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Am I just paranoid? (And other random ramblings)
Last month, I started getting porn spam posted to the comments of my fic Homecoming on the Moonshadow archive. (The story can also can be found here on my journal if you're curious.) I was startled, because I've never received any kind of spam from Moonshadow before, but I figured it was just a random thing. However, the spam comments have continued to pile up, and I notified the archivist, and she said she'd keep an eye on it.
The weird thing is it was just that one story--although recently I've started to get spam on Fathers' Day, which I just posted there, and I got a few for one of the A Sort of Fairytale chapters. Even weirder, I've checked through the recently posted fics going back about a year, and unless I missed something, I'm the only author getting spammed!
So I'm starting to wonder...is it some kind of conspiracy? Does someone out there really hate Homecoming and decided to spam me or give the link to a spammer out of spite? I know that Xochiquetzl tries to keep Moonshadow low profile so that it doesn't show up on search engines, and I've never given out the direct link to the story there, only provided links to the Moonshadow homepage. So unlike my Petshop of Horrors Yahoo Group, which used to get spammed all the time until I changed the settings to make new members' posts moderated, spam hasn't been a problem on Moonshadow.
But Homecoming has to be one of the most inoffensive things I've ever written. It's Snupin, but there's no smut, and it's really just a short little fic about Snape receiving a well-deserved accolade for all the sacrifices that he made during the war. I wrote it for the Snapedom housewarming party, and that community does get some traffic from general HP fans and not just Snupin shippers, but no one posted any critical comments on it; in fact, I think I received more feedback (all positive) on it than I have from any of my other stories. Still, I've been wondering if someone out there hates the idea of Snape being a hero, although I can't imagine why they'd be browsing on Snapedom if they're a Snape-hater. There was an incident where a post on the Snapedom LJ got trolled last year, but that was quite some time ago, and everything's been running smoothly on IJ, so I don't think that it's related. Anyhow, I think a troll would just flame the story directly; most of them don't seem to be that subtle.
I can't think of anyone else that I could have offended, and my personal journals on IJ and LJ haven't been spammed or flamed, and I don't seem to be getting spammed directly through my email address, which is listed on my Moonshadow profile. Well, I do get some general spam, but it hasn't significantly increased, aside from the Moonshadow comments.
I know there are automated spam programs but if one of these is responsible, then I'd expect more stories by other authors to get spammed as well. This whole thing is just head-scratchingly weird. I feel singled out, but there's no reason why I should be, so I keep wondering if I'm just being paranoid. I don't think that there's any real solution to this problem, with the way the Moonshadow commenting system is set up, where anyone can post, and I don't expect Xochiquetzl to change the site just for me, but I just wanted to vent a little. Strictly speaking, it's only a minor annoyance since my email account now automatically routes most of the comments straight to the spam folder, but it makes me a little sad. I used to be so happy whenever I received a comment notification, but now it's, "Eh, just more spam." But I guess most of my feedback comes from IJ or LJ these days, anyway.
And you know what else annoys me about the spam I get? It's all, "see videos of hot chicks" and "increase the size of your manhood" type stuff, so they clearly don't realize that hello, I'm a WOMAN! I have no manhood to be increased! Jeez, if you're gonna spam me, at least send me gender-relevant spam about breast enhancements or something. ;) Reminds me of how we used to get porn ads on the Petshop Fanfiction Yahoo Group because it was classified as an "adult" group (although Yahoo no longer allows those kinds of ads), and the porn was all of the "hot nekkid women" variety--despite the fact that this was a group featuring mainly yaoi fics written by and for women. Clearly, they did not realize it might have been more effective if they had been advertising hot nekkid men!
Maybe I should at least put the whole thing to good use and write a story about Snape and Lupin receiving porn spam!
Moving on to more positive subjects, I'm really excited about the Snapedom Summer Fest exchange! The Bitter Word and I have been assigned to each other, and she has some wonderful artwork that I'm already hatching plot bunnies over! I think I will probably end up writing a gen "Snape leads the Slytherins back to defend Hogwarts" story, and if I have enough time (which I hopefully will, given the long fest period), I'd like to write a Snupin about a Werewolf Jamboree.
I think I shouldn't take up any more challenges after that one for awhile, though, since I'm currently fending off a whole horde of plot bunnies. I've started two Petshop of Horrors fics that I hope I can find some time to finish while working on my Summer Fest stories. I've gotten new inspiration since joining the Petshop drabble community on LJ, and I feel guilty about neglecting my first fandom love for so long. I plan for them to be fairly short--although I said that about about the 25,000 word Bell Dancer story, too--so I don't think they'll take too long to finish. I also have an idea about writing a sequel of sorts to "Dream" from Book 1 of the manga, that would show what happens to Angelica, but I think I need to put that on hold until Summer Fest is done.
I also still need to work on my post-DH plot bunny that I've been planning for what seems like forever. I've done an outline, and made tons of notes, and I have several short scenes already written, but I really need a good chunk of time to sit down and write and put everything together.
And on top of that, there's an XXXholic plot bunny in my head that keeps demanding to be written, and for some reason Doumeki keeps wanting to speak in first person, and I never ever write in first person! But it's completely from Doumeki's point of view, musing on his feelings about Watanuki, so maybe it's natural that it should be in first person. Urgh. I'll get around to it someday.
Someone please stop the bunnies from breeding! ^_^
But Homecoming has to be one of the most inoffensive things I've ever written. It's Snupin, but there's no smut, and it's really just a short little fic about Snape receiving a well-deserved accolade for all the sacrifices that he made during the war. I wrote it for the Snapedom housewarming party, and that community does get some traffic from general HP fans and not just Snupin shippers, but no one posted any critical comments on it; in fact, I think I received more feedback (all positive) on it than I have from any of my other stories. Still, I've been wondering if someone out there hates the idea of Snape being a hero, although I can't imagine why they'd be browsing on Snapedom if they're a Snape-hater. There was an incident where a post on the Snapedom LJ got trolled last year, but that was quite some time ago, and everything's been running smoothly on IJ, so I don't think that it's related. Anyhow, I think a troll would just flame the story directly; most of them don't seem to be that subtle.
I can't think of anyone else that I could have offended, and my personal journals on IJ and LJ haven't been spammed or flamed, and I don't seem to be getting spammed directly through my email address, which is listed on my Moonshadow profile. Well, I do get some general spam, but it hasn't significantly increased, aside from the Moonshadow comments.
I know there are automated spam programs but if one of these is responsible, then I'd expect more stories by other authors to get spammed as well. This whole thing is just head-scratchingly weird. I feel singled out, but there's no reason why I should be, so I keep wondering if I'm just being paranoid. I don't think that there's any real solution to this problem, with the way the Moonshadow commenting system is set up, where anyone can post, and I don't expect Xochiquetzl to change the site just for me, but I just wanted to vent a little. Strictly speaking, it's only a minor annoyance since my email account now automatically routes most of the comments straight to the spam folder, but it makes me a little sad. I used to be so happy whenever I received a comment notification, but now it's, "Eh, just more spam." But I guess most of my feedback comes from IJ or LJ these days, anyway.
And you know what else annoys me about the spam I get? It's all, "see videos of hot chicks" and "increase the size of your manhood" type stuff, so they clearly don't realize that hello, I'm a WOMAN! I have no manhood to be increased! Jeez, if you're gonna spam me, at least send me gender-relevant spam about breast enhancements or something. ;) Reminds me of how we used to get porn ads on the Petshop Fanfiction Yahoo Group because it was classified as an "adult" group (although Yahoo no longer allows those kinds of ads), and the porn was all of the "hot nekkid women" variety--despite the fact that this was a group featuring mainly yaoi fics written by and for women. Clearly, they did not realize it might have been more effective if they had been advertising hot nekkid men!
Maybe I should at least put the whole thing to good use and write a story about Snape and Lupin receiving porn spam!
***
Moving on to more positive subjects, I'm really excited about the Snapedom Summer Fest exchange! The Bitter Word and I have been assigned to each other, and she has some wonderful artwork that I'm already hatching plot bunnies over! I think I will probably end up writing a gen "Snape leads the Slytherins back to defend Hogwarts" story, and if I have enough time (which I hopefully will, given the long fest period), I'd like to write a Snupin about a Werewolf Jamboree.
I think I shouldn't take up any more challenges after that one for awhile, though, since I'm currently fending off a whole horde of plot bunnies. I've started two Petshop of Horrors fics that I hope I can find some time to finish while working on my Summer Fest stories. I've gotten new inspiration since joining the Petshop drabble community on LJ, and I feel guilty about neglecting my first fandom love for so long. I plan for them to be fairly short--although I said that about about the 25,000 word Bell Dancer story, too--so I don't think they'll take too long to finish. I also have an idea about writing a sequel of sorts to "Dream" from Book 1 of the manga, that would show what happens to Angelica, but I think I need to put that on hold until Summer Fest is done.
I also still need to work on my post-DH plot bunny that I've been planning for what seems like forever. I've done an outline, and made tons of notes, and I have several short scenes already written, but I really need a good chunk of time to sit down and write and put everything together.
And on top of that, there's an XXXholic plot bunny in my head that keeps demanding to be written, and for some reason Doumeki keeps wanting to speak in first person, and I never ever write in first person! But it's completely from Doumeki's point of view, musing on his feelings about Watanuki, so maybe it's natural that it should be in first person. Urgh. I'll get around to it someday.
Someone please stop the bunnies from breeding! ^_^