fans and fives

I was reading fannish summaries last night of the whole Cassie Clare situation from years and years ago - it's not the first time I'd read about it, because while I was never in HP fandom, I've been on LJ for 10 years and I remember when this was happening. Even watching from outside and hearing about it once in a while, it seemed a giant clusterfuck. Here was a woman who treated fandom and fellow fans like shit, took advantage of their helpful, trusting nature, and ripped off what little intellectual property they owned (hey, I write fanfic, I realize only a little part of it is my own creation). There's a certain way you treat fans; this is something you learn through trial and error, but also through being raised as a decent human being. Hopefully, mostly the latter. What made it all worse is that supposedly this woman is my age or older, and she was also a journalist (I still am). That's some bullshit right there. It's a little like being a cop or an elected official; you're supposed to set yourself a higher standard of behavior in whatever you're doing in your personal life that relates to the job you have. I would never try to pass off my free fanfic as something to be paid for with those characters because they don't belong to me; and I wouldn't lift from another writer without giving credit; and there are even certain kinds of fanfic I won't write or read mostly because they conflict with my job ethics. I was a mid-level BNF in a relatively small fandom once, and I never tried to swindle people out of money or anything else.

This isn't to say I haven't been involved in stupidity. I read something else last night about an official title supposedly being selected for the 5th POTC movie ... and realized it's been five years ago this month that all the fandom stupidity in those quarters on LJ came to a head on pirategasm (well, other places too, that's just where it played out - and don't bother looking, because it's been taken down). Up to then and even a while after was a colossally dumb two years of my life. Like Cassie, I was an adult of more than sufficient age to know better than to get involved in wank - unlike her, I wasn't trying to screw anyone over, I was just trying to get back what seemed like the goodwill and tolerance we'd had in the fandom before 2006. I won't rehash details, since anyone who remembers it already knows, and anyone who doesn't, won't give a fig. All I can say is I was stupid, but less stupid than a core small group of other fans, and my stupidity came chiefly from sinking to a level I shouldn't have in my discourse with and about them. (A footnote: There was one person from that whole mess, from the "other side," who ever made an effort at mending fences. And it was one of the last people I expected to do so - she wasn't ever a friend of mine in the first place, so she had no obligation. That's to be respected.) Since then, the lesson I've tried to hold close is not to descend to deep wank in a fandom - it's fine to bitch occasionally if there's a faction creating unnecessary problems (why hello, very small group of vocal slash-phobic Red Dwarf fanboys!), but even then it's normally best to just shake your head, wonder what was missing from their baby formula, and move on with liking what you like instead. Because all those bullshit lectures you had to put up with from adults when you were a kid, about how hate only hurts you and ruins your good time ... well, it turns out it's true. Of course.

Finally, the sister and I went to see the Cornetto Trilogy the other night; seven hours in a theater. ERGGHHH. I am not a marathon-movie person. The World's End was pretty good, but it didn't quite manage to beat Hot Fuzz. This isn't to say The World's End isn't an awesome movie - it is - it's just that Hot Fuzz set a high bar and there's little that can meet it, for me. Anyone else seen it yet?