Just for that, I shall smite you with the mighty powers of my BNFosity...except no. I wasn't really ever a BNF. I think that I achieved a certain amount of notoriety within the Bronze community but that was a fairly small pond and not representative of the BtVS fandom.

I knew I was going to be smitten. Damn.

You're right. It was more of a...what? A duchy, maybe. For me, it was my introduction of fandom, so I lacked any sense of proportion. Even now, ME/ME-related stuff is my only fandom, so I have a certain tunnel vision.

And also, I could point to a dozen Brozers off the top of my head that had a higher profile. It wasn't ever as if anyone outside of the small pond knew who I was.

Well, do you mean people like Mere, RD, or who? You weren't really only known in the Bronze. Even before I ever posted linear-side, I knew your name from the GBAE campaign. You wrote for ScoopMe. You were the webmistress for jw.net (which I'd found independent of the Bronze), and ran scoobygang. At some point, you built a site for Tim. Some things you did, like the refugee board, Caritas, etc., were Bronze-specific, but not all. Ditto Allyson and t accomplishments laundry list . And I'd always assumed (but didn't know, because I'm not in those fandoms) that people like shrift and 'suela are BN Farscape Fs.

Oh and before I go, I meant to say this earlier but I've only ever been aware of "BNF" with the associated negative connotations and that was long before I'd even heard of LJ.

I never realized the bad connotations BNF has for people. Well, I might have realized some of it, but never paid it much mind. I have seen it used snidely, but usually that's been by people mocking themselves (probably Allyson mocking herself and the concept), or by people who are jealous, or have been corrected (like you know, people who were going to send apples to Fox).

The Buffistas aren't a fandom, but they are of fandom. We may be no more representative than, say, the Kittens, but we're both 'net fandom, no?

Yes, this. We're a part of the greater Buffy/Angel/Firefly (and now Wonderfalls) fandoms, or the ME fandom. And the fandom is huge. There are a lot of overlaps in the sects of our fandom, but still, it's huge. There are 'shipper sects, sects devoted to each character and actor, and most (if not all) of the writers, the production company, fic sects and subsects, etc.

To me, while a BNF can also be a beloved member of an internet community, they aren't the same thing.

I do agree with that, too. I guess to me now, it just is neutral, or at least it is useful enough shorthand in some situations for me to assume it's not always going to be meant as negative. That's why I could (correctly or not) think of Kristen, Allyson, shrift, and 'suela as BNFs. To me, it means a well known, prolific and/or active fan, probably usually (but not always) one with some VIP contact. I pick up any connotations BNF might carry from the context in which it is used, rather than inherent in the term, itself.

Historical note: At the Hugo awards, the presenter mispronounced Minear. (In the way you'd expect.) I couldn't tell whether it was a speech error or a fuzzy sound system, but it sure sounded like she said "Josh Whedon" too.

Economic policy and partisanship amuses me no end. In 1996, a number of republican heads exploded when Bill Clinton stole their tagline and said, "The era of big government is over." Those head-splodey republicans were consequently not around to prevent republicans from becoming the party of fiscal insanity. It's been a total switch, within my lifetime, of which party likes to spend like there's no tomorrow and which gets all angstful about balancing the budget.

I think Tip O'Neill is laughing in his grave.

I think Tip O'Neill is laughing in his grave.

Mr. Speaker! My dad used to point him out to me when we'd drive past the hill and see him walking every now and again. I was soooo little. "Allyson, that's the Speaker. He's very important."

He just looked like a grampa to me.

When my friend's mom was a teenager, her dad (my friend's grampa) wrote editorials for the Globe. Every now and again Tip called the house and said, "Kathleen, I like your father, but today he's an asshole."

Either Betsy is on a plane to LA to take me up on the offer, or is looking for a blunt object with which to bludgeon me.

Betsy was in bed with Mr. Migraine Drug. More the bludgeonee than the bludgeoner.

That's why I could (correctly or not) think of Kristen, Allyson, shrift, and 'suela as BNFs

Cindy, I have a whole essay on my LJ about status in fandom online. Basically, it's relative and transient, so that someone can be a BNF in one place/forum/fandom and a complete no-name in another, and also changing status over time. It's memoried under "meta", I believe.

I was at one point kind of a BNF in Farscape fandom, back in 02-03, when the show was on the air and I was active in the campaign and posting reviews on my blog and doing a lot of writing. NSM anymore though. Like I said, things change. I think I'm better known as a Scaper in the multi-fandom LJ community than I am in the greater Scaper community at large, where I generally pass unseen nowadays. Which, ya know, is fine by me.

Someday, I plan to gather up all my BNF capital, and use it for evil. Like, "I was at the offices the other day picking up some signed stuff for a charity auction, and ran into Joss. I asked him directly about whether he planned on any Buffyverse projects, soon, and he said, and I quote, "No fucking way. I'm so sick of that shit, if I even hear about it again I'm going to pull a Sallinger and never write again.""

Someday. Someday I will use it all for evil.

Just not today.

Oh! Oh! And then I'll collect up all the passwords for all the sites I've registered writers at, and I'll back myself up by impostering Fury.

Damn I wish I didn't have ethics. Damn.

And damn it, I'm gullible enough that, when you do, I am going to completely fall for it.

Every time.

Oh! Oh! And then I'll collect up all the passwords for all the sites I've registered writers at, and I'll back myself up by impostering Fury.

Then you must of course blame it on a mortal enemy who hijacked your identity.

Cindy, I have a whole essay on my LJ about status in fandom online.

Is it recent, 'suela? I'd like to read it.

Oh! Oh! And then I'll collect up all the passwords for all the sites I've registered writers at, and I'll back myself up by impostering Fury.

Why do I think he would get a big kick out of this?