I wanted to make a post about how fandom's latest outrage at LJ annoys me. Instead, have some links about Chechnya.

Wiki on what Chechnya is

Caucasian Knot

Prague Watchdog

Chechnya in TIME

Chechnya Advocacy Network

Website about Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who was famous for opposing the Chechen conflict and Putin.

"The Chronicles of Hell", exhibition dedicated to the memory of Anna Politkovskaya and her work. Contains graphic images.

2007 photos of Chechen schools.

As of March 18, 22 communities and 86 users at LJ are interested in Chechnya.

Now this is something really cool.

Free Rice

The idea is very simple: Choose the right meaning for a word and you have donated 10 grains of rice to United Nations World Food Program. I guess you could always question if this really helps at all, but the idea is nice, the game is fun and it cheered me up after a sucky day. I approve.

Fandom fucks up again.

This time, a person decides write a fic where Jared and Jensen of Supernatural-fame have sex in a hot and humid place, according to her description. The place in question is Cambodia. That Cambodia. And the paragraph that leads to the hot sex? Is about The Killing Fields.

Which might not be so horrible, if only the author hadn't admitted that she doesn't know one damn thing about Cambodia.

And now hesychasm, the person who made sure that this stupidity didn't pass harmlessly by, gets told to watch her tone. Because it's not that it really matters, right? People shouldn't ruin other people's fun. It's not that having respect for others or, hell, finding out about things you don't know much about is absolutely required. Complaining just makes things inconvenient for everybody.

What. The. Fuck.

There is enough silence in fandom already. Everybody in fandom has a some kind of opinion about the strikethrough. daily_deviant and Yuletide debates are both well known, but how many "racism in fandom sucks" posts are there compared to "LJ's actions suck" posts? It doesn't take a lot of effort to write that something has been done wrong, and maybe something should be done about it. So condemning somebody for pointing out that an offensive thing has been done? Fucked up.

Lex serial killer;33.1, by MaevePrym

Smallville, Lex-centric.

I believe it has become clear that I adore vids. Things like this are the reason why. Despite the fact that Lex is, like, Superman's arch nemesis, Smallville tends to restrain him a lot, but when it doesn't, he's incredible, like this video demonstrates. The clips and the song are brought together to create a wonderfully menacing atmosphere, as is fitting for a villain, and the vid is also a tribute to Smallville's consistently awesome visuals; no matter how flawed it is, Smallville has always been very pretty to watch. And so is this vid.

ETA: There's also Lana's Revenge from the same vidder, which in turn illustrates the empowerment of Lana Lang. Most of the fandom still seems to be stuck with hating her, so I welcome a fanwork that treats her with the respect she deserves.

Random things, first: Smallville and Supernatural both rocked this week. I'm content. Now all I have to do is avoid fandom. (Especially the latter. Get over your cootie fright already.)

And now, the main event:

YULETIDE IS ON.

So you, the lovely person who's writing for me? In case you're around, here's a letter to you.

Some significant stuff:

( About the recent Yuletide-debate )

Summary of these posts:

"Ew, my privilege has minority cooties!" = Not the acceptable way to deal.

- Two links regarding slash fandom and female sexuality: this post discusses slash fandom as queer female space, this post disagrees a little. Both are interesting reads.

- Recut of the ending of Return Of The Jedi, which mixes shots from the prequel trilogy into the original scene. Short, but it reminded me of why I can't bring myself to hate the prequel trilogy. (Thanks to imadra_blue for the link!

..now, I think I have an exam to read for.

So, calling a Jewish fanfic author a kike is okay now? How fucking charming.

Also, the fact that metafandom hasn't linked to any of these posts yet is very interesting.

(Unless a big one about all of this is coming up? I really hope that.)

ETA: Shouldn't post when upset. Relevant post is up here.

( Dear assholes of SPN-fandom... )

Rant translation: Misuse of the term Sue can't end soon enough.

So, I'm up to date with Smallville and Supernatural now. Might as well say few things.

( Smallville, 7.02: Kara )

( Supernatural, 3.01: The Magnificent Seven )

The Chosen Ones, by vyperman7

Smallville/Buffy The Vampire Slayer-crossover, Clark/Buffy. Vidder's comments available here.

This one isn't actually a vid, but rather a theatrical trailer for the story of Clark Kent and Buffy Summers, how they meet and fall in love and enter each other's supernatural lives. Not only is it a great treat for the fans of both shows, it also works for a non-fan as well; it constructs a reality of its own without spoiling neither shows for anybody. This is how you do a crossover, kids.

Title: Cage And A Bird
Fandom: Smallville
Character: Lana Lang
Prompt: Smallville, Lana Lang, Stendhal syndrome
Rating: G
Words: 170
Summary: Lana comes across unusual piece of art.

Written for Character Study Challenge.

( In China, Lana sees a man sitting on the street. )

Title: For Future Reference
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Character: Cloud, Zack, Aeris
Rating: G
Words: 100
Summary: Cloud keeps secrets.

( For Future Reference )

This being Fannish Friday Five, I should have done this on.. Friday. Anyway.

fannish5: Name five stories that aren't a type you normally like (because of characters, pairing, topic, etc.) that you really enjoyed.

1) Gray, by motchi aka kimouski.

Why I normally wouldn't like it: It's Sephiroth/Tifa. ( Read more... )

2) Midnight Sun, by ishafel.

Why I normally wouldn't like it: It's RPF. The pairing is Paris Hilton/Eminem. ( Read more... )

3) Grief And Graveyard Love, by Megan

Why I normally wouldn't like it: It's incest. The pairing is Buffy/Dawn. ( Read more... )

4) Big, by Hetre Z

Why I normally wouldn't like it: It's a South Park-fic. ( Read more... )

5) Done To Death, by Anne Hedonia

Why I normally shouldn't like it: It's Spike/Tara. ( Read more... )

Now, I don't tend to do either memes or shipping much, but since this one seems to be popping up again, I might as well give it a shot. FFVII.

( Shipping Meme )

( Brief thought on femslash meta )

I'm pretty sure that if I ever got bitten by a vid making bug for real, I would ditch writing altogether and never look back. Because I would be dying to reach goodness like this:

Filthy Mind, by sol_se

It's stream of consciousness in vid form, bringing together several fandoms (Battlestar Galactica, Dexter and Smallville just for starters) in this stunning visual fest. According to the vidder it's a combination of free association (what one character does brings another in mind) and pulsing lights of a club, and it's fantastic. It ranges from hard to impossible to do something like this in fic, and I haven't seen many things like this in vid world either. It's a must watch.

( And now, some Farscape: John, John/Scorpius )

( Bonus: Vid for the Femslash OTP )

Title: Moment Of Ease
Fandom: Star Wars EU
Pairing: Kit/Aayla
Rating: PG-13 for things getting heated!
Words: 367
Summary: Kit and Aayla ignore ghosts for one night. Written for kimouski.

( Moment Of Ease )

Dear FF7 fandom,

ZACK DIES.

Why the fuck is this suddenly a spoiler? Oh well, I hate you anyway.

Central Kings students wear pink to send bullies a message

I have to say, Kim, finding this so soon after your survey on men wearing pink is one very interesting coincidence.