The Mid-December roundup - Early December 02024

Greetings! Let us begin with an Atlas Obscura article about the Yuletide fic exchange that understands the reasons why it's popular and still going strong, even decades after starting.

The Romantasy genre is not new, not by a long shot. Nor are the issues of having the Fantasy readers who go "ew, romance" and the Romance readers go "Excuse you, there are rules here." And because so very much of getting books sold is about knowing there are readers there for it, authors and their agents occasionally have to deal with one or the other (or both) factions that want the book to be more of their preference, rather than letting the book sit in the pocket it was written for.

Bashar al-Assad has fled Syria, and his regime has finally come to a close. Which is a cause for celebration and jubilation, for reunification, and for healing. And for once again considering that there is such a thing as the future, as justice, and as freedom. And also, it is a time for ensuring that the crimes are prosecuted, that those with power are held accountable, and that it is not simply a situation where a strongman skips off into history, only to be held accountable by whatever awaits them after death.

The government in France dissolved after a confidence vote succeeded, bolstered by representatives of both the far right and far left blocs.

( Murder most foul and more inside )

Last for tonight, a meditation on how SARS-CoV-2 would have impacts on the mostly scent-driven and hormonal omegaverse, and an appreciation for all the ways that Deep Space 9 showed characters who were close to the lines of crossing sides.

And the SCARF model of managing change and leadership, a system that says people generally seek Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness in their workplaces. If decisions will threaten or reduce one of those dimensions, expect pushback on the implementation of those decisions, or worse morale after doing so. Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind. And if you're stuck in Library Nice, you're almost certainly dealing with unclear and unkind.

(Materials via adrian_turtle, azurelunatic, boxofdelights, cmcmck, conuly, cosmolinguist, elf, finch, firecat, jadelennox, jenett, jjhunter, kaberett, lilysea, oursin, rydra_wong, snowynight, sonia, the_future_modernes, thewayne, umadoshi, vass, the meta_warehouse community, little_details, and anyone else I've neglected to mention or who I suspect would rather not be on the list. If you want to know where I get the neat stuff, my reading list has most of it.)

December Days 02024 #17: Community: The Terminally On-Line

[This Year's December Days Theme is Community, and all the forms that it takes. If you have some suggestions about what communities I'm part of (or that you think I'm part of) that would be worth a look, let me know in the comments.]

The Internet facilitated my childhood, helped me make friends at distances, got me into other communities, helped me find a job, was responsible for my bad relationships and for my good ones, introduces me to new things on a regular basis, and otherwise has become an indispensable part of my life. Broadband access and pocket computers with always-on connections and unlimited data plans have made possible the infrastructure of living a life online without having to worry all that much about data caps or whether the phone line will need to be clear for people to call and check in on me.

( Touching grass and the various ways that people take things online seriously )

For as much as there is talk about the dangers, the deceptive patterns, the algorithms, and the aspects of being online that permit malicious activity, many of which are driven by the profit motive or similar ideas of making money, there's also thriving and vibrant communities that welcome, assist, squee about the blorbos from their shows, share gifts, support each other, and occasionally, save each other's lives. Or assist with the heist of someone from their bad relationship.