mimzy-writing-online

[mimzy-writing-online]

The Mask Trope, and Disfiguremisia in Media

[large text: The Mask Trope, and Disfiguremisia in Media]

If you followed this blog for more than like a week, you're probably familiar with “the mask trope” or at least with me complaining about it over and over in perpetuity. But why is it bad and why can't this dude shut up about it?

Let's start with who this trope applies to: characters with facial differences. There is some overlap with blind characters as well; think of the blindfold that is forced on a blind character for no reason. Here is a great explanation of it in this context by blindbeta. It's an excellent post in general, even if your character isn't blind or low vision you should read at least the last few paragraphs.

Here's a good ol’ tired link to what a facial difference is, but to put it simply:

If you have a character, who is a burn survivor or has scars, who wears a mask, this is exactly this trope.

The concept applies to other facial differences as well, but scars and burns are 99% of the representation and “representation” we get, so I'll be using these somewhat interchangeably here.

The mask can be exactly what you think, but it refers to any facial covering that doesn't have a medical purpose. So for example, a CPAP mask doesn't count for this trope, but a Magic Porcelain Mask absolutely does. Bandages do as well. If it covers the part of the face that is “different”, it can be a mask in the context used here.

Eye patches are on thin ice because while they do serve a medical purpose in real life, in 99.9% of media they are used for the same purpose as a mask. It's purely aesthetic.

With that out of the way, let's get into why this trope sucks and find its roots. Because every trope is just a symptom of something, really.

Roughly in order of the least to most important reasons...

Why It Sucks 

[large text: Why It Sucks]

It's overdone. As in — boring. You made your character visibly different, and now they're no longer that. What is the point? Just don't give them the damn scar if you're going to hide it. 

Zero connection with reality. No one does this. I don't even know how to elaborate on this. This doesn't represent anyone because no one does this.

Disability erasure. For the majority of characters with facial differences, their scars or burns somehow don't disable them physically, so the only thing left is the visible part… aaand the mask takes care of it too. Again, what's the point? If you want to make your disabled character abled, then just have them be abled. What is the point of "curing" them other than to make it completely pointless?

Making your readers with facial differences feel straight up bad. I'm gonna be honest! This hurts to see when it's all you get, over and over. Imagine there's this thing that everyone bullied you about, everyone still stares at, that is with you 24/7. Imagine you wanted to see something where people like you aren't treated like a freakshow. Somewhat unrealistic, but imagine that. That kind of world would only exist in fiction, right? So let's look into fiction- oh, none of the positive (or at least not "child-murderer evil") characters look like me. I mean they do, but they don't. They're forced to hide the one thing that connects us. I don't want to hide myself. I don't want to be told over and over that this is what people like me should do. That this is what other people expect so much that it's basically the default way a person with a facial difference can exist. I don't want this.

Perpetuating disfiguremisia. 

"Quick" Disfiguremisia Talk

[large text: "Quick" Disfiguremisia Talk]

It's quick when compared to my average facial difference discussion post, bear with me please.

Disfiguremisia; portmanteau of disfigure from “disfigurement” and -misia, Greek for hatred. 

Also known as discrimination of those mythical horrifically deformed people.

It shows up in fiction all the time; in-universe and in-narrative. Mask trope is one of the most common* representations of it, and it's also a trope that is gaining traction more and more, both in visual art and writing. This is a trope I particularly hate, because it's a blatant symptom of disfiguremisia. It's not hidden and it doesn't try to be. It's a painful remainder that I do not want nor need.

*most common is easily “evil disfigured villain”, just look at any horror media. But that's for another post, if ever.

When you put your character in a mask, it sends a clear message: in your story, facial differences aren't welcome. The world is hostile. Other characters are hostile. The author is, quite possibly, hostile. Maybe consciously, but almost always not, they just don't think that disfiguremisia means anything because it's the default setting. No one wants to see you because your face makes you gross and unsightly. If you have a burn; good luck, but we think you're too ugly to have a face. Have a scar? Too bad, now you don't. Get hidden.

Everything here is a decision that was made by the author. You are the one who makes the world. You are the person who decides if being disabled is acceptable or not there. The story doesn't have a mind of its own, you chose to make it disfiguremisic. 

It doesn't have to be.

Questions to Ask Yourself

[large text: Questions to Ask Yourself]

Since I started talking about facial differences on this blog, I have noticed a very specific trend in how facial differences are treated when compared to other disabilities. A lot of writers and artists are interested in worldbuilding where accessibility is considered, where disabled people are accepted, where neurodivergence is seen as an important part of the human experience, not something “other”. This is amazing, genuinely.

Yet, absolutely no one seems to be interested in a world that is anything but cruel to facial differences. There's no escapist fantasies for us.

You see this over and over, at some point it feels like the same story with different names attached.

The only way a character with a facial difference can exist is to hide it. Otherwise, they are shamed by society. Seen as something gross. I noticed that it really doesn't matter who the character is, facial difference is this great equalizer. Both ancient deities and talking forest cats get treated as the same brand of disgusting thing as long as they're scarred, as long as they had something explode in their face, as long as they've been cursed. They can be accomplished, they can be a badass, they can be the leader of the world, they can kill a dragon, but they cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to peacefully exist with a facial difference. They have to hide it in the literal sense, or be made to feel that they should. Constantly ashamed, embarrassed that they dare to have a face.

Question one to ask yourself: why is disfiguremisia a part of your story?

I'm part of a few minority groups. I'm an immigrant, I'm disabled, I'm queer. I get enough shit in real life for this so I like to take a break once in a while. I love stories where transphobia isn't a thing. Where xenophobia doesn't come up. But my whole life, I can't seem to find stories that don't spew out disfiguremisia in one way or the other at the first possible opportunity.

Why is disfiguremisia a default part of your worldbuilding? Why can't it be left out? Why in societies with scarred saviors and warriors is there such intense disgust for them? Why can't anyone even just question why this is the state of the world?

Why is disfiguremisia normal in your story?

Question two: do you know enough about disfiguremisia to write about it?

Ask yourself, really. Do you? Writers sometimes ask if or how to portray ableism when they themselves aren't disabled, but no one bothers to wonder if maybe they aren't knowledgeable enough to make half their story about their POV character experiencing disfiguremisia. How much do you know, and from where? Have you read Mikaela Moody or any other advocates’ work around disfiguremisia? Do you understand the way it intersects; with being a trans woman, with being Black? What is your education on this topic?

And for USAmericans... do you know what "Ugly Laws" are, and when they ended?

Question three: what does your story associate with facial difference — and why?

If I had to guess; “shame”, “embarrassment”, “violence”, "disgust", “intimidation”, “trauma”, “guilt”, “evil”, “curse”, “discomfort”, “fear”, or similar would show up. 

Why doesn't it associate it with positive concepts? Why not “hope” or “love” or “pride” or “community”? Why not “soft” or “delicate”? Dare I say, “beauty” or “innocence”? Why not “blessing”? “Acceptance”?

Why not “normal”?

Question four: why did you make the character the way they are? 

Have you considered that there are other things than “horrifically burned for some moral failing” or “most traumatic scenario put to paper”? Why is it always “a tough character with a history of violence” and never “a Disfigured princess”? Why not “a loving parent” or “a fashionable girl”, instead of “the most unkind person you ever met” and “total badass who doesn’t care about anything - other than how scary their facial difference is to these poor ableds”? Don’t endlessly associate us with brutality and suffering. We aren’t violent or manipulative or physically strong or brash or bloodthirsty by default. We can be soft, and frail and gentle and kind - and we can still be proud and unashamed.

Question five: why is your character just… fine with all this?

Can’t they make a community with other people with facial differences and do something about this? Demand the right to exist as disabled and not have to hide their literal face? Why are they cool with being dehumanized and treated with such hatred? Especially if they fall into the "not so soft and kind" category that I just talked about, it seems obvious to me that they would be incredibly and loudly pissed off about being discriminated against over and over... Why can't your character, who is a subject of disfiguremisia, realize that maybe it's disfiguremisia that's the problem, and try to fix it?

Question six: why is your character wearing a mask? 

Usually, there's no reason. Most of the time the author hasn't considered that there even should be one, the character just wears a mask because that's what people with facial differences do in their mind. Most writers aren't interested in this kind of research or even considering it as a thing they should do. The community is unimportant to them, it's not like we are real people who read books. They think they understand, because to them it's not complex, it's not nuanced. It's ugly = bad. Why would you need a reason?

For cases where the reason is stated, I promise, I have heard of every single one. To quote, "to spare others from looking at them". I have read, "content warning: he has burn scars under the mask, he absolutely hates taking it off!", emphasis not mine. Because "he hates the way his skin looks", because "they care for their appearance a lot" (facial differences make you ugly, remember?). My favorite: "only has scars and the mask when he's a villain, not as a hero", just to subtly drive the point home. This isn't the extreme end of the spectrum. Now, imagine being a reader with a facial difference. This is your representation, sitting next to Freddy Krueger and Voldemort.

How do you feel?

F.A.Q. [frequently asked questions]

[large text: F.A.Q. [frequently asked questions]]

As in, answers and “answers” to common arguments or concerns. 

“Actually they want to hide their facial difference” - your character doesn’t have free will. You want them to hide it. Again; why.

“They are hiding it to be more inconspicuous!” - I get that there are elves in their world, but there’s no universe where wearing a mask with eye cutouts on the street is less noticeable than having a scar. Facial differences aren’t open wounds sprinkling with blood, in case that's not clear.

“It’s for other people's comfort” - why are other characters disfiguremisic to this extent? Are they forcing all minorities to stay hidden and out of sight too? That’s a horrible society to exist in.

“They are wearing it for Actual Practical Reason” - cool! I hope that this means you have other characters with facial differences that don’t wear it for any reason.

"It's the character's artistic expression" - I sure hope that there are abled characters with the same kind of expression then.

“They’re ashamed of their face” - and they never have any character development that would make that go away? That's just bad writing. Why are they ashamed in the first place? Why is shame the default stance to have about your own face in your story? I get that you think we should be ashamed and do these ridiculous things, but in real life we just live with it. 

"Now that you say that it is kinda messed up but I'm too far into the story please help" - here you go.

“[some variation of My Character is evil so it's fine/a killer so it fits/just too disgusting to show their disability” - this is the one of the only cases where I’m fine with disability erasure, actually. Please don’t make them have a facial difference. This is the type of harm that real life activists spend years and decades undoing. Disfiguremisia from horror movies released in the 70s is still relevant. It still affects people today.

"But [in-universe explanation why disfiguremisia is cool and fine actually]" - this changes nothing.

Closing Remarks

[large text: Closing Remarks]

I hope that this post explains my thoughts on facial difference representation better. It's a complicated topic, I get it. I'm also aware that this post might come off as harsh (?) but disfiguremisia shouldn't be treated lightly, it shouldn't be a prop. It's real world discrimination with a big chunk of its origins coming out of popular media.

With the asks that have been sent regarding facial differences, I realized that I probably haven't explained what the actual problems are well enough. It's not about some technical definition, or about weird in-universe explanations. It's about categorizing us as some apparently fundamentally different entity that can't possibly be kind and happy, about disfiguremisia so ingrained into our culture that it's apparently impossible to make a world without it; discrimination so deep that it can't be excised, only worked around. But you can get rid of it. You can just not have it there in the first place. Disfiguremisia isn't a fundamental part of how the world works; getting rid of it won't cause it to collapse. Don't portray discrimination as an integral, unquestionable part of the world that has to stay no matter what; whether it's ableism, transphobia, or Islamophobia or anything else. A world without discrimination can exist. If you can't imagine a world without disfiguremisia in fiction... that's bad. Sad, mostly. To me, at least.

Remember, that your readers aren't going to look at Character with a Scar #14673 and think "now I'm going to research how real life people with facial differences live." They won't, there's no inclination for them to do so. If you don't give them a reason, they won't magically start thinking critically about facial differences and disfiguremisia. People like their biases and they like to think that they understand.

And, even if you're explaining it over and over ;-) (winky face) there will still be people who are going to be actively resistant to giving a shit. To try and get the ones who are capable of caring about us, you, as the author, need to first understand disfiguremisia, study Face Equality, think of me as a human being with human emotions who doesn't want to see people like me treated like garbage in every piece of media I look at. There's a place and time for that media, and if you don't actually understand disfiguremisia, you will only perpetuate it; not "subvert" it, not "comment" on it.

I hope this helps :-) (smile emoji. for good measure)

Mod Sasza

#face difference #mask trope #disfiguremisia #disabled character #reference

[mimzy-writing-online]

I got to experience one of my favorite tropes in real life.

To set the scene, I am in the kitchen with the good knives and my parents are in the next room over.

Me: can you bring me some paper towels?

Dad: how many do you need?

Me: just a few, there's not that much blood... *realizes what I just said* DON'T WORRY! IT'S NOT MY BLOOD!

Me: wait, how much blood is too much blood???

#it was pigs blood #I was preparing this giant pork shoulder for dinner #it wasn't a lot but my parents can't have blood so I needed my dad to come in and see it I'd cleaned it up well enough #dinner was amazing though #mimzy things

[mimzy-writing-online]

This is officially the coolest addition I’ve ever gotten to a post. I’ve wanted to know about Chinese braille for years!!! Thank you sooooo much ❤️❤️❤️ The speculation about her seismic sense is amazing and so well thought out ❤️❤️❤️

Writing Toph Beifong, Advice from a Blind Writer

I’m Mimzy, an actual visually impaired writer and blogger who talks a lot about writing blind characters accurately and sensitively. A while back someone sent me an anon asking how to write Toph more accurately and sensitively.

Anonymous asked: Hi there! Your blog has been super-helpful already - I thought I knew a bit about writing with blind characters, but it turns out there was a lot to learn - but this is more specific. I’m writing a The Last Airbender fanfiction, and one of the characters is Toph. I think the fandom has done a fairly good job of respecting her blindness, but what are some things you’d like to see when people write her? I want to represent the character as best as possible; thanks in advance!

It’s taken a while for me to answer because I have a lot of thoughts about it as both a blind writer and someone who has read a lot of atla fanfiction. So here we go:

Keep reading

#blind character #toph beifong #braille #Chinese braille #reference

[mimzy-writing-online]

what do you think of people avoiding to using the word "see/seeing" around blind people because thinking it would offend them?

It's going to cause miscommunication. It's awkward.

If the aim is to prevent blind people from feeling left out or being unnecessarily reminded that they're blind, then editing out 'see/seeing/watch/watched' out of your conversations is going to do the opposite of what you want. We can hear the real-time self-editing and it is making this conversation more awkward and more clunky.

We're suddenly very aware of how our blindness makes you so uncomfortable that you need to police yourself to avoid offending us.

Best thing is to talk to us the same way you talk to sighted people. If we have questions, we'll ask. If you need to give us directions to complete a task, then please be specific and replace words like 'over there' and 'right here' with 'to your left' or 'directly in front of you' or 'the second doorway on your right'.

Thank you for asking <3

#blindness #disability

[mimzy-writing-online]

the post about fanfic writers updating despite wild life circumstances is funny and great, but to all the slow writers, the writers who can’t focus when life is happening a lot, or who simply like taking time off from writing: you’re doing amazing, fandom is not an obligation, and there are many people who prefer short fics, or who read slowly and are in no rush for updates.

#fanfiction #writing positivity

[mimzy-writing-online]

Would you consider a character who has visual agnosia (the inability to recognize or process what they are seeing) as a visual impairment? And would it be okay for that character to identify with the blind/visually impaired community?

I wouldn't use visually impaired as a label for a character I was creating. I think neurological disorder and sensory disability would better explain the condition to people who don't have it.

However I don't have it either, and if someone told me "I have visual agnosia, I am visually impaired, that's my experience" I would not question or argue with them because they are the ultimate authority of what their life experience is.

I would welcome a real person with visual agnosia into my community. I think labels should be used to explain experiences and identities. I don't think people should be categorized and separated by labels to create smaller and more isolated communities and exclude others.

I do share some experiences with visual agnosia though. Visual snow is also a neurological condition. A big part of my vision impairment is that my brain cannot process light accurately so I am experiencing disruptions in how I understand my vision. However I still have a few things wrong with the structure of my eyes that contributes to my vision and disability.

[mimzy-writing-online]

I saw you Percy Jackson post, and this might be a stupid question - but what's daydreaming like for you? Because for me I can't really imagine zoning out without staring at something. Like, I'm usually zoning out all the time looking at something way in the distance, like visual ASMR.

Idk, it's a stupid question, but I just wanted to know if it's any different?

This isn't a stupid question <3

I don't think the experience has changed much from when I was sighted. I stare at one point in space and my eye muscles slowly relax. My eyes probably look like they're pointing in slightly different directions.

If I'm indoors and/or in small spaces then it's a lot easier to keep my eyes pointed at one spot. In outdoor settings and large spaces my gaze probably drifts and focuses on the most stimulating part of the flat-background. So spots of bright color, light sources, or repetitive motion (I can see movement and light sources a lot better than anything else).

If you're curious about what happens in my head when I daydream- I still have visual daydreams but the visuals are a combination of what I see in my daily life and what I see in movies/TV/photos. Visual media is about the only way I'm maintaining any visual memory of things like stars and landscapes.

For example, my computer wallpaper is of a lake in autumn time. Because the whole photo is right in front of me, I can actually see depth, but I conceptualize depth very mathematically. I also can't see individual leaves despite it being a high resolution photo.

My daydreams also have a lot of smell and touch folded into them because those senses add a lot of detail to my daily experiences. When I was sighted it was just visual and audio detail. For example, if I imagined walking through a rose garden, it would probably be one I've visited before and while the colors and shapes of the flowers are blurry, the smells are very clear. If I was imagining a castle, I would use a lot of visual detail I picked up from movies/TV shows.

I hope this helps <3 thank you for asking

#mimzy things

[mimzy-writing-online]

Hi there, i have a story where 1 MC is blind. I dont want to fall into any bad tropes so I was looking at your blog and I wanted to ask your opinion. my character went blind young but she sees a shifting mix of color, it cant imply distance or details however, at the start of the story she is gifted a tool that helps shape them into rough outlines, my plan is for her to stop using it as her character grows more confident (use it as a plot point for her development). Do you have any thoughts?

It sounds like this might be a possible accessibility tool, so I don't think she would abandon it completely. She might become less reliant on it as she develops her other senses to be more helpful, but in situations where she needs a little extra help, maybe she'd dig out that tool. New environments, meeting important people where she has to make a good impression, moments where she's in danger, those would all be useful and relatable reasons to use additional accessibility devices.

The goal of orientation & mobility and life-skills classes isn't to become Daredevil-levels of confident in your remaining senses. The goal is to make you an expert in all the accessibility devices at your disposal.

A personal weakness of mine is that I am not proficient at screen reader with my phone. I would be much more powerful if I would take the time to master it because I'd be able to use my phone in any situation without trouble. As it is, I struggle to use it in my low-vision settings and it takes me a lot longer to finish tasks (texting, google search, opening/navigating apps) and a lot more eye-spoons.

If I got good at it, I would probably use a combination of screen readers and my remaining vision to get things done.

I'm going to open the comments to all disabled readers and ask: is there an accessibility tool you used for a while and then phased out of your tool-kit?

#blind character #disabled character #accessibility tools

[mimzy-writing-online]

I have come to the conclusion that sighted people are super powered freaks of nature

I'm reading the Percy Jackson series for the first time and I can't tell if Percy has super demi-god vision that allows him to see insane levels of detail at a distance or if I'm really underestimating how much a sighted human can see.

Anyone want to weigh in? (I just finished book 2 and I haven't watched the movies or the new show, so no spoilers please)

#this is a direct quote when I relayed this story to my mum #we were sitting on the couch fixing a lamp and I was explaining my dilemma #this problem has regularly popped up while writing sighted characters #I will randomly text sighted loved ones and ask if it's possible to see 'x' thing #mimzy things #I'm in the middle of book 3 now

[mimzy-writing-online]

I'm reading the Percy Jackson series for the first time and I can't tell if Percy has super demi-god vision that allows him to see insane levels of detail at a distance or if I'm really underestimating how much a sighted human can see.

Anyone want to weigh in? (I just finished book 2 and I haven't watched the movies or the new show, so no spoilers please)

#percy jackson #actually blind

[mimzy-writing-online]

Hey :) I’ve written a character and now decided that he’s blind. They have had this mentality of I have to do everything by myself can’t let others help me before I decided to make them blind. Now I’m wondering whether that’s a gods story for a blind character? Because obviously this mentality doesn’t stem from being blind, but it would add to it? Oh and also, if it is a ok plotline to have, can I have them realising that accepting some help is fine? Or is that a bad message? Ty in advance

That is my lived experience actually, insisting I can do everything myself but realizing that having help is not only necessary, but good. Having that support and community feels better than the loneliness of insisting I don't need help.

I recommend trying to build into what inspired this character's mindset. Were they not given a lot of support and help growing up and had to learn independence? Is society telling them "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" and they've bought into that ideal because no other alternative was offered? Do they have a role model who they idealize for being so independent and capable, and now they want to be just like them?

#blind character

[mimzy-writing-online]

Hello, I stumbled upon your blog in search of advice on writing a blind character. Rlly thankful that I found it but it raised a question. You said „You shouldn’t victimize your disabled characters.“ I am not an native english speaker and not certain I understood victimise right but I have a character that does grow up in a … well, tough household. However, that has nothing to do with the fact that he’s blind. Is that offensive? Because it’s kinda essential to his character…

When I said that, what I meant was "if you put your blind character in a situation where they can be hurt or will be miserable, please don't write it in a way that sounds like victim blaming."

A situation is: you character was walking home at night and was attacked.

Victimizing is having the attacker taunt the blind character by breaking their cane and calling them an easy target because they didn't see them coming and won't be able to pick them out of a line-up if they go to the police.

Victimizing is having typically compassionate characters suggest that maybe the blind character shouldn't have been walking home alone at night, that they should have asked for a ride or used public transport or picked a better lit area or walked home before it got dark.

Victimizing is basically the message the narrative itself is giving, intentionally or unintentionally.

Is the story suggesting that a sighted person wouldn't have fallen into this trap? That this only happened because the blind character was helpless because of their blindness? Who is the narrative assigning fault to, the abuser or the victim? If a secondary character victim-blames someone, is there another character or a narrative voice who says that's unfair to the character when the abuser deserves the blame?

Sighted people grow up in abusive family situations all the time. They also have a hard time leaving those situations. And it is harder to leave an abusive situation when you're disabled because of systemic inequality.

I hope that helps :)

#ask

[mimzy-writing-online]

"What is hateful to you, do not do to others, the rest is commentary, go and study"

Hillel the Elder

"Then when G-d asks [Cain], ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ he arrogantly responds, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?' In essence, the entire Bible is written as an affirmative response to this question."

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

#free palestine #palestine #gaza #psa #aid resource

[mimzy-writing-online]

Okay okay time for miscellaneous disability shout outs:

People who can't pick out their own clothes

People who need help buckling their seat belt

People who can comfortably hold detailed face to face conversations on the toilet (you get used to it after needing toileting help )

People who only wear slide ons because adapted shoes are expensive as all hell

Mobility aid users with scratched, dented and banged up mobility aids

Powerchair users that have almost or actually tipped over trying to do donuts

People who don't have the energy to gently explain things to every curious kid

#disability #something that made me smile

[mimzy-writing-online]

Blind Tumblr users: don’t get the latest iOS app update!

I just updated my tablet to the newest version of the tumblr app for iOS and it completely broke screen reader access for both VoiceOver and Spoken Content. This has happened in the past already, so I will file a support ticket and copy-paste my text from last time, but this really sucks. I sincerely hope this doesn’t affect all screen reader users, but I’m unsure how they could program this bug in a way it only affects me. If you rely on a screen reader to use the tumblr app, I’d advice to not get the latest update to be on the safe side.

When I say “completely broke access”, what I mean is that no posts on my dash or on individual blogs get read or recognized at all. No plain text, alt text, tags, etc. Note count and buttons still work though.

If you also run into this bug, here’s my advice. If anyone has something more useful, please tell me

File a support ticket and report this bug

Use the browser web version, which still works for me

Interestingly, if you save a post to your drafts and click on “edit” the post text seems to get read correctly. This might be a work-around for some people.

If you have the latest version but your screen reader didn’t break, also please tell me! I would be fascinated to know if this bug is only affecting some people

TL;DR: The latest tumblr app update for iOS made it so screen readers no longer work in the app

Please boost!

#psa #screenreader #voiceover #ios tumblr update #accessibility

[mimzy-writing-online]

opinion that shouldn't be controversial: a student shouldn't need a doctor's note to have access to free screen readers, audio copies of class content, physical copies of class content, accurate subtitles, unlimited doctor's appointments, their sensory needs met, etc etc. student's shouldn't have a medical barrier, which goes hand in hand with sexism, racism, classism, and ableism in general, to basic education.

#ableism #education #accessibility

[mimzy-writing-online]

since I've seen it talked about in several places recently:

if you are going to do a whump- or kink- or ANY-tober or other similar challenges please please please don't post them as one fic with 31 chapters unless it actually is one coherent fic. if they're 31 completely separate fics or ficlets then please just make a collection for them or just post them as separate fics. it doesn't matter if they're only 100 words or if you think they're too small or insignificant to post alone, they're not.

and why this?

because if you post all 31 of them in one fic the tagging is absolutely useless. if I look for things to read on ao3 I'm gonna look at the tags, and if the tags include something that's a dealbreaker for me, i won't even click on the fic. I might not even SEE the fic because I've filtered out the nope-tag! so I'm gonna lose out on reading 30 perfectly nice fics because of one fic that my nope-tag applied to.

ao3 is about archiving. it's about clear tagging and being informative. there is nothing informative about it if the tags in the fic apply to random chapters while others have nothing to do with it. it makes so much more sense to have each work as an individual fic with its own individual tags and warnings, so readers can make informed choices.

of course, you do you. I can't police what other people decide to do. but personally, I find it incredibly frustrating to weed through 31 chapters to find the ones I actually want to read. so I don't. I automatically scroll past all works posted like that. and I know some others do, too.

there is absolutely no shame in posting short things on ao3. there is no minimum word count. no one is going to look at you funny if you post a small ficlet on its own, I promise. it's just going to make some readers very happy when they can actually find the things they want to read.

so, please. at least consider the upsides of posting each work as their own fic.

signed, one very frustrated fandom grandma.

#ao3 #fanfic #fandom #whumptober #kinktober #happy fanfic season everyone