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

[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*

[ride_4ever]

TYK. I do try to match my icon to my mood or theme.

[ride_4ever]

That it is. /o\

[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.

[lucy_roman]

She certainly doesn't seem to see the irony in hating RayK and defending RayV to the hilt.
I think now I'm older and more sure of myself as a writer I will be able to just ignore her.

[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!

[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?

[clarasteam]

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

[minoanmiss]

If your fics are on AO3 you can block her username(s).

[minoanmiss]

*gives you a sustaining hug*

[juniperberry]

Yeah, the anon is someone everyone kinda needs to be warned about--I know I saw posts on tumblr from proto-would-be fans who were completely blindsided by her and really put off. Those were from ten years or so ago now, but it was a bummer to see.

The fic/fanart in question was this one: Identity Crisis by Gj Draws. Fantastic fanartist! But of course the anon had to take umbrage with someone more talented than her. /snark

Ironically, this fanartist is also pretty equally f/v and f/k, with I think more of an f/v preference, and yet....

[lucy_roman]

I think she posts as a guest. But I haven't had any bad comments yet!

[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*

[lauramcewan]

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

[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\

[ride_4ever]

She's been blocked on AO3 again and again. She just keeps getting another new account under another new name and continues trolling, plus she even goes to the effort of commenting anew where she was previously blocked to sarcastically say "ooooh, you reported me to the Abuse Team, I'm so scared...."

[kass]

my goodness, what is wrong with some people?!

[ride_4ever]

She may or may not on occasion post as a guest, but it's not her preferred method since that would keep her from commenting on fic that specifies comments are only allowed from account-holders. Her usual method is to just keep changing her user-name and getting new accounts.

[ride_4ever]

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

[ride_4ever]

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

[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 !

[ride_4ever]

Oh, I love the fanart of gjdraws! I actually left comments of praise on that particular piece of art about two weeks ago. So ironic for the troll to criticize when gjdraws is clearly RAyV-positive, even their icon is "half RayV". (Although, as I've said before, even when I've written RayV-positive fic the troll still flamed it for being NOT POSITIVE ENOUGH.)

[ride_4ever]

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

[ride_4ever]

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

*hugs moar*