(no subject)

[melwil]

The whole HP thing is beginning to make me rather angry, and very glad that I've pulled right back from the HP fandom.

Matt asked me last night why BNFs were such a 'big thing'. I explained to him that in HP fandom, at the time, the BNFs could really make a difference - if one of them mentioned your fic, you would get reviews. If your fics met the 'requirements' for their websites, then you were set.

I can't tell you how many times I had fic sent back from a certain website because someone had told me I'd put an apostrophe in the wrong place (although lizbee and I scraped through the fic looking for this 'mistake'). Meanwhile there was a lot of crap all over that particular site.

And don't get me started on the laptop thing.

A certain BNF has apologised, and most of the comments are 'oh you poor thing'. Bull! This person has spent two days saying she has evidence that it's all wrong, but she's too busy to deal with it. She might not have known the extent of what was going on, but she must have known something wasn't right.

I'm not going to rant anymore. But I'm angry that this happened in a fandom that I was involved in. I'm angry that it did make a difference to the little people like me ,who were never welcomed into the fandom because of the cult of celebrity.

Comments

[delgaserasca.livejournal.com]

I've been reading some particuarly idiocy in the HP fandom and all I can really say is that I'm so glad I'm not in that fandom.

I dislike BFNs a lot because they shift power-balance in fandoms tremendously. If you're a small name in a huge fandom, you can get lost. Which is not the point of fandom! Sigh.

I really hope your fic situation gets sorted out and that the general asshattery doesn't get you too down.

[melwil.livejournal.com]

It all happened a fair while ago - back when a lot of the stuff that's being described in bad penny was going on. I haven't finished a HP fic in a fair while, and I'm not real upset about that.

I dislike BFNs a lot because they shift power-balance in fandoms tremendously. If you're a small name in a huge fandom, you can get lost. Which is not the point of fandom! Sigh.

Word! I think it describes why I never had as much fun in the HP fandom as I did in West Wing, Buffy or am currently having in Spooks.

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

do you think flists help that, in a creating-micro-fandoms sort of way? i mean, it's pretty much the sole reason that i feel even remotely connected to fandom, because the folks on my flist sort of scratch that itch without me having to take the drastic measure of actually participating in a fandom. i post a bit of fic, they post a bit of fic, we all talk eps of whatever and that serves me well.

[melwil.livejournal.com]

I'm sure LJ has helped with Spook fandom - when the main list allowed spoilers without any kind of warning sangerin and I would have had no where to go without live journal.

But I was in the other fandoms pre-LJ and although there will always be squabbles and disagreements, the level of elitism didn't seem to exist. The common theory was - if you want to be a noticed person, (or a BNF) then do something worth noticing - begin a helpful web site, run a challenge or a ficathon, offer to beta, comment on fiction. That a person managed to obtain such a high status without really doing anything seems to be a strange HP phenomenon

[somedaybitch.livejournal.com]

i think you leave out the fandom contribution of amusement. she was, whether a bald-faced liar or not, a very witty read. she wrote some fic, created socks to pimp her fic and her lj and then promptly proceeded to entertain people.

somewhere along the way she figured out the lay of the land and used it to her advantage to get more attention, feed in to the fandom nonsense, and continue to be entertaining....now it was just in the form of wank she started.

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

A certain BNF has apologised, and most of the comments are 'oh you poor thing'. Bull! This person has spent two days saying she has evidence that it's all wrong, but she's too busy to deal with it. She might not have known the extent of what was going on, but she must have known something wasn't right.

I KNOW. The fact that these people are now pulling the, "Oh, but I was a VICTIM too!" card just make me gag. They're just going to drop this msscribe person like a hot potato, get into their little huddle of Fading Star BNFdom and wash their hands of it all, painting themselves as just as taken advantage of as anyone else. To some extent it's true... it DOES hurt to be duped by a friend. But you know they'll milk it for way more than that, and you won't get a straight apology without a cry of victimhood.

The certain BNF you mention is one who has always -- in my entire time in the fandom, so this is going back to the Ye Olde HP4GU Days -- made me cringe a little, and I never knew quite why. At this point she just sickens me... but now I have reason.

The whole HP thing is beginning to make me rather angry, and very glad that I've pulled right back from the HP fandom.

Me, too. (And yet, at the same time, man, this juicy expose stuff really sucks you in...)

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

Wordy McWordWordWord. I have a lot of opinions about this whole thing, and the BNF we speak of, but mostly I just feel ill because there was a time when I really liked and respected her. And now, knowing that she could have brought this to an end a long time ago, yet chose not to -- well, it seems like she's at least partially responsible for allowing the situation to become what it is. You might say she had a duty of care to the fandom, although I shouldn't throw legal terms around...

[melwil.livejournal.com]

You might say she had a duty of care to the fandom, although I shouldn't throw legal terms around...

Although we shouldn't throw those pesky legal terms around, you've hit the nail on the head.

When we did Law for Dummies (aka Teachers) we were told of a case where a school was taken to court because a child had been severely bullied (to the point of physical harm) and the teachers had allowed it to happen.

It's a little like this situation isn't it?

(I've run out of disgusted icons)

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

Frankly, after Laptopgate and Chartitywank, my respect for our unnamed BNF went down to almost nothing. This just makes it even more icky. I think it's obvious that the only fandom she cares for is the one named Cassandra Claire.

[melwil.livejournal.com]

They're just going to drop this msscribe person like a hot potato, get into their little huddle of Fading Star BNFdom and wash their hands of it all, painting themselves as just as taken advantage of as anyone else

Word. McWordy McWord Word. (That's really hard to type, btw)

I feel like I should be playing a very sad violin over there when I read the comments.

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

I feel like smacking some people around a little -- but hey, each to his own. ;)