To the Genius Who Downvoted My Last 49 Fics Within the Last Few Hours · 10:24am Nov 9th, 2020
Thank you, my suspiciously anonymous friend, for opening my eyes.
Whatever monstrous grievance I have caused you, well it shines through loud and clear. Here I was, thinking "I'm on a roll, I can do no wrong, soon the entire site will bow down before me and tremble at the mere mention of the name Impossible Numbers!" Clearly, I was an unstoppable monster. Yet equally clearly, this was a monster who needed to be stopped.
And yet here I am, dratted - foiled I say - by the simple yet cunning actions of one person, who bravely stood up and took down the aspiring tyrant with nothing but the Downvote Sword of Truth.
And it is clear as day to me why: it was because of whatever I did.
How could I have not seen it before? Having been thus brilliantly rebutted, I was thrown into an existential crisis the like of which has never been seen since the famous poetic agonies of the American literary greats. All those other fools, who merely told me what I was doing wrong in the comments, in the hope that I might adopt their advice and improve my craft? Bunch of time-wasters! All those bigger fools, who dared tell me I was doing a good job and expressed their enthusiasm for it? Braindead morons!
No, my friend, it is you who has reached out to me and shown me the light. All because I was foolish enough to do whatever I did.
After much soul-searching and earnest introspection, I have now fully adopted the policy your brilliantly eloquent tactic clearly says I must adopt, which is this: I must never, ever do whatever it is that I did, ever again!
And by following this path you have so nobly and righteously shown unto me, where dozens of lesser and kinder and more honest and more articulate and more intelligent souls had ironically failed, I am sure I will - though I be humble as a worm in the fiery depths of Hell, where the fire quencheth not, and where my own soul would inevitably have led without your timely (nay, samaritan-esque!) intervention - I am sure I will learn much from your transparent, wonderful guidance and find myself back on the pathway to Heaven Itself.
No, indeed, you have revitalized and revolutionized and even rejuvenated my entire worldview, my moral foundations, even my understanding of the possibilities of the literary arts. By pinning down squarely and openly whatever on Earth it was that I did that was so monstrous in its incorrigible evil, its sheer misguidedness, its fool's error an exact 49 times more grievous than any I have thus far committed, you have truly placed yourself among the great in the history of all art.
To those unsightly fools who say your act was the mere sub-retarded vandalism of an unevolved caveman grunting at his own armpit and wallowing like a dumb pig in his own feel-good shit, I say no! No, you poor blind unwholesome creatures. This, this is the apex of constructive criticism. By so brilliantly showing whatever it was I did that was however wrong it was wherever and whenever I apparently committed the crime thing, they have nailed - nailed, I say - the shortcomings of my soul to my door, along with a list of instructions, corrections, and an entire new moral philosophy so that I may too partake in their higher spheres of influence.
Ah, if only you would step forward and reveal yourself, O great one, so that we can all properly bask in your mature wisdom!
I am a changed writer. I will no longer continue to write, publish, and learn from the thoughtful or friendly feedback of others. No, I cannot. Not after this miraculous enlightenment. Instead, I will endeavour to please you, be corrected by you, allow myself to be whipped and tortured by the ingenious devices of your downvote inquisition, imperilling my body so that I may yet save my wayward soul.
And it was all thanks to you, and because of whatever I did.
Pat yourself on the back, sweet moral crusader, and forever continue thy holy works on Earth!
TL;DR: Seriously, though, this hasn't changed anything. Although my initial annoyance at discovering what you did gave way to sheer amusement when I realized you were actually ridiculously nasty enough to do it, so ta for the cheap laugh you gave me in hindsight. Didn't even realize I needed a funny pick-me-up this morning. 
Impossible Numbers, out.
On multiple occasions, I've had someone follow me or something, and then they downvote every single comment I make. Like, all my comments on my userpage and whatever blog I last posted on all have a single negative rating.
I'm guess they also hate-downvoted my stories? Probably? But there's so many votes on them it's hard to notice.
The level of pettiness is unreal. It's still funny, every time it happens.
I shall now balance things out with some upvotes!!
Hey! What gives! Most of your stories have only one downvote!!
🤯 
How you do that, master?!
5395079
Hatred is the alcohol, and some souls its alcoholics.
I did consider the one potential for harm that this has: that seeing a story with one more downvote makes it slightly less likely to be picked up and read by others. But A) most of these stories have long since had their best exposure anyway, B) I doubt most of the people who already know me will care, C) come on, it's one measly downvote, and D) this is exactly the sort of behaviour that devalues the very point of the upvote-downvote system in the first place, so it amounts to nothing but an own goal, if anything.
5395082
Well, I'd rather the votes reflect people's opinions of the story, so this is technically kind of the same devaluing of their purpose that I mentioned to cleverpun above. But at least it's nice to get an upvote, and our anonymous friend has already devalued the upvote-downvote system, so I'm not gonna stop you with much gusto.
Bribery. You'd be amazed what you can do with good old-fashioned "oil of angels".
5395094
It'd be the first time I broke a machine without trying to fix it first.
Excellent rebuttal. XD
This is an Estee blog post with fewer italics
Ah. Here we see the internet troll in its natural habitat. Notice how it downvotes for no reason. The explanations for this are as varied as they are confusing. Scholars believe that it has to do with a massive inferiority complex, which can only be sated by the brief feelings of “power” afforded to them by the ability to perform this simple task. A cowardly species, and one without the graces of tact, they cannot even gather their courage to voice their opinions without resorting to petty insults. Of course, their final recourse is always the downvote, for they feel it gives them some form of satisfaction. Little do they realize that any vote, up or down, increases the heat of a story and the likelihood that it will be featured. So, ultimately, this is a self-defeating behavior, which is true of most acts of blind hatred.
Hrmm. Just need David Attenborough to voice that now.
tfwiki.net/mediawiki/images2/e/e4/Magnificent_Six_Megadeath_Past.jpg
yOu'Re WeLcOmE
5395143
I was reading that with his voice the entire time! lol. And the way you worded it like a nature documentary, PRICELESS!
5395126
To paraphrase Princess Azula from Avatar: "Don't flatter them so. Theirs was never really an argument."
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5395167
I really wish they weren't called trolls. Real trolls are a superb fantasy species with a great diversity in modern interpretations and a fascinating history in real-world mythology. Internet "trolls" are just bog-standard jerks.
Although I did grin at your proposal for Planet Dumbass, or The Private Life of Prats.
5395165
I'm sadly not well-versed in comics, so I don't get the reference...?
5395171
It is a shame. Trolls, as depicted in Norse & Scandinavian folklore, were another of multiple manifestations of the fey races, with their seemingly random rules and apparent capriciousness, which was actually the result of an incredibly complex series of hierarchies and Byzantine laws that were not dictated by them at all.
It is a shame that the term is so ubiquitous now that there’s little chance of changing it.
You might want to notify the mods just in case.
Also, there's a user on Fimfiction who brags about downvoting without reading every time he downvotes a story, and I've learned not to interact with him because he'll downvote your stories as "revenge" if you ever disagree with him openly.
5395179
Hm, on what charge? I glanced at the rules just now, and I don't think their actions technically break any.
5395180
I think it's safe to say I've yet to come across anyone in my circle who'd openly do that, and that I would very quickly desist from associating with them anyway if I discovered such behaviour. I've better company to keep.
5395171
Not much of one! Just felt like a good visualisation of the sort of specimen who'd have time to spend on something like aggressively downvoting fanfication on the internet.
5395185
I had been under the impression that mass-downvoting of someone's stories violated the stated purpose of the voting system because doing so would clearly not be downvoting aimed at the individual stories. Maybe they might cancel the downvotes in some rare instance. (At the very least I know if someone downvotes with alts those votes will be removed if uncovered, and can lead to moderator action.)
It's a big problem when shit like this happens. Those votes mean way too much to people's perceptions of a story and not many people who read stories vote on them, so this puts a lot of power to hurt an author in the hooves of every bad actor on the site.
I'm referring to that fellow who, on certain M-rated stories (whether or not they are pornographic), always posts the comment "pony porn downvoted" to brag about it, and when people say, "Why do you think we care?", or, "Why do you keep doing this?", he'll go to their stories and downvote them as well. So most authors just let him be shitty to people for fear of reprisal, like we're all living in fear of the SS or something.
This was beautiful and poetic.
I just got up myself and now I am shedding a tear, for my heart has been touched by the soft feather of a pink pegasus filly. 
And it really feels this way, my comment is not sarcasm. Despite the ridiculous thing that made you write this, it really did touch me like that soft, pink feather.
Your eloquence with words is unmatched. The motivation of that downvoter could be much more petty and stupid, but when I read this, I would not be surprised if it turned out these downvotes were given because of pure jealousy of your writing skill.
The other possible reason why this happened, that I can guess with my experience, is much simpler. As a certain, pin-selling pony artist who likes their meat raw and human taught me almost a year ago, on the Internet, everyone has enemies, even the most kind, pure, talented, intelligent or sane person does. For there are always those who lack any or all of these positive values, but excel at the opposites.
So the reason why you got these downvotes is likely that there is someone who hates you, maybe because of something you said that they couldn't stomach, so that person went on a downvote spree in the hopes to demoralize you that way and, then, lost either energy or motivation to continue after downvoting 49 stories while going through your story list in backwards order.
But it's nothing to get upset about and I am glad you don't. It's probably a person who very urgently needs a soft, pink pegasus filly feather wrapped around their heart.
5395192
Lettting a bad person do bad things out of fear to become a target of more bad things is nothing but stupid. It means to open the doors and invite them inside to set the furniture on fire. It turns a blind eye to their behavior. But if everyone collectively stood up to them and told them to stop, they soon would give up because that would make them see that no one is intimidated. I don't understand why no moderator stops that person, though, when they so openly brag about being a mass downvoter and give all the evidence that is needed with that.
If I come across that person, I'll tell them to cut it out. Fear of repercussions has never stopped me from doing the right thing.
5395229
The moderators don't enforce most violations of Fimfiction's TOS.
Feel free to criticize them and get your stories downvoted. It doesn't matter if you stand up and look tough, he'll still do it because there's nothing you can do to stop him. I've received my share of hate downvotes before. People who don't like you have the ability to make all your stories look less appealing to new readers at a whim, as well as to hurt you emotionally, and the less popular of an author you are, the easier it is for them to do it. That's just the unfortunate way it is.
5395399
That's a little too fearful, I'd say. He is one guy, if he goes and adorns each of my stories with a downvote, so be it. I get exactly one downvote for nearly all of my new stories already anyway, one more won't hurt in the long run. And people look at far more things than upvotes when judging a story's quality. As long as it isn't deep in the red, most people will still read at least the description and then make their decision. And if he thinks he's tougher and comes at me with a dozen alternate accounts, it's a case where moderators will step in.
I'm not one to crouch in front of a low-key cyber terrorist like that.
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5395415
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to send any strong emotional vibes, and I didn't realize we were arguing.
5395213
Well, thank you.
I was just trying to be eloquent and clear, and perhaps entertaining to passersby. I don't know if I'd go so far as to describe it as "poetic", and not just because of the occasional use of profanity. Don't get me wrong: the opportunity to see something enjoyable, even inspirational, come out of this, and to learn you found such an experience here, is very much a delight. But, you know, I don't think I'd aspire so high.
Besides, I don't think we can peg a particular motive behind this silly move, such as "jealousy". It was done anonymously, after all, that's the point. It'd be academically interesting to figure it out, but frankly I'd prefer it hadn't happened at all, and that they'd gone to do something more positive and productive. Odds are we'll simply never know. And like you said, it's nothing to get upset about.
I'll probably post another blog later on to get back on track, and in the meantime writing continues. Trying to figure out a couple of projects (at some point, I'd really like to dive into that Amethyst/Sparkler fic we were discussing previously, and perhaps another CMC fic - I notice Sweetie Belle hasn't had one from me yet!).
Spotting an opportunity for a bit of fun is one thing; ultimately, the thing is spreading and encouraging positivity, after all.
5395360
One thing you notice on the Internet is that there is hardly a nasty act that someone, somewhere won't believe is not only OK to do, but outright justified by some higher self-righteous crusade they'll throw themselves into.
It's a pretty sad idea, when you think about.
5395192
Whoops, sorry! Linked to the wrong comment. Please ignore me.
5395213
Previous comment was meant for you. Correcting it now.
5395436
Yes, it's a sad truth, but I really love how that phrase perfectly sums up and mocks the mindset.
5395437
I'm still confused, but it's okay. I won't post anything more here on that topic.
5395171
They're very good.
5395436
Profanity can very well be poetic. All words can be used to weave poetry and compelling stories, regardless if they are deemed appropriate by society.
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Same here. Although, I am on a writing break right now, until Saturday. I have published my Nightmare Night story, in the nick of time, and also finally released my Flashfic Anthology. I had four releases in October, two of which have been written throughout the month, the other two are a story I had previously written and only later released and the aforementioned anthology that consists of flashfics that I wrote since January. A fifth release was supposed to happen in this month, but due to unforeseen circumstances of Hasbro killing a traditional episode repository and the necessary efforts to archive everything, this story could not happen in October anymore. Which also messes up the release order of the stories I had planned and I hate that..... Release #5 was supposed to happen before my Nightmare Night story, not after it.
Your story for Scootaloo is on my radar for the longest time now.
It was a busy month, maybe a little too busy health-wise, so I am taking a break right now. I'll start working on my next project on Saturday. After that, I hope to get my current ongoing stories to take off again. I know people are waiting for them and I am particularly scared that "Dreamwalker Dash" will be abandoned by its readers because that story stumbled into another unexpected, prolonged interruption of several months.
I also hope to finally establish my Reading Wednesdays properly, only the universe knows why I have no problems with regular writing, but with regular reading.
5395932
Actually, I think I might postpone that blog post slightly. Been busy on a project that's nearing completion, and a finicky part of me wants to keep it so's I have more stories than blog posts just that little bit longer (don't ask me why: it's just one of those sudden OCPD compulsions, I guess, to tinker with patterns so they feel "just right"
).
On that topic, I've had a pretty good week of writing and am still going strong today (more evidence for the see-saw theory of productivity!). I hope I hit the prolific level you've managed to achieve recently, your last-minute setback notwithstanding. Enjoy your break, and I hope to see you back in lean, mean writing machine shape soon enough, amigo.
I know the feeling. I'm thinking of assigning my incomplete stories to "cancelled", since it's obvious I've no current optimism about continuing them anytime soon (could always change them back later and post a blog announcing it). But I don't half feel like I could have done better there.
Is that The Dream World Record one? If so, I'm surprised: I thought you'd already looked at that one? Or am I misremembering something again?
5397536
I can somewhat understand that. I am not that extreme in my organization (and even if I wanted, the Friendship Express has long since left the station for this, cause I'm making a blog entry to announce every new story or chapter), but I am guessing you want that your stories stick out more than your blog entries when someone sees the numbers on your userpage. And you are a very prolific author, so that makes quite a good amount of sense. I am not surprised you have this approach.
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Thanks. That break is almost over now. I didn't do everything I thought of doing during my break, somehow two weeks weren't enough for that, but that's fine, cramming all of that in would have required precise planning and precise planning means work and there is no place for that in a break. I'll spontaneously bake my first muffins ever today (yes, I know, it's strange I still haven't done this since I came into the fandom) and then have a session of "Minecraft" with my friend.
And tomorrow, it's back to writing then. I will start working on my Hearth's Warming Eve story for this year tomorrow. After that, I will probably continue with a soft-break for two or three more days or maybe a week to do a few things that I still want to do, but the Saturdays are definitely reserved for writing again from tomorrow onwards.
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I suggest leaving them as "Incomplete" and to put a notice into the description that the story is currently on hold for the foreseeable time. Switching the status to "Cancelled" will most likely mean that everyone moves on from the story and, in the worst case, not even notice it if you continue it again one day.
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Yes, it's "The Dream World Record". And, no, I only said I am eager to read it. It's Applebloom's story that I read (and love
).