Talk:The Charioteer: Review (Post to maryrenaultfics by Faithfulreader)

One might ask, of course, why I feel it worthwhile to have a wiki article on what was, after all, a brief incident in the ten-year life of a smallish LJ community. I feel, though, that there are three reasons for writing it (and in such detail, too!), two of which bear directly on the history of the maryrenaultfics community, and one of which is more general.

To take the last first: trolls are a familiar concept in fandom; but it is important to realize that they often exist in the eye of the beholder. While the sort of vandalism cited at one point by hulamoth is obviously unacceptable, the fact that there were those on the comm who wondered whether faithfulreader should really be considered a troll indicates that, in other situations, on other comms, he might merely be considered a bit of a nuisance. An analysis of this particular incident suggests that he was, indeed, trying to stir up trouble. Whether that constitutes trolldom, however, is another matter. Certainly, to this day, the moderators of MRF consider him in that light. However, there is clearly a scale of trolldom; and different communities (and different people in those communities) will draw the line in different places.

The second point relates to the nature of the maryrenaultfics community. It is, on the whole, a polite place. Behind-the-scenes troubles—and all comms have them—are largely kept off the front page; and people who drop a line now and then may well have no idea that there are currents under the unruffled surface. This is not the only incident, though, in which someone (usually a new member) has failed to observe the community standard of politesse. At such times, the reaction of long-time members is negative and modly action swift. These kerfuffles may seem, to an outside perspective, to be occasioned by a level of discourtesy so slight as to render the response totally disproportionate to the offence. It is worthwhile, then, documenting a situation in which the members largely supported the moderators.

The third point relates to the history of MRF. It began as an open community: anyone could join it; anyone could read it. By 2013, it was on moderated membership, sporadically on moderated posting, and could only be read by members. This shift did not happen instantaneously, but incrementally over years. The situation as it stands today (i.e. in September 2014) has been the focus of criticism, from outside Mary Renault fandom, from MR fans who are not members of the community, and from within the community itself. (See, in particular, Naraht's post, "maryrenaultfics and me".) The relevance to this article is far from obscure: the first step in the increasing closure of MRF was explicitly taken in response to faithfulreader's post. It started here. --Greer Watson (talk) 22:02, 9 September 2014 (UTC)