Ah, but that's the obvious choice, isn't it?  Choosing Harry Potter is
hardly a fair example, since Harry Potter fanfiction these days is
practically synonymous with "omg crap."

As an occasional Harry Potter author myself, I take extreme exception to
this.

Give me a break.  "OMG Crap!" is the attitude of the masses towards 
fanfiction in general.  I've been writing fanfiction as long as you have, 
Lurker, and I have yet to start sulking and taking it personal when someone 
points out the *blatant truth* that writing fanfiction is not a very highly 
esteemed pastime outside of our little cultural circle.  Harry Potter 
fanfiction reputation is worse -- even within that circle -- only because of 
the sheer volume of it that populates the internet.  Good grief, and we 
thought Ranma fanfic was oversaturated.  All the Ranma fanfics put together 
can't even put a dent in the massive amounts of HP fanfics currently on the 
internet.

 That's not even *my* bias, since I
have yet to read a Harry Potter fanfic, whether it's a masterpiece or the
bottom of the sludge pile.

Then don't speak about something you have no actual knowledge of.

Good grief.  I'd have to be living under a rock for the past five years NOT 
to know what's going on in the Harry Potter fandom.

It's the general feeling of the fanfic community
that I've picked up just from existing on the internet.

"General feeling" also suggests Taco Bell is inedible, Internet Explorer 
is
unusable, Windows is a joke, and boy bands suck.

And clich�s don't come into existence unless there's a pretty darn good 
precedent.

Yet millions of people eat at Taco Bell every day, millions of people use
IE, Windows is the most popular operating system worldwide, and boy bands
make obscene amounts of money until they burn out and are replaced because
people keep buying their CDs and merchandise.

The "general feeling" of the Internet is not something to use in forming 
an
opinion. Direct personal experience is.

I beg to differ.  I am quite capable of observing trends from the outside 
and forming a valid opinion.  The only thing your "direct personal 
experience" seems to be doing is making you oversensitive to my rather 
benign observations.

 So yes, if someone
posted a Harry Potter fic here, I'm sure the criticism would be *very*

swift

in coming.  ;p

Thank you for completely failing to observe my point, in favor of your 
lame
attempt at slamming a fandom you freely admit to having no direct 
experience
with and thus are ill-qualified to comment on.

And again, you are being way too oversensitive.  I am well aware that, as 
with any fandom, there are gems amidst the sludge pile.  Congrats if you're 
one of the gem-writers.  But the plain fact of the matter is that, by virtue 
of the sheer volume of Harry Potter fanfiction out there, the chances of 
finding a gem instead of crap are statistically against us.

You open the list to Harry Potter fanfiction, then ODDS ARE that all the 
vocal critics will be tearing the "new blood" new ones.  And again, if 
that's what the goal is, hey, go for it.

-Krista 


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