You're spot on. And yeah, I'm also here mostly for the discussions and such, since I don't read that many ifs to begin with, simply due to the lack of time and everything, and even the ones that I do read, I don't need mods for, since I can either console command my way through it, or localhost to I get the same effect.Oh yeah, it's been known for a while that authors lurk here, which isn't surprising. There's been plenty of meltdowns similar to the one from the LAD author that made it clear authors check this thread and site lol. And tbh as I said, if I was an IF author, I'd probably also lurk in this thread haha - it's perfectly normal to look up discussions about your work. But like I'd keep it at that - secret lurking. I wouldn't go looking for validation on tumblr, at most I'd privately complain to my friend or sth lol or hell even try to genuinely consider what ppl are saying because a lot of the time ppl have a lot of insightful opinions on this thread.
This is the same thing as when book authors purposefully go out of their way to read and watch critical reviews of their book and then whine about it to their fans/make social media posts to dunk on the "haters" when they're the ones that are "intruding" (for a lack of a better word) on reader spaces and seeking out this kind of content. It's gotten to the point where a lot of the book reviews I watch/listen to have to have a disclaimer in all of their videos about how this review isn't for the author or fans of the author exactly bc of bs like that haha but I digress. It's just irksome bc IF writers get all butthurt about people talking about their IF in a critical and negative way in this thread, this isn't the first time it's happened and it won't be the last lol. But like.... people are having all these conversations and discussions in a reader space where you as an author were never meant to see it, it's not like they sent of all this to your inbox?Like sis.... you are the one that went out of your way to read discussions you were never really meant to see and now you're whining about it
The title of the thread is self explanatory, if you're not prepared to potentially read negative things about your work then just don't click on the thread, it's that simple lmao??
And yeah I do agree. This place can be a bit... intense sometimes lol, and I don't always agree with people's opinions, but it's basically the only IF space where you can discuss stuff more freely without having to be overly careful not to offend someone or without having to pad your opinions with overt niceness if you're expressing criticism so that some author or fan doesn't have a meltdown lol. Atp I visit this site more for the discussions rather than for the leaks lmao.
And sure, it can get intense, but that's just people discussing things with passion, defending their opinions and all that good stuff, which is completely fine. I am so perplexed by those kid gloves that everyone has to wear when they try and voice their opinions outside of this place. Hell, even to this day I get folks giving me actually good critisism but they start off with "This wil come out as very harsh", like no, no it won't. It's literally good constructive critisism, as long as you're not telling me that you don't like the character because of the vibes and because you don't like that type of person in general. Still, I respect the good manners of people, but I always say that it is not necessary to start things off like that when you just give constructive feedback to people, mainly because it's nothing personal, and it's only there to make you better (unless one is simply being a dick, but that's a whole other topic
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