Fiona wrote:

The point I wanted to make in my response to Annie might be better expressed as: "Why should it be more appropriate to carry on with an Avon Lust thread uninterrupted than to carry on with a Serious thread uninterrupted?" Both have their place, and *that* is what I want recognised. I just want equal rights for academics... :)

Maybe I'm missing something, which is quite possible, especially since I'm not an Avon Luster... But I've not seen Avon Lusters request that other fans not interrupt their threads. They may not like it. It may annoy them. They may even grumble about folks who pop in with disparaging comments. But I've not seen them suggest interruptions aren't permissible.

But I have seen the serious-posters suggest that interruptions aren't permissible. Or if one is going to interrupt, they've asked fans to change the heading. Which transfers a burden to other fans. A burden that to my mind interrupts the spontaneity of the lyst. It means whenever I'm going to respond to a thread I'd have to (a) take time to decide whether my comments might be construed as "hijacking" and (b) come up with a different subject header if I decided it might be hijacking. If I had to add those extra chores, slight as they may be, to the process, I'd do less posting. And I can't help but wonder if other fen would do less posting. I think we'd miss a lot of humorous zingers that often provide a great deal of brightness to my day.

The other solution--the one I suggested--is to set up a serious spin list. That puts the burden on the fans who want the serious threads, as opposed to putting the burden on everyone else. It's such a simple solution, I'm not sure why it's been met with a thud of silence from the serious supporters.

When the slash issue was a bone of contention, that's exactly what Susan Beth (we cant thank her enough) did. She set up a private corner where slash fans/character junkies could burble away.

Let me conclude by saying that I have sympathy with the serious posters' plight. I've made my share of well-researched (to my mind), detailed posts that have not received the serious responses I hoped. But some of the "trivial" responses to my scholarly treatises were absolutely wonderful in their own right. And I'm glad I didn't miss them. That's what a list is all about. Sometimes being disappointed and sometimes getting unexpected treasures.

Carol Mc