Subject: i'm sorry 'bout this, but its good to get it off your chest.
From: The Reb
Date: 1/28/1997, 7:01 AM
To: fanfic@fanfic.com

There are a few hundred people on this list,
ne? I don't think i see that many names/aliases
in the "from:" column of Eudora Light, so i
humbly assume most of the FFML members are lurkers
like me who are content to read the messages
which grab their eyes, save the fics they want
to read, then delete that day's mail. Occasionally
i might offer some comments on an idea or story,
ask a question or maybe answer one. One thing i
have done lately is read some of the messages
concerning gay matters, lemon fics and the ever-
present SPAM. I don't mind homosexuality, it's
not my business and i'm not interested anyway;
i do feel lemon stories are the epitome of
OOC writing, and i take the Stan Sakai view
that if you want to involve characters in your
OWN stories (i can't say lemons are part of
Takahashi's Ranma1/2 series) then put your
creative talent to better use and make your
own characters and world for it, characters
which will fit. Of course, i'm not complaining
about it - this list is for stories, not opinions,
and i respect all good writers present regardless
of their fictional taste.
And then there's the SPAM. Someone raises a theme
that gets others up-in-arms because of their
opinions and i see message after message with the
same header and the "Re:" at the start. i really
don't care, i delete most of it without reading
(i might look at a couple to see what's being
fought about), except when i'm low on time and
the mail takes longer because of all the SPAM.
Even so, i'm not getting angry at such a SMALL
inconvinience. But others do, and so compound the
'problem'. This is my point: We're all interested
in the same basic things - fanfics - so why's
there so much hostility? It sounds cliche, but
why can't the list cooperate and help itself
with its own objectives - writing of fanfics -
rather than creating a metaphorical mess then
complaining about it. i'm not imploring anyone,
or trying to show you 'the light'. Just think
about what the FFML is and isn't for.
If you've read this far, i apologise for this
message which is neither fiction nor C&C (of
course). i won't say it itself is spam as i
haven't posted anything for weeks and assume
i have a little leeway :). Thanx for your
time anyway.
Sweet dreams.
The Reb.