The Eddie Cahill TalkCSI Chat, And by Any Means Necessary

An addendum to yesterday's post on fandom "obligations". While I still happily submit that feedback is not mandatory, that assertion does not hold if the fic has been specifically written as a gift, either from a private request or a fandom exchange. In those circumstances, acknowledgment is most definitely in order, even if it's only, "I read it. Thank you."

I've written three gift fics for people. Two responded, even though one took seven months. squee1123, for whom I wrote a fic for the spn_holidays exchange, can still kiss my ass, however.

Speaking of SPN fandom, I finally found the motherlode of wank that sparked so much of the meta I've been reading. Apparently, somebody named names, took a shit all over said BNFs, and then backpedaled like hell when umbrage was taken.

What boggled me wasn't the grudge-wanking or the pie-in-the-sky "everybody deserves love and recognition and cookies in fandom" mentality. Those are old as fen and as stupid now as they were the first time. No, what amazed me was the backpedaling by some posters when they realized the OP was 16.

"Oh, well, it's not your fault. I'm an adult, and I should know better."

Bzuh. And? Sixteen is plenty old enough to recognize what you are doing and to be called to account for wanky, nasty behavior. If she isn't told now, she never will be. She'll be a 30-year-old entitlement whore just like so many purported adults on the Internet. I'm tired of youth being used as a pass for poo-flinging assholery.

Last night was the Eddie Cahill chat. As always, he was a lovely gentleman, and I can't fangirl him enough. He's just plain decent, and it's too bad there aren't more like him.

The questions were vanilla softballs, though. I'd love to get him in a chat and ask him substantive questions about his character and the course of the show rather than suffer through discussion of Flack's prospects for getting laid.

Maybe if the 35th gets a good foothold.../pipe dream.

There was a spectacular instance of pity-whoring during the chat. Tattoos came up, and somebody asked him where he thought she should get inked. But rather than simply saying she was celebrating a special occasion, she mentioned that she was a five-year cancer survivor and blah blah blah.

I was floored. It was blatant emotional manipulation. I know because when I was younger and even more bitter, I wasn't above using my disability and winsome looks to meet local celebrities. I used those same tactics...when I was 14. Then, I realized how it made me look, how unfair and coy and nastily fucking crass it was, how it undermined my dignity, and I stopped.

Hey, I understand the wish for Eddie to notice and remember you. Hell, I'd be over the moon, but not if it was because I was that "poor crippled girl." That's just shameless, and I couldn't believe an adult would go there.

But she got personal recognition from Eddie, so I guess she got what she wanted. I wonder if it was worth it.