Blah blah fandom. Slight meta over the lastest HP tale

[misscam]

So I'm reading the latest Bad_Penny account on life in Harry Potter fandom and it is a bit like dropping intoa soap opera with out any previously on. You have to figure out who slept with who, who backstabbed who, who had a bitchfight, who got recast and why is a day lasting a month on this screen? There are so many grudges at work my inner journalist is just in a corner weeping over bias and lack of balance and where is the alcohol alerady?

It is interesting though, because it does sort of show what a tangled weave fandom can be. Alliances and grudges and cliques and the many unaware, all tangled together. I remember from Lord of the Rings fandom how Person A would hate Person B and I could never quite figure out why and after a while, I just got a headache and went back to writing fic. Heck, even further back to Star Trek: Voyager fandom, there were close to vendettas going on, and I managed to get myself into the middle of something I'm still not sure what was, but sure didn't help defuse.

The thing is, though, we all pull stupid shit in fandom. Not necessarily out of malice, but not always devoid of it. You're not always aware of it then and there, but it can become painfully clear afterwards. And you can get defensive and form grudges that way. Or people pull shit on you and you get your grudges that way. Some let them go, some don't. Some get them strengthened by more shit.

It's not strange therefore that fandom can seem a complicated weavework of relations and that outside observers can get confused and get stuff wrong and inside observers are always biased and subjective. (It's a human condition, quite simply.) You might get some perspective later, if you're willing and able to take a step back. It can be quite painful, as it can mean realising you or your friends have not been fully in the right, at least.

So this latest tale of Harry Potter fandom happenings got me to thinking about fandoms I've been and am in, all the grudges that go on, all the grudges I probably know nada about, all the grudges I might've sparked, all the grudges I have. Even I get a bit confused. And that's not even starting on the cliques and in some cases, the various ships. Argh.

People often link fandom to high school, all popularity contests and mean girls and popular girls and what-not. Teenagers are after all the step between child and adult, while fandom is a bit between real life and an invented life. It is a bit of a different playing field. Maybe that's why what the rules are gets so confused and sometimes disputed.And why people can have falling-outs over what seems not a big deal to one of them, and is a huge deal to another.

The closest thing to a universal rule in fandom I can think of is Plagiarism Is Bad, Mmmkay? Which is possibly why the previous bad_penny tales on Cassie Claire and Heidi got so talked about and if you agreed they committed plagiarism (not all did, and not all to the same level), you got very heated on them being tarred and feathered out of fandom. It does get very vicious. Heck, I've gotten vicious about it myself. It is the Big Fandom Sin.

Yet there are things you can do in fandom that can be called worse. Faking death to get sympathy. Stirring shit between other people for own popularity. Maybe you can think of other things. (I'm sure you can, actually.)

It's get all Fandom Is Serious Business at times, doesn't it? Which is probably why some of choose to laugh a bit. I think I've found it easier because I've always felt a bit of an outsider. I know it sounds odd, given everything, but I'm from Norway and Norwegians just are a bit outsiders. Maybe it's because our country has been fairly isolated, who knows. I tend to make my own little corners and my own little rules, which is probably a bit annoying. At least the bar is stocked. And people visit.

Come to think of it, I remember reading a tale of fights and what-not in the part of Voyager fandom I was in a while back, and my name wasn't even really mentionedI felt in the thick of it, but just goes to show, perception is misleading. Perception is bias. Also in this lastest tale, which isn't meant as a slam on anyone. It's just how our brains work and you can never quite fully step out of yourself, for all you might try.

I'll have to keep that in mind myself, should I ever try a previous on CSI fandom (Your Source of Shipwars):.

*wanders off to write fanfic*

Comments

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

I like your meta. Tis always so thoughtful.

[longtimegone]

You know, fandom really IS serious business at times, becuase while it's a hobby, etc, you do actually form real relationships, even if they are solely computer based.

As you probably know, I've been a part of the HP fandom, and I know most of those people. And they aren't nearly the villians that these 46 part exposes make them out to be, which I think most people know or realize and just like the thrill/horror of reading these dramatic exposes more.

They are normal people who do a lot and so whether or not that stuff is good or bad in the eyes of the majority, notoriety will always soon follow, not to mention lies and OMG DID YOU HEAR SHE ASKED FOR A LUXURY SUITE AT X CONFERENCE? Which is patently ridiculous.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind. I just find how horrible they all get as each successive part comes out one part funny and two parts exhausting, because it's the same old shit repackaged for maximum shock value, and in my opinion, if they really all want Cassie Claire et al to go away and stop sucking up their attention they need to stop talking about her all the time.

That's my "just woke up with requisite crankiness" thoughts on the matter. :))

[misscam.livejournal.com]

If fandom is high school, you're my BFF.

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

aaaaawwww.

This is so true. Cam/Saz OTP!!

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Heh, no worries.

I'm not sure whether or not I noticed you were in HP fandom, but I have others on my flist into it as well, so I have had stuff filtered back to me now and then. (I was in LotR fandom, there was some overlap between the two.) I've never really made up my mind on everything that seemed to go on there, as I clearly didn't have all the information and what I did get was biased. I mean, your accounts of it would be biased as well, as they seem to be your friends. (I'm not in any way saying that is a crime. Fuck knows I would be biased about my own friends. That's just how it is.) Similarly, the stuff at bad_penny now is also biased, because of the backstory between the various people.

All I can say is that I try to be as balanced as I can and not make my mind up based on just one account of how things happened, you know? Plus, as I said, people will sometimes do stupid shit. (I have, oh yes.) That just makes you human, not the spawn of Satan.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

TWUWUB.

[longtimegone]

*nods* I hear you. Bias is everywhere, from everyone, which is why I could bore everyone with what I know is or is not true, but I don't even really care enough at this point becuase all anyone ever says "Is well of course you'd say that. You're friends with them." Which is true (for some. I'm by no means BFF with everyone), but also doesn't automatically negate the truth of what I might say.

So mainly I'm just sitting here, ignoring it all, because I'm so tired of it. So so so tired of the same grudges and wanks and grude wanks, and people who don't know anyone going into moral indignation from words that are spin as surely as anything else.

Basically, I'm venting to you, because you're not here to judge me personally nor do you know any of the parties involved (which is so very refershing. You just don't know), and I was there for a lot of that, and I do know some of the fact from the fiction, but I can't bear to read it all again. Wow, that was a long and poorly constructed sentence!

Eh, sorry. :D

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel a little, I think. I dunno if you remember the DW hatememe a while back, but several of my friends got a serving of hate from that. (including Cam)

It made me seethe, because I know they are good people and it was mostly exaggeration, grudges and jealousy. And you know you could jump in and stick up for your friends, but the people you are arguing with aren't going to be convinced, and it just turns into a big wankfest and more people stop to look.

Best thing to do is seethe quietly and stay quiet, as I can see you know. But damn it's hard sometimes, ain't it?

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

We still need an icon. ;)

[longtimegone]

I do remember the DW hatememe, though I didn't read it, becuase I've already been through about 5 of those (each one successively more pathetic) in the HP fandom, and I know how those go. Meanness, anger and hurt feelings, along with some silent, unconfessed sporfles of "God, that is SO TRUE!" are all that come out of those things.

And it can be hard to be silent, sometimes. Mainly, because there are things that I personally know aren't true. There are other things I might say "I don't think that's true" but honestly I don't know, so I don't feel the urge to just blindly defend.

It's not hard to stay silent overall when you've seen this same, exact thing come up so many times that you don't have to go read it to know what was said. I think mostly, I just don't care that much anymore. It's so exhausting!

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure. Just because I'm pointing out bias doesn't mean I'm saying that necessarily makes anything not true. Bias most often show itself in how you interpret facts. The same event can be seen in two so different ways it seems like one of them has to be untrue, but if you do get to the botoom of it, you see how both accounts can be true and at the same time, just not telling the whole story. Maybe it's the journalist in me that always compare sources. In fact, how someone interpret an event says as much about them as anything else.

I can understand being tired of it very well. But to a lot of us not associated with it, it is an thrilling tale to simply read, as you said. I remember getting caught up in the MsScribe tale quite a lot, and it was interesting to reread it now when I wasn't as gripped by the narrative and the well of information I had never gotten before, you know?

For the interest of clarity, I should say I vaguely knock Michela Ecks, in that she was in Voyager fandom when I was. But that is... 7 years ago. I think. I don't think I've ever spoken to anyone else at all. So yeah, I don't really have any particular scores in this and my interest is all to do with own curiousity. Not for me to make any judgement, anyway. (And I do know a little bit about getting attention from your fanfics and what that might lead to. I never had anything near the fame of CC, but I was known in certain parts of LotR fandom for a while.)

Therefore, vent away. And if you ever feel the need for a relative impartial ear, feel free to IM me or something.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Yes, we do.

Let's nag someone.

[longtimegone]

I'm glad (seriously) that you have a grip on what bias actually means, ebcuase no one else seems to. :)) I appreciate wanting a well rounded view. Esp when you don't know the people involved.

I appreciate the offer to vent, and I may take you up on it some day. :) For now, I'm going to Atlanta, Georgia fo rthe day!

Seriously, thanks for letting me clutter up your LJ. :)

[aervir.livejournal.com]

Just for the record, I've never been involved in HP fandom, and I don't know anyone of those active over there, neither the bad_penny writers nor their most popular 'victims' of choice.

What does irk me about all the years of CC & Co. wankiness, though, are certainly not the rumours about boob-flashing or bitchfights. It's not even the plagiarism in itself. It's the fact that this woman with her fangirl harem and her lazy writing habits has now got a publishing deal and is thus indirectly profiting from her violation of fandom ethics. Which is, in my not-so-humble opinion, patently unfair to more humble and more hard-working people who use fanfic as a first foray into the world of writing with the hope of publishing original fic one day.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Getting published is all a game of dice to start with, really. As is sucess. I mean, I find Dan Brown an untalented leech and he's hugely popular and rich now. Who knows how many great writers were just never noticed and their potential works lost to us? It's just never been fair.

Fuck, life isn't fair in itself.

Which can be quite vexing, granted.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

I think my various journalism teachers over the years would kick me if I didn't get that, heh.

Anyway, have a fun day and no worries. It was an interesting discussion and I always, always apprciaite different perspectives. Only way to learn, after all.

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

Who shall we nag?

[aervir.livejournal.com]

If I could chase Dan Brown out of the publishing world with a pitchfork, I'd so do it.

And yeah, I know, "life's a bitch" and all that, but still, profiting from bad behaviour doesn't necessarily endear anybody to me.

Apart from that, I regard the whole bad_penny journal as one ongoing fandom soap opera -- free entertainment that I don't have to take seriously.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

First decent iconmaker to pop by?

[misscam.livejournal.com]

We're missing some evil twins, though. Then the soap is truly complete.

*aims trout at Dan Brown*

[aervir.livejournal.com]

There are still twelve parts to come. Don't give up hope for any upcoming evil twins yet.

Only a trout? Can't you go for a baby whale?

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. 12 parts. Cripes. There better be some evil twins.

Only a trout? Can't you go for a baby whale?

Gotta leave some fun for others, duh.

[padawanpooh.livejournal.com]

Gah...I remember some of this happening - I was never super-involved in HP fandom, but I was a member of HP4GU in another lifetime (and identity) and remember some of this, as well as countless StarTrek wanks and the recent DW Hate. I just stay out of it too - I'm involved in fandom for the fun of the creativity and the ability to build on-line friendships with people I would never meet in RL. The hate and jealousy...nah....not for me. All fandoms should be big enough sandpits for everyone to play in happily, regardless of ship or rating preferences, and definitely for us not to nick each other's ideas.


And since I can't drink in RL at the mo thanks to the meds I'm on (grr!) could I have a nice glass of chilled Californian medium-dry wine from your lovely bar please? I'll do a turn at the washing-up later in lieu of payment ;-)

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

sure thing. You nag, you have the politician gene. I'll just stand over here and sweetly bat my eyelashes, shall I? ;)

[regala-electra.livejournal.com]

As I am wasting my morning reading this new account, I must say (for I am totally superficial liek whoa), how terribly amusing it is to see "Remus/Sirus shippers" lumped into the canon fan grouping.

Really, that made my morning. Heeee. Mostly because "theirloveissocanon" was one of my favorite jokes. Ah, HP fandom, only you would lump a slash pairing into the mix of canon fans.

I only played in the HP fandom because of the Prisoner of Azkaban movie (too many slashy vibes and so much fucked up lovely potential).

But I did read wank reports on the goings on of the HP world even before that movie and was very "...oh dear" about the matter. Hanging around the relatively calm quarters of some R/S shippers (lj communities can go either way and I tended to skim over posts that made my teeth itch) does make things a bit easier (and there did seem to be more fans who knew the Rules of Fandom who participated in the adult slash pairings - plus the influx of fans after the PoA movie did seem to be folks who had previously participated in other bigger fandoms, hello BtVS/AtS).

It also reminds me of why I enjoy lj so much - it's much easier to disengage from the neverending spiral of wank that occurs on forums or yahoo groups (I was a mod once, in a past fandom).