Re: Re: Adventures of Buffy and Evil Willow

[danspector@xxxxxxxxx]

Okay, here's the longer response I was working on, It's really long,
and it's probably a big mess, but I just hope people understand that my
heart is in the right place (connected to my aorta, I hope :) ).


Okay, easy, easy now.

Look, this is a B/W list. That means that the focus is going to be on
the B/W pairing, and therefore sometimes the other
characters--particularly those whom Buffy and Willow have had
relationships with--may not be entirely treated well by some authors.
If Willow is with Tara on the show, and you think she should be with
Buffy instead, then by implication you have a more negative view of Tara
(and in this context, a more positive one of Buffy) than the show does.

The various creative people here are going to have various takes on the
characters, because people are different. Anne-Lise's attitude towards
Tara is just that--Anne-Lise's attitude. If you're not fond of it, if
it ruins your enjoyment of her work, well then it's entirely your choice
not to read it. But just because she has feelings about a character
that you disagree with, that doesn't mean that everyone else shares
those feelings. Heck, Sammy Koala's even been known to contribute a
Buffy/Tara fic or two, and David Knapton's got a Buffy/Willow/Tara fic
running right now.

Not all the fics are going to be equally friendly to all the characters.
Not everybody's interpretation of everything is going to be the same.
All we can promise is that the list will be femslash (and B/W in
particular) friendly.

If you enjoy the fics and people here, there's really no reason to leave
just because there's something you didn't like. Or because you had a
run-in with one particular person.  

Besides, in regard to the comic strip, it's meant to be over-the-top and
satirical. It's even technically beyond the parameters of the list
(Buffy's in a relationship with VampWillow, not Willow)--not that we
mind that in the least. Plenty of things happen in the strip that
Anne-Lise and Fox are probably not suggesting are actual representations
of the characters. Angel isn't a peeping Tom, Connor doesn't stake
vampires, Buffy doesn't wear bondage gear to training sessions or keep
Faith locked in her wardrobe, Dawn didn't have sex with Buffy during
"Tabula Rasa". It's a joke, and sometimes a sick one. If you didn't
like the Tara-humor, you didn't like the Tara-humor--it's not a
religious difference.

Besides, did you see how hot Fox made Tara look the next week?
MEEEEEEEEOW!! (Okay, that was OT, but I just have to give Fox her props
:) ).  

Now I didn't see the correspondence you had off-line with Anne-Lise, so
I can't judge who said what and whether it was uncalled-for. Sometimes
people overstep the bounds of criticism and forget that it's an author's
prerogative to tell the stories they want to tell, and sometimes authors
take criticism as a personal attack and overreact to it. (And again,
not knowing what was said, I'm not implying that either of those things
happened here.) In any event, I urge you to take a moment and consider
the situation before acting. What you feel was an unfortunately
unpleasant experience in corresponding with Anne-Lise really shouldn't
have anything to do with how you react to her work, much less be a
reason for condemning the entire group.

(And, Anne-Lise, much as I have absolutely no knowledge of what was said
by either party, and much as I completely understand your anger--and
I've certainly acted out of anger myself on far too many
occasions--perhaps this public row is an argument in favor of just
blowing things like this off. Sometimes, acting out of anger isn't the
best response. Silence says a lot, and it's much easier to type :) )

Faith, I hope you can separate your personal experiences with the author
from your reaction to her work, and can enjoy the list, and contribute
to it yourself, even if you and Anne-Lise can't manage to see eye-to-eye
(955 people is a lot of eyes, some of the connections are bound to be a
little off).

Anne-Lise, I hope you're not withholding this week's strip simply
because you got a bad reaction from one feedbacker. I guarantee you
there are dozens, hundreds and perhaps even thousands of people who are
looking forward to the next installment, no matter what difficulties you
may have had with this particular person at this particular time.

Besides, on a certain level, storytelling isn't really about the
audience--it's about your need to tell the story. No matter how
wonderful positive reinforcement can be, the creative urge shouldn't
depend on simply that.

Robert Browning's first book of poems sold exactly ZERO copies. (Even
his mother didn't buy one. William Goldman once wrote a very funny
imaginary conversation with Browning trying to check with his agent and
the agent trying to put a good spin on events.)

Van Gogh never sold a painting in his life. "Citizen Kane" was a flop
at the box-office. Great books are routinely banned from libraries by
small-minded censors.  

Despite all that, Browning, Van Gogh, "Kane" and the books in question
are no less creative, no less important, no less entertaining.

So Faith didn't like the strip--so what?

This is not to denigrate feedback--which is in fact very useful, very
important and VERY much encouraged--or Faith herself, by any means.
I'm just saying that it's not the most important thing, and it shouldn't
stop you from doing the work you enjoy and putting it out there for
others to enjoy.

Okay, so endeth my lecture on Etiquette and Art. Quite probably I've
bollixed it up all horribly and offended everyone possible, including
President Putin of Russia. (I don't know why, I just get a prickly vibe
from him. It's probably just me.)

Please don't be offended. Any miscommunication or misinterpretation is
my fault.  

All I really ask is that Faith continue to enjoy her membership on the
list and Anne-Lise continue to enjoy contributing to it. And I feel
quite certain that both of these are possible.

Peace,

Dan

(geez, moderating is hard work! Anyone want to help me track down
listdad so I can vent at him? :) )