I have to say this before I explode.

May 29, 2010 18:59

Being in fandom is like being in a relationship. Sometimes you are stupidly in love (emphasis on the 'stupid'). Sometimes you are in loathing. Sometimes you are thinking about felonies, sometimes you are thinking about tattoos. And as with every relationship, it's important to communicate. How are people gonna know how you feel if you don't say something, so here is me communicating about podfics.

I have a strict no-podfic policy regarding my work. I know people love podfics. I know people enjoy making them and listening to them, and more power to you. I am not pissing on your parade. Hell, there's a podfic of TRADE that I approved two years ago, but based on experiences since then I don't allow my stuff to be podficced. That's my decision and people have respected that, and for that, I am very grateful.

Why am I grateful? Because people are displaying manners and being thoughtful. They are fucking asking first. How hard is it to ask first? Seriously?

Based on my experiences (and those of people I talk to), I would say 95% of the people who read or record podfics are lovely, well-mannered people who talk to the authors and ask if they can record their stories and whatever the author says, they do.

This isn't about those people.

This is about the people who do not ask permission.

This is about the people who go ahead and record somebody else's story and then ask after the fact if it's cool if they post them since they already appropriated somebody else's work without permission and now they've got this story that they just have to share since they did all this work and they badger the author to give them permission even though they never asked permission in the first fucking place.

Ladies and gentlemen, THAT IS NOT COOL.

How would you feel if I came to your house while you were out and took some of your jewelry or your shirts or your favorite shoes and wore them around and then came back later when you were home and said, "Oh, hai! I took your shit and did stuff with it, but I'm already wearing it now so you don't mind do you?"

Uh, I'm pretty sure you'd fucking mind.

The same can be said for these stories that are recorded without asking.

It's not hard to ask for permission. You send an email or a PM or drop a line and you ask and whatever that person says, whether it's yay or nay or you sure you don't want to use another story, you do, because that's part of what fandom is about: respecting other people. It's about respecting other people's choices, even when you don't agree and they make you sad or irate or frustrated, and not trying to harangue an author when you didn't even have the decency to ask in the first place and then being upset and acting like a dick when that person says no.

We all want fandom to be a place we can come and hang out and be happy and feel respected and understood and appreciated. That all starts at home, it starts with manners and treating people the way you want to be treated. I want to be treated like a human being with thoughts and feelings and consideration. And I think you do, too.

I mean unless you want me at your house when you come home, chilling on your sofa, drinking your beer and wearing your favorite hat. I would even buy my own ticket if your name is Raylan Givens. Just saying.

Please do not link to metafandom

wait -- i'm having a thought

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