fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2187 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2187 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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05. [repeat]

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[ ----- SPOILERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]

06. [SPOILERS for Once Upon a Time]

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07. [SPOILERS for amazing spiderman]

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08. [SPOILERS for Nu52 Stormwatch]

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[ ----- TRIGGERY SECRETS AHEAD ----- ]

09. [WARNING for rape, sexual assault, gore]

[SCP Foundation wiki]

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10. [WARNING for rape]

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11. [WARNING for abuse]

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12. [WARNING for child sexual abuse]

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13. [WARNING for rape]

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14. [WARNING for violence, RL deaths]

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #312.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 (not broken, but being reported as malicious?) - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - personal attack ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I looked up MsScribe on fandomwiki and checked out the MsScribe Story on journalfen after hearing it mentioned in a Harry Potter discussion, so I know what the whole deal was about, but...I'm confused as to why it was such a big thing. I don't...really understand how a sockpuppet fnargle could have drawn so much attention and made such big waves. So...confused new-ish fan is confused?

I *think* I'm just missing the context behind it: was the culture of shipping cohorts and different comms and BNFs and the divisions within the HP fandom (like Sugar Quill vs Fiction Alley) REALLY that massive and noticeable and fandom-wide? Like, was it something every HP had to deal with and were always aware of due to participation or osmosis or something?

I'd...just like some people with first-hand memories of that era and fandom to explain how and why the fandom was constructed in such a way that something as inane-sounding as the msscribe story could actually be a big deal. If it gives you guys entertainment to talk about it, that is :)

I *think* I'm just missing the context behind it: was the culture of shipping cohorts and different comms and BNFs and the divisions within the HP fandom (like Sugar Quill vs Fiction Alley) REALLY that massive and noticeable and fandom-wide? Like, was it something every HP had to deal with and were always aware of due to participation or osmosis or something?

First question: yes. Yes, the divisions between the BNFs and their associated ships were definitely unavoidable and fandomwide. About the only place that was free from that kind of BS was FF.N, because neither of the cohorts was there, obviously especially not Cassie Claire's.

It sort of depended on how deeply ingrained in fandom you were? I wound up on the Harry/Draco side of things and slash side of things for the most part, which had me firmly over in the Cassie Claire/FictionAlley corner (I remember feeling very discriminated against as a slasher over by SugarQuill, a feeling that I am unsure had any basis at the time). I was on Livejournal, FA, briefly had an account on SQ, and found this kind of drama unavoidable. However, I was never a BNF follower -- I never friended Cassie Claire or Heidi or anyone, por ejemplo, nor really commented on any of their fics -- so it took a while for this information to get to me. But I knew who the BNFs were, and their opinions had a lot of sway in my community.

I can't speak of the matter directly (I wasn't on lj then), or the Sugar Quill vs Fiction Alley bit, but I can attest to the shipping wars. It was huge, and the divide (if you were in that bit of the fandom) was hugely noticeable. I know how or why it happened, just that it was there. It certainly wasn't helped in later years by R/Hr becoming canon (post HBP - the mugglenet/leaky cauldron interview with JKR) - but I'm right in thinking that the msscribe was before all that?

I was pretty much a lurker and stuck to LJ in HP fandom so I can't really speak to the inter-board/inter-ship rivalries, but yes, it was pretty hard to not know all about the BNFs via fandom osmosis (or Fandom Wank - HP wank was its bread and butter back in the day). The MsScribe story was a big deal because she was so visible and her sockpuppetry so brazen and elaborate, basically.

Ah ha ha. I'm the exact opposite of the comment above me - i was on LJ for HP fandom, mostly, and a couple of websites whose name i can't remember and i had *no clue* about any of this. Ever. Wasn't on my radar at all. I liked Harry/Snape and Harry/Draco, can't recall a single BNF (if i even knew of one then) and don't remember any shipping wars, either.

I guess i was just not on the 'right' sites, or something.

I came into fandom after the whole MsScribe thing (a year or two after, I think?), so I can't speak to that directly... but fandom was definitely different back then. Different comms and divisions within fandom were still noticeable when I got into it. Today fandom feels like there's a lot more jumping around from place to place, less "membership" type community if that makes sense, while back then it was more a feeling of finding a club you liked, becoming a member and generally sticking to it (which in turn leads to divisions within fandom, huge BNFs, extreme shipping wars and so on. It had really good sides too, but yeah, those were the negatives.) At least that was my experience entering the fandom about 2004.

It looks obvious now, when it's all set out, but it was anything but obvious when it was happening. When MsScribe was trolling herself with sockpuppets, it made the organizers of the first Nimbus conference so concerned about stalkers that they hired extra security. As the fandom_scruples troll, she threatened to get people in real-life trouble with the law. There was a lot of speculation about the identity of these trolls; some online reputations were ruined by the finger-pointing, and so I think were a few real-life friendships.

[ SECRET POST #2187 ]

Old school Harry Potter fans ahoy! What exactly is the significance of this msscribe thing?

Re: Old school Harry Potter fans ahoy! What exactly is the significance of this msscribe thing?

Re: Old school Harry Potter fans ahoy! What exactly is the significance of this msscribe thing?

Re: Old school Harry Potter fans ahoy! What exactly is the significance of this msscribe thing?

Re: Old school Harry Potter fans ahoy! What exactly is the significance of this msscribe thing?

Re: Old school Harry Potter fans ahoy! What exactly is the significance of this msscribe thing?

Re: Old school Harry Potter fans ahoy! What exactly is the significance of this msscribe thing?