I had it to hand (mouse?). Nervously checking the deadline once more.

So, being as soon I'll have a lot of free time... can anyone rec me some stuff that's off the beaten track and sure as heck not aggro-Spuffy?

I feel this is going to be an interesting dialogue. It'll probably make f_w as well. All about the myth of BNFs holding down lesser known writers:

[link]

Huh.

Dude, I've never been oppressed by BNFs*, and I write wonky-ass shit with weird-ass pairings and really, as a result, manage to totally avoid fanon for the most part. I stand by my theory that most BNFs have no clue that they are, in someone's head, a BNF. (Wish I could remember the exact fish/shark thing I came up with.)

*There is only one BNF I can think of in the Wee Small Fandom I call home who pulls crap like that and has minions, etc. She is v. popular among the fans of the more Anne Rice-y BS, and I prefer to avoid her because I fear her followers. But for the most part, those I think of as BNFs? Have all been sweeties.

I remember there being some BNF hullabaloo in BtVS fic awhile back. There were anonymous sites attacking authors and then other anonymous sites attacking the authors that were supposedly behind the first sites. It got kind of ugly but then it all went away. I think.

There are minor hissyfits every few months.

Mostly, it seems, on BBF, and then occasionally spilling over into the wonderful world of LJ.

Most of the BNF BS I see is Smallville directed, which does have a lot of BtVS writers.

It's why friends groups were invented. I want to spread the term aggro-Spuffy now. Doubt it will catch on, but it's so very much the mindset that leads to the hissyfits.

Well, yes. There are minor hissyfits in popslash as well. Why, just last month, a bunch of writers (myself, included) had a very tongue-in-cheek JC/Chris revolution. We declared it the Age of TrickC/KittenTrick/Kirkchastrick/Whatever-You-Want-to-Call-It and posted links to all the JC/Chris fic we had written. The idea being, we like the pairing and we would love if more people wrote it.

There was a backlash. Apparently, we were attempting to oppress the other pairings. I just rolled my eyes and went back to writing my KittenTrick Cuba AU.

I love fandom kerfuffles.

There was a woman in XF who thought that Mulder was an Unappreciated Hero, and that the Scullyists Were In Power and Abused the Right-Thinking Writers of Mulder-As-Hero stories. She would post these appalling rants WITH CAPITALS, and very poorly characterized stories that had Mulder and Scully getting stoned with Mulder's gay friends from Oxford.

And when she didn't get recced on the big rec sites (because she was bad!), it was the Fault of the Great Scullyist Conspiracy, dammit! Mulder is a HERO, and Scully is merely his bitchy sidekick, not even worthy to lick the soles of his polished Bruno Magli wingtips.

She had such marvelous rants: everything was black and white, no shades of grey, no other plausible characterizations except hers (which was MULDER AS HERO). Quite fascinating.

She clearly never understood that the reason she didn't get recced on the big sites was that she was (a) annoying and offensive personally; and (b) not nearly as good a writer as she thought she was.

Eventually she posted a not-very-good Mulderslash epic, and stomped out of the fandom. I hope the door hit her hard on the ass as she left. Heh.

HAHAHAHA!

HAHAHAHA!

Heh. Wow. That's... sad. Heh. I mean, really. I just read it, so I don't follow the hissyfits. I am amused by the rash of "Your Justin Hate Makes The Baby Jesus Cry" icons.

"Your Justin Hate Makes The Baby Jesus Cry"

See, this one seems to be an offshoot of the JC v. Justin kerfuffle, which is my favorite kerfuffle ever. It gave me good ficcage.