TBAY poll and Majority rule

[thomasmwall at thomasmwall.yahoo.invalid]

I've seen a lot of really nice points here, both for and against the 
TBAY format, and I'm glad to see that most all of us have been able 
to keep our emotions controlled and the tone both civil and 
productive, despite the fact that TBAY is - and probably will 
continue to remain - a contentious topic.

I figured I'd throw in my own two cents, since I hadn't noticed a 
particular perspective - namely, mine - on the board.

When I first joined in January of this year, I have to confess that 
the TBAY format, well, it *befuddled* me a little bit. 

I suppose it's because I didn't get a few of the jokes, but that's 
not, IMHO, a big deal: I don't get the in-jokes in more academic and 
straightforward posts as well. In-jokes will exist no matter what 
particular *style* of writing the list uses. That's what naturally 
happens when groups of people get together.

I also suppose that it's because I didn't appreciate the complexity 
of the literalized metaphors that TBAY luminaries, like Eileen, 
Elkins, Cindy and Pip use in their posts. For me, though, arcane 
references to 'MATCHING ARMCHAIRS' and 'FEATHERBOAS' weren't daunting 
or annoying. Quite to the contrary, they were an exciting call to 
visit Hypothetic Alley and a chance to learn more about the highly 
idiosyncratic functions on HPfGU. For anyone who *hasn't* spent a 
weekend there reading the Memory Charm Symposium or all about George, 
Faith, and Toadkeeper, I highly recommend it.

I'd say that my biggest problem with the TBAY format was *myself.* 

I personally wanted to be sure to, well... Elkins put this really 
well in the Crouch Novenna, which I just finally printed out in its 
entirety and read, um, 'cover to cover,' so to speak. I loved every 
minute of it, by the way, and wholeheartedly agree with Eileen's 
point that it's very likely that over half of that content wouldn't 
have been even writable - in an interesting way, so to speak - if the 
form of dialogue wasn't used. Some stuff just can't be properly 
conveyed unless you're 'handsawing CRABCUSTARD' and sitting on a 
hobby-horse that goes by the name 'Affective Fallacy.' Maybe that's 
just me. ;-)

At one point, Elkins attributed quite a bit of pro-Crouch Sr. 
invective to TBAY!Eileen, and knowing that Real!Eileen hadn't said 
*half* of the stuff in there, the distinguished lady threw in a 
disclaimer, and an explanation that she was trying to stick to 
the 'canon' of Eileen's posts.

I really appreciated reading that, and realized that even an 
*established* member like Elkins was conscious of the possible danger 
that could be derived from putting words into people's mouths.

So, if I had to accurately express my position on TBAY, it's this: 
I'm often hesitant to jump in because I don't want to wrongfully 
attribute a position to someone. 

For instance, how embarassing would it be to make Pippin a Lupin-
lover in a TBAY post?

As an ignorant newbie, who didn't then - and to a large degree still 
doesn't now - necessarily know all of the participants' various 
positions on the canon, I was mostly concerned that I'd cite someone 
incorrectly, or attribute to them a position that they wouldn't 
ordinarily take on their own.

My own compromise for this was to participate in a way that wasn't 
necessarily discussion oriented, but that employed the fictive style 
of TBAY. For instance, I wrote a post after the OoP release in which 
I characterized the fraud that is the Heir of Gryffindor theory 
(sorry, had to get my digs in there <g>) as a balding old man with 
tattered robes who couldn't let go of his past glory and instead 
spent all of his time hanging around his ruined manor house. I cited 
some other discussions that were going on for the sake of setting 
information, but by and large most of the action took place between 
me and the Heir. And let me tell you - it was *delightful* to kick 
the old fraud around a little bit, both figuratively and literally. 

;-)

What am I saying here? TBAY as a format doesn't bother me at all - in 
fact, I find it highly interesting and imaginative. I understand why 
some might not want to participate in the style, and can relate to 
reservations that a new person may have upon first reading a post of 
that nature, and the subsequent reservations one might have about 
jumping right into the fray.

What's the best solution? Well, IMHO it's *not* to try to make TBAY 
go away. My advice? Read up on Hypothetic Alley, and *then,* once 
you're prepared with knowledge, feel free to jump right in. In my 
experience, most of the veterans here are very forgiving and would be 
delighted to welcome some new members to the Safe House, the Canon 
Museum, or on the Bay itself. The more the merrier! ;-)

-Tom