the failure mode of performative outrage is still hilarity

[edenfalling]

Back in April of 2017, an ff.net anon left a series of misogynist, ableist, and homophobic flames on Tides, one of my old Naruto fics. Ten months later, the anon has returned to leave a flame on Rituals, another old Naruto fic.

I can tell it is the same person because the choice of insults and general tone of performative outrage is exactly the same.

To wit: Naruto is happy with Hinata thank you very much. And suckura is in a dysfunctional family with sasgay! So screw shit!

...

I think the part of this whole experience I find most hilarious is that the anon clearly spends a fair amount of time reading fanfiction -- and reading it relatively closely; the flames on "Tides" correspond to events in the chapters instead of just being generic insults -- and yet doesn't seem to have grasped that the point of fanfic is that it doesn't have to recapitulate canon. It's a giant what-if game! You can just make shit up! That is, in fact, the point.

Anyway, this person makes my morning whenever they show up, but I really do hope, for their own sake, that they grow up and find hobbies less likely to drive them into rage aneurysms.

Comments

[the_rck]

I get an occasional FFnet troll who keeps trying to shame me over getting details of Doctor Who canon wrong. I'm pretty sure it's the same person over and over, but really? Doctor Who? You can find support for absolutely anything somewhere in the more than five decades of canon.

I just can't imagine taking the time required for the 2-3 dozen messages I've gotten on the subject. I don't reply, but obviously they're getting something out of it anyway.

[edenfalling]

Yeah, I am pretty sure you can't find a single fact in Doctor Who canon that hasn't been contradicted (directly or implicitly) by another part of that exact same canon. *wry*

There has to be some kind of emotional gratification people get out of telling others they are Doing Fandom Wrong, but it really baffles me. There are LOTS of stories and interpretations I personally dislike, but I either don't read them at all or silently back-button out once I realize there's a mismatch between me and the fic. I do not continue reading and then tell the writers they are horrible idiots for disagreeing with my personal take on canon.

In summary, humans are weird.

[krait]

I'm in your camp, but... weird as it is, one of my RL fannish friends has almost that exact mindset. Doesn't see the point in fic about noncanon pairings, doesn't see the point in fic that directly contradicts canon in any way really, though canon-compliant 'what-if' fic set before/after canon is enjoyable. (Doesn't flame authors for it, though!)

It's an almost unfathomably limited way to do fandom to me, but it works for my friend, so. Insert the shrug emoji thing here, I guess!

[edenfalling]

Weird! Then again, there are apparently people in the world who don't wonder about what happens after the ends of stories, or between scenes, which sounds ridiculous to me but I've read self-reports from some of them, so. Humanity is vast and contains multitudes, I guess.

[redwolf]

They're hate reading your fic and telling you you're doing it wrong because your writing doesn't align to the voices in their heads? But they read it. All the way through. Do they not know that if they don't like it, there's nothing forcing them to finish it? They could just walk away and find something more to their tastes, but they've wasted their time torturing themselves.

This is one of those times where I have to wonder how people manage to survive without accidentally killing themselves by swallowing their toothbrushes or slipping in their own drool. People are weird, but strangely entertaining at a remove.

[edenfalling]

Yeah, this person reads stories all the way through and leaves comments that are directly-related to the content -- so they pay attention to what they're reading -- and yet apparently hates every word of what they read. I have no idea what kind of emotional reward they're getting out of the process.

[rosaxx50]

"suckura" oh yup it's the same person all right.

That person needs to get a life and do something they enjoy!

[edenfalling]

Seriously!