top five fannish pet peeves

I don't normally bother getting peevish over fandom, either the fen themselves or the canon they worship, but for some reason -- let's call it spring fever, exacerbated by what feels like the longest fucking show hiatus in the history of show hiati -- lately things have been building up in a chest-compressing way, and I'm just going to get them off my chest so I can move on and go back to my normal, not-oblivious-but-altogether-more-forgiving view of fandom and fans.

Feel free to participate or ignore as you feel this post deserves. Okay? Okay!

1. Fans who have expectations or pet theories and get pissy when they aren't fulfilled. Now, I'm not talking about expectations of quality, here, or expectations that the story will be told in a way that makes sense, or even expectations that the story being told is one that will continue to be told. No, I'm talking about very specific expectations, as in, I want X to happen, and then when Y happens instead, they're outraged. It seems pretty obvious to me that when someone tells a story, s/he's telling the story s/he wanted to tell, not any other story. S/he has no other obligations than obligations to the story itself.
   
   Audience members are totally allowed to be upset about a lot of things! they can be outraged over plot holes and fallacies, despise inconsistencies in quality or tone of writing, hate on characters who've changed too much -- or too little, or with too little explanation -- over the course of the story. But they can't get pissed off that where the story's heading is not where they wanted it to head, because you know what? It's not their story to tell. That story, the one that people might want to see but don't? That's what fanfiction is for.



2. Fans who complain and complain about decisions the show has made, to the point that they feel it necessary to voice their complaints to TPTB, and in the same breath complain that TPTB listen far too closely to fandom opinion. As I see it, you can have it one way or the other. Not both! Let's not be greedy, right?



3. Fans who voice their opinions about a show in such a way as to imply that anyone disagreeing is not only wrong, but also somehow inferior. I find this especially infuriating when people appoint themselves spokesperson for a certain group, condemning dissenting members of that same group as being lazy or inferior members because they don't agree.
   
   I mean, if I, as a fisherman, use a certain type of lure that works for me, I should not imply that disagreeing fishermen are only disagreeing because as fishermen they kind of suck. I may disagree with them, of course! Vehemently, even! But I should always keep in mind that what works for me might not work for others, and there might be many reasons why this is true. I really, really oughtn't make assumptions that because they do not use my favored lure, they are therefore inferior fisherman. This is not a logical progression, folks, it is an emotional one, and as such has no place in a reasoned argument.



4. Fans who freely use gross hyperbole as a tool for debate but refuse to recognize others' rights to employ similar tools. If you're allowed to do it, so are other people. Contrariwise, if they're not allowed, you shouldn't be, either.



5. A general lack of robots. Every fandom should have robots to get excited about! And if you don't agree, then you just don't understand what fandom is all about. I am setting up an online petition to add robots to fandom; I'll let you know when it's ready.

So what are your peeves, lately? It's only fair that you should get to grouse.