| 1 | ->''"The people on the Internet who complain about the show were going to hate it no matter what I did, so I don't really care about their opinions."'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''Seiji Mizushima''', director of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' |
| 3 | |
| 4 | Someone who is involved in the production of a work is known for interacting with the fans. For example, they take some time writing a production blog or answering fandom's questions, or regularly appear at conventions. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | All of a sudden, this person stops doing so because some {{fan|Dumb}}s become so [[UnpleasableFanbase thick and heavy]] (and ''[[FlameWar ugly]]'') that this previously fun activity has become a burden and is no longer enjoyable. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | The fans complain to and about the creator, hassle them to an unbearable level, constantly ask questions that the creator has already stated they will not be answering, and generally do obnoxious things in the name of their fandom. Complaints often arise from ScheduleSlip. For example, it's been pointed out that very few people who make webcomics are making money from their craft; most of them are doing it as a hobby. When things in real life pop up, such as health issues, it's always the webcomic that has to go first. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Making matters worse, this can sometimes result in an InternetCounterattack and ComplainingAboutComplaining. In some cases, this tends to induce ArtistDisillusionment, ending in [[TakeThatAudience a "take that!" statement from the author to the fanbase]] within the work, sometimes in the presence of a StrawFan. If it proceeds beyond ''that'', it can ultimately end in the author [[OrphanedSeries simply quitting the whole work, and in extreme cases retiring from writing altogether]]. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | This is [[TitleDrop Why Fandom Can't Have Nice Things]]. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Related to DearNegativeReader, WriterRevolt, and WhyWeCantHaveNiceThings. Common scenarios that can lead to this include {{Troll}}ing, {{Flame War}}s, UnpleasableFanbase, InternetBackdraft, ShipToShipCombat, RuleThirtyFourCreatorReactions, VideoGamePerversityPotential, DisproportionateRetribution, FanDumb, and HateDumb. BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor is often invoked. One of the many results of [[ForumSpeak G.I.F.T]]. Contrast RoleEndingMisdemeanor, for when it's the creators' own misbehavior causing problems and leading to cut privileges. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | |
| 17 | !!Examples |
| 18 | [[index]] |
| 19 | * WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings/LiveActionTV |
| 20 | * WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings/VideoGames |
| 21 | ** WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings/{{Nintendo}} |
| 22 | * WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings/WebOriginal |
| 23 | * WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings/{{Other}} |
| 24 | * WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings/TVTropes |
| 25 | [[/index]] |
| 26 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 29 | * Creator/AkiraIshida (who voiced Xellos in ''[[Anime/{{Slayers}} Slayers Next]]'', Kaworu Nagisa in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', and many other roles) stopped recording character image songs, and publicly singing in general, after one too many fan complaints about his singing voice. |
| 30 | * Creator/TiteKubo ran a really funny Platform/{{Twitter}} account whereupon he confirmed the image the ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' fandom has of [[TrollingCreator his real life self]]. [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil Then someone had the bright idea to blithely congratulate him on chapter 400 before it was even released in Japan]]. Ultimately, in September 2015, Kubo suddenly left Twitter, his final message proclaiming, "[Notice] Tomorrow night, after about 24 hours I will delete my Twitter account. Until that time, please direct message me." It turns out that someone on Twitter had been passing photos across the Internet proclaiming to be that of Kubo with ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' proclaiming that these were fake and that they would pursue legal actions if this was being done maliciously. |
| 31 | * Takami Akai, one of the founders of Creator/StudioGainax, ended up leaving the company after having addressed so many complaints about the OffModel animation in episode four of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. In his own words, reading these comments was "[[{{Squick}} like putting [his] face]] [[BrainBleach next to an anus]] [[ImageBoards and breathing deeply.]]" |
| 32 | * Creator/SuehiroMaruo once let slip he avoids unpaid appearances in fear of expecting this result. |
| 33 | * While voice actor Creator/VicMignogna does his best to be friendly and open with the fans, he has stated that he won't be doing [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Edward Elric]] "short rants" or saying "[[MemeticMutation Colonel Mustang looks dead sexy... in a miniskirt!]]" on request anymore because it was getting old. |
| 34 | * Following the disruption of a ''Anime/HyperdimensionNeptuniaTheAnimation'' screening by a psycho with a knife attacking Creator/RieTanaka, Chiyomaru Shikura, the president of 5pb., issued this statement: |
| 35 | -->Regarding the Neptunia incident. My staff and I have been talking, and there seems to be a need to rethink how events will be held. This of course includes having security guards and having more of a feeling of distance between the talent and their fans. It's really a shame. |
| 36 | * Creator/HikaruMidorikawa put his blog on indefinite hiatus after people spotted a female fan with an accessory that Midorikawa himself had, making them think that he was cheating on his wife and attacked her. Turns out the accessory was something ''he'' introduced on his blog. |
| 37 | * Mika Yamamori, the creator of ''Manga/DaytimeShootingStar'', used to respond to fans on Twitter but has since then been reluctant to reply to any comments unless she feels they are important to her readers. The problem mainly came from two incidents: the first problem was when she discovered that the reason why she had so many international fans respond to her was because of unofficial translations when a fan commented on Chapter 69 before ''Margaret'', the magazine that published ''Daytime Shooting Star'', went on sale in Japan. The second problem was the massive ShipToShipCombat as the series was concluding, where international fans kept leaving very heated comments on her Twitter account. The pressure got to the point where she had to put it on private until the final chapter was published. Today, she rarely responds to her fans, especially if the comments are not in Japanese. |
| 38 | * ''Anime/ShamanKing'' is considered one of the better dubs that Creator/FourKidsEntertainment produced, since the series wasn't {{Bowdlerise}}d as much as other works that [=4Kids=] had under their umbrella. However, since ''Shaman King'' revolves around death and features heavy violence, it also attracted ire from MoralGuardians at the time. Coupled with [[ScrewedByTheNetwork having a bad timeslot]] and the company's negative reputation, the show flopped in the United States, and is ultimately what led [=4Kids=] to continue their usual censorship and localization practices for future dubs.[[note]]Their next dub was ''Manga/OnePiece'', which is infamous among anime fans as one of the most {{Macekre}}d English dubs in anime history due to a combination of the moral guardians and the fact that they were forced to make it to [[AshcanCopy retain]] the rights to ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi''.[[/note]] Hilariously enough, this show has been released in Latin America by Televix Entertainment prior to [=4Kids=] in USA, and both companies coincidentally used to work together in sublicensing shows in Latin America. In contrast, ''Shaman King'' aired uncut in LA directly from the Japanese masters, however they still managed to broadcast other titles later under [=4Kids=] with the same Bowdlerization as ever. |
| 39 | * Shotaro Tokunou, the creator of ''Manga/NewGame'', [[https://twitter.com/tokutaro/status/996347512297480193 has stated]] that he will no longer respond to fan letters because some fans have resold fancy paper boards that he had specially drawn and sent after receiving letters. Those paper boards were being raffled around at online auctions. |
| 40 | * Due to manga having a reputation for being frequent targets for theft, Barnes & Noble responded by putting sensor tags, the ones usually reserved for electronics, inside the back cover. Anyone who buys these then faces the tough decision of keeping them in with the annoying added thickness, or try and remove them and risk ripping the page. Then you get the loiterers who treat said manga section as a library and throw the books on the floor after they're done damaging the merchandise for actual customers. As such, a different form of security tag are specifically used, which has a minimal risk of damaging the book itself. |
| 41 | * ''Manga/ChainsawMan'' had [[RemixComic an oft-profane and politically incorrect Brazilian scanlation]] become popular before the manga was officially released. Seeing the crass version of "THE FUTURE IS BEST!"[[note]]"O futuro é pica!", pica being a slang for penis that is also used to denote something awesome, akin to "the shit"[[/note]] not appear in the dub led to fans of this version harrassing Creator/GuilhermeBriggs, whose character said that line, and ultimately making him quit social media and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leave the character for good]]. Note that [[MisBlamed he wasn't even involved in the translation (or even directed the voices) of the show]], he just voiced the character and that's it. |
| 42 | [[/folder]] |
| 43 | |
| 44 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 45 | * [[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21852 This story]] from Creator/MarkWaid (it begins about halfway down the page). He did a phone interview with a Vermont radio station and, after the interview was done, was invited by one of the interviewers to visit their comic shop in Vermont for a signing and meet-and-greet with the fans. Waid agreed, only to discover they did not actually have a comic shop and just wanted him to visit them. He likens it to the movie ''Literature/{{Misery}}'' and explains that he has warned all his fellow authors to be wary and make sure they are not deceived by the same fans. He does not say anything about never meeting fans again, but you can bet he is a lot more hesitant about it. |
| 46 | * Creator/AlanMoore is said to have stopped attending comic conventions because some fans at a United Kingdom Comic Art Convention followed him into the washroom to seek his autograph. |
| 47 | * The early 2011 comments shutdown at the blog The Source at [[Franchise/TheDCU DCUniverse]] was the direct result of a flame war about who was faster: Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} or ComicBook/TheFlash. |
| 48 | * [[ComicBook/GoldDigger Fred Perry]] went on a short hiatus after a rabid fan pushed an old lady and her grandson out of the way and threw down some cheesecake when he tried to deny he "took commissions for that sort of thing". |
| 49 | * Creator/GrantMorrison mentions in their memoir/history of superheroes ''Supergods'' that they had to give up trying to interact with fans online due to various death threats made against them, their collaborators and their respective families by people who didn't like ''[[ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison Batman RIP]]''. |
| 50 | * ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' has seen head writer Ian Flynn having to deal with real-life troubles around the comic by closing them off more than once. |
| 51 | ** ShipToShipCombat, along with ExecutiveMeddling in several areas, is what convinced comic writer Creator/IanFlynn to permanently end any ideas of Sonic and Sally being a couple when the comic was rebooted. Flynn just couldn't take the shipper comments anymore. |
| 52 | ** Ken Penders became the anti-Christ in the fandom's eyes when Penders sued Archie for rights to characters that he created within the comic. The fandom started throwing multiple insults his way, which also didn't go over well with Flynn, since he felt it made everyone look bad. Flynn's official forum now bans somebody if they make any mention of Penders whatsoever because Flynn doesn't want any more trouble with it. This also killed a thread on Flynn's board talking about the ''Lara-Su Chronicles'' after fans went into a panic over a number of tweets from Penders which led them to think that Penders was trying to kill the ''Sonic'' comic outright. [[Creator/KenPenders Penders' page on this very wiki]] has long since been [[Administrivia/LockedPages permanently locked]] as a result. |
| 53 | * ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'' used to include background cameos of fan-made {{Original Character}}s as a little FandomNod. This was dropped after ''Annual 2014'' included a cameo by a character created by an artist named Cutosphere, who was infamous among MLP fans for her open hatred of the Brony fandom, which caused a massive fandom meltdown that overshadowed everything else about the issue. |
| 54 | * At [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TheLastAirbender/comments/fq4odb/atla_comics_authors_on_azula_azula_fans_sdcc_2019/ San Diego Comic-Con in 2019]], Faith Erin Hicks, writer for the ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' comics, recalled an event where she got fan mail about Azula that, in her words, was "particularly psychotic." Combined with former writer Gene Luen Yang saying that some of Azula's fans were crazy to the point of scaring her away from trying to write for the character, and there's little hope for any extensive comic content about Azula. |
| 55 | * A rare in-universe example comes from ''{{ComicBook/Transmetropolitan}}'', where main character and gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem mentions that the final straw that led him to abandon his career, lock himself into a heavily fortified cabin in the wilderness and spend five years "... taking pot shots at fans and paparazzi, eating what I kill and bombing the unwary." was when a group of fans wrestled him to the ground in the street in an attempt to mug him for one of his internal organs. One wonders if this was self-referential on Warren Ellis' part. |
| 56 | [[/folder]] |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 59 | * Brooke [=McEldowney=] had Comics.com turn off the commenting feature for his ''ComicStrip/NineChickweedLane'' comic after a few {{Troll}}s made persistent homophobic and misogynistic remarks while another posted links to ''9CL'' strips with pornographic dialogue substituted for the original. |
| 60 | * ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': |
| 61 | ** Creator/BillWatterson would occasionally sneak signed copies of comic collections into his local bookshop. He stopped when they started showing up on eBay. |
| 62 | ** Rumor has it that one of the reasons Watterson stopped doing ''Calvin and Hobbes'' was because his "fans" effectively stole the trademark for Calvin away from him. You know all of those cutesy "Calvin is praying" or "Calvin is Peeing on Something" stickers you see on the back windows of all those trucks and cars? They weren't authorized by Watterson (who licensed a very small amount of merchandise, and nothing like those stickers). By the time the cartoonist found out about them and moved to stop their production, they'd become so ubiquitous and widespread that a judge told him he'd effectively lost his own trademark because he didn't act fast enough. [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] states that people selling such things were forced to change the caricature to avoid infringement. Not that it would have changed his anti-consumerism stance on ''Calvin and Hobbes'' goods and general strong intent to have the "brand" fade away as much as possible. |
| 63 | [[/folder]] |
| 64 | |
| 65 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 66 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/user/bunchoflemons The creator]] of ''The Reid Oliver Cartoon Saga'', based on the [[EnsembleDarkhorse popular]] ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'' character Reid Oliver, stopped making the cartoons shortly after the show ended because she found out someone else was profiting from her work and claiming it as their own. Pretty sad considering [[ApprovalOfGod the actor playing Reid admitted that he had liked the cartoons he had seen.]] |
| 67 | * The creator of ''Webcomic/BeTheSeadwellerLowblood'' posted a poll to determine which character would be shown next, Vriska or Kanaya. Both options were tied for quite a while, then Vriska suddenly took over. The creator decided foul play was involved, [[TakeAThirdOption took neither popular option]], and stopped using polls, declaring this: |
| 68 | -->"There is no way that many people have voted, MUCH LESS that it stayed that perfectly tied for so long, MUCH LESS that the votes suddenly jumped up for one side that much. I KNOW there were some people who voted specifically to make it balance out, rather than vote for what they actually WANTED. Some of y'all in here admitted that. Clearly, someone else is spamming Vriska now. Fuck this shit. You're not getting Vriska or Kanaya. You're ''especially'' not getting Vriska, since it's at least confirmable that there is somebody cheating in her favor, if not that there are folks cheating in both's favor... Way to go! We're never having a vote again." |
| 69 | * Durandall once deleted ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'' from Platform/FanFictionDotNet, then left that site altogether, because of criticism (not of his work, but of himself) that he received from some users of the site. He later realized that this was excessive, apologized, and [[HesBack reuploaded the fic]]. |
| 70 | * A variant of this happened with the hugely popular ''[[http://www.simegen.com/fandom/startrek/kraith/ Kraith]]'' stories based on ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Jacqueline Lichtenberg, best known for her ''Literature/SimeGen'' series, wanted readers to join in and contribute, as long as they stayed within the series guidelines. (yep, fan fiction with ''its own writers' guide''). With Lichtenberg and other excellent writers at the helm, ''Kraith's'' depiction of Starfleet and especially Vulcan quickly displaced any other fan writer's concept[[note]]including linguist Dorothy Jones Heydt who'd created one of the first Vulcan conlangs and gave fandom, and ultimately [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise canon]], the term ''[[https://fanlore.org/wiki/Ni_Var_(glossary_term) ni var]]''[[/note]] and became "not only the major Vulcan series, with the major Vulcan universe," but "the accepted standard for Star Trek fandom." Seriously. Things were going well until Lichtenberg brought in [[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Sondra_Marshak Sondra Marshak]] as a ''Kraith'' Creator. Marshak's kinks soon came to dominate the project, and Lichtenberg, in awe of Marshak's "incredible mind", abandoned most of the plot plans for the second half of ''Kraith'', which was never completed. But it wasn't just Marshak. Fan writers who wanted to add their own work to ''Kraith'' had to not just follow the ''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20130201180243/http://www.simegen.com/fandom/startrek/kraith/kcm/index.html Kraith Creators Manual]]'' but have their work vetted by an increasing number of ''[[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Kraith_Creators Kraith Creators]]'' (including Marshak) through the [[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Kraith_Round_Robin Kraith Round Robin]] in which all the Creators would have a chance to read and comment (repeatedly) on your story. Lichtenberg's Creator/MarionZimmerBradley-esque belief that the only worthwhile story comments were "[[https://fanlore.org/wiki/Kraith#On_Concrit:_.22The_Negative_Value_of_Positive_Input.22 acid-tipped language, scathing rebukes and searing putdowns]]" couldn't have helped. And in those days, when you couldn't email and cc everyone, the bureaucracy of the stories was unbelievable. |
| 71 | --> "...sometimes a story would go through a cycle of fourteen people, a process that could take many, many months... Many stories were never finished due to the amount of time it took for approval. Sometimes the author was asked to make so many changes that she or he simply gave up on the story." |
| 72 | --> "...Their claim - their boast, even, stated in one editorial - was that some of their best stories had been rewritten enough that they told a completely different story from the one the writer had originally set out to tell!" |
| 73 | * In 2015, CBS and Paramount gave a lawsuit towards the creators of ''WebVideo/PreludeToAxanar'' when it was revealed that the creators were actually ''profiting'' from the ''Star Trek'' name in the process of making the follow-up movie ''Star Trek: Axanar''. The shoddy defense at first was "they didn't know what they were doing was wrong...because we had no Guidelines" [[NiceJobBreakingItHero So CBS and Paramount set up specific guidelines for making fan movies]], effectively and permanently killing fan continuations and feature-length movies, and ending a decades long silent Gentleman's Agreement between CBS and fan-films. The guidelines state that all creators, actors and all other participants must genuinely and deliberately consist only of amateurs, can't be compensated for their services, and can't be currently and/or previously employed in any ''Star Trek'' media or any of CBS nor Paramount Pictures’ licensees. Crowdfunding is allowed... but it has a hard cap of $50000. The fan-films must also be up to 15 minutes long or in two parts that, when combined, cannot go beyond half an hour, with no follow-ups or remakes whatsoever, [[ObviousRulePatch even if]] ''Star Trek'' [[DivorcedInstallment is removed in the follow up or remake]] [[LoopholeAbuse to try and cheat that rule]]. One known casualty is ''WebVideo/StarTrekRenegades'', which ended up stripping itself of all of its ''Star Trek'' connections and going fully original. |
| 74 | * A controversy surrounding fan artist [=Zamii070=] occurred when members of the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' fanbase harassed her for drawing the character [[BigBeautifulWoman Rose Quartz]] "too skinny", and also accused her of “cultural appropriation” for drawing a character resembling a Native American. The harassment was then leveled towards the actual show crew when they called the drawings "artistic interpretation" in an attempt to [[GoneHorriblyWrong defuse the situation]]. Things eventually culminated in attempted suicide by [=Zamii070=], but she survived and was hospitalized. Her harassers defended their actions by asking the show's creators and Rebecca Sugar's contemporaries leading questions about the nature of "True Art," in hopes that they would condone the harassment. They didn't, and the show's crew called out the rabid fans for taking this one piece of fan art way too far. The rabid fans also repeatedly stated that "Rose Quartz was never skinny." [[spoiler:Rose Quartz may not have been, but her past self, ''Pink Diamond'', has a slim, petite figure. In any case, it was also called out as a weak defense for trying to get a fan artist to kill herself, making the rabid fans look even worse.]] |
| 75 | * In general, video game console homebrew/modding communities are perceived as hostile once a scene has grown big enough to attract the mainstream audience. Among many causes, one of them comes from people that lack understanding of the technicalities, follow dubious or out-of-date guides, ask questions without researching first, or the classic begging to be given help/services for free (often without thanks). It does not help that the idea of game modding or piracy especially attracts children who tend to be not quite bright in this topic and are the easiest to risk bans/bricking. This worry over an expensive loss among other problems (and these risks are the very thing modders/homebrewers have tried very hard to avert) is what justifies the rudeness. This also goes for individual {{Game Mod}}s, more so if the game is multiplatform, which easily invites entitled requests for mods for one platform to be usable on another. For specific examples: |
| 76 | ** Zolika, known for trainers for various PC games, had quit modding entirely due to a combination of MisBlamed and invoked CondemnedByHistory by people wrongly accusing his tools of being malware, leaking personal information, etc. going back to the days of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' multiplayer years ago, not helped by sockpuppetry of the rumor spreader and a full attempt of copying his code wholesale to discredit him. This resulted in all his game mods to be {{abandonware}}, though several received a final update before he did quit. [[https://zolika1351.pages.dev/posts/final-goodbye Full story here.]] |
| 77 | ** The reason that the development of reliable modding tools for ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' (and ''Deluxe'') is stalled is because of tons of low-effort mods or unreasonable requests that only contribute some cheap Platform/YouTube montages to that game's modding community. These are dubbed "meme mods"[[note]]Despite its name, this applies to anything the community merely dislikes, like cartoon characters and fad-dependent franchises (like ''Franchise/AngryBirds'').[[/note]] and are generally loathed by the community, with those who are fine with such mods only accepting them if it's apparent that a lot of work was put into it. |
| 78 | ** A (now former) member of the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' modding community, pioziomgames, made much of his mod creations and tools private, only allowing other people to republish them if he trusted them. Even then, not all apply. The reason for this is pioziomgames' hate of the fandom. This naturally frustrated other modders that were looking forward to his tools, like his (closed-source) model editor. |
| 79 | ** In some fandoms, fans known for making high-quality [[GameMod game mods]] will refuse to make tutorials for making mods due to fears that the mod library will be filled with trash-quality mods. For instance, a popular modder for ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'', after receiving comments requesting a modding tutorial, has stated that they will not make a public-release tutorial for modding. |
| 80 | * A number of people who rip models from licensed games with ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}'' characters have [[VideoGamePerversityPotential concerns over pornographic works]] and the "[[PortmanteauCoupleName Elsanna]]" fanship between protagonists Elsa and Anna (which is highly controversial, as it concerns an [[{{Squick}} incestuous relationship]] between two sisters). As a result, these model rippers either put their rips under a restrictive license which prevents people from using the models in M-rated works or they keep the models entirely to themselves. While said models aren't even theirs in the first place and it's still possible for them to get a cease-and-desist, the restrictions are put in place largely because they don't want to risk attracting any more unnecessary attention from Creator/{{Disney}}'s legal team with raunchy ''Frozen'' edits. Given the film's somewhat smeared reputation due to the rise of [[YouTubeKidsChannel illicit depictions]] of children's characters, this is understandable. |
| 81 | * ''Fanfic/TheLittleForeigner'': On January 25, 2021, the fic's original ''Website/SpaceBattlesDotCom'' thread was closed by a moderator after several people wrote posts insulting each other and the author and telling them to kill themselves. Fortunately, the fic's ''Website/SufficientVelocityDotCom'' thread is still open, and on February 2nd of that same year, the thread was reopened. |
| 82 | * ''Fanfic/RaiseYourVoiceAgainstLiars'': Co-writer Naruwitch permanently shelved the Platform/FanFictionDotNet version of the story due to excessively toxic and homophobic reviews (the author went on record that she is not homosexual, but will not tolerate the reviews posted for the story). When the harassment continued even after it was discontinued, she abandoned the story entirely, handing it off to co-writer [=BeeTeeDubya14=], who also brought in the help of [=DSpaceZ=] and [=BetterOffAlone=]. It then went further when the team Restricted the version on ''Archive Of Our Own'' so that only those with an account can even read the story, as the site otherwise allows anonymous comments. |
| 83 | * The reason why popular fanfiction website Platform/ArchiveOfOurOwn has a limit of 75 tags that can be attached to a fic is because the ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' fic ''Sexy Times with Wangxian'' had over ''4000 tags'' attached to it[[note]]For those who aren't sure why this is a bad thing, [[https://fanlore.org/w/images/1/1e/Walloftags.jpg this]] is what the fic's tags looked like - the text next to the colorful square in the top left is ''the title of the fic''[[/note]], which caused issues with browsing and a lot of technical problems with the site. |
| 84 | * The author of ''Fanfic/TheGoodHunter'' removed the fanfic from Platform/FanFictionDotNet to avoid drama that involved Kenkou Cross (the author of the ''Monster Girl Encyclopedia'' series) and MGE-related fanfics. As of now, it has been [[FanfictionArchives archived onto Fichub]] and uploaded to Platform/ArchiveOfOurOwn under the username [=SixtyThreeNineteen=]. |
| 85 | [[/folder]] |
| 86 | |
| 87 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 88 | * A trend called "Gentleminions" arose during the theatrical run of ''WesternAnimation/MinionsTheRiseOfGru'', where large groups of [[PeripheryDemographic young men]] would go to see the movie dressed in formal attire. Unfortunately, due to some of the groups engaging in rowdy behavior that disturbed other moviegoers (such as starting mosh pits or throwing bananas at the screen), many theaters started turning away formally dressed people from their screenings of the film. |
| 89 | [[/folder]] |
| 90 | |
| 91 | [[folder:Films — Live-Action]] |
| 92 | !!!'''Creators:''' |
| 93 | * Creator/BryanLeeOMalley, creator of ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'', was constantly harassed on Platform/DeviantArt by people who criticized his art style and movie deal, causing him to close his account after only a few months. |
| 94 | * After riots broke out in Mexico City during screenings of consecutive Music/ElvisPresley films, the government responded by banning ''all'' Elvis films for over a decade. |
| 95 | * Website/RottenTomatoes: |
| 96 | ** The site shut down user comments for ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' after people [[SeriousBusiness posted death threats]] to [[HePannedItNowHeSucks critics who gave the movie a negative review]]. Rotten Tomatoes would later completely remove the option to comment on reviews altogether. |
| 97 | ** Rotten Tomatoes shut down the "want to see" audience ratings for pre-release films after review-bombing campaigns against ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'' and the ninth ''Franchise/StarWars'' movie occurred prior to their releases. They implemented a ticket authentication system to ensure that all reviews were made by people who had actually watched the films they're reviewing, to prevent spam and [[AstroTurf organized hate campaigns against specific movies]]. |
| 98 | ** It was right around the time that ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' came out that Rotten Tomatoes began clamping down on the ability of users to give reviews, thanks to rumors that Marvel and Disney fans were flooding the site with positive reviews ''before'' the film came out in order to make it look better than ''Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice''. |
| 99 | * Creator/JamesGunn would delete his Facebook account in response to massive criticism from fans towards some comments made in the past in which he criticized previous Franchise/{{Batman}} films. With the DC Universe he was helming still in development at the time, the backlash towards his comments, among those concerned with how his vision shapes up to those of the [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse previous DC film universe]], forced him to have to retreat away from fans. |
| 100 | * Creator/EmmaWatson was conscious of this phenomenon during her school days when she was starring in ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' movies, and made this a DefiedTrope. Watson practiced for such a scenario by threatening to report her schoolmates to the headteacher if they ever asked for her autograph. |
| 101 | * Creator/ZeldaWilliams, daughter of the late Creator/RobinWilliams, was driven off social media after trolls descended onto her Facebook page and Twitter account and attacked her over her father's suicide. Specifically, they posted a picture originating from Liveleak of a suicide-by-hanging victim that resembled her father. |
| 102 | !!!'''Movies:''' |
| 103 | * The third movie in ''Film/TheGamers'' series, which focuses on geek culture, has a group trying to do this on purpose InUniverse. The plot focuses on a card game where each faction has varying mechanics and win conditions, and the tournament champions get to decide the outcomes of each season's story events. The villains are a group of StopHavingFunGuys exploiting an overpowered and story-breaking deck build to dominate the competitive game. They also deliberately play up every "toxic gamer" stereotype, with an emphasis on blatant misogyny, for the sole purpose of making the community around the game an unpleasant experience. The villains' motive for all of this toxicity is to drive out everybody who enjoys the game for more than its [[{{Munchkin}} pure mechanics]]. |
| 104 | * ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'': |
| 105 | ** Following the racist and sexist remarks included among a torrent of hate against the film before it was even released, director Creator/PaulFeig and a number of others in charge of the film responded by impartially censoring ''any'' criticism of the film, even legitimate critiques, as bigoted. This resulted in the controversy surrounding the film becoming even ''worse''. |
| 106 | ** Leslie Jones, who portrayed Patti, was driven off Twitter when [[https://variety.com/2016/film/news/leslie-jones-ghostbusters-twitter-hate-1201816809/ trolls intentionally bombarded her with terribly racist tweets]] just for appearing in the movie, and then later hacking her website and leaking nude photos of herself. |
| 107 | * Due to a violation of an embargo on reviews of ''[[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo]]'' being published that was in effect before an established date, [[NotScreenedForCritics David Fincher has stated that none of his future films will be screened for critics]]. |
| 108 | * As revealed [[http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/08/21/film-life-goonies-house-says-off-limits/ here]], the house used to represent Mike and Bran Walsh's house in ''Film/TheGoonies'' is off-limits because the owners just can't get any privacy. The owners note that things were fine until the 30th anniversary celebration of the movie, when things "just collapsed". No one would leave, trash would litter their yard, and having thousands of fans hike up to the house just for photos and the like was all too much for them. |
| 109 | * Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: After the success of ''Film/{{Thor}}'', and even more so with ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Creator/TomHiddleston used to have a very good relationship with his fans. He would personally update his Twitter multiple times daily with songs that he liked, poetry, interesting/funny things from fans, and so on; and he had spend quite a bit of time with them when in-person, taking time out to sign every autograph and take every picture requested of him. However, one too many transgressions from "fans" caused Hiddleston to suddenly become notably distant. Such incidents included: camping en masse outside his hotel when shooting on location, constantly linking him to RuleThirtyFour fanart of himself, tricking him into meeting with them by posing as someone he worked with, ''posting his home address online'', and immediately flooding any woman that was photographed alongside him with death threats. His Twitter is now updated perhaps once every other month (if that) with very generic things like promotion for his work in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse [[note]] The team in charge of the MCU is well known to want their talent to be on social media.[[/note]] or involving his role as an ambassador for UNICEF, and it's been a while since anybody's managed to get a picture with him. |
| 110 | * For a very long time, Creator/TimCurry was uncomfortable talking about ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' due to some fans creeping him out, even claiming he intentionally gained weight as a way of distancing himself from the film.[[note]] This intentional weight gain may have been a contributing factor to the serious stroke that he suffered in 2012[[/note]] In later years, however, he became more open about talking about being in ''Rocky Horror'' and somewhat embraces the impact it has on teenagers, calling it a "rite of passage". |
| 111 | ** While less serious, despite being a common tradition, throwing things at screenings is no longer allowed in some theaters due to how it's quite a safety hazard that could easily hurt somebody, even if it's just grains of rice. |
| 112 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': |
| 113 | ** Creator/GeorgeLucas supposedly said that the end of the ''Star Wars'' franchise was due to his highly vitriolic fanbase. He later [[TakeAThirdOption sold both]] ''Star Wars'' and ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' to Creator/{{Disney}}, an easy way to keep both of them going without anyone blaming him for whatever problems they might have. Ironically, Lucas criticized Disney's handling of ''Star Wars'' before quickly apologizing. |
| 114 | ** Creator/JakeLloyd was bullied throughout middle school and high school for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', which, at least according to an apocryphal account, drove him to burn all of his ''Star Wars'' memorabilia and vow to never watch a single ''Star Wars'' film again. Most versions of the story even single it out as the reason why he hasn't appeared on the big screen (except for a 3D re-release of the same film) for a very long time since. |
| 115 | ** Creator/AhmedBest received harassment for his role as Jar Jar Binks in the prequels and it got so bad that he ''[[https://mashable.com/video/ahmed-best-jar-jar-binks-suicide-tweet considered suicide]]''. Talk about creator backlash. |
| 116 | ** Del Rey had to shut down their Facebook page because of an InternetCounterattack by angry fans of ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' wanting the old Expanded Universe reinstated as canon by ''spoiling Film/TheForceAwakens''. |
| 117 | ** Both Creator/DaisyRidley and Creator/KellyMarieTran deleted their Instagram accounts after receiving harassment from disgruntled/hateful fans. Ridley received harassment after posting about gun control, while Tran was subjected to racist and sexist bullying from said people. Most of the harassment was also due to their portrayals of [[BaseBreakingCharacter Rey and Rose Tico]]. |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 121 | * Creator/HarlanEllison's essay "Xenogenesis" is a catalog of harassment, mistreatment, larcenous behavior, and in some cases downright assault inflicted upon science fiction writers by their fans. It's a bit of a horror show that culminates in writer Creator/AlanDeanFoster's story about a disgruntled "fan" throwing a cup of warm vomit in Foster's face. |
| 122 | -->"And you wonder why Stephen King never shows up at science fiction conventions anymore..." |
| 123 | * Creator/JDSalinger supposedly went ReclusiveArtist, and supposedly kept writing but refused to let anyone see his work, partially because he was so peeved over the way popular culture took to a '[[MisaimedFandom misreading]]' of ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye''.[[note]]Holden Caulfield was evidently intended as a much different character than how many people see him.[[/note]] |
| 124 | * Creator/SpiderRobinson preempted this in the case of the alt.callahans Usenet group, an early virtual community based on his ''Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon'' series. While he gave it his full blessing early on, mentioned (and hence promoted) it in a ''Callahan's'' story, and made the odd official contribution from time to time, this was always done offline and/or through third parties -- if he has ever posted to the group, it was never under any alias that could have been penetrated. This careful policy probably owes something to the aftermath of ''Pyotr’s Story'' (published 1981), which was set on Callahan’s weekly riddle night, and ended with an invitation for readers to write in with answers to the unsolved riddles. Result: sackloads of mail. And while the flow did tail off, it has never ceased entirely. He's also publicly said that he's seriously worried that if he got involved with the alt.callahans, he'd spend too much time there when he ''should'' be writing more stories. |
| 125 | * Creator/StephenieMeyer had been planning a book called ''Literature/{{Midnight Sun|2020}}'', which was a re-telling of ''Literature/{{Twilight|2005}}'' from Edward's perspective. She even posted the first chapter on her website, to whet fans' appetites. Then a half-finished manuscript appeared on the Internet, posted by someone she'd trusted enough to give a copy to. Meyer was so upset that she stated that the book was now "on hold indefinitely," because if she wrote it in [[CreatorBreakdown her (then-)current state of mind]], [[TheBadGuyWins the evil vampire]] [[TemporalParadox would succeed]]. After further delays caused by the publication of ''[[Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian]]'', the book would ultimately be released in August 2020. |
| 126 | * Creator/MarionZimmerBradley was one of the first writers to run into this in regards to fanfiction. She used to edit occasional anthologies of what she thought were the best fanfics for her ''Literature/{{Darkover}}'' setting. [[http://jimhines.livejournal.com/507999.html There's a bit of confusion]] over [[http://fanlore.org/wiki/Marion_Zimmer_Bradley_Fanfiction_Controversy what precisely happened]], but at some point her reading those fanfics resulted in the cancellation of a novel set at the same time as one such fanfic. This has become a precedent for many authors to not even read fanfic. |
| 127 | * Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/DianaTregarde'' books weren't selling too well, and she was getting a lot of flak from certain pagan/Wiccan groups, so she stopped writing them. Cue the conspiracy theory people with bizarre speculations, such as believing that ''the Guardians were real''. [[https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Last_Straw_(Mercedes_Lackey%27s_rant) It got]] [[http://archive.is/5Hn4Y worse]] when Lackey started getting death threats from people at fan conventions, leading to Lackey posting a rant called "The Last Straw" where she lambasted fans who take her writing and the fandom around it way too seriously, fans assuming her writing is based on reality, and how it was unrealistic to assume that an author shouldn't be concerned with whether or not their books were making money. |
| 128 | * Karen Traviss of ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' fame/infamy had been involved with the fandom, but contention arose over her supposed establishment of the Grand Army of the Republic consisting at a mere three million clones for a galactic scale conflict. Some people took issue with it, [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale which is reasonable]], but those that did almost exclusively blamed her, [[MisBlamed which isn't]]. The result was a massive multi-board FlameWar that included both sides insulting each other, hate sites, DearNegativeReader posts, coining of derogatory nicknames for their detractors, accusations of favoritism/nepotism/sexual bribery, and ultimately culminated when one nutjob made a machinima video of himself brutally murdering a mock Traviss and her fans over his concern for the numbers (and disingenuously called it "satire"), which made the [=StarWars.com=] board moderators nuke everything associated with the... "[[FlameWar discussion]]". What makes this entire debacle even worse is that if either side bothered to simply '''read''' the ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' novelization, some of the bickering could have been avoided since (at the very least) her detractors wouldn't have put so much time and energy going after someone who, by their own admission, doesn't have the authority to make the changes they wanted. |
| 129 | [[/folder]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 132 | * [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]] declared he would stop most of his Platform/{{Twitter}} usage due to various unpleasant posted comments regarding his wife [[Music/HowToDestroyAngels and how their collaborative new project]] was getting in the way of new Nine Inch Nails' projects. He still posts plenty of updates, but most of them tend to be news-related rather than personal now. |
| 133 | * Music/{{Yoshiki|Hayashi}} of Music/XJapan was chased off the Internet for much of 2009 and half of 2010 in a massive flare of InternetJerk and InternetCounterattack that originally started when he cancelled a planned concert in Paris. He came back to the Internet in 2010 on Facebook and Twitter, and is currently back but is still occasionally bothered by trolls. |
| 134 | * Music/TheBeatles stopped touring in 1966. Part of it was the complexity of some post-''Music/{{Revolver|Beatles Album}}'' tracks exceeded what could be performed live by four people. Part of it was boredom with repeatedly playing their (by that point) years-old set. And part of it was that their fans went so crazy whenever the Beatles showed up that they couldn't take it anymore. The Beatles were unable to hear themselves play their own instruments from all the screaming, were trapped in their hotel rooms by mobbing fans whenever they went anywhere, and had to be ferried around in armored cars to prevent being torn apart in the near-rioting that surrounded them. Another factor was the Christian Fundamentalist-driven anti-Beatles hysteria that emerged after Music/JohnLennon's alleged "we're BiggerThanJesus" comments (which was a BeamMeUpScotty [[note]] The actual phrase was "We're ''more popular'' than Jesus", and Lennon was referencing the decline of Christianity, not making a BlasphemousBoast[[/note]]), complete with [[BookBurning record burnings]], boycotts, and picketing of Beatles concerts; these convinced the band that touring the U.S. wasn't worth it, as they'd just have the MoralGuardians dogging them at nearly every leg of the tour. John at this time confessed that his worst fear was [[HarsherInHindsight someone shooting him]]. The last straw was probably an incident at a concert in Memphis where an audience member threw a firecracker on stage. No one was harmed, but for a split second [[HarsherInHindsight everyone thought the loud noise was a gunshot]]. The Beatles performed just five more concerts after that. |
| 135 | * Music/{{Disturbed}} used to answer fan questions on message boards, spending the most of their time being badgered to prove who they were. The sad thing is, this was started by David Draiman with the other band members saying it wasn't worth trying till they eventually warmed up to the idea at David's urging. With the relationship soured, they'll probably never do this again. |
| 136 | * This is the reason why most music-formatted radio stations no longer freely play song requests. This doesn't stop the frequent complaints of "you never play this song" coming from the listeners, but it is easier for the radio programmers and disc jockeys to ignore them, and just program what ''they'' want to play. That is, if there even ''are'' announcer-programmers or disc jockeys at the station. Much contemporary radio runs on station branding (e.g., "Jack FM") -- a prepackaged format that is often automated and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice-tracking voice-tracked]] to sound local, yet another example of this. (This is why you no longer hear news, weather or traffic reports on contemporary music-formatted radio in the US.) |
| 137 | * John Darnielle of Music/TheMountainGoats now destroys all his outtakes, the result of an (especially embarrassing) unreleased album being leaked. He also destroyed a planned EP due to repeated requests for illegal mp3s ''on his own forum''. |
| 138 | * Randy Blythe of Music/LambOfGod [[http://loudwire.com/lamb-of-god-randy-blythe-explains-why-he-deactivated-his-twitter-account/ explains]] why he had to deactivate his Twitter account. It came down heavily in part to this. |
| 139 | * In the late '90s, while Music/{{Nas}} was working on his album ''I Am...The Autobiography'', a bunch of the tracks were leaked on the Internet. In response, he rewrote a great deal of the album in just a month. The fanbase generally believes that the finished album suffered because of this. |
| 140 | * In April 2013, a disgruntled fan of Music/ProtestTheHero posted an angry rant about how he waited in line at their bus after a show for an autograph, only to have his paper returned before being told to go away. It seemed like typical out-of-touch rockstar behavior... that is, until the band posted the ''rest'' of the story. Essentially, the dude was a known autograph hunter whose modus operandi involved going up to bands, acting like he was a fan who just wanted a keepsake, getting autographs, and then turning around and selling the signed items on eBay. On top of that, Protest the Hero had been burned by this same guy before and were not going to fall for his act again. They also clarified that they had no problem giving autographs to people who genuinely just wanted keepsakes, but that they were not okay with autograph hunters. The band has since said that if they got burned enough, they would consider just not giving autographs at all. |
| 141 | * Music/RingoStarr publicly refuses to sign autographs anymore because a lot of people have sold his autographs on eBay for huge prices.[[note]]Several others have the same policy, but Starr is the only one who has made a video about it.[[/note]] Music/RogerWaters has also publicly lashed out at these "autograph collectors," though he still signs from time to time. Music/RobertFripp instituted a similar policy for the same reasons. |
| 142 | * Zayn Malik, member of UK band Music/OneDirection, temporarily deactivated his Platform/{{Twitter}} account due to the hateful comments he received, in extreme cases being called a "[[UnfortunateImplications terrorist]]". |
| 143 | * In Chile, after an unexpectedly large Music/LosJaivas concert wrecked the Parque Forestal park it was hosted in, complete with 70 tons of garbage needing to be collected the next day, garbage cans set on fire, and ''an art theft in a nearby museum'', it's safe to say there won't be anything else hosted there in quite a while. |
| 144 | * Music/TheTigers had all videotapes of a 1968 concert for NHK destroyed after fangirls went wild and caused several injuries and damage to the arena. |
| 145 | * Music/GodspeedYouBlackEmperor's demo tape ''All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling'' was the holy grail of indie fans for years. It was limited to 33 cassettes, and the band [[BuryYourArt refused to reissue it for ages]] due to how different it was from their usual work, making the chances of it resurfacing very unlikely. Despite this, in 2013, a Website/{{Reddit}} user revealed that they had one of the tapes and that they were ready to rip and distribute it, uploading two tracks to confirm its authenticity. However, harassment from fans led them to shut down their account and disappear from the internet, causing the rest of the songs to remain in limbo until they got leaked on Website/FourChan in 2022; the band finally reissued the album on Bandcamp after that. |
| 146 | * Music/SteamPoweredGiraffe started reaching this point with their fans, growing more and more detached from them both in person and online. For a charming group of robot mimes who just wanted to entertain, and now get flak over anything from a gender change for a trans woman's comfort to a mustache intended as a joke, it's more than a little sad for longtime fans. Nothing like hearing a once-loving and optimistic band be entirely unsurprised at hearing about their fans sexually abusing each other. To quote Rabbit, "I lost faith long before you told me that." |
| 147 | * Mike Portnoy from Music/DreamTheater wrote the song "Never Enough" from the 2004 album ''Octavarium'' in response to the more rabid parts of the fan base who kept criticizing and complaining and asking for more and more without realizing that the band's members are humans with lives. Other than that, even though the albums tend to divide the fan base, this hasn't had any real ill effects on their relationship with the fans, though one could assume the "demanding and never happy" type of fan isn't liked much by them. |
| 148 | * [[Music/TheBlackDahliaMurder Trevor Strnad]] posted a rant on Facebook around the release of ''Everblack'' that decried the illegal downloading of their albums, stating that the fans weren't sticking it to the man by downloading their music but were instead hurting them, as they were in that spot where they were big enough to live off of their music without having to consider day jobs but were nowhere near big enough to be anything even resembling rich and that they needed physical sales to prove that they were still relevant and retain strong label sales; if album sales fell below expectations, the likelihood that the label would start to consider them "old news" would rise significantly and could jeopardize their chances of continuing to receive support from the label. The responses were predictable; plenty of people (many of them musicians) agreed with both the statement and the sentiment behind it, while others took it upon themselves to shower them with abuse and accuse them of being whiny, entitled rock stars who saw the fans as piggy banks and were just getting mad that they weren't yielding enough. |
| 149 | * Music/{{Area 11}}, while still fairly involved with their fandoms, used to be even more involved through the official Facebook fan group, being members of it (for admin purposes) and joining in with the general fun, posting memes and so on. This changed when a fan somehow worked out the email address of Sparkles*, spammed him and then did something which resulted in the hashtag "Kill Colin" being spread [[note]]fans in the group are not keen to elaborate on ''what'' precisely that was supposed to mean[[/note]]. The band are no longer members of the group, but do still lurk there, so it's not as total a loss as it could have been. |
| 150 | * The primary reason Music/NeutralMilkHotel stopped playing in the 1990s. Their fandom after ''On Avery Island'' grew rapidly, and given that their primary tour circuit was house shows and small venues, the band was often exposed to a lot of creepy art types that unnerved the members, especially frontman Jeff Mangum. This fanbase was so rabid that when the band toured for ''In the Aeroplane Over the Sea'', the entire audience was already singing along to the lyrics (in 1997, when the Internet was still very young and there were few if any lyric databases), which unsettled Mangum to the point that he quit playing after that tour. When Mangum finally returned to performing -- first as a solo act in 2011 and 2012 and then with a reunited Neutral Milk Hotel from 2013 to 2015 -- he hid himself behind a cap and giant beard, so that he couldn't ''see'' the audience at all. He seems to be fine with hearing theaters sing along with his lyrics nowadays, though. |
| 151 | * For a very long time, the Music/FooFighters refused to play "Big Me" live, because whenever they did, they'd be pelted with Mentos, because its music video spoofed Mentos ads. They started playing it live again after their "Foozer" tour alongside Music/{{Weezer}} in 2005-06, as Weezer covered it with great acclaim. |
| 152 | * In 2018, a fanmade music video for [[Music/{{Vaporwave}} Saint Pepsi]]'s song "Enjoy Yourself" was taken down on Platform/YouTube for its use of footage from a UsefulNotes/McDonalds commercial featuring former mascot Mac Tonight, due to said character having become associated with racist parodies of rap songs and internet hate groups in general. |
| 153 | * Music/NeilYoung has endured fans singing or clapping along, yelling requests and other nonsense for decades. But what really pisses him off is constant texting, tweeting, filming and talking, [[http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2018/07/neil-young-has-rough-night-in-detroit.html especially during acoustic solo shows.]] He's also stopped playing certain songs because [[http://www.webcitation.org/76bJHhJJf he can't make himself heard over the rude fans]]. Neil adores new technology, but [[http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2014/01/etiquette-at-neil-young-concert.html not during the show, please.]] |
| 154 | * In the fall of 2013, Music/BeneathTheMassacre had their set cut short by the venue in what wound up being their last appearance in New York until 2020 due to many incidents of people crowd-killing, hate-moshing, and generally being inordinately violent in the pit towards non-participants. The band tried to get the venue to let them continue, but the venue declined, declared that the night was over, and told everyone who wasn't a member of the band to leave. Patrons who were there that night said that the crowd-killing was so out of control and people were getting so pissed off that the room felt like a powder keg, and it was likely a matter of minutes before the room erupted into an all-out brawl if the venue hadn't stepped in. |
| 155 | * Music/MotleyCrue frontman Vince Neil disabled comments on his Instagram in October 2018 due to constant harassment from trolls regarding his weight gain. |
| 156 | * Music/CharliXCX's third studio album -- years after her previous one, and coming off the hype of a series of [=EPs=] and mixtapes -- was in production since 2015 and expected to be released sometime around 2018... and then in late 2017, [[ContentLeak her Google Drive was hacked, and over 200 files worth of demos and release-ready songs (as well as promotional artwork) came frolicking out into the internet]]. While the leaks were widely loved by fans, Charli was devastated, and when combined with [[ExecutiveMeddling label interference as a result of it]], she decided to reboot the album into ''Charli'', which would be released in 2019 containing all-new songs. Despite retaining pride in the leaked material, she's actively refused to release them legitimately as she considers them irreparably "tainted", with only a handful of songs managing to evade this principle. |
| 157 | * This led to the (sort-of) breakup of LGBT NoisePop duo Black Dresses in 2020. Their 2018 debut album, ''Wasteisolation'', [[NewbieBoom experienced retroactive buzz]] as popular lipsync fodder on [=TikTok=] among minors, something that already made the duo uncomfortable as [[CreatorBreakdown the album was rooted in heavily personal themes]], but it also led to many fans targeting the members individually for [[ThinkOfTheChildren "pushing" such "inappropriate" material onto said demographic]] despite [[PeripheryDemographic said demographic barely existing in 2018, let alone worth their time and consideration]]. During the band's announcement of their breakup, they cited the extended harassment towards co-founder Devi [=McCallion=] experienced as the reason why. While the two still produce music and have even released two albums under the Black Dresses name, they continue to insist that they haven't reunited, presumably to dispel attention as to not ignite yet another fiasco. |
| 158 | * There was an incident at a Music/{{Nirvana}} concert in Buenos Aires where all-girl band Calamity Jane, who was the opening act that night, was pelted with mud and booed off the stage [[StayInTheKitchen because they were women.]] Kurt Cobain, a huge feminist, almost cancelled the show out of spite, but the band instead decided to punish the audience by refusing to play their hits, only playing their really deep cuts, and constantly teasing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" only to [[BaitAndSwitch play a completely different song.]] |
| 159 | * When Music/{{Weezer}}'s sophomore album ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'' was negatively received, the band went in a LighterAndSofter direction for their [[Music/WeezerTheGreenAlbum next album]], only for ''Pinkerton'' to develop a cult following. Despite this, the band refused to make a proper follow-up to ''Pinkerton'' and relegated the album to only a song or two during live shows for years due to frontman Rivers Cuomo being traumatized by the initial negative reception and poor sales of the album. |
| 160 | * Music/{{Eminem}}: |
| 161 | ** Eminem is an artist so known for FanDumb that he coined the ubiquitous slang word for a LoonyFan -- a "stan", after his song "Stan" in which a fictional Loony Fan kills his girlfriend and then himself because Eminem won't respond to his letters. Eminem became a ReclusiveArtist due to fan harassment so extreme that he couldn't even leave his house without being surrounded by security on all sides. His songs document fans hammering on his door all night, harassing him while using the toilet, and how it's impossible for him to so much as go to the store any more. One of these "fans" even tried to kill Eminem in 2020. He's stated that his fame makes it impossible for him to have relationships with women, because they fall in love with his public persona and not the real him. Eventually, he stopped writing about his personal life in his music, because doing so opened up his friends and family to harassment. While he's much happier now, much of Eminem's fandom hold that his reclusive lifestyle has prevented him from being able to write the kind of exposed, personal songs that made his early work so fascinating, leading to his later material more focused on style and technique than subject matter. |
| 162 | ** The [[TheNewRockAndRoll moral panic about his material]], leading to him getting hassled by LGBT+ groups and conservatives at his concerts, was also a factor in Eminem's seclusion. While Eminem initially leaned into this on songs like "White America" where he discusses MoralGuardians throwing a fit about his music, it eventually got so extreme that he had to step back. |
| 163 | ** Several songs intended for Eminem's album ''Encore'' leaked, forcing Eminem into the studio to record replacement tracks; most of these ended up being extremely silly in tone due to Eminem's philosophy of writing them very quickly via freestyling and a drug addiction he was in the grip of at the time. ''Encore'' is often considered his worst album. |
| 164 | ** While ''Relapse'' got mixed reviews and a Best Rap Album Grammy, Music/FiftyCent has said that the negative backlash from Eminem's fandom towards ''Relapse'' spooked him away from his original shock-rap style into a PopRap one which by now his fans usually consider far worse than the ''Relapse'' style. Fans have also suggested the negative response to Eminem's ''Revival'' has put him off making personal music showing his vulnerabilities, with his following music being mostly braggadocio and HurricaneOfPuns showcases. |
| 165 | ** Eminem's song "These Demons" references how [[MovingTheGoalposts his fans are constantly changing what they want from him, including requests that are hypocritical or outright impossible]]. He cites that people want him to change but not change, get angry without getting too angry, and to get older without aging. Em even says "They keep movin' the goalpost, don't they?" about how the standards he's expected to meet will never be met, in part because the standards keep changing. |
| 166 | * Music/{{XTC}}: "Dear God" already caused plenty of controversy when it was first released, but it grew worse after a deranged student who was an XTC fan held a faculty member hostage at knife-point at a high school and forced the school to play the song over its PA system. |
| 167 | [[/folder]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 170 | * Despite making a name for herself on social media, Wrestling/BeckyLynch essentially dropped off the face of the Internet after her pregnancy was announced, due in large part to some very vocal portions of her fanbase being a little ''too'' obsessed with her expectant baby and her relationship with fiancé Wrestling/SethRollins (to the point of making fake Instagram pages ''for the unborn child'', including Photoshopped edits of the baby's ''ultrasound''.) |
| 171 | * Wrestling/KateyHarvey used to enjoy reading reviews of her matches, saying it allowed her to see her work from the fans' perspectives and what she could do to improve. After one too many posts dissing her [[HollywoodPudgy weight]] - even after she'd done interviews detailing her pasts with eating disorders and body image - she stopped reading them for the sake of her mental health. She also took the time to slam one review of her return match that focused entirely on her weight - when the reason she'd been out of the ring was a serious injury that meant she couldn't use her arms for months. |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:Sports]] |
| 175 | * Some athletes refuse to sign autographs since a lot of memorabilia dealers/autograph seekers will use children to solicit them from athletes and then run home and put the item on eBay. Also, some athletes refuse to talk with fans after certain fans trash stadiums or engage in [[FootballHooligans hooliganism]]. For example, former NFL lineman Robert Gallery admitted that he disliked people who did the former. |
| 176 | * Sports statistics web pages sometimes have these. One semi-popular page has had its sole webmaster consider shutting it down because of some fans who regularly harass him when he doesn't update on time, especially due to real life issues. One time, his wife (and ''son'') felt like responding to some of these emails saying "Sorry we've not updated - the funeral's on Friday if you want to pay your respects." |
| 177 | * Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace ace, left Twitter after losing his temper with a group of abusive, unpleasable fans. |
| 178 | * Fireman Ed, the New York Jets' unofficial mascot, was the team's most famous fan for 32 years, but retired his persona in 2012 claiming that he had gotten fed up with the increasingly aggressive and negative behavior from his fellow Jets fans. Then again, the game he retired after was one of the worst games in Jets history, being the site of the infamous Butt Fumble. He would return in 2015 after the team started providing him with seats in a more closed off area of the stadium so he wouldn't be harassed as much. |
| 179 | * Cited as one of the reasons why UsefulNotes/FormulaOne killed off the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International after 1980. The "fans" who attended in the later years tended to be rowdy and drunken, with a particular enthusiasm for setting things ablaze in the infield section known as "The Bog", located inside the track section called "The Boot" (turns 6-9).[[note]]the largest item they managed was a Greyhound bus in 1974[[/note]] This activity made it untenable for Watkins Glen and [=F1=] to fix the primary problem with the track, which was the safety issues that killed several drivers in the late '70s. |
| 180 | * [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Seattle Seahawks]] punter Jon Ryan, despite not being all that famous on account of being, well, a [[ButtMonkey punter]], was once considered one of the more entertaining professional athletes to follow on social media. However, in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016, he was harassed by a number of homophobic Twitter users who chose to defend the shooter. Ryan was so disgusted by this that he withdrew from social media completely. |
| 181 | * The Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders and San Francisco [=49ers=] used to play one another every preseason, in an annual "Battle of the Bay" game between the two then-local rivals. This lasted until the 2011 meeting, which saw multiple brawls between the teams' fans, including a brutal beating of one fan in a restroom that sent them to the hospital. This led to the NFL officially discontinuing all future preseason games between the two teams, although they continued to play their scheduled regular-season matchups. |
| 182 | * While the cars themselves being too powerful and lacking crucial safety features were arguably to blame, one of the contributing factors to why the now infamous Group B class of [[UsefulNotes/{{Rallying}} rally cars]] were banned from competition in the 80s was also due to unruly spectators [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I5sTuSoMho getting in the way]] of the stage especially in Portugal whose rally fans were clearly a little too enthusiastic for their own good. This behaviour by Portuguese fans persisted [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AntTKfRO5po well into the 90s]], something which the late Scottish driver Creator/ColinMcRae wasn't too pleased with either. |
| 183 | [[/folder]] |
| 184 | |
| 185 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 186 | * When the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Fourth Edition Player's Handbook 2 was released in 2009, a digital copy was bought and distributed for piracy within ''minutes'' of the product going live. This was the last straw for Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast, who [[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14693.html responded by discontinuing any and all .pdf format sales of their books]]. They also [[http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/14690.html sued]] eight people involved in the distribution. Ironically, every single D&D book release was still scanned and pirated, just with being a small delay. It wasn't until 2013 when WOTC returned to the .pdf market, though the company is still reluctant to release major books for 5th edition D&D in this format. |
| 187 | * In the fanmade system ''TabletopGame/PokeRole'', a ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' based tabletop RPG, the reason why users can't post Fakemon (fan-made Pokémon) to the official Discord is that a former dev had a public meltdown over not having his Fakemon be included in the base system. The devs won't stop people from making Fakemon, but refuse to have it shared on their Discord. |
| 188 | [[/folder]] |
| 189 | |
| 190 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 191 | * ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': |
| 192 | ** The BigBad had NoNameGiven, instead known by his title of "Makuta". When a group of Makuta were introduced, comic and novel author (and fandom's resident WordOfGod) Greg Farshtey went ahead and revealed that his name is "Teridax". The fans weren't exactly thrilled with this name, and said so in no uncertain terms. As a result, Farshtey canceled plans to reveal the name of the ''other'' big NoNameGiven character, the Shadowed One, rather than deal with backlash again. |
| 193 | ** ''Bionicle'' set designers at times considered joining Platform/BZPower's forums (where Farshtey himself used to post), but decided against it, not wanting to expose themselves to fan hate whenever a new line of sets was revealed. However set/piece designers did freely visit other boards where they didn't have to worry about a backlash. Around the early 2010s this issue became moot, due to LEGO's policies employees can only post on sites that have strict age restrictions, leaving BZP out of the question. |
| 194 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': |
| 195 | ** Designer [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Aaron_Archer Aaron Archer]] used to be a regular poster on a message board, with his own section where he would answer questions. Then ''someone'' had to go moan at Creator/{{Hasbro}}, allegedly because Archer was unprofessional and rude, almost certainly ''actually'' because the complainer was jealous that another board had such a major draw. Hasbro promptly declared that it was over. |
| 196 | ** Bob Skir of ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' also had a closer relationship with the fans than most official entities, but the on-line community was so harsh towards the series he co-wrote, that he decided to break up. He didn't attend the fan conference he and his partner Marty Isenberg were invited to either (nor did Marty). Thus, they are both still among them. |
| 197 | [[/folder]] |
| 198 | |
| 199 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 200 | * This is a major problem for artists in the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom; one of the biggest sources of furry drama will invariably be about an artist being driven out due to their art being [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil stolen and/or reposted elsewhere without permission]]. Occasionally some will even try to take ''credit'' for said artworks. Many art sites and boorus try to help the artists out by putting them on a "Do Not Post" list at their request and punishing those who break it, but that's small comfort when most of these cases are followed up by backlash over the artist leaving, making a bad situation worse. Other times, artists have to shut down their messages or commissions due to obsessive jerks and drama that breaks out whenever they open commission slots and are immediately filled by people who apparently wait ''all day'' for blogs like that and then snipe the journal. Or, some people were just [[InternetJerk remarkably bad customers]]. Furries have been harassed at conventions and have said they would not be attending future events. |
| 201 | * S. E. Case, the creator/artist of ''Webcomic/CheapThrills'', experienced ArtistDisillusionment while she was in the middle of making the fourth chapter. The ensuing ScheduleSlip resulted in a part of her readership making repeated and unrealistic demands for further updates to the comic that bordered on harassment. This caused S. E. to [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150420221052/https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3611192/ call them out on her FurAffinity page]] shortly before she abruptly stopped the strip altogether that December, confirming the cancellation [[http://rigsbyusa.tumblr.com/post/50078623194/if-you-were-wondering on her Tumblr blog]] six months later. Five years later, S. E. re-emerged with a ContinuityReboot of the comic as ''Rigsby, WI'', this time with the characters all in human form. |
| 202 | * Tess Stone, the mind behind ''Webcomic/HannaIsNotABoysName'', revealed a spoiler on the true nature of Ples Tibenoch to a select few fans, confident that they wouldn't go and spread it around the fandom. Three guesses what happened there. |
| 203 | * This is the reason why there are no more forums for ''Webcomic/VGCats''. In addition to endless requests for games to be parodied or mocked, the series' notorious ScheduleSlip was a frequent target of forum posters, resulting in a ton of {{Flame War}}s. Eventually, the creators and mods got sick of dealing with it all, and just permanently shut down the forum.[[invoked]] |
| 204 | * ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': |
| 205 | ** Tom Siddell used to occasionally make ''GC''-themed desktop wallpaper for the fans.[[note]]Sometimes a larger version of a panel from the latest page, and sometimes completely new art.[[/note]] When some fans complained that he wasn't also making widescreen versions of these pictures, he decided to stop altogether. |
| 206 | ** Siddell also used to respond to reader's queries on a "Questions for Tom" thread on the ''Gunnerkrigg Court'' forum. He stopped, not so much because people asked the same questions, but rather because other readers would jump in and answer the questions themselves, making it a "Questions for Whoever Feels Like Answering" thread. He took his question-answering to a formspring account. However, when fans began repeatedly asking questions on topics he had stated he wasn't going to answer, and then getting combative over his not answering, Siddell deleted his formspring account. Fortunately, some months later, Siddell decided to give it another shot and reopened his formspring account. |
| 207 | * While he permits it to be written, the author of ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'' makes it a deliberate policy to never, ever read fanfics of his comics, because he knows he would go mad from the desire to dive in and re-edit... |
| 208 | * ''Webcomic/{{Ratfist}}'': When political discussions in the ShoutBox started turning into flame wars with every new page, Creator/DougTenNapel disabled comments below the pages. However, this led to the creation of an off-site ''Ratfist'' forum. |
| 209 | * It's been rumored the Flind arc of ''Webcomic/YetAnotherFantasyGamerComic'' was designed to introduce furry characters, then brutally murder them at the end of the plotline, as a result of constant questions about the strange lack of furry presence in a D&D comic. Outside of the minotaur and the sphynx, there's nobody who'd count as "furry", and it seems like it's going to stay that way. |
| 210 | * ''Moon Over June'' artist Woc disabled commenting on her later strips. This change came quietly, but after a short story arc which was met with much criticism by the readers. |
| 211 | * This was the reason why ''Webcomic/RPGWorld'' [[NoEnding never got an ending]] as Ian Jones-Quartey was tired of fans complaining about the comic. Compounded with him being busy with his animation career and dwindling interest to draw the comic, Jones-Quartey [[OrphanedSeries abandoned it]] and never looked back. Despite this, he was content to leave the site running until it became a haven for an exceptionally rabid collective of trolls. When the trolls retaliated at Jones-Quartey's later input to the site, he took down the archive entirely. Thankfully, the ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' episode "A Hero's Fate" gave fans a proper closure to the webcomic. |
| 212 | * Creator/AndrewHussie has been known for taking potshots at the sides of the ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' fandom he doesn't like, as well as deconstructing some types of fans or using different caricatures of Internet culture as the base for some of his characters [[labelnote:note]] for example, both Nepeta and Meulin are cat-themed Shipping fangirls. Meulin, however represents the more loudmouthed of the two whereas Nepeta has had enough CharacterDevelopment to gain more shades to her character[[/labelnote]] or making fan favorite relationships canon only to then break them up almost immediately by pointing out exactly how they wouldn't work[[labelnote:note]] [[spoiler:For example, Dirk and Jake were only revealed to have been dating when they were about to break up]][[/labelnote]] This reached a climax when [[spoiler:Jane]] engages "trickster mode", a hitherto EasterEgg turned into a power-up like that gives [[spoiler:Her, and subsequently the other Alpha cast]] candy-themed outfits and hyper-sugary personalities [[labelnote:note]] (based on certain fans' {{Flanderization}}s of their character)[[/labelnote]]... As well as Caucasian skin tone. Beforehand, Hussie had explained that the characters were simply "Aracial", so there was no canon race or skin colors for any of them [[labelnote:note]]Homestuck characters are represented as literal white sprites, with the exception of the gray-skinned trolls[[/labelnote]], which didn't appease the [[FlameWar heated arguments]] between fans either calling each other out (''and Hussie himself'') as racist for refusing to accept characters as anything other than white, or people poking fun at them. At this point, when [[spoiler:Jane]] turns [[spoiler:Jake]] into a trickster, she says that she feels "So very... ''CAUCASIAN!''" followed by an exaggerated BigNo from the latter. [[OhCrap Cue the fandom going up in flames]] with people gleefully taking the joke as a TakeThat towards everyone who had non-white headcanons for the kids and using it as a means to harass those fans[[labelnote:note]]While many people thought that the problem were fans complaining about the joke being racist, The Huss himself stated that this was NOT the case. Instead, the fans who disliked the joke apparently behaved pretty civil about it, while their point was proved for them by those who harassed them.[[/labelnote]]. So much so, in fact, that Hussie edited and redacted the joke for the first time he's ever done so. [[ExaggeratedTrope Cue the fandom going up in flames]] over either Hussie being "thin-skinned" or the complaining side of the fandom having annoyed Hussie to the point of submission, finally culminating with [[http://web.archive.org/web/20130114104615/http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/40461873904/more-so-i-just-dialed-down-the-joke-on-page a response from Hussie's tumblr explaining the situation]]. [[OverlyLongGag Cue the fandom going up in flames]] over the response, which prompted ''yet another'' [[http://mspandrew.tumblr.com/post/40486423180/lets-take-a-look-at-a-few-responses-more post]] in which Hussie responds to some of the controversy regarding the previous post, calling out the people attacking other members of the fandom. These were some of his reactions. |
| 213 | --> ''These are just a few, picked out semi-randomly, ranging from “mild, but missing the point” to “unspeakably terrible”''. |
| 214 | --> ''[...] if you truly dislike censorship, and do not wish to see more self-censorship in the future, then you would be doing your part to behave in a way that doesn’t make creators feel embarrassed to be defended by you.'' |
| 215 | * The author of the {{Yaoi}} Webcomic ''House of Dyer'' apparently received hate mail that was so vile that she not only cancelled the comic but closed the website and removed ''all artwork'' related to the comic from her Platform/{{deviantART}} page and Platform/{{tumblr}}. |
| 216 | * A webcomic titled ''Mahou Shounen Breakfast Club'' was cancelled when, despite the creators trying to reassure that they weren't trying to invoke stereotypes with the story and were using their studies and time in Japan to help with creation of the comic, Platform/{{Tumblr}} writers accused them of doing just that, claiming that they were doing it because "it was trendy". |
| 217 | * Michelle Czajkowski, creator of ''Webcomic/AvasDemon'', was driven off of tumblr by the abuse they received after stating that there were no asexual characters in the comic and refusing aggressive demands to include some. |
| 218 | * An in-universe example from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Susan opted to [[http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=234 disable comments]] on the video review show that she makes with Elliot after repeated comments mocking her for being "lanky", to the point where some people even told her to [[http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=231 eat a sandwich.]] |
| 219 | * The comic ''Boy's Club'' is most well-known for Pepe the Frog (also known as the "Feels Good" and "Sad" Frog), which [[MemeticMutation has been frequently used as reaction images]]. However, as time went on, Pepe has been used in increasingly unsavory ways. It got so bad that [[http://www.adl.org/combating-hate/hate-on-display/c/pepe-the-frog.html#.WIIHkhsrLcs the Anti-Defamation League now has it listed as a hate symbol]]. Matt Furie, the creator of ''Boy's Club'', has also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q6n1Yj3kRs&t=20s spoken out]] [[http://www.adl.org/press-center/press-releases/extremism/adl-joins-with-pepe-the-frog-creator-social-media-campaign-save-pepe.html#.WIIIjxsrLcs against such use]]. After his reaction failed to save the character, [[ShootTheDog Pepe was finally killed off in 2017]]. A little over a year later, Furie learned that by not enforcing his copyright, Pepe would be in the public domain, which in turn led to someone publishing an ultra-conservative children's book about Pepe trying to stop a character who is a very thinly veiled stand-in for Islam. This pushed Furie to take steps to reclaim Pepe, sending a cease-and-desist to the book's author. |
| 220 | * Rich Burlew, the artist and writer of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', frequently has to contend with the fact that he doesn't perfectly follow the rules of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', since the comic is supposed to have an RPGMechanicsVerse based on D&D's 3.5 Edition. Eventually, Burlew got sick of all of the comments on the subject, leading to [[https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=14791493&postcount=111 a forum post]] where Burlew chastised the VocalMinority of people who just wouldn't shut up about it, with Burlew saying he cares more about [[RuleOfCool making a visually interesting and entertaining fight scene]] than properly following each and every rule.[[invoked]] |
| 221 | -->'''Rich Burlew:''' The characters fight the way they fight to make an interesting page. They may make subpar decisions, I don't care. I don't spend enough time with the ''D&D'' rules anymore to eke out all of these Ultimate Killer Strategies anyway, so we're really running up against the limits of my knowledge and ability. The characters can't be better strategists than I am, and I care more about other aspects. Such strategies are usually boring to read and visually bland to look at anyway. [...] My job is to entertain, not to showcase perfect ''D&D'' tactics. If you can't be entertained by anything BUT perfect ''D&D'' tactics, that's on you. |
| 222 | * Gigi D.G., author of ''Webcomic/{{Hiimdaisy}}'' and ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'', was formerly very interactive on social media but began lessening their online presence around 2015. While part of the reason was due to dealing with personal issues at the time, it also stemmed from their artwork and Tumblr posts being subjected to a lot of pushback and nitpicking from disgruntled followers. |
| 223 | * ''Webcomic/SpringtrapAndDeliah'': One of the biggest factors in Quinn's CreatorBreakdown and eventual deletion of her account was some fans continually pestering and rushing her to complete the comic's endings, even after saying multiple times that she wanted nothing to do with the comic anymore (admittedly in comment sections entirely unrelated to the comic which could be easily missed and not in an official post). |
| 224 | [[/folder]] |
| 225 | |
| 226 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 227 | * Todd Kauffman, character designer/director for ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' and creator of ''WesternAnimation/{{Sidekick}}'', had a chatbox on his blog which he used to answer questions for his fanbase. Then, despite--or perhaps [[TemptingFate because of]]--his warnings not to imitate him or else he would delete the chatbox, a huge ginormous number of impostors went on all at once one day in May 2011. The chatbox was deleted soon after, but he started a new one in early June. |
| 228 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' creator Creator/JohnKricfalusi used to host regular AIM chats with the fandom, and post Q&A sessions on certain ''Ren and Stimpy'' message boards. At first, the chats and question sessions went well. However, after a large amount of "heckling" and being drowned out with constant clamoring requests of "Do you like this show? What do you think of this show? What's your opinion on anime?", etc. (Mostly done for the purpose of troll-baiting his opinionated statements against animated shows he doesn't like) and moderation not stepping in when people got out of hand, he dropped this method of communication altogether. He later created [[Blog/JohnKStuff his own self-moderated blog]] to talk about various subjects (such as drawing or animated character theories), and he does participate in comment discussions there. However, he has made far fewer overt statements about cartoons he does not like, focusing more of his attention on simply praising the inspirations he does admire. |
| 229 | * Creator/GregWeisman, creator of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', ran a blog called "[[http://s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/ Ask Greg]]" for years with little to no incident. Fan could ask questions about the kinds of details that never make it into shows (like "What are Gargoyle marriage customs like?"). When he began work on ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'', the blog was positively deluged by questions blatantly asking for spoilers from upcoming stories[[note]]To some extent this also included questions related to ''Gargoyles'' or ''The Spectacular Spider-Man'', which only continued in comic book form and [[ScrewedByTheLawyers legally couldn't be continued]], respectively, though he nonetheless refused to spoil future plot points from either of them just in case they were continued in full[[/note]], questioners being incredibly rude or demanding, masking criticisms or flames as questions, duplicate questions, etc. This led to a temporary closing of the question form and new rules on what could be asked. Things calmed down, but [[ShortRunInPeru the March 2012 airing of episodes in Turkey before the U.S.]] led to an influx of questions asking for summaries of the dialogue in those episodes. In April 2012, Weisman openly stated he was [[http://s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?rid=946 on the verge]] of shutting the blog down completely. In July 2013, the website temporarily stopped accepting new questions until the following year. By September of 2021, he emptied the queue only for it to fill back up to over two thousand questions again very quickly, and he would make an effort to answer at least five questions a day. But in October 2022, [[https://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?rid=1244 he stepped away again from answering questions for an indefinite amount of time]] as many Young Justice questions continued to demand spoilers[[note]]His pattern for them became clearer as audiences realized he either presented characters and storylines [[TruerToTheText very faithfully]] [[ItWasHisSled with familiar twists maintained]], or that he would [[NotHisSled throw a curveball into what was more easily expected of those characters]], so he would usually avoid discussing what was in the questions until they were fully revealed[[/note]], ask for answers that were blatantly presented on screen, ascribe motives for his creative decisions, and demand he acknowledge his show suck due to SeasonalRot. He never entirely gave up on that series, however, using the blog to post daily ramblings from a character list of 780+ characters[[note]]The list includes background civilians in addition to more notable characters[[/note]] from least relevant to most relevant in his world of ''Young Justice''. |
| 230 | * Morgan [=McGill=], who played Lynn Loud Jr. in ''Film/{{A Loud House Christmas}}'', experienced harassment on the internet from several ''WesternAnimation/{{The Loud House}}'' fans who criticized her for not looking entirely like the character. These ''Loud House'' fans made insults and jokes targeted at [=McGill's=] appearance and acting skills, threatened to ruin her social media presence, and stated she should've never been chosen for the role of Lynn to begin with. They initially thought [=McGill=] was an adult woman playing the character, said she had a large forehead and looked and acted too feminine to portray the tomboyish Lynn, and accused her of not being a real athlete, which was proven false by her mother. In particular, one fan accused her of being racist and homophobic, and even sent obscene artwork of Lynn to [=McGill=], who was 13 years old at the time. They had additionally started a petition and attempted to contact Nickelodeon to get [=McGill=] kicked off the movie before it released. Some have speculated the bullying [=McGill=] faced was the reason why she did not come back to reprise the role in the movie's spin-off series, ''Series/{{The Really Loud House}}''. |
| 231 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 232 | ** Creator/JohnDeLancie had to shut down production on bonus features for his Bronycon documentary due to rampant piracy. |
| 233 | ** After the disaster that was ''Las Pegasus Unicon'', which saw the convention run out of money to pay the guests followed by the "Las Pegassist" crowd-funding effort's check bouncing, both Creator/TaraStrong and Creator/NicoleOliver opted out of attending conventions for at least a year. Voice actors now only try to attend the larger cons due to other commitments. In Strong's case, this sentiment later changed. She was later seen at a couple of smaller cons due to several fans openly offering to serve as protectors, but she works on a strict cash-only basis for autographs. |
| 234 | ** ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic'' was shut down because someone nominated it for a side-tournament at EVO, the biggest fighting game tournament in the world. Games for side tournaments at EVO are determined by a popularity poll, so people began to vote for ''Fighting is Magic''. Both EVO staff and the game's developers asked the voters to stop nominating it; the EVO crew didn't want the devs to feel pressured to complete the game, while the devs urged fans to show support for ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'' instead. In spite of this, the fans kept voting for it. Unfortunately, this caught Hasbro's attention in a way that couldn't be [[LoopholeAbuse openly]] overlooked like with other fan projects. Hasbro had to respond with a [[ScrewedByTheLawyers cease and desist]] letter in order to protect their trademark, and just like that, the entire project went up in smoke. It would eventually be resurrected and retooled as the original game ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'' years later, but getting there required some very brazen moves on the fandom's part. |
| 235 | ** The GrandFinale of the show was accidentally aired early outside of the show's home country. After it happened, director Big Jim Miller started receiving death threats from people who were mad about the leaks (which he had no control over), or who were mad about details that came from the episodes (in particular the reveal that [[spoiler:Grogar wasn’t real]]). This would lead to Miller putting his Twitter account on private, with several bronies starting the hashtag [=#ThankYouJim=] on Twitter in an effort to show that the rabid fans were a VocalMinority. |
| 236 | * The production crew for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ignore legitimate complaints of SeasonalRot thanks to picky fans who used to frequent alt.tv.simpsons and nitpick episodes that were ''actually'' good.[[note]]Comic Book Guy's {{catchphrase}} "[[WorstWhateverEver Worst episode ever]]" originated from a review of the Season 4 episode "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie"; in modern times, Season 4 is considered by most fans to either be the beginning or the height of the show's "golden age", depending on who you ask.[[/note]] |
| 237 | * At one point, Creator/TressMacNeille had to cancel several convention appearances because of stalkers who were obsessed with the characters from ''WesternAnimation/{{Tiny Toon Adventures}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''. These stalkers had sent her disturbing letters of the shows' characters being sexually assaulted, giving [=MacNeille=] the impression that she was in danger. One of the men accused of being responsible for this was Dennis Falk, a member of the furry fandom who had written various pornographic fanfictions involving the ''Tiny Toons'' characters. The special "Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery" was released, with one segment depicting "the world's most terrifying creature" as [[StrawFan an overweight, pathetic, obsessive, mumbling loser]] who nitpicked various flaws in the animation and wondered aloud when Fifi La Fume would get her own show. This character is believed to have been a caricature of these stalkers and their behavior. A segment from an episode of ''Animaniacs'' titled "Please Please Please Get a Life Foundation", featured a similar character who spent most of his time on the computer in a room full of ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and ''Animaniacs'' merchandise. |
| 238 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' creators Michael Dante [=DiMartino=] and Bryan Konietzko make very few con appearances because their fans were stalking them and harassing the voice actors about fan shipping. They reject any invitation to a convention other than the San Diego Comic-Con due to its high security. |
| 239 | * ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'''s critical reception eventually resulted in the fanbase attacking the creators and Creator/JephLoeb. After a certain amount of time, Loeb or Marvel ended up taking down Loeb's Facebook page.[[note]]Later on, there was speculation that wasn't really Loeb's Facebook page, just something a ''Ultimate Spidey'' hater made so other people could have a place to vent, and no one's entirely sure what the real story is.[[/note]] |
| 240 | * For a short time at the beginning of Season 3, Frederator made weekly ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' recaps called "Mathematical" for each episode that would also include themed caller segments. Then, the recap for the episode "What Was Missing" referenced the Marceline/Bubblegum pairing and asked for feedback, causing an explosion from some fans (from [[ShipToShipCombat Shipping Wars]], to general homophobia, to shippers calling one of the show's writers a homophobe because he didn't like the recap, etc.), to the point where the Mathematical channel was deleted from [=YouTube=], along with all the recaps, and Fred Seibert himself posted an apology for all the craziness. The controversy died down in later seasons, when WordOfGay finally confirmed that the duo at least used to be an item. |
| 241 | * ''Creator/{{Toonami}}'' |
| 242 | ** With their revival, the crew created a Tumblr account to interact and answer fan questions. By April 2013, they disabled the Q&A option due to endless nonsense and people asking the same questions over and over. They occasionally open it up again for Q&A days. |
| 243 | ** The official Adult Swim message boards were shut down in November 2016 due to excessive bad behavior from users, which unfortunately took the Toonami message boards down with it. |
| 244 | ** The block had fan art bumpers, where the crew would broadcast submitted fan art of the shows that aired on the block live on TV, which were discontinued in mid-2012 but were brought back in December 2022. Unfortunately, not even a full month later, co-creator Jason [=DeMarco=] [[https://twitter.com/Clarknova1/status/1612088002380980226 announced]] that they would be discontinuing the bumpers yet again after it was discovered that one of the submitted fan art pieces broadcasted[[note]]which was fat fetish artwork[[/note]] was stolen from another artist who had said artwork locked behind a paywall. |
| 245 | * The ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Turban Cowboy" features one scene where Peter drunkenly runs over runners of the Boston Marathon, and another where Peter unknowingly sets off a bomb when he attempts to use a cell phone. The episode aired just a month before the April 2013 bombing at the real Boston Marathon. Creator/{{Fox}} responded by pulling the episode from everywhere it could legally be viewed from in the U.S.; a video remix, which made it look like Peter bombed the marathon, only made things worse. To put this in perspective, the show's notoriously irreverent creator, Creator/{{Seth MacFarlane}}, was ''utterly disgusted'' by the video remix. |
| 246 | * Ciro Nieli, the man behind the 2012 ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' reboot, signed up on a high-profile message board on the subject. After only a few posts, he announced that he was leaving and never coming back, due to being outright bullied over tiny perceived foibles over and over, including one user that posted many times, complaining about the same exact thing in each post leading to dozens of messages in between his visits about the same thing, from the same person. |
| 247 | * Massive criticism towards ''WesternAnimation/{{Velma}}'' forced Warner Bros. to copyright claim posts on Twitter about the show, and turn off comments on its trailer on [=YouTube=]. |
| 248 | * The late Derrick J. Wyatt, for a time, stopped accepting questions about his work on ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' or any questions on his take of his ''Ben 10'' universe, and closed his Platform/DeviantArt account, due to a mix of redundant questions, angry hate mail from fans of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'', [[TroubledProduction and the stressful forced rushing of production towards the end of]] ''Omniverse''. [[CreatorBacklash All of which made him swear off]] ''Ben 10'' forever, to the point that he temporarily closed all questions, though were later reopened on his request that they have nothing to do with ''Ben 10''. He also swore off the ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'' questions and said that he would never watch the show because he was ''heavily'' blamed for ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'', despite [[{{Misblamed}} having nothing to do with the writing or production of the show]]. Eventually, Wyatt finally began answering questions about ''Ben 10'' again (if only because Duncan Rouleau of Creator/ManOfActionStudios has a similar Q&A blog), with the fandom being cautious not to aggravate him again, and due to the reboot now being the new focus of the fanbase, which caused the fans to be more forgiving and not as hateful towards ''Omniverse'' as before, Wyatt is more forgiving in return. |
| 249 | * The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus" received so many angry replies from fans incensed that it aired as an April Fools' joke instead of "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut", the episode that supposedly reveals the identity of Cartman's father, that Comedy Central [[MissingEpisode rarely reran it]] until 2016. |
| 250 | * Due to the rowdy and often hostile behavior of the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' fandom, this occurred somewhat frequently among the show's staff: |
| 251 | ** Though he would eventually bring it back, writer Matt Burnett deleted his Tumblr account after several fans heckled him regarding the {{retcon}} of Pearl's sudden dislike for human food. |
| 252 | ** A parody account on Tumblr titled "didyouknowstevenuniverse" would troll fans by posting clickbait-esque facts about the show, such as saying Pearl and Lapis would be killed off. The blog runner briefly shut down the account when some fans thought the "facts" were real and began harassing the show runners, before later reopening it and adding a disclaimer that the posts were meant to be jokes. |
| 253 | ** After the episode "Keystone Motel" aired, several fans found out there was an actual motel with the same name and began posting fake reviews based on events from the episode, such as saying there was no water in the pool in addition to scorch marks at the bottom. While somewhat funny, Matt Burnett had to step in and tell fans to stop, since too many of those reviews would risk giving the motel a bad reputation. |
| 254 | ** Writer and storyboarder Jesse Zuke (formerly Lauren Zuke prior to coming out as nonbinary) had to delete their Twitter account following an episode that showed two characters, Lapis and Peridot, living together. Fans said that Zuke was favoring a relationship between the two, as opposed to the Amethyst and Peridot pairing that was [[HoYay supposedly hinted at]] in a previous episode (an interaction between them had appeared to fans [[HomoeroticSubtext to contain "sexual tension"]]). Eventually, it escalated to fans accusing Zuke of queerbaiting[[note]]hinting at LGBT+ representation to court queer viewers but never following up on it[[/note]], despite the fact that Zuke's bisexual and the relationship as it appeared in the show was between two female characters anyway. Zuke then deleted their Twitter account, saying, "I decided I don't want to be accessible to thousands of people who think because I work on a TV show that I owe them myself all the time." The entire incident also resulted in Peridot's [[CharacterBlog Twitter account]] posting far less frequently, since Zuke was the one running it. |
| 255 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': During a panel at the Gallery Nucleus, some of the show's staff aired a sneak peek of the new opening sequence for Season 3, and warned the audience they would likely never show sneak peeks again if any of them recorded it and [[ContentLeak leaked it to the Internet]]. Much to their disappointment, someone did it anyway. However, sneak peeks of future episodes were still done at San Diego Comic-Con due to the show's status as a [[AdoredByTheNetwork flagship series]]. |
| 256 | * Creator/DanaTerrace, creator of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', was very interactive with the fanbase, answering many questions and occasionally retweeting fanart of the show. However, in late 2020, she deactivated her Twitter profile and lessened her interactions with fans on her other social media outlets due to some of the show's "fans" bullying her on Twitter. Fortunately, she did eventually return to Twitter in 2021. |
| 257 | * The cast and crew of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' have had plenty of encounters with the show's fanbase, and not all of them were positive ones: |
| 258 | ** Ironically for a show with very little romance, ''Legendary Defender'' is infamous for having one of the largest and most toxic ShipToShipCombat in any modern cartoon series. A lot of it stemmed from the [[VagueAge inconsistencies regarding the ages of the main cast]] and the fact that one of the main characters (Shiro) is gay, resulting in a lot of accusations of endorsing or engaging in pedophilia and homophobia from all across the board. When the [[https://twitter.com/TheTimHedrick/status/791351563285508096 staff]] [[https://twitter.com/LetsVoltron/status/790363259538968576 members]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGALurorTec&t=3744s voice]] [[https://twitter.com/joshkeaton/status/766122231558582272 actors]] stepped in to try and assuage the ship war, fans began redirecting their frustration towards them. Josh Keaton (the voice of Shiro) now no longer responds to any questions or concerns regarding shipping and co-showrunner Lauren Montgomery stopped sharing ship-centric artwork on her social media. |
| 259 | ** The voice cast began lessening their appearances and[=/=]or started enforcing strict rules at fan events due to repeated harassment or to prevent potential harassment. In one infamous case, Jeremy Shada (the voice of Lance) nearly got in legal trouble when a fan secretly recorded him revealing spoilers about the show during ECCC 2018. |
| 260 | ** Studio Mir, the animation studio behind the series, stopped giving out tours to the public when one fan [[http://www.newnownext.com/voltron-legendary-defender-blackmail-studio-mir-klance/05/2017/ attempted to blackmail them to make Klance canon using photographs taken by another separate fan]]. |
| 261 | [[/folder]] |
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