Farscape on the Net: Threat or Menace 

I only have photos as evidence that this happened to me, AmyJ. But this November I was the rare and lucky chance to share the stage with the administrators of some of the most popular Farscape websites: KernilCrash (Kansas), Angie (benbrowder.net), Thinkum (snurcher.com) and un4scene (ultimate). And to add an extra note of surrealism, producer/writer/nemesis Ricky Manning was recruited as our moderator! Oh joy! (Oh. Don’t get me wrong. Froony, we love ya!)

These fantastic folks are some of the nicest, most intelligent, professional people I’ve ever met. And I was very flattered to represent karlsweb among them. Although each of our sites are all rather different on application and outlook when it comes to Farscape, we all share the same philosophies when it comes to our dedication to Farscape and by extension our responsibilities to the ‘Scaper community.

No reason to really restate the obvious is there. The reason we are all at the convention is to recognize greatness in science fiction when we see it. It’s a no brainer. Farscape is the best there is/was/ever will be. It is intelligent, smart, entertainment that is rich with detail, both visual and metaphysical. For each of us, it was love at first sight, or at the very least, it was a driving sense of curiosity that carried us to learn more and ultimately come to love the show. This same thing compelled each of us to manage a website on the very subject.

And what about the ‘Scaper community? Time and again, it comes up in the course of the panel that there is a great deal of respect for the actors, the show, and the community of fellow fans as a whole. These things add up and are apparent in the practically unprecedented nature of our interaction as a fandom. Although there might be differences, Scapers have responded to adversity by acting as a community.

Angie said it perfectly to paraphrase: We act as a family. There is a sense of family. And when family is threatened we ban together. The ultimate example is the incredible job the folks at savefarscape.com have done. And the recent good news of the show’s continuation has offered well-earned vindication of that incredible sense of togetherness and dedication to that “Scaper family.”

Another example is when rumors fly or the accursed spoilers (eh-hem) rear their ugly heads, Scapers react usually as a whole in mature, composed and intelligent manner to demand forensic evidence of the spoilers. “Back it up!” they demand. And we all know where this is going, don’t we?

Speaking of spoilers, the opportunity arises to basically publicly string me out. It is at this moment that I realize why Karlsweb.com is represented here. Despite my efforts to promote us as a fan fiction site, “spoilers” is a word that is synonymous with karlsweb.

My lungs threaten to collapse on themselves and my brain darts around frantically for a means of escape from my skull as I hear Ricky Manning start his wind up. (Oh and this is gonna be a knuckle ball too…)

I get the uneasy sense that a bull’s eye has appeared on my forehead and I make a silent futile wish to become invisible at will. Spoilers? What spoilers? 

The fact is, if it weren’t for a few hundred witnesses or so, I would have had no idea what had fallen out of my mouth when I was meant to defend the karlsweb philosophy on spoilers. This little speech was delivered in weak kneed-stomach-knotted-fight-or-flight-adrenaline- fueled-jaw-wagging-out-of-body-experience:

“One thing that we always try to make sure of is that if we have a spoiler, we try to verify its integrity. And a lot of the ones that come forth are out of publications in the UK. Well, we’re in the US and sometimes there are pictures there that haven’t even aired [in episodes] in the US yet…sooooo…  we’re taking this as almost factual that this is going to happen so speculation can be made on it. So from there you can make the connection that at some point it would be ok to put that up on the website because in the future, it may or may not be right.”

I imagine my high school English teacher shaking her head in shame at the incredible complexity of this little run on sentence. Cripes, did I really say that?  

AmyJ