neadods: (yay!)
spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam, wonderful spam, spam I'm totally avoiding getting ready for work tomorrow, can't you tell? PS: My review of The Rapture is up on USF.

I may be the only one left following the Ianto charity smackdown, but I thought there ought to be a post to commemorate the passing of the 10,000 pound mark.

Ianto Wants a Pony: 2,025.56 (second highest fundraiser for the charity)
Save Ianto Jones: 8,000.25 (*The* top fundraiser for CiN, according to the Just Giving page)


This is the Best. Idea. Ever. It doesn't matter if Save Ianto actually gets Ianto back (I'm remaining pretty skeptical about there being a Torchwood S4 at all, frankly). The triumph is that it's so easy to be snotty about people who send in coffee or pencils or whatever the "thing" drive is for the fan petition du jour. But there's no possible way to blow off (much less patronizingly blow off) that that much money without pinning on an "I'M AN ASSHOLE, ASK ME HOW" sign on that's so big that even people who don't give a rat's ass about TV will be sneering. You just don't diss charitable donations. You certainly don't diss the contributors to the top two individual fundraisers as dumb, hysterical, unable to handle drama, etc., regardless of the impetus!

I doubt it will bring Ianto back. I doubt there's even going to be any more Torchwood to bring him back to, in tie-ins or on TV. But just for introducing a form of protest that cannot be dismissed, for saving two horses and countless children, for expanding the long-standing connection between fandom and charity - this whole thing should be noted as a Great Moment in Fannish History.
neadods: (yay!)
Y'all know how much I love a charity smackdown. (Ianto Wants a Pony just topped 2,000; Save Ianto's at 7720, I'm just sayin')

But the original charity smackdown wasn't fannish, it was a counter protest.

Y'see, the First Amendment unfortunately means that it's legal to stand on public property and be the biggest verbally abusive jerkface you can possibly be. Shouting back is equally legal but not very effective, and beating the crap out of someone (or worse) isn't legal and shouldn't be.

BUT... making money off of something - anything - is the American Way. So is fundraising for a cause you believe in.

And thus protester picket pledge movements were born.

They're the ultimate charity smackdown - pledge a certain amount of money to the organization being picketed or a related charity. Base the pledged cash on a per protester headcount or on how long the protesters stay or sometimes even both - and (this is key) let them know. Let them *watch* the numbers rising and know that *they* are the reason why. And there's nothing the protesters can do about it, because it's perfectly peaceful and legal.

Picket pledge movements tend to make protests evaporate like morning dew.

Pledge-a-Picket, a pro-choice charity, has been around for a while.

The new kid on the block is the brilliant Phelps-a-thon. Westboro "Baptist" Church (aka Fred Phelp's attention whore family) will picket anything that will net them newspaper coverage and have the possibility of an assault lawsuit when someone has had enough of the hate they sling.

Tongue cannot tell how much they hate pledge drives. They coin cash for the victim of their bullying and take newspaper attention away from the Phelps and have no chance of letting a Phelps sue for assault. It's a hat-trick of warping their hate inside out.

And now Chris Mason has started a website for one-stop pledging for all the places the Phelps plan on picketing all over the country.

BEST. WEBSITE. EVER.
neadods: (Default)
If I could wave a magic wand and make one thing in the world change, it would be that ALL shipper wars and fandom wars be fought through charities. Best. Idea. EVER!

CoE for CiN (Thank you James Moran): £296.25
Save Ianto Jones: £4425.42
Ianto Jones Wants a Pony: £1011.00

(Why yes, I am spamming the flist instead of doing chores. Doing chores is hard enough on the best of days; knowing I'm doing them instead of attending some kickass Writercon panels isn't helping.)
neadods: (Default)
I draw vast amounts of amusement that the Children of Earth for Children in Need (Thank you James Moran) charity is stalled out just below 300 quid, while Ianto Wants A Pony is at 720 and Save Ianto (Children in Need) is over 4,000. Talk is cheap and Internet postings are cheaper, but this is fandom putting its money where its mouth is. It's the world's most productive smackdown.

And it's fandom doing worlds of good for Children in Need from all directions, not to mention the Lluest Horse and Pony Trust. Fandom and charity are always A Good Thing.
neadods: (Default)
Before I start the main post, an utterly OT link: PoC might be interested in seeing one of the Golding spindles showcased by Lime & Violet. I have a Golding lucet and ballwinder; all his tools are works of art.

Now - there's a lot of discussion, particularly post-CoE (no spoilers in this post) of RTD playing blatant favorites among his characters, particularly for Gwen and Rose. short elaboration )

There's a lot of evidence to support this point of view, especially in light of what RTD has been saying at SDCC post CoE. (One more acronym, and I might as well be writing something for work!) He may say that all characters are equal, but some are obviously more equal than others.

But at the same time, I have to give him credit, because no matter how he hints and implies, he has not come right out and said "This show is about character X and if you like character Y more, you're stupid and deluded."

And yes, that has happened. Ask a Highlander fan. )

I run 50% like and loathe on RTD; he successfully brought back Who and invented lots of fascinating characters - but overall I find his writing puts emotional manipulation over basic plot logic and his stories are as repetitive as a reused teabag. His con comments and interviews tend to be self-congratulative and shockingly dismissive of fandom, but he openly admits that that's the culture that he, his writers, and his current star came from.

But y'know what? He's never flat-out told a fan of Jack, Tosh, Owen, Ianto, Martha, Donna, Wilf, Jackie, or Mickey that they're wrong for liking those characters. And by blowing off all of Internet fandom en masse, he's not telling Group A that it's open season on Group B.

As smug as he can be - as often as he repeats things that I don't want to hear and don't entirely believe - there have been producers who are WAY nastier to the fans and take far more pleasure in bullying them into "rightful" thinking.

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