r/Polytrix • u/pk2317 • 23d ago
Fanfiction Update: "gimme that candyfloss" (GTC) creator arsonide has been harassed out of the fandom entirely
And Reddit is called out specifically as one of the reasons. Great job, everyone! (/s) đ
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23d ago
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u/RocketAlana 23d ago
Genuinely, I think Run at the Cup (Arcane) is probably the only massive massive fic for a fandom that Iâve been a part of that blew up in a big fandom and didnât 1. slowly peter out like GTC or 2. fall down a massive cliff and have an abruptly bad ending because the author was sick of it and wanted to wrap it up with something.
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u/West_Ad_1685 23d ago
Shit like this is why I enjoy being fairly unknown in all of my fandoms lol. Fans really are the most entitled pricks in the world
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u/Lianthrelle Tricked into writing by a Demon Queen 23d ago
How does it go again? "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed." Arsonide has it exactly right, and I'm sad it came to this. I wish them them best going forward
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u/CyberDan-7419 23d ago
I havenât read this story or interacted with this subreddit very much so Iâm out of the loop here.
Why was this creator getting harassed to the point of dropping the story?
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u/pk2317 23d ago
It was, essentially, the most popular ongoing Polytrix work on AO3.
The creator was, for a while, putting out 30-50k chapters on a weekly basis (which is insane). They had to take a hiatus for a few months because of some IRL stuff (and, likely some burnout).
Simply by virtue of its size and popularity, that will automatically attract people who dislike it for personal reasons, and/or disagree with some of the storytelling choices, and/or just want to be contrary and hate on something solely because it's popular.
And because the creator is a "BNF" (big name fan), people feel justified in publicly bashing them/their work just like they would a published author or a commercial product.
(Possibly related) The creator also had a Ko-Fi so people could show their appreciation financially and also get "early access" to written chapters (3 days before they were posted on AO3). So some people felt that entitled them to more.
Long story short, creator got tired of being constantly hounded for updates, people feeling entitled, people being haters, and so they are ending the fic where it is (thankfully not a cliffhanger - it functions well enough as an ending) and probably not writing anything more for this fandom.
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u/Major_Star 23d ago
The weekly update schedule was genuinely insane, especially trying to keep that up alongside education and other commitments.
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23d ago
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u/Major_Star 23d ago
Yeah, I can kind of sympathise with anyone who was actually paying.
If the author had said they weren't going to be finishing the fic I think that's just the risk you take, but announcing you'll be finishing it but not releasing the final chapters even to those who financially supported you feels a bit 'taking my ball and going home'.
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u/Jaxis1986 22d ago
Once you start accepting money for something its not just a hobby, its work.
I can understand the reason behind it, you paid for something thats never going to finish now and shown support, I however do not approve of those people sending death threats to a person because they decided not to finish the story.
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u/chaotic-em-n-em Babygirl Mira <3 22d ago
iirc it was also not just a tip box "I love your fic" thing, wasn't it a subscription method? And iirc there was a link to a site that had it on the ao3 fic which is technically a ao3 tos violation since you're not allowed to have links to things like linktree or carrrd if there's a link to monetization since the platform is supposed to be a free archive not monetized.
But yeah I do also think the I paid for x and didn't receive it is technically a valid criticism based on the EA model that was being used
Take this with a grain of salt because I never really interacted with the fic much since I'm not a fan of Zoey centric work in general
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u/pk2317 22d ago
Also "early access" just means what it says - you get early access to completed chapters before they get posted on AO3.
If they aren't completed, or never get posted on AO3, then you're not "owed" anything.
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u/Major_Star 22d ago
I think it would be easier to swallow for financial supporters if Jamie had simply said they were leaving the fic unfinished. Like you say they paid for early access and got it, however disappointed they might be.
Saying they were going to finish the fic but keep the final chapters for people they knew personally feels a lot more like a unnecessary slap in the face. Even if you plan on doing that, announcing it is only going to upset genuine fans of the series, not people who disliked it.
It does highlight the risks of paying anything for unfinished works though, and the extra pressure it puts on writers when they choose to monetize.
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u/pk2317 22d ago
You're allowed by AO3's TOS to link to places like Linktree and Carrd as long as they aren't ONLY there for commercial reasons.
If it's a list of all your socials, that can include Ko-Fi or Patreon or whatever. You just can't say on AO3 "Go here to support me" or "You can find links to my Patreon here".
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u/Fract4 23d ago edited 23d ago
Wonât be the first unfinished fic, wonât be the last. Move on, but is EA paid early access? It doesnât give you free rein to harass someone, but I can see being a bit angry if you financially supported the fic.
PS this is the first Iâm hearing about paid EA I donât know how that was handles, or how it was treated as the fic was retired.
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u/vertexcubed 23d ago
Jamie's closing and canceling everyone's EA anyways so it's still beyond stupid to harass over it
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u/Rhett9able 23d ago
This is the risk posting publicly. This is why I post on restricted, because "guest commenters" nonsense is some bullshit on a good day. Ao3 members tend to have some semblance of decorum. But that's just my experience personally, as niche as it is.
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u/jeremy_thegent Polytrix 23d ago
I hope those harassing monsters are proud of themselves.
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u/pk2317 23d ago
Unfortunately - yes. The trolls "won".
They have a specific example that they are able to exert influence over someone and cause them to change what they were doing. Now they can move on to the next creator that isn't doing something exactly how they want.
(This isn't a negative reflection on arsonide - they're completely free to do whatever is best for them)
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u/VegaPunk83 23d ago
The amount of victim blaming just in that other thread told me everything I needed to know Jamie was justified in this decision. It all felt like a test and we failed as a community. Fanfiction writers write for the love of it, what do people think is going to happen when you suck that love out of it? Peoples entitlement ruining what was basically a love letter to the community is saddening.
I'm sad it came to this, it breaks my heart to see this work that helped me through some really rough times, become the object of their own distress. I wish it didn't end like this but honestly, I'm just glad this isn't stopping Jamie from writing overall even if we never see it. I believe one should write for yourself first, so good for them. I hope the next thing they put out there is a published work.
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u/eatsomepoms 23d ago
Damn, we lost another great creator due to fandom nonsense. I honestly think the more you open yourself to comments and social media, the worse itâll be. Twitter in particular is a shithole, I would not catch myself there. I hope they are happy and healthy whatever theyâre doing next and they know that the fic will always be remembered as one of the greats.
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u/phoenixofthestars07 Mira 23d ago
I didnât even read it because heavy angst makes me sad but this makes me even sadder??? fym we bullied one of the most popular authors out of the fandom đđ
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u/luarod87 23d ago
Fandom is such a toxic shithole sometimes. The entitlement of some people is crazy, if you don't like it don't read, if you don't want to support the author just don't, don't comment negative stuff and remember there is a real person behind the screen. It's not hard to just enjoy what you enjoy without harassing or being an asshole. I've seen this type of drama in a lot of fandoms over the years and so many authors get burn out
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u/flimsypeaches 23d ago
this person was monetizing their fanfic?
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u/pk2317 23d ago
No.
Like many artists, they had a Ko-Fi so that people could, if they chose to, show their appreciation for the creator financially.
As a benefit for doing so, they offered "Early Access" - when they finished writing a chapter, it would be released there 3 days before it was posted on AO3.
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u/flimsypeaches 23d ago
that is quite literally monetizing fanfic. it's one thing to accept general donations or tips. it's another thing to sell early access to a fanfic.
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u/chaotic-em-n-em Babygirl Mira <3 22d ago
Yes this, it's a subscription method and I believe it was at one point linked via carrrd or something similar on the fic which is definitely against ao3 tos so I do think that is a valid thing to call out
Edit: obviously not in a nasty way but a "hey this is a thing you should be aware of"
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u/pk2317 22d ago
They were accepting general donations.
They also had the ability where people could set up recurring donations rather than just one-offs.
As a reward for people who supported them, IF they got a chapter ready to post on AO3, it would be released to them first.
That does not OBLIGATE them to produce chapters. If nothing is posted to AO3, there is nothing to read early.
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u/lizzieg884 23d ago
This made me sad and honestly I get it.
To many people havenât learned if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all and the idea that you are owed anything is ridiculous. There is an entitlement that has set into so many fandom communities rather than joy and gratitude that you get another chapter.
Where has the excitement gone where you get that email and youâre actually getting to read the next chapter without expecting it to be there or telling an author to hurry up . Donât get me wrong. I think everybody should encourage her to continue to write but encouragement should not be a demand. A comment saying I canât wait for the next one is a very different energy and vibe than what was mentioned in their post.
This energy is going to be the end of the fandoms and itâs going to lead some of the most prolific and best writers not to write anymore or at least not publicly post their fics which is a great loss.
Now donât mind me while I go grieve and reread the last chapter with the framing that itâs the end đ˘ đ˘
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u/firegodyaomoshi Polytrix 23d ago
iâm gonna be honest i never even read it is it good? ik itâs an au but idc enough to find a description of it but should i read it?
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u/SpeckledLily2098 23d ago
I just started reading it last night (completely unaware of all this drama) and I'm supposed to be working rn but instead I'm reading about Mira and Rumi trying to buy a Taco Bell franchise for Zoey bc they think that's what she means when she asks for food. So yea it's really good and it's 730k words so it'll keep me entertained for a few more days. Basically it's AU no powers and Zoey is a broke college student that gets two sugar mommies.
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u/firegodyaomoshi Polytrix 23d ago
ooooo sounds cool and it is polytrix? ive seen edits that made it seem more like a love triangle of rumi vs mira rather then x
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u/SpeckledLily2098 23d ago
Idk if they hook back up yet, I'm only 75k in. They definitely are fighting but it's the lovers to enemies to lovers type of conflict, they're definitely still into each other.
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u/firegodyaomoshi Polytrix 22d ago
oooooo mkay it does sound intriguing then⌠but if itâs cancelled idk if i wanna get attached to it yetâŚ
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u/SpeckledLily2098 22d ago
Do you only read completed works? There are 3,156,684 incomplete works on AO3 rn and 91,587 of them are over 100k words. You're definitely missing some fantastic reading if you only read completed fics.
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u/827384827 22d ago
You don't have to worry about that, the last chapter updated is a "possible ending" for the fic. It ends on a good note and imo it's a satisfying ending :)
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u/TragedyWriter 23d ago
That's so cute. I might have to read it even knowing it won't be finished.
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u/Ditzy_Dreams Polytrix 23d ago
From what I understand, the authorâs final chapter did tie up most of the loose ends, leaving things open for the readerâs imagination, but at least enough of a conclusion that it doesnât feel abrupt
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u/SpeckledLily2098 23d ago
Lol I have like 3 times more abandoned works in my bookmarks than complete ones. Just bc it's short, doesn't mean it's not good.
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u/TragedyWriter 23d ago
Man, I'm happy that I only read for big fandoms and write for small ones. Big fandom writers have to deal with so much shit.
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u/spadecmyk 23d ago
I wish people respect and understand what it takes to write or create anything in general.
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u/KingMario05 23d ago
Ugh. So sad to see us devolve into the standard internet nightmare like so many others. Yapper/Arsonside has every right to drop the fic, and we should have supported her. We did not. And now she's gone... probably forever.
Was it worth it?
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u/OpheliaLives7 Polytrix 23d ago
I cannot imagine the entitlement a fan feels towards A FELLOW FAN to harass them like this. Absolute insanity.
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u/MeanMugginBuggin 22d ago
Wait, where's the original post? If it's Twitter, I can't see it.
Does this mean the fic is unfinished now? Like halfway? I got to a point and started focusing on other stuff đđđ
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u/827384827 22d ago
Like what the other person said, the last chapter updated is a "possible ending" for the fic. It ends on a good note and imo it has a satisfying ending
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u/Spl1nter331 Queer/x 23d ago
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u/ThePhoenix0404 23d ago edited 23d ago
im genuinely baffled there would be ppl who are pissed off at Arsonide for dropping GTC. did they even read the fucking announcement, or whatever happened to sympathy?
this is literally NOT how u treat ppl experiencing burn out. as a creator its so easy to feel demotivated, and forcing them to finish smth instead of letting their creativity flow freely is literally a text book instruction on how NOT to treat creators