Ash the MODERATOR sent a VERY URGENT message? Well by golly! And they're saying that we NEED to end ao3 fan fic to the w-white house?? My gosh this must be SERIOUS and not a lighthearted joke! Code red code red, everyone PANIC!! Ready the canons!! We ride at dawn!!

It makes sense that you believe the joke is clear, but if there's instructions on shampoo bottles, I think just mentioning this is a prank is enough. Plus, some members were worried, and although I see the joke, not everyone does 😅 I think it's good to care at least a little bit about how they feel and be careful, especially because joking about AO3 fanfic yaoi is not everyone's cup of tea. Call us snowflakes all you want, but this Wiki is bound to be our home.

guys calm down it is literally a joke stop being karens

Just speaking as someone who has difficulty reading tone irl, let alone through text, yeah there needs to be more indicators that this is a joke. I did not know this was until looking through the replies (and also looking through the replies, I clearly wasn't the only one). I don't think it's necessarily "Karen behavior" to ask that a joke be made clear, and actively mocking the idea that someone doesn't understand a joke is immature at best and downright ableist at worst.

I think that when it comes to posting a joke like this, you have to think "what would happen if this post inevitably reaches outside of my target audience, how should I react to that?" and if your reaction is to insinuate that anyone who doesn't get it is dumb because it's "so obvious," maybe you shouldn't post it (this isn't necessarily directed towards the moderator, as I haven't see them getting defensive to the point of mockery in this thread).

Its karen behavior when people harp on it and get worked up when it isnt a big deal /nm and im not mocking anyone, people just need to calm down because it isnt a big deal

^ I was speaking more generally, the only thing in my reply directed at you was the bit about Karen behavior, which I get what you mean now. There are other users in here that are making a mockery out of those of us who have a more difficult time understanding tone and have to analyze what makes a joke and what doesn't.

I do agree that this thread has taken things a bit too seriously (although email-bombing the White House can get you into legal trouble, so I can also understand where those who are taking it seriously are coming from). It is exhausting reading a thread where it seems like everyone has already made up their minds about a situation and there are just a bunch of brick walls trying to get through to each other. Ideally, this should have ended with the "this was a joke" clarification instead of spiraling into a senseless argument.

^Exactly

We should lock this thread

^not off-topic ones