Laga, I'm now convinced I'm being told to finish my Anya of the latest Buffy issue and give Daniel Craig the line from your dream. Do you mind? I mean, I don't want to defy the mysterious oracular powers of the world, but I want to defy the Buffistas even less.

Sorry I didn't see this sooner. I don't mind at all, in fact I'd say I'm honored except I often feel like the lines the characters in my dreams say don't belong to me.

a Year That Never Was story with Sally Sparrow!

Sally Sparrow!? Like from "Blink"?! Ooh can I have a link, please?

You know, I'm so freaking sick of the anti-academic slant in so many of the posts where people bitch about the OTW. WTF? What the hell is up with the, "OMG, the academics make fandom less fun!" complaints?

Why do people see a doctorate and suddenly mistrust the person with it?

Why do I keep clicking links that make me slam my head against things?

Ahem. This post brought to you by me not wanting to bring wank into my LJ.

I don't know. Especially considering how prone academics are to wank in their own right (and in their own venues, I mean). Badly-copyedited screeds in specialized publications? Check! Rival organizations diverging over petty slights? Check! Traveling hundreds/thousands of miles to meet in person and shout at each other in stifling conference rooms? Check!

Really, academia and fandom were made for each other!

I mean, there have been self-proclaimed academics in fandom who've behaved badly, but that's because they're assholes, not because they're academics.

I don't know, but it appears that fandom is in the midst of a struggle over its own allowances toward or accommodations of authority figures. Being wary of Joss's feedback on vids and being wary of academics' discernment strike me as different flavors of the same ice cream.

(If it's a general anti-intellectualism you're speaking about, well, that too. But I find anti-intellectuals aren't worth my time, so I don't do them the favor of reading them.)

Matters of authority being fresh in my mind, I'm attempting to argue myself out of a commentary on one of my stories. There's no way to do those without coming across as a bossy egomaniac, is there?

What the hell is up with the, "OMG, the academics make fandom less fun!" complaints?

Dude, I can't help it. The academics make fandom less fun. (Even though several of them are friends of mine! So, you know, not those academics.)

I think that for me, the issue is... well, there are multiple issues, and number one is that I have had an extremely uneasy relationship with textual criticism since I was no lie twelve years old. So the more that fandom becomes a place that is about criticism rather than the text, the less fun it is for me, and that's something that's becoming progressively more and more true over the years. I'm also viscerally angered by people talking about what fandom is, or what I'm doing in fandom--particularly if those people are in fandom. I end up with a kneejerk "don't you fucking tell me what to do" response, which... I don't know. Maybe this is all just me turning into a BOFQ.

You'll note that I'm not posting screeds about OTW over it. I'll check out the archive when it arrives, and may use it if I like it; certainly I'm all in favor of its existence. Go archive! And it's no skin off of my nose if there's a journal attached to it--I don't feel any desire whatsoever to complain about that. I do find posts in which anyone who has any of those negative feelings toward the academicization of fandom is, you know, mocked heartily, kind of hurtful, though. At the same time, I can sympathize with people who are putting a lot of effort into trying to do something good and getting abused for their trouble, which I understand is happening. That's not okay, and it's going to engender some upset that I'm feeling kind of trampled on by.

The last straw for me, or Friday's last straw, because I have a lot of last straws, was a post that said that the only reasons fandom was no longer under the radar was because acafans instisted on studying it and writing about it.

I was like, "Uh, no, I think you can blame THE INTERNET for that one."

I would say not only the internet but people handing stories and vids to people associated with the show.

And asking questions about slash at cons.

I'm also viscerally angered by people talking about what fandom is, or what I'm doing in fandom--particularly if those people are in fandom.

I'm more angered by it if I'm seeing people not in fandom declaring What Fandom Does. There was sort of a fannish perfect storm last year, not just Fanlib or Strikethrough, but the whole issue with panels and a male/female acafan split as seen in MiT5 (http://kbusse.wordpress.com/2007/05/01/mit5-review/), and believe there *is* as much of a need for a safe fannish academic space as there is for a fannish-owned archive. Of course, as a Frequent Metafandom Contributor (on hiatus from the meta at the moment), I'm possibly feeling defensive now, too. Despite not being an academic. I love navel gazing. Love it! When I have time for it. And when I'm not too busy rolling my eyes at Certain People With Agendas and stuff.

I end up with a kneejerk "don't you fucking tell me what to do" response, which... I don't know. Maybe this is all just me turning into a BOFQ.

But... where are they telling you what to do? That's what I don't get, I guess. Most of what I see is descriptive, not prescriptive. But I see this response often, and I do *want* to understand it. I do.

I think that for me, the issue is... well, there are multiple issues, and number one is that I have had an extremely uneasy relationship with textual criticism since I was no lie twelve years old. So the more that fandom becomes a place that is about criticism rather than the text, the less fun it is for me, and that's something that's becoming progressively more and more true over the years

How are you defining criticism here (I kind of hate the word, like I hate the word theory, because common use != specific academic use, and it gets confusing)?

At the same time, I can sympathize with people who are putting a lot of effort into trying to do something good and getting abused for their trouble, which I understand is happening. That's not okay, and it's going to engender some upset that I'm feeling kind of trampled on by.

There's a lot of frustration all around.

Bypassing the meta--

Did anyone read the Leave no Man Behind HIMYM story on Yuletide?If you didn't you must because it's ...wait for it-- legendary.