Opinions #3 - On the Subject of Author Blindness "The Hugbox" · 1:58am Apr 16th, 2016
Opinions #3 - On the Subject of Author Blindness
A rant written to speak out against the deemed "hugbox"
All right. Let's chat.
And when I mean chat, I mean chat.
For starters, I know my fanbase. You are all wonderful people. You console me when I need consoling, and you tell me to fuck off when I'm acting like an idiot. I love that about you all. But there's a problem with this site in particular in terms of authors hugging their fans like the average The Weakest Link player hugs his or hers lifelines. So I'm not going to hug you for helping me cope with my issues, I'm just going to say "Thank you, for putting up with a reformed dickhead."
Anyway, what is a hugbox?
Simple, it is when an author relies on the fanbase for whenever an author cannot deal with a certain individual. Now let's talk about me for a second, because I was a perfect specimen for the opposite of "hugbox". I relied on all of you when drama happened. I posted blogs that honestly were just sub blogs because said person could not take my criticism well. To that, I say shame on me for being an absolute cunt. I will walk the plank for that one.
That does not mean those who are in hugboxes are not walking that same plank. By relying on your fans, you are treating them like a pity pool, which is basically a city pool drowning in tears and sorrow for a soul who honestly could solve their own problems if they were given advice or a single tap on the shoulder. You're probably wondering who that person would be. That's called a friend. It's like Cash Cab, a show dealing with money and lifelines [A mobile Weakest Link, but with no angst]. One of the lifelines is phoning a friend, or, if you're testing your luck, you ask a random stranger on the street what the answer to your question is. Well, these are called "risks". By phoning a friend, you are talking to someone you know. You are taking a low risk with high reward if you ask a friend for advice, because they know you more than others do.
So when an author decides to "tap into the hugbox" so to speak, does this mean that they are risking huge?
Good question, whoever the heck asked that. Here's my response to that great interrogative statement:
"Yes."
By displaying your hurt and pain, you are risking huge due to the following:
1. Blogging to your fans does not mean that it is a private page. The Internet is public, therefore information is public. You are open to any soul that knows your existence.
2. Blogging said pain and angst will make your fans squirm. If this is repeated, fans may dip out because they do not like someone doing the same act over and over (not that it is an act, mind you).
3. Since information is public, then that means criticism is going to happen no matter what. Criticism is something that people do, because we're social beings with differing opinions. If we all had the same opinions, then criticism would be null void. So, by that logic, criticism will never stop.
3.5 Ignoring criticism is even worse. If an author ignores criticism, chances are they hurt their chances for any sort of reinforcement. It actually may deter people from commenting if the author downright ignores it.
"But Soaring you ignore comments sometimes!"
True, I may not respond to any comments some days, or I may respond to all of them. It depends on my mood, honestly. We are all human after all, and we do tend to have bad days and good days. So don't be offended if I don't comment on your criticism. I read every single comment, and honestly, some of you are creative as hell with your comments.
I mean, really. You are too creative.
It kills me.
CRAWLING IN MY SK--
Anyway, onto the final point.
4. Creating a hugbox environment does not solve any problems. Fans will be fans in these environments, not psychologists. If they tell you to go see a doctor, it may be wise to take their advice. But if they tell you that there's nothing wrong, and that even though this has happened way more than once (for some) that they still disregard the fact that something is wrong, then you should not listen to them. Fans can be just as blind as authors.
So, let's take those blinders off today with the moral of this rant.
"Do not create a hugbox environment because all it does is create blindness."
And if you're wondering, yes, this is direct response to the drama that's been happening in the community. I know that I'm going to get flak for it, but I honestly don't care. Why? Because I know how to handle criticism. And plus, I love when fans and new people alike are critics. They tell me that I fucked up, I somewhat fucked up, or I inevitably, unfucked myself.
Seriously folks, you are all great at telling me how to be socially aware. I thank you for that.
Anyway, that's enough ranting for today. I'd like to point out something I wrote. It is a review! Go check it out if you'd like! Be as critical as you like, you glorious fuckers you.
Anyway, that is all. Thank you for reading. If you disagree or agree with me, tell me in the comments. Oh, and if you want to send death threats or tell me something akin to one, you can direct your messages to my private messages. But be warned, I purge those.
-Soaring
Also, here's an audio version to this blog. I might do this when I better microphone, considering this one sounds like a static piece of shit. That may be due to the volume controls, or because it's old and beat all to hell.
So yeah, here's the audio log from vocaroo. Lower your volume, trust me.
Yay, hugbox!
derpicdn.net/img/2013/12/5/489898/full.png
--Sweetie Belle
This is the part where I pretend to be responding to the blog post initself and not acknowledge that I've already responded.
Here is a substance free quip.
"I will hug you anyday and you will be blinded. Yes it is because I am fat."
I barely read the first sentence, and I could already tell that you had read Lightning's latest post. Sorry man, I barely have a vocabulary.
3873259
Okay, just for that, I will indulge in your hugbox.
[I can't find a suitable Soarin image, so here's a guy reacting to the image for me.]
31.media.tumblr.com/edeaa2dfa62af0d3ecf49ad9d00629ef/tumblr_inline_nxegwbejb61rpnoz2_500.gif
3873272
This is why we can have nice things.
Well shit. Well played. I am now going to turn into the rolling turd and drown in a pond.
ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BNDgxNDE2NDU3MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzA2ODQzMQ@@._V1_UY1200_CR89,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg
3873279
And I'm sorry that you knee-kick reacted instead of reading the whole thing.
Read before you comment.
...you asked for it.
40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqy21cewML1r0mvrdo1_500.jpg
3873289
Like I said, I probably can't even read half of it, because I don't have a very broad vocabulary. *Mic drop. Then picks it back up and drops it again. I am fricking amazing.*
3873282
That's always kinda a problem. I have plenty of hug pictures of me, but most didn't involve *boxes*. I do actually use derpiboo.ru to keep track of pictures I might want to post, though, by my favorites, tho'.
derpicdn.net/img/2016/4/4/1123962/full.gif
--Sweetie Belle
3873299
I am taking cover as we speak.
cdn1.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DXN2BWUQX4KIT9nZaR5_fJKNBos=/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4154408/hide.0.gif
It's not going very well.
3873304
Um...
Did you just call yourself stupid? More than half of the English language is based on broad vocabulary. They're called sight words? Y'know?
3873307 You better.
I hear flak hits kinda hard.
3873311
49.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1vjbcMOsd1rsyc0yo1_500.gif
I think this table will do!
3873310
Okay, fine, I do have an advanced vocabulary. But let's just say that I like to jump headfirst into certain situations, like my first comment on this blog.
*Grabs multiple microphones and drops them all at once*
3873325
Okay...?
Here's the lesson you must learn: think before you speak. This might help you avoid getting a concussion in the future.
3873306
You're killing me with adorableness. I don't think I can take it much longer!
~Rockfarmer, F2P Columnist
3873332
Thank you for commenting!
And now I will sit in the luxurious hugbox that you gave me!
[Yet again, since Google has failed me in my search for a funny image of a guy getting electrocuted in some animated cartoon where he doesn't die, I'll just give you Patrick reacting to a cheeseburger and an alarm clock.]
media4.popsugar-assets.com/files/2016/02/23/828/n/1922398/a7402fde955727fa_18_diet9PPgLMr.fbshare/i/sometimes-you-just-NEED-cheeseburger.gif
3873328
You know, I kill flamewar threads that way sometimes, too...
Just as a suggestion, here's how I'd take cover:
derpicdn.net/img/2016/3/13/1107750/medium.png
--Sweetie Belle
3873328
*Takes in advice, and decides to dive head first again*
Maggot. You should take yourself. Throw yourself in a car. Throw that car off of a cliff. And then do an awesome parachute escape where the car is in flames and the sun is setting. Boom. Major insults.
I'm sorry.
no I'm not.
3873350
Well, I guess we're starting to see the signs of the concussion. You're doing full stops instead of commas, making it awkward as hell for me to decipher whether you're having an issue with broad vocabulary, or issues with broad knowledge on sentence structure.
I think you might want to stop while you're ahead. Concussions suck.
This is why we can't have nice things.
3873347
Okay, now I want to know what Rarity or Sweetie Belle did to cause a fire in the Boutique. Is Rarity bad at cooking too?
Oh boy... I can't read.
EDIT: Oh, they were both cooking. Well, now I have to see how big the fire is.
The embarrassment is killing me. I now have a concussion!
3873362
No, This is why we can't have nice things.
3873377
derpicdn.net/img/2014/1/12/522674/medium.png
--Sweetie Belle
100 views in relatively one hour.
What the fuck is going on?
You all are amazing. This is crazy.
And here I thought hugbox would be referring to an echo chamber-like environment where a person surrounds themselves only with people that share their exact same opinion, maybe to a more extreme level than their own so they can create their own reality, a "safe space" of sorts.
This definition works, too. People who treat their fans like a personal therapist on a regular basis kind of irks me. I mean, sure it's okay to vent every once in a while, but if that's all someone does, it's no wonder that people would get sick of it.
3873350
So, you're kind of a dick.
3873461
This sounds like an insane asylum living a double negative. It's so insane that they people inside are sharing equal opinions about how insane they are.
I like it.
I agree. Venting is okay to do once in a while, but letting your fans know after every instance where something doesn't go your way is pretty ridiculous.
3873474
That comment was a joke. But yes, I can be a prick at times.
3873509
It must come with the territory of being a shitty crossover writer.
3873515
I get the feeling that you are trying to piss me off. However, I love Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr, with all of my heart, so I will not start a flame war on this page. However, I will stand up for myself as a crossover writer. Crossovers are actually a great genre of fanfiction, if you actually are into different fandoms. So I will ask you once, please don't be so ignorant and please don't insult certain types of people.
3873523
Okay okay, I see the confusion. You think I called you a shitty-crossover writer, when I in fact meant to call you a shitty crossover-writer.
I apologize for leaving out the hyphen and leading you to misunderstand my post.
...I must be missing something?
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/042/619/4ea.jpg
3873528 I agree, while some crossovers provide some interest... MargoploGX and his stories are not included in the 'interesting' or 'good storywriting' group. I might as well be looking a displaced story, same quality and reputation.
We have had a lot of drama now that I think about it.
3874226
That's true and it just escalated today.
Oh joy.
I've said for a while that there's nothing wrong with a hugbox so long as it's not for someone in the wrong, but that definition is rather broad. This blog puts it well, especially:
That's how it should work. It's fine to turn to your supporters for help (hence why they're called supporters), but don't abuse that privilege. Personally, I've only asked my followers for advice or their thoughts a few times.
So, good blog. I agree.
P.S. Sorry for posting on an old one. I'm just reading your blogs like a stalker~