A03, and Hate Comments
A bit of a different post today.
TW: bullying, harassment, and mentions of suicide.
So I have been very lucky in my time on both A03 and Tumblr. I think, in the last 8 years, I can count on one hand the number of actually negative comments I have had. Constructive criticism doesn't count - that, I will always encourage.
But then this slid into my inbox today. And I'm making no effort to hide the username of the person who left it, if they are even real (could well be a bot), then hell yeah I'll name and shame. I don't give a shit.
It was translated from German, so it may not be 100% accurate, but here is the original comment, my response, and the translation.
But why do I post this? Well, for one, it made me laugh. I got dragged up in a British secondary school, this shit doesn't even touch the sides of what I've heard and been told in my life. At the end of the day this is some sad little lowlife hiding behind a keyboard, and being in my late twenties and very secure in myself, this doesn't change a thing about my life.
But for two, it's to raise an awareness. Now, I don't know if there is a real person behind that screen, or if it is a bot account. If it's the latter, then picking a Jack Daniels fanfic to roast someone is...a choice, to say the least. But whatever, you do you, you string of 0's and 1's. It does beg the question of what information you're being fed to achieve that kind of comment, but that's a conversation for another day. I don't greatly feel like getting into the generative AI debate now, and the negative impact that's having on our world and, on a smaller scale, fandom.
But if you are real, then fuck you. You landed in my inbox today, and I shrug you off and name and shame you. No real harm done. Fanfic Writers 1 - Hate Commenter 0. But had you ended up in the lap of someone vulnerable, perhaps younger, maybe even on their first ever fic - I dread to think where this could throw someone's mental health. And why do you get joy from trying to stop people writing? (or, living, in this case). Piss off, seriously.
If by some chance this person reads this; put the keyboard down and do something productive with your life. You don't belong here.
If anyone receives anything from them: delete. delete. delete. Remember that fandoms are a place for kindness, zero tolerance, and wherever you look you will find support. These lowlife trolls don't deserve your tears.
Some folk might ask me why I don't moderate comments if this is the type of thing that comes through, but to that my answer is simple. This is a one-off, whereas genuinely nice comments from guest accounts are not. They happen on most my fics, and I'll never deny someone the ability to say what they want to me. I like to remember that I was once a guest account scouring A03, learning very quickly that I wasn't going to be leaving the platform anytime soon. People's interactions with me are what led me to make it official; I'd like to one day be that person for someone.
Anyway, that's enough bullshit for one day. Have a laugh, moderate your comments if you need to, and let's just get back to enjoying fics!
