, you agree with my politics" stance.
Personally, I'm pretty sure the series will continue to leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth until JKR herself fades into obscurity, though at this point I'm also pretty sure that HP is going to stick around at least as long as Narnia and The Wizard of Oz. JKR's other books, not so much, thank Maude.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-11 06:50 am (UTC)On the other hand, JKR is a lot more derivative in her approach to HP than Lewis was when he wrote Narnia, so at least it's not going to always be obvious.