>>96 We as commenters have the right to force our opinions via comment No, we don't. We have the right to express our opinions, and other posters in turn have the right to express theirs, even if their opinion is that our opinion sucks. >>101 I am annoyed that it took five months into the story and one popular author's word for all the really passionate critics to come out of the woodwork. (Remember, it's ok to express an opinion on your own.) This situation was very particular, though... I mean, I always express my honest opinion. Whether I'm talking with a friend, or a random stranger, or a BNF, or a mod, I will always say what I think, politely but firmly. (Well, within reason, anyway. Sometimes a little white lie is the best course of action, ala placebo effect, and being right is not as important as not being a dick. And sometimes I'm just tired). But here... The author mentioned that he was raped and that he was writing the story as catharsis. The way the talk was framed, anybody making a serius criticism would come across as the moustache-twirling bad guy bullying a transgendered rape survivor. I definitely thought this story was abysmal. 1)It made no logical sense: how can the Team work together well enough to win the battles if two of them are constantly getting tortured by the others? Why does Pyro never consider quitting the job to get away from his torturers? And if he is good enough to take out the enemy Team so efficiently, why does he never properly fight back? He is Pyro, ffs, he of Kill-It-With-Fire fame, why does he never think of burning the whole place down? No Respawn chamber, no Respawn! 2)General dishonesty. I'll admit that I've read and enjoyed torture porn and rape fics, but those stories were always completely honest about what they were: grotesque entertainment. Whereas Discovery, which somehow manages to be more gratuitous and exploitative than all of those fics combined, is absurdly presented as cerebral. 3)No, seriously, I've read and enjoyed torture porn and rape fics, and I STILL felt sick to my stomach reading this. Discovery definitely does read like it's expressing the rapists' POV, it's full of bullshit excuses and rationalizations. The whole characterization of the main character basically comes across as "the lad doth protest too much!" It really is rape culture at its ugliest. And yet, until now, I never said any of that. Because I didn't want to come across as the moustache-twirling bad guy bullying a transgendered rape survivor. Even if the very idea of seeking catharsis in a public forum full of random strangers is incredibly unhealthy, and there was no way Eggwhites could heal like that. In a way, Cat Bountry took one for the team. She exposed herself as a big bad meanie, and in doing so she allowed the rest of us to criticize the story without feeling too bad about it, as well as stopping Eggwhites from keeping doing something self-damaging. I got in an argument with Cat once, and I was pretty upset about that. But I have to admit, she had the balls to do what I could not. I always make a big deal about the importance of free and open criticism, but here I buried my head under the sand. I really respect Cat now for her "intervention."