Fanfic vs. TBAY

[Dicentra spectabilis]

--- In HPFGU-Feedback at yahoogroups.com, "gwendolyngrace"
<gwendolyngrace at y...> wrote:
> 
> But recall that fanfic discussion was 
> allowed for a long time, too, and the list adjusted when it was 
> decided to ban fanfic discussion.

Fanfic discussion on HPfGU is problematic for different reasons than
TBAY is problematic (assuming that it is).  

TBAY draws on past HPfGU discussions and on the HP canon -- 5 novels,
2 schoolbooks, numerous JKR interviews.  Fanfic discussion would draw
on the thousands upon thousands of fanfics that exist on the Internet.  

When fanfic discussion was eliminated from HPfGU, those who wished to
discuss fanfic went elsewhere to discuss it -- to FictionAlley,
SugarQuill, and the dozens of other sites dedicated to posting and
evaluating fanfic.  

If TBAY were taken off HPfGU, where would those who enjoy it go? 
There are no existing sites dedicated to posting and analyzing TBAY. 
To form such a site would cut TBAY off from its source: it would be
the equivalent of forbidding HP fanfic from using the Potterverse as
its starting point.

TBAY is an artifact of HPfGU: it emerged here, it thrives here.  It
also accounts for a very small percentage of total posts -- 3% at last
count.  Even if TBAY *were* a scourge and an abomination, it would be
an awfully insignificant one.  Filks occupy about the same proportion
of posts, which means that ~6% of the total posting takes on a form
that some find inappropriate, uninteresting, or loathsome.

The "decline" in posting quality that Gwen alleges is entirely in the
eye of the beholder.  Having perused the entire archive, I have not
found any stretch that was objectively better than the others.  The
tenor of the discussions changed as the membership shifted, but that's
not the same as "decline."  

It's entirely possible that we all think that the first 6-12 months of
our tenure at HPfGU was the "Golden Age" of posting because that's
when our enthusiasm and interest were at their peak.  Inevitably, you
tire of the discussions, your favorite posters wander off, and the
list seems to decline, when in fact it's only your interest that is
waning.

If we assert that "if fanfic is banned from HPfGU, TBAY should also,"
it assumes that they are roughly equivalent.  That being the case,
should TBAY move to FictionAlley?  Would the Crouch Novenna or the
Assassin!Snape threads be welcome over there?

I should hope not.  They're not fanfic.

--Dicentra, unofficially