The insanity of it all...

[swatkat]

I'm honestly surprised by the direction this entire M/N essay thing took. I mean, if you post something up on a public forum, how can you expect *everyone* to provide you with nothing but glowing praise? Considering that ship_manifesto is a place to pimp your pairing and get others hooked to it, why should others not take an issue when you say that 'fic in X. fandom is bad, bad, bad', especially when you don't read, or aren't even interesting in reading fic in that fandom? I wish the OP hadn't over-reacted or gotten so defensive about the entire matter - I thought everyone was being very civil and asking pertinet questions. It's a pity that some people can't handle disagreements. *shrug*

Meanwhile, I'm still very much in love with Buffy/Faith, and am looking around for good fics (which is *hard* to find!). Maybe I'll have to contact some shippers after all.

Comments

Re: I think you've hit a core point here

[nell65.livejournal.com]

I think one of the things that set my back up was the impression she gave of LFN fandom - vidders or ficcers - as being made up only of semi-literate noobs. Which of course *was* proabaly easy to make because she doesn't know that she knows anyone involved - and didn't think they would find out.

The only idea I was trying to get across was that some of the fic *is* good, and in my view in about the same proportion as far as I can tell to other fandoms fics. And that as she hadn't read very much LFN fic, or sought out any recommendations from folks who *do* know the contents of the archives and various smaller sites with stashes of fic, her pronounement that it was all bad was a little hasty. I'm still blinking that even after admitting that she hadn't read very much, she was nonetheless certain that as a whole LFN fic is worse than most.

She also seemed to think LFN is a dead or nearly dead fandom. And one that no one else could possibly have spent time in and then, you know, like her, branched out into other fandoms and fanish activities.

Re: I think you've hit a core point here

[delle.livejournal.com]

heh. we're all feral Nell, we don't leave our caves.

*eg*

actually, I liked her use of feral; it certainly fits a lot of LFN fen...

Re: I think you've hit a core point here

[nell65.livejournal.com]

Well - she's certainly acting like she got set upon by hyenas.

Obviously to have folks show up to offer and defend a counter opinion surprised and angered her. I just can't figure out why. Doesn't anyone disagree about anything in the Buffy and Spuffy fandoms? Debate with each other about which fics are really the best and why? Compare and contrast reading tastes - like Jaybee's preference for tragedy over classical comedy, or my nearly opposite reaction, which leads us to think very different fic are really good?

Who knows. I am mildly sorry she was so upset she felt she had to lock that thread - though I also found it funny in an OMG it's a wank come to life! sort of way. *eg*

LFN's nicer than many...

[mommysusan.livejournal.com]

That's what I found most confusing. The Buffyverse has rabid kerfluffles all the time concerning issues of one true pairings, slash vs. het, whether Spike obtained redemption without first getting a soul, etc., and it's not unique in that respect. Perhaps the reaction from the author and the mod was prompted by the venue - maybe even polite disagreement is not the norm for these essays? I don't often read the comments so I can't say.

feral and proud of it?

[sk56.livejournal.com]

I can manage that.

Re: I think you've hit a core point here

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

The only idea I was trying to get across was that some of the fic *is* good,

And she seemed remarkably unwilling to concede even the *possibility* of this being true. Instead, she would always come back with the response that "some people" might be able to find things they enjoy, assuming they didn't have high standards.

and in my view in about the same proportion as far as I can tell to other fandoms fics.

A proposition she flatly denied. And yet she admitted that she hadn't looked at much of a sampling, and had no intention of doing so.

Trying to read between the lines, what I think she was *really* saying is that she doesn't think LFN has the same proportion of high-quality fic as BtVS, where she apparently found well written stories without having to look hard at all. I don't have much of an opinion on that one way or another, because it's a fandom I do not and never will read in (I didn't like the series much). For all I know, she might be right. But instead of saying that, which may or may not be defensible, she made the rather careless statement that LFN is "a vast wasteland" and that it's notably worse than the average fandom, overall. Judging by the sampling I've made of fic from other fandoms, I don't think that's accurate.

Moreover, while her assertion might have been more appropriate in another community, it seemed a very poor idea at a community which is supposed to be about pimping a pairing.

Oh, well.