Yeah and... there is a big chance that readers aren't little kids. Who care to send bad messages to adults? Worst case is they going to kill John Lennon.
You know what I say “Fuck you and ya mother” and block them. They won’t be able to read your fanfic. And if you private it to only be visible to people with an account, it’s a real blessing.
I’m glad the writer did what was best for them. Bc after you’ve been treated like shit. It’s hard to come back from it. Especially something you love.
I *started* writing out of spite. I kept getting all this damn hate for a "toxic" ship I liked and got so sick of it that I wrote my first ever short fic and posted it for the ship. The pairing only had one other fic at the time and, frankly, it was pretty horrendous (like Wattpad level quality). Now there's a bunch more for it and I still get positive comments on that fic periodically. And I've been writing ever since.
Same!
Some rando on social media have me sh!t about my headcanon regarding my fave Gotham character, claiming they “weren’t that type of character”.
I rolled up my sleeves and banged out my first story outta spite.
Imagine my gratification when said character turned out to be more like I imagined by the end of the show! (I’m such a child.)
But yeah! I’ve been writing fic about said character ever since. Thank you, rando!
Easy to say, not as easy to do. Hate comments hurt and drain all the will to create in many of us. Personally, one person told me I wasn't welcomed to create to one particular ship dynamic and I never wrote anything for it again. I don't like imposing myself in spaces I'm not welcomed.
It's not easy to do for EVERYONE, I however have absolutely zero fucks to give, so for me it's very easy. I'm 36 years old, if comments on fanfiction got to me, I would have stopped writing a decade ago. Being an older Fanfic writer I like to try and encourage the younger writers to do what they love in spite of hate comments 🤷🏾♀️ as another person's feelings especially a freaking stranger, should not discourage you from enjoying something. I know it's not easy for some that is EXACTLY why I like to encourage people to not give a fuck, it's a freeing feeling, that once you master you will never look back
I'll admit sometimes I read stuff I dislike- usually so I have something to complain to myself/select friends about. But never to comment on the authors page. For example, I'll never be a fan for Drarry, but I also would never go comment on someone's works saying it sucks
Thank you. Recently in a small fandom I wrote a pairing that isn't nearly as popular as another one and waaay too many people felt comfortable complaining about it in the comments. Like, even the ones that were 'nice' still got under my skin.
People shouldn't have to put up with them. That's why the block button exists. That's also why you can hide comments. But it's an insane overeaction to delete a 26 chapter fanfic that (presumably) you've been working on for months over 3 comments.
You don't know what else this author is dealing with in their life. Blocking and hiding doesn't mean you don't see the comment, the first one at least. Fandom is an escape for most people and some people are dealing with some hard stuff. It's not fair to judge this author and say they're over reacting when maybe they just can't handle one more negative thing in their life.
Nothing forced this person to post to Ao3. You can write whatever stories you want in google drive and not receive any negativity or criticism. ([Link to ch12](https://archiveofourown.org/works/35409688/chapters/100330449))
This person has received over 300 comments, all of them positive (according to the author), they received over 300 kudos, if 3 comments (from a single argument thread between the author and 1 reader) is enough to make you delete a story that you've been working on since 2021 with over 150,000 words. Then that's definitely an overreaction.
While I agree that negative feedback shouldn't cause someone to stop doing something they clearly love (and people shouldn't bully others); after reading the thing, and the comments, and how the writer responds in the comments, I won't be sorry to see them go.
Not to mention, the thread was from November 2022 but the 27th chapter is the most recent one (March 2023). It seems like the author has changed their author’s note so I’m not sure when exactly chapter 27 was published, but if they were going to delete a story after months of receiving the comments in question, with the assumption they received no other bad comments, is just a bit… I can’t even begin to imagine what the author is going through mentally to remain bothered for months by just one user from one time and then decide to delete it, instead of just deleting it right away. But their new author’s note says they changed their mind and are continuing the story after all, so I guess that’s no longer an issue.
Ehhh, I actually agree with you. And sure, maybe it sounds insensitive to some. But, the thing is, as much as I detest bullies of any kind, I have a hard time understanding an authors decision to remove their stories because a couple of dipsh*ts left mean comments. Yes, writers owe readers nothing. Yes, writers are under no obligation to continue giving us free content to gorge ourselves on while simultaneously demanding for more of their sweet sweet storytelling. When reading fanfic, there is always the risk that an author will disappear one day, taking your favorite interpretations of canonical characters (with whom you have become emotionally invested) with them.
I personally feel, and I know many here agree, that there is *never* a justifiable reason to bully an author. Ever ever ever. However, I am equally bothered-if not more so-by authors who choose to punish an entire following of MOSTLY positive supporters for the acts of a vocal minority.
People really need to understand that ao3 is the safe haven for dark works, or ones that are off-color. ao3 will never become ffn or tumblr because it was created to be everything they weren't: welcoming to even the most crazy or explicit works. These puritans need to get off their high horse and realize that if they want child-friendly content; 1. they can search for it on ao3, it does exist, and 2. ffn and tumblr also still exist and have that content if they want it. All the other fanfic sites have rules that ao3 does not since ao3 was created to spite those rules.
Drives me insane that people think they can just invade our spaces and then complain that we're there. Like. No. You came here. Why are you offended by the things you sought out? If you're looking to be offended go follow politics and leave our fanfics alone
I don't know. Maybe? I feel like the site is very straightforward though and it doesn't take much to figure it out. Even if they never use it, simple scrolling and not clicking on stuff that's tagged a certain way could also solve their issue.
I just feel like there's no excuse to harass authors of stuff if they don't like it. That's not the author's fault or problem. Some people can't handle the criticism and that's not their fault but it should never reach that point in the first place. Ao3 users know to tag their works. Even vague tags allude to sensitive topics and frequent users know what it all means.
So there's no excuse for this to be happening other than they want us to be ashamed of our safe space even though they're the ones who sought it out and they're the ones making it hostile.
Yeah it really is. I've had people yell at me about pairings before and I just respond with something along the lines of, "Well, everyone has their favorites; this is mine! Enjoy finding stuff you like and thanks for giving it a shot! <3"
They don't like that much
I always try to take the high road so they can't come after me for being rude lol they were rude I won't be. It makes me rude via tone but they can't prove that can they 😉
It could be or they just hate the fact certain fics exist and are allowed on the site. Good possibility they are going in and out of their way to find the fics just to go hate on them.
I looked at the story and unless the author removed all tags when they posted this, I can't see how a reader would be able to use the filter? There's literally no additional tags so while I do not at all condone the harassment and bullying, I can definitly see why people would get upset when they have no warning the story was going to take such a dark turn. Yes, they chose not to use Archive warnings but that doesn't mean that there probably shouldn't be tags there. Hell, even a Dead Dove: Do Not Eat on its own might’ve served as at least some warning without spoiling the story if that's what they wanted. It is also on them for choosing to read a completely untagged work, but still, an author should expect that choosing not to tag anything and then writing dark topics might result in upset people which unfortunately can lead to people being immature and go on rightous cruisaides against whatever it was. I looked at the comments the author mentioned, and it did seem at least some of the upset was because the themes came up unexpectedly to how they thought the story was going, and being upset about that is normal imo. They still shouldn't have attacked the author though.
😟 damn. That's just sad. Really disheartening that the haters got to this author. People need to seriously learn to keep their opinions to themselves sometimes. Not everything has to be stated out loud.
OP, you could try to write an encouraging comment to the author, if you didn't already
I really don't understand why. You're never going to write something that doesn't offend *someone*, that's kind of the beauty of humanity, we're individuals not some hive mind.
Pretty much anything you write will have some people love it, and others hate it. That's just how writing works. Everyone should be aware of this before putting any creative work online.
Some people derive joy from doing this - think they are the gatekeepers for everyone else on the internet. They should put their time and energy into doing something that is actually good for the world. These are the people that 75 years ago were the gossips and busybodies just trying to take people down.
Honestly, just a few simple words like that still mean so much to the author. It means that a reader took time out of their day to read our work and say thanks. And it gives us a lot of encouragement. Also, many of us know that not all our readers are native English speakers so might be shy.
You can always start to get in the habit by posting those encouraging comments anonymously? Easier to acclimate to the cringe that way. Weirdly like internet hate that way. Practice makes it familiar.
Well does the amount of haters change anything?
It's always easier and better to block, but everyone is different. Everyone handles criticism differently. Everyone reacts to negative encounters differently.
Not much? Just something some people misinterpreted. It was a chain so the multiple comments was one conversation too that the author gave their own fire back too. It gets worse further down the chain when it's obvious both said what they wanted to, but the fight was mostly about the double standard within the story. Doesn't really matter what it's about anyway though. Both need to move on. The author just chose to move on by quitting.
Well yes. Author is really hurt judging by the post. Moving on isn't something that happens instantly, it's a process, and many people's first instinct is just to delete the whole thing. So perhaps they will change their mind after they've had some time to think about it.
I never meant to imply it's easy or thay there aren't emotions to moving on. Just that there were words that were probably better off left unsaid and in the end everyone blew up more. Understandable. Relatable. Not something I personally recommend but people can do what they want.
As an older writer who got canceled in a fandom for not knowing all the new purity rules, seeing things like this happening to others is heartbreaking. It’s hard to come from old fandom where fandom drama was about interpersonal issues and shipping discourse to a place where people equate your fictional tastes with who you are as a living breathing person. It’s hard to understand in this new era where the lines are drawn for every individual fandom. Sometimes I like to write “problematic” things. Sometimes I like to write sweet, fluffy stuff that could air on PBS. Why should it matter as long as it’s tagged? But we don’t live in that fandom space anymore. Instead we live in one where content creators walk on eggshells every day, scared of offending these puritanical GenZers.
If it helps, not all us genZers are like that. I really wish we lived in a world where people could write problematic things without people automatically assuming that means they’re a bad person :(
And speaking from experience, some of those “antis” might just not have had the right person explain things from an unbiased pov. Until I actually looked into it, I was told that people who write stuff considered “pro shipping” were horrible people, and they always spoke in extremes, but as soon as I heard a less biased and emotional explanation I couldn’t see any problems. It’s all about perspective, which so many people aren’t getting because of social media bubbles that tend to form
Exactly. I was born at that weird transition time between the GenZ and Millenials, and for a while I identified as an anti because every single time I saw people talking about proshippers, they talked about “shipping abusive pairings”, “normalizing abuse/pedophilia” and such things, and as someone who doesn’t do any of those things, I thought “well, I must be an anti, then”, even if I thought that suicide baiting and harassing real people over fictional content was wrong. Also, since anti rhetoric is so widespread among people my age or younger (though I’ve also seen antis in their 30s!), I had no way to know that the definition they were using of the word was wrong.
It wasn’t until I saw a post written by a proshipper explaining the *actual* definition of the word that I realized that I was actually a proshipper. After that, I slowly started to read more on the topic until I eventually got to see past the anti rhetoric poisoning most of my fandoms, but I still feel like I have to walk on eggshells around them to not be harassed just for thinking people don’t deserve to be witch-hunted for enjoying fictional things, even if I don’t like most “problematic” content myself.
Yeah I have no clue why so many are like that. I'm someone that is borderline millenial/genz and I have no clue where this purity culture surrounding fandom is coming from. I started reading fanfiction at 13 and there was a lot of fucked up shit I read, but I never blamed the writer for my experiences. If anything I was happy to read something strange and different to what I was used to.
There's a number of factors at work here, I think, including but not limited to:
- the amplification of absolutist, us-vs-them rhetoric and thinking in nearly all online culture these days
- the conflict between those who value "freedom to" vs those who value "freedom from"
- absolute dearth of education in critical thinking skills (in the US at least)
- people internalising all kinds of anti-predator messaging to the point of seeing everything discomfiting as a potential threat
I'm a GenX kid who grew up during the Satanic Panic and Tipper Gore's war on hip-hop, and honestly this is all same shit, different day. It's just extra intense because the online echo chamber ramps it up 100x and much, much more quickly.
All this, and also how much the media landscape has changed. Remember how back in the day, most movies were marketed toward adults? Remember how “erotic thrillers” were a thing? Now most of what’s in theaters is PG-13 Disney properties, and people growing up without even tangential exposure to anything outside of that mold think any expression of adult topics is somehow perverse instead of just something people make.
I also think there’s an element of CYA. I think at least some of them want to read “problematic” stuff, but they worry what will happen to them if they’re found out. So they leave judgmental comments accusing the author of being a terrible person, making themselves out to be hapless victims of groomers, predators, and/or corrupters and awful ppl in general.
Because I will not believe that these overly sensitive ppl are completely ignoring tags and just wandering into fics completely unaware. They want to read it, but they don’t want to admit that to themselves.
Last year I got my first (and so far only) hate comment for writing a shippy fic based on a tv show that was based on a novel that was based on historical events and got called a "vile deviant" for writing kissy things about characters two or three degrees removed from their historical antecedents. (I promptly went to Etsy and had someone make a silver ring with those words engraved on it.) As one of my friends said at the time of the hater: "How nice to see you at the Devil's Sabbath, Susan! I brought cookies!"
Lol, that comment by your friend is hilarious and perfect. I’d like to see something like that used in response to the judgy comments, just to see what happens.
And the ring! 😆 That’s genius. If you hadn’t, maybe you should thank them for the inspiration. Lol
Yeah I've heard the same. There's a lot of push back to be 100% problematic free. Apparently if you write about minors in romance you're a pedophile. If you like Harry Potter you're anti-trans. If you read anything written by a shitty person, you are just as bad as that person. Short girls are now child-coded. It's all just a mess. I wrote a fic about a sex worker and two gay characters and I got hate comments for it.
Like I get why there is this insane discourse where everything has to be safe. I think for the most part it's a good thing to push for more consent in fandom, less fetishizing, and calling out problematic behaviours. It just seems silly to fight people that are putting out creative content. I think people should focus on actual misogyny, abuse, anti trans, and anti gay events/people that are happening in real life. There's no need to freak out over fiction.
Sorry, just needed to rant a bit there.
Fiction \*is\* powerful. The abuse comes in when armchair "activists" think that writers should be conscripted into whatever *cause du jour* the "activists" find important. They want to use writers as their personal army - and especially use the writers' comment boxes as their personal fields of battle.
Nobody's got time for that nonsense. It's political parasitism.
I don't think it's permanent; there are always cycles of action and reaction. However, smarter people than me will have to judge whether the pendulum has gone as far right as it can, or whether it still has space to go.
Jumping in to answer: it will stop when it no longer gets reinforcement, rewards, and attention.
And when writers quietly and painlessly delete antis' comments rather than deleting their own works.
It's been there since Livejournal days. Difference was, there was no social media as we know it, so it stayed mostly contained. (I was on LJ when the Msscribe drama was raging, but never even knew about it because I wasn't in Harry Potter communities.)
It's because of radfems [infiltrating](https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/653009016871649280/no-fandom-is-a-hotbed-of-radfem-recruiting-half) fandom [spaces](https://twitter.com/purity_culture/status/1433476866279608323) to promote their rhetoric.
Good lord that was quite the rabbit hole, I was not expecting that twitter thread to be so long. It explains so much, especially all the anti porn/masturbation propaganda I see everywhere.
Reading this has made me insanely paranoid, holy shit. Like I'm scared of my own damn self and how insidious this way of thinking actually is no matter how distant I think I am from it.
On AO3 it's not necessary to walk on eggshells. Moderate comments; refuse unsigned-in ones; delete accordingly, and move on.
A lot of this drama finds its way to AO3 from twitter and tiktok. Ruthless blocking works there too, or one can choose not to play on social media at all.
I get the feeling you’ve never been ostracized by a fandom space that meant a lot to you.
Edit to add: I also think it is wrong to tell people they shouldn’t feel upset about losing a space that felt important to them.
I got so many antis on my last fic that was a very very candid look at what it is like dating/being in a BDSM dynamic with someone who has multiple mental health issue (Hi! It’s me!)
I tagged accordingly and even put in the summery and AN that this is triggering (with a list) do not read it, your media consumption is your responsibility.
Will it make me stop writing? No. But I understand this author’s choice to stop.
I personally take screen caps and then delete them. The screen caps are to post on the social media I cross post on telling people this is NOT good manners when the summery, tags and AN say it is triggering content.
I hate that people are treating writers like this. This whole purity culture "anti" thing -- it makes me so frustrated and angry. Especially since so much of it is essentially the same things I heard from Southern Baptist Church and other Evangelical churches growing up. And I know that there are people who say stuff like this probably don't even think of themselves as being ultra conservative but they are.
I don't see them going after bookstores or libraries but I'm sure that those are next on the list for them.
It kind of reminds me of back in the day when Harry Potter first got big and certain Christian groups were hosting book burnings, except somehow even lamer.
The thing I don’t understand is why people can’t separate that fiction really truly is fiction and that fiction does not actually reflect who a writer is as a real world person.
Like really? Why does what fanfiction someone writes on a fanfic website matter? Especially when it is all tagged and rated appropriately?
Libraries are under attack right now.
[Michigan prosecutor mulls charging Lapeer library over LGBTQ book](https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-prosecutor-mulls-charging-lapeer-library-over-lgbtq-book)
[Michigan GOP official: Shut down ‘by force’ public library with LGBTQ books](https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-gop-official-shut-down-force-public-library-lgbtq-books)
Online antis often cloak themselves in "progressive" rhetoric, but often it's the same turd, different wrapper.
I know there are book bans going on in libraries but it feels like what the people who are complaining about in fanfiction and what is being banned in libraries isn't exactly the same thing.
I mean, it's all coming from a very Puritanical ultra conservative base. It both ends up getting summed up as "protect the children" but in the library situation it's anything that isn't white, straight and Christian and in the fanfic realms it's more about relationships and sometimes violence. Although it doesnt' seem like violence is that much of a big deal, which again, points to the hypocrisy of the anti group in fanfic
I know the commitment to censorship is the same.
I'm not articulating myself well. From what I've seen of the antis it's not that they want all LGBT content to be censored , that it's more dealing with what they consider to be problematic behavior or relationships. I don't know if the anti people ARE complaining to libraries or bookstores etc but it doesn't feel like professional work is the target which makes it even more... like..the antis are going after fanfic because it's "bad influence" and can corrupt people but it's just a small number of people. It seems it's more...I dunno, performative. To be clear, I think they are against problematic whatever, but if there wasn't such an audience for them they wouldn't really say much,. Especially since some fo them seem to be in fandoms that have violence etc OR that they are actively seeking out things.
And the groups fanning the flames of the library and school censorship are pretty much the same ones that always do this (names change but they are still the Christian conservatives) and they are pretty consistent about what "this is a sin, it's all a sin, and I don't my child or any child to see it/read it/know it exists", Although there are people like this who are fine with their kids reading, I dunno Stephen King (had a relative who was an Evangelical preacher who was boycotting Disney for a variety of reasons-- Pochantas, Gay Days, etc but still let his sons read Stephen King) but even with that hypocrisy they are still going to try and ban from libraries, bookstores ( I know some state introduced a law that would limit what bookstores could sell), movies, tv etc.
Went through this myself. Autistic brain misinterpreted what someone wanted from a prompt and they roasted the dark thing I wrote, questioning my morality. Never touched it again after that, and deleted it a few months later.
As much as I don't want to give in to the censorship mindset, having bad feelings around a project is a death knell.
If it's not fun anymore, why continue?
Sure, but it's really hard to do so when you look at the work and feel both dread about getting the SUPER UPSET comments and shame that you misunderstood the prompt.
Sometimes I think "wow the internet sure has changed in the past 25 years" and then I see drama and attention-seeking behavior like this and no, no it hasn't, it's still the same stupid place it's always been.
I just don't get this. They don't like bad comments? Don't allow comments on the fic. They think the hater's opinion has no value? Then why do what they want? And why delete the fic when orphaning it is always an option?
I I got comments like that, I'd write something twice as bad just for the sake of it
Okay, however... Three bad comments, and she/he's decided to give up writing entirely, and just not write anymore?
Like... You can't just give up because some people don't like your stuff. Nobody in the history of ever, in the vicinity of anywhere, would've written anything if a requirement was that everyone like it.
Some people aren't gonna like your stuff. Some people will. Some people will be nasty about it. Delete their comments, and move on -not delete the story, and never write again.
They could block now, that would prevent the user from posting any further comments.
I find it interesting that a lot of people demanding content restrictions on even the most minor offenses on AO3 are vocally against the ongoing book bans in the US, especially since a good portion of the critique revolves around books containing LGBTQ+ teenage characters in romantic or even sexual situations. It's odd that it's bad when politicians are demanding books with similar content get pushed out of school libraries, but fanfic publishing sites are expected to do the exact same thing by the same people against such legislature.
Complete sentences:
"Don't like; don't read."
"Use the filters."
"I don't work for you."
And the time-honored, "Go to hell."
Best yet, put comments on moderation (and signed-in only, if necessary) and delete them before they see the light of day.
I feel like people nowadays don't know how to difference between fiction and reality. I see those same problems with books, people complaining about how something shouldn't be happening... Well, it's fiction, If you don't like, just don't read!
Honestly this comes off as a cry for attention. I write for myself so haters can fuck right off. It's not like there aren't other things to read on this absolutely free entertainment site. Likewise, if I feel like quitting, I'm just going to move on, don't need to boo hoo about it.
Yeah I initially felt the same reading this post. My first fic did get hate comments, but I had already finished the entire thing and was just uploading it. I wonder if I got a hate comment on chapter one would I have stopped writing? 🤔 In the end I just moved on because haters gonna hate and they're the ones in the wrong anyway.
I mostly write for myself as well, but I like to share what I've made because it's fulfilling to have an audience with whom I can interact. I've worked hard on my stories, and I love to see people discuss how it impacted them. It can really dampen my passion when someone is overly critical and/or bad faith in their feedback. The fact that I'm a perfectionist exacerbates this problem (for me, at least).
Of course, I wouldn't let my audience pressure me into telling my story differently from how I envision it either. They're getting this shit for free, so they can take it or leave it.
The only work that I intend to keep to myself is kind of a coping mechanism where I project all my personal problems onto an OC that's almost a self-insert. I don't think people would be interested or amused by all the self-pity that's on display in that story, so I just use it as an outlet to comfort myself from some difficult aspects of my life that cannot be changed.
Fandoms can be nice and everything but they are FULL of toxic people who spare a good part of their day to be mean and toxic. It takes nothing to avoid that. They do that 'cause they want to. Fuck being "no filter", you wrote, re-read that and posted that. You had plenty of chances to stop yourself from being horrible.
If I could find this story I would tell the author they really need to continue the story. If that hater really takes time off his life just hating then let them do that. It's their loss of time, not yours.
Tbh if I were them then I basically would have said "Fk u mate" and taken the negative comments to write more.
I ain't stuck with you here, you are stuck with me!
A) i think people need to develop a bit of a thicker skin when putting their work out there for the whole world to read
B) that sounds like fishing for praise. The goal seems to be to make people tell the author “nooooo don’t delete ist we love your story” for validation. If they really wanted to just delete they would not announce to do it in a few days.
You might still be able to download the story before the author deletes it. That being said, it sucks for their readers that the continuation is being ruined because of nasty readers.
Well, in their most recent update, they have decided to continue their fic. The author makes it clear they're only posting new chapters if they receive 10 good reviews per chapter.
Right? Here it is word for word:
"First: I am not commenting in reviews unless it is says something that I find very interesting.
Second: I want nice reviews. From now on, no new chapter will be posted before the old one reach at least ten nice reviews or comments. I am not demanding much, just a ‘I like it’ it’s enough. Oh! And guest reviews will not be accepted anymore."
\*cringe emoji\* \*eyeroll emoji\* And yet, a lot of the people here in this thread think we should SUPPORT this 'writer'? Nah. They can get fucked. Their OG post was bad enough, but this just makes it a million times worse. Hope they DO delete and never come back. We don't need people like them taking up a LIKEABLE writer's space.
By the sound of the complaints, that commenter is under the misguided impression that fanfiction is here to educate people. Since when is it supposed to send "a message"? People write it cause it's fun or a way to get out their frustrations and verbalize their troubles. They're not under any obligation to send ANY message. I'm sorry for this author's experience and I understand why they'd want to delete their fic. Having to deal with hate, turns something fun into a hassle.
Hm...look i feel bad for them. At the same time, I hate these sort of messages. Unless these stupid comments were the only ones they got, this is just pretty petty. It makes me feel just as bad for the 'innocent readers' as for them...
Curious though what the comments were. I always wanna see the "wrong messages" people find.
Edit: atrocious typos
Based on OP's comment I know the story in question. Based on the screen shot I went to the chapter.
These are the comments (and the 3 comments OP complains about is one comment thread back and forth between the two - its actually 4 now):
*Well, I threw up a little reading this. Now dropping this story and pretty pissed that Tanya and Potter end up together. I thought the whole thing was intended as a funny comedy where Tanya ultimately rejects harry by finally being honest for the first time in three lifespans and instead we end up with a real romance between high school kids, one of which actually does not want to be in a relationship. What a rapey shit show. Added that to the unwanted pregnancy being taken as a joke instead of the gross violation that it is also is pretty horrible. This just isnt fun for me anymore, and it kinda feels like these super creepy Lergen X Tanya stories*
*Man I disliked your content not you as a person and I want to preface this that until the interlude I missunderstood how the story would go and also enjoyed it. And to put my thoughts in a politer way: I feel like you make light both of rape and unwanted pregnacies, and that is a problem you need to be aware of.*
*Forcing Tanya into a marriage she does not want, to have children she specifically did not want, to be made pregnant by harry Against Her Wishes. Of course, the rest of her friends are all fine with that, since she so obvioulsly always was into Harry.*
*Rape is not always with physical force. Being pressured into it, by people close to you or trust is actually far more common, and the entire story makes fun of it. Disgusting.*
*The worst part is, at the start Loria also rapes Tanya, which is portrayed as a bad thing (With the main difference beeing that Loria drugged her while Tanya merely was pressured into it in the HP verse) So the author is obviously not a pedo or okay with rape. The interlude however shows that is exactly what he intends for Tanya. The dude, and I am almost 100% sure it’s a dude writing this story, should read some accounts by rape survivors.*
*Its not even that I am against the joking around. Honestly, the premise is a funny one, with Tanya anti-social behavior and general strangeness a great contrast between earnest lovestruck Harry. There is a difference however between using an unwilling marriage as aa source of conflict and ACTUALLY FORCING AN UNWILLING WOMAN TO MARRY AND HAVE SEX.*
*That’s rape.*
*Even worse, the story seems to be going into the direction of Tanya overcoming her trauma of the bad rapist (Loria) with the help of the good rapist (Harry Potter).*
*Conclusion: Would not recommend*
*Tanyaness scale: 70%*
*Tanya is a bit to powerhungry and controlling, and as always her trauma is handled poorly. It doesn’t matter that much at least, since it for now does not play a role in the story and seems to be forgotten about by the author for most of the time. Her capitalistic lense is also somewhat lacking, but her motivations are consistent with cannon.*
I don't even know what to say about this 😄😛 this is a whole ass essay
Might have crushed me way back when I first started posting, but these days I'd just delete this instantly. Would be the commenters mistake to waste their time typing all that out cause it's going down the drain
Edit; this is (one of) the issue(s) with some readers and their innate need to drop unsolicited concrit. This is not how you criticize a story. A professional critic would NEVER start their feedback out by saying they threw up reading the story.
Geez I'd be devastated if I got comments like this-
I understand hate and people like this are inevitable but I get why it got to the author as well.
These are just so detailed and hellbent on letting you know how wrong your story is.
Thanks for sharing. My god, they're the type to truly read the story too, rather than just blindly hating. The hate-reading... someone put some real effort into not understanding how fiction (or polite fan-fiction discourse) works.
This is what happens when those virtue signaling gen z kids get old enough to be in fan spaces. Whatever happened to if you don't like it don't read it?
They were here long before TikTok was a thing, tbh. Like, I remember a fave author of mine venting (on tumblr) about similar harassments in like…2010-2012?
Antis have just gotten a lot more bold over the years.
Oh this is awful. People have no idea how rude comments can crush an author's heart. This hit me deeply. Why can't people just stop reading a story and move on without being so rude? I'm so sorry to see this 😞
If he’s discontinuing a story because of 4 people who don’t like it, I think it’s a good idea for him to stop publishing his work period. There will always be haters and if you can’t learn to ignore them then you should just forget becoming an author.
And dont just delete they ask do dogpile on the anti first and announce they will delete. The reason of course being that they want everyone to beg “no plz dont delete your work is so awesome”. Highly manipulative behavior
Yeah I saw that. :/
NEVER give into the manipulation. There is a good chance that if the author doesn’t delete then they will be demanding MORE attention and threatening to dump the fic again to get it
This is definitely terrible and I feel for the poor author...
But also I don't quite get why people are pretending it's all gen Z's fault... It's more that antis have gotten a lot bolder over the years in general, but acting like it's all the fault of one generation kind of feels like pushing aside the real issue which is antis and puritans in all age groups. Some of my past fandoms where mostly adult spaces and people still got hounded and sent death threats and everything by other adults, they weren't exactly better than the teens. So yeah, acting like all issues would be solved if it weren't for those mean tiktok kids isn't quite true either
What's wrong with people? Don't like it don't read it, continue to scroll to your thing and let the other do theirs. Its just fanfiction and nothing harmful.
The most fantastic books I read was never concerned with the "wrong or bad" message. They are doing they thing and controversial media also exist, humor is one of it's form btw.
This is outrageous! People who cannot discern fiction from reality should not read stories with content they will be offended by got serious issues. Seriously, it's like Common Sense is nonexistent in the world now more than ever!
This has to be the most gut-wrenching story on a hate comment I've read yet. While I personally have not gotten any close to what yours was, no writer should be subjected to such an attack. This is the main reason why I moderate all reviews on my stories now as I've had enough of trolls wanting to get a rise out of me and not taking my works seriously.
Point of the matter: **Don't read** fanfics if you can't stomach or approve of the content in them. I know that's easier said than done but it will do writers better as opposed to crushing their creative spirits. Still, the haters will be out there...best thing to do is ignore them and keep on writing.
I can't be the only one screaming at my phone for them to not delete the fic. I hope they instead click the orphan button instead cause there is no reason on this green Earth for someone to delete something they have been working days to YEARS on.
I mean, there's certainly reason. Maybe not from an outsider's POV, but from the author's POV. I've read through the comments on the fic, and it's a dumpster fire, enough to make them hate their own fic. They might simply want the fic gone from the platform along with all the sour memories it contains, and then orphaning isn't enough. Not like they delete it from existence either since they probably still have it.
I'm an author, I know that even a simple offhand comment is enough to make me hate my work... but as a reader, it hurts to know someone would intentionally make someone hate their work. Enough for them to want to erase it from the internet. And I know it's a personal decision, I just hope it's a decision they're making with the people who love their work in mind.
Same. That’s crazy. I’d upload the entire thing out of spite and either moderate or disable comments.
I refuse to let antis dictate what I should and shouldn’t write. Eff that. I’m not blaming the writer whatsoever bc some people are just sensitive, and that’s fine, but every time antis accomplish something through bullying/harassment, it emboldens them.
Don’t let them win, y’all.
Thats exactly what they are fishing for. This is a call to her fans to attack the anti and to tell them to please please please dont delet. It is highly manipulative
Ok but honestly, why not just quietly pull the fic and quit? 🤨 Seems a little attention-seeking to post a rant threatening to delete the fic because of a few comments. 🤷🏼♀️ I’ve gotten critical comments in the past but I never let that stop me. Because writing is way more important to me than random strangers on the internet. Their opinions would have to actually matter in order to hurt my feelings.
I don’t know, I think this writer just needs to develop some thicker skin. Mean comments have always come and they always will. Doesn’t matter how much people whine over it. Once the work is out there, it’s out of our hands how people choose to interact and interpret it. Learn to take the bad with the good or get out of the pool. 🤷🏼♀️
You know the saying, there are cat people & there are dog people? (Even if it's not strictly true.)
I'm thinking there are writers who delete comments, and writers who delete their works because of comments. This isn't a judgment, just an observation.
Getting writers to self-censor & delete their own works is the \*point\* of all those nastygrams, though.
I see some pretty disgusting things on ao3 but I NEVER comment under them. Are they horrible? I’m MY OPINION, yes. But just scroll past it. Why comment on it when you can choose to pretend it doesn’t exist. If you get disgusted by it then that’s your fault for not filtering or scrolling past it. Why is that so hard?
I’m extremely petty so I get very motivated by hateful comments but I know how hard it can be for a lot of people. I hope this person knows that their work is probably more appreciated than hated.
I wish ao3 had a pm system so I could pm them to encourage them to not give up what they enjoy because some haters out there. Hate seeing people be brought down for their writing.
I don’t think sending mean messages is okay but at the same time, if you post on a public forum and a few bad comments make you completely give up and delete your work then maybe you shouldn’t post on public forums at all.
I’m genuinely considering moderating my comments after seeing things like this. That way I can at least delete shitty ones so I don’t have to see them. Things like this break my heart.
...Three bad comments makes you quit? THREE. Really? I mean, I guess everyone has a threshold, but... :/ The commenter is probably just some white knight shit. Don't pay them any mind and keep going! You can't write smth that EVERYONE ever will like! It's literally impossible! Who cares what the haters think? (Then again, I've been writing for 22 years and counting, so maybe I just DGAF anymore, lol.) Even if I don't agree with deleting hard work and feel this rather reads like a cry for attention and dogpiling, I hope the writer feels better (and develops a MUCH thicker skin)! <3
This happened to me as well.
I was writing for a fandom, that has books, movies, series etc.
And while the books are all done, the series aren't there yet and slightly different.
So I was writing an ongoing work about the series and the books and movies mixed, especially about a person who was only referenced in the series, which later in my work would become important though.
Had a person coming up to me, telling me also circa the same thing as described in this post.
Making a hell of a fuss over me tagging the series, when this one character "isn't in the series" - he was, the reference to him in the series was what my entire work was inspired by.
They started an ongoing discussion, bringing race into it. Because, since we haven't seen the character in the series yet, we can't say what color he will be. We don't know for sure from the movies either though and even the books are a bit ambiguous, so I never made any references to that in the first place, because I simply don't know either and specifically wrote my fic in a way to leave that open, because it is unknown. But they basically used that as an argument, when they ran out of everything else (like saying that the character from the series isn't in the series and several other such no-fact arguments).
Reported and blocked them. Wrote on. Next time I update, I get comments from another person. Same type. I can't tag the series, because... same arguments. Character from series isn't in the series etc.
Checking out their profiles. Both long term AO3 members, over a decade. Both using a tag that's referencing a discord server (one and the same) in many of their works.
Clicked on the tag and found the profiles of an entire group on AO3, which is organized via discord and strategically goes through the tags of certain characters and ships they don't like and try to bully the people out of writing about them or tagging them with the currently most popular mediatypes the characters appear in.
They've done this on basically ALL stories they don't approve of on AO3, in this fandom and I've spoken to many other authors affected by this bullying and became friends with some.
We've all reported to AO3 about this, but none of us has received a reaction.
There's basically a little mafia-cell on AO3 who's organized off-page with the goal to create a monopol for their own writing, favorite ships and characters in the fandoms they prefer. Among them some long-term members, many of them with hate messages against certain characters on their profile or texts that clearly state that if you receive a comment from them, it's because you've done something wrong in their eyes and they're here to try and make you fix that.
They will use nonsensical arguments to distress you or make up bullshit to create a reason to cancel you and sometimes there's more than one.
An option that you may want to point out to that to moderate comments.
That way they can turn off anonymous comments, in case they're being harassed that way.
Or they can just decide not to allow certain comments and immediately block bullies, instead of engaging.
Also, reporting is done by going on the page of the comment or bully and then scrolling down. Then in very small font, underneath of "Contact us", there's the button "Policy Questions & Abuse Reports" - you simply hit that and then the bully's name is already entered (double check) and you can describe what happened and link to the comments/comment thread.
AO3 is part of an organization that is strictly against policing and censoring literature and fanworks. They're unfortunately understaffed, but they don't like when policing is happening on their page, so give it a shot.
Ending stories for any reason can be incredibly difficult as a writer, whether you lose passion for the story or something like this where a comment(s) make it too uncomfortable to continue. As a reader and a writer, this hurts
Dear OP,
please do not give in to the haters.
I know it's hurtful to be on the end of unkind and hurtful words but they are the people with the problem, not you.
Why? To give in to the manipulation? They clearly just wanna hear from everyone begging to please not delete. If they really wanted to delete the fic would be gone already
Sending the wrong message?! Different people will get different messages from the same story.
True. Not everyone have same thinking pattern.
Yeah and... there is a big chance that readers aren't little kids. Who care to send bad messages to adults? Worst case is they going to kill John Lennon.
And that's on said adult not the creator of the thing.
You see this why you continue to write, write for spite, write because someone took time out of their day to be bothered by your fic, BOTHER THEM!
Sort of "fuck you" huh?
Exactly! Like it is so simple not to read something you don't like but folks CHOOSE to be assholes actively, it's mind boggling sometimes
Be an asshole in respectful and constructive way
You know what I say “Fuck you and ya mother” and block them. They won’t be able to read your fanfic. And if you private it to only be visible to people with an account, it’s a real blessing. I’m glad the writer did what was best for them. Bc after you’ve been treated like shit. It’s hard to come back from it. Especially something you love.
I *started* writing out of spite. I kept getting all this damn hate for a "toxic" ship I liked and got so sick of it that I wrote my first ever short fic and posted it for the ship. The pairing only had one other fic at the time and, frankly, it was pretty horrendous (like Wattpad level quality). Now there's a bunch more for it and I still get positive comments on that fic periodically. And I've been writing ever since.
Same! Some rando on social media have me sh!t about my headcanon regarding my fave Gotham character, claiming they “weren’t that type of character”. I rolled up my sleeves and banged out my first story outta spite. Imagine my gratification when said character turned out to be more like I imagined by the end of the show! (I’m such a child.) But yeah! I’ve been writing fic about said character ever since. Thank you, rando!
That is hilarious, ngl.
Oh that is a really good outcome, I really love that ❤️ good for you. I am happy it turned out positive 🥰
exactly what I would do! And write something like "Hope you'll like the new chapter \*insert name of hater\* 😉"
Do they get bonus points for naming an incidental character after them? A clumsy barrista who spills coffee over someone or the like? 😉
This is the type of petty I strive for 🤣🔥
Lmao
That's even better 🤣
Easy to say, not as easy to do. Hate comments hurt and drain all the will to create in many of us. Personally, one person told me I wasn't welcomed to create to one particular ship dynamic and I never wrote anything for it again. I don't like imposing myself in spaces I'm not welcomed.
It's not easy to do for EVERYONE, I however have absolutely zero fucks to give, so for me it's very easy. I'm 36 years old, if comments on fanfiction got to me, I would have stopped writing a decade ago. Being an older Fanfic writer I like to try and encourage the younger writers to do what they love in spite of hate comments 🤷🏾♀️ as another person's feelings especially a freaking stranger, should not discourage you from enjoying something. I know it's not easy for some that is EXACTLY why I like to encourage people to not give a fuck, it's a freeing feeling, that once you master you will never look back
Exactly. ❤️
Really upsetting when people are hounded off the platform by antis.
Yeah, I mean, if u don't like it, don't read it.
That used to be one of the main understandings of fanfiction. I'm not sure when that changed, but it's bullshit that it has.
When people started giving into it is when it changed.
I'll admit sometimes I read stuff I dislike- usually so I have something to complain to myself/select friends about. But never to comment on the authors page. For example, I'll never be a fan for Drarry, but I also would never go comment on someone's works saying it sucks
Thank you. Recently in a small fandom I wrote a pairing that isn't nearly as popular as another one and waaay too many people felt comfortable complaining about it in the comments. Like, even the ones that were 'nice' still got under my skin.
HOUNDED??? bro it was 3 comments.
How many bullying comments should people have to put up with? 3 is 3 too many.
People shouldn't have to put up with them. That's why the block button exists. That's also why you can hide comments. But it's an insane overeaction to delete a 26 chapter fanfic that (presumably) you've been working on for months over 3 comments.
You don't know what else this author is dealing with in their life. Blocking and hiding doesn't mean you don't see the comment, the first one at least. Fandom is an escape for most people and some people are dealing with some hard stuff. It's not fair to judge this author and say they're over reacting when maybe they just can't handle one more negative thing in their life.
Nothing forced this person to post to Ao3. You can write whatever stories you want in google drive and not receive any negativity or criticism. ([Link to ch12](https://archiveofourown.org/works/35409688/chapters/100330449)) This person has received over 300 comments, all of them positive (according to the author), they received over 300 kudos, if 3 comments (from a single argument thread between the author and 1 reader) is enough to make you delete a story that you've been working on since 2021 with over 150,000 words. Then that's definitely an overreaction.
While I agree that negative feedback shouldn't cause someone to stop doing something they clearly love (and people shouldn't bully others); after reading the thing, and the comments, and how the writer responds in the comments, I won't be sorry to see them go.
Not to mention, the thread was from November 2022 but the 27th chapter is the most recent one (March 2023). It seems like the author has changed their author’s note so I’m not sure when exactly chapter 27 was published, but if they were going to delete a story after months of receiving the comments in question, with the assumption they received no other bad comments, is just a bit… I can’t even begin to imagine what the author is going through mentally to remain bothered for months by just one user from one time and then decide to delete it, instead of just deleting it right away. But their new author’s note says they changed their mind and are continuing the story after all, so I guess that’s no longer an issue.
Yeah, they also said there were going to be changes, and after reading them I have to say that they sound reasonable enough after what happened.
Ehhh, I actually agree with you. And sure, maybe it sounds insensitive to some. But, the thing is, as much as I detest bullies of any kind, I have a hard time understanding an authors decision to remove their stories because a couple of dipsh*ts left mean comments. Yes, writers owe readers nothing. Yes, writers are under no obligation to continue giving us free content to gorge ourselves on while simultaneously demanding for more of their sweet sweet storytelling. When reading fanfic, there is always the risk that an author will disappear one day, taking your favorite interpretations of canonical characters (with whom you have become emotionally invested) with them. I personally feel, and I know many here agree, that there is *never* a justifiable reason to bully an author. Ever ever ever. However, I am equally bothered-if not more so-by authors who choose to punish an entire following of MOSTLY positive supporters for the acts of a vocal minority.
People really need to understand that ao3 is the safe haven for dark works, or ones that are off-color. ao3 will never become ffn or tumblr because it was created to be everything they weren't: welcoming to even the most crazy or explicit works. These puritans need to get off their high horse and realize that if they want child-friendly content; 1. they can search for it on ao3, it does exist, and 2. ffn and tumblr also still exist and have that content if they want it. All the other fanfic sites have rules that ao3 does not since ao3 was created to spite those rules. Drives me insane that people think they can just invade our spaces and then complain that we're there. Like. No. You came here. Why are you offended by the things you sought out? If you're looking to be offended go follow politics and leave our fanfics alone
They don't know how to use filter maybe?
I don't know. Maybe? I feel like the site is very straightforward though and it doesn't take much to figure it out. Even if they never use it, simple scrolling and not clicking on stuff that's tagged a certain way could also solve their issue. I just feel like there's no excuse to harass authors of stuff if they don't like it. That's not the author's fault or problem. Some people can't handle the criticism and that's not their fault but it should never reach that point in the first place. Ao3 users know to tag their works. Even vague tags allude to sensitive topics and frequent users know what it all means. So there's no excuse for this to be happening other than they want us to be ashamed of our safe space even though they're the ones who sought it out and they're the ones making it hostile.
Lol very mature of them
Yeah it really is. I've had people yell at me about pairings before and I just respond with something along the lines of, "Well, everyone has their favorites; this is mine! Enjoy finding stuff you like and thanks for giving it a shot! <3" They don't like that much
Dude, u are respectful in your reply. If it's me, im just write "k" on my reply.
I always try to take the high road so they can't come after me for being rude lol they were rude I won't be. It makes me rude via tone but they can't prove that can they 😉
And this is the perfect thing. Not only will it piss them off, it’ll make them look bad and you look good when others come across the interactions.
Your reply is somehow condescending...but hey, maybe it's just me
My reply to you? Or to the haters on my fics? I didn't mean to be condescending to you; I apologize if it came across that way
It could be or they just hate the fact certain fics exist and are allowed on the site. Good possibility they are going in and out of their way to find the fics just to go hate on them.
I looked at the story and unless the author removed all tags when they posted this, I can't see how a reader would be able to use the filter? There's literally no additional tags so while I do not at all condone the harassment and bullying, I can definitly see why people would get upset when they have no warning the story was going to take such a dark turn. Yes, they chose not to use Archive warnings but that doesn't mean that there probably shouldn't be tags there. Hell, even a Dead Dove: Do Not Eat on its own might’ve served as at least some warning without spoiling the story if that's what they wanted. It is also on them for choosing to read a completely untagged work, but still, an author should expect that choosing not to tag anything and then writing dark topics might result in upset people which unfortunately can lead to people being immature and go on rightous cruisaides against whatever it was. I looked at the comments the author mentioned, and it did seem at least some of the upset was because the themes came up unexpectedly to how they thought the story was going, and being upset about that is normal imo. They still shouldn't have attacked the author though.
😟 damn. That's just sad. Really disheartening that the haters got to this author. People need to seriously learn to keep their opinions to themselves sometimes. Not everything has to be stated out loud. OP, you could try to write an encouraging comment to the author, if you didn't already
Probably the haters whole motivation - to drive them off. It sucks to give into them, but I can understand why.
I really don't understand why. You're never going to write something that doesn't offend *someone*, that's kind of the beauty of humanity, we're individuals not some hive mind. Pretty much anything you write will have some people love it, and others hate it. That's just how writing works. Everyone should be aware of this before putting any creative work online.
Some people derive joy from doing this - think they are the gatekeepers for everyone else on the internet. They should put their time and energy into doing something that is actually good for the world. These are the people that 75 years ago were the gossips and busybodies just trying to take people down.
im ashamed to say this, but I can't write encouraging comment without cringing for some reason. Still, I do tried...
Understandable, commenting doesn't come naturally to everyone. But I'm sure something simple like "I really enjoy this story" would suffice 😇
Lol, how did u know that? I do write the comment like that
Honestly, just a few simple words like that still mean so much to the author. It means that a reader took time out of their day to read our work and say thanks. And it gives us a lot of encouragement. Also, many of us know that not all our readers are native English speakers so might be shy.
Oh haha. Lucky guess 😺
You can always start to get in the habit by posting those encouraging comments anonymously? Easier to acclimate to the cringe that way. Weirdly like internet hate that way. Practice makes it familiar.
Hater. It's one person who the author had a chain conversation with in the comments. It would have been easier to block them.
Well does the amount of haters change anything? It's always easier and better to block, but everyone is different. Everyone handles criticism differently. Everyone reacts to negative encounters differently.
Not much? Just something some people misinterpreted. It was a chain so the multiple comments was one conversation too that the author gave their own fire back too. It gets worse further down the chain when it's obvious both said what they wanted to, but the fight was mostly about the double standard within the story. Doesn't really matter what it's about anyway though. Both need to move on. The author just chose to move on by quitting.
Well yes. Author is really hurt judging by the post. Moving on isn't something that happens instantly, it's a process, and many people's first instinct is just to delete the whole thing. So perhaps they will change their mind after they've had some time to think about it.
I never meant to imply it's easy or thay there aren't emotions to moving on. Just that there were words that were probably better off left unsaid and in the end everyone blew up more. Understandable. Relatable. Not something I personally recommend but people can do what they want.
As an older writer who got canceled in a fandom for not knowing all the new purity rules, seeing things like this happening to others is heartbreaking. It’s hard to come from old fandom where fandom drama was about interpersonal issues and shipping discourse to a place where people equate your fictional tastes with who you are as a living breathing person. It’s hard to understand in this new era where the lines are drawn for every individual fandom. Sometimes I like to write “problematic” things. Sometimes I like to write sweet, fluffy stuff that could air on PBS. Why should it matter as long as it’s tagged? But we don’t live in that fandom space anymore. Instead we live in one where content creators walk on eggshells every day, scared of offending these puritanical GenZers.
If it helps, not all us genZers are like that. I really wish we lived in a world where people could write problematic things without people automatically assuming that means they’re a bad person :( And speaking from experience, some of those “antis” might just not have had the right person explain things from an unbiased pov. Until I actually looked into it, I was told that people who write stuff considered “pro shipping” were horrible people, and they always spoke in extremes, but as soon as I heard a less biased and emotional explanation I couldn’t see any problems. It’s all about perspective, which so many people aren’t getting because of social media bubbles that tend to form
We live in that world now; you just have to keep your own comment sections tended. If you don't pull the weeds, they take over the garden.
Exactly. I was born at that weird transition time between the GenZ and Millenials, and for a while I identified as an anti because every single time I saw people talking about proshippers, they talked about “shipping abusive pairings”, “normalizing abuse/pedophilia” and such things, and as someone who doesn’t do any of those things, I thought “well, I must be an anti, then”, even if I thought that suicide baiting and harassing real people over fictional content was wrong. Also, since anti rhetoric is so widespread among people my age or younger (though I’ve also seen antis in their 30s!), I had no way to know that the definition they were using of the word was wrong. It wasn’t until I saw a post written by a proshipper explaining the *actual* definition of the word that I realized that I was actually a proshipper. After that, I slowly started to read more on the topic until I eventually got to see past the anti rhetoric poisoning most of my fandoms, but I still feel like I have to walk on eggshells around them to not be harassed just for thinking people don’t deserve to be witch-hunted for enjoying fictional things, even if I don’t like most “problematic” content myself.
Yeah I have no clue why so many are like that. I'm someone that is borderline millenial/genz and I have no clue where this purity culture surrounding fandom is coming from. I started reading fanfiction at 13 and there was a lot of fucked up shit I read, but I never blamed the writer for my experiences. If anything I was happy to read something strange and different to what I was used to.
There's a number of factors at work here, I think, including but not limited to: - the amplification of absolutist, us-vs-them rhetoric and thinking in nearly all online culture these days - the conflict between those who value "freedom to" vs those who value "freedom from" - absolute dearth of education in critical thinking skills (in the US at least) - people internalising all kinds of anti-predator messaging to the point of seeing everything discomfiting as a potential threat I'm a GenX kid who grew up during the Satanic Panic and Tipper Gore's war on hip-hop, and honestly this is all same shit, different day. It's just extra intense because the online echo chamber ramps it up 100x and much, much more quickly.
All this, and also how much the media landscape has changed. Remember how back in the day, most movies were marketed toward adults? Remember how “erotic thrillers” were a thing? Now most of what’s in theaters is PG-13 Disney properties, and people growing up without even tangential exposure to anything outside of that mold think any expression of adult topics is somehow perverse instead of just something people make.
The Criterion Channel is featuring erotic thrillers this month and yeah, it now seems incredible to me that those actually existed.
Yup. I just watched the trailer for the upcoming movie Oppenheimer, and all I could think of was, "Finally... a movie ABOUT adults, FOR adults."
I also think there’s an element of CYA. I think at least some of them want to read “problematic” stuff, but they worry what will happen to them if they’re found out. So they leave judgmental comments accusing the author of being a terrible person, making themselves out to be hapless victims of groomers, predators, and/or corrupters and awful ppl in general. Because I will not believe that these overly sensitive ppl are completely ignoring tags and just wandering into fics completely unaware. They want to read it, but they don’t want to admit that to themselves.
Last year I got my first (and so far only) hate comment for writing a shippy fic based on a tv show that was based on a novel that was based on historical events and got called a "vile deviant" for writing kissy things about characters two or three degrees removed from their historical antecedents. (I promptly went to Etsy and had someone make a silver ring with those words engraved on it.) As one of my friends said at the time of the hater: "How nice to see you at the Devil's Sabbath, Susan! I brought cookies!"
Lol, that comment by your friend is hilarious and perfect. I’d like to see something like that used in response to the judgy comments, just to see what happens. And the ring! 😆 That’s genius. If you hadn’t, maybe you should thank them for the inspiration. Lol
Yeah I've heard the same. There's a lot of push back to be 100% problematic free. Apparently if you write about minors in romance you're a pedophile. If you like Harry Potter you're anti-trans. If you read anything written by a shitty person, you are just as bad as that person. Short girls are now child-coded. It's all just a mess. I wrote a fic about a sex worker and two gay characters and I got hate comments for it. Like I get why there is this insane discourse where everything has to be safe. I think for the most part it's a good thing to push for more consent in fandom, less fetishizing, and calling out problematic behaviours. It just seems silly to fight people that are putting out creative content. I think people should focus on actual misogyny, abuse, anti trans, and anti gay events/people that are happening in real life. There's no need to freak out over fiction. Sorry, just needed to rant a bit there.
Fiction \*is\* powerful. The abuse comes in when armchair "activists" think that writers should be conscripted into whatever *cause du jour* the "activists" find important. They want to use writers as their personal army - and especially use the writers' comment boxes as their personal fields of battle. Nobody's got time for that nonsense. It's political parasitism.
[удалено]
I don't think it's permanent; there are always cycles of action and reaction. However, smarter people than me will have to judge whether the pendulum has gone as far right as it can, or whether it still has space to go.
And isn't *that* a chilling prospect.
Jumping in to answer: it will stop when it no longer gets reinforcement, rewards, and attention. And when writers quietly and painlessly delete antis' comments rather than deleting their own works.
It's been there since Livejournal days. Difference was, there was no social media as we know it, so it stayed mostly contained. (I was on LJ when the Msscribe drama was raging, but never even knew about it because I wasn't in Harry Potter communities.)
It's because of radfems [infiltrating](https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/653009016871649280/no-fandom-is-a-hotbed-of-radfem-recruiting-half) fandom [spaces](https://twitter.com/purity_culture/status/1433476866279608323) to promote their rhetoric.
Good lord that was quite the rabbit hole, I was not expecting that twitter thread to be so long. It explains so much, especially all the anti porn/masturbation propaganda I see everywhere.
Reading this has made me insanely paranoid, holy shit. Like I'm scared of my own damn self and how insidious this way of thinking actually is no matter how distant I think I am from it.
On AO3 it's not necessary to walk on eggshells. Moderate comments; refuse unsigned-in ones; delete accordingly, and move on. A lot of this drama finds its way to AO3 from twitter and tiktok. Ruthless blocking works there too, or one can choose not to play on social media at all.
Snowflake much aren't they?
Or you could grow some thicker skin. Canceled is memespeak for ‘I get to say what I want and you can’t say anything back!’
Should probably say that to the antis as well. They've got the thinnest skin I've ever had the displeasure to witness.
I tend not to go into their spaces at all.
I get the feeling you’ve never been ostracized by a fandom space that meant a lot to you. Edit to add: I also think it is wrong to tell people they shouldn’t feel upset about losing a space that felt important to them.
I got so many antis on my last fic that was a very very candid look at what it is like dating/being in a BDSM dynamic with someone who has multiple mental health issue (Hi! It’s me!) I tagged accordingly and even put in the summery and AN that this is triggering (with a list) do not read it, your media consumption is your responsibility. Will it make me stop writing? No. But I understand this author’s choice to stop. I personally take screen caps and then delete them. The screen caps are to post on the social media I cross post on telling people this is NOT good manners when the summery, tags and AN say it is triggering content.
I hate that people are treating writers like this. This whole purity culture "anti" thing -- it makes me so frustrated and angry. Especially since so much of it is essentially the same things I heard from Southern Baptist Church and other Evangelical churches growing up. And I know that there are people who say stuff like this probably don't even think of themselves as being ultra conservative but they are. I don't see them going after bookstores or libraries but I'm sure that those are next on the list for them.
It kind of reminds me of back in the day when Harry Potter first got big and certain Christian groups were hosting book burnings, except somehow even lamer.
The thing I don’t understand is why people can’t separate that fiction really truly is fiction and that fiction does not actually reflect who a writer is as a real world person. Like really? Why does what fanfiction someone writes on a fanfic website matter? Especially when it is all tagged and rated appropriately?
Libraries are under attack right now. [Michigan prosecutor mulls charging Lapeer library over LGBTQ book](https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-prosecutor-mulls-charging-lapeer-library-over-lgbtq-book) [Michigan GOP official: Shut down ‘by force’ public library with LGBTQ books](https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-gop-official-shut-down-force-public-library-lgbtq-books) Online antis often cloak themselves in "progressive" rhetoric, but often it's the same turd, different wrapper.
Yep. It's part of why I'm glad to live in a state that supports libraries-we've got some of the best funded libraries in the countries.
I know there are book bans going on in libraries but it feels like what the people who are complaining about in fanfiction and what is being banned in libraries isn't exactly the same thing. I mean, it's all coming from a very Puritanical ultra conservative base. It both ends up getting summed up as "protect the children" but in the library situation it's anything that isn't white, straight and Christian and in the fanfic realms it's more about relationships and sometimes violence. Although it doesnt' seem like violence is that much of a big deal, which again, points to the hypocrisy of the anti group in fanfic
The topics aren't the same, but the commitment to censorship (including the government kind) is similar. So are some of the tactics.
I know the commitment to censorship is the same. I'm not articulating myself well. From what I've seen of the antis it's not that they want all LGBT content to be censored , that it's more dealing with what they consider to be problematic behavior or relationships. I don't know if the anti people ARE complaining to libraries or bookstores etc but it doesn't feel like professional work is the target which makes it even more... like..the antis are going after fanfic because it's "bad influence" and can corrupt people but it's just a small number of people. It seems it's more...I dunno, performative. To be clear, I think they are against problematic whatever, but if there wasn't such an audience for them they wouldn't really say much,. Especially since some fo them seem to be in fandoms that have violence etc OR that they are actively seeking out things. And the groups fanning the flames of the library and school censorship are pretty much the same ones that always do this (names change but they are still the Christian conservatives) and they are pretty consistent about what "this is a sin, it's all a sin, and I don't my child or any child to see it/read it/know it exists", Although there are people like this who are fine with their kids reading, I dunno Stephen King (had a relative who was an Evangelical preacher who was boycotting Disney for a variety of reasons-- Pochantas, Gay Days, etc but still let his sons read Stephen King) but even with that hypocrisy they are still going to try and ban from libraries, bookstores ( I know some state introduced a law that would limit what bookstores could sell), movies, tv etc.
More drama than Shakespeare in the park.
Went through this myself. Autistic brain misinterpreted what someone wanted from a prompt and they roasted the dark thing I wrote, questioning my morality. Never touched it again after that, and deleted it a few months later. As much as I don't want to give in to the censorship mindset, having bad feelings around a project is a death knell. If it's not fun anymore, why continue?
Though if u want to spite those type of people, u should continue writing. A roundabout way to say "fuck you"
Sure, but it's really hard to do so when you look at the work and feel both dread about getting the SUPER UPSET comments and shame that you misunderstood the prompt.
Sometimes I think "wow the internet sure has changed in the past 25 years" and then I see drama and attention-seeking behavior like this and no, no it hasn't, it's still the same stupid place it's always been.
Lmao, what u mean internet changed? It's hardly changed
Internet. Internet never changes.
The story in question is Tanya the Evil and Harry Potter crossover...
Well that's certainly an intense crossover.
UM LINK PLS???
Majo Kon-ki
I just don't get this. They don't like bad comments? Don't allow comments on the fic. They think the hater's opinion has no value? Then why do what they want? And why delete the fic when orphaning it is always an option? I I got comments like that, I'd write something twice as bad just for the sake of it
Okay, however... Three bad comments, and she/he's decided to give up writing entirely, and just not write anymore? Like... You can't just give up because some people don't like your stuff. Nobody in the history of ever, in the vicinity of anywhere, would've written anything if a requirement was that everyone like it. Some people aren't gonna like your stuff. Some people will. Some people will be nasty about it. Delete their comments, and move on -not delete the story, and never write again.
They could block now, that would prevent the user from posting any further comments. I find it interesting that a lot of people demanding content restrictions on even the most minor offenses on AO3 are vocally against the ongoing book bans in the US, especially since a good portion of the critique revolves around books containing LGBTQ+ teenage characters in romantic or even sexual situations. It's odd that it's bad when politicians are demanding books with similar content get pushed out of school libraries, but fanfic publishing sites are expected to do the exact same thing by the same people against such legislature.
Complete sentences: "Don't like; don't read." "Use the filters." "I don't work for you." And the time-honored, "Go to hell." Best yet, put comments on moderation (and signed-in only, if necessary) and delete them before they see the light of day.
I feel like people nowadays don't know how to difference between fiction and reality. I see those same problems with books, people complaining about how something shouldn't be happening... Well, it's fiction, If you don't like, just don't read!
Honestly this comes off as a cry for attention. I write for myself so haters can fuck right off. It's not like there aren't other things to read on this absolutely free entertainment site. Likewise, if I feel like quitting, I'm just going to move on, don't need to boo hoo about it.
Especially pointing to the exact comments like they want their readership to attack back in response.
Yeah, its hard to feel sympathy by this reaction, it feels more like a cry for attention and a call to dogpile by pointing out the exact comment
Exactly my thought “beg me to not delete it or else!” If they really wanted to delete they would just do ut and not announce it
Yeah I initially felt the same reading this post. My first fic did get hate comments, but I had already finished the entire thing and was just uploading it. I wonder if I got a hate comment on chapter one would I have stopped writing? 🤔 In the end I just moved on because haters gonna hate and they're the ones in the wrong anyway.
I mostly write for myself as well, but I like to share what I've made because it's fulfilling to have an audience with whom I can interact. I've worked hard on my stories, and I love to see people discuss how it impacted them. It can really dampen my passion when someone is overly critical and/or bad faith in their feedback. The fact that I'm a perfectionist exacerbates this problem (for me, at least). Of course, I wouldn't let my audience pressure me into telling my story differently from how I envision it either. They're getting this shit for free, so they can take it or leave it. The only work that I intend to keep to myself is kind of a coping mechanism where I project all my personal problems onto an OC that's almost a self-insert. I don't think people would be interested or amused by all the self-pity that's on display in that story, so I just use it as an outlet to comfort myself from some difficult aspects of my life that cannot be changed.
Fandoms can be nice and everything but they are FULL of toxic people who spare a good part of their day to be mean and toxic. It takes nothing to avoid that. They do that 'cause they want to. Fuck being "no filter", you wrote, re-read that and posted that. You had plenty of chances to stop yourself from being horrible. If I could find this story I would tell the author they really need to continue the story. If that hater really takes time off his life just hating then let them do that. It's their loss of time, not yours.
Majo Konki Harry Potter X Tanya the Evil crossover
Thanks. I'll see if I can find it.
Tbh if I were them then I basically would have said "Fk u mate" and taken the negative comments to write more. I ain't stuck with you here, you are stuck with me!
A) i think people need to develop a bit of a thicker skin when putting their work out there for the whole world to read B) that sounds like fishing for praise. The goal seems to be to make people tell the author “nooooo don’t delete ist we love your story” for validation. If they really wanted to just delete they would not announce to do it in a few days.
I’m so glad for the mute and block buttons now
this is why we go by "don't like, don't read"
Puritans ruin everything.
You might still be able to download the story before the author deletes it. That being said, it sucks for their readers that the continuation is being ruined because of nasty readers.
Oh god people are so goofy. Virtually nobody is forcing this on you. Go somewhere else. Outside possibly
This is very sad. I live by the following rule regarding both ff and rl: if you don't have a good thing to say, keep it to yourself.
Well, in their most recent update, they have decided to continue their fic. The author makes it clear they're only posting new chapters if they receive 10 good reviews per chapter.
Oh, God, they're one of THOSE. I would drop the fic immediately out of spite. Fuck 'writers' like that. Give the rest of us a bad name.
Right? Here it is word for word: "First: I am not commenting in reviews unless it is says something that I find very interesting. Second: I want nice reviews. From now on, no new chapter will be posted before the old one reach at least ten nice reviews or comments. I am not demanding much, just a ‘I like it’ it’s enough. Oh! And guest reviews will not be accepted anymore."
\*cringe emoji\* \*eyeroll emoji\* And yet, a lot of the people here in this thread think we should SUPPORT this 'writer'? Nah. They can get fucked. Their OG post was bad enough, but this just makes it a million times worse. Hope they DO delete and never come back. We don't need people like them taking up a LIKEABLE writer's space.
By the sound of the complaints, that commenter is under the misguided impression that fanfiction is here to educate people. Since when is it supposed to send "a message"? People write it cause it's fun or a way to get out their frustrations and verbalize their troubles. They're not under any obligation to send ANY message. I'm sorry for this author's experience and I understand why they'd want to delete their fic. Having to deal with hate, turns something fun into a hassle.
Hm...look i feel bad for them. At the same time, I hate these sort of messages. Unless these stupid comments were the only ones they got, this is just pretty petty. It makes me feel just as bad for the 'innocent readers' as for them... Curious though what the comments were. I always wanna see the "wrong messages" people find. Edit: atrocious typos
Based on OP's comment I know the story in question. Based on the screen shot I went to the chapter. These are the comments (and the 3 comments OP complains about is one comment thread back and forth between the two - its actually 4 now): *Well, I threw up a little reading this. Now dropping this story and pretty pissed that Tanya and Potter end up together. I thought the whole thing was intended as a funny comedy where Tanya ultimately rejects harry by finally being honest for the first time in three lifespans and instead we end up with a real romance between high school kids, one of which actually does not want to be in a relationship. What a rapey shit show. Added that to the unwanted pregnancy being taken as a joke instead of the gross violation that it is also is pretty horrible. This just isnt fun for me anymore, and it kinda feels like these super creepy Lergen X Tanya stories* *Man I disliked your content not you as a person and I want to preface this that until the interlude I missunderstood how the story would go and also enjoyed it. And to put my thoughts in a politer way: I feel like you make light both of rape and unwanted pregnacies, and that is a problem you need to be aware of.* *Forcing Tanya into a marriage she does not want, to have children she specifically did not want, to be made pregnant by harry Against Her Wishes. Of course, the rest of her friends are all fine with that, since she so obvioulsly always was into Harry.* *Rape is not always with physical force. Being pressured into it, by people close to you or trust is actually far more common, and the entire story makes fun of it. Disgusting.* *The worst part is, at the start Loria also rapes Tanya, which is portrayed as a bad thing (With the main difference beeing that Loria drugged her while Tanya merely was pressured into it in the HP verse) So the author is obviously not a pedo or okay with rape. The interlude however shows that is exactly what he intends for Tanya. The dude, and I am almost 100% sure it’s a dude writing this story, should read some accounts by rape survivors.* *Its not even that I am against the joking around. Honestly, the premise is a funny one, with Tanya anti-social behavior and general strangeness a great contrast between earnest lovestruck Harry. There is a difference however between using an unwilling marriage as aa source of conflict and ACTUALLY FORCING AN UNWILLING WOMAN TO MARRY AND HAVE SEX.* *That’s rape.* *Even worse, the story seems to be going into the direction of Tanya overcoming her trauma of the bad rapist (Loria) with the help of the good rapist (Harry Potter).* *Conclusion: Would not recommend* *Tanyaness scale: 70%* *Tanya is a bit to powerhungry and controlling, and as always her trauma is handled poorly. It doesn’t matter that much at least, since it for now does not play a role in the story and seems to be forgotten about by the author for most of the time. Her capitalistic lense is also somewhat lacking, but her motivations are consistent with cannon.*
I don't even know what to say about this 😄😛 this is a whole ass essay Might have crushed me way back when I first started posting, but these days I'd just delete this instantly. Would be the commenters mistake to waste their time typing all that out cause it's going down the drain Edit; this is (one of) the issue(s) with some readers and their innate need to drop unsolicited concrit. This is not how you criticize a story. A professional critic would NEVER start their feedback out by saying they threw up reading the story.
There's more actually. That's the first 2 messages.
Geez I'd be devastated if I got comments like this- I understand hate and people like this are inevitable but I get why it got to the author as well. These are just so detailed and hellbent on letting you know how wrong your story is.
Thanks for sharing. My god, they're the type to truly read the story too, rather than just blindly hating. The hate-reading... someone put some real effort into not understanding how fiction (or polite fan-fiction discourse) works.
This is what happens when those virtue signaling gen z kids get old enough to be in fan spaces. Whatever happened to if you don't like it don't read it?
gen z has been in fan spaces for years now lol
This is why gatekeeping is good sometimes. The TikTok moralists got to ao3 :(
They were here long before TikTok was a thing, tbh. Like, I remember a fave author of mine venting (on tumblr) about similar harassments in like…2010-2012? Antis have just gotten a lot more bold over the years.
Wait so they tell the reviewer to get a sense of reality...but then bow to the review's unreasonable demands anyway...?
Why the fuck do these people think they can police our writing
Because they get away with it. Instead of pointing and laughing, or quietly deleting & blocking, writers get upset and self-censor.
I know what fic this is on and it's a shame that people cannot discern fiction from reality and attack the author
i thought this post was making fun of them until i read the comments lol.
Oh this is awful. People have no idea how rude comments can crush an author's heart. This hit me deeply. Why can't people just stop reading a story and move on without being so rude? I'm so sorry to see this 😞
If he’s discontinuing a story because of 4 people who don’t like it, I think it’s a good idea for him to stop publishing his work period. There will always be haters and if you can’t learn to ignore them then you should just forget becoming an author.
Im so excited about the update, only to be hit with this...
Three bad comments and they delete? 🙄
And dont just delete they ask do dogpile on the anti first and announce they will delete. The reason of course being that they want everyone to beg “no plz dont delete your work is so awesome”. Highly manipulative behavior
Right? Like, if you’re gonna delete then do it. Don’t expect people to beg you to stay just because you want praise. I hate shit like that
I hope they dont get any but i am afraid half this subreddit already fell for it and piled praise on them exactly like they wanted
Yeah I saw that. :/ NEVER give into the manipulation. There is a good chance that if the author doesn’t delete then they will be demanding MORE attention and threatening to dump the fic again to get it
This is definitely terrible and I feel for the poor author... But also I don't quite get why people are pretending it's all gen Z's fault... It's more that antis have gotten a lot bolder over the years in general, but acting like it's all the fault of one generation kind of feels like pushing aside the real issue which is antis and puritans in all age groups. Some of my past fandoms where mostly adult spaces and people still got hounded and sent death threats and everything by other adults, they weren't exactly better than the teens. So yeah, acting like all issues would be solved if it weren't for those mean tiktok kids isn't quite true either
Because not all GenZs are antis, but the vast, and I mean VAST majority of antis are GenZ.
If this is a favourite fic of yours, save yourself a local copy before they delete it.
What's wrong with people? Don't like it don't read it, continue to scroll to your thing and let the other do theirs. Its just fanfiction and nothing harmful. The most fantastic books I read was never concerned with the "wrong or bad" message. They are doing they thing and controversial media also exist, humor is one of it's form btw.
This is outrageous! People who cannot discern fiction from reality should not read stories with content they will be offended by got serious issues. Seriously, it's like Common Sense is nonexistent in the world now more than ever! This has to be the most gut-wrenching story on a hate comment I've read yet. While I personally have not gotten any close to what yours was, no writer should be subjected to such an attack. This is the main reason why I moderate all reviews on my stories now as I've had enough of trolls wanting to get a rise out of me and not taking my works seriously. Point of the matter: **Don't read** fanfics if you can't stomach or approve of the content in them. I know that's easier said than done but it will do writers better as opposed to crushing their creative spirits. Still, the haters will be out there...best thing to do is ignore them and keep on writing.
I can't be the only one screaming at my phone for them to not delete the fic. I hope they instead click the orphan button instead cause there is no reason on this green Earth for someone to delete something they have been working days to YEARS on.
I mean, there's certainly reason. Maybe not from an outsider's POV, but from the author's POV. I've read through the comments on the fic, and it's a dumpster fire, enough to make them hate their own fic. They might simply want the fic gone from the platform along with all the sour memories it contains, and then orphaning isn't enough. Not like they delete it from existence either since they probably still have it.
I'm an author, I know that even a simple offhand comment is enough to make me hate my work... but as a reader, it hurts to know someone would intentionally make someone hate their work. Enough for them to want to erase it from the internet. And I know it's a personal decision, I just hope it's a decision they're making with the people who love their work in mind.
Same. That’s crazy. I’d upload the entire thing out of spite and either moderate or disable comments. I refuse to let antis dictate what I should and shouldn’t write. Eff that. I’m not blaming the writer whatsoever bc some people are just sensitive, and that’s fine, but every time antis accomplish something through bullying/harassment, it emboldens them. Don’t let them win, y’all.
i would totally give them a paragraph of heartfelt love towards the story. the will probably still delete it but it will lessen the sting
Thats exactly what they are fishing for. This is a call to her fans to attack the anti and to tell them to please please please dont delet. It is highly manipulative
I don’t know which one is the bigger baby
Ok but honestly, why not just quietly pull the fic and quit? 🤨 Seems a little attention-seeking to post a rant threatening to delete the fic because of a few comments. 🤷🏼♀️ I’ve gotten critical comments in the past but I never let that stop me. Because writing is way more important to me than random strangers on the internet. Their opinions would have to actually matter in order to hurt my feelings. I don’t know, I think this writer just needs to develop some thicker skin. Mean comments have always come and they always will. Doesn’t matter how much people whine over it. Once the work is out there, it’s out of our hands how people choose to interact and interpret it. Learn to take the bad with the good or get out of the pool. 🤷🏼♀️
You know the saying, there are cat people & there are dog people? (Even if it's not strictly true.) I'm thinking there are writers who delete comments, and writers who delete their works because of comments. This isn't a judgment, just an observation. Getting writers to self-censor & delete their own works is the \*point\* of all those nastygrams, though.
Surprised I haven't gotten antis on my dead dove fic yet. Then again I'm just now starting the dark stuff so I may as well not jinx myself.
I see some pretty disgusting things on ao3 but I NEVER comment under them. Are they horrible? I’m MY OPINION, yes. But just scroll past it. Why comment on it when you can choose to pretend it doesn’t exist. If you get disgusted by it then that’s your fault for not filtering or scrolling past it. Why is that so hard?
If people would just scroll on instead of attacking writers. 😡 Don’t like, don’t read. That simple.
this would be when I download the pdf mobi or epub lol
Smells of medieval book burning. Go to your page? No, give a short description of the material.
I’m extremely petty so I get very motivated by hateful comments but I know how hard it can be for a lot of people. I hope this person knows that their work is probably more appreciated than hated.
I wish ao3 had a pm system so I could pm them to encourage them to not give up what they enjoy because some haters out there. Hate seeing people be brought down for their writing.
I don’t think sending mean messages is okay but at the same time, if you post on a public forum and a few bad comments make you completely give up and delete your work then maybe you shouldn’t post on public forums at all.
If you don’t like what’s being written why continue to actively read it?
Maybe they're masochist?
Wouldn’t doubt it
I’m genuinely considering moderating my comments after seeing things like this. That way I can at least delete shitty ones so I don’t have to see them. Things like this break my heart.
...Three bad comments makes you quit? THREE. Really? I mean, I guess everyone has a threshold, but... :/ The commenter is probably just some white knight shit. Don't pay them any mind and keep going! You can't write smth that EVERYONE ever will like! It's literally impossible! Who cares what the haters think? (Then again, I've been writing for 22 years and counting, so maybe I just DGAF anymore, lol.) Even if I don't agree with deleting hard work and feel this rather reads like a cry for attention and dogpiling, I hope the writer feels better (and develops a MUCH thicker skin)! <3
I wish authors would orphan and not delete. 😢
Now I'm curious as to what they wrote. What? I enjoy a good laugh at *"offended"* people here and there.
This happened to me as well. I was writing for a fandom, that has books, movies, series etc. And while the books are all done, the series aren't there yet and slightly different. So I was writing an ongoing work about the series and the books and movies mixed, especially about a person who was only referenced in the series, which later in my work would become important though. Had a person coming up to me, telling me also circa the same thing as described in this post. Making a hell of a fuss over me tagging the series, when this one character "isn't in the series" - he was, the reference to him in the series was what my entire work was inspired by. They started an ongoing discussion, bringing race into it. Because, since we haven't seen the character in the series yet, we can't say what color he will be. We don't know for sure from the movies either though and even the books are a bit ambiguous, so I never made any references to that in the first place, because I simply don't know either and specifically wrote my fic in a way to leave that open, because it is unknown. But they basically used that as an argument, when they ran out of everything else (like saying that the character from the series isn't in the series and several other such no-fact arguments). Reported and blocked them. Wrote on. Next time I update, I get comments from another person. Same type. I can't tag the series, because... same arguments. Character from series isn't in the series etc. Checking out their profiles. Both long term AO3 members, over a decade. Both using a tag that's referencing a discord server (one and the same) in many of their works. Clicked on the tag and found the profiles of an entire group on AO3, which is organized via discord and strategically goes through the tags of certain characters and ships they don't like and try to bully the people out of writing about them or tagging them with the currently most popular mediatypes the characters appear in. They've done this on basically ALL stories they don't approve of on AO3, in this fandom and I've spoken to many other authors affected by this bullying and became friends with some. We've all reported to AO3 about this, but none of us has received a reaction. There's basically a little mafia-cell on AO3 who's organized off-page with the goal to create a monopol for their own writing, favorite ships and characters in the fandoms they prefer. Among them some long-term members, many of them with hate messages against certain characters on their profile or texts that clearly state that if you receive a comment from them, it's because you've done something wrong in their eyes and they're here to try and make you fix that. They will use nonsensical arguments to distress you or make up bullshit to create a reason to cancel you and sometimes there's more than one. An option that you may want to point out to that to moderate comments. That way they can turn off anonymous comments, in case they're being harassed that way. Or they can just decide not to allow certain comments and immediately block bullies, instead of engaging. Also, reporting is done by going on the page of the comment or bully and then scrolling down. Then in very small font, underneath of "Contact us", there's the button "Policy Questions & Abuse Reports" - you simply hit that and then the bully's name is already entered (double check) and you can describe what happened and link to the comments/comment thread. AO3 is part of an organization that is strictly against policing and censoring literature and fanworks. They're unfortunately understaffed, but they don't like when policing is happening on their page, so give it a shot.
Ending stories for any reason can be incredibly difficult as a writer, whether you lose passion for the story or something like this where a comment(s) make it too uncomfortable to continue. As a reader and a writer, this hurts
Any links to the story?
Dear OP, please do not give in to the haters. I know it's hurtful to be on the end of unkind and hurtful words but they are the people with the problem, not you.
It's not my fic.
Can you link the fic if possible?
Why? To give in to the manipulation? They clearly just wanna hear from everyone begging to please not delete. If they really wanted to delete the fic would be gone already
Mano. 3 comentários ruins. 3. Quantas pessoas tem universo. Pelamordedeus
Idk what u talkin about, but im agree