People have been asking for a post where I lay out what, exactly, might get a comment deleted. Having done two of these already and being met with hostility makes me a little wary, but I agree having this stuff buried in a comments section of a comic from days ago is bad practice, so here we go.
If you’re just pointing out a character did something wrong, that’s gonna get deleted. Note the word “just” there–it’s okay to bring up someone’s wrongdoing if there’s a point besides the wrongdoing. Say, some analysis of their character or arc or something.
In general if your comment is just “this is a thing that happened, and that’s bad”, it is getting deleted. We’re reading the same comic you are and know what happened in it.
If you’re “pointing out” that a character is an abuser/hypocrite/manipulator/narcissist/insert negative trait here, that’s gonna get deleted. This isn’t analysis, it’s just insults.
If you’re “pointing out” that a character, were they a reasonable person like you, would hate another character for their misdeeds or want nothing to do with them, it is getting deleted.
If you’re “pointing out” that one character in a conflict is obviously and unambiguously correct, or that another character in a conflict is obviously and unambiguously wrong, that comment is getting deleted. (Apply this one in good faith–if your reaction to this is to troll by defending characters acting on obvious hatred and bigotry, like Mary or an evil dad or whatever, that is also getting deleted!)
If your comment can be boiled down to “why isn’t character a doing action x instead of action y?”, it’s gonna get deleted.
A friend of mine has suggested a rule along the lines of “if you write a comment as a personal letter or DM to a fictional character, it is getting deleted.” I’m not gonna enforce this one but if you find yourself doing this you might wanna double-check it’s not comorbid with the other rules.
If your comment can be boiled down to “ugh, more of this”–more of this character, more of this arc, whatever–it’s gonna get deleted.
And, perhaps most importantly–if your comment is a negative statement about David Willis, another commenter, another group of commenters, a minority or minoritized group, or myself, it is going to get deleted.
I do not have the time to individually address each individual deletion. To keep the comments from becoming about the comments, any comments asking for clarification or seeking to debate these rules will also be deleted. I understand the guesswork involved in figuring out why a comment was deleted is stressful for some commenters. I’m sorry that I have no remedy for that at this time.
I reserve the right to modify these rules at any time and for any reason. If and when that happens, the rule will be added here, and a new link to this post will be put in the comments for that day’s comic.
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