It's simple. I slap 'em around a bit, torture 'em, make their lives hell...Sure, the nice guys'll run away,but every now and then you'll find a prince like Spike who gets off on it.

Buffy ,'Get It Done'


Bureaucracy 3: Oh, so now you want to be part of the SOLUTION?  

A thread to discuss naming threads, board policy, new thread suggestions, and anything else that has to do with board administration and maintenance. Guaranteed to include lively debate and polls. Natter discouraged, but not deleted.

Current Stompy Feet: ita, Jon B, DXMachina, P.M. Marcontell, Liese S., amych


Jess M. - May 25, 2004 6:48:52 am PDT #783 of 10001
Let me just say that popularity with people on public transportation does not equal literary respect. --Jesse

Personally, I'd love some kind of TV thread--because while I enjoy the occasional discussion of, say, Joan of Arcadia, I also when reading Natter or Bitches want ot catch up on the random...um...natter. And if I dont' watch JoA for a day or two, I'm not going to go back 300 posts and figure out where the discussion was. If there's a TV thread, I can just not read it until I've watched the episode.

Meara is me. I like a lot of shows that I know other Buffistae like (the OC being the primary one) and, as the luddite without the home computer, I've never been able to hear what other Buffistae have said about various episodes, or comment on it myself. I'm all for a general tv thread (and always have been), not so much separating it by genre or specific show.


Jesse - May 25, 2004 7:15:03 am PDT #784 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

And my general feeling right now is that a general tv thread would be annoying for nearly everybody, and there aren't any shows out there that warrent their own thread. Not that I would tell anyone not to propose something they thing there's an audience for, just that I don't think I would second it, nor vote for it.


msbelle - May 25, 2004 7:20:02 am PDT #785 of 10001
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb

and, as the luddite without the home computer, I've never been able to hear what other Buffistae have said about various episodes, or comment on it myself.

people will still watch and post from home, so even in a show specific thread you are going to have to go back and look for the discussion you missed while at home.

I am firmly in the leave everything alone camp. I find it interesting that posts are not racking up in here at a high speed as they do when something sets people on edge.


Topic!Cindy - May 25, 2004 7:28:13 am PDT #786 of 10001
What is even happening?

Woo hoo! Are we finally having the "Who Are We, And Where Are We Going?" discussion? I'd much rather have that than a "what tv shows do we like?" discussion.

That is the kind of conversation I wanted to have too, I was just approaching it from a there's-the-gap POV. I'm finding myself wishing for some sort of bureau script, so that I'll have the right buzz words on hand. Essentially, I just can't figure out how to approach anything so vast and ill defined, without breaking it into chunks.

When we've had similar who-are-we/who-do-we-want-to-be conversations, the general decision is that we're a pop-culture board with a penchant for ME's work and Tim's work. This is part of the reason we've decided against a general genre thread, a politics thread, war thread, or whatever. We can't and don't want to be all things to all people. Now, ME is no longer putting out work. Tim's working on something we can't see for a while. Which part of "Who Are We, And Where Are We Going?" would you want to look at? Isn't the overall picture stable, and this is just the one area with a gap? That was my impression. I wanted to figure out whether or not we needed to fill the gap, or if it was now so small, we could just walk right over it. That's all.


msbelle - May 25, 2004 7:36:17 am PDT #787 of 10001
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb

So are people bringing up discussions and/or topics in threads and not getting conversations to spring up or are people not posting things they want to talk about? Because it has been my experience that if you wnat to talk about something you'll probably find someone around here that will join you, eventually.

I guess I am just not getting the lost feelings people may or may not be having, but that we seem to be discussing.


§ ita § - May 25, 2004 7:40:56 am PDT #788 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I'm confused about the "who are we?" and the "where will we get new blood?" questions. We have almost 1500 registered users, and 25.3GB of traffic in April.

Whoever we are, and whatever we talk about, there's plenty.

Are folks bored? Lost? Ignored? Short-shrifted?


Jesse - May 25, 2004 7:43:04 am PDT #789 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

When we've had similar who-are-we/who-do-we-want-to-be conversations, the general decision is that we're a pop-culture board with a penchant for ME's work and Tim's work.

See, I think that's what I think, but not necessarily that it's the general consensus, in a world where none of those guys have shows on the air.


Jesse - May 25, 2004 7:44:00 am PDT #790 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Whoever we are, and whatever we talk about, there's plenty.

Which is why I'm kind of disappointed that after months of waiting to have this conversation, I have nothing to say. I don't think we should change anything.

Edit: And I will try to keep from posting much more, since I really don't have anything useful to say. Even though I wish I did.


Lyra Jane - May 25, 2004 8:00:50 am PDT #791 of 10001
Up with the sun

The MEMEMEMEME approach to the question, because of course you're all dying for that:

I'll be disappointed if our bullshit consensus falls on "don't change anything," because it basically means that as of this fall, I'm out of the board except for the fic, music and movie threads (all of which I read more than post about) and whatever random posts there are on Angel and Buffy. I know this job won't give me time to even skim Natter and Bitches, and I'll miss talking to y'all. Show threads tend to be a little easier to keep up with.

But the board is not all about my whims. So.


megan walker - May 25, 2004 8:02:30 am PDT #792 of 10001
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

it has been my experience that if you want to talk about something you'll probably find someone around here that will join you, eventually.

I agree with this msbelle but I think the call for some sort of TV thread may come from people who can't keep up with natter (and are not obsessive threadsucking completists like myself) and so miss out on much of the show-specific discussion because the thread has already moved on to duct tape or pandas.

Not sure whether I'd support any new thread(s) but I do understand why people would want one. I feel like I can participate in "Movies" but almost always miss TV discussions (today excepted) because my on-line time is so limited.

eta: or what Lyra Jane said