On Being Smug...and Cowardly

[dawn_felagund]

juno_magic, jael_beruthiel, and I have embraced our smugness. Juno has even made banners for us, and we are considering a real S.M.U.G. Award...for those who are helpful in the fandom.

Comments

[trekqueen]

She has not targeting Juno, Jael, and me because we're cliquish or smug or need to be knocked down a few pegs. She has targeted us because we have been very forthright in speaking out against the bullying, hurtful behavior that she and her fanminions embrace because they can't get the attention they crave based on the worth of their stories alone.

That indeed is the key point in all of this... attention whoring and bitter vindictiveness (and probably a dabble of jealousy too). Gotta love how she lashes out like a little 5yr old throwing tantrums.

*hugs* hope you win the awards! Oh and here's a little badge I showed rhapsody11 that I made for those of us who have been plagued...

[dawn_felagund]

Bwahahaha! Simply brilliant!

A few other authors and I chatted a while back about PMing newbies over at ff.net who got "treated" to a dose of Homer, welcoming them to the fandom...they'd been officially Homerized! Now we have a badge to offer, teehee.

[trekqueen]

Rhaps and I have done that... there was this one gal... Lady Kemantari... who got totally lambasted by Homer that was completely undeserved. Rhaps left a review for the poor girl letting her know how great the piece was and I left her a PM saying a few things since I did not want to get into it with Homer or make her think I was following her around in the Silm archive of ffnet reviewing stories she left bad feedback on. the poor girl deleted her story from the Silm section and reposted in the LOTR section because it was so much more friendlier. Gah! It angered me so much that she scared off the poor girl. we invited her to SDS but then Homer showed up... dunno if the poor thing is still there or if she got reviewed by homer again.

though it probably had to do with the implied slash. *sigh*

[dawn_felagund]

Ah yes...I remember her. I reviewed her as well, on request from Rhapsody.

It's sad that a person can have eight wonderful reviews and one asshat come along, and suddenly they matter naught. It's human nature, I guess, to dwell on the negative.

Homer is just a miserable human being. I think that the general consensus is that she needs to get laid. >:^D

[enismirdal]

I would like to point out that, as a child, I played with bees. This has led me to be stung over one hundred times, yet I simply could never resist.

*giggles* *approves*

By some weird freak of luck, in all my years of petting bumblebees and the like, the only time I've been stung was that incident a few weeks ago...

Bees are fun to play with. Except when they refuse to do any work...

I really get the feeling The Battling Bard needs to get some hobbies that bring her into contact with the real world a bit more. To paraphrase another fanfiction/slash writer, she needs to stop taking herself so darned seriously!

I have noticed the way many troublemakers like to paint themselves as victims. I have wondered if it's some sort of self-esteem thing...

[dawn_felagund]

If I'd stuck with bumblebees, I would have done better. But we tended to have hornets and yellowjackets. ;)

And they just didn't like me! I was once minding my own business on the swings while my sister and cousins ran about screaming and causing a general hoopla when a wasp came along, landed on my lip, and stung me. That one hurt!

It's funny what you say about TBB and hobbies and the real world...I suggested both, and she told me that she can't because of her condition. So that gives her license to act like an asshat, I guess. I wish I would have known! I could have suspended good manners all last month! :^D

And I've no doubt that it's a self-esteem things. She embraces those who accept her and derides those who reject her...hmmm....

[sinneahtes]

I had a heart condition when I was younger. How come I didn't get to be an asshat?! *gripes*

[dawn_felagund]

In all honesty, I do have a heart murmur, never serious enough to warrant anything more than a few diagnostic tests. So I guess I'm permitted the occasional bout of asshatishness? ;)

[dawn_felagund]

She's so obviously just a miserable individual. I remember when I used to work at the restaurant, there were certain guests who would come in, always with an attitude, and nothing could be right. The more you'd smile and try to help, the more they'd bitch. These people simply thrived on making others miserable. They were miserable themselves, so why not? Misery loves company, as they say.

I sense a very deep insecurity in TBB from my (luckily limited) dealings with her and also her responses to being excluded from archives and awards. Her behavior has gotten her kicked off two archives now, and she has responded by slamming both. She scorns the MEFAs even as she advertises having been nominated for them...which is it gonna be?

I keep coming back to Cathy Young's blog that Juno and ithilwen both linked a short while ago. Cathy here debates in the comments another author about the inherent worth about writing fanfiction, and she says:

Meanwhile, Goldberg devotes considerable space on his blog to reviling and mocking fanfic writers. Why the

[trekqueen]

TBB can't get attention for her own (mediocre) stories, so she does her best to distance herself from those with whom she might be grouped otherwise: teenaged authors or PWP authors and others who write "badfic." She repeatedly spits on these stories and these authors, all the while waving a flag, "Oh! I am not like them! Not at all!"

what's funny about that is she even said in her profile she write "crapfics" so when she made fun of my silm fic I told her to go back to her oh so wonderful "crap fics" and maybe work on those for a bit. I think that stung because she never bothered me after that. ^_^ she berates herself sometimes and it shows with her insecurity and jealousy. she is not a complicated person at all but rather, as you say, transparent and bitter.

[dawn_felagund]

She never replied to or reviewed me again either, after I sent her a reply discussing the finer points of her "canon" (read: personal interpretation). She clearly does not like confrontation with people who know more than she does. Note how quickly the forum was deleted once Jael and I had her backed into two separate corners. :^P

On "crap fics"...that's either tearing herself down before others do it for her, I think, or fishing for praise. I generally become uneasy whenever someone edges into a conversation with, "It's not that good but..." I mean, I sometimes personally loathe my stories, but I know that's more from me being OCD than anything truly wrong with the stories themselves; other people tend to like them. I won't share a story that I think has no merit, so I tend to read comments like "this is just crap fic" as a very transparent ploy to get people to go to great lengths to prove, "oh no! of course it's not!" Why? Because she doesn't trust that her stories can earn such praise on their own. Because they probably can't.

[miss_nightowl]

Hee hee! *sniggers at banner*
Not hugely into fanfic, but I like the way you think!

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you! :^D Yes, I am SMUG and evol...and quite happily so!

[miss_nightowl]

Smug away! *lol* Even though I´m a bit out of it, you have my full support.

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks so much! {{{{{you}}}}} :)

[dawn_felagund]

You said it so perfectly yourself, some weeks ago:

I Don't Do Nice.

That is what we admire. Why? Such gnawing misery and self-hatred.

You probably saw my comment to appoggiato above that there used to be people who would come into The Piece and no matter what we did, how nice we were, they were determined to be miserable.

What sad people!

Also, being "idealistic" and upholding ideals is much more difficult than making excuses, which is what most people do.

"Oh, I can't recycle because I've no place for the bins."
"Oh, I can't boycott Exxon because that's the station on the corner."
"Oh, I can't speak out against workplace harassment; I'm up for a promotion."

Or my personal favorite: "I can't make a difference. I'm just one person. It's no use trying."

And with an attitude like that, that person is exactly right.

[kaikias]

I think that's another issue again-to riff on your icon, it's not looking at the stars but rather falling into the well because you didn't spare a moment to cast a glance down in front of you.