Downvoting stories without reading them - quality control or prejudice? · 12:24am May 14th, 2018
Okay, normally it takes a very special FIMFic story to move me to either upvote it or downvote it. Askre and I have talked about this subject a few times outside of FIMFiction, but in the context of snap judging a story without reading it. I’ve expressed my extreme distaste for people who hit that thumb up/thumb down button based on their own bias towards the subject matter. I am sure all of us have been there…seeing some tags just push our buttons the wrong way, whether it be on the subjects of sex, gore, death, suicide, etc.
I didn’t even hit that judgmental little button yesterday when Lorenzo urged me to read a Sombra story where the King was tortured not with hot pokers, hoof screws or the rack but with, of all things, a feather.
Yes, you read me right. A feather.
I read through it all the way to the bitter, weird end and was amused and surprised by the outcome, so that made the read worth it, but the moral of this particular example is that I will read stuff under the right circumstances – even when I have that *sigh* moment a few paragraphs in that says, “I really don’t want to read this crap.”
But today, while perusing the new stories section for anything Sombra, I found that trigger that triggered my downvoting finger and was reminded I am about to do what I abhor and deride others for. Hitting the downvote button without reading the story.
So, in reflecting on this decision to slam a story without so much as reading a single word, I’ve come to the conclusion that some things must be downvoted for the sake of taking a stand on what is right and what is wrong.
This may be my Republican side coming out of the closet, irritated by the discussion yesterday with my husband of how the once-beautiful city of San Francisco has become a cesspool of FECES, NEEDLES AND URINE on it’s once beautiful streets because no one takes a stand to get the homeless population under control there. It is a den of not just human filth, but the political filth that let it get there in the first place – the liberals and democrats that squat in their city council and mayor’s office that decided the homeless have a right to also squat in the city – literally – thus creating a health problem the CDC should have come in and declared unfit for human habitation YEARS ago.
In a sense, that kind of filth also squats here on FIMFiction.
It’s rare, thank the Goddess, but it does exist and it needs to be told IT IS NOT WELCOME by decent human beings.
I have always lauded the fact that the lack of background story for King Sombra lends his tales to the wild imaginings of his fans and this is a great advantage – not something to be mocked by the shallow-minded trolls of both My Little Pony and FIMFiction. Without the open book of his character we would never have had the glorious writings of Boomstick Mick, Askre, Topside, Yoru-the-Rogue, I-A-M, Maltrazz and of course, my amazing friend, Pixel_Spark.
BUT, there is a limit bound by what is known as “common decency” as to what makes sense to write about King Sombra and his crimes. And that story this morning just plan simply crossed that line.
Because the unnamed crimes of King Sombra leave the door to subjectivity WIDE OPEN, people sometimes take that concept and run with it to the nth degree of their worst imaginings. This can be expected, I suppose, considering he is the king of one’s worst fears. I personally would just rather NOT see Knighty allow such universally accepted topics of filth and degradation allowed on FIMFiction for the good of the many - especially those under age.
The topic I am talking about here is necrophilia – sex with the dead. It is a practice abhorred by the Bible, atheists, religious of other faiths and agnostics alike. I would not be surprised if it were indicative of the presence of mental illness in the practitioner in nearly all documented cases by the police in every nation on earth.
And this last point alone has to tell you something about the author AND the friend of theirs who requested the fic. Why do I say this? Because it is a well-known fact among authors that we very often write what we are familiar with, have a hang-up about or are obsessed with. I am the perfect example of this. Just a look at my author page on FIMFiction will tell you in NO uncertain terms what I am into…no doubts, plain and simple and screamingly obvious.
I am not writing this to justify my actions of snap judging upvoting/downvoting stories, though I thought at first that might have been my motivation. I am writing this to take a stand for what is right - and no, not just in my mind, but in the minds of MANY. I am encouraging everyone out there to call this garbage out when you see it – and not just on FIMFiction, but anywhere and EVERYWHERE.
Do it because it’s right and remember to always,
Hail King Sombra!
(This is a reprint of a blog post on Hail King Sombra. Please feel free to comment there as well if you want more exposure for your writing outside FIMFiction.)
Wow, wow... First I will try my best to not get offended that I'm not on your list of best writers, I know I still have a long way to go so I... understand that you would choose people that have... better writing skills. Second, I do agree that necrophilia is a rather disgusting tag, heck I veered back and laughed out on the day I found out it was one of the new tags that came in with one of the last updates.
Third and I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but some writers actually make Sombra undead. In doing so would you still consider it necrophilia if an undead Sombra was in a sexual relationship with a living mare/stallion?
Hey GryphonStar thanks so much for replying. Hearing others takes on this topic means more to me than input on the usual, routine blog posts I do. It's too bad you didn't get a chance to hang with us on the chat. We had a good conversation about it online yesterday and I hope you can make it one of these days.
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Don't be offended that I didn't include you in the list. You have improved A LOT since we first worked together on your stories and all the writers I listed I consider way better than me at writing King Sombra. In that regards, you and I are in the same boat - knowing we need to improve and always striving to. You have put a HELLUVA lot of work into your universe and characters by virtue of more than the sheer number of horsewords you've churned out (which is a heck of a lot more than I have) so be proud of that, dude!
Why on earth would I take it the wrong way, my friend? We really have no proof he wasn't undead (though I'm guessing he wasn't, but that's just a guess). I'm fine if you make him undead, heck it's your universe, go nuts.
Me personally? People have probably been asking that question since the first Nosferatu popped into the pages of literature. Since it is physically impossible for someone dead to shag someone living, there isn't even a definition for that, so we can't go by a strictly scientific definition for what you're describing. If you want to get nerdy about it and by the dictionary's interpretation, a quick Google search brought up this to say about it: "sexual intercourse with or attraction toward corpses.", so no, IMO, it isn't. I think that's why sexy vampires are generally accepted. I doubt the majority of us would admit to having a thing for vampires if they were rotting corpses. Hell, just the thought of it makes my skin CRAWL!
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As always, I would love to if I had time. That's unlikely to happen right now since the story I have building up to for more than a year and a half is almost ready to post; July is just around the corner I have been telling my followers everytime I get the chance that I planned to post the first chapters of Journey To Hearth's Warming in July.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense now. I can only hope that one day I can be as good as the ones you mentioned.
I guess with me it comes down to consent and nonconsent. A corpse can't give an answer on either count so I'm majorly against necrophilia. It sort same reason why I'm against sexual relationships with real animals, as they can't speak our languages so they can't answer on both counts either. Fictional animals are fine because you can have them speak the same languages as humans, this is why despite me not likely the SonicxElise ship, I still don't find it disgusting since Sonic and Elise can both speak to each other directly of whether their relationship can be on consent or nonconsent(Though they did share their only kiss while he was dead for quite some time so... I guess I can consider it disgusting, just not in the way others often do.). So in the end, since most versions of Undead can speak back, they can answer on both counts and that why I'm perfectly fine with a sexual relationship between living and undead.