The benefit of the doubt
Jan. 30th, 2026 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baroque_mongooseVery occasionally, you do get someone who acts in an odd or suspicious manner online and they are genuine. They're not trying to scam you. They're just extremely socially inept (in my experience more than half of them are autistic), they're mostly fairly new to the Internet so they don't realise they're doing the sort of things scammers do, and when you gently explain to them that something they're doing may be perfectly innocent but looks bad, they'll change their behaviour. These people are rare, but they do exist. I've had someone DM me out of the blue for no other reason than that they're autistic, it's a big Discord server, they're too overwhelmed to jump into the chat, and they think I sound like a sympathetic type.
And then there was that artist on AO3 a little while ago. She loved my work and wanted to do an illustration... just so long as I paid for it. I think she was actually genuine, since she not only had stuff on her page, but she had an actual portfolio she could show me on another site (her spelling was somewhat uncertain, but her art was impressive). Nonetheless, honestly, I don't care if someone is Leonardo da Vinci; I am not buying artwork from anyone to illustrate a story I'm putting out there free of charge. If I were publishing a book, then, yes, if I needed illustrations I'd pay for them, because that's perfectly fair. But unsolicited artwork for a story I'm not getting any money for... very big firm nope.
Well, apparently this artist on AO3 is not on her own... and she may also be one of the very few genuine ones (though, of course, I don't know for certain, but the usernames and the dodgy spelling did at any rate match up). The latest thing is bots who come along and leave nice comments on your work, then they try to get you to talk to them off-platform, where they diddle you into paying for artwork, and then you either don't get anything at all or you get AI "art".
I got one of these yesterday. I wasn't quite sure, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt; however, when it asked if we could talk off-platform, just to be on the safe side I sent it here, where, of course, all comments are still public. It made the lame excuse that it had never heard of Dreamwidth (seriously, I gave it the link, if it had been genuine all it would have needed to do was click it), and it gave me an e-mail address.
So I asked if I could just check that it wasn't going to try to sell me unsolicited artwork... and the silence, as I had been starting to suspect, was deafening. I gave it 24 hours to reply and then I reported it.
I have now altered my AO3 profile. There is a statement on there in bold type to the effect that I don't buy unsolicited artwork, and there is a link to this blog. The next person who wants to contact me off-platform will get told very nicely that there's a link they can use in my profile, and that will be that.
I really shouldn't have to do that; but I don't have much choice... and it does mean I can go on handing out the benefit of any doubt.
And then there was that artist on AO3 a little while ago. She loved my work and wanted to do an illustration... just so long as I paid for it. I think she was actually genuine, since she not only had stuff on her page, but she had an actual portfolio she could show me on another site (her spelling was somewhat uncertain, but her art was impressive). Nonetheless, honestly, I don't care if someone is Leonardo da Vinci; I am not buying artwork from anyone to illustrate a story I'm putting out there free of charge. If I were publishing a book, then, yes, if I needed illustrations I'd pay for them, because that's perfectly fair. But unsolicited artwork for a story I'm not getting any money for... very big firm nope.
Well, apparently this artist on AO3 is not on her own... and she may also be one of the very few genuine ones (though, of course, I don't know for certain, but the usernames and the dodgy spelling did at any rate match up). The latest thing is bots who come along and leave nice comments on your work, then they try to get you to talk to them off-platform, where they diddle you into paying for artwork, and then you either don't get anything at all or you get AI "art".
I got one of these yesterday. I wasn't quite sure, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt; however, when it asked if we could talk off-platform, just to be on the safe side I sent it here, where, of course, all comments are still public. It made the lame excuse that it had never heard of Dreamwidth (seriously, I gave it the link, if it had been genuine all it would have needed to do was click it), and it gave me an e-mail address.
So I asked if I could just check that it wasn't going to try to sell me unsolicited artwork... and the silence, as I had been starting to suspect, was deafening. I gave it 24 hours to reply and then I reported it.
I have now altered my AO3 profile. There is a statement on there in bold type to the effect that I don't buy unsolicited artwork, and there is a link to this blog. The next person who wants to contact me off-platform will get told very nicely that there's a link they can use in my profile, and that will be that.
I really shouldn't have to do that; but I don't have much choice... and it does mean I can go on handing out the benefit of any doubt.
