Has an author's personality turned you off from continuing reading a story?

[honeyandcreambutter]

I just did! I've sent a report over and hopefully the staff will see it and talk to the author ^^

[Moctemma]

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I'm sure I'd stop reading it.

[Crusoe]

Haven't ever experienced that, but yes, it's a big turn off if a writer keeps bringing themselves down or personally contacts readers to advertise their stuff constantly.
I have stopped reading because of a work's audience tho.

[Rhonder]

I haven't had this happen with a comic (or other story) that I can think of, at least in recent memory, but I have been coming head to head with this kind of situation with an artist I follow on Twitter of late.

Discovered them earlier this year through some Youtube and Twitch content of theirs, love their work, decided to drop them a follow on Twitter. Unfortunately this creator's mental health seems to be in a bad place which is, of course, totally understandable & valid & I hope they are able to begin healing soon but.. man, seeing their social media posts every day borderline makes me want to stop following them ngl x__x

Their posts are just a big ol' cocktail of self depreciation and resentment towards their following and ways that said following interacts with them that they don't appreciate/contributes to said poor mental health. This taps into my feelings about creator self care and being able to identify when you need to step back and take a break for your own well being. It feels (to me at least) like it does more harm spewing essays of constant negativity every day than it would to just say "hey I need to take a social media break. I'll be back if/when I'm ready".

Again it's really too bad because they do awesome work and I haven't unfollowed yet but... maybe I just need to disable notifications from their posts or something for a while @u@;;

[thedude3445]

Never on Tapas have I stopped being interested in a work I was previously interested in, but on other sites and places yes, absolutely. There have been some writers in the web fiction world who have some pretty interesting stuff, but are extremely vocal and angry as well, and it really turns me off reading their work.

There was also an author on another site who came out very strongly as a COVID denier back when it was still contained in Asia and a little bit in the West Coast of the U.S. They doubled down even as the true scope of the threat became clear. I dropped that person like a rock and will never forget it.

[Kann]

Maybe a few times if I think about it. It's generally really hard for a person to turn me off from their work with their prsonality and actions.

[NickRowler]

Yes. There was this one comic creator what I used to follow for his silly gag comics. However, at one point he decided to be more open about politics and he shifted into a radical keyboard warrior. Even after I stopped following him, I learned later his stuff got worse. This person is not on Tapas but he had a pretty large fanbase at one point.

[gmaximin]

So far no. I really dissociate the art and the artist, it’s a conscious choice.
Some of my favorite art were made by people I’d probably never get along with (to say the least). That’s probably what makes them interesting to me...

[Caro]

I’ve had that experience too a while back. this year really revealed a lot about folks and not always in a good way!

[jcmraz]

Not if the story is good and doesn't showcase those beliefs. An example is Orson Scott Card is a bigot. Ender's Game is an incredibly antibigotry novel and is fantastic

[Pommie]

bad personality not only puts me off their comic, but puts me off their art in general. I can't be around someone who has a hurtful personality.

[Akhdas]

Somewhat i guess, it's often those who have different view point that interest me than the one who are following a formula or following a set of rule or guideline in terms of scoring a good nature behavior points to the public.

Like i can view stonetoss's comics and see the dismantlement of his comic by people who hate it and try to edit his comic interesting and his completely narrow view though at least it's different view point interesting.

Usually people who have the safest personality doesnt add any differentiating opinion thus making their content generally predictable and boring turns me off from reading it.

[Daisy]

Not exactly on Tapas but I don't venture much in the forums, so my bias is faulty to say the least but people are generally nice here. However, there was a Wattpad author whose personality turns me off from reading their works. Whenever someone ask them a question on their page, they usually reply with sarcasm or don't reply correctly - that's a pet peeve of mine. And just generally being rude. It's sad cause they're regarded as a supposed genius in a particular genre more so when they mixed in with topics or other genre that isn't well-explored with the main genre.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

It is when some supposedly big name and/or professional authors (whether it is true or just their delusion of grandeur) come here, then declare that to work underpaid or unpaid with their disproportionate expectations is a privilege us amateurs should be thankful of. Bonus point if they're telling people who knock some sense into them to quit bullying them.

At that point, the only chance I will read their series is to ridicule it. It is very entertaining if their own perceived-importance and skill level is reflected nowhere in their works.

[AmazementComics]

No, but I've long suspected that such a case could've been made for other people. Personally, the personality of a creator should not be a defining reason why someone discontinues from following their story.

[paracosmosfiction]

We're all ultimately human. We all have bad days and we all have our own personal character flaws. For instance, I'm a bit neurotic and tend to become hyperfocused on my work to the point of being borderline obsessive-compulsive. And I know that sort of behavior can stress a lot of people out.

Which is why I always try really hard to reel it in and dial it down a notch whenever I'm around other people.

Ultimately though, I think as long as you're trying to be a good person and lift up your fellow writers as opposed to actively putting them down, then you shouldn't ever have to worry about things like that. There's always going to be jerks no matter where you go. But what I found so refreshing about this community, in particular, is the sheer volume of good people I've encountered in my brief time here.

[vothnthorvaldson]

Same, except I can't remember a case where I wanted to read their work to begin with. Generally these entitled people produce stuff that doesn't look attractive to me. But yes for sure it is not helping their work's cause when they act like that.
Especially knowing that on the contrary, I'm open to read less immediately exciting genres/stories if the person sounds interesting.

[Geek_Aflame]

author includes a lot of the "sorry for not posting sooner, XYZ happened or Finals were rough, so...

People actually put this in the body of their stories? Stuff like that is the reason the creator wall and description exist.

[cherrystark]

Oh yeah, sometimes it's just a sentence, other times a couple paragraphs. One author decided to tease full chapters of their other story in the first story on top of their author note chapters

[Kura]

Absolutely.

If someone is constantly harassing or attacking artists I know. I am not gonna read their shit. Simple as that. My free time is limited because I draw comics. I'm not going to waste it on people that treat my friends like garbage.