Comment Policy!

Well, since I finally seem to have managed obtaining a steady trickle of comments, I feel it’s as good a time to introduce a comment policy, before I have to step in and actually have to deal with sort of stuff I created this space to avoid.

The intention here isn’t to needlessly censor or to act as draconian overlord, as fun as at that sounds (not really). It’s simply that there’s certain language I don’t want in my blog, because it’s offensive, and it drives  away people who might otherwise have interesting things to say and don’t have a place to say it.  So here’s my masters list of language and behaviors I have a problem here, and which depending on usage will result in kindly (or not so kindly) getting called out on it, editing or erasure of the offending comments, downright banning for repeat offenders, or a combination of all of those.

• Insults or attacks towards other commenters for their intrinsic qualities.
• Auditing of other people’s tastes.  Sure, a particular work may have all sorts of problems that should be called out.  This does not make people who enjoy the work inherently bad people for enjoying it.
• Sentences that start “it’s just a…”  If somebody says that X is important to them, you don’t get to dismiss that.
• Language asserting or suggesting that all people who belong to a certain group act in the same way (ex.: “Gargoyles fans loved Friends“).
• Gendered insults.  The word “bitch”, if it is to be used at all, will only ever be used to refer to actual female members of the canis lupus familiaris subspecies.  Similarly, slut-shaming language will not be tolerated.  Having sex is not a bad thing; having sex with a lot of different people does not change that.
• On a related note, “rape”, either as a noun or verb, may not be used to describe anything other than what is actually legally considered rape.  Rape jokes are verbotem, no questions asked.
• Racist language.  This obviously includes slurs, but is by no means limited to them.
• Homophobic or transphobic language.  If you’re not sure what counts, err on the side of caution.
• Disablist language.  For example, using the word “insane” or “crazy” to talk about political stances, or using the word “lame” to mean “uncool”.
• And just to make it clear, using the word “retarded” is right out, since people tend to use it to describe things other than people with mental disabilities, and I’m not entirely sure in what context’s it isn’t offensive.  “Derp” and variations are
• Statements that assert or imply that being fat is in any way inherently bad or immoral.
• Continued disregard for the fact that people do not all consume the same works at the same time, and may want to be keep certain elements a surprise until they manage to do so.  In other words, spoiler warnings: if you’re talking about series other than the two this blog was designed to discuss, use them.  My personal preferred method is to have the spoilery material cyphered via ROT13, since it’s very hard to accidentally undo.

In short, don’t be an ass, mind your privilege, and remember that people don’t trawl through fan-sites to get hurt.

None of this should be taken to mean that I intend to run this blog as a safe space, as I have neither the knowledge or energy necessary to make such a thing happen.  I just wish to make it not suck for as many people as possible (more than it already not sucks, anyway).

Also, please note that as the product of  a flawed human being, it is completely possible for these guidelines to be incomplete, problematic, and/or counterproductive.  They will be continuously ammended as time goes one, and I will try and let y’all know when that happens.  Also, as a human being of many and varied flaws, there will be times when I myself don’t abide by these rules, and I will appreciate a made-in-good-faith heads up when that happens.

So yeah.  So far, the comments here so far have generably been great, and think the great majority of those who’ve posted will have little problem with the new rules; I really don’t think this will actually change much.  Still, I could be wrong, so we’ll see.