In defense of metslash.
Jan. 26th, 2001 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rsadelleI was going to title this entry "An ode to metslash," but I'm not very good with verse, so it's a defense instead.
On a recent Monday, metslash was slammed in a LiveJournal entry. My very first instinct was to defend my list. After thinking about it, I realized that that would only make me look bitter, and I realized that of course the woman writing about us would think that we're "not exactly geared towards good fic;" she hates present tense, crossovers, wives in fic and Jason, all things that are encouraged and common on metslash. I'm quite proud of the writers on metslash. I'm quite proud of everyone on metslash. That doesn't mean that what she said didn't bother me.
I wish Carol hadn't left the way she did. If she'd stayed a little longer, she would have seen how quick the list was to defend itself. Before I even had time to formulate a response, all the points I would have made had already been touched upon: We specifically allow wives in fic, we do heavy research for our stories, we make a lot of comments that are meant to be taken in a "this could happen in fic" context and we like to make jokes. We've had people complain about list policies onlist before, and we've talked about it onlist. Perhaps it wasn't as amicable as it could have been, but it got talked about, and I was perfectly happy to have that go on onlist. I wish Carol had done that rather than just yelling at and insulting us and then unsubscribing. Just because I'm not a heavy-handed listmom doesn't mean I don't care. The link to metslash from the RS-X archive says we're "'anything goes' Metallica smut," and I like to think our list lives up to the same spirit.
I have to say that I was delighted to find out that the listmom of one of the other Metallica fic lists is telling people to take fic with wives in it and talk of crossovers and plot bunnies to metslash; that's why we exist. When I was on the other list, one of the things that most angered me was the listmom saying that she would have to tell someone who was writing something that was inappropriate for that list to stop writing it. I don't have a problem with anyone telling a writer that her fic needs to be taken to a more appropriate setting or list, but I think it's absolutely wrong, and completely against the spirit of fan fiction, slash and RPS, to tell any writer that she can't write what she wants to.
I know the lists have some overlap in terms of members and in terms of topics of discussion, but there is virtually no overlap of fic; with the new policy of the other archive, the people on both lists are the only people with access to all Metallica slash.
And, finally, an image, inspired by the same entry that slammed metslash: Lars and Kirk at the zoo and Lars whining, "But Kirk, I wanna see the elephants."
On a recent Monday, metslash was slammed in a LiveJournal entry. My very first instinct was to defend my list. After thinking about it, I realized that that would only make me look bitter, and I realized that of course the woman writing about us would think that we're "not exactly geared towards good fic;" she hates present tense, crossovers, wives in fic and Jason, all things that are encouraged and common on metslash. I'm quite proud of the writers on metslash. I'm quite proud of everyone on metslash. That doesn't mean that what she said didn't bother me.
I wish Carol hadn't left the way she did. If she'd stayed a little longer, she would have seen how quick the list was to defend itself. Before I even had time to formulate a response, all the points I would have made had already been touched upon: We specifically allow wives in fic, we do heavy research for our stories, we make a lot of comments that are meant to be taken in a "this could happen in fic" context and we like to make jokes. We've had people complain about list policies onlist before, and we've talked about it onlist. Perhaps it wasn't as amicable as it could have been, but it got talked about, and I was perfectly happy to have that go on onlist. I wish Carol had done that rather than just yelling at and insulting us and then unsubscribing. Just because I'm not a heavy-handed listmom doesn't mean I don't care. The link to metslash from the RS-X archive says we're "'anything goes' Metallica smut," and I like to think our list lives up to the same spirit.
I have to say that I was delighted to find out that the listmom of one of the other Metallica fic lists is telling people to take fic with wives in it and talk of crossovers and plot bunnies to metslash; that's why we exist. When I was on the other list, one of the things that most angered me was the listmom saying that she would have to tell someone who was writing something that was inappropriate for that list to stop writing it. I don't have a problem with anyone telling a writer that her fic needs to be taken to a more appropriate setting or list, but I think it's absolutely wrong, and completely against the spirit of fan fiction, slash and RPS, to tell any writer that she can't write what she wants to.
I know the lists have some overlap in terms of members and in terms of topics of discussion, but there is virtually no overlap of fic; with the new policy of the other archive, the people on both lists are the only people with access to all Metallica slash.
And, finally, an image, inspired by the same entry that slammed metslash: Lars and Kirk at the zoo and Lars whining, "But Kirk, I wanna see the elephants."
A trip to the zoo.
Date: 2001-01-26 07:24 pm (UTC)As for the list being slammed, I'll do my best not to laugh at the absurdity of it all. She praises her writers for their fic-writing abilities, which I won't deny are pretty good, but the spelling mistakes, horrific grammar and the death of punctuation are enough to turn me off the story completely. Let's not even bring up continuity issues in some stories. *ahem* No more pickiness, I promise.
The whole point of this is that you wrote out what I wish I had said and made a lot of good points. Hurrah for Metslash. *g* Moment of pride for me.