(I hesitate to talk about this, because honestly, it gives the Worst Possible People a win, something they’ve wanted for a while. But I also feel like I’ve long held to honesty and forthrightness, and I don’t feel like lying when people realize I’m not on these books anymore.)
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To rewind a little bit, when SW: AFTERMATH came out, I assume most know but maybe you don’t, I put some ahh, elements in there (LGBT characters) that were not received well by a certain subset of fandom.
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That resulted in both a negative review campaign, found across various FB groups and other Worst Places on the Internet, that began mounting the very minute the book dropped online.
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I was literally at a midnight release of the book, and when I got done, there were already a pile of one-star reviews piling up – which seemed strange, obviously. And scary, too. I didn't understand what was happening at the time.
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(And as a caveat, obviously I recognize that yes, some people just don’t like the book for the Usual Reasons, and people who hold those reasons are not to be lumped in with the more septic side of fandom. Tl;dr see also TLJ reviews.)
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I also started receiving TONS of harassment – harassment that has gone on for years, harassment that has required me to contact local police and warn them of SWATting attempts, harassment across all corners of the Internet, here, FB, Reddit, YouTube.
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Some of it was bot stuff, obviously, or sock puppets, but some of it was pretty creepy, and very personal. I didn't call a lot of it out or even highlight, but it was there, a sort of... constant background noise.
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(Christ, for an extra special treat go search for my name and check out the YouTube videos if you want an eye-opening glimpse.)
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And I was worried of course because, jeez, I thought I had screwed up. I wondered for a time if the book was bad. But then it hit list and stayed on list for four weeks – and the next two books hit list, too, and EMPIRE’S END landed even higher on the list than the first book.
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And privately, I was told by folks inside LFL that there was no worry here, that they valued that I spoke out both speaking up for myself and for STAR WARS, which has always honestly been a progressive brand and company.
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And it made me very proud to work for them, too, not just because -- holy hell, basking in the glow of STAR WARS, but because the people were great, and they totally got it.
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I put all this in a blog post, if any require it -- Also thank you again, seriously, SERIOUSLY, to everyone who has reached out. It has meant the world to me.http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2018/10/12/in-which-i-am-fired-from-marvel/ …
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And real-talk, I'll be okay, I've got books coming out and some other cool stuff in the works -- comics was (thankfully) a marginal resource for me, though I hope to keep working in comics somehow, if only because I dig it.
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Be more concerned for people with less power and more marginalized voices -- who even BEFORE big projects at the bottom of huge funnels of harassment. Be good to each other. I'm gonna go hug my kid and eat a sandwich.
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