A pledge

[emmagrant01]

Dear Fandom,

I'm sick to death of wanks and kerfluffles, in all their assorted forms. I'm tired of seeing people I care about being snarked at, both to their faces and behind their backs. I'm equally tired of seeing people I care about being mean and petty to others. So I'm going to make a public pledge, and I hope I am able to stick with it.

I hereby pledge not to participate in wank any more. I won't link to wanky posts. I will resist the urge to comment on them, except to try to make a reasonable and friendly point. When my friends are the victims of wank, I'll comfort them behind the scenes instead of drumming up even more wank with a ranty post.

I furthermore pledge to do my best not to jump to conclusions about anyone else's intentions. I will give people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.

And if I have a problem with someone, I will ask them about it directly.

Sincerely,
Emma

[Poll #569143]

ETA: Just to clarify, this pledge is about ME, and not anyone else. I'm not trying to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do. I know some of you out there really like wank and enjoy stirring it up, reading all the threads, and watching the drama of the fall-out. That's not my thing, and I'm not passing judgment on any of you. :-)

Comments

[balfrog.livejournal.com]

yup - and rec or fic or doodle instead.
:D

[sorion.livejournal.com]

Fandom wanks aren't really my thing... I have watched a few from the sidelines, if they were particularly amusing. But usually I don't even hear about them, so I'm very well protected ^_~

[maeglinyedi.livejournal.com]

I've already made that pledge a long time ago, and I must say that my fandom life has been much easier ever since. :-)

Btw, do you want an invite to the new archive? Just gimme a shout, and I'll set things up for you.

[sesptwd.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry /of subject

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

This is about me, and no one else, okay? I'm just burnt out on watching people tear into each other. It makes my fandom time not fun, so I'm just not going to pay attention to it anymore. That's all. ;-)

[jexay.livejournal.com]

No-wank pledge (No, not like that! *snerk* As if.)

Whew! *wipes brow* Made me nervous there. :P I'm in. ;)

[anise-anise.livejournal.com]

As if indeed.

*loves hard*

[luahoana.livejournal.com]

*ticks the heartsy box*

WORD.

[swtjemz.livejournal.com]

*re-claimes the wank with hot frottage with an innocent!Harry and a desperatelyhard!Draco*

[goldie.livejournal.com]

Heee! I need to re-link to my reclaiming the wank post ;)

[anise-anise.livejournal.com]

Me??? Involved in a wank??? Surely you jest!!! :P

Fuck no, I hate this shit, if it never happens again to me it will be too damn soon.

And if it does, then by God it better be something I actually caused. :P

[mrshamill.livejournal.com]

Good on you.

[thalia]

See, you should have been at Escapade... there was a panel where we talked about all the crap that people get themselves into, and it was generally agreed that what you just said is the only way to have a reasonably pleasant fandom experience. I'm just happy all my friends are mature enough not to expect me to get in the middle of anything.

[(Anonymous)]

Yay to no wank, er, of the fandom variety. I agree.

[topaz7.livejournal.com]

that was me. *blush*

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

My career is in HR and its so hard for me to not get into the middle of things and try to smooth them over! We should start a support chain for fandom wank... if you think you are about to say something or get involved in something than you contact your sponsor and they can send you hot porn to talk you down off the ledge!

[ex-crystalle432.livejournal.com]

Can I be your sponsor? ♥

_{imagines dragging kerry out of the wank-dome kicking and screaming and shoving her nose in that email i sent yesterday to make her forget about wank... well, the bad kind anyway. ;)}

[cayleofkinthya.livejournal.com]

I'd like to point out that even though there is only one option (yes I'm with you) that the poll results (at least when I took it) said that only 98.2% of us who voted agreed with you. Something eems wrong there...

[conuly]

You can click "submit answer" without actually checking the box.

[charlotteschaos.livejournal.com]

I see your plea for sanity, and I raise you crack.

[spacetweenears.livejournal.com]

Calls you on the crack!

*re-reads*

[truwest.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm with you.

I try to stay wank-free myself, and the only downside is feeling clueless and out-of-it when people refer mysteriously in their LJs to a big kerfuffle that you are barely (if at all) aware of.

I'll try to make friends feel better who are having a bad time (wank-related or not), but I don't want to contribute to unnecessary ongoing confrontational BS.

It's just like in real life. Often the most effective way to defuse an argument between two people in a group, is for the rest of the group to determinedly not acknowledge the conflict in any way, and to push forward with discussion on other (neutral) topics.

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

I'm just here for fun, and the smutty fic. Honestly, there's enough drama in my real life, I have no interest in it becoming a part of my hobby.

[qurinas.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm pretty sure you know my feeling on this from Con*Strict. However, I will reiterate (in short) for you and others.

Wanks are such a waste of time. All they do is make people feel bad and bear a remarkable resemblance to schoolyard bullying. There are only so many hours in the day for me to do everything I want.

I absolutely refuse to waste time I could reading or writing or wanking (the fun way) or playing computer games or whatever participating in a fannish wank. Screw that. I see absolutely zero appeal.

My two cents. :)

[pombagira.livejournal.com]

this is a great idea.. i reccon more peoples should do it. *beams*..

weirdley enough fandom wank is oh so similar to that of Pagan wank and generally i stay away from both. . . generally.. *grins*.. although the pagan wank i occasionally get involved in.. in a diplomatic slapping kinda way. but not that offten.. i believe that it is moslty to do with the learning curve of internet communitites...mmm.. *ponders this*.

*beams*

[ex-knight-m.livejournal.com]

Amen! I am sick and tired of seeing all of y'all go at it like this. I cannot wait till this wank blows over and LJ will be an enjoyable get away again.

[glasshouses.livejournal.com]

I admire your attitude! But the occasional snark is about the only interesting thing going on in my life right now :-)

I will pledge to think three times, instead of two before posting or replying to *anything*. And I gave up on f_w a long time ago.

[souls-tamer.livejournal.com]

This may be a stupid question that any real slash lover should know but what are wanks and kerfluffles?

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

How lucky you are that you don't know!

Basically, they're fights between people in fandom. They tend to be spread out over different LJs, so how much of the fight you see depends on who is on your f-list. They can get extremely nasty and blown out of proportion very quickly. There's a journal on another LJ-like service that keeps track of them all, so even more people can point fingers and laugh. It's a messy business.

And I'm done with it. :-)

[princesskirsty.livejournal.com]

i got out of the whole fandom a while ago, i just read some fics that pop up on my flist (that'd b just yours then) and some of my old faves i'll read over again.

has something big happened?

[souls-tamer.livejournal.com]

your icon makes me want to cry (in a happy sort of way)

w3rd

[mermaidqueen.livejournal.com]

I've never really been involved in too much wank, maybe 'cause I want everyone to like me.

[brushfire2437.livejournal.com]

um, i'm gonna sound like a dumbass, but what kind of wank are you talking about? i think wank, and i think harry/draco jerking off, and i got the feeling that's not what yer talking about.

[ex-crystalle432.livejournal.com]

Everytime someone posts wank, Draco's cock shrinks.

For the sake of Draco's cock, stop the madness!

_{Brought to you by the Keep Draco Well-Endowed Foundation}

♥