Moar snow

[altivo]

Forecast keeps flickering between "less than an inch" and "one to two" for tomorrow. I say bring it. I have nothing to go out and do this weekend, it's fine with me. I can stay home and read or paint, or weave for that matter.

Read because I just got Kyell Gold's new novel, Shadow of the Father, in today's mail. This is a continuation of the Volle/Argaea stories, with Volle's second son as protagonist, and promises to be quite good. I haven't been much excited by his other recently published work, but the excerpts for Shadow definitely are back to the things I do like.

As for painting, Argos has more to say about that.

Weaving? I've still got rugs on the loom and need to get them off so I can rethread for the coverlet block exchange, of which Argos has also given the details.

Then there's Tess, who is obviously feeling neglected. She's bored and wants attention. Unfortunately, the back fields are all ice and snow, not suitable even for turnout at the moment and certainly not for riding. I used to go riding in the snow when I was young and foolish, and even took a couple of spills that way, but now I know too much to do it. The risk of injury to Tess or myself is just too great. I can, however, groom her and make a fuss over her. She seems to enjoy that provided it doesn't make her stand tied for too long. I could saddle her and walk her around in the arena a bit, but I think we both find that rather boring too.

FurRag is back up and running after its move, as I think I've mentioned. I found myself entangled in the first drama I've experienced there since being made a moderator last year. A newly signed writer posted a story, properly tagged as "erotica" and I have no real issue with that, but he gave the story a summary with explicit sexual descriptions in it. Readers can block out "adult" content on the site so that they are warned and can avoid viewing it, but that doesn't keep them from seeing the summary for new material that's posted to the front page. I wrote a polite message explaining this and asking that the summary be revised accordingly. (I could just edit the summary myself, but I prefer not to be quite so high handed as that.) The ultimate consequence was that the writer completely deleted his stories, complaining that I was trying to make him write something other than what he wanted to write. In the process, he made the statement that "FurRag is an adult site" which is, simply, wrong. FurRag is a writing archive for writers and readers of all ages. Nowhere does it call itself an "adult" site, though it does accept erotica. Once again, I see in this the implied assumption that all things furry are of necessity pornographic. I disagree with this notion, but it seems to be very deeply entrenched now. Never mind the fact that the whole notion of furry fandom finds its roots in works like The Wind in the Willows, or Bambi, or Disney's fox Robin Hood character, none of which are in the least bit "adult" or pornographic. Today "everyone" knows that furry means porn. Grrr. It's enough to make me lash out with my hooves even, except there's never anyone to hit. It's like fighting with marshmallows. I don't know where this idea came from, but it's very widespread now.

Comments

[feathertail]

Well, technically speaking, a lot of furry websites (FurAffinity especially) do a poorer job than FurRag of separating "adult" from family-friendly content. And even archives like ArtSpots host a lot of overtly sexual artwork.

Maybe we should just accept that "furry," as a brand, is as tarnished for family-friendliness as "Linux" is for user-friendliness, and wait for some kind of Ubuntu to come along. Or even a small community, that's openly furry but family-friendly. I personally like Virmir's PG rating, and the community he has on his website.

[altivo]

I suppose, though I've never liked those constructs with "-friendly" on the end. I find the Macintosh hideously UNfriendly, for instance. And "family-friendly" I tend to associate with places filled with rude, screaming, hyperactive children who run wild all over the environment while their parents smile and say to each other "Isn't that cute?"

I agree that FurRag generally does a better job of creating a divide between the erotica and the general readership materials such that it isn't an insurmountable obstacle or nuisance but does at least provide a warning and enforce some kind of consent on the part of the viewer. We do regularly get complaints that this is somehow "too restrictive" as if an extra mouse-click cost the user actual money or something. More and more I just want to point the complainers at SoFurry and tell them to have at it and leave us alone.

[feathertail]

For what it's worth, we don't get as many complaints about that here. >.>b

SoFurry's actually been started? What does everyone at FurRag think of it? If it's out now and not just being talked about, I mean.

[altivo]

SoFurry opened to the public just before Christmas, and took the better part of a month to get enough bugs out of it so it could actually be used. It was definitely rushed to market before it was ready, but now it's relatively stable.

There hasn't been a lot of discussion, though I'm about to post a substantial commentary somewhere (I haven't decided where) comparing SoFurry, FurAffinity, and FurRag as platforms for distributing writing, and in particular comparing the different receptions for explicit erotica vs. serious non-erotic stories.

I created a second user name, and posted the same stories on all three sites, using Altivo to post the "clean" story and the other name to post a competent but formulaic piece of erotic writing, comparable in length. I have to say there were no surprises. SoFurry with its inherited YiffStar user base responded with enthusiasm to the formula porn and nearly ignored the non-erotic story. FurAffinity ignored both and gave very little response. FurRag, interestingly enough, responded more strongly to the non-erotic piece.

I found it particularly amusing that several of the favorable comments on the porn piece made a point of the fact that it contained no spelling or grammar errors. Folks, the other piece was equally good mechanically. But apparently it's sufficiently unusual for porn to be edited and proof-read that it draws attention. ;p

[feathertail]

Meh. >.>

I've actually looked at FurRag before, but with the site's creator having basically abandoned it I'm not sure it'd be a good long-term investment for me. Plus their minimum rating seems to be PG-13, and I'm not sure any of my stories hit that mark.

FurAffinity's kinda depressing. I get a few comments / faves usually for each story, but each and every individual watch is a special occasion. (And it's still better than DeviantArt for getting readers / commissions.)

[altivo]

FurRag is not orphaned after all. Alex declared his intention to shut it down a year ago, yes, but he changed his mind after seeing how much resistance there was to his plan to merge it into SoFurry. He now says it will run indefinitely. And he has turned administration of the site over to a team of users (including myself) who have no intention of shutting it down until and unless there's a suitable alternative. SoFurry and FurAffinity are definitely not alternatives.

There are three ratings on FR for simplicity. The PG-13 rating (which we've been talking about changing to "All Readers") covers everything up to and including PG-13. In other words, Disney-squeaky-clean up through mild language and slightly suggestive. The "Erotica" rating is the X-rated stuff, and the "Mature" rating is everything in between. Just about anything you could write can be placed into one of those three groups.

[merik.livejournal.com]

Read because I just got Kyell Gold's new novel, Shadow of the Father, in today's mail.

My copy arrived in the mail yesterday, so I think I have my entertainment for the coming weekend *chuckle*. Although I did start re-reading Pendant of Fortune a few nights ago, so I'll probably finish that first before jumping in to the next book.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Pendant is actually my favorite of all Gold's work I've read. In spite of being a darned good suspense novel and murder mystery, it's also an intense romance. Unlike Volle where the silly fox can't make up his mind what he wants (and really gives poor Arrin the short end of a dirty stick) here he has settled on Streak and after all, who wouldn't. I'm more than a little in love with Streak myself. ;D

The scene where Volle risks life and limb just so he can illicitly hold paws with Streak through that tiny window is just, well, perfect.

[ducktapeddonkey.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping we get some snow.

.....I finally, actually, have a car with with snow tires. And ever since I put them on..nothing.

Reminds me of when I used to carry my rain gear on the bike.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

One carries rain gear to prevent rain. Evidently you haven't figured that out. The more people who carry umbrellas, the less likely it is to rain.

I imagine snow tires work the same way.

If you really want snow, there's still plenty of it down here. I like the stuff, but it has overstayed its welcome now.

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Both clean AND erotic stories appeal to me. Both have their place.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

And there's nothing wrong with that. The problem is when people start sneering (or worse) at anyone who prefers only one or the other. It gets really bad when they start trying to force their preference on everyone else.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

Once again, I see in this the implied assumption that all things furry are of necessity pornographic. I disagree with this notion, but it seems to be very deeply entrenched now. Never mind the fact that the whole notion of furry fandom finds its roots in works like The Wind in the Willows, or Bambi, or Disney's fox Robin Hood character, none of which are in the least bit "adult" or pornographic. Today "everyone" knows that furry means porn.

Of course, on the other hand, sex and sexuality was always part of furry fandom, too, so it's not like this is a recent development. Even 25 years ago, people were already disparaging us as "skunkfuckers" and the like (a term that I actually always found rather endearing, but that's another story)...

But yeah, you'd think that somebody writing stories and posting them on a website dedicated to writing would not fail at reading comprehension quite this much. Ah well, the site won't be any worse off without him, so it's probably best to just shake your head and not let it bother you.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

There has always been a sexual element or faction, yes. But it has never constituted the whole of the fandom. Assuming the latter is wrong.

I think Alexandra is correct in her guess that this guy doesn't understand that the whole world isn't YiffStar, though he is apparently on FurAffinity where they also have some rules about what can appear in elements that are publicly viewable to everyone. In their case it's user icons and bio statements.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

Aye, that could well be.

*hugs* Don't feel too bad about it. There'll always be people like that, and life's too short to care about them, or to allow them to affect your mood.

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess the writer in question is a SoFurry refugee, in which case it's almost understandable - Yiffstar was originally exclusively pornographic writing, and that's soaked into much of its userbase regardless of how much the administration's tried to lighten things up lately. It's also possible they're somehow operating on an assumption that FurRag works like SoFurry and FA do, where non-adult users can't see the summaries of adult work so it doesn't really matter.

On the other hand, the opposite may be true. If he's not been able to see porn on other sites without having an account, he could in theory be under the impression that FurRag is the only place that has it. Which would make his conclusion pretty logical, if erroneous.

That said, I can't think of a single reason why a summary would need explicit detail, so the point is moot anyway. I see no harm in summaries that involve warnings like "m/m oral" or "incest" or whatever, even if they technically refer to sex, but more than that is kind of silly.

I like my furry porn, but it's furry porn. Not simply furry art or furry writing or furry material of any sort. (I swear this distinction of language made sense in my head.)


-Alexandra

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It did occur to me that me might have come from YiffStar, but the only connection I'm sure of is that he is on FurAffinity. FA also has restrictions about elements that are publicly viewable, such as user icons and biographical statements, but he may not have realized that. The site is so large that the chance of being actually caught for an infraction is much less than it is on a site like FurRag.

The thing that bothers me about the incident is not really that, but rather the fact that I really tried hard to be diplomatic and helpful about it, rather than judgmental or exclusive. He still jumped into drama mode immediately and accused me of being "stupid" and intolerant. He also seemed to draw the conclusion that I was demanding that he change his story to meet PG-13 standards, which of course I never suggested. In fact, I said repeatedly that the story was fine and he was welcome to post it. The summary, while not exactly raunchy, was just too explicit.

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Well, I'm convinced you did the best job possible of it. Some people would rather complain than listen, and that's sadly just the way it is.

Mind on FA, if you write something explicit in your description to a mature-rated story, that summary is not publically viewable, and that is what I suspect he may have gotten wrong.


-Alexandra

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That might be it, but I really think this guy just has the mindset that everything furry is porn and all furry sites are "adult" sites.

By the way, we've had an influx of new posts to the story archive since SoFurry went up and YiffStar disappeared. If you're past the time sink of moving and all that, by all means join us in offering reviews and comments to the new writers.

[quoting-mungo.livejournal.com]

I keep meaning to and shit keeps happening. Hopefully I can get to it soon. I'm trying to get "done" moving in the next week, so after that I should hopefully be able to sneak some non-school reading in.


-Alexandra

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I do like Kyell Gold's work, let me know what you think of Shadow of the Father