I missed all the "Who is a BNF?" discussions while I was away. I hate it when I miss controversy. Not that I ever jump in with two feet or anything, but I would have liked to read more - only because I'm still musing over the concept (thanks to the Inimitable Miss Barr and a bit of silliness she wrote over the weekened) and so I'm wondering what it is that makes people embrace the concept so whole-heartedly and others flee in fear. I'm a "flee-er" btw. The very idea makes me nervous - like all of a sudden I have to do something profound and marvelous. I rather think of myself as a minion, albeit one who nags a lot.

There ought to be a checklist to figure out if you are a BNF or not. Not that I'm volunteering to create one. I hardly know what makes a BNF. I like to think quality fic has something to do with it, but I'm learning, thanks to zendom, that fandom is greater than fic and that it takes all kinds to have a happy fannish experience. I really wish there was a working definition of BNF out there that we could all look at and say, "Okay, this is why X is a BNF and this is why Y isn't one." It's not so much that you can write a great fic these days and be considered a BNF on the merit of that fic. You can also be a BNF if you are an archivist, listmod of a popular list, or a witty, interesting blogger.

Hmmm... or I could just be a Mod Squadder. Which is just as cool, if not cooler, than being a BNF (if I were a BNF, that is).