Yo Dudes · 1:26am Sep 9th, 2017
Rant incoming. If you've not heard any rumblings of drama over the past day or so regarding certain "reviewers", it's probably best if you skip this. I'm going to get pretty caustic.
No names will be mentioned. I am not going to direct anyone to another user on this site. But you know who you are.
I can't believe I have to explain this, but here we are.
Nobody on this site is automatically better than anyone else. Nobody's opinion is automatically worth more than anyone else's.
This is a site for horsefuckers to write horsefuckery. This is a goddamn my little pony fanfiction website on the internet. How people can get high and mighty about that while shitting on people for being in different social circles is beyond me.
You have opinions? Excellent. So does literally everyone else on the planet. You want to share them? Go for it. That's why this website has blog posts and comment sections.
You want to pick fights, shit-talk people, and look down on anyone who exists in different social circles from you? Or merely doesn't share your opinion?
Maybe don't do that.
And especially don't try to lord it over said people by saying that your detractors' opinions don't matter, because they're a minority on the site. Yes, they are a minority. As are the people who appreciate your "criticism". This site has nearly 250,000 registered accounts, cockbite, if you somehow managed to piss off the majority of those people, I'd be more impressed than anything else. And not only that, but how the christ can you claim that because most people on the site don't give two jackaninny fucks about your sorry arse their opinions don't matter, while still claiming that the opinions of people who read your "reviews" (hereafter referred to as "poor sods who haven't the good sense to realise what caustic bullshit is when it's spewed on them") are still valid? That somehow they're worth more than the rest?
You, sir, and people like you are cancer. A cancer that has been eating away at the heart of the reviewing community for years. People who like to think that because they've stuck the "reviewer" badge on their opinions, that they need to be listened to. That their opinion is somehow worth more than others. That you need special consideration, and people should go visit your blog to see what wise words you've deemed fit to bless a lucky author with on this joyous eve.
Newsflash, dickwad. You're not special. I'm not special. Everyone has opinions. Feel free to share them, but don't expect a random passer-by to even give you the time of day, because none of us are entitled to jack shit.
Entitled. That's the word I'd use to describe folk with this mindset.
I've held this opinion for years, but I've never voiced it before now, for a couple reasons. The main one being that I generally try to avoid drama, if at all possible, but fuck it. I've been out of my antidepressants for nearly two weeks now, and I have absolutely zero tolerance for this bullshittery.
I'm angry. I'm overworked. I'm ill. I'm tired. I've had doctors drain my arm of blood to try and figure out why I'm so tired and angry and shit all the time.
I'm fed up.
I need a drink.
Everything you just said I agree with in a vehenement way.
~Skeeter The Lurker
While I do think reviewers generally spend more time trying to think about writing, and spend more time contemplating it, it does not automatically imbue one with some sort of infallibility. It isn't like the reviewers all agree. Nor is it like all good writers on the site write reviews; there's lots of very good writers who seldom, if ever, write reviews as blog posts, though they will sometimes leave contemplative comments on stories or have interesting things to say about them.
That doesn't mean reviewing stories isn't valuable, though; different people have different tastes, in both stories and reviews. And of course, reviewers not only talk about what they liked and didn't like in terms of recommendations, but also in terms of the particulars of a story; sometimes there is a story I don't like, but my description of it has made someone want to read it. That doesn't mean they're a tasteless cad; it means that I helped someone find something they liked, even if I didn't. Moreover, even if I do really like a story, if I describe it in a way that makes someone recognize it as unappealing to them... well, then, I've helped them as well.
But I do value some people's opinions over others, and I think that, frankly, it would be a bit silly not to. If someone like Bad Horse or Bookplayer or Horizon or Cleverpun recommends something to me, I'm probably more likely to take that recommendation seriously than if some random person I've never heard of does so. If you've proven yourself to have interesting things to say, or to have good taste, then yeah, I'm going to value your opinion more. Same goes for everyone; it would be, frankly, insane not to.
In my time as a reviewer, I've had very, very few people get upset with me to any real extent - some people are not terribly happy with a review, of course, but such is life. Most people are happy indeed.
I've only had a few people go out of their way to pick fights with me over reviews; it is generally a very positive experience. If someone isn't happy with my reviews, they're welcome to ask me not to review their stuff; while I'm under no obligation not to do so, the way I figure it, what's the point of reviewing something if someone doesn't want a review? If they don't think I'm going to like their story, isn't it rather likely that they're right?
Sometimes people take any sort of criticism of a story - or even someone talking about it - as a personal attack. But it really isn't, in my experience. Almost none of the reviewers on the site engage in spite reviews; almost all the spite reviews I've seen were one-off things about things that bothered particular people.
After all, the reviewers do do this for free; why would we want to read stories that are just going to make us miserable?
4662661
People are allowed to do that. And that is up to them to decide who they value. You don't get to decide that for them.
Perhaps folk don't enjoy confrontation.
Perhaps they don't want to start drama, and bottle it up for years? Maybe eventually they'll reach a point where you finally cross one too many lines, and say "fuck it, I'm tired and ill and this person has been shitting on people for far too long".
Maybe they'll write a blog post about you being entitled.
Maybe.
4662667 Bingo.
4662667 mark me down as the next follower because of this exact blog. If I were any more satisfied I'd need a cigarette and a nap.
4662687
That sounds like top-tier satisfaction right there.
A side note, I noticed Respite is doing really well; I haven't looked at it since it first hit featured. Congrats, dude. I wish I could still write as much as you have been.
4662661
Words to live by!
I'm not much of a writer but back in my home planet of pony tumblr we often take for granted that people would not mind having their OCs drawn or reblogged/promoted. That's usually a safe assumption to make, but sometimes people will just not want their characters associated with certain artists or blogs for whatever reason (maybe the blog in question is NSFW or just not the kind of audience they want for their OC) and request that they don't draw or reblog their characters anymore, and to delete that post.
Its usually seen as very rude not to honor that request.
4662697
True. It's also seen as rude to spoil the ending to someone's story in a review.
Doubly so if said reviewer then refuses to remove the review after the author asked them to.
I'd say "post an unwanted review that spoils the entire point of someone's story" is worse than "post an unwanted review".
popcorn.gif
I have noooooo idea what's going on here.
4662701
oh, whew, now I know you're not talking about me
4662739
who'd ever talk about you that way :3
I don’t think drinking after you’ve had blood drawn is the best idea.
4662667
Are you really gonna be this passive-aggressive? Did your fucking spine get surgically removed?
Come on, man...
4662739
Honestly? You're at least decent when you review things.
~Skeeter The Lurker
4662745
There's nothing passive about it.
I'm just fed up.
4662696 Tbh, I'm like Plum in that I've been feeling this way since I crossed paths with certain aspects/members of the review community three or so years ago. For the most part, I've kept quiet and just done my own thing. I'm fed the hell up with it, and it's rather nice to see someone within the community itself pointing out the flaws.
On your note regarding Respite, thanks. I've enjoyed working on it for the last couple years and the support people gave was a lot greater than I ever imagined. Hoping to get an arc or two of the next book outlined so I can start writing that while I get to posting a couple side stories. Hope all is well on your end.
4662710
Me neither. You're gonna share, right?