Subject: That is correct, yes
Author:
Posted on: 2022-10-07 23:15:03 UTC

I feel that, having to ask a author for permission to criticize their work, is antithetical to the concept of criticism to begin with. Especially given that the work being riffed is, by default, a publicly available work, and is therefore free game as far as criticism is concerned.

It's perfectly OK to avoid swearing in your riffs, which is why I said "at the riffer's discretion" not "swearing is mandatory". I think the only rules I care to implement for riffing (in no particular order of import) are:

  1. No badmouthing the authors. At the end of the day, the only thing laid out for riffing is their poor-quality work. Providing details about their history online is permitted, but only if it is to provide context for something about the work (e.g. "Squirrelking is well-known for writing some bizarre badfics, and this story is an example thereof." rather than "Dear God, Squirrelking is so horrible for writing this, how can anyone with x braincells condone writing this!").

  2. No bigotry, humorless political discussion (again, unless used for context), or degrading or defamatory language.

  3. Untagged spoilers are allowed due to Wordpress's poor implementation of spoiler formatting, but try to avoid spoiling things that aren't old enough or well known enough to justify it. We're not out to ruin someone's fun about a particular work, even if it's in the name of fannish enthusiasm.

  4. No doxxing or revealing of sensitive information. If you don't have permission to share it, then don't bloody share it.

  5. Remember, it's all for fun and the task of constructive criticism. So have fun, but remember that the goal is to criticise, not to solely lambast.

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