Hello, wonderful EF community. As you might be aware, we are close to announcing the theme of our 18th-anniversary celebration event. Eighteen years, y’all! This community is almost old enough to vote! Or to be drafted! Or to vote not to be drafted!

But before we get to celebrating, there is something the Mods wanted to address.

Clarifying Constructive Criticism

We have always been a pro-constructive criticism community in the right circumstances; we have not, however, always been good about defining constructive criticism or empowering our creators to establish safe boundaries. This is something we have corrected this year, with a new definition available on our TOS page. It reads as follows (emphasis added):

[…] constructive criticism is permitted if expressly stated by the creator. Constructive criticism is defined as specific feedback with actionable advice. It should be delivered carefully and neutrally and focus on the art itself rather than criticizing the creator, their voice, or their creative choices. Differences of opinion, including but not limited to differences in characterization, word choice, plotting, or authorial style, are not considered constructive criticism. The Mods reserve the right to act on behalf of creators who receive unwelcome communications, public or private, that cause them distress. We encourage growth as authors and artists, but disrespecting our creators or their work will simply not be tolerated.

In addition to this, constructive criticism, at its heart, is respectful of the creator’s goals and delivered to help them better achieve those goals, which may not align with your desires for the work. It also requires a lot of trust between the creator and the critic; the creator must know and trust that the criticism exists to service their vision of the art.

We say this because we have noticed an increase in comments that we believe are designed to act as constructive criticism but do not meet the requirements defined above. That is partly on us. It is also partly because of the culture of expecting people to accept constructive criticism, particularly unsolicited constructive criticism, with grace and humility. It is also due in part to a common misconception that constructive criticism is simply voicing a contrary opinion.

Elysian Fields is reaching our 18th anniversary by nurturing an environment where we are protective of all our members, which we enforce through our strict content warnings policy and by advocating for creators when they receive disheartening comments. Many of these comments are written with good intentions; in fact, very few are not. Others may contain phrases that the commenter believes are innocuous (eg. “I don’t normally like baby fics because…”) that can actually be discouraging, as they typically include editorialization on a trope or theme the creator is clearly invested in.

How Fanworks Differ from Published Works

The stories, art, and other content provided by our creators are a gift. These creations represent our members’ time as well as emotional and creative labor, all to produce something they have crafted and shared for free, that we in turn get to enjoy for free. There is no distance between creator and audience in fan spaces the way there is in other media. We are peers within the same community and here because we want to be.

It is the difference between attending a potluck and going out to a restaurant.

Potluck contributions are made out of love with the sole intent of pleasing other people. It would not be appropriate to walk up to another potluck attendee and tell them that they have provided a subpar casserole. That is not the point of the potluck, which is to engage in a shared experience. Potlucks are things people attend because they want to; they are just as much about nurturing community and building friendships and connections as the food itself.

A restaurant, on the other hand, is something selected by a customer, paid for, and consumed with a level of expectation of quality and service. Even if everyone else loves that restaurant, it is perfectly acceptable to leave a subpar review citing the reasons why the dining experience didn’t meet your standards. The review is less for the restaurant itself and more for future diners. The restaurant owner might see it, might engage, might even take your advice into account, but the review ultimately exists to help other hungry patrons make a decision about where to spend their money.

In their personal lives, professional chefs might attend a potluck. Even under these circumstances, it is not acceptable to tell them their dish was missing an ingredient, that there was too much salt, that you wish they’d made a dessert instead of a salad, or any other piece of unsolicited criticism that essentially comes down to “I don’t like what you brought.” The chef still elected to invest their time, talent, and creativity to bring that dish to the potluck. Unsatisfied customers are par for the course at work, but the potluck isn’t work. It’s play. It’s a space where they are relaxed and sharing something with a chosen community. They shouldn’t have to worry about dissatisfied customers when they contribute something simply out of the satisfaction of seeing it enjoyed.

Protecting Our Creators

Ultimately, this all comes down to providing a safe space for our creators to share their work. The comments left on creators’ work have enormous power—they can lift people up on days when they need it, yet a critical comment can be crushing on days when escape is more crucial than ever. On truly bad days, it might be what provokes a creator to withdraw from the community entirely, up to and including removing their work.

The EF Mods know, understand, and appreciate that reporting comments is not something done lightly. Our members are very protective of each other, and many are reluctant to report upsetting comments out of fear of getting someone in trouble, even at their own expense. No one wants to be the reason disciplinary action is taken against another member. It’s not something the Mods undertake lightly, either, and we start interactions with a conversation with the member. Disciplinary action is the last resort after all other avenues have been exhausted.

So please, if you receive or come across a comment or interaction, on your work or someone else’s, that makes you uncomfortable, reach out to us via email, PM, Discord, or by using the report button on the site. (All reports remain confidential.) While many of us are chronically online, the Mods don’t have the capacity to review every comment left on every work. We rely on you to tell us what we don’t know so you can help us protect the community creators.

A Personal Story

Taking a moment to speak as Holly rather than on behalf of EF; in 2019, before I rejoined the EF Mod Team, I received a comment on a fic that was inappropriate by EF standards. One of the Mods reached out to ask if I wanted to report the comment, and I said no. I was only thinking about how the comment, inappropriate or not, hadn’t really bothered me; I was not thinking about how a comment like that could impact another creator. How receiving a comment like that might lead to someone deleting their stories and removing themselves from fandom.

Were I to do it again, I would absolutely have reported the comment. Most often, the sort of comments that cause creators to remove themselves from our space are not one-offs. Incidents that go unreported are likely to recur with varying consequences. Losing creators is painful for everyone and something we strive to avoid, especially if the cause is preventable. It isn’t always, and we understand and respect that. But when it is? Guys, that sucks.

So as we enter our eighteenth year and prepare to kick off our anniversary celebration, we ask that you help us, best you can, protect the creators that make this place possible by following potluck etiquette, embracing the purpose behind constructive criticism, respecting when a creator has not asked for constructive criticism, and reporting comments that you find troubling.

Thank you all so much, and stay tuned for the October Anniversary Event Announcement, coming soon to an archive near you.