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BNF-- what is this shit?
Jan. 11th, 2003 01:23 pmOk, I've been hearing recently about this concept of a "BNF", I figured out eventually, meant "big name fan".
When I first heard of this label, I didn't really understand the point. In fact, I still don't.
Ok, so some people write a lot of fic, or make a lot of fan art, or manage several forums or lists. And this is somehow bragging rights? Why bragging to what?
Are there people who go around saying "HA! I'm a BNF and you aren't! Eat that!" ? If someone had written or said that to me a month ago, I would have been completely clueless, and asked them what they were talking about and could they please speak English because not everyone lives on acronyms, you know.
So, as I understand it, from looking at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fandom_wank, a group which, I think, mocks people who claim to be BNFs, and someone else who wrote an opposing view on the topic, saying it's their write to be proud of their hard work.
I look at all of this, and I go, "Huh? Who cares?" I don't own any forums, but I mod at very large B/S forum. I don't have a website, and I write maybe one fic every month or two, and even then its a one-shot, not a chapter story. My career in fanart is a few spoofs of screencaps and the occasionaly LJ icon. True, I don't devote hours of my time to keeping up with a lot of stuff, like I know list-owners and board-owners do.
But if I did, I can't imagine myself ever running around giving myself a label and claiming that I deserve to be worshipped for it or anything.
And the people that I DO know & talk to often who run boards-- I'm pretty sure they don't do that either.
And it seems tied to that is the argument over responding to feedback.
My opinion on that is that feedback or reviews are given, it's not a fucking trade. I rarely answer reviews I get on ff.net (unless its particularly thorough or interesting, or if I know the person already). I try to answer most LJ comments. I almost always answer emails. Do I feel obligated to do this? Well, if its fic feedback, no. I do it because I like to be sociable, and because I like talking to other fic readers/writers. When I write feedback, unless I ask a specific question, I don't feel bothered if they don't reply. Most people don't. And if a person's fic is good enough to appear on multiple rec lists, then anyone with a brain enough to understand gradeschool logic ought to realize they're going to be getting a lot of feedback, and the chances of them replying is less.
This BNF thing. I've read fic on a lot of fandoms, but I've only been fully immersed into BtVS fandom, to a degree where I converse daily with other fans, and go often to sites and messageboards and lists. But I don't get why there have to be labels, why ther is this idea someone has to be better than someone else, or why other people then have to drag them down for it? What's the point here? It's the internet, it's fucking HUGE. And it's totally up to you what you do with it.
Who says there have to be rules in fandom? Why? What makes someone a BNF, and why does such a label even exist? Am I supposed to treat someone differently, because they claim to be one or to be against one?
I look at internet, and I see a place where you can share ideas, art, fiction, and discussion with other people who like the same things you do. I don't see a hierarchy, or a class system, or labels of who is "better". Fandom is not "king of the island." It's a freaking ocean, where everyone is a guppy. And some guppies do more swimming than others, and that means they get to see prettier reefs and meet more guppies than the ones that don't swim much. But there's no whales here, no sharks. Every fan is just a fan, and it all boils down to a person and what they do with their computer time.
I've never even knew there was the idea of "BNF", until someone brought it up to me. And I think of all that, and I still say "Who cares?"
When I first heard of this label, I didn't really understand the point. In fact, I still don't.
Ok, so some people write a lot of fic, or make a lot of fan art, or manage several forums or lists. And this is somehow bragging rights? Why bragging to what?
Are there people who go around saying "HA! I'm a BNF and you aren't! Eat that!" ? If someone had written or said that to me a month ago, I would have been completely clueless, and asked them what they were talking about and could they please speak English because not everyone lives on acronyms, you know.
So, as I understand it, from looking at
fandom_wank, a group which, I think, mocks people who claim to be BNFs, and someone else who wrote an opposing view on the topic, saying it's their write to be proud of their hard work.I look at all of this, and I go, "Huh? Who cares?" I don't own any forums, but I mod at very large B/S forum. I don't have a website, and I write maybe one fic every month or two, and even then its a one-shot, not a chapter story. My career in fanart is a few spoofs of screencaps and the occasionaly LJ icon. True, I don't devote hours of my time to keeping up with a lot of stuff, like I know list-owners and board-owners do.
But if I did, I can't imagine myself ever running around giving myself a label and claiming that I deserve to be worshipped for it or anything.
And the people that I DO know & talk to often who run boards-- I'm pretty sure they don't do that either.
And it seems tied to that is the argument over responding to feedback.
My opinion on that is that feedback or reviews are given, it's not a fucking trade. I rarely answer reviews I get on ff.net (unless its particularly thorough or interesting, or if I know the person already). I try to answer most LJ comments. I almost always answer emails. Do I feel obligated to do this? Well, if its fic feedback, no. I do it because I like to be sociable, and because I like talking to other fic readers/writers. When I write feedback, unless I ask a specific question, I don't feel bothered if they don't reply. Most people don't. And if a person's fic is good enough to appear on multiple rec lists, then anyone with a brain enough to understand gradeschool logic ought to realize they're going to be getting a lot of feedback, and the chances of them replying is less.
This BNF thing. I've read fic on a lot of fandoms, but I've only been fully immersed into BtVS fandom, to a degree where I converse daily with other fans, and go often to sites and messageboards and lists. But I don't get why there have to be labels, why ther is this idea someone has to be better than someone else, or why other people then have to drag them down for it? What's the point here? It's the internet, it's fucking HUGE. And it's totally up to you what you do with it.
Who says there have to be rules in fandom? Why? What makes someone a BNF, and why does such a label even exist? Am I supposed to treat someone differently, because they claim to be one or to be against one?
I look at internet, and I see a place where you can share ideas, art, fiction, and discussion with other people who like the same things you do. I don't see a hierarchy, or a class system, or labels of who is "better". Fandom is not "king of the island." It's a freaking ocean, where everyone is a guppy. And some guppies do more swimming than others, and that means they get to see prettier reefs and meet more guppies than the ones that don't swim much. But there's no whales here, no sharks. Every fan is just a fan, and it all boils down to a person and what they do with their computer time.
I've never even knew there was the idea of "BNF", until someone brought it up to me. And I think of all that, and I still say "Who cares?"
