ARGH

A certain person in this fandom has been running around stirring up trouble, upsetting people, then retreating to a private corner, locking out anyone who disagrees, and washing her hands of any harm and upset she's caused people. In addition, she's then gone on to misrepresent people's reactions, badmouthing the very folks she hurt and making them look like the villains. In my book, that's a HUGE no-no.

I was originally going to post a big piss-off rant about the specifics, but deleted it, thinking Why be nasty?. Now I'm sorry I did, because this person needs a bitch-slap, and soon. The incredible gall it takes to do the things she's done recently just sickens me.

So I'm posting it now, that folks may have a chance to hear the other side of things. Does this person really think that no-one will stand up and give a little witness, and try to defend the people she's tarring with such a nasty brush? Not bloody likely.

Apologies to those who may not be interested, but I don't want anyone to miss this, and apologies for the strong language, but...well, you know. (And a word to all the writers I love in this fandom: you're all great, and I'm not putting any of you down. Chalk up my furor to being monumentally insulted on behalf of the people who've been shit on...)


WARNING: Rant ahead.


You want to know why I'm pissed off at you? (And, yes, PISSED OFF is the very expression.) I'll tell you why. I can sum it up in one word.

COWARDICE

That's what I'm seeing from you lately. That and self-centeredness. And when I stop to think about it, I realize it's what I've been seeing pretty much from day one, and I'm utterly appalled at the behavior that you've been exhibiting these last few weeks.

Insisting on having grand "discussions", and then getting all huffed up when the people invited don't pony up exactly the kinds of responses you want. What the hell is that? If you open up a subject and ask for opinions, you're going to get what people want to contribute. This isn't some Learning Annex pseudo-college course, where you can assign papers to students who will then deliver the format you command. People have their own minds, and will respond as they see fit. If you don't like that, don't start a "discussion" to begin with.

Publicly calling out a writer for writing something you don't like, and trying to shove "constructive criticism" at her without being asked. This is the heighth of rudeness, and self-centeredness to boot. NEWS FLASH: If a writer wants a beta, she'll ask for one. It's one thing to say "You've got some typos in here, might want to fix that" (and even THAT is best said in private email, not out where everyone can see it). It's quite another to insist that you have some kind of valuable insight just because you didn't like the author's concept.

Going after a writer for making her own decisions about how and why she will label her stories. If you don't like a story you're reading, FUCKING DON'T READ IT. Turn the page and go on to the next one. The gall it takes to hound a writer for making a considered decision regarding HER OWN WORK just floors me. Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway? Your taste in fiction is YOUR responsibility. Not the authors', and certainly not the rest of the fandom's. You've likely never considered the fact that there are some readers who don't want a plot ruined for them, just because you can't deal with having your poor little eyes burned by a plot twist that "squicks" you. Oh poor poor you! I guess you'll be in therapy for a few years now, given the scars on your psyche.

Getting a whole group of people paranoid and unhappy, causing writers to start feeling afraid to post their stories because they fear being flamed by the Phantom Whiner, then dropping your membership and retreating to the safety of your LJ, to then names names and misrepresent what that group is saying in posts that you are no longer privy to. This is just fucking vicious. Now that you've stirred up the hornet's nest, you run back into your little cottage and leave the problems for others to clean up, and in the process, ban people who actually have the stones to call you on the lies you're telling. By what RIGHT do you play with people that way?

Endlessly Whining and Pissing and Moaning about how you're so persecuted and misunderstood, when you create the very circumstances that cause people to have those reactions. High-handedly declaring that it's just not RIGHT that authors should have control over their output and how it's presented, just because you apparently never learned how to use the Back button when you run into something you don't like.

In case you never noticed, slash (and any fiction that deals with sex) is for ADULTS.

Let me spell that word for you.

A. D. U. L. T. S.

This presupposes that not only are you old enough to read about sex, you're old enough NOT ACT LIKE A FUCKING CHILD. Adults don't have temper tantrums when the candy they're given turns out to be cherry instead of chocolate. They don't yell "THAT'S NOT FAIR!", and throw things at their playmates. They don't threaten to take their ball and go home if everyone else won't play their way. At least, that's not the way adults are SUPPOSED to behave.

Fennelseed is my FAVORITE hobbitslash author. She's concise, witty, wry, with a fantastic grasp of character, and a talent with plot that bowls me over. She has a feel for sex scenes that are loving, intimate and deeply hot, all at the same time. She has a way with imagery that sticks in my head like no other writer I've read. (And that's no insult to the other fine writers I'm fond of, who are also fantastic - I'm sure they would all agree with me.) She is fucking brilliant. Sorry to bust your little bubble, but you're not HALF the writer she is.

And now she's off the list, and though I'm saddened and PISSED OFF, I can hardly blame her. Who the hell needs that kind of headache? All she did was post a funny, angsty silly fic, and look what she got. A fucking shitstorm, kicked up by the Queen of Oh-My-Virgin-Ears, who then sits back and watches the fur fly. Result: a wonderful writer goes back to lurking, and we're all deprived of her eagerly awaited and treasured postings. THANKS A LOT FOR NOTHING.

Elenya's story is a long, heartfelt, interesting meditation on one possible ramification of Tolkien's story. It's complex, layered, and magnificently plotted. She has every right to pursue it in exactly the way she chooses, and every right to decide how it will be presented. What she's writing is a GIFT, as is any fiction written by fans. She doesn't deserve to be pecked at for - *gasp* - not wanting to spoon-feed her story, as if she were dealing with toddlers in high chairs with bibs. I wonder just what you do when an actual novel turns out differently than what you want - deluge the author with miffy letters demanding that they label the book cover in three-inch-high letters?

I wasn't all that pleased with the story when it started out because, indeed, it presented a negative view of a character that I happen to be fond of. But seeing as how the story is so well-written and considered, I stuck with it and was rewarded with an arc that eventually eased my discomfort and brought me around. What I didn't do was stomp my foot and shake my finger at an author who is, after all, WRITING HER OWN DAMN STORY. Where the hell do you get off thinking you can dictate to a writer what they can or can't do with their own stuff? You want warnings and labels and ratings and all kinds of peppermint-smelling grandma coddling? Go to kindergarten. Otherwise, keep your pissy whining to yourself.

And the self-centered egotism it takes to cloak this childish crap in the guise of "constructive criticism" and ask "How will we learn otherwise?" Oh, PLEASE. We learn about writing by READING. That's what REAL WRITERS do. They read everything they can get their hands on and distill the essence of it, and in the process find their own voice. They DON'T do it by hounding and harrassing other writers, demanding that their views should sway how the stories are written, or presented, or published. They don't importune people who might actually have something to teach them; rather they LISTEN to what those writers and their stories are telling them. They don't slam their hands over their ears and sing LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU when presented with an idea or vision that challenges them to look at things in a new way. At least, GOOD writers don't.

You've done all of those things. You've alienated writers, made fans unhappy, and then run away like a coward, crying Boohoohoo, nobody loves me!

You're damn right. I can't speak for anyone else, but I sure as shit don't love you. If you can behave like that, I don't love you. If you can treat people with such disrespect and ingratitude for what they're giving us FOR FREE, then I don't love you. If you can throw sand at your playmates and then turn around and yell "She started it!", then I don't love you.

I've tried in the past to be friends with you. Hell, I defended you when YOU posted a fic that got flamed, and tried like hell to get you to realize that you have the right to create your story the way you want. I should have realized back then, when you caved with nary a peep to the bitches that slammed your fic, that you likely would treat others the same way when the wheel rolled around. And here we are, and you've done exactly that.

You're like a jellyfish, you know that? All pretty and soft where the sun hits, but trailing vicious stingers that can leave a painful wheal if touched the wrong way. Who can believe such a pretty thing could lash out like that? There's no way to warn people away from something like that - they've just got to get stung, and with luck it won't be serious.

I look at my private archive, where I keep the fics that I've decided I want to read again. I look at the small handful of half-finished fics with your name on them. Then I look at the folder with Fennel's work, probably the most-opened file in my archive of over 800 stories. I look at Elenya's 17-chapter (and counting) opus. And I consider - who's given me more?

No contest.

Go ahead and unfriend me. That stupid threat about the ban button? You have got to be kidding me. Could I possible give less of a shit? I don't think so. I've spent way too much of my LJ time caring about what people like you think. It's been a waste, when I could have been hanging with people who know how to treat their fellow fans.

Go ahead and whine about me. Tell everyone you like how Mean and Heartless I am, and how I Just Don't Understand. You're going to anyway - now you have my permission.

Crap like this is what, for years, has made me reject the label of "fan". This kind of nasty, backbiting nonsense. This kind of whining insistence on Everything My Way Dammit. This kind of self-centeredness.

Grow up. And write me if you ever find a backbone.