I thought I'd share with all of you some of my gleanings from the net
over the past day or so. If you would, take the time to read through
the whole thing and DON'T tell me what you think. At least, not over
the FFML. Keep any replies private. I want this to be THE FINAL word
on the subject. We've had enough.
Subject: Re: [FFML] [C&C]The 1996 Taleswapper Awards
Me> Marisa, people are entitled to their opinions. After all, isn't that
Marisa> yes, but they shouldn't set it up as an "awards" thing. A nice
Marisa> "These were my fav fics" would have been sufficient.
THAT'S ALL IT WAS! See Taleswapper's post below.
you disagree, but no reason to say that these "awards" shouldn't even be
held. Think: not everyone has the time to read EVERY fic. If someone
Marisa> I'm not saying that awards shouldn't be held, I am saying that
Marisa> this little personal ones, where one person gives "awards" out is
Marisa> NOT an impartial choice by a large body of voters on fics that
Marisa> they like. Therefore, I don't like the "slanted" awards which
Marisa> don't necessarily reflect the masses opinions.
Marisa> does that make sense?
No. These "awards" are AGAIN only people's personal opinions. There IS
no impartiality, and there never will be. Don't even bother trying to say
this was posing as an impartial award, because YOU DIDN'T KNOW. And it
wasn't anyway, as the original poster himself said below.
Marisa> I think awards should be a "voting" kind of thing by the people
Marisa> who read the stories. THEN I would have a lot more confidence that
Marisa> just one or two people saying "Oh this person deserves an award."
If you feel that that's what an award should be, then do it yourself.
Don't go whining (and I'm only calling it what it is) to us because
someone "awarded" someone else based on their own (humble, I might add)
opinions, and not a vote.
Marisa> sorry to be unclear, its PMS
That's good. That means you'll stop after a while, right?
I apologize for blowing off a little steam myself, but I couldn't let
Marisa's little guilt trip to all of us go unanswered. I myself saw no
arguing aside from a lot of flak from Marisa. Not to say that I read
every post, since I certainly didn't, but I think Marisa's blowing it out
of proportion.
Marisa>> I don't know about you guys, but I am NOT writing
Marisa>>my stories to win some award. I am happy just if people
Marisa>>like my story and send me a note every once and a while in
Marisa>>encouragement. I think that we shouldn't be setting people
Marisa>>on pedestals.
Good. You aren't. Now that you've said that, allow other people to give
out awards if they want to, and STOP COMPLAINING about it. Enough is
enough.
Wing> I agree. Writing is a fun thing for most people and to place awards
Wing> or status upon selected works by a few seems rather unbalanced. I
Wing> agree that sure, it's okay to have a POLL to see which stories are
Wing> best liked and read, but a judging by a select few seems unbalanced
Wing> and seems rather pointless.
Glad to hear you voice your opinion. I'll now voice mine. It's called
recognition, whether formal or not so formal. Personally, I would not
mind either way. So long as it doesn't degenerate into an argument, as
you people seem wont to do. Give it up already, okay?
From: Marisa Price <mdp102@york.ac.uk>
To: Harold Ancell <hga@access.digex.net>
Cc: fanfic@fanfic.com
Subject: Re: [FFML] [FF][R1/2] Building Bridges 2/3
>> MD Price wrote
>> >know what I was doing. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions, but
>> >not THAT much. Maybe it is a personal thing for me, but
>>
>> What about spiked alcohol?
>
>To "spike" something meants to put alcohol in it. I have a
>lot of experience with alcohol (all in the past) and I
>still say bah on it.
No, to spike something means to adulterate it; traditionally
non-alcoholic drinks are spiked with alcohol, and that's probably the
most common usage of this meaning of the word (and therefore
"spiked alcohol" is perhaps unnecessarily confusing).
JEEEEEEZUS
You get the Nitpicker of the MONTH award.
I MEANT that you wouldn't say "spiked alcohol" because it
isn't common usage.
Not that spiked ALWAYS meant putting alcohol in something
jeesh
do we REALLY need to be picking the crud out of each other
like we are doing lately? (this is adressed to everyone).
I feel as if ANYONE says ANYTHING that they are going to
get jumped on.
-----
Marisa, did you stop to consider that you are the one doing the jumping
on? Because that's EXACTLY what you're doing. There was nothing in his
words that was inviting an argument.
I am making my point here, though I may seem crass to do so. The
arguments and bitterness aren't because the list is degenerating, as
Marisa accused below. Marisa, take some time to cool off. Please.
Before you *really* say something you and the rest of this list will
regret.
Subject: Re: [FFML] Goodbye for awhile.
Marisa> After reading this heartwrending message from Nightelf,
Marisa> which has echoed my feelings to a T about what has been
Marisa> happening lately, I too am going to leave the list for
Marisa> awhile.
Marisa> The list I came back to after my summer break was very
Marisa> different than the one before summer break. Somehow
Marisa> everything has become a fight and egos are getting either
Marisa> too overt or too fragile. Most of all it seems that no one
Marisa> is really listening to each other.
Marisa> Thanks to all of you who offered to help with L in L, I am
Marisa> still working on it. I will let you know via private mail
Marisa> about any changes.
From: Ranma Al'Thor <ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Re: [FFML] Goodbye for awhile.
Ranma> I guess I didn't notice any such thing.
>From rpm39788@Bayou.UH.EDU Thu Nov 14 01:46:33 1996
RpM> S'what happens when you read every single thing put to the list, I
RpM> guess... good thing I don't ^_^
RpM> seriously, I seemed to have missed the ego wars too... o.O
>From Talswapr@aol.com Thu Nov 14 01:46:57 1996
Subject: Re: [FFML] [C&C]The 1996 Taleswapper Awards
Talswapr> I'm wondering how many people commenting in this this thread
Talswapr> have read my original post. Calling that post "a list of
Talswapr> awards" is like calling "Thy Inward Love" a story about Ranma's
Talswapr> wedding.
Talswapr> I prepared, with some significant effort, C&C essays on seven
Talswapr> fanfics that have brought me joy. I posted them under a
Talswapr> facetious title, "The Taleswapper Awards" (sorry, honored
Talswapr> authors, you're not _really_ getting a gold statue from me). I
Talswapr> suppose it was naive for me to imagine that a post comprised
Talswapr> entirely of positive C&C would offend no one. I hope it was not
Talswapr> equally fanciful to expect that the post would generate
Talswapr> discussion on the merits of specific fanfics (as opposed to the
Talswapr> merits of C&C posts).
Talswapr> Please visit my web site if you want to read the post.
Talswapr> http://members.aol.com/talswapr/private/index.html
>From b-engma@students.uiuc.edu Thu Nov 14 01:47:08 1996
Bengman> Well, I, for one, hope you continue the "tradition" --
Bengman> particularly since I am pressed for time myself, and have to
Bengman> severely limit the 'fics I read, often cutting 'fics from my list
Bengman> for spurious reasons, based more on my lack of time than any
Bengman> problems with the stories themselves; it's nice to see reviews
Bengman> that I can use to gauge whether I might be interested in a
Bengman> certain 'fic. The problem with being a critic is that you can't
Bengman> please everyone. That's why nobody likes Roger Ebert.
Bengman> Anyhow, it seems also that tension is running high on the list
Bengman> these days. Give us a bit of time and we'll get back to being
Bengman> the happy fun group we can be...ne, minna?
>From rpm39788@Bayou.UH.EDU Thu Nov 14 01:47:16 1996
Subject: [FFML] Take a deep breath....
RpM> Seems that tension's been running high on the list as of late.
RpM> Haven't been affected by it myself, but I do hate to see such
RpM> a swell bunch o'people get all down. Thus, all I can say t'you
RpM> is...
RpM> 1) Hey, they're just stories. Like'em, hate'em, whatever. S'not
RpM> like the world's gonna end if somebody writes a fic that disgusts
RpM> you. As those beatle guys once said, 'let it be'.
RpM> 2) you recieved severely negative C&C? Deal with it. Don't go pout
RpM> in a corner. Take it as either a growing experience, something to
RpM> use to better your story, or at the very least, a modest sign that
RpM> SOMEBODY is reading your stuff.
RpM> 3) getting sick of spam? Spammers, try to make it private instead if
RpM> you can, non-spammers, it's called the delete key. Have fun with it.
RpM> ^_^
RpM> 4) We're here to have fun. SMILE. =)
On that note, I'll leave off. I hope you all can see how utterly
pointless and shameful this whole charade has been. Again, Marisa, cool
off. Everyone who was arguing, drop it. We're here to share stories with
one another, and enjoy ourselves. Forget arguing about the details of
congratulating each other on how well those stories are written.
And smile. :)
Damon, who's done preaching for today.