Yuletide Cheer in Daria Fandom and Elsewhere

Regarding my absence from Daria fandom, I spoke to a friend of mine whose user name resembles that of a paper-cutting implement from Boston and we talked about fannish issues to and fro.

Therefore, I've decided to withdraw my former abandonment of the fandom. (The Bug Man, it seems, had me pegged correctly -- "how many times has CINCGREEN left the fandom, now?") However, what I have decided to abandon is the message boards. More than likely, my first goal will to be finishing all of my unfinished works, which will be a burdensome process but will at least keep my imagination from acting as an ouroboros, with continue self-re-reflection on my past fan activities.

What I've abandoned, however, is posting on message boards. Of course, to finish some of those stories, I will have to post (unless I can get that above named friend to do the heavy lifting.) However, the to-and-fro of comment on those stories will be limited to private e-mail, as threads will not be answered. I doubt anyone shall be inconvenienced, as comment on items I had posted was virtually nonexistent.

Regarding Legion of Lawndale Heroes: Brother Grimace will still have leave to act unfettered throughout the land in posting the adventures of these superpowered teens. I love his take on the whole thing, and right now, I'm not really ready to resume the full-time chore of writing LLH. He owes me eight episodes, and I plan to extract my pound of flesh from one of the chief Angst Lords.

Furthermore, my friend decried the fact that there were no comments on the blog. Therefore, I've reintroduced comments, but not everyone has leave to speak. You have to have an account at Blogger for one; for another, unless the comment has something substantial to add to the conversation, beyond just a simple "hello" or goofy remark, it might not see the light of day, although it will certainly be read by me. People who have something substantial to contribute will hopefully contribute to a conversation; people who have little to say -- or worse, people who are so starved for attention that they treasure even negative attention will find their comments shrivel up like mice in a miser's kitchen.

I've noticed with some small interest the recent hubbub regarding comments on the pale "blunt parody" of the old Daria Fandom Blog -- the one which is not the Daria Fandom Blog II, a wonderful endeavor of The Angst Guy that should be read, cherished and encouraged. Without naming names, or assigning blame -- since as far as I know, I still have pleasant relationships with each of the parties in the dispute -- I have a simple thought exercise.

"Why are you surprised that a certain individual might take offense to an argument, even ostensibly one in parody, that said individual is a child molester? And why are you doubly shocked that said individual might pursue legal action against such scurrilous libel?"

I think when you begin slandering someone's sexuality, you automatically make yourself the loser; it was a critical strategic misstep that I would have advised against because it opens you up to attack on a wide variety of fronts having nothing to do with the original thrust of the argument. Yeah, it is kind of fun to break the rules of rhetoric and avoid fear of the ad hominem; but partakers in kinky blog-postin' fun should realize that those rules were originally intended for the safety of the writer, and not his intended victim.