#mind your fan/creator ettiquette

[veliseraptor]

You no longer deserve any earthly happiness. I just want you know that. #StillHasn'tGottenOverTheLastChapter #UglyCries #MyMascara

okay anon, I know the spirit in which this is meant, but. I’m going to take this opportunity to note that, while I know there is a lot of fannish hyperbole that is the “I hate you” = “I love you” variety, sometimes that can go too far and just sound...harsh and, honestly, a little mean. Like, I know we all joke about emotional trauma and “I can’t stand this” and “thanks, Satan” and whatever, but recognize that if your fanmail sounds like hatemail then it’s probably gone too far.

this isn’t just you - I got a review on a fic a while back telling me that I was going to hell for not updating, which I’m pretty sure was not meant as antagonistically as it sounded but is still pretty antagonistic, and was honestly pretty upsetting for me to read.

@portraitoftheoddity wrote a great post a while ago about how people tag sad art with variations on “fuck you” or “how dare you” and it can start to feel aggressive, even knowing that it’s meant not necessarily in that spirit. even with the translation into fannish vernacular, something like “you no longer deserve any earthly happiness” is pushing the limits of acceptability, as far as I’m concerned - and I’m not just speaking for myself but for creators in general. 

seriously. watch how you talk to creators on the internet. there’s a line where “fannish hyperbole” bleeds into “aggression” that gets very, very uncomfortable for those of us on the receiving end.