This calls for science

[farla]

So The Keeper of Truth has shown back up to be crazy.

I reviewed two dozen people today, and yet the most batshit I get, complete with "you should be dead" and bonus PMS accusations, comes from someone I've never reviewed and who showed up months ago.

Further evidence for my theory that hatred is inversely proportional to how active I am. Now, to figure out why on earth that would be true...

Comments

[negrek.livejournal.com]

Now, to figure out why on earth that would be true...

Clearly because you rule through fear. The masses daren't make a peep when they think you might be on the prowl.

[farla.livejournal.com]

...I'm a kitty.

Awesome! Now, to avoid any discussions of pokemon physics where I might inadvertently slay myself.

[negrek.livejournal.com]

OMG just poking around their forums to see if anything amusing had turned up, and I found this recent development:

Don't tell either of them what I said, though; Bittersweet seems like a really nice person, and I wouldn't want to give anything away. ^_^

GO. Go tell Bittersweet what he has said, and give it all away! Let the mighty currents of internet dramadrama sweep you to further lolz! (Granted, you already started doing that with the "burn the bitch" thing, but the fact that they're quite aware of what jackasses they're being and recognize that it might somehow undermine their position is extra-delicious.)

I don't understand that faction at all. How they can maintain Righteous Anger on one hand and recognize how slimy they're being on the other, I can't imagine.

[farla.livejournal.com]

...now it's honestly getting creepy. I guess they're just kind of desperate for any kind of positive attention...?

I don't understand that faction at all. How they can maintain Righteous Anger on one hand and recognize how slimy they're being on the other, I can't imagine.

I...yeah. I think there's some sort of unifying underlying principle, but I cannot seem to figure it out. Some really colossal ingroup/outgroup issues, perhaps - people who flame are evil, but they go flame people and it's a sign of coolness. It seems to boil down to a really lacking concept of empathy, where things done to them are just so much more important than things done to anyone else.

That's the closest I can model it - a situation where something done to them is magnified and something done to anyone else is minimized. It may not even involve the in-group - I don't get much sense watching them that they particularly care about offenses done to each other. They're easy to whip up into a mob, but it's more about justifying their abuse of a given target than anything. There's not even any real "Farla was mean to me, therefore we should..." it's just that I'm a good target, and the bit about how mean I am to others becomes part of the hero fantasy, where everyone will be so impressed and cheering them on.

...Yeah, actually, I think that's it. It's about being a hero and everyone singing their praises. They initially hate me because I'm too popular, because that's important to them. Because it's all about being popular, they have to be the hero in opposing me, so they take up the banner of the unnamed but oppressed victims. And then we get to the present version - I'm the wicked monster, people are sounding like they're on my side but really they're cheering Our Hero on inside.

What form heroism takes isn't important to them, so it's heroism to flame a bad author just as it's heroism to harass a flamer. The methods are irrelevant, what's important is that they really are heroes and just need to demonstrate it to everybody so their praise and internet fame can come flowing in.

[negrek.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, that would make sense. I was thinking that maybe they felt threatened by you. They're obviously doing their damndest to get attention by flaming, but in the Pokémon fandom they run into you, both a well-respected author and someone with a reputation for flaming in some circles. Being very established, you've had a considerable amount of time to solidify your position in the fandom's mind, whereas they, if they just go around spewing vitriol on 'fics, are likely to be passed off as little more than a nuisance unless they stick around for a very long time (not to mention that anybody with eyes can see that they've got very little substance to them, which makes them worthy of little more than disdain).

Therefore, despite their best efforts, your actions are likely to garner more attention than anything they can do; this rankles, and eventually they work up the courage to try and take you on, to turn people against you. If they can "beat" you, then they'll immediately get a lot more attention than they otherwise would and would be perceived more as people to look out for.

So, basically, what you were thinking--any attention, negative or otherwise--but not because they think that they really want people to praise them as heroes, but because they want to be on top. Basically, they may think that there's only room for one "Mean reviewer #1" (they're a coalition rather than an individual, but if people understand that the reviews are all coming out of the same place, they will probably be considered as one entity), and this section ain't big enough for the two of us, Pardner. My take, anyway.

Hah, I'm making such a fool of myself, speculating on the motives of twits after midnight.

[farla.livejournal.com]

Hm.

The weird thing is they don't even seem to be going about it all that well - I could try a google on a few names, but there's little impression they're doing all that much flaming...or much of anything else, either. There seems to be an awful lot of sitting around bitching on a forum, and occasional dogpiling of occasional fics. At least one had a personal forum just for posting people sending them angry responses, and there weren't many. But I think you're right - they think they're super flamers, just as they think their couple fics are a huge body of work, and they're then baffled when it doesn't seem to make an impression. Meanwhile there's someone else whose name keeps coming up...

So it's not even that I've been around longer, it's crazy entitlement because they really think they're doing something special and that everyone's inexplicably ignoring them. (There's definitely the recurring idea that if I wasn't there sucking up all the attention, they'd be on top) Maybe going on a review binge will have a quieting effect for that reason - they'll get an idea of how much work getting attention would be, compare it to their own efforts, and suddenly experience enlightenment. Or not.

[charizamdc.livejournal.com]

Lolita's Tea Party? Really?

[farla.livejournal.com]

...yeah.

Just...yeah.