Kaylee: Is that him? Mal: That's the buffet table. Kaylee: Well how can we be sure, unless we question it?

'Shindig'


The Minearverse 3: The Network Is a Harsh Mistress  

[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls and The Inside), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.


Allyson - May 22, 2005 4:45:54 pm PDT #7109 of 10001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica

How did that passion come about?

I suspect it's out of loneliness. Though I'm sure many will pop up and disagree, loneliness is why we seek out friends and try to make connections with other people.

The people in the teevee box come and hang out with us every week without fail, always on time. We want to engage with the characters and escape into their world, and in order to do that, we have to suspend disbelief for a time.

I think there's a short circuit when reality comes charging in and that suspension wire snaps, and we lose that character, or the character takes an unexpected turn.

It's supposed to be a little like losing a friend, and grief over that loss is warranted. But when that 46 minutes is up, for some folks, especially for the lonely who sought that outlet for relief of pain in some way, the grief becomes anger and there's no outlet for that emotion.

You can't really call in sick and say, "Doyle died, and I just can't get out of bed." It's not supposed to be that hard. But for some people it is. And when they get all rage-bomb at the writers, I feel offended and angry and protective of them. Because they're real, and I'm grateful to them for the 46 minutes of escapism. But then I want to have pie with my friend ita and talk about that and about boys and politics and stuff.

So why get mad at the kraxyfen? I don't get mad at the stinky homeless dude who hangs out at Albertson's and has arguments with the soda machine.

I think I get mad at them because I'm more like them than I'd care to admit.


Jesse - May 22, 2005 4:48:18 pm PDT #7110 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Well, there's the conclusion to the piece, anyway.


Betsy HP - May 22, 2005 4:48:34 pm PDT #7111 of 10001
If I only had a brain...

What's bothering me is that I, too, am kraxy.

The thing is, real life has continuums. I'm fannish, you're obsessed, he's crazy. You can be obsessive without being crazy. Mostly.

I have the same midnight fears you do, that I'm really the crazy one. It seems to me, for what it's worth, that you still have a sense of proportion, Allyson: you get upset, but you're capable of walking away. The hallmark of the genuinely crazy people is that they never let go.


Typo Boy - May 22, 2005 4:53:50 pm PDT #7112 of 10001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

X-post; I should have known you would already be aware of the identification issue. Then especially why not run with it? Use your fear. Write about how how this is [one of] the person[s] you have always been terrified you would turn into.


Allyson - May 22, 2005 4:57:25 pm PDT #7113 of 10001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica

The hallmark of the genuinely crazy people is that they never let go.

That's excellent, Betsy. I wonder how it is that people can hang on to rage for as long as they do. It's an emotion (like any other emotion) that is supposed to have limited sustainability.


Gus - May 22, 2005 4:57:36 pm PDT #7114 of 10001
Bag the crypto. Say what is on your mind.

So why get mad at the kraxyfen?

Don't.

Betsy says the same, in paraphrase.

The thing is, real life has continuums...

BetsyH has the pure view. All hail Betsy.


Allyson - May 22, 2005 5:00:15 pm PDT #7115 of 10001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica

Use your fear. Write about how how this is [one of] the person[s] you have always been terrified you would turn into.

I'll have a hard time making that seem interesting.

Better put meat on the bones and then carefully send out for beta.


Tamara - May 22, 2005 5:05:33 pm PDT #7116 of 10001
You know, we could experiment and cancel football.

Let me know how you work this all out, Allyson 'cause my anger at the krazies knows no bounds at this moment.


DavidS - May 22, 2005 5:11:44 pm PDT #7117 of 10001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Are you going to be writing about the Kitten board in this section, Allyson?

Because I thought their reaction was overboard, but I could understand it too.


Gus - May 22, 2005 5:14:46 pm PDT #7118 of 10001
Bag the crypto. Say what is on your mind.

Tamara, love of my electronic life, I implore you ... Point out these krazies. I shall thump them, in ways that make their mothers rue their birth.