***The Fic-Writer Manifesto***
Another fic got written today, posted all over the list. "NEW FIC!", "PLEASE READ!", "FEEDBACK PLEASE!"... Another budding fic-writer. You think we're all alike. But did you, in your 15-inch-32-bit-color cube of fandom, ever take a look behind the eyes of the fic-writer? Did you ever wonder what made her tick, what forces shaped her, what may have molded her? I am a fic-writer, enter my world...
My world begins within the hierarchy of my fandom... I'm more creative than most of the other fans, the usual discussions that circulate bore me... Damn fic-writer. They're all alike. I'm in junior high or high school, maybe even college. I've listened to the same theories at least fifty times. I understand what you're saying, I just happen to have another opinion. "No, I don't want to post about that topic. I want to talk about something else. Something new..." Damn fic-writer. Probably just a lurker. They're all alike...
I made a discovery today. I had an idea. Wait a second, this is cool. I can turn it into anything I want it to be. If I make a mistake, or it doesn't work, I can change it. I am the creator of my own universe. I can shape it into whatever pleases me. What I think will please others... Damn fic-writer. They're all alike.
And then it happened. I posted and a door opened to a world... Rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic message is sent out, a mailbox is sought... an e-mail is found. "This is it...this is what I've been waiting for..." Someone appreciates my humble creation, even if I never meet him or her, never talk to them... Someone actually gets it, likes it. And then, it's gone...
Damn fic-writer. Flooding the list with trivial fic posts again. They're all alike... You bet your ass we're all alike... We've been spoon-fed baby food on mailing lists and message boards when we hungered for steak... The bits of feedback that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We've been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something encouraging to feedback found us willing recipients, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.
This is our world now... The world of the super-highway and the fandom, the magnificence of the modem. We make use of the characters, worlds that already exist without paying for it. We are profitless profiteers. We explore new ideas, what ifs, what could be's, we seek only feedback...And you deny us. We create to provide an entertainment for our fellow fans, without bias...You demand more, yet give us nothing in return.
Yes, I am a fic-writer. My crime is that of creativity. My crime is that of taking existing characters, what they say and think, and somehow making them my own. I am a fic-writer, and this is my manifesto. I am not the only one out there. Though we are nowhere near a dying breed, creativity alone cannot sustain us. Praise, commentary, acknowledgment keep us going. Without it, our fics die young, leaving you wondering where it went. You become disappointed, angry with us for letting you down. For not feeding your constant craving for fan-fiction. Yet you don't realize that we have our own craving, our own needs, our own "field of dreams." Simply know this: If you feedback, we will write.
-=* The Scribe *=-
Disclaimer: "Mentor's Last Words" (aka "The Hacker Manifesto") is property of The Mentor. No infringement is intended. Just changing the words to fit my people.