(no subject)

[lit_gal]

Whoa... Wanktastic!

http://forum.tthfanfic.org/index.php?topic=4775.0

Summary: A guy at Twisting the Hellmouth won an award, but it turns out that his story wasn't eligible because he'd miscategorized it in the first place. Actually, two people had awards changed, but one proved himself to be an adult by agreeing that this story should lose the award. MrMiklos... not so much.

Can I just say,
1) Wank is way too addictive. What is wrong with me that I spend so much time reading this puerile drivel?

2) I weep for a society where pointing out that someone can spell, can't use commas, doesn't know what a question mark is for, and can't get characters' names right is somehow "rude" and "picking on the author." The quote from the moderator said, "I highly recommend you find a beta to help you fix this up. Finished or not, award-winning or not, it's got a number of flaws and it doesn't exactly reflect well on your abilities or the site in its present state." He's not saying the author stinks or is ugly or his mother dresses him funny. This isn't personal

(It reminds me of the dork who tried to get me to invest with Met Life. He wanted to know why I would rather manage my own portfolio than trust him. I pointed out that I didn't trust his judgment, that when he called me "psychic" for knowing the housing market bust would lead to a stock market bust, it made me question his judgment. I said that I didn't trust any salesman who came to a financial meeting wanting to just "talk" to me about options without bringing a detailed prospectus. I told him that his comment that Obama was a socialist either showed a political bias or a misunderstanding of politics that made me uncomfortable in an advisor because politics and money are so closely related. He accused me of getting too personal. UM... NOOOOO! If I were getting personal, I would have called you fat and effeminate! I made judgments based on the quality of your work. But apparently that's just not nice. Give me a break!)

3) People who think they're important, generally aren't. I mean, seriously! If you threaten to take you ball and go home, and then tell everyone how you took your ball and went home, A) most people aren't going to care and B) you look silly. If I got in a snit and took my stories down, there would be disappointed people. Those people would then go and find themselves another author to follow. Life moves on. Don't ever assume you are so integral to a fandom or a site that anyone cares about your stuff for any longer than it takes for them to find other good stuff.

Comments

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

RE #1 - I think it is like a train wreck in some ways. We know it's bad, we know it's something we shouldn't be amused/mesmerized by... And yet, we keep watching/reading anyway. Sometimes, the lengths someone will go to to prove their point, flounce etc are equal parts horrifying and entertaining.

[kaleecat]

I love your icon. Beautiful picture of GM

[raynedanser.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's quite possibly one of my most favorite pictures of him. ;-D

[jans-intentions.livejournal.com]

Hahahahah, I love you. You are a dose of medicine in a very good way. I love three, so true! Would that certain divas would get that.

[laurie-ky.livejournal.com]

Wow, I munched a whole bowl of chips while I read through this, and you are right, reading wank is way too addictive.

Has it been picked up on Fandom Wank yet?

Laurie

[kaleecat]

LOL I hang out too much reading at TTH so I'm familiar with the primary ids/authors in the wank. Too funny. I'm not surprised M.R. acted as the adult.

What really made me laugh was Mr.Miklos packing up his toys and huffing off like a 12 year old girl in a snit to whatever this other site is. Buh bye.

There's some really good stuff on TtH, and there's some true crap.

I should have popped some popcorn before reading the wank.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I am just stunned by this one...really.




Gabrielle

[devo79.livejournal.com]

Very true on all points!

[silentflux]

*giggles uncontrollably and polishes off popcorn* Damn... that's just... wow. You are so right - on all points.

God, this reminds me of when I was a college TA a couple years ago and an nineteen year-old student came up to me after a test and tried to get me to talk to their parents on the phone to get a better grade. Hello! Grow up! :P

[yanagi-wa.livejournal.com]

I don't understand this sort of thing. I read a bit of the story in question and I wouldn't have voted for it because of all the technical mistakes in it. But, I'm picky. And his attitude sucks. Oh, well, each to his own. Just don't take your stupidity out on the mods.

[jjjean65.livejournal.com]

I saw the reassignment of the awards but util you posted the link was unaware of the wank... it was entertaining! Maybe he can re-post his stuff at The Pit. ;p

[mjmcca.livejournal.com]

Honestly this guy was poised to leave fandom and try Original Fiction anyway. He finished a story line on TTH about a month ago and in the final post said he was focusing on a career in writing or some such and not to expect more stories from him.... this way he goes out with a bang.

[xocoatldreams.livejournal.com]

"snort* Okay, he's moronic and childish. Threatening to take down his stories because one was found invalid? Yeah, okay, whatever.

Though, TTH has had a history of idiotic quarantine and mods abusing their power. A few years ago, nearly every slash writer was being flamed by some of the mods, and no matter how much people complained, none of the other mods stepped in to stop it. And this wasn't concrit, most of the fics were well written, it was straight out flaming and actual harassment. It caused several authors to leave TTH and some, like me, to stop posting there for a bit. I was quarantined for three supposed mistakes (two actually were. tot he=to the and adn=and) and one was a word I used on purpose. At the same time, a mod written story had no problems being posted, full of grammar and spelling mistakes. I won't even say how pissed off I was.

Thankfully in the last year or so, they've gotten to where things like that don't happen as often, though a lot of stories that should be quarantined because of grammar/spell are still being let through.


And for #1, wank is fun! At least when you're not actually involved in it ^-^

[draconin.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about the guy's reaction being totally childish and OTT but I will point out one thing;

his story wasn't eligible because he'd miscategorized it in the first place

It would not have been him that miscategorized it - someone else nominated it. It's possible, indeed quite likely, that he himself has never read the rules. So from his POV his fav fic has just been complimented by being nominated. Time goes by and, against all expectations (no-one thinks their own work is perfect) it gets to round two and then, miracle of miracles, it wins! Then, at the last moment the win is snatched away and, on top of that, the snatcher has the gall to criticise it massively at the same time.

I do find in this type of thing that it helps if you look at it from the other guy's POV. I'm not saying for a moment that he reacted well - he didn't, he reacted like a small child. But really, he did have some justification for being hurt and I don't think the moderator handled it at all well. A better way would have been to contact him *later* and suggest ways to improve it. Or offer to beta it himself. Or find one for him. There are many, many ways that he could have been kinder about it and what he did suggests that he's a bit of a bully.

Personally I think the whole story reflects incredibly well on Marcus Rowlands, the other author, who accepted the loss with equanimity. In the wank over the idiot this point has been lost IMHO.

[starchild-295.livejournal.com]

I actually read his parting "story" categorized under surprise crossovers before it was quarantined. I couldn't figure out what was going on as I just read the stories and not the threads. This clears that up. The funny thing is that I had him as a tracked author and now that his stories are all gone, I have no idea what they were, so they clearly weren't all that memorable to begin with. Just my $.02.

[http://users.livejournal.com/hel_/]

I read constantly. I can't think of anyone else who could replace your writing.

On the other hand, I'm sometimes amazed at the wankers that write wankfic.

[blacknblue2.livejournal.com]

Can I just say that I am impressed by the maturity (in general) shown on that forum? People are disagreeing, people are mad, but only a couple are being childish about it. I love that someone said that someone else could be pretty mean when writing reviews, and that person didn't freak out, but just said, sure, I can be.

This is how I want the internet to work.

[vinniebatman.livejournal.com]

But... but... I really am that important.

*snickers*

All of what you just said? So damn true.

*salutes*