![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Fanlib Retrospective, Part One
So FFN's added a new version of the hit counter, because I need more fiddly numbers to waste time with.
Meanwhile, Fanlib's going under in a few days. As we say here on the intertubes, PWNED.
It does put me in an interesting position - you see, while most of what I posted were existing stories hacked up into 500-600 word chunks, and another chunk were fragments of scenes that I don't really want people to read yet but posted to fill up space, there's also some complete stories I only posted there.
I started posting on Fanlib for the same reason I do anything - they pissed me off. In one of the rare moments they gave actual information, an offhand mention was made about how progressive their rating system was - bibleslash had shown up and they'd decided to let it stay, choosing to jack up the rating (hiding it behind a filter in the process) rather than delete it. The moderation seemed bit confused by my immediate demands for an explanation and ended up giving their vague guidelines - in the case of the Bible Fandom, fics with "contemporary themes" will be re-rated Adult by an administrator.
My immediate thoughts were along the lines of Woman's Suffrage: Inappropriate for Children Under Thirteen Unless Accompanied By An Adult. Then, as is only reasonable, my mind jumped to all the (apparently kosher) depictions of everything else in the bible, and, of course, I set out to write and post such things on Fanlib. My first story was The Daughters Lot, and yes, it turns out heterosexual relationships, even repeated incest rape where the victims are blamed for it, is just fine in a way guys kissing is totally not.
I went on to write two more stories. They weren't necessarily the best stories, but they were good enough for my goal of posting stuff that technically fit the letter of their restrictions while violating the spirit in ways that also weren't so appropriate for children.
Traditional Values - A Parable of Tenets and Tenants
Once there was a man. And he was a great and powerful man, who had many vineyards and fields, but he had no interest in running them, so he rented them out to a group of workers. The workers were to give him a share of the crop in return for being allowed to work his land and live there.
One year, they did not send their allotment, and so the man dispatched a servant. The servant went and the workers threw stones at him from the gate, and jeered him for being a servant of the great man.
Where is he? they asked. Was he the one who tended the vines and fields, who dug the ground and watered and harvested? Did he press the grapes or separate the wheat from chaff? What power and what right has he to take our crops now?
And the servant went away with a bowed head and bruises, back to the great man, and told him of what had happened.
And the great man listened, and he sent a second servant, who met with the same reception.
So the great man sent a third servant, and said, "If they will not do as I say, you are to force them, for I am a great man, and they are my lands, and they are to do as I will."
And the servant went, and refused to be turned back when they jeered and tossed stones, and forced his way onto the land, meaning to take what they owed. And so they killed him and tossed his body in a ditch.
And so the great man sent another servant, and said, "Tell them they must do this thing, for I am a great man, and my word is right, and I have the power to kill them if they do not obey."
And he went, and told them, and they killed him and tossed his body in a ditch.
The great man continued to send servants, knowing that they would have the same fate, until at last they were all gone, and all that remained was his son, who was only a man and could be killed like one.
And so the great man sent his son, and his son went obediently to the gates of the land, knowing he would be killed in turn.
And so, with no one left to send, the great man at last left for his lands, and killed the men, and took what was owed him, and hired new men to run his fields and vineyards, and new servants.
And this was all a just and right thing, for he was a great and powerful man. And so the crime was on the hands only of the other men, who did not own land or servants, and so were not powerful, or great.
Matthew 21:33-43
Traditional Values - Willing and Guilty
The two families stood at the town gate before the elder, their children before them. The two tried to keep their eyes lowered, as befitted their respective shames, while the girl's father led the accusation. Despite this, they kept exchanging half-glances.
"He came to ask for marriage. I refused him, but he kept pleading, up until two days ago. I had decided to pledge her to Jacob's son, and told her so, but kept it from him hoping to be free of his petitions. But the next day, when my daughter went out into the empty countryside, he came upon her."
"And this was rape, your daughter did not go to him willingly?" asked the elder.
"Yes. But the deed was done."
The elder nodded. He looked to the rapist. "Do you say otherwise? Was she willing?"
The boy shook his head. "No. I wanted her, but she knew nothing of it. When her father refused me again, I went meaning away for that to be the last of it, but when I came upon her by chance outside the city, I was overcome and took her by force."
"And you agree that she fought and shouted for help."
The boy nodded.
"Then, as the law says, since she was unwillingly taken in the countryside where no help could come, it is no sin of hers. And although she was to be pledged, her father had not completed it yet, and you had no way of knowing."
"None," said the boy.
"Then, you must pay her father the bride-price of fifty shekels, and marry her."
The father fumed, but accepted the ruling. The two children exchanged a single almost smug glance as the families parted to arrange the wedding.
Behind them, a second family stepped in to take their place, a girl with bruises on her face and wrist, and a thin red scab at the side of her neck as if from a cut. She stared blankly ahead of her, looking defeated.
"She was found in the city having fornicated with a man," said the elder. "Is there any defense raised?"
The father half-heartedly mentioned that his daughter had claimed she was forced.
The elder pointed to the first couple and said that anyone forced would not have remained silent. She did not call for help. So she was willing.
She is shoved across the threshold of the gate and stoned.
First story was rated All, second PG-13 due to word filters. But it didn't involve teh gays or equal rights or women voting, so it had the Fanlib seal of approval.
Later I got into a fight on the forums regarding "Christian Fiction" that can be summed up thusly:
Poster asks about links for "Christian Fiction"
Knowing full well that's a coded request but disliking coded requests, I promptly linked what I was writing and pointed out that if they meant something other than "Fiction involving Christianity" they'd damn well better be clearer about it.
A few posts later a brawl had broken out.
It was the best day ever.
Meanwhile, Fanlib's going under in a few days. As we say here on the intertubes, PWNED.
It does put me in an interesting position - you see, while most of what I posted were existing stories hacked up into 500-600 word chunks, and another chunk were fragments of scenes that I don't really want people to read yet but posted to fill up space, there's also some complete stories I only posted there.
I started posting on Fanlib for the same reason I do anything - they pissed me off. In one of the rare moments they gave actual information, an offhand mention was made about how progressive their rating system was - bibleslash had shown up and they'd decided to let it stay, choosing to jack up the rating (hiding it behind a filter in the process) rather than delete it. The moderation seemed bit confused by my immediate demands for an explanation and ended up giving their vague guidelines - in the case of the Bible Fandom, fics with "contemporary themes" will be re-rated Adult by an administrator.
My immediate thoughts were along the lines of Woman's Suffrage: Inappropriate for Children Under Thirteen Unless Accompanied By An Adult. Then, as is only reasonable, my mind jumped to all the (apparently kosher) depictions of everything else in the bible, and, of course, I set out to write and post such things on Fanlib. My first story was The Daughters Lot, and yes, it turns out heterosexual relationships, even repeated incest rape where the victims are blamed for it, is just fine in a way guys kissing is totally not.
I went on to write two more stories. They weren't necessarily the best stories, but they were good enough for my goal of posting stuff that technically fit the letter of their restrictions while violating the spirit in ways that also weren't so appropriate for children.
Traditional Values - A Parable of Tenets and Tenants
Once there was a man. And he was a great and powerful man, who had many vineyards and fields, but he had no interest in running them, so he rented them out to a group of workers. The workers were to give him a share of the crop in return for being allowed to work his land and live there.
One year, they did not send their allotment, and so the man dispatched a servant. The servant went and the workers threw stones at him from the gate, and jeered him for being a servant of the great man.
Where is he? they asked. Was he the one who tended the vines and fields, who dug the ground and watered and harvested? Did he press the grapes or separate the wheat from chaff? What power and what right has he to take our crops now?
And the servant went away with a bowed head and bruises, back to the great man, and told him of what had happened.
And the great man listened, and he sent a second servant, who met with the same reception.
So the great man sent a third servant, and said, "If they will not do as I say, you are to force them, for I am a great man, and they are my lands, and they are to do as I will."
And the servant went, and refused to be turned back when they jeered and tossed stones, and forced his way onto the land, meaning to take what they owed. And so they killed him and tossed his body in a ditch.
And so the great man sent another servant, and said, "Tell them they must do this thing, for I am a great man, and my word is right, and I have the power to kill them if they do not obey."
And he went, and told them, and they killed him and tossed his body in a ditch.
The great man continued to send servants, knowing that they would have the same fate, until at last they were all gone, and all that remained was his son, who was only a man and could be killed like one.
And so the great man sent his son, and his son went obediently to the gates of the land, knowing he would be killed in turn.
And so, with no one left to send, the great man at last left for his lands, and killed the men, and took what was owed him, and hired new men to run his fields and vineyards, and new servants.
And this was all a just and right thing, for he was a great and powerful man. And so the crime was on the hands only of the other men, who did not own land or servants, and so were not powerful, or great.
Traditional Values - Willing and Guilty
The two families stood at the town gate before the elder, their children before them. The two tried to keep their eyes lowered, as befitted their respective shames, while the girl's father led the accusation. Despite this, they kept exchanging half-glances.
"He came to ask for marriage. I refused him, but he kept pleading, up until two days ago. I had decided to pledge her to Jacob's son, and told her so, but kept it from him hoping to be free of his petitions. But the next day, when my daughter went out into the empty countryside, he came upon her."
"And this was rape, your daughter did not go to him willingly?" asked the elder.
"Yes. But the deed was done."
The elder nodded. He looked to the rapist. "Do you say otherwise? Was she willing?"
The boy shook his head. "No. I wanted her, but she knew nothing of it. When her father refused me again, I went meaning away for that to be the last of it, but when I came upon her by chance outside the city, I was overcome and took her by force."
"And you agree that she fought and shouted for help."
The boy nodded.
"Then, as the law says, since she was unwillingly taken in the countryside where no help could come, it is no sin of hers. And although she was to be pledged, her father had not completed it yet, and you had no way of knowing."
"None," said the boy.
"Then, you must pay her father the bride-price of fifty shekels, and marry her."
The father fumed, but accepted the ruling. The two children exchanged a single almost smug glance as the families parted to arrange the wedding.
Behind them, a second family stepped in to take their place, a girl with bruises on her face and wrist, and a thin red scab at the side of her neck as if from a cut. She stared blankly ahead of her, looking defeated.
"She was found in the city having fornicated with a man," said the elder. "Is there any defense raised?"
The father half-heartedly mentioned that his daughter had claimed she was forced.
The elder pointed to the first couple and said that anyone forced would not have remained silent. She did not call for help. So she was willing.
She is shoved across the threshold of the gate and stoned.
First story was rated All, second PG-13 due to word filters. But it didn't involve teh gays or equal rights or women voting, so it had the Fanlib seal of approval.
Later I got into a fight on the forums regarding "Christian Fiction" that can be summed up thusly:
Poster asks about links for "Christian Fiction"
Knowing full well that's a coded request but disliking coded requests, I promptly linked what I was writing and pointed out that if they meant something other than "Fiction involving Christianity" they'd damn well better be clearer about it.
A few posts later a brawl had broken out.
It was the best day ever.