Just to be clear on this, while I am a list admin, there is no [Admin]
tag on this post; it's made as private list citizen. Whether there is
any admin action taken regarding this thread will be for someone else to
call, and if so, I'll be as subject to said action as anyone else.

Aishuu Shadowweaver <mbsilvana@yahoo.com> wrote:

I think... there is a bias against shoujo on this
list- no, Allyn, I'm not talking about you, I mean in
general.  You're at least willing to read it, even
though I tag DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN'T TAKE SHOUJO!   I
do question how opened-minded most people on this list
are to shoujo.  

A problem here might be that your readers don't have a clear idea of
exactly what the requirements of shojo are, or might have ideas on it
that are different from yours. I've posted comments on fics a time or
two and had people come back and tell me "But it was SUPPOSED to be like
that! It was SHOJO!" At least the first part of which was news to me.

To take a different example, sometimes you see self-insert warnings on a
fic. Obviously, it would not be useful C&C to tell the author of such a
fic that self-inserts suck, and he shouldn't be writing one. But would
it be legitimate feedback to criticize this fic for a plot that
continually contrives in favor of its main character, assuming you had
read it and felt that that was a fair statement? While this, IMO, is a
characteristic of a lot of self-inserts, it's by no means a necessity of
the genre.

It's been frustrating me for a while.  I'm guilty of
it as well, but I think it was really illustrated to
me when Raye sent out her Full Moon wo Sagashite
piece.  It was, while short, perfectly acceptable as
shoujo- it caught the angst and feeling of the
situation, and while it wasn�t perfect, it was GOOD. 

And what did she get?

HAMMERED.

It was actually kind of amusing, in retrospect.  All
the reviewers (with the exception of DB Sommer, who
came a little later) seemed to roar out of nowhere�
and I don�t think they would have if Raye hadn�t made
the remark on it being her fifth year as a writer. 
�Five years?  And this shoujo fan still exists?  Let�s
EAT her for lunch!!!�  I didn�t see much encouragement
for her trying a new series, or anything positive-
just people bashing her and commenting on her writing
something so obscure�.

I think you might have some misconceptions about the point of C&C. It's
not to "hammer" people or to punish them for writing in certain genres.
The point of C&C is to give an honest opinion on the story in question.
I don't mean to sound sarcastic here, but... this has never killed
anybody. Yes, it can feel bad to have someone tell you that your story
needs work. And maybe this person just has expectations that don't fit
what you're trying to do with the story. But on the other hand, maybe
there's something you can learn from the feedback, and isn't that why
we're here?

And here�s where people say it�s because I�m either
jealous of lack of feedback, I should feedback more,
or get the hell out of here, girly, it�s a man�s
world.  

I'm only going to tell you that you should feedback more, because that's
what I tell everybody. As far as I'm concerned, the world is more than
big enough for everybody.

I�ve tried feedbacking, but frankly, I�m not
interested in Ranma; I feedback on a bit of the
non-Ranma stuff that comes through when it strikes me,
but people have short memories.  Also- let�s just say
that I make Allyn-san look nice.  I don�t believe in

Allyn IS nice. He spends a lot of time giving out honest, critical
feedback, and bends over backwards to remind people that it's only his
own opinion.

This is the FFML, which is supposed to welcome all
anime fanfiction; I�ve read the guidelines.  And
frankly, it�s hard to find fans of some series, though
the DO exist- it�s connecting to them that�s hard! 
And if I get canned for every non-Ranma fic I send,
well, I have tough skin.  I used to love Ranma, but
it�s been forever since I�ve seen anything new in that
fandom.  The last thing I liked there was �Genma�s
Daughter.�

I think you may be confusing two different things here. The guidelines
in the FAQ tell you what postings are acceptable by the list rules. They
don't guarantee that anyone on the list will *like* your postings. No
one can do that. And I don't mean to imply that no one *will* like them
-- only that you always take your chances. Personally, I think there's
no gain in telling people what they should and shouldn't like. People
who dislike shojo will dislike shojo, just as my telling you that you
ought to like Ranma fics would do nothing to make you like them. The
best thing you can do, IMO, is tag your fics accurately so that they'll
get into the hands of the people who will appreciate them, and those who
are looking for something different will look elsewhere.


Gary Kleppe
http://www.garykleppe.org/comics.html

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