Like the hate built up to the point where it developed anti-gravity force, and collapsed into a black hole.

It's like the Ultimate Fandom Wank.

Except F_W is back. So.

I think that makes it even wankier. A giant flounce that didn't take.

Okay, I've got a question, for folks who have been Part Of Fandom longer than I have.

Do people really get leapt upon and savaged like unto a defenseless gazelle if they say something negative about a popular piece of fanfic? I mean, does that happen? Or is it some kind of urban legend? I'm curious because I don't think I've ever seen it happen myself, but some people certainly seem to think it's likely to.

(I'm not talking about "but if I say something negative no one will like me!" That's, you know, life.)

I've never felt like a gazelle surrounded by hungry lions, but I have gone against the tide of popular feeling a couple of time on WIPs and had shocked, disbelieving emails appear in my inbox on the theme of "If you hate it so much, why are you bothering to read it?" I've also gotten emails saying, "Oh, I was so hoping someone would say that." Indeed, the lurkers supported me in email.

I'm not to concerned about other people not liking me for my taste in fic, but I do take into consideration whether I want to deal with any possible fallout. Generally if I dislike a story I just don't say anything. If it's a forum where I post regularly, I hope that my lack of reaction gets the point across.

I once said something not entirely complimentary about a story that I was recommending on my recs page. Mind you, it was ON MY RECS PAGE, so I liked it. But I said something about how the frequent pov-shifts didn't entirely work for me. I got a somewhat snotty note from the writer for that.

I have my opinions about the Great Works. But you know, I do know, or know friends of, the women who write them. And it's not worth the hassle to say, "I think Ficcer X's story Life and Let Die is much weaker than her usual stuff. The plot logic is sloppy, the pov shifts bizarrely and for no purpose, and I don't buy her characterization of Derek the Pimp. I also don't think any remotely natural human hair can legitimately be called vermilion."

Because you know? Tons of people love it, and inevitably someone will point Ficcer X to my comments, and even if I don't hear about it from her... ::shrugs::

If I really feel the need to give critical feedback to someone, if I don't know them, I'll send them a note first and ask if they want to hear it. And then I'll tell them, IF they reply.

But to answer your question, no, I've never received dozens of emails telling me I don't understand the glory which is FiccerX and her lead character's vermilion hair.

Oh, sure, that whole dynamic is why I would never in a million years maintain a recs page. The social and the personal and the artisitic worthiness of a story are all too tied up with each other, and it's not worth it to me. It's not a dynamic that happens to bother me, but I know I tend toward the conflict-avoidant, so.

I'm just wondering if there's a truly wonderful story lying at the bottom of all this, with flames and sockpuppets and insulting of people's mothers, or cats, or something.

I mean, does that happen?

It can. It usually depends on the sanity, or lack thereof, of the author. I've known fandom authors who get pissy at criticsm to the point of taking their story down and putting cryptic remarks in LJ. Then everyone emails them to find out what's going on. And they sob. And their friends are outraged! And leap to their defense!

12 hours later, the story is back up and someone has been beaten to a bloody pulp in the corner.

Yeah, I'd say it depends more on the author's friends. Or how many she has. Minions can get very outraged. I was stunned at the number of people who leapt to Cassie Claire's defense when she got booted of ff.net for plagiarism.

I personally have never taken crap for something being up on PolyRecs or not up on PolyRecs, but I'm not the more visible half of the pairing.

Shrift is your human shield?