What is your opinion on snark? This is something which is very popular among BSC fans, especially on the BSC livejournal. There are whole sites based on snark, many of which are linked in my blogroll. I happen to still be on the fence when it comes to BSC snark, however.

I like a good parody once in a while–the series of Karen stories on ff.net are a favorite of mine–but at the same time, sometimes the jokes just devolve into, “Jessi’s black, Claudia’s clothes are ugly, the BSC is soo stupid…” Then why are you reading it? Why are you spending your time writing about the series? Sometimes snark just crosses the line into negativity, and that’s when I lose interest. That’s when it stops being interesting and funny, and stops being an in-joke for fans–something that bonds fans. Then it just seems to be intended to make you feel like a jerk for actually ENJOYING the series.

Sometimes I feel like it’s just “cool” to snark, to be a hater of the series. Whatever, don’t front.

You know you love it.

So a new community just got started on livejournal: BSC Snark. In all honesty, I’m actually not that big on snark. A little snark here and there is fine, but I actually adore these books. Snark with love, perhaps, is the flavor of snark I go for. But anyway, I was reading a post about Karen’s Bunny by Lilysela when I saw this picture:

Now, I have never been a fan of Susan Tang’s interior artwork for the LS books. It always seems like she got bored after drawing the face of the character and just scribbled the rest. Looking at these illustrations, I get the impression that I, too, could make a living being an illustrator if these drawings are considered good enough to be used throughout a series that lasts for over a hundred books. But just look at this picture! I realize that yes, this scene actually does happen in the book. That does not mean, however, that it is not a weird and disturbing image. The look on Andrew’s face, the fact that he seems to be gripping onto something imaginary, his tiger face, everything… it’s all just… WRONG.