screw it. I thought I'd do this in a day or two, but I made a preliminary list and figured "What the hell? I"m still up; this is something I can do tonight, and dammit, I'm curious as to what others think."

Thing is: this list is short. It's those writers/fans that are HUGE to me. I have so many more that I admire, that I read whatever the hell they write. But for some reason, they're not BNFs to me.

Anyway:

BNF list

wesleysgirl - a nicer, more pleasant calm person (at least on LJ) I have not met. She is fierce in her defense of her friends, and not afraid to admit when she may be wrong. She also writes wonderful characters and responds to almost all fb left to her. She supports new writers with constructive criticism and her recs are awesome. She's one of the three main people responsible for me getting an LJ in the first place.

janedavitt - helpful, beautiful, smart funny. TALENTED beyond all get out, prolific. A joy to have listed as my friend, even though she's left my fandom *sniff* and I miss her interpretations of the jossverse terribly. She's another one not afraid to defend her friends. Also, she is VERY assertive. She does not tolerate passive aggressive behavior, and manages to remain calm and level headed - most of the time - when outing someone for being so. I love her wit, her empathy, and her sheer delight in everything fannish. the second of the three that got me started on LJ, too.

wolfling - Wolfling's journal was the first one I ever read. EVER. I don't even remember how I got to it. probably through wesleysgirl's website. But i found her fascinating. Bright, witty, talented, and oh my god, does she kick my ass with her Giles and Ethan! I don't know her as well as I'd like, she doesn't post too often anymore, but she's another fierce one. Hmm, I think I have a trend developing here....

thebratqueen - funny, articulate. Talented. Also don't know her as well as I'd like, but I'm beginning to. I just recently friended her, but I read just about everything on her website. I love her sense of whimsey, her delight in her life, and her joy in fandom. She's a joy to read on my flist.

tabaqui - sweetheart! Queen of Spander. Here's the thing about tabaqui. She is who she is. She's uber supportive of new writers, reads and comments, and leaves encouraging messages for new writers. She's popular, I know. But there's a reason: BECAUSE SHE ROCKS! Smart as a whip, and not afraid to share herself on LJ. I just love her sense of humor, her brain, her creativity.

darkhavens - spander den mother! Thank the lords for her creating bloodclaim. She's just a wonderful example of a supportive, encouraging member of the fandom. When I first started writing Spander and posting to her community, she left amazing feedback for me. She's a wonderful mod, commenting on the members' successes and she pimps the hell out of new writers and communities. I've joined several communities because of her recommendation and learned a lot about writing from going where she leads.

lazulikat - Just one of the most legendary Spander stories ever came from this woman. Repossession is one of my favorite stories, so deep and detailed and has a little bit of everything that should be in a spander story and a lot of the things that NEED to be in a spander story. Also, her Yahoo group Excessant, is host to several more spander writers and readers. She's graciously allowed space on her server as an archive site: Tales From the Attic, and she's another one who encourages newbies, as well as calling a halt to the BS that sometimes happens in fandom.

tkp - tkp is not on my flist, but she is on several of my friends' lists. This chick is SMART y'all. She offers up some of the best analysis of fic I've ever seen, and it's not done in such a way as to illuminate her brain, but to illuminate the FIC. So many people try to do that - analyze and dissect a story, and most of them are showing off their own prowess at well, deconstruction of fiction, but not tkp. She ENJOYS fic! She lists the reasons why! She engages her brain and is so chuffed when others do as well. She's one that encourages the intellectualization of fanfiction, but not obviously so. I really love reading what she has to say.

stoney321 - Hmmm. putting stoney on my list is probably going to get me some WTF posts, but I don't give a shit. Stoney freakin' rocks! She LOVES fandom. She loves to pick it apart and dissect it, and see what it ate for breakfast! She laughs at it, not in ridicule - ok, sometimes in ridicule but never with names!!! - but in enjoyment for the craziness that is fandom. She can also be dead on serious, and when she is? Holy Hannah, you'd better watch out. I have a couple people on my flist who will not share my opinion of her, and that's fine. I've read the reasons why - from both sides - and understand it. But it doesn't change the fact that, for me, stoney is one of the coolest fans on my flist.

yin_again - Yin....I love Yin, like no tomorrow. She's always struck me as someone who cares about, well, everything. She rescues dogs, she writes like nobody's business. She shares herself with the fandom, and is always a little taken aback at how good others think she is. I remember the first time she EVER commented on a story I wrote. I was so floored, I neated up my LJ for her, and she just giggled (of course all this was done with the little asterisks *) and made me feel so comfortable and at ease. I friended her immediately and have not regretted it. She's just an awesome person to have on your flist.

I didn't make this list to offend. I didn't make it to say that these people are better than others. It's just these are the fans that illustrate my interpretation of BNF. Others may disagree with me, and that's cool. I'm interested to see who you all think are BNFs.

For what I consider to be the definition of BNF, please see the previous post.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled LJ programming.