Originally posted by Terry Leatherwood:
But you DO NOT have the right to criticize such stories solely because you don't like their content, nor do you have the right to try to intimidate writers to stay away from content you don't like. Ann, Carol, ML, we all know that y'all don't like stories where Lois dies. There are FOLCs on the board who don't read ANY story where someone dies. That is their right, just as you have the right to dislike stories where Lois dies.
But you don't have the right to insist that everybody cater to your preferences. You don't have the right to tell people what to post or not post, as long as it's within the board's guidelines. If you really, really, REALLY believe that no Lois deathfics should be posted, then you should get the guidelines changed on the board instead of wasting time protesting (however indirectly and elegantly) a story theme you don't like.
Well, technically we *do* have the right to complain and generally be annoying (Hooray for Free Speech!
) But yes, I see what you mean.
Telling people not to write Lois Deathfic: Yes, this is poor sportsmanship. Or ficsmanship. I don't know the right word here.
However, it *is* worth bringing up as a general point of discussion with an aim to encouraging more variety and thought in fic.
For instance, this very thread has me now contemplating a Clark Deathfic. Can it be done? Can it be made to be Lois-centric while still maintaining enough of the Superman/LnC elements to keep it from being an Alice and Bob story with the names changed? What would be required?
So yes, I agree that it's silly/futile/mean to say "I don't like X, so please don't write anymore of it." However, it's perfectly valid to say "I'm tired of X. What else have you got?"
Eh, my 2 cents.
Kill them all! And let Deborah Joy Levine sort them out!
Of course, Clark's uncle ran into trouble when he tried to put that philosophy into practice. Now let us never speak of him again.
