Thursday, February 28, 2008

Smack My Heart Up
In my very small amounts of free time I've been doing more ridiculous mashup kinds of things; this is my favorite of the recent bunch. It should at least get a giggle out of the people around here who actually remember the 1990s (the joke is that I'm combining THE eroge tune with what was once taken to be the most misogynistic song of all time - read between the lines, kids).

I've had to cut my anime watching way, way back. Maybe I'll catch up when things get significantly less crazy, but I doubt it very much.

I suppose I ought to weigh in on the much-discussed Version Vibrant introduction of the "Fan Words" site. If Adam thinks theO can break into the (already fairly glutted) fanfiction scene, then more power to him - and if in the process those of us interested in writing articles get another chance to do, that sounds like a good bonus. On the other hand - how do I put this delicately? - I don't exactly trust the move. As an old article writer, I'm dubious - I don't at all think it's a bad thing, but we should think carefully about how it is that all of this is coming about.

What, exactly, is being said here? Two years ago we were told that Articles was being shut down. Some of the reasons had to do with the staff having to do editorial work, but I'm pretty sure it was just due to the pure, unsentimental fact of miniscule page views. The section was kept up as a gesture of consolation, but of course gets no obvious links and was basically never heard from again (rather like, so far as I can tell, what will soon happen to myOtaku). One had the sense of hearing: "well, it's not as if we don't like you writers at all, but your work just isn't pulling its weight the way that everything else is; it's tough, this world of siterunning, and sacrifices must be made; keep doing whatever it is that you're doing if you wish, but please do it somewhere else."

Now, two years later, theO wants to get into the fanfiction game. This is, from a business perspective, justifiable - fanfiction is hugely popular and draws a lot of traffic. And I think a line of thinking that followed from this was: "well, if we're going to have something in place that will let people post stories, why not use the same mechanism to let people post articles again?" In other words: we article writers seem to be getting our section back because it's not going to cost any extra work. If I'm right about this, then there's no real concern with what we may add to the community (serious, prolonged discussion of anime/manga/etc.) so much as there's just no risk to the venture. This claim may be disputed (I am, in effect, accusing the staff of distain), but I think it's ultimately correct. If it isn't, why has there been no attempt to woo writers back before this? You may say that it's important to have article writers around - but if so, why have all of us been sitting on our hands since '06?

No, the only reason we're being let back in is that given what theO's already doing, there's no major drawbacks to throwing us a bone. We're getting this pittance as an afterthought of the try for fanfic traffic, because it's going to cost nothing extra. And, after running this around in my head for a bit, I find it to be a profoundly cheerless, ugly, venomous thought: that what we are doing as writers is effectively worthless, but that we ought be happy that it is at least tolerated. Our work will not earn much (certainly not as much as your average ten chapter PG-rated Light x L saga), and we will not see a cent of it. All of us know this. Yet nevertheless all of us are going to be submitting things to Fan Words in a few weeks' time, and very likely we will all be pleased as a child on Christmas that someone is hosting our work even if no one really cares about it nor reads it.

I may be accused of being too cynical. We shall see; the tale will be told by how Version Vibrant ends up working on the ground. In any case I have no problem with websites that have their eye on the bottom line, or that are an "extension" of the owner (it's something you get used to). Certainly I don't want to say that Fan Words is a bad thing. But I have known too many prideless writers in my time, too many really talented people so beaten down by an apathetic environment that they are happy to be exploited and undervalued so long as a handful of people will pass their eyes over their work - and I do not exempt myself from this, either. All I wish to do is, so to speak, to pop the bubble of optimism and point out what really seems to be going on. Think about it for a bit - do you truly think that this bonus auxiliary to a fanfiction section is what your writing is worth? And if it's enough for you, then what does that say about your own self-estimation?
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