Mibba in the Philly news. - Comments

Wow, that article was completely and totally degrading to read. I hate the stigma surrounding fanfiction, that it's all badly written smut by twelve-year-olds. That's ridiculous. Fanfiction, particularly that of hockey, has been, to me, one of the nicest, most inclusive fandoms and it gives me a place not only to channel my appreciation for a team or player, but also a way to hone my writing skills by trying new things and receiving criticism that could help me improve. As someone who loves writing, that's really important to me.

His bio does say that he writes with "varying degrees of silliness" but come on, dude. This is the Internet. Think about what you're saying, and who you might be harming. It isn't just "silliness" to reduce young girls to stereotypes. While I do agree with his statement about fanfiction giving girls a safe place to explore their sexuality (another reason I'm a huge advocate for fanfiction) but at the same time, I hate the gender stereotypes he's poking at. Girls might be the majority shareholders here, but I do know guys who write and read fanfiction. And insinuating with surprise that girls write about hockey that they can't be genuinely fans of the sport? Not cool or even remotely true.

Finally, really? Our government has been shut down, and THAT is what they're reporting on? Some journalism. Whether he had a choice to write that article or not, I think "grow up" certainly wouldn't go amiss at this point.

I don't read or write hockey, but I couldn't help myself. I had to read this article.

I am kind of appalled. I especially felt like (maybe this is just me?) he is poking at girls who are likely half his age. Linking to their stories and profiles (I know, as a journalist this is the responsible thing to do) but I think it was in bad taste, couldn't he have left that alone? I mean, if the readers were that curious, they could have searched on their own.

Who knows, maybe this poor sap drew the short straw at the editors meeting and was irked he had to write about (and read fanfiction) - a risk he knowingly took as a journalist.

Was the article informative? Yes.
Was it in bad taste? Also, yes.

People (and attitudes) like that are exactly why people are embarrassed and ashamed to admit they write fanfiction at all.

/endrant

I'm very much considering leaving a comment on that article. Not something rude that would give Mibba a bad name, but just an FYI that every single story he linked has been worked on incredibly hard by each individual author, and that the hockey fandom is one of the sweetest fandoms I know.

I'm not sure how I feel about the article, honestly.

It's not the worst fanfiction article I've read, but I don't read or write hockey fiction. The article itself was pretty informative, which I was kind of shocked about.

Annnnd I just cringed in the worst way. I don't think you're overreacting. I haven't read the article but from what you've said it seems awful.

It's a big fear of mine that something like this will happen and one of my stories will be mentioned. I'm not ashamed and I don't think anyone should be but because of the way fan fiction is looked at on the grand stage... it's kind of scary. I'm suddenly thankful I didn't go ahead with that Claude Giroux story I was going to write a few months ago.

I don't write hockey fanfiction, or must fanfiction at all, but I still respect every piece written and the authors that write it. I didn't like this article because it's like it's making fun of fanfiction writers. What if someone dogged on article writers? I'm sure that author wouldn't like it.

Just the tone of the article and the way they have to throw in word count (like the longer your story the most strange you are) really just irked me. Obviously, they don't understand fanfiction, which means they shouldn't comment on the stories written. I really hope that the hockey fandom bites back and writes a million more fanfictions!

*end rant*

I get so pissed off when people that have no business commenting on fan fiction do so. Like, okay, it's not your thing. Move on. It's petty and to anyone that DOES actually read and write it, they sound so bloody ignorant and closed-minded.

I read a wonderful little snippet the other day from an interview with Tom Hiddleston (Loki): "People write fan fiction about him and that can get a bit racy!" Like, that was all he said and it's nothing horrible or demeaning just fact and he was probably smiling when he said it.

@ kitsch
I agree. I've been writing fan fiction since I was 12, and I'm still shocked at how it's uncool or embarrassing to write it. It's a laughing stock, basically, and it's a shame. The hockey community here is so supportive and awesome and I'd hate to see someone be discouraged, like you said.

/sigh.

I think it's very sad and rude how that's the kind of exposure one fandom on Mibba has received.
I am not a hockey fanfic writer, nor do I know anything about hockey or the players, but it's clear that those
writers put so much effort and time into their works. For it to be blasted by a reporter shows, again,
how fanfiction is not taken seriously by the general public (usually offline of course).

I just hope young(er?) writers of hockey fanfiction don't feel discouraged from writing if they stumble upon that piece.