#BBC Rethink

[artchael]

ygraine studies in prep for my tarot fest piece

[idiotwithanipad]

Officially him years old today🙄

[respectwomenjuice]

throwing tomatoes rn

[unhingedmess]

if arthur ever saw bearded merlin, that poor man would go into cardiac arrest immediately

[creatingblackcharacters]

"Let's Have a Talk, First"- Stereotypes, pt 1

Come sit down. You and I, before we get into any of the things I'm sure you're impatient to know: we need to have a come to Jesus talk, first.

There are some things that I've been asked and seen that strengthens my belief that we need to have a reframing of the conversation on stereotypes in media away from something as simple as "how do I find the checklist of stereotypes to avoid". Because race- and therefore racial stereotypes- is a complex construct! Stands to reason then, that seeing, understanding, and avoiding it won't be that simple! I'm going to give you a couple pointers to (hopefully) help you rethink your approach to this topic, and therefore how to apply it when you're writing Black characters- and even when thinking about Black people!

Point #1: DEVELOP THE CHARACTER!! WRITE!!

Excuse my crude language, but let me be blunt: Black people- and therefore Black characters- will get angry at things, and occasionally make bad choices in the heat of the moment. Some of us like to fuck real nasty, some might be dominant in the bedroom, they may even be incredibly experienced! Others of us succumb to circumstance and make poor decisions that lead to crime.

None of those things inherently makes any of us angry Black women and threatening Black men, Jezebels and BBC Mandingos, and gangsters and thugs!

Black people are PEOPLE! Write us as such!

If all Black characters ever did was go outside, say "hi neighbor!" and walk back in the house, we'd be as boring as racist fans often accuse.

I say this because I feel I've seen advice that I feel makes people think writing a Black character that… Emotes negatively, or gets hurt by life and circumstance, or really enjoys hard sex, or really any scenario where they might "look bad" is the issue. I can tell many people think "well if I write that, then it's a stereotype" and to avoid the difficulty, they'll probably end up writing a flat Black character or not writing them at all. Or- and I've seen this too- they'll overcompensate in the other direction, which reveals that they 'wrote a different sort of Black person!' and it comes off just as awkwardly because it means you think that the Black people that do these things are 'bad'. And I hate that, because we're capable of depth, nuance, good, evil, adventure, world domination, all of it!

My point is, if you write your character like the human being they are, while taking care to recognize that you as the writer are not buying into stereotypes with your OWN messaging, you're fine. We have emotions, we have motivations and goals, we make decisions, and we make mistakes, just like anybody else. Write that! Develop your character!

POINT #2: YOU CAN'T CONTROL THE READERS!!

Okay. You can write the GREATEST Black character ever, full of depth, love, nuance, emotional range, all those things…. And people are still going to be racist about them. Sorry. There is absolutely nothing you can do to control a reader coming from that place of bias you sought to avoid. If it's not there, TRUST AND BELIEVE, it'll be projected onto them.

That passionate young Black woman who told the MC to get her head out of her ass? Yeah she's an angry Black bitch now, and bully to the sweet white MC. Maybe a lesbian mommy figure if they like her enough to "redeem" her. That Black gay male lead that treats his partner like he worships the ground he walks on? Yeah he's an abusive thug that needs to die now because he disagreed One Time with his white partner. That Black trans woman who happened to be competing against the white MC, in a story where the white MC makes comparable choices? Ohhhh they're gonna be VILE about that poor woman.

It really hurts- most especially as a Black fan and writer- knowing that you have something amazing to offer (as a person and creative) and people are gonna spit on that and call it "preference". That they can project themselves onto white characters no matter what, but if you project your experiences onto black characters, it's "pandering", "self insert", "woke", "annoying", "boring", and other foul things we've all gotten comments of.

But expect that it's gonna happen when you write a Black character, again, especially if you're a Black writer. If you're not Black, it won't hurt as personally, but it will probably come as a shock when you put so much effort in to create a lovely character and people are just ass about them. Unfortunately, that is the climate of fandom we currently exist in.

My favorite example is of Louis De Pointe Du Lac from AMC's Interview With The Vampire. Louis is actually one of the best depictions of the existential horror that is being Black in a racist White world I have ever seen written by mostly nonblack people. It was timeless; I related to every single source of racist pain he experienced.

People were HORRIFIC about Louis.

It didn't matter that he was well written and what he symbolized; many white viewers did NOT LIKE this man. There's a level of empathy and understanding that Black characters in particular don't receive in comparison to white counterparts, and that's due to many of those stereotypes and systemic biases I'm going to talk about.

My point is, recognize that while yes, you as the author have a duty to write a character thoughtfully as you can, it's not going to stop the response of the ignorant. Writing seeking to get everyone to understand what you were trying to do… Sisyphean effort. It's better to focus on knowing that YOU wrote something good, that YOU did not write the stereotype that those people are determined to see.

POINT #3: WHY is something a stereotype?

While there are lists of stereotypes against Black people in media and life that can be found, I would appreciate if people stopped approaching it as just a list of things you can check off to avoid. You can know what the stereotypes are, sure, but if you don't understand WHY they're a problem and how they play into perception of us, you'll either end up writing a flat character trying to avoid that list, or you're going to write other things related to that stereotype because "oh its not item #1"... and it'll still be racist.

For example: if you wrote a "sassy Black woman" that does a z formation neck rotation just because a store manager asked her something… that's probably stereotype. If you thought of a character that needed to be "loudmouthed", "sassy", and "strong" and a dark-skinned black woman was automatically what fit the profile in your mind, ding ding ding! THAT'S where you need to catch your racist biases.

But a dark-skinned Black woman character cursing out a store manager because she's had a really bad, stressful day and their attitude towards her pushed her over the edge may be in the wrong, but she's not an "angry Black woman". She's a Black woman that's angry! And if you wrote the day she had to be as bad as would drive anyone to overstimulation and anxiety, the blow up will make sense! The development and writing behind her led to this logical point (which connects to point #1!)

I'm not going to provide a truly exhaustive list of Black stereotypes in media because that would ACTUALLY be worth a college credited class and I do this for free lmao. But I am going to provide some classic examples that can get y'all started on your own research.

POINT #4: WATCH BLACK NARRATIVES!

As always, I'm gonna push supporting Black creators, because that's the best way to see the range of what you'd like. You want to see Black villains? We got those! Black heroes? Black antiheroes? Assholes, lovers, comedians, depressed, criminals, kings, and more? They exist! You can get inspired by watching those movies and reading those books, see how WE depict us!

I've seen mixed reviews on it, BUT- I personally really enjoyed Swarm, because it was one of the first times I'd ever seen that "unhinged obsessed murderous Black fan girl" concept. Tumblr usually loves that shit lmao. Even the "bites you bites you bites you [thing I love]" thing was there. And she liked girls, too. Just saying. I thought it was a fun idea that I'd love to see more of. Y'all gotta give us a chance to be in these roles, to tell these tales. We can do it too, and you'd enjoy it if you tried to understand it!

POINT#5: You are NOT Black!

This is obvious lmao, but if you're not Black, there's no need to pretend. There's no need to think "oh well I have to get a 100% perfect depiction of the Black person's mind". That's… That's gonna look cringe, at its best. You don't have to do that in order to avoid stereotypes. You're not going to be able to catch every nuance because it's not your lived experience, nor is it the societally enforced culture. Just… Do what you can, and if you feel like it's coming off hokey… Maybe consider if you want to continue this way lol. If you know of any Black beta readers or sensitivity reviewers, that'd be a good time to check in!

For example, if your Black character is talking about "what's good my homie" and there's absolutely no reason for him to be speaking that way other than to indicate that he's Black… 😬 I can't stop you but… Are you sure?

An egregious example of a TERRIBLE way to write a Black character is the "What If: Miles Morales/Thor" comic. I want to emphasize the lack of good Black character design involved in some of these PROFESSIONAL art spaces, because that MARVEL comic PASSED QA!! That comic went past NUMEROUS sets of eyes and was APPROVED!! IT GOT RELEASED!! NO ONE STOPPED IT!!

I'm sorry, it was just so racist-ly bad that it was hilarious. Like you couldn't make that shit up.

Anyway, unfortunately that's how some of y'all sound trying to write AAVE. I promise that we speak the Queen's English too lmao. If you're worried you won't get it right, just use the standard form of English. It's fine! Personally, I'd much rather you do that than try to 'decode AAVE' if you don't know how to use it.

My point is, if you're actively "forcing" yourself to "think Black"… maybe you need to stand down and reconsider your approach lmao. This is why understanding the stereotypes and social environment behind them will help you write better, because you can incorporate that Blackness- without having to verbally "emphasize how Black this is"- into their character, motivations, and actions.

Conclusion

We need to reconsider how we approach the concepts of stereotypes when writing our Black characters. The goal is not to cross off a checklist of things to avoid per se, but to understand WHY we have to develop our Black characters well enough to avoid incorporating them into our writing. Give your Black characters substance- we're human beings! We have motivations and fears and desires! We're not perfect, but we're not inherently flawed because of our race. That's what makes the difference!

And as always, and really in particular for this topic, it's the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

[ratherembarrassing]

2024: weeks 36 through 38

here are some things i had thrown into a note

beetlejuice beetlejuice (2024). cute! enjoyable but not mindblowing, but representative of a the middle class of films that no longer exists and which i miss dearly.

corridors of power (bbc, 2024). i'm still making my way through it, but if you're excited by seeing formerly powerful people say absolutely batshit crazy things about the exercise of that power, this might be for you too.

maria abramovich's this or that for GQ germany.

and now: LONDON (a chronological series of happenings)

airplanes: still miserable. i do think that we need to rethink international airtravel, because 23 hours in a plane is just ridiculous. nonetheless, in keeping with tradition, i had a pretty good 8-9 hours sleep, which i measured by having hotd on and every few hours waking up to wonder what all the screaming was about.

immediately spent money on clothes: it could not be helped. i've been staying walking distance from brick lane and these things happen. now i own a levis jacket that's as old as i am that fits me perfectly, as god intended.

food: part 1. took my cousin, who is also in london on holiday rn, to dishoom, per literally everyone's recommendation. you were all entirely correct.

food: part 2. abuelo in marylebone, served me some vanilla fig jam on a plate of random other foods that was, without exaggeration, the most delicious thing i have ever eaten. i literally asked if i could buy a jar. i could not, and i will feel sad about this for the rest of my life.

punished for the crime of being interested in a crime: the british museum. the parthenon room was closed, so what even was the point. anyway, i was generally unimpressed, with some exceptions (who amongst us is not moved by the existence of the rosetta stone, also a very good prints and drawings exhibition). but also my god, would it kill them to install some aircon (a sentiment i have felt applies to almost everywhere i have been in london thus far)?

very far away: kingsmeadow. opening week for my beloved chelsea, i could have wept from happiness. sat next to a local woman and her husband who come every week and talk about the team like they are each girl's parents and biggest stans, and it was entirely perfect.

did i mention: CHAPPELL FUCKING ROAN. yes, i queued for like five hours. i was 68th in the priority queue, which is behind the vips but in front of everyone else. all i did to get in that queue was buy an o2 sim card for £20, which i needed anyway. it was fun, everyone made friends, you could come and go as you pleased and we all made sure everyone got their spot back even as we were repeatedly shuffled up the side street behind the brixton o2. it was nice and wholesome and exactly what you would expect from the 99% of people who aren't assholes and also into this lovely woman. the rest is just a blur of askldhjalsk. objectively, she's not the best performer going right now, the show's not overly produced beyond a set list of songs and a bit of banter, and absolutely none of that matters in the face of how quietly charismatic she is and the absolutely insane set of pipes she's got. it was fucking intense, man. zero regrets about the time and money (oh my god, the money) it took to make this happen, delighted to have corrected my grievous mistake of choosing not to go to her show in melbourne last year.

i don't think my insurance covers this: ebiking across north and east london. first attempt was, uh. ill conceived, and i will never recover from seeing my phone go flying in one direction into the street as i went skidding along in the wet, still in the bike lane. phone's fine, i'm fine, not sure why i decided today was the day to ride a bike for the first time in 15 years. second attempt went much better.

sportsball 2: this time bigger! like the absolute turncoat that i am, i also went to arsenal's opener at emirates with 40k other people. sat next to a woman with her 13 year old daughter who come every few months and who noted early on, pointedly, that it was unfortunate we weren't sitting on the other corner, where we would have been closer to the WAGs. love this mum for this kid.

food: part 3. i just ate the most delicious burger i've ever eaten, wtf???

coming up: i fought a battle with booking.com, and i won, and tomorrow i'm off down the south coast for a few days. LA's roads didn't kill me, but london's might.

[calaisreno]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @7-percent, @totallysilvergirl and @gaylilsherlock. Thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 

147. I’ve been here nearly 6 years, some years more prolific than others. 

2. What's your total A03 word count?

Right now, just shy of 2M: 1,937,496, to be exact

3. What fandoms do you write for?

BBC Sherlock and ACD Sherlock

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Synchronicity Date Night A Chronic Condition The Wedding Gift Blank Slate Wooing Sherlock Holmes has recently moved up and is close enough to nudge its way to number 5.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always, even if it’s just to say thank you. I appreciate comments, often feel humbled by the compliments people give. It just feels right to respond. (Maybe if I were getting hundreds of comments a day, I would have to rethink that.)

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Either Below Zero or The New Gardener. Both have MCD, but sort of a soft landing. Also Learning the Heart and The Real You, but those also have endings that mitigate the angst, a bit.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I write a lot of happy endings; it’s my preferred resolution.  My choice: The Short Tragic Death of John Watson. John does NOT die, but there’s a very cheesy happy ending that made many readers scream.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No. A couple rude comments, but no intentional hatred.

9. Do you write smut?

Not much. I don’t write PWP, but include a sex scene where the plot seems to need it. I'm not opposed; it's just not my usual.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I’ve written two GO/Sherlock stories: Limbo and Hell and Back. I’ve written stories that borrow from other fandoms, but are not exactly crossovers. The closest to a crossover would be Serendipity, which borrows plot from the movie. I’ve borrowed from movie and book universes to make an original story (Eye of the Storm, A Chamber to be Haunted, Do No Harm), and I’ve borrowed premises (The Real You)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

About 60 of my fics have been translated, most of them into Russian, a couple into Chinese, on into Spanish. 

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. 

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Sherlock Holmes/John Watson

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The Secret of Agra: a post-Reichenbach fic that I started in 2020. It has been through several transformations. I rarely give up permanently on a story, though. A few have grown into something new that I ended up posting. I expect I'll finish this when inspiration strikes me.

16. What are your writing strengths?

The things readers most often compliment me on: 

Character voice and emotions.  

World building. 

Versatility: historical fiction, case fics, science fiction, fantasy, rom-coms, etc.

Making readers cry.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes. In Greek tragedy you simply have a character enter and describe the murder that’s just occurred offstage. In fanfiction, that’s a nope. And you have to think out every move, make the scene visual. I admire writers who make this seem effortless. (That's you, @discordantwords !!!) Description: finding non-cliche ways to describe things/people without making it weird and overly fussy.  Being too minimal: I am not a wordy writer; minimalism was how I was taught, but sometimes I need to be wordier.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I’ve done bits of this, but only in languages I’ve studied. I have a degree in Latin, and have used that in couple stories: A Demon's Tale, Accidental Magic. 

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The first and only fandom I’ve posted in is Sherlock Holmes (ACD and BBC). I don’t have any plans to move. I used to write original fiction, but have found fanfiction so much more rewarding.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is hard to answer. Last Envoy is the story I’m most proud of.  I write the stories I want to read, and I do re-read a number of them, some more than others. My favorite fic written in 2023 is The Traveller.

Has everybody been tagged? How about @mydogwatson @lisbeth-kk @discordantwords @copperplatebeech @keirgreeneyes @meetinginsamarra @bertytravelsfar @jrow @thegildedbee @helloliriels @gregorovitchworld ???

[myfairkatiecat]

Keefe (for bingo)

AHELDHKAUSHDKJAAHJSSHAKSBDKHSKSDSHAJAHDLDUSBSKSJSHALSHDHSKA

OK I CONTRADICTED MYSELF A LOT SO LET ME EXPLAIN

this is my favorite character of all time in any media, right up there with Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars, Nicholas & Nathaniel Benedict from TMBS (showverse) and Lancelot from bbc Merlin. Actually probably slightly above all those characters which is SAYING SOMETHING.

Is he comic relief? Yes.

Would I be his friend? Yes.

Has he done nothing wrong? Yes!! No he’s done many things wrong he’s so precious to me ok but the law he’s broken the law I love him so much he literally betrayed his friends I will always love him he has sooo much to answer for I’m glad Sophie forgives him after she chews him out she should chew him out longer but I suppose Fitz does that for her He has so many apologies to make but like he’s also done nothing wrong look I’m aware of my blorbo’s mistakes he’s honestly not as problematic as the tumblr fandom makes him out to be sometimes, and I MEAN that, but he’s also not as perfect and sweet as the eleven year olds on Wattpad make him out to be. He’s a LOT okay, you can’t analyze Keefe Sencen without the everything

Are my opinions unpopular? Yep! The other keefe girlies hate my opinions bc I acknowledge his character flaws and the Keefe haters hate my opinions bc I acknowledge the fact that he’s NOT an antagonist and actually has a lot of really good traits, and that’s NOT me making excuses. Also what are y’all on about saying he doesn’t get held accountable for his actions, like yeah Sophie forgives him pretty fast but not until she’s yelled at him, and the rest of his friends do NOT bounce back to normal (Fitz)

Do I relate to him? Yes, unfortunately. I have Fitz’s trauma and Keefe’s coping mechanisms (they aren’t good coping mechanisms but they’re literally mine)

Is the fandom wrong about him? Yes, the Keefe fans and Keefe haters alike. Don’t flatten this guy there’s SO MUCH THERE. (I’m not talking about my Keefe-negative mutuals—if I follow you, you didn’t flatten his character, I am very serious about Keefe Sencen)

Do I want to adopt him? YES I mean I’m literally his age but if I was old enough to adopt him I totally would, get that kid away from Cassius Sencen and kill Gisela Sencen. Honestly tho I’d settle for an Elwin adoption, dad!Elwin rocks

Did he need less screen time? *sighs in resigned Keefe fan* probably…objectively…yes…

Did canon do him dirty? I debated filling in this one. Because Shannon has made him a SUPER complex character. But also I swear if the ending of stellarlune isn’t the last time he steals something from Sophie to carry out a reckless plan he told no one about, I’ll riot. Don’t give him forward character progress and then erase it! If it’s a momentary relapse of bad habits I’ll allow it but I’m starting to want Shannon to let Keefe grow from all of that. Cause she keeps letting him get better—and then slip back. (Which isn’t unrealistic and I can work with!! I love him! But SHANNON PLEASE)

Do I want to study him? I want to get a full on PhD in this guy’s character arc actually

Did he need more screen time? Heh. Uh. Objectively NO. But also this amount of page time has allowed us to learn so much about his character complexities?? Like I’m torn between missing the other characters and eating up his character arc. Currently I’m gonna hope book 10 expands the other characters more bc I need more of them and 9.5 can feed my Keefe brain

Would I hit him with a golf cart? Listen my friend made this bingo game (hi Bods, if you’re reading this) and I know exactly what the actual intention was behind this square. But like. I want to slightly run into him with a golf cart. Just enough to slightly injure him and make him rethink his life choices (affectionate) (actually in the words of@phtalogreenpoison “I’d like to microwave Keefe. Just shortly”)

Does he need therapy? OH MY GOSH YES. I have thought this about other characters but SPECIFICALLY KEEFE HOLY GUACAMOLE GET THAT GUY THERAPY

Is he insane? Define insane. But I love him anyway (what is going on in his head half the time 😭)

Am I rotating him in my head 24/7? WELL YOU’VE READ THE POST WHAT DO YOU THINK

Do I have so many headcanons? Oh you guys don’t know the half of it. I have. So. Many. SO MANY

Is he wasted potential? Uhhhh I have too many thoughts on this to actually put it on this post. Genuinely love what Shannon’s doing with his character, like I said. But at some point she needs to. Address the things. Or he just becomes a guy with all these complications introduced that just kinda sit there and continue to change and grow and Keefe is the complex character to end all complex characters but Shannon you need to DO SOMETHING WITH THE MASTERPIECE OF A CHARACTER THAT YOU HAVE CREATED

The amount of bingos holy moly

Anyway

Keefe means a lot to me

Thanks for the ask anon!

[ediblegardenspointloma]

The Future of Fog in California and Strawberries

Intrigued? Listen to the report, The Future of Fog in California from KQED, public radio in the San Francisco Bay Area. The upside of living in a fog belt may be strawberries. The KQED report explains why foggy Watsonville grows the best strawberries.

You’ll also learn about research efforts in Monterey on fog and the importance of fog to the region. Think redwoods and your winter lettuce. Then nerd out on fog collection links at the end of this blog post.

I live in a fog belt, though not as intense as parts of the Bay Area. I have trouble growing tomatoes. Read Growing Tomatoes in Fog Belt and Rethinking Tomatoes in the Fog Belt and Dwarf Tomatoes: Rethinking Tomatoes in the Fog Belt (Again).

I collect a substantial amount of water on foggy days or when the dew is heavy. Water condenses on the metal roof of our garage and runs down to my rain collection trash cans adjacent to my vegetable beds. Lids turned upside down capture the water. I need to do some measurements on the next really foggy day.

If you really want to nerd out on fog collection, check these articles:

How scientists are harvesting fog to secure the world’s water supply (PBS NewsHour) The Fog Collectors: Harvesting Water from Thin Air (Columbia University) How to harvest water from clouds of fog (NPR) How to get fresh water out of thin air (MIT) The ethereal art of fog catching (BBC)

[none-ofthisnonsense]

Sure never could've guessed... 🙄

[folxlorepod]

The Real Horror: let's talk money.

Since Folxlore is publicly funded, we wanted to give an insight into our budget, which hopefully might help other audio drama creators out! To get Folxlore funded we go through the difficult and time-consuming process of requesting funding from Creative Scotland, the Scottish government body for public arts funding. We’re very lucky Scotland has an arts funding body, but the process of obtaining funding is competitive and takes a lot of effort. The success rate is about 42%, and we’ve gotten CS funding twice for Folxlore, which I think is a pretty damn good feat!

Part of being CS funded means that everyone needs to get paid fairly, so we pay industry rates for all our workers, while taking into account that our industry is indie podcasts, and not professional podcast.

Interlude: are we indie? Folxlore is publicly funded, we don’t belong to a network, and the show isn’t produced by a big team. We’re 4 people, we self-produce, and our sound designer Dev from Tin Can Audio distributes the show. We pretty comfortably put ourself in the independent category, but some people may feel the amount of funding we get means we’re not. Decide for yourself!

The amount of funding Folxlore gets is publicly available. For our pilot episodes, we received £800 pounds from Young Scot (we were still young back in 2018!). This we split equally between the four of us. Ross, Syd and I got £200 for writing and recording 3 episodes, and Dev got £200 for sound designing the 3 episodes. These are in no way realistic fees, but again, we were young and new to the thing and excited we got to do this new project we’d been thinking about for a while!

Then for Season 1, we received our first proper funding. Season 1 Total Budget: £14,538 Season 1 Funding Received: £12,479

Writers fees - £8,160 We paid our writer team £1,020 per episode, which was the going BBC rate for 11-19 minute radio plays. 

Sound engineer fees - £1,600 We agreed beforehand on a fee with our sound designer Dev. They were not yet a full-time sound designer at the time, but despite this, in retrospect, I think we should have budgeted more here!

Producer fees - £966 Producing the show took approximately 8 weeks of work between two people, so this is another area where we underpaid ourselves.

Voice actor fees - £450 Our biggest oversight and biggest mistake in the creation of Season 1 was our VA budget, which was pretty much nonexistent. For the pilot series, our writers had acted as voice actors without additional pay, and so when it came to Season 1, we operated on the same model. This was not fair to our writers, as they should have been paid separately and fairly for both their writing and their performance skills (for clarity, all three are experienced in both). 

We did pay the 2 VA’s who weren’t part of the writers team, from our contingency budget.

Contingency budget - £1,322 Vital to any project! We had a 10% contingency. We ended up paying some VA fees from this, as well as some marketing costs.

The rest of our budget included marketing and equipment purchase & hire, some of which were in-kind match funding from Tin Can Audio and In The Works.

For season 2, we spent a good while rethinking our season 1 budget, and requested an increased amount of funding to reflect fair working practices. Season 2 Total budget: £27,819 Season 2 Funding Received: £22,489

Writer’s fees - £8,408 We stuck with the same writer’s fee, although with inflation this was now £1051 per episode. We initially aimed for 8 episodes, but ended up making 9, so we split the total fee 9-ways after agreement from the whole writers team. 

Sound engineer fees - £2,280 We also significantly increased our sound design fee to £285 per episode, to reflect Dev now being a professional full-time sound designer. They have since increased their fee, to be more in line with professional standards. 

Producer fees - £2,470 We upped our producer budget from 2 weeks to 5 weeks, which is still not quite enough, but covers us a lot more. The going weekly rate by ITC standards was £494 per week at the time.

Voice actor fees - £3,300 Our biggest change from season 1 was our VA budget. We had a total budget of £3300 for VA roles. We split this up in lead roles (£200), small roles (£100), and minor roles (£50). These were based on line-count, but also emotional intensity of the role. We roughly planned for 10 lead roles, 10 small roles, and 6 minor roles, which is about what we ended up with. Because all VAs in Folxlore do more than one role across the season, everyone received a rounded out fee based on their roles. 

Marketing budget - £1,410 Our marketing budget increased significantly as well: we included more time to develop a marketing plan, more intricate marketing ideas, and more time to implement the plan under our producing fees. 

Contingency: £1,205 Because we’d done this before, we could decrease our contingency budget from 10% to 5% of the overall budget.

Access budget - £2530 Another big change from season 1 is that we had a designated access budget. This budget includes the creation of episode transcripts, 1 paid day off for our core team (most of us are full-time freelancers, so this was a rare treat and something we consider vital to a healthy work/life balance), a day of work for an access coordinator for the writing & recording sessions (me), and budget for any other access needs that might come up during the recording or writing such as travel, equipment, caring responsibilities, and any access needs that were yet to be determined for our hired VA’s.

In-kind funding - £5,330 Like with season 1, we had in-kind funding for this season amounting to nearly 20% of our total budget.

There were some additional budget lines for season 2 that we haven't discussed, as they are for parts of the project we haven't announced yet.

Keep in mind all these numbers are straight from the budget we applied to Creative Scotland with: things will always change during the course of a project and they certainly have for us. Also keep in mind this budget is in pounds!

We hope that was helpful for (prospective) podcast producers out there! We're always happy to talk through how to get public funding within the UK, as that's what we're familiar with: our DMs are open!

[weeple]

I remembered I made this account randomly

Not so randomly as I searched up a character x reader fanfic that had popped up as a suggestion when I was just looking at pictures of said character. I was reading it on incognito not because it was spicy but because I am plainly too embarrassed that I even clicked on a character x reader fanfic, let alone for which character it was.

Ok I give in it was Thomas Thorne from BBC Ghosts.

Anyway the fic was on Tumblr so I clicked on the link and began reading and it was incredibly well written, none of the characters felt different from how they would talk or behave in cannon! I was reading pleasantly (pleasantly being naked curled up on the floor of the shower because I was going to take a shower but I remembered the search result “bbc ghost Thomas x reader” and was too filled with curiosity to continue my current activity of taking a shower.) until right as “I” was going to realize I could see Thomas a pop up thingy blocked the entire screen and told me to login. I was appalled! How dare Tumblr request to have my reading of this fanfic on “file”! I still have not finished reading the fanfic as of actually logging in. Even though I am directly talking about my reading of the fanfic I’m still unsure as to if I want to continue it. It is not only for embarrassment reasons but also because I am worried the fanfic will become sexual in some manner and I simply don’t enjoy seeing characters I like in that way. As an asexual I find I often headcannon characters I especially relate to as also asexual even if they really don’t show any signs of that being true.

I have just remembered that I don’t remember if any of my friends follow my account and that someone reasonably could see this and, gods forbid, read it! Oh no second thoughts on posting my silly little ramble. Hmm what to do. Oh well I’ve always known I’d post it anyway because what else will I do with it? Delete it?! No, of course not! I hate deleting anything that I have put any amount of effort into even if it is silly and embarrassing like this. The potential viewers must know exactly as I am thinking as I awkwardly type this out on my massive iPad. (I hate that iPad autocorrects to be capitalized like its proper name. I wish to disrespect apple.)

Other side note, the “Add tags to help people find your posts” button makes me chuckle cause my whole experience with this tumblr account is for no one to see it except me and whoever manages to find it. My goal is not to have people see it but it is framed in a way that people can see it if they manage to.

OTHER OTHER SIDE NOTE! I just hit the post button but a pop up came up and wanted me to rethink my decision to not use tags! I’ll never give in! (Lie, I very much will give in at some point because what am I but an attention whore)

[cap-ironman]

2022 Cap-IM Big Bang Master List

After months filled with creating secret masterpieces, this year's Big Bang posting period is over! Congratulations and thank you to all our lovely participants—we hope you enjoyed yourselves, whether this was your first Big Bang or not! 🖤 Here’s the final list of 8 amazing fics of 25,000+ words and their accompanying artworks, created specifically for this event. Bask in all the new Stevetony content, and remember to give the creators love if you haven't already!

I Look and in the Mirror the World Shatters by navaan (Mature, 616, 25807 words) ★ Team Masterpost

After Pleasant Hill, Civil War II and right in the middle of Secret Empire, Steve Rogers (the real one) comes back and realizes a copy of himself is now leading HYDRA and has taken over the world. With Tony dead and only an AI copy of him existing and nobody trusting the face of Steve Rogers, he decides to make things right and help the heroes trapped inside and outside the planetary field. One way to do it: Infiltrating HYDRA by playing the role of the other him. What he finds is more than he bargained for.

Art by KakushiMiko and Art by Caz

A Leap of Faith by Gottalovev (Explicit, MCU, 33660 words) ★ Team Masterpost

When Steven was young, his entire homeland was wiped out by King Howard Stark's invading army. Now a mighty warlord with an army of his own at his back, he takes the one thing he assumes will anger Stark the most: his only son and heir. Steven is soon baffled by this strange—and very handsome—prince, who is nothing like he assumed. On top, King Howard is not getting out of his fortified city, and Steven's troops are getting restless.

Art by Jetblackfeeling and Art by MassiveSpaceWren

Not a Perfect Man by Neverever (Teen, 616, 26017 words) ★ Team Masterpost

Steve and Tony are back on track as friends and spending a lot of time together as they form a new Avengers team. But Steve is again in a rocky relationship with Sharon and Tony is dating a new woman. Steve struggles as his long-dormant crush on Tony comes back with a vengeance because he's supposed to be a good man and he doesn't want to lose Tony as a friend. What is he supposed to do as a friend when Tony's new girlfriend turns out to be not good for Tony?

Art by kaitovsheiji

Nuptiae by yuniesan (Explicit, ambiguous, 25280 words) ★ Team Masterpost

In the Ballrooms of the Asgard, The children of the elite of Earth come together for the latest season, as the Viscount of Brooklyn seeks an Omega to spend his life with, and for that Omega, finding a one true mate that would understand him most, wasn't something he had thought was possible.

Art by ralsbecket

Pragma by fundamentalBlue (Explicit, MCU, 49390 words) ★ Team Masterpost

The Tesseract glows an eerie blue that reminds him of his lover’s eyes, and he caresses it, feeling the tingle of power coming off the casing of the stone. It makes the blood on his uniform look black and sleek, like a carapace. “Take me to him,” he asks. The stone, infinitely knowing, does.

Art by Kakushimiko

A Question You Should Say Yes To by Mireille (Explicit, Avengers Assemble, 35171 words) ★ Team Masterpost

It had made perfect sense for Steve and Tony to keep their relationship quiet. It was nobody else's business, after all, and besides, they were still figuring out how they felt about one another. Until Tony gets hurt in an explosion, and they both have to rethink that decision.

Artby starksnack and Art by zappedbysnow

The Shield in the Stone by hollyandvice (Explicit, MCU, 68670 words) ★ Team Masterpost

Tony wonders, sometimes, what his life would have been like if Steven had lived. If Tony had been able to press a bit more life into his body and help him live a little longer. If he hadn't been cursed with an unending life to look over his seven incarnations and fail, time and again, to bring him home safe. A Steve-as-King-Arthur AU with Tony as the undying Merlin. Written in the vein of BBC's Merlin, but focused also on the later reincarnations of Steve rather than just the first one. Takes place roughly in time with A1 and CATWS.

Art by starksnack

The Stark Who Loved Me by gonetoarcadia (Explicit, MCU, 92302 words) ★ Team Masterpost

It’s 1814 and Captain Steven Rogers joined the army to provide for his adoptive sister Miss Jamie Rebecca “Becky” Barnes following the death of their parents. Although she’d prefer to run away to join the army too, instead she decides to do what will guarantee to bring him home and provide for both of them: marry. The Viscount Anthony Stark is a known Rake and prefers it that way, but he can feel the clock counting down until he needs to produce an heir to inherit everything. With the Stark estate in jeopardy, he’s running out of both time and options. If he has to, then who better than the diamond of the season, Miss Barnes? The only hitch: her overbearing, troublesome brother. Her extremely handsome, overbearing, troublesome brother. Nothing is simple in the game of courtship, especially when the most dangerous thing of all becomes involved: falling in love.

Art by Girl_Back_There

You can also browse through the stories and accompanying fanart in the 2022 Big Bang Collection on AO3. Be sure to leave creators comments and kudos to let them know how much you’ve enjoyed their collaborative efforts!

[charliemay-mco335]

This article I found on BBC News describes how WhatsApp and apps alike are concerned that the online-safety bill could undermine end-to-end encryption. This means that the message can only be read on the sender and the recipient's app and nowhere else.

[justforbooks]

What is Lucky Girl Syndrome?

“I just always expect great things to happen to me, and so, they do.” With those words (and more) describing her impossibly charmed life, a 22-year-old TikTok influencer ushered in the “Lucky Girl Syndrome,” a viral trend wherein people (mainly girls and women it would seem) are encouraged to accept that just believing all good things will come to them can make it so. It’s as much positive psychology as it is toxic positivity, depending on who is being asked. Here’s everything you need to know about Gen Z’s obsession with Lucky Girl Syndrome.

Okay, so what, exactly, is Lucky Girl Syndrome?

It’s basically the belief that “affirmative mantras and a positive mindset in life will bend everyday events in your favour,” according to the Washington Post. Its “founder,” New York-based Laura Galebe, gets the “most insane opportunities” thrown at her from, like, everywhere, she explains in her viral clip. “Nothing doesn’t ever go my way.” Thoughts like, “nothing ever works for me,” never enter her mind-set. Lucky Girl Syndrome started trending soon after New Year’s Day. On TikTok, people are crediting the LGS mantra for helping them score raises, amazing apartments, cheap flights. Videos with the #LuckyGirlSyndrome hashtag, the Washington Post reported, “have been watched a collective 149.6 million times.”

Is it new?

Not really. It’s more a Gen Z spin on old concepts like positive manifestations, Vox reports, meaning “the practice of repeatedly writing or saying declarative statements in the hopes that they will soon become true.” TikTok has an uncanny knack of making “even the most stale, ancient ideas seem suddenly urgent using one simple trick: give it a new name,” Vox’s Rebecca Jennings wrote.

Essentially, manifesting hinges on the belief “that we can change and shape our lives just by the way we think,” according to the Newport Institute, a mental health treatment centre for young adults that has produced an FAQ on Lucky Girl Syndrome. Also known as the law of attraction, manifesting “gives us the sense that we can create order in a world that feels chaotic and unpredictable.”

That sounds peachy. Couldn’t we all use more positivity?

Well, yes, studies have found that positive thinking can be a salve for anxiety. It may help bolster the immune system and lower blood pressure. It can make people feel more confident and more resilient.

“There’s nothing against wishing,” said Gabriele Oettingen, a professor of psychology at New York University and author of, Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation. “Our wishes are an expression of our needs, of what we don’t have,” she said. Her own research has shown that “optimistic expectations” help motivate people to work toward achieving goals, and not just click their heels three times.

Positive manifestation, Alyx Gorman wrote in The Guardian, shares some features of positive cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on enhancing that which helps people flourish. The difference is, cognitive behavioral therapy is anchored in science.

Still, the notion that if you just wish for something hard enough it will “manifest” itself is a seductive one. It alleviates people of actually having to work at achieving goals.

“As much as we might like to tell ourselves otherwise, we can’t transform our lives, luck and circumstances simply by telling ourselves so really, really hard that we can,” writes Roisin Lanigan in Vice.

“There are going to be, unfortunately, some situations in life that we are not able to manifest and think our way out of,” psychologist Carolyne Keenan told the BBC. “I would be concerned about people being in a situation where maybe that’s not going to be an effective strategy.”

What is it that people don’t like about this?

Lucky Girl Syndrome conveniently glosses over barriers like poverty, and systemic racism and inequalities. An argument could also be made that believing in luck “is an entitled luxury for the privileged,” according to Newport’s national advisor of healthy device management, Don Grant.

Indeed, Lucky Girl has been called “icky,” the “smuggest” TikTok trend yet and “the peak of the internet’s delusional era.” A defiant Galebe challenges her followers to, go ahead, “Try being delusional for a month and tell me if your life doesn’t change.”

Thinking positive thoughts and pushing away self-limiting ones is generally a good thing. Humans have an inherent negativity bias. “Thousands of years ago, our brains were constantly scanning the horizon for threats,” Louisa Jewell, author of Wire Your Brain for Confidence, told Forbes.

“Whether conscious or subconscious, (people’s thoughts and beliefs) strongly affect what we want and whether we succeed in getting it,” Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck told the magazine.

But ignoring reality isn’t helpful for mental well-being. “Trying to manifest change — and failing — can make people feel worse,” according to the Newport Institute.

“(It) triggers disappointment for some whilst others completely lose their confidence,” Lucy Baker, a U.K.-based confidence coach, told the New York Post. Believing one is the “luckiest person on planet Earth and luckier than any other living being can be dangerous.”

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[mariacallous]

The decision by Twitter to label National Public Radio (NPR) as “state-affiliated media,” which it then changed to “government-funded media” after a barrage of criticism, underscores the need to rethink the role of major social media platforms as critical gatekeepers in the public sphere, the need for better labels for news media, and the importance of insulating these designations from political interference or mercurial interventions by billionaire founders.

When Twitter placed a state-affiliated media label on NPR last week, it put the award-winning public media outlet in the same category as Russia’s RT, the state-controlled international media network, and China’s Xinhua News Agency, providing fodder to partisans around the world who would happily denigrate public service media by equating it with state-owned media.

On April 12, NPR announced that it will no longer post on its 52 Twitter channels to protect its credibility, though its journalists are still able to use the platform for newsgathering.

Figuring out which news media are propaganda or arms of the states that fund them, and which ones provide a public service and are insulated from editorial interference by the government, has once again become a flashpoint in the debate over content moderation and discrimination on social media—not long after major social media platforms began instituting labels on some media accounts.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called it “an insult to the notion of a free press to conflate an editorially independent nonprofit organization like NPR with state-controlled propaganda mills” in Russia and China. Meanwhile, Republicans, who have long pushed to defund NPR and object to its public interest mandate, cheered the new label.

In an apparent response to the outcry, Twitter established—at least for now—a new “government funded” label on both NPR and BBC accounts, despite the fact that less than two percent of their budgets come from public funds. This term is equally misleading, since many news outlets around the world receive government funding through subsidies, state advertising, and emergency relief during the pandemic.

In Canada, for example, the government has provided millions of dollars directly to media outlets through direct cash infusions and tax breaks. The U.S. and Europe support public interest media around the world through overseas development assistance, providing critical state funding to media working in challenging conditions around the world. In these and other examples, does that make them either state-affiliated or government-funded?

The terms state-controlled and government-funded raise questions about the utility of employing such blunt terms and not including information about how other news media are funded and operate. The selective application of labels to some news media and not others also raise concerns about perception and consistency.

All government-funded or state-affiliated media outlets are not created equal

Public media outlets, such as NPR, are editorially independent, provide transparency into their budgets, masthead, and editorial processes, and publish their standards and provide corrections when necessary. The fact that these outlets receive some funding from the U.S. federal government does not make them “state-affiliated” in the same sense as outlets like RT and Xinhua, which are fully state-funded and provide minimal transparency regarding either their operational or editorial processes. Media outlets like NPR and the BBC are better characterized as public interest and publicly funded media.

Efforts to categorize news media are not only about labels; they also impose restrictions on advertising, targeting, and algorithmic amplification. Twitter’s move to reclassify NPR directly impacts its reach, since Twitter’s policy states it “will not recommend or amplify” accounts that receive the state media label. Shadow banning tactics, which suppress the reach of a social media account without outright deactivating it, can also affect the visibility and monetization of their news content, with implications for news media sustainability. These results could happen despite the original intent of adding such labels, which is to provide social media users with additional information about the content they were seeing and create a signal that algorithmic systems could use to moderate content or enable certain features.

Content labeling harms independent media

Media outlets care about the label they get. Al Jazeera, which was originally labeled as funded by the Qatari government, lobbied successfully to persuade Facebook it was editorially independent and shouldn’t get a label. “The reason we object so forcefully is because for us, perception is reality in the world in which we live,” Michael Weaver, Al Jazeera’s Senior Vice President Business Development and Growth, Digital Division, told me at the time. “If we’re being undermined by other platforms, it spreads across not only what Al Jazeera is doing but it spreads across all these geopolitical conflicts that are happening in the area. It could be a death blow to the network.”

The risks of conflating editorially independent outlets with state-controlled propaganda mills not only detracts from the media and information literacy goals of such labeling, but also undermines the safety of journalists working for the outlet. Labeling independent public interest media as state-affiliated provides cover to authoritarian governments to designate those organizations and their journalists as foreign agents or spies, which could have significant implications for their safety.

In this sense, NPR’s decision to withdraw, at least partially, from using Twitter sends a principled message that will help insulate its reporters in the field from backlash. Ideally more media outlets, including the BBC, which now has the same label as NPR, would consider doing the same and break out of Twitter’s stranglehold on journalism. Unlike Google and Facebook, which form the backbone of the digital advertising and audience infrastructure upon which the news media rely, Twitter is a considerably more important platform for journalists, politicians, and other elite who believe it to be the digital public square.

Platform Convergence on Labeling

As mentioned, other major social media companies including Google, Meta, and TikTok label at least some state-affiliated media, although they all use a slightly different definition and terminology and impose different types of controls on their accounts.

Twitter opted for the term “state-affiliated” and applied the label to the accounts of media and their top editors, while Meta opted for the term “state-controlled” and excluded public service media.

Meta applies the label to media content and ads from outlets that are “wholly or partially under the editorial control of their government” and blocks them from advertising to US audiences.

Google’s YouTube includes labels on media content from outlets that are “funded in whole or in part” by a government or are “public broadcasters,” but not in the About section for a channel or search results. The designation “does not affect any of the features or monetization eligibility of the videos,” according to the company, and links to the outlet’s Wikipedia page.

TikTok uses the term state-controlled in its app and restricts those accounts from advertising, according to a spokesperson. It similarly relies on assessments of its experts and advisory council to determine whether an account shows evidence of state influence over editorial content and decision-making.

One challenge is that each of the platforms makes its own determinations based on its own relatively opaque assessments. In the case of the BBC, Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted his reasons for re-labeling the BBC, where he suggested that he didn’t “actually think the BBC is as biased as some other government-funded media, but it is silly of the BBC to claim zero influence,” implying that the labeling threshold is now simply how Musk feels about a certain outlet.

I’ve been consulted by several of these platforms over the years about their policies, which terms to use, and how to make decisions around content labeling and moderation. When platforms first introduced state media labels, I was the advocacy director at the Committee to Protect Journalists and wrote about the broader implications for press freedom, human rights, and democracy that their choices would have and how this could also provide cover for politicized attacks on media. I’ve also spent part of my career before academia with news outlets challenged by the complexity of government influence over media outlets.

State-affiliated is a better term since control is difficult to determine, funding sources are often opaque, and it allows for greater ambiguity about how much government interference is needed to undermine editorial independence. But even that is far from perfect.

There are plenty of media outlets that are privately owned, which still push propaganda and spread disinformation, and plenty of public-supported news media whose public interest orientation often results in criticism of the state and government. It would be preferable for platforms to focus on designations that are as objective and fact-based as possible, rather than subjectively determined in secret or on the whim of their owner.

The politics of labels

Deciding which news counts as independent journalism, and which media outlets are extensions of their political or financial backers, is not only difficult but ultimately political. A more nuanced approach is needed that considers the editorial independence of media outlets and assesses them on their merits, and which ideally takes these important decisions out of the hands of platforms or billionaires that control large swaths of the public sphere and the access that news media have to their audiences and advertisers.

In fact, it would be better if we could improve the labeling and algorithmic identification of all types of news media online. But making those determinations needs to be made independently from the platforms themselves. It could also help improve transparency in the media sector by requiring that news media provide information about their funding, editorial standards, and masthead.

Instead of haphazardly slapping labels on media while rescinding their verification, Twitter and its ilk should focus on ways to clearly distinguish news media agencies on their platforms and in their content moderation systems. They also should rely on a multistakeholder process that insulates these decisions from politics.

Luckily, the journalism profession has a plethora of professional groups, standards-setting bodies, and accreditation practices that could form the basis for a third-party assessment of what type of label a media organization should receive. This could be coupled with expertise from academic and practitioner communities that have created the resources that platforms use to make their proprietary designations, such as the State Media Monitor and the Media Ownership Monitor. These types of self-regulatory bodies and empirical research efforts have the expertise and legitimacy to categorize media appropriately and can help ensure that the labeling process is transparent and accountable.

As social media platforms continue to play a critical role in shaping public discourse, it’s crucial that they exercise transparency and consistency in their labeling decisions and draw on journalism industry bodies, rather than internal processes or personal biases, for these designations.