Why some authors are really rude with their followers?

spadesart 2017-02-27 20:59:29 UTC #16

shipping an adult with a child is not normal my dude..... :/

KSlinger 2017-02-27 21:00:52 UTC #17

I think I know the creator you're talking about and I personally unsubscribed from that comic months ago for this exact reason. It became clear that there wasn't ANY room for interpretation of the story at all. The creator had a crystal clear vision in their head and anyone who interpreted it differently had hell come down on them in biblical proportion, which I didn't mind at first because it sounded like there was some legit weirdness going on (a la what @keii4ii mentioned, underaged creepiness etc.), but when an actual essay of complaints became attached to the end of every episode I lost all interest.

I agree that creators have every right to do and say what they want when it comes to their characters, but I also believe readers have the right to take information they're given and interpret it as they please, whatever that may mean.

It must be awful to see beloved characters puppeteered in a way that offends you, I understand that. I'd feel the same way. But it's the height of arrogance to tell people who enjoy your work that it's your way or the high way- that's not what stories are about- and to come down so ridiculously hard on readers engaging in innocent speculation is downright rude.

Aspie_Gamer 2017-02-27 21:07:07 UTC #18

@kurapikasuki Somehow I'm not surprised seeing you post in this thread. You could write a book about all the rude fans you've acquired at this point.

@AnnaLandin Yep. Undertale, Five Nights at Freddy's, Steven Universe, etc in a nutshell. I like SU, but I'm too aware of how crummy the fanbase can be. i.e whenever a female artist was told to kill herself after she drew an SU character in her style.

Anyway, on topic, some authors sadly are as big a jerk as they seem which is why I subscribe to the idea of separating an author from their work as much as possible. (Don't meet your heroes in other words.). Now on the subject of creators themselves, even if your fanbase is rabid, it pays to take the high road and either kill them with kindness or better yet, ignore those type of people.

joannekwan 2017-02-27 21:11:34 UTC #19

And let your other readers chew them out! They do the work for you and your hands stay clean xD

Unless it gets really messy and ya gotta intervene and shout "Children, behave!"

Maria 2017-02-27 21:17:37 UTC #20

Maybe she/he is sick about her/his obsessive fandom, sometimes some fandoms are very too intrusive... :/

SpavVy 2017-02-27 21:42:13 UTC #21

I've had cases where I needed to put my foot down, but in no way would I be harsh to my own followers unless given a damn good reason and even then I'd do my best to keep it tame.

The way I see it if you're putting something out there for the world to see you should try your best to be polite.
Honestly, I don't like artists that treat their fans like shit or act snarky for no good reason, they need to understand that they can lose some wonderful followers that way or even potential ones.

Besides, what if a publisher was looking at their work and liked the comic, but then saw how immature this person is from the way they treat their followers? I know it's a rare case and all, but I think it's something some authors should try to keep in mind. It's fine to not put up with bullshit like the examples Kura has gone through, but the creator you're talking about seems like she needs to chill.

shazzbaa 2017-02-27 21:43:50 UTC #22

I guess I feel like it's a bad idea to react with defensive anger. I don't feel like it's my place to decide what's "called for" or not.... like, if you're creating a comic for free, and people are responding to it a way that you don't like, you get to be frustrated and angry and ask folks to leave, if that's how you want to respond. I just don't think it's a good idea or the best thing to do, to make your work a place of hostility.

But at the same time, that's how art works, my dude. You make art and people make it a part of themselves. People tag your personal characters as "kin" and project on the people they like and misinterpret them. You have to come into this with your eyes open, knowing you won't be able to control that. Some people get really frustrated over the fact that they can't both share their work and keep it totally under their control.

One creator made a story based on an actual abusive relationship she experienced, and then her fans shipped those characters together. I don't think it's helpful to crack down and tell those people to stop, but I know it must be hard to take it with grace when people refuse to see what you're trying to say.

As nice as this kind of thing sounds, I think for a lot of creators, boundaries are important! It's easy for readers who follow your work every day to forget they don't really know you, and that you don't know them, which sometimes leads to kind of uncomfortable interactions or unfair requests. I think it's okay to strive for a happy medium; you don't have to be friends to be friendly with each other!

ikushina 2017-02-27 22:27:12 UTC #23

lol the same question i be asking fam'. I don't get why you would be rude to your followers for no reason. Someone else I used to follow go by the principle of attacking their fans if they're a "weaboo". like, show some respect, even though you don't agree with their taste for comics or whatever :U And I think creators should be careful with how they tackle hate and not just attack back by calling haters all kinds of slurs, but instead they should argue over why they found the hate comment inappropiate :x

VermillionWorks 2017-02-27 22:35:45 UTC #24

I may be blunt with answers sometimes but I've been making webcomics for far too long to still get REALLY angry about comments about updates, or questions with an obvious answer in the comic itself, or people seeing things in your comic in a different way than you see it.

It's exhausting and pointless to try and steer people away from making such comments, because even if you get a few people off of that habit, new ones will show up and say much the same thing. Instead I choose to really take in the commentary that makes me more giddy, and go in with the mindset that even the people who complain about my update rate are at least getting into the comic. XP Half of the time they don't mean to be rude, anyway.

Outright mean or trollish comments I just delete 'cause hell no I'm too old for that shit.

Shipping I actually really don't care about. They could ship my character with a minor character that only appeared for half a second or ship two enemies who would absolutely never get together for all I care. They can even hate a canon ship! This is just called having fun with a fictional tale, why let it bother me? XD ...as long as they don't leave revolting, tasteless commentary or be ridiculously pushy with me about said couple idea, of course. Ship whoever you want but don't expect me to make it legit.

...and obviously things like this would make shipping a LOT harder to deal with, so I definitely get that person's frustration. ^^;

Marvin 2017-02-27 22:41:15 UTC #25

Also, one big thing some authors tend to forget is that most readers don't read all the others' comments and think they're the first to make a particular joke/theory/comparison etc. What can feel like "harassment" is just an accumulation of similar individual comments.

I remember this author who got mad one day and decided to abort an entire arc of their story because people kept comparing it to a particular anime.
Except that they had never said anything about it before and just punished everyone even though most of those who made the comparison didn't know they weren't the only ones.

Personally, whenever I get a "if you do this, I'll stop reading" (mind you, that's rare, I'm lucky) I just remember that they may be joking and leave it at that (or I joke back and discover that they were indeed joking...)

Marvin 2017-02-27 22:43:48 UTC #26

Also THIS. If your story is good enough that it became a playground for your readers' imagination, then it's time to celebrate, not get mad (yes, I'm talking to you Robin Hobb !)

BubooSenchan 2017-02-27 22:52:03 UTC #27

She is not a child, in fact, her comic is BL xD

BubooSenchan 2017-02-27 22:55:38 UTC #28

Right like, I've seen people commented on her comic little things like: I thing you are doing this character changing a lot.
And she comes and almost attack the people like they are really wrong.
And latelly, at the end of each page in her descriptions she is being really rude.
I undestand that sometines can be tired when people don't see the same thing as you do in yorur comic, but I think you don't have to ttack them when they are not attaking you.

BubooSenchan 2017-02-27 23:00:30 UTC #30

I always see that when somebody comments something kind of rude in my comic, the other readers came as angry lions. And I think the same works for that person because she is like more, much more big than me.

BubooSenchan 2017-02-27 23:02:21 UTC #31

Probably, however, I know that I'm doing the wrong comparison, but I have friends that are youtubers with almost one million subscribers, and they never get as angry as her. However, probably I'm doing the wrong comparation.

WakaXO 2017-02-27 23:02:47 UTC #32

I can't imagine why a creator would be rude to their readers, even in circumstances where the fans are being unruly. Just because others are acting poorly doesn't give you the right to. Though I think @Aspie_Gamer hit the nail it on the head with their comment, its not easy to deal with a rabid fan but conducting yourself in a professional way, being reasonable and kind will go a long way. And if all that fails there is nothing wrong with ignoring difficult people, why waste time and energy on them?
As a reader and creator I try to follow the golden rule, its an easy way to keep the peace.

I've seen this attitude before and it always baffles me, like if someone enjoyed my story enough to spend time making theories or observations on it, I would take that as a compliment that my story is making people think. You would think fan engagement like that would be a good thing, as long as the fans are being respectful to the creator and not pushing their ideas onto the creator or demanding they be incorporated into the story. When its just a creator barking at their fans for being intrigued by the comic then that's really just sad.

Shanny8 2017-02-28 00:05:22 UTC #33

I'm grateful for each & every one of my readers- especially those who comment. If they want to assume something about the story and run away with it- fine, whatever. That's what I want my readers to do..!

I want them to enjoy reading the comic as much as I enjoy making it. If they ask a question I feel I can answer, I do. If I cant answer the question(and usually it's on account of spoiling something), I'll politely sidestep the answer. I'm thankful at this point that I havent encountered a rude commenter; I can usually get the impression when someone is joking- and even if not , I'll drop a joking answer and leave it at that.

That type of behavior towards your readers is uncalled for. Part of the fun of reading comics is trying to figure out where the creator is going with the story and characters; I want my readers to have that joy of doing so.

Mari 2017-02-28 00:30:34 UTC #34

I used to be 'rude' to my fans in the past if I was on a break (I have severe anxiety & depression topped with other physical illnesses like rheumatism of the joints etc that make it hard for me to update regularly) and people would start commenting "oh this comic is dead" or otherwise pressure me to update. But even then I tried to not attack anyone and just explain why comments like that are not cool. I've never felt the need to attack anyone for their shipping or opinions etc, I love seeing stuff like that. I think it's one of the coolest ways to show you really care about the comic you're reading you know? You're spening your freetime thinking up theories and overanalyzing everything, I think that deserves the authors respect, no matter if it's canon or if it's not to the authors taste.

indagold 2017-02-28 01:17:39 UTC #35

I dunno I had someone ship a 12 year old character with a character that's an adult and their mentor and I didn't try to tell them to fuck off, I just said "that is sick, it's pedophilia and the person is practically their father". I don't care about head canons until people start policing others or me, I might block them. I don't have a big fanbase on here but on deviantart I did and I got bizarre comments on there only maybe 2 out of the hundreds I legitimately blocked. I don't snap at fans but posting weird sexual stuff in the comment section might get a block? I'm super lenient about sex stuff, even post comics parodying joke comments but honest to god talking about ukes and semes and they're serious and not joking is ehh... I don't blame an author getting pissed over something like that. I don't blame authors for getting snappy but I also don't think they should be so snappy on innocent things.

BubooSenchan 2017-02-28 01:22:13 UTC #37

her manga is YAOI, BL, and her characters are old, when did I say she was a kid or her manga was not yaoi? Read the topic carefully first, I think you just read the title xd