(no subject)

[memorizingthedigitsofpi]

Knowing that Cait Corrain was a Reylo makes their actions make a lot more sense. 

Not because of the ship they were interested. Not because of the fandom they were involved in. Rather, because knowing that they were active in fandom in a large, active ship with a lot of drama and a LOT of fic being posted, it really puts some aspects of the situations into context for me. 

I'm not on booktok or bookstagram, although I dip into booktube now and again, so I originally got this story via a vague post or two on tumblr and then a link to a twitter thread that was hard to read because I don't have an account. More recently, since Corrain was the subject of an article attempting to explain away their racist actions as a result of substance abuse issues [heavy side eye], there have been a few (deep dive) videos about them that showed me a few things:

1) Cait Corrain was obsessed with watching their GoodReads analytics
2) Cait Corrain compared themselves to other authors based on things like GoodReads review numbers
3) Cait Corrain frequently needed reassurances about their standing as an author

These all feel familiar to me as habits that, in fandom, can turn toxic. Obsessing over fic stats, thinking that a comment is "the least readers can do" after reading a fic, comparing your fics against another author's fics and getting angry about why they have more hits/kudos/comments... these are all things that a lot of us do now and again. The toxicity comes in when it isn't just a one-off venting of frustration and becomes the primary way you interact with fandom (via the Archive). 

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Cait Corrain was a BNF behaving badly before they were an author behaving badly. If someone said Cait was heavily involved in fandom drama or a cancellation or a dogpile on a fellow author etc, I'd believe it. Those are similar tactics to what they did to those authors they one-starred on GoodReads. 

I saw a tumblr post a week or two ago about how it was only the weirdest fandom people who ended up getting published, and maybe that's informing my opinion here, but some of Cait's tweets that were showcased in that deep dive video were very reminiscent of things I've seen in fandom spaces. 

Or maybe bad apples are gonna bad apple no matter which bunch they're in.

Comments

[vriddy]

I didn't realise she had resurfaced. When I read that list of 3 in your post, it sure seems like a checklist for developing a toxic relationship to stats... It's so strange to see adults get up to that kind of behaviour in the professional world so blatantly. I'm not too familiar with why people are talking about her now (a new bad apology, if I understand correctly?) though I listened to podcasts about what she did at the end of last year.

Stats and numbers just seem to mess with humans' brains way too easily and so badly :/ I hide mine with a skin, but in the end it's just super sad to see how this can turn something joyful (fandom) or positive (a book deal) into something so awful and negative :(

[juniperberry]

Thanks for digging that post up--I've been feeling unhealthily about my stats page lately, I think it's time to hide more than just the hitcount (though I'm keeping the bookmarks, that's how I know my pron is successful).

This definitely feels like bad BNF behavior, and I agree that it's weird to see this in a professional space, even if that space is Goodreads.

ETA: Oh, I like having no stats!

[vriddy]

No stats can be freeing!! It's made a huge positive difference for me, I'm always happy to link in case it turns out to be useful to someone else as well :) Hope the unhealthy feelings pass quickly!

[memorizingthedigitsofpi]

The Daily Beast posted an interview with them in which they try to explain how "not racist" they are. But they do it by saying they were over-medicated and abusing drugs and alcohol. They also say they want to apologize to the authors they harmed, but those authors blocked them.

1) at least two of the authors say they haven't blocked Cait Corrain
2) it's very easy to get in contact with an author via their publisher or agent, so really Cait is saying they want to publicly apologize, in order to ensure they get credit for said apologies and therefore earn forgiveness

or at least, that's how I see things.

The article isn't worth the read, really. It's just 2000 words of "I'm not actually guilty of doing the thing I very much did because [insert excuse] made me do it, and when I realized later that I did it in fact do it, I couldn't bring myself to ameliorate what I'd done because then I would have had to face the fact that I might be a bad person"

I don't think there's an explanation of why they created an entire fake person to take the fall, but I might have missed that, what with all of my eye rolling.

[juniperberry]

Thank you for this write-up. I'd seen her mentioned as being connected to Reylo fandom, but not had it confirmed--I haven't followed this closely at all.

I think you're right that bad apples are gonna bad apple. Or rather, people with unexamined toxic behaviors are gonna toxic behavior no matter what the setting, until they start examining it and reforming, and that's a painful process.

[memorizingthedigitsofpi]

Yeah, I haven't followed it closely either but the Reylo connection first came out because Cait created a friend name Lily or Lucy or something like that and then blamed that fake person for all of the various misdeeds. They claimed that person was an old friend from the Reylo fandom.

If this whole thing were happening in fandom spaces, we'd all be bringing up Ms.Scribe right now 🤣

[pauraque]

This situation is new to me, but blaming being on drugs for racism reminds me of when Roseanne tried the same thing, prompting the company that makes Ambien to dryly tweet that "racism is not a known side effect" of their product.

[memorizingthedigitsofpi]

every once in a while, a corporation does a good on social media XD

[mistressofmuses]

Oh, that is a VERY good point. The obsession over stats, and letting that lead to attempts to sabotage other authors to boost their own stats... that feels VERY much like toxic fandom behavior translated into trad publishing spaces.

[memorizingthedigitsofpi]

it really does. I'm slightly curious about what Cait's AO3 handle is and whether there's a fanlore article outlining some scandal they've been involved in XD Not curious enough to actually go look, but if anyone knows and can send me a link I'd probably read it lol

[mistressofmuses]

It would NOT surprise me to discover there was a buried fandom wank, haha.
Same where I wouldn't go digging (and I know little enough about any of the involved parties beyond just this particular event that I'd likely struggle to find anything if I did), but if someone pointed it out? I'd make myself a cup of tea and settle in for some reading, haha.

[chocolatepot]

I saw someone pointing out somewhere that she's a Reylo, and the tone there was "haha, of course a Reylo is a racist drama queen," but I think you're right - it's very generic fandom bad behavior.

[memorizingthedigitsofpi]

it really is. I mean, this is stuff I've seen in fandom for the last 20+ years - it's just being done on GoodReads instead of AO3 and tumblr, and it's tradpublishing instead of fanfic. This story fits right in with the annals of fandom drama, except it's so much worse because it's happening IRL

[xmarksthespotwhereistand]

That's very interesting about fannish behaviour that can carry over into the behaviour of a published author. Now, I am thinking about whether there is behaviour that hits different in the different contexts. One thing would definitely be the concrit thing - a published author cannot reference any kind of social pact that would sanction where she can receive her bad reviews (or even concrits). My first fandom place was actually one where concrit was encouraged and for that reason, I haven't even really heard of people being hurt over it.
I feel that my attitude when I was a kid daydreaming about being a published author vs now after having written for years in fandom spaces is actually better. Part of it is that from exchanges and other gifts where my intended audience is literally one person to kinktomato and proper tagging, I really managed to internalise that my work is not going to be for everyone. I don't think I could have learned this if, by some chance, I became a published author.