Thread:Trigger009/@comment-995426-20160523033145/@comment-995426-20160702093533

I think I know why this bugs me so much. When I criticize works of fiction, it's never personal to anyone who likes what I'm criticizing. There's a certain polite separation of boundaries between criticizing works and criticizing users. But when someone complains that they feel like my literary criticism insults them as fans, it makes me feel sniped. And literary criticism has to remain a free activity&mdash;sacrificing literary criticism is a red line I won't cross, or else all comment threads would just be people gushing about stuff they like without tolerating any deeper, franker, more critical analyses.

Unfortunately, I don't really know how to help anyone else understand this polite separation of boundaries if they really can't (or won't) get past feeling personally offended by literary criticism. I've tried logic, I've tried encouraging role reversal, I've tried explaining history, context, fan culture...but I can't cure orneriness.