Fannish 50 Challenge 2025: Post # 19: the infamous due South troll

[ride_4ever]

If you are in due South fandom you know about the "infamous due South troll," she of many names and one obsession: for decades she has been seeking out due South fic and vids that don't jibe with her personal opinion about which ships and which storylines are "true or not". She was flaming me even before I posted my first fic...back in 2011 she flamed my comment that I made on YouTube about a due South vid that I liked, telling me what was "wrong" with the perspective of the vid and how I was "wrong" for liking it. She actively seeks out for reading and for watching stuff that she knows she won't like and then she reads it or watches it and then she spews out her hatred. The last most recent time that she flamed me -- before TODAY -- was in 2023 when she pounced on a fic that I had written eleven years earlier and said hateful things about it -- I did not respond to her hate and TODAY she returned to that same fic and in even greater detail than previously FLAMED THE SAME FIC A SECOND TIME. Hells, that is some tenacity -- REREADING a fic to which she had already "objected" (she told me that she "disagreed" with my fic) and then commenting further in the face of my previous non-response. /o\

Comments

[mergatrude]

Oh my freaking god! That is a serious level of mental instability. :(

At least we all look back and laugh now?

*hugshugshugshugshugshugshugs*

[ride_4ever]

Yeah, it's the kind of laugh where we laugh at the absurd....

*hugs moar*

[donutsweeper]

Oh my god I know exactly who you are talking about and I cannot believe they are still around! Wow. I just do not understand those kind of people. Ugh.

[ride_4ever]

As the time passed between then and now, I sometimes wondered "is that troll finally done?"...but no.

[dine]

well, there's someone I'm certain I'd love -hard to believe such unbalanced behavior. that's just bizarre, not even counting returning and re-flaming a fic after years.

[ride_4ever]

Troll has been and continues to be on a one-person mission to attempt to keep the Ray Wars alive. /o\

[scriggle]

Oh my god! She's still around? That is just sad. Hugs to you.

[ride_4ever]

Yeah, still around. Troll gotta troll.

*hugs moar*

[petra]

Amazing tenacity in the realm of failure to get a better hobby in that troll's life.

*hugs*

[ride_4ever]

Yeah, she wins at tenacity in the "Pathetic Tenacity" category.

*hugs moar*

[aurumcalendula]

Ugh! That is so bizarre and upsetting!

[ride_4ever]

That it is. /o\

[juniperberry]

1) Ugh, I'm sorry she's bothering you again! That's so annoying and sad.

2) I did know she was lurking again, though, because she's been hitting a couple of the newer authors and they mentioned it on the discord. Luckily they're well aware that she's got A History so they took it in stride, but oof. I had hoped she was done with this nonsense but apparently not.

*hugs*

[ride_4ever]

Dreamwidth is my fannish home, so I miss out on what's happening amongst the dS fen on Discord. Good to know that the newer authors who mentioned on the Discord about the troll were advised about her History.

I divide my fic-reading time between reading to play catch-up with older fic I haven't read yet while also trying to keep up with reading and commenting on the newest works. If you were to tell me which newer writers have been flamed by the troll I would make it a point to read their fic soon and leave some positive comments.

*hugs moar*

[goss]

She was flaming me even before I posted my first fic...back in 2011

Wow. It's quite sad for that person that they haven't found something good in their life all these years later. I'm sorry your work and others in the fandom are still being targeted. *hugs*

[ride_4ever]

Thank you for the kind words and the hugs. And what a troubling thought that for the troll this may be what she thinks IS the something good in her life.

*hugs moar*

[torino10154]

Wow, that's crazy. WTF

[ride_4ever]

Yep, WTF is an apropos reaction.

[elayna]

Wow, that’s someone who needs to get a life! What a sad pathetic person.

[ride_4ever]

And it's even more sad and pathetic when we consider that this IS what she has done with "get a life". This is the life she has gotten for herself.

[sovay]

I did not respond to her hate and TODAY she returned to that same fic and in even greater detail than previously FLAMED THE SAME FIC A SECOND TIME.

Not being in Due South fandom, I had no idea.

*hugs*

[ride_4ever]

Thank you kindly for the hug. I am a very huggy person. *hugs moar*

[amalthia]

wow, that troll had commitment, but seriously why are they doing this to themselves??? Not cool that they are inflicting their mental illness on other people...

[ride_4ever]

The sane mind cannot grasp why someone would go looking for fanworks they don't like and spend their time reading or watching what they don't like instead of seeking out what they would like.

[lucy_roman]

I think I know who you are talking about. Any story of mine that included Vecchio she would swoop in and give me a lecture. I found those type of comments really confidence destroying. I hope she stays away from me.i am sure you deal with it all better than I do.

[ride_4ever]

Oh, that's definitely who I'm talking about -- that it's "any story of [yours] that included Vecchio" leading to her lecturing you is the clincher. She styles herself the ultimate guardian of Vecchio's honor, the ultimate promoter of the friendship aspect of RayV & Fraser, and a RayK-hater while ranting about alleged RayV-haters.

It's unfortunately likely that she will turn up commenting on your fic again -- so I hope you will now see her for the unreliable voice that she is and you won't continue letting her undermine your confidence. She's been at this for decades and no sign that she intends to call it quits.Try to think of it as an unfortunate rite of passage in dS fandom -- there's hardly a dS fanworks creator who has not drawn her ire. She has even flamed me in comments on fic of mine where the fic IS RayV-positive because it wasn't positive ENOUGH for her taste.

[mific]

Firstly, JFC what a dick move - I'm sure you've got lots of objectivity about her but it's never fun to get a shitty comment on something you created. Secondly, I honestly wonder if she's mentally ill. That sort of bizarre repetition and obsessiveness is not sane, so I wonder if she has a delusional disorder? They're famously hard to treat as the person is insightless and usually won't take medication, or not long term. No excuse, though, but maybe try saying to yourself, oh no, the troll's off her meds again!

[ride_4ever]

The question about her mental health -- and the lack of said health -- has indeed been raised a number of times over a number of years. I really don't even feel rattled by her anymore, like I did back when I was new in fandom. It's more like I breathe a heavy sigh and think "oh, this again...."

[baronjanus]

Impressive, in a way. Is this the Vecchio one? I always have an extra "poor Vecchio" thought to spare when she comes up. On a more useful line of thought, is this on sites where it's possible to block or to report to someone who cares?

[ride_4ever]

Yep, it's the Vecchio one. No use blocking her -- fen have tried -- she just gets a new account under a different name and then comments back with remarks like "ooooh, I'm so scared, you reported me and had me blocked, but I'm not really scared when I can just get a new account...."

/o\

[clarasteam]

GAH *hugs* I'm sorry this is still happening/ happening again.

[ride_4ever]

Yeah, that troll is like the line from Battlestar Galactica: "All of this has happened before and will happen again."

*hugs moar*

[minoanmiss]

*gives you a sustaining hug*

[ride_4ever]

Thank you kindly for the hug, bb! It does bring me some cheer!

[amedia]

TODAY she returned to that same fic and in even greater detail than previously FLAMED THE SAME FIC A SECOND TIME.

That sounds weirdly like a compliment - albeit a disturbing one.

You okay, bb? *big hugs*

[ride_4ever]

*hugs moar* Wow, you made me see this as a compliment ! Like: she was so affected by my fic that she read it twice !

[lauramcewan]

OH fer fuck's sake - GET A LIFE, TROLL

[ride_4ever]

Unfortunately, this is the life she has chosen. Wish she would try a different life.

[kass]

my goodness, what is wrong with some people?!

[ride_4ever]

Something deeply wrong and not in the least moderated by the passage of years.

[gremdark]

Some things are eternal, I guess. The Miraculous Ladybug fandom has the “Lila Anon” who comes into the comments of fic featuring a specific unpopular character and roleplays as her in a smug, mean girl style, saying that negative aspects of her portrayal in the fic are unrealistic or wouldn’t happen. It’s been almost a decade.

[ride_4ever]

That Lila Anon is tenacious like the dS Anon.

[isis]

Haha wow. Either I've been out of the fandom so long I don't remember this person, or I have been singularly blessed by being ignored by her. (Or maybe my work is so insignificant she never noticed it!)

What a pain for you! Please continue to not respond to her hate - sounds like the best policy.

[ride_4ever]

Yeah, I've been following the "don't feed the troll" policy for years now.

Maybe somehow she never spotted your fic, but if she had she deffo would have flamed you for your F/K or even for something with RayV if she didn't like how you presented him.

[corvidology]

WTF?

When fandom becomes a really bad career choice???????????

I think some people just identify far too strongly for everyone's good with certain characters.

*squishes you* ♥

[ride_4ever]

Yeah, you've got that right about "bad career choice"! She has deffo made a career of doing what she thinks of as defending the honor of her favorite character plus pairing-bashing.

*appreciates the squish with heart*

[leredqueen]

Ugh so sorry to hear that. I had the dubious honour of meeting her recently, and wow I can't believe she's (I hear) is still out here dunking on dS works?? Re-reading fic for all the wrong reasons no less? Anyway sorry that happened, and I'm gonna go give your fics some love because that's what we should be doing anyway.

[ride_4ever]

You met her? IRL? I've heard that she has made some rare appearances at some fancons over the years.

[scintilla10]

omg, how awful and pathetic that this person has been doing this for so many years! I'm sorry she's after you again. *hugs*

[ride_4ever]

Thank you kindly for the supportive words. *hugs moar*