Another slice of humble pie, please · 10:57pm Apr 13th, 2013
Ever done something stupid, then tried to salvage the situation, but only dug yourself into a deeper hole?
I just did.
Watching this space yesterday, you would have seen me make a few sweeping declarations, and alienate a few people. Quite by accident, these seem to have included some people I respect.
The problem was, I wasn't honest about my reasons for my statements. Here, finally, is the truth: I don't feel right in associating with people I wouldn't trust with my kids[1].
That's all that's left of my case, because one of my favorite readers explained that legally and ethically, I was not responsible for what my followers were into.
Still, my personal reasons stand. I can't help what I feel.
When I realized what a scene I was making, I did something especially lame, and deleted the post out of embarrassment. Before then, I had never thought I would find myself doing that. But several people made good points, and I actually saved their responses, because it would have been a shame if their words were wasted.
This morning, a long-time reader left a glowing comment on my latest story. It reminded me why I got into this in the first place: to amuse, enlighten, and scare people. I need to stop getting angry, instead standing by my principles in a mature and honest manner. I still hate foalcon, but I realize my readers come here for stories, not fandom drama.
Therefore, I hope you will all accept my apologies.
We really have got to stop meeting like this.
Regards,
HV
[1] If I had any.
Aww... It's fine by me, at least. I tend to get somewhat up in arms over the issue purely for the reasons mentioned yesterday (and because we have some double-standards, especially in the US, about the relative acceptability of gruesome violence vs sex).
I actually wrote a long response earlier in the day to your post and wound up deleting it rather than putting it up. The power went out in my office, so I had some time to think about what I was writing while I went home, and I decided that as much as the topic can set me off because of the irrationality it provokes, I thought your statements in the blog were actually pretty much in line with my own feelings. It's just that so many people seem so willing to drag everything into a very legally and morally questionable gray area by thinking that there can be no gray area on this topic, and that laws ought to be easy to write because of that.
Seems reasonable enough. Don't worry bro, everything is cool. Don't really have an opinion on foalcon one way or the other, but I can see why you don't like it. Anyways, have a great day!
I'm glad I went on my rant about this whole situation over Skype.
I understand your concerns and you do write some dark stuff and that I enjoy. I hate foalcon because of the similarity to pedophilia and that is just wrong by my standards. just please continue to write good grimdark fanfics and remember where you started.
I'm here to see the platonic terror of consenting adults, not drama about cp.
That said (and I intend this to be as non-inflammatory as possible)...
As disgusting as it is, it provides a necessary outlet to a (thankfully small) set of individuals cursed with an unfortunate fetish. It doesn't belong in the public eye, but if it didn't exist, desperate bastards would be more likely to do harm to -real- children. I'm not asking you to love and tolerate it in your homes, but they didn't ask for their brains to be that messed up.
What I'm trying to say is: I love your horror, but you're so self-effacing! Keep writing, haters be damned.
1005597
I actually agree with you. I'm not one to preach at people for what they do on their own time. But it's a matter of picking one's friends -- you understand.
Well I missed the blog, so I have no idea what's this all about. Foalcon or something? Why that of all things?
1006027
Short version: I decided I'd had enough of all the foalcon fans here, and tried to purge them from my Followers list. When I found that I could only block them, I made a blog post asking them to leave. This backfired. It made sense to me at the time, but I still feel like an idiot.
I appreciate the explanation. I've made bigger scenes over smaller things.
1006056
as 1006060 said. Thank you for explaining.
Some would just bury something like that. Kudos to you for owning up.
Apology accepted, for you have earned it, my friend.
1005676
The motivation is definitely understandable. You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your fans.
I think this is a perfectly reasonable place to let the matter rest. I hope you are able to satisfy the demands of your conscience without doing anything else drastic.