Roman Politics as a Fandom
So, Cicero and Pompey are, like, major BNFs. Cicero wrote the great epic that influenced everyone's view of canon (secretly, he prefers his version to canon, but don't we all) and Pompey wrote a set of very, very popular romances (although he's always been upset because his stuff never gets recommended on the really prestigious rec site run by Cato). They're good friends, even though each is a little jealous of the other. Then Caesar comes onto the scene, and his view of canon totally clashes with Cicero's. Pompey doesn't care about that kind of thing, though, and he's thrilled when Caesar starts beta-reading his stories -- and Caesar is really talented, so everyone can see the difference, and even Cato starts to pay Pompey a little more attention. Anyway, he finally puts Pompey on his friends list, since Pompey has had Cato's journal friended for, like, years.
Cato secretly hates Caesar, but he can't deny that the guy's got talent, and he knows it would look kind of petty not to recommend his fic.
Oh, and there used to be another BNF in this fandom, Crassus, but he sent some of his RPF slash to the actors and... you know, we don't really talk about Crassus any more.
Anyway, things are kind of tense between Cicero and Caesar, but Caesar makes a real effort -- he comes across one of Cicero's old wish lists and writes a story just for him, and he starts trying to get his view of canon to merge with Cicero's a little more. And Cicero is totally flattered, and he starts planning another major epic, which is going to include Caesar's OTP, and he makes show commentary posts in which he makes a big deal about the things that he and Caesar agree on, and starts quoting his opinions and stuff. Total love fest. They're on IM all the time.
So this makes Pompey really sulky, and it pisses Cato off, too, because he hates the thought of Caesar and Cicero getting to be such good friends. So Cato starts recommending Pompey's stories -- even his old stuff, from before Caesar started beta-reading for him. And you know, Pompey's just over the moon, and he feels totally vindicated, and he starts talking about how he doesn't need Caesar's help any more, and they have a huge fight in IM, which everybody knows about even though it's supposed to be private.
Now, at this point, Pompey and Caesar are totally bitching about each other in locked posts. And you know how it is with locked posts, nothing is really secret, and anyway, Cicero is on both their lists. Then some of the people on Pompey's friends list kind of goad him into making some rude comments about Caesar in public; meanwhile Caesar's friends keep asking him what he's going to do about it.
Things are getting really tense, especially when Curio, who has a lot of talent, makes a big, public post about how he's defriending Pompey and a bunch of his closest friends. Then Antony, one of Caesar's friends, starts flaming Pompey's stories and demanding that he apologize for the things he's been saying about Caesar. Plus he wins a major award that Domitius, one of Pompey's friends, thought he had totally stitched up. A lot of people say that the voting was rigged.
So Cicero, who had been totally gafiating for most of this time, comes back and he's all, "hey, what happened? why can't we all just get along?" And Caesar's all, "hey, don't worry about it, no one expects you to pick sides," but by then Pompey's friends are massively pissed off, and they're all, "the hell you say -- you totally have to pick sides!" because they've all just defriended everyone who has Caesar on their flist, and Cicero knows that if he doesn't do it too, Cato will never rec his stories again, and that really matters to Cicero, even though he gets tons of feedback, even from people who support Caesar...
Yeah. Poor Cicero. Poor me, because this metaphor broke down about three paragraphs up. Oh, and this is totally not aimed at anybody in RL fandom. It's all resmin and selenak's fault.
Cato secretly hates Caesar, but he can't deny that the guy's got talent, and he knows it would look kind of petty not to recommend his fic.
Oh, and there used to be another BNF in this fandom, Crassus, but he sent some of his RPF slash to the actors and... you know, we don't really talk about Crassus any more.
Anyway, things are kind of tense between Cicero and Caesar, but Caesar makes a real effort -- he comes across one of Cicero's old wish lists and writes a story just for him, and he starts trying to get his view of canon to merge with Cicero's a little more. And Cicero is totally flattered, and he starts planning another major epic, which is going to include Caesar's OTP, and he makes show commentary posts in which he makes a big deal about the things that he and Caesar agree on, and starts quoting his opinions and stuff. Total love fest. They're on IM all the time.
So this makes Pompey really sulky, and it pisses Cato off, too, because he hates the thought of Caesar and Cicero getting to be such good friends. So Cato starts recommending Pompey's stories -- even his old stuff, from before Caesar started beta-reading for him. And you know, Pompey's just over the moon, and he feels totally vindicated, and he starts talking about how he doesn't need Caesar's help any more, and they have a huge fight in IM, which everybody knows about even though it's supposed to be private.
Now, at this point, Pompey and Caesar are totally bitching about each other in locked posts. And you know how it is with locked posts, nothing is really secret, and anyway, Cicero is on both their lists. Then some of the people on Pompey's friends list kind of goad him into making some rude comments about Caesar in public; meanwhile Caesar's friends keep asking him what he's going to do about it.
Things are getting really tense, especially when Curio, who has a lot of talent, makes a big, public post about how he's defriending Pompey and a bunch of his closest friends. Then Antony, one of Caesar's friends, starts flaming Pompey's stories and demanding that he apologize for the things he's been saying about Caesar. Plus he wins a major award that Domitius, one of Pompey's friends, thought he had totally stitched up. A lot of people say that the voting was rigged.
So Cicero, who had been totally gafiating for most of this time, comes back and he's all, "hey, what happened? why can't we all just get along?" And Caesar's all, "hey, don't worry about it, no one expects you to pick sides," but by then Pompey's friends are massively pissed off, and they're all, "the hell you say -- you totally have to pick sides!" because they've all just defriended everyone who has Caesar on their flist, and Cicero knows that if he doesn't do it too, Cato will never rec his stories again, and that really matters to Cicero, even though he gets tons of feedback, even from people who support Caesar...
Yeah. Poor Cicero. Poor me, because this metaphor broke down about three paragraphs up. Oh, and this is totally not aimed at anybody in RL fandom. It's all resmin and selenak's fault.