OT: Flamers, and what they are...

["Quindo Ma" <quindo.ma@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I've been following this discussion here, and what has come over the WillTara list, talked a
little with Shadow, and held an inner debate about what I personally think about flamers.

Now, first of all, I have never been flamed, nor have I flamed myself, or at least not intenionally,
or that I could remember it. There have been occasions when I have the feeling I'm coming close, but
normally I'm trying to stay at least polite, if not friendly.

But what I have not experienced on the internet, I have experienced in Real Life.
I moved from america to austria when I was 4, and went to school when I was 6. Since that day I
entered school the first day, I've been harassed, beaten, and constantly badmouthed over. It got
better as I finished elementary school and switched into high school. Not much, because it was just
a few hundred meters next to my old school, but since most of those who I had to bear in that time
went to junior high, I didn't have to see them too often anymore.

But my 'reputation' carried on, and some ppl either knew me from elementary, and managed to get into
high school, or knew ppl from earlier. Even though I tried to start anew there, it didn't quite
work. I still was the outcast of the class, and those few that would even come close to being
friends to me stayed away, probably because they didn't want to be on my side when I fell. Or I just
pushed them away, much like what Faith did as the scoobs offered her their friendship.
Personally, I don't know.
By the time I again switched schools, and started to go onto a higher technical education school (I
had wanted to do that anyway, not because of the 'incidents' till then), I had that feeling that I
would be an outcast again anyway already so deep integrated into myself (without even knowing it),
that I actually acted like that. I stayed on the edge of the community, let the others use me as
someone they could joke about, and didn't really do anything against it.

Occasionally my primitive side erupted (believe me, that's the best word to describe it) and I
started trying to beat those bastards that dared to keep harassing me the best I could. The only
problem was, in those moments my brain completely turns off, and whatever I do, I have very little
control over it.

In the past 5 years since switching onto this school, I have grown far more than even I had
expected. I'm still far away from being able to just join a group of ppl and feel welcome enough to
'join the fun'. But I'm getting forward. I'm able to defend myself better than I thought I could.

Now, to at least try to get to the actualy topic of this post, what I know now, is that all the time
I thought it was me having or doing something wrong, was that I've been mobbed.

It's actually quite simple to put it, now that I know that that is the actual reason behind it. I
know, it's not the 100% exact definition of it, but it comes what it was the closest.

And flamers only harass other ppl directly because they don't know whatelse they can say or do. They
don't like something, and are too stupid to do anything even remotely intelligent, like ignore it,
or simply stay away from stuff like that.

In all the time I've spent on the recieving end of hatred, I've learned to if not accept someone
elses opinion, to at least respect it. But you can't do that if someone is just plain cruel to you.
And ALL flamers are that.

It's everyones right to say what he/she wants to, that's the law, and it has it's reasons. And in
the sentence that we can't stop other ppl from saying what they want because that would be
cencoring, or because it would lead to more, is all the truth that you need for that law.

But if you take a bunch of ppl that harass other ppl because of that, and put them together, so that
they start picking out ppl, and then just for the fun of it start harassing them, then it's not free
speech, it's mobbing. And that is forbidden by law.


So, if you are still with me, to formulate my opinion about flamers:

One flamer is an idiot. Many flamers are an annoying bunch of idiots, but nonetheless, we can't
do anything against them.

But sites like these, where flamers, and other such idiots, morons, and bigots meet to, what
they probably call "critize" authors, just because someone doesn't like a work of them, and where
I'm pretty sure, almost noone reads the stories they write, at the most "read" through the events of
the stories, such as certain ships that are in them, or certain happenings. These sites are nothing
but a place to gather and mobb ppl.

As Stephen said on the WillTara list, it seems that these sites encourage flamers to practically
spam those authors.

I am subscribed to 26 lists by now. Most of them are fanfic lists, or have fanfic posted on them. If
I see a story I don't like, because of a certain pairing or a special event in the beginning (and
that thing happens very rarely, it's mostly because of a certain pairing that I don't like, that
causes me to not read something), then I simply don't read it.

If I don't like a story because it's in such an aweful way written that I simply can't follow the
storyline, then I refrain from sending feedback. That is my personal way to handle that. If I can at
least follow a story, if it just lacks in the way it is written, or has some minor errors in its
storyflow, then I try to provide feedback in which I tell them what I thought needs correction and
what should be worked on (in the way an author writes). If I like a story, and have the feeling that
the only mistakes were small grammar and/or typos, then I send positive feedback that encourages the
author to write more.

That's how I handle this, it is my personal opinion that this is best.
And I never flame because I didn't like a story.

I'm getting tired of thinking of this now. To say it simple,

ALL OF YOU AUTHORS OUT THERE ARE RESPECTED, YOU ARE RESPECTED FOR WHAT YOU DO, FOR WHAT YOU ARE
WILLING TO SHARE, AND FOR THE RISK OF GETTING REJECTED BY THE READERS.

If you write a good story, be sure that we're gonna send positive feedback, and just ignore these
sites. They are only there to make other ppl feel bad, because that makes them feel better. And
believe me, I know that from personal experience.

I think that those morons are not worth your attention, and Kim (or anyone else out there), if you
ever doubt that your stories aren't good enough, just come here. You'll find hundreds of readers
that will tell you just how wrong you are.

"Flamers? What are that?"

Quin


Chief of Security of the Senior Executive Committee of List Gutter Affairs
and Wet Noodle Master of the Universe
Owner of the Gutter Bunker
Unofficial bait boy and self declared Kimber fan #1
Personal servant of the List Gutter Lust Goddess
Worships the ground Pat walks on.
Lover of the love scenes from Shyfox.
Occasional writer.