LJ Idol 5.10 You're so Vain You probably think this entry is about you

[puppetmaker]

OK Fan Geek, come over here.

Right here. That's a good fan.

Sit down at this desk. You comfortable?

Sound F/X WHAM WHAM THUMP

Aww your head hit the desk at I hit you with this clue by four that I have in my hand.

Why? Why am I inflicting this on you?

Because it seems the only way to get you to shut up and listen and get a fricking clue.

I am so tired of hearing the whining about how you feel that your favorite author has "ruined" their world that THEY created. How they didn't do what you wanted in the final book/comic/manga and now the whole series is ruined. Clue phone is ringing. Most of us like how things ended and thought that the author did a good job tying up the loose ends that had been created in the other books. B*tching to the rest of us is not endearing you to us at all nor is that dreadful fanfic you have been begging us to read.

Here is something else that you need to hear. THE MOVIE DOES NOT RUIN THE BOOK! If you hate what they did with the movie or who they cast in the films or how it was directed, go back and read the book. The book has not changed. The movie did not move the words around in the book so it now reads like the movie. The original text will always be there. Stopping bending our ears about all the things wrong with the film. You have beaten that dead horse into the ground and almost all the way to China.

Your favorite TV series has been cancelled. Yeah that really sucks but this happens all the time. Wishing for it to come back is not happening. The actors have contracts with other shows or they are doing a film. The sets are destroyed with a number of the props sold off at auction. Trying to convince everyone that we can convince the PTB to bring the show back is getting beyond annoying and is now boarding on the pathological. And the next time you bring up "Cupid" I will reach through my screen and strangle you. I don't see Jeremy Piven in it and oh look they even changed the name of the series. Bringing up "Serenity" just damages my calm. The series is gone, deal with it.

Your favorite actor/author/famous person said something mean about fans? Have you seen how some fans treat them on the Internet? If they comment or try to defend themselves, you come back that the VIP is picking on you and how dare they. How dare they? How darn you think it is OK to rip another human being. Does it make you feel better that you have slammed someone you have never met? This goes double if you don't have the guts to sign your REAL NAME to the insult. I am willing to bet BstFan4vr is not your real name.

You need to stop and think for a moment, that which you fan geek has a soul and feelings. And maybe you should count to 10 and really think about how what you are going to say is going to affect others on the Internet and in Real Life. I know you would not behave this way in Real Life in Public. Because right now you are clueless about how your behavior is affecting others.

And remember I have a large Clue by Four with your name on it. Don't make me use it again.

This has been my entry for this week for the LJ Idol and stems from some current frustration I am having with certain section of fandom

Comments

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

I have to disagree on the fans not having an influence on a show's comeback; it's happened numerous times in the past. It's not always successful, but the effort isn't a waste, provided the effort is coordinated and not made of annoying, insulting gestures (like, I don't know, mailing ridiculous items to the studio execs, or something). Mature fan responses, like handwritten letters and heartfelt emails, CAN give hope for some cancelled shows, or at least get them released on DVD when they might otherwise have been consigned to the trash can. Due South is a notable exception, having been cancelled at least once in its lifetime, but brought back thanks to public demand. The original Star Trek boasts that, too.

*shrugs* I don't think it's fair to tell people to not want to try, when there's a precedent of it having worked in the past.

I don't know what fandom has your ire up, but I'm content to not be involved. ;)

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

And don't forget Jericho - the fans got that one a second season!

[blueashke.livejournal.com]

I'm completely with you on the Anita Blake series - though it's been bandied about that it had something to do with her own sexual and romantic life changing around when she started doing that to the books.

As to the post, I concur - it's the author's world, they can do what they want. If you don't like it, stop buying their books!

[queenanthai.livejournal.com]

PREACH IT.

Gabe's Greater Internet F**kwad Theory (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/) is going to be around as long as people insist on dehumanizing others online. And I know it's hard not to let these people affect you personally, especially when you put your genuine personality out there onto the 'tubes. Please try to remember that these people who feel the need to trash on someone they've never even met over a creative direction they disagree with (see also: Wil Wheaton Syndrome) are simply cowards and bullies with nothing better to do.

It can be difficult to dismiss unwarranted criticism and focus on the supportive people, but just remember that all that really matters are your loving family and true friends, and the people who troll about on the internet for gits and shiggles can go scratch.

Take heart.

[wandereringray.livejournal.com]

Heck yeah. *nods*

[jenandbronze.livejournal.com]

LOL... Interesting take, I like it muchly! LOL!

I love to watch L&O, and have one series on tape somewhere that I purchased. I still can't believe it is still running that show. *grin*

[narniadear.livejournal.com]

HA! That's awesome. :)

[reddheart.livejournal.com]

Mmmm. I like the Clue by Four. Then again, I like the idea of an entire aresenal of Clue Weapons..y'know...the Clue Crossbow sounding like a personal favorite.

Or something completely ridiculous, like the Whoopee Cushion of Reason. Don't ask me where it came from, but all the sudden it sounds damn funny.

..and probably has a thumbtack in it.

[baxaphobia.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not involved in something that seems to bring about people's obsessive natures. Smile

[shadowwolf13]

*applauds*

I've never understood the rabid fans. I can fan girl the crap out of something thing but when it comes to book vs movie .. there's reasons why things were done differently. It's the author's world to do with as they please.

Great post. :)

[lilmissmagic71.livejournal.com]

Love.True.Blood.

'nuff said

[mshades.livejournal.com]

"Clue by Four." I have got to remember that.... *grin*

[wherdafux-d-cat.livejournal.com]

A-freaking-men.

[rosepurr.livejournal.com]

Hear! Hear!

[1-rhiannon-1.livejournal.com]

I am willing to bet BstFan4vr is not your real name.

It's actually my middle name. ;)

Very excellent entry! Two thumbs up! :D

[lordrexfear.livejournal.com]

I am proud to say I know none of this is me, because if you haven't figured out by now?

I hate fans. I also never whine. Even if I don't like the way something went? I go along with it. That was the vision, that's where it went, okay, all good. Unless when I hear that wasn;t the vision... but I still only moan to friends and never online.

To all other folks though, that probably are vain enough to think you do mean them. Damn straight dog diggity, Two by Four, Six By Eight, Here's My Fist, Let's Collaborate!

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

*APPLAUSE!!!!!!*

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

You said so many things here I wish I had the balls to say.

I do write fan-fiction, but I try to keep it within the original parameters of what the creators intended. That means I follow canon and bible, if there is one.

Yup, you guessed it. I get all kinds of comments along the line of "When is this going to happen?" My response of "Never, because it never happened in the series" is not a popular one.

Can I borrow your clue-by-four?

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

::applauds::

Seriously, you took the words right out of my brain and arranged them so that they make sense! I would have never been able to put words to this feeling and here you've gone and done it for me! Love it; passed it on to the hubby, too. Not only do I identify with your sentiments, I also adore the way you wrote this! : D

[lilmissmagic71.livejournal.com]

excellent take on this topic... I am a huge fan of many things, but never really got into a 'fandom' I guess... possibly because I despise drama...

[deza.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! Care to borrow my oar? Your lumber has some dents in it...

[bewize.livejournal.com]

Awesome post.

unless you're talking about that one author who really did ruin her own world. *snerk* (J/K)

[libra-dragon.livejournal.com]

*nods*
You did well with this and just lays it out like it should be said.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Oh fandom, you hurt me so. I'm so afraid of being that person sometimes.

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

I need a Clue by Four like that. Your icon is perfect for this post.

[thenodrin.livejournal.com]

I so know what you mean.

I've never understood why fans want to tear at the creators. I watched it happen for years in the comic book industry when I was a fan. That lack of understanding left me unprepared when it happened to me. When I was plot director for Living Greyhawk Veluna, a player decided that, "the events are not appropriate ... they seem to happen in (Theno's) Veluna and not Real Veluna."

Never mind that the official canon of Veluna consisted of two paragraphs in a 1986 publication, and I had been given the authority to build on that base.

He complained to the Powers That Be. He got his friends to complain. Twenty or so players out of over three hundred registered players complained, and I was replaced as plot director.

So, while I can't offer advice as to how to handle it, because I didn't handle it well. I'd like to offer a hug and understanding.

Theno

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Bringing up "Serenity" just damages my calm. The series is gone, deal with it.

Actually, "Serenity" was the name of the movie. The TV series was Firefly.

Not that I'm a rabid fan or whatever, but it TOTALLY did not get the run that it deserved. *sigh*

Otherwise, a most excellent post!

[tigrkittn.livejournal.com]

This was a FANtastic take on this topic!

Fans get crazy. *nods*

[gratefuladdict.livejournal.com]

Amen! The author creates the world, dammit! Everyone else can inhabit it for as long as they are content, then move on.

I hate the concept of fanfic, personally. It's like, go build your own dollhouse - I made this one, and it's mine! You can't make my Barbie do that!!!!!!!!!