#i don't like comment on these fics critiquing them

[sad-gay-cowboy]

look to each their own but I think it's just a bit odd in fanfics where like herbert has a complete personality change and is suddenly like "uwu, i'm actually really emotional and vulnerable and like such a virgin what's a kiss?" and like it's weird for a couple of reasons but honestly I find it a bit sus that this is done to the commonly perceived trans masc character

#it just feels a bit infantilizing you know #like the only way some people can make that head cannon work is if they feminize him #and like yes he IS actually really emotional and vulnerable you're right! #but in a bastard way #you think herbert 'garbage to garbage' and 'damn the bitch' west is going to suddenly start blushing and crying his eyes out #no i don't read these fanfics so it doesn't affect me #i don't like comment on these fics critiquing them #that's why i'm writing it here #reanimator #herbert #herbert west

[deniigi]

Ao3 users: Remember or be aware that authors can read your bookmark notes. Some of y'all think you can be rude as fuck in those so let me give you some notes since you're apparently fine being rude when you think no one can see you:

The following are not appropriate in any capacity:

1) Grading fics (not on a letter scales, nor on a number scale.)

2) Listing parts of the fic/characterization you disagree with in your bookmark "even tho I liked the rest of it."

3) Directly saying the author "doesn't know" or "forgot" this thing or any variation of that.

4) Providing any other critique the author did not explicitly ask for in the fic itself.

5) Tagging the fic in your bookmarks with any of the above.

I know this can be confusing. You may think that bookmarks are just for you, but guess what? Unless you check that little box that says "private" before saving a bookmark, authors can see them and read your comments.

And look. I have a full-time job, i spend my day to day trying to make life easier for others, and I have other shit in my life that I deal with, and on top of that I write short stories and novels for people about their favorite characters for FREE.

You don't have the right to comment on how I do that unless something I have written is directly harming people.

So grow the fuck up. You all sound like the same highschool bully and you're fucking better than that.

#archive of our own #ao3 #fandom #writing advice #fic

[sassydefendorflower]

I want to talk about something. I want to talk about ableism in fandom. And sexism in fandom. Oh, and racism in fandom.

Mostly though, I wanna talk about how the discussion about these things often gets derailed because people don't understand what trends and typical behaviors actually are.

Whenever a Person of Color, a woman, someone disabled, someone queer (or an intersection of any of these groups) points out that certain fandom trends are bigoted in some shape or form, half the replies seem to be "but they are my comfort character! Maybe people just like them better because they are more interesting!" or even "people are allowed to have headcanons!" - the very daft even go for a "don't bring politics into fandom" which is a personal favorite because nothing exists in a vacuum and nothing is truly apolitical. But alas~

What most of these replies seemingly fail to understand is something very, very simple: it's not about you.

You, as an individual, are just one datapoint in a fandom. You are not the trend. You do not necessarily depict the typical behavior.

When someone points out that there is racism in fandom, that doesn't mean every fan is racist or perpetuating racist ideas*. By constantly mentioning your own lack of racism, quite often, you are actively derailing the conversation away from the problems at hand.

When someone names and describes a trend, they don't mean your headcanon specifically - they mean the accumulated number of headcanons perpetuating a harmful or outdated idea.

I am not saying this to forbid anyone from writing fics about their favorite characters or to keep anyone from having fun headcanons and sharing their theories and thoughts - quite the opposite actually. A critique of a general trend is not a critique of you as an individual - and you're going to have a much better, and more productive, time online if you can internalize that. If you stop growing defensive and instead allow yourself to actually digest the message of what was pointed out.

I am saying this to encourage some critical thinking.

Allow me to offer up some examples:

Case 1: A DC blogger made the daring statement that maybe Tim and Jason were such a popular fanfic focus because they are the only two undeniably white batboys. Immediately someone replied saying "no, it's all the fun traumatic situations we can put them in!". Which is an insane statement to make, considering the same can be said for literally ANY OTHER DC Batman and Batfam character.

The original post wasn't anything groundbreaking, they didn't accuse anyone, didn't name any names... but immediately there was a justification, immediately there was a reason why people might like these characters more. No one stopped to take a second and reflect on the current trends in fanfiction, no one considered that maybe this wasn't a declaration against people who like these characters but a thesis depicting the OVERALL trend of fandom once again focusing on undeniably white (and male) characters.

(don't get me started on the racebending of white characters in media that has a big Cast of Color and the implications of that)

Case 2: A meta posted on Ao3 about ableism in the Criminal Minds fandom caught my attention. A wonderful piece, very thoughtful, analyzing certain characterization choices within the fandom through the lens of an actually autistic person. The conclusion they reached: the writing of Spencer Reid as an autistic character, while often charming and comforting, tended to be incredibly infantilizing and at worst downright ableist. They came to that conclusion while CLEARLY stating that the individual fanfic wasn't the problem, but the general fandom trend in depicting this character.

Once again, looking at the replies seemed to be a mistake: while many comments furthered the discussion, there were quite a few which completely missed the point. Some were downright hostile. Because how dare this author imply that THEY are ableist when they write their favorite character using that specific characterization.

It didn't matter that the author allowed room for personal interpretation. It didn't matter that they noted something concerning about the entire fandom - people still thought they were attacking singular people.

Case 3: I wrote a fic about abortion in the FMA(b) fandom (actually I've written a weird amount of fics about abortion in a lot of fandoms, but alas) and I got hate comments for it. Because of that I addressed the bias in fandom against pro-choice depictions of pregnancies. I pointed out that the utter lack of abortion in many omegaverse stories or even mpreg or het romances, painted the picture of an unconscious bias that hurt people for whom abortion was the only option, the best possible ending. The response on the post itself was mostly positive, but I got anon hate.

(which I can unfortunately not show you since I deleted it in the months since)

And I'm not overly broken up about it, but it also underlines my point: by pointing at a general problem, a typical behavior, a larger trend... people feel personally attacked.

This inability to discuss sexism, ableism, racism, transphobia, etc in fandom without people turning defensive and hurt... well, it damages our ability to have these conversations at all.

Earlier I said YOU are not the problem - well, i think part of this discussion is acknowledging that: sometimes YOU are in fact part of the problem. And that's not the end of the world. But you can only recognize yourself as a cog in the machine, if you can examine your own actions, your own biases, your own preferences critically and without becoming defensive.

And, again, this is not to keep you from finding comfort in your favorite characters and headcanons. This is also not to say that I am free of biases and internalized bigotries - I am also very much a part of the system. A part of the problem.

This is so you can comfortably ask yourself "but why is there no abortion in this universe?" or "why are my favorite black characters always the top in my slash ships?" or "why do I write this disabled character as childish and in need of help?" - and sometimes the answer is "because I am disabled and I want comfort", and that's fine too.

There is no one shoe fits all in fiction. There is not a single trope that captures all members of a group. There is no single stereotype that isn't also someone's comfort. No group is a monolith, no experienced all-encompasing (or entirely unique).

There is never a simple answer.

But that doesn't mean you should stop questioning your own biases, your own ideals.

Especially, if you grow defensive if someone points out that a certain trend you engage in might be racist. Or sexist. Or queerphobic. Or fucking ableist.

*this does not mean negate the general anti-blackness perpetuated by most cultures as a result of colonialism and slavery

#criminal minds #dc #batman #racism #fandom racism #fandom #fandom discourse #sexism #fandom sexism #ableism #fandom ableism #discourse #fma #fmab #abortion #abortion rights #pro choice #opening up a discussion about having discussions

[ao3commentoftheday]

Hello!

How do you leave a good comment on a work when you notice a large error? Or a small error,m I get so nervous to leave a comment nowadays because not many people have clear statements regarding criticism. So, I'm hesitant to point out anything out/ leave a comment that's anything but positive.

I remember a few months ago, on a BNHA work, I corrected the timeline of canon events that author got wrong (because the WIP seemed to be going down that route of "canon adjacent" work that spawn from a canonical event). The author had a message beneath the chapters that "all comments were welcomed," so I thought it was okay to leave the type of comment I did. But I dealt with several aggressive messages from the author and the author's friends about needless critique and how rude I came off as afterwards (I apologized,but I still got messages for a while).

The whole thing freaked me out a bit because I hate any semblance of confrontation ,so now I'm nervous about commenting any work- even those with explicit statements on criticism (welcome ,not welcomed,etc). I leave kudos and such ,but sometimes I debate over whether or not the author needs my comment about their typos. I try to sandwich a critique between two compliments like everyone says,but then I end up with a paragraph-length comment, and I worry about coming off too strongly.

I'm rambling,sorry.

Is there a guide to good comments for criticism in fanworks? Besides not giving criticism when criticism would not be welcomed??

Thank you for your time.

First of all, I'm sorry that you had such a bad experience. I'm sure that was awful for you, and I totally understand why it would freak you out.

When it comes to correcting things in fanfic, there are a lot of things to take into account.

Why does correcting the error matter to you?

How well do you know the author?

How long would it take to make the correction?

There are others, but these are the bigger "buckets" I see most of them fitting into.

If the error matters to you because you get annoyed when you see typos, for example, then that's more of a "you" problem. You can download the fic and edit out the typos and then when you reread it, you won't have to worry about them.

If the error matters to you because you'd be embarrassed if you had posted a fic and there were typos in it, that's also kind of a "you" problem. If the author feels the same way, they'll likely have an author's note indicating that they want to be notified. Otherwise, they're likely resigned to the idea that typos will happen, and if they reread their work themselves, they'll edit them out if and when they catch them.

If the error matters to you because it's non-canonical, this one is more of a wait and see. Maybe the author made the error by accident, but it very well could be on purpose. Perhaps that small change is relevant to the overall plot they're developing. Maybe it's just a thing that they personally hate in canon and have decided that they don't want to include for that reason. Maybe it's a genuine error that they'd be horrified to notice later. There's no way to know.

And that last one is where we come to the second item above. If you know the author well, you can message them and have a chat and bring it up there. I'd recommend just starting out by talking about the story as a whole and what their plan is for it. As I said, maybe what you see as an error is actually a conscious choice that they've made for the story that they want to tell. During that conversation, you'll be able to figure out whether it's actually an error and whether they'd want it pointed out or not.

If you don't know the author well, you could point an error like that out in a comment but then you need to think about the third factor.

Typos take seconds to change. Plot points take hours, days, weeks, or longer. Asking someone to put in a lot of time to make a change to something they've already been working hard on can be really demotivating - even crushing.

For a lot of authors (possibly even most?) they put a lot of work into their fics before they ever get to the point of posting them. They've read, revised, planned, and plotted. They might even have additional chapters already written that are in the revision process and just haven't been posted yet.

Especially in long works, authors look to the comments as a cheering section to urge them on towards completion, so posting corrections or pointing out errors can feel like someone standing up and booing. I think that's what happened in that BNHA situation you referenced in your ask.

That's why the general suggestion when it comes to commenting with corrections is just to not do so. If you want, you can comment about all of the things you like in the fic and then ask if the author wants a beta. That would allow you to have those conversations about their vision for the fic, and it would also allow you to offer feedback before the work is posted and while it's still being edited and worked on.

Otherwise, if it really does bother you, I'm afraid you might just need to dip out and find a different fic.

#asks and answers #long post

[muchosbesitos]

Hi, would you be interested in writing a fic with Miguel and reader who doesn’t want to have kids? It’s ok if not 💖☺️

don’t let me go

pairing: miguel o’hara x fem reader

contents: brief mention of sex, mostly just fluff

author’s note: sorry if you wanted more smut 😭

word count: 1051

The discussion of having kids was a topic that you tried your best to avoid with Miguel since seeing how much longing he had towards having a kid made you feel guilty for not wanting the same thing with him. While most people drooled over the sight of your boyfriend having a child in his arms as he played with it, you didn't feel the same effects as they did. Comments of how good he'd be as a father, of how kind and protective he would be, along with comments critiquing you for not giving him a child yet circulated around constantly.

As much as you tried to avoid the subject, you could tell that you couldn't dance around it for much longer. The way that Miguel stared at your belly after he pumped you full of his cum, a part of him wishing that your birth control would fail and that his sperm would take. You'd be lying if you said that you hadn't thought about it just for his sake, but the concept of bringing a child into the world didn't illuminate your life as it did with others.

A loud banging on your door woke you up, sunlight barely starting to peek through the curtains when you got up. You let out a small groan as you trudged over to the door, being met with your sibling holding their baby in hand. "Hey, sorry that I'm bothering you this early but I was wondering if you'd watch Arabella. Her babysitter cancelled last minute and I don't have anywhere else to take her," they said, desperation evident in their eyes. Normally, you'd be willing to do anything for them but you were certain the baby had a vendetta against you.

"She doesn't like me, she doesn't stop crying after you leave her with me," you responded, a brief memory of the last time you babysat running through your head. "She was teething that time. Please? It's the last time I'll ask for a while, I swear," they answered and you decided to grab the baby from them, cradling it to the best of your ability. "Thank you, you're the best!"

You looked down at the sleeping baby before wrapping her up in a makeshift blanket burrito on the floor. You figured that you'd distract her from her parent's absence when she woke up, find something stupid for the two of you to do. But for now, you enjoyed the silence of the apartment and decided to watch some tv in order to pass the time.

A couple hours had passed and the baby had gotten up from her nap, tears rolling down her chubby cheeks as she wailed. You were in the process of trying to feed her some purée with peas in it, most of them ending up tossed in your hair or face. "Come on, what do you want from me? I changed you and I'm feeding you," you grumbled, looking over at the baby as you tried to get her to swallow the little bit on the spoon.

"Maybe you should try rocking her," you heard from behind you, seeing your boyfriend walk into the shared apartment. "You're home early," you noted, looking up for a moment before you felt the peas fling in your hair. "Could hear the wailing from HQ," he responded, picking up the baby as he cradled her in his arms. He comforted Arabella as he held her, rocking her back and forth as her tears faded away.

The three of you were sitting down on the couch watching cartoons while you waited for your sibling to get off from work, your head resting on Miguel's shoulder. He held the baby up in his lap, her eyes twinkling with excitement at the dogs showing up on the screen. You'd washed up the peas from your hair and now you were pretending to be asleep, just to avoid the conversation of having a baby as long as you could.

You eventually did fall asleep and when you woke up, the baby was gone and Miguel's hand was rubbing small circles on your thigh. "Hola bella durmiente. how was your nap?" he asked, looking over at you with a lazy smile. (hi, sleeping beauty) "It was good, how was work?" You responded, the two of you getting into an easy conversation after that. He divulged about the anomalies he had to capture today and you divulged on the stinky diaper you had to change today.

"I've been thinking about starting our own little family, actually. Seeing you with Arabella just made me realize that I think I'd like to pursue that with you, even if you don't think you'd be ready," he said after a while, your lips pursing a bit as you looked over at him. "Miguel, I need you to understand something before I tell you this. This isn't about you or my perception of you, okay?" You inquired, waiting for his approval to continue.

"I have no doubt about your fathership abilities but I just.. don't think a child would make me feel fulfilled. Trust me when I tell you that you're person I would imagine having a family with and i thought about doing that, just to see you smile the way you whenever you hold a baby. But the whole idea just doesn't make me happy or makes me thrilled," you told him, expecting him to try to change your mind or ask you if you didn't think he was good enough.

But he simply pulled you into a hug, comforting you with his embrace as he held you tightly. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was expecting that out of you. While the idea of a child does excite me, you're much more important than that idea. And I'm sorry that I made you feel like you couldn't share this with me," he told you, his hand running down your back.

"And you're okay with not having a child?" You asked him, a bit surprised that he seemed to be taking this so well.

"Yeah, we can just fill up the house with cats or dogs, even geese if that's what you want. You're too important to me to get hung up over an idea."

#muchosbesitos #atsv miguel #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel o’hara x y/n #miguel x y/n #miguel x you #spiderman 2099 #miguel spiderman #miguel spiderverse #spiderman atsv #miguel o'hara #miguel ohara #miguel o’hara imagine #miguel smut #miguel 2099 #miguel x reader #miguel fic #miguel ohara drabble #miguel o’hara spiderman 2099 #spiderman 2099 fluff #spiderman smut #spiderman 2099 smut #spiderman across the spiderverse #spiderman #across the spiderverse #miguel ohara spiderman #miguel o'hara smut #smut #fluff #miguel o'hara x you

[art-of-ket]

Questions

Miguel O'Hara is acting odd when you go to speak with him about the nature of the Web of Life and Destiny and having a future despite his past.

This is my first time publishing a fic here so I hope y'all like it :) leave me some critiques and comments!

GN reader, SFW, minor acts of aggression, so much angst

______

"Mr. O'Hara?"

You walked cautiously into his office as if on tightrope, ready to leave as quickly as possible if necessary.

"What is it?" 

The room was unusually dark, orange glow from the screens high up the only indicator of his existence. He muttered something to Lyla and she appeared in front of you, materializing from your watch. She whispered to you conspiratorially. 

"He's in a mood again, y/n."

"I heard that." He echoed.

"I'll leave you two to it." She winked and fizzled out of vision.

You stood for a moment, watching the arch of his back sway as he worked. Should you wait?

"You can come up here…" You complied and shot some web to the platform, landing quietly behind him. "I'm still in the middle of something but I need a break anyways." 

He shifted to face you. His eyes had darker than usual lines under them. 

You had visited him alone a few times before, and each time he treated you much friendlier than expected. Whenever you were in a group meeting, he was always brash and sometimes aggressive. Much unlike now. He was quiet and patient for you. Maybe it was like that for some of the others when they met him privately. You hadn't asked around. But you were still curious.

"I was wondering if you had time to talk for a bit?" 

"Sure." He folded his arms and leaned back.

"Well… I've been thinking about the multiple dimensions and canon."

"You wouldn't be the only one. What about it?"

"If we have to follow our stories out in our own worlds, what does that mean for here? I'm sure it wasn't planned out that we'd all meet."

He stayed silent.

"So do those same rules apply here?"

His eyes flicked back to you.

"What do you- of course they still apply."

"So it's just canon for all of us to be in your dimension?"

"Probably not originally. But the Great Web was spun that way."

"Just like it was spun to punish you?"

He looked at you incredulously. 

"You don't know what I did."

"I know enough that it isn't fair that you're trying to clean this all up by yourself."

"I'm not doing this alone."

"Then stop acting like it." You said it so quick you let out a gasp as if it got past against your will. Which it kind of had. You never spoke to him like that. You met his gaze with wide eyes.

"Okay then." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tell me, y/n, what do you want me to act like? You want me to be ignorant to the possibilities of all our dimensions' destruction?"

"No, I…"

"Cause I've already seen worlds ripped apart, children… children screaming, people dying. I can't let it keep happening." His tone raised and hitched painfully.

You took in a breath.

"And what happens once you fix it? Are you just going to wait patiently for the next accident and not make a new life for yourself?"

"I already found a life for myself and it didn't work. I don't deserve another chance." He turned away from you and gripped the desk so hard you swore the metal creaked.

"And who decides that?" You took a step towards him.

His shoulders hunched, head dipped, quivering with frustration.

"Miguel…"

He moved so fast you had blinked and found claws hovering at your eye line. You looked at his face, not even scared enough to have flinched, and saw red staring back at you. Words hung from your parted lips. He had almost attacked you. So why had he stopped?

He huffed and swung his arm back at the desk. He slumped in defeat, keeping his claws stuck in the metal.

"You should leave." 

But you didn't. For the same reason he hadn't hurt you. Instead, you lowered a hand to his broad shoulder. 

"We still have choices to make. No matter what the web says." Your breath shook at the end. He didn't move. You stood in silence for a while. With no response, and having made your point, you decided to leave. Before your hand could pull away, he grabbed your wrist. 

"How? Why are you like this? Even after seeing the darkest sides of humanity… you still show kindness. What's wrong with you?" He looked up only enough for you to see his eyes were back to an orange hue. You met his gaze steadily.

"If I don't, who will?" You sadly chuckled. "Afterall, it's all part of being a spider-person, y'know? Staying strong, getting back up when no one else can…"

You couldn't know how much he wanted to say sorry. There's no way he'd be able to put into words how deep his regret had changed him. So he deflected.

"You called me Miguel this time, y/n." He reluctantly let go of your wrist.

"Oh. Oh! I uh… didn't overstep any formalities… I'm sor-"

"It's okay. You can call me Miguel." He stood and pulled his fingers from the desk and tried to brush the shredded metal off. That was unsuccessful, so he just tilted his hips to cover it from your sight. "I'll uh, have to tell Lyla to get someone to fix that…" He stared at you, feeling like a fool. 

"I wish I could help you with that." You rubbed your arm, pulling at the suit.

"You already have helped." He caught himself when you stared back. "I mean with the other stuff. You are helpful. I'm mumbling." He rubbed the back of his hair and let out a sigh. "I'm so so sorry…" 

"I know." 

Words hung in the air and the bizarre nature of your visit shook your inhibitions.

"So you uh, talk with everyone else in private this way?" You chuckled.

His eyes grew wide.

"What way?" Before you could say anything. "No of course I do, yeah…" 

"No?"

"Did I say no? I don't think I said no…"

"You did."

"Well I don't let just anyone get away with the stuff you pulled, that's for sure." He smirked and instantly regretted it.

"Oh."

"I mean. Ugh. Just don't mention that to anyone. I'm not going soft."

"Oh of course not…"

You looked at the floor smiling in thought. He hadn't really given you the answers you wanted after all. 

"Why did you ask about what I'd do after all this is done?" That threw you off.

"Well uh someone's got to ask you… make sure you have someone to look forward to."

"Someone?" Your face flushed.

"Something! I meant something!" He raised an eyebrow. 

"Well I'm open to suggestions then, I suppose. Who… I mean, what, should I look forward to?" He teased.

"It could be someone you look forward to spending time with. Or just any kind of thing at all really." You backed up towards the edge of the platform. You were digging your grave with each word. "Uh, I should go now…" 

"I look forward to talking with you again then, y/n… hopefully with less of me making a fool of myself." You squeaked at his tone and facial expression. 

"Yeah, uh, of course!" He was teasing but also… was he flirting with you, or was he just so hot that it made everything he said with a smile sound flirty? You couldn't manage an answer, so you quickly turned and fled from that awkward interaction. He watched as you ran from the room.

"Lyla."

"What was that about? Did you really need to ruin another desk?"

"Lyla, focus, does y/n have feelings for me?" 

She just laughed.

#across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #miguel o'hara x reader #gn reader #spiderman 2099 x reader #spiderman 2099 x you #miguel o'hara x y/n

[greenerteacups]

Vague Statement of Authorial Preferences on "Constructive Criticism"

I've written this carefully to try to avoid sounding ungrateful or oversensitive. I get wonderful engagement on Lionheart, and 99% of it is positive, heartwarming, flattering, humbling. I'm grateful for that every day, and I never take it for granted. Whatever the 1% consists of, I acknowledge it's a vanishing fraction of the response. The last thing I want to be is a sour grape.

That being said, I think the fic must've been recced on a non-D/H forum, because there's been a few... slightly more critical comments lately. Not a ton, but they're there. Which is fine. I acknowledge I'm a little sensitive to criticism on fanfic, mostly because it's supposed to be my fun, no-pressure, no-bad-vibes hobby, and I've had the occasional self-critical spirals that stop me from writing. But that's no one's problem but mine. Also, it's the Internet. People will say what they think. That's the bug, and that's the feature. I've been around long enough to acquire a decently thick skin. I just don't really want to use it in this particular forum, for this particular thing.

(For the record: pointing out typos, wrong word choices, wrong use of "it's/its," that's fine. And cracking jokes about the fic is a fun way to engage! I'm really not harsh about this, I don't think. But if your only comment is a major structural criticism of how I conceive and do plots: that's the kind of feedback I'm talking about here.)

I want to stress a lack of ill will towards critics; some of them have been respectful. In fact, a lot of them word their comments like they're editors on a project they like — which is what I believe they think they're doing. I don't see any malice in it; it's just a problem of different Internet circles with different Internet etiquette bumping into each other. So I thought I should clarify! Here's my standing declaration of etiquette preference: there is a difference in the standard of expected criticism between published work that you pay for and amateur work you get for free. I have a job. I get critique in my job, I work with it, I learn from it, I grow from it. Fanfiction is my hobby. The places I seek critical feedback on my skills are not, respectfully, the AO3 comments section.

And if you've spent hours of your time reading 600,000 words of free fiction and all you could think to say about it was something critical, you and I are very different kinds of participant in fandom, and that's probably a sufficient reason for us not to interact.

#lionheart

[catsnkooks]

happy star wars day

a little psa while we're in the spirit and in light of recent events

if you have ever, ever ever, sent anyone hate about anything they've created, you don't belong in the star wars fandom

this applies to:

leaving hate comments on fics

"critiquing" artwork

sending hateful anons about anything (especially ships)

just in general telling people how your version of x character is better and that people should write/draw them exactly that way

i am tired of seeing my favorite creators pushed out of the fandom bc y'all can't enjoy shit and simply back away if you don't like something

grow up. find your niche. don't send hate

#star wars #fandom wank #things kooks says #bad faith arguments will not be tolerated #and will be deleted

[kcrabb88]

Not to vent on main, but I do want to talk about this because I think it speaks to a bigger issue in fandom recently. So, there's been a small but noticeable trend recently of people coming onto Quinlan/Obi-Wan content that I make and either saying "I liked this except for the QuinObi and/or Quinlan himself" or commenting on something as to why it was QuinObi and not another more popular ship. This happened recently in a comment I got on a fic and also on a piece of QuinObi art that I paid for, among other things. First, that's a shitty thing to do. You don't come into comments and complain that it's not what you like. Second, I gotta say, I have not experienced having people who like super popular ships coming to me, whose ship is a rowboat, and complaining that my content, or content I paid to have created, isn't their ship in any fandom I've ever been in. You're right! It's my ship. I love them and will continue to write about them. If a few people have written QuinObi because of me (and they have! Which is so nice!) I'm still not rocking the fandom boat. I am not making a dent in the behemoth ships that are out there. I ran a QuinObi week which was so wonderful and I will do it again, but it's not going to suddenly steal writers away from other popular ships (also, multi-shipping exists!) I'm not a threat. Not that we should think of things that way, but it does start to come across like that when stuff like this happens, like I'm getting in the way of an agenda.

I've been in fandoms where I shipped a big ship and got complained to by someone shipping idk, I hesitate to call it a rival ship, but that's the only word I can think of. Still not nice, but coming to me about my SMALL SHIP is much more unexpected and much more unkind as far as fandom power dynamics go.

People have gotten truly aggressive about both fanon and popular ships. No one, whatever the fandom, is obligated to ship the popular ship you like. Not everyone is going to fit the mold of popular fandom trends, and they don't have to. They should be able to create what they like without being bothered about it. People seem to believe now that if you ship a pairing that you also hold an Approved slate of beliefs about every other character in fandom. That you follow what I've been calling a Fandom Map. Well, some people like to mix it up. Fandom isn't a hive mind and diversity of characters and pairings should be encouraged. I think it's ironic that I have to be extremely nervous to make a post critiquing a popular fandom trope but people can come to me and be rude about my way less popular shipping preferences. I’m not a fandom vending machine. If you don’t like one thing but enjoyed others tell me what you did like and leave the rest out. Or don’t read it. Crits like this aren’t even dislikes about story elements (and even those are more for Goodreads than Ao3) they’re crits about my personal taste.

(As to Star Wars fandom in particular, I continue to think it's really off that people are so weird about Quinlan generally, and dumb him down, among other crimes. You have to start to wonder why and when you wonder, the results of that wondering aren't great).

tl ; dr don't be a jerk. We're all here because we enjoy something.

#KCrabb rambles #Star Wars tag #Quinlan Vos #QuinObi

[nientedal]

On Constructive Criticism.

Hey friends. You ever want to leave a critique on a fic, and the author says they like constructive criticism/"concrit," but then you leave your critique and you try to make it complimentary but the author still seems less than thrilled with you? You may have missed the point of "constructive!" Don't feel bad, you aren't alone. Took me until I started writing and receiving feedback to really figure it out.

The key to remember is, "constructive" doesn't mean "nice." It doesn't mean phrasing gently, or doing a compliment sandwich (although those are fine things to do as well). "Constructive" feedback is feedback that would make the story as the author has already written it stronger.

"The execution of this character's decision to do XYZ felt a little bit out of nowhere, to me. Was that your intent? It didn't seem like it was meant to be a big twist, either. Maybe some extra foreshadowing would make it stronger, or some shock on the part of the other characters." THAT'S constructive criticism.

This is NOT constructive criticism: "This character doing XYZ thing really doesn't make for as strong a story as it could. I think he should have done NQD thing, instead. That would have been better."

The first example offers some ideas on how to help a character's decision land better when the reader couldn't tell what the author's intent was. It's possible the reader didn't like the decision and that's why they noticed - maybe some foreshadowing would have helped them accept it better, or some indication that it was meant to be shocking would have validated the reader's surprise & displeasure. But, crucially, the reader did not suggest anything that would require a massive rewrite. Some tweaking, sure, maybe the addition of a few paragraphs. But not a change to the character's decision as a whole, the way the second example suggested. The second example does describe something the reader thinks would make for a stronger story...but it is not something that would make THIS story stronger. It is describing a different story than the one the author has already written so far, so it's just plain ol' criticism. Constructive criticism makes the existing story stronger.

That's the difference. You aren't workshopping. You are commenting on something that is already being written, that is already planned to the point where someone is already posting it. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between workshopping a story and simply giving concrit! Unless the author has specifically asked for workshop-style help, offering things to do differently from what was already written is worse than useless. Don't.

Rule of thumb: if what you're saying can be boiled down to "I think this cake would be better if it was pie," say something else. The cake is not pie. It's not GOING to be pie. I didn't ask what you think I should bake, I put cake on the table and asked what you thought of this cake. Tell me what would make THIS cake better. Not the pie you were thinking of, and not a different cake you might have liked better. THIS CAKE.

#writing #constructive criticism #concrit #fanfic #fandom #@ my fellow authors... it's also important for us to remember that even constructive feedback isn't always right #maybe the reader simply missed the foreshadowing that was there #maybe they just really really hated the character's decision and would have needed way more foreshadowing in order to accept it #but your other readers were fine #take everything with a grain of salt; don't jump to change things just because someone else thinks you should #*is* this how you want to write it? yes? then leave it #it's fine #someone not liking your work doesn't mean you should change it #just like someone getting upset when you say No doesn't mean you should have said Yes

[kedreeva]

Don't you just love unsolicited grammar/punctuation/spelling critiques? I got a critique like that on one of my fics - some little shit telling me not to use ellipses because it's how "old people do it" and I should be using em-dashes and blah blah blah, and I had to tell them that a) I AM an old person and b) I used ellipses quite often in my fic and none of my professors in my creative writing classes in undergrad or my professors in my MFA program had a problem with it. They never commented again. LOL

good. I'd rather not receive a comment than get one telling me my own business when I didn't ask lol like go write your own version if you didn't like how I did mine, otherwise sit down and mindya own damn business.

#asks #commenting

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Not sure if you can help but...

I used to write fanfic a lot (not just Johnlock, but other fandoms too) and I got a particularly nasty comment on a fic months back (almost a year ago now I think) that made me delete my entire AO3 and never write anything ever again.

But I miss it so much. And every time I go to write something, the magic is just gone and I get nowhere. It's like any joy I had in writing was just sucked out by one single comment. How do I fix this?

Hey Nonny *SNUGGLE BUGGLE HUGGLE*

I'm so sorry that the "magic" feels gone, and I am so sorry that you had such a terrible experience because of one entitled asshole.

Unfortunately, I am not a professional in this regard, so please take what I say as just a grain of salt and as someone who adores and supports all creatives in this fandom... I've gotten lots of nasty comments over the years, and honestly... I take more joy that I continue on doing what I'm doing and that they're SO bloody bothered by me that I just ignored them... because really that's all you can do online. And sites like AO3 now give you the option to have your fics only be commented on by registered users only, so if you get that hate comment, just report it, block the user, and laugh at them.

I know that it's easier said than done, but to me it seems like you want to do start writing again. I've found that I just stopped caring about who my content is for, because at the end of the day, I'm doing my content for me, and it has the side effect of other people enjoying it too. I've lived long enough to just... not give a shit anymore about asshats online, because honestly they're just sad, bored people who get a sick thrill from riling people up.

BUT AGAIN, Nonny, this might be deeper than "just writing and forgetting about it" because that one comment WAS traumatic for YOU and that's VALID. I think talking to other authors might be beneficial to you to help you overcome that hurdle. FOR ME, I've found just... doing my projects with me as the primary audience does wonders. I love going back to my SUPER old stories and rereading them, because I take a lot of joy in remembering that these worlds were created by me FOR me. And looking at my old art and seeing how much I've improved often is motivation enough for me to carry on.

Actually, thinking back to my college days (OOOOOOF I'm old), we specifically had classes where the profs would rip apart our projects during critique sessions, on purpose, because in the real world, unfortunately, it is stuff you have to deal with in real life and they didn't want us to have our first experience be on-the-job. So I MIGHT be a bit more indifferent to "critiques" than most people, I'm now realizing, so AGAIN, please take what I say with a grain of salt.

That all said, you know what, Lovely? You have a lot more fans than you know, I'm sure, and they'd be thrilled to have you back <3 I REALLY REALLY wish I was better at articulating just how much I really want to see you happy, and how much of the best I hope for you. I know that my words aren't going to make everything better, but I hope they helped a bit.

If there's anyone who struggled to get over that hurdle themselves, please don't hesitate to reply or send me an anonymous message and I'll paste it here so Nonny knows that they're not alone.

And if you do, Nonny, decide to return and post up your stories, I am ALWAYS here to promote them and boost them for you <3

Please take care Nonny, and I hope you continue to write again <3 But KNOW that if you inevitably DON'T, THAT IS OKAY TOO. <3

#steph replies #chatting with nonnies #i am not a professional #writing advice #life advice #writer problems #my advice

[not-poignant]

Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing? with the understanding that no advice is universal of course

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

So I have a ton of stuff in the Pia on Writing tag that goes into a lot of detail but (with the caveat to ignore anything that doesn't work for you):

Learn to love your mistakes, because you must make a lot of them to get good at writing, so if you hold back because you're worried about your writing being bad, your shooting yourself in the foot. Your writing HAS to be bad for it to get better. Or: You need manure/shit (bad writing) to grow a really good garden (good writing). You want a good garden? Start shoveling the shit in, lol.

Clever marketing won't solve not putting the hours in to hone your craft.

In fanfiction, make sure it's fun. That doesn't mean it can't be hard sometimes, that you can't dread editing sometimes or drafting, that you can't have sadder times, but make sure that the overall net is always positive. Otherwise, take a break.

In professional writing, learn how to stop waiting for inspiration to strike, and learn to turn up on that dance floor on your own. Inspiration is a fickle dance partner, it often won't turn up unless you develop the discipline to turn up first.

Sometimes the writing you absolutely slog through that feels stilted and bad is some of your best writing. Just because it feels clunky when you're writing, doesn't mean it reads clunky. Just because it feels smooth when you're writing, doesn't mean it reads smooth. Your emotional state at the time of writing does not determine the quality of writing. Feeling good while you're writing =/= good writing. Likewise feeling bad while writing =/= bad writing.

You do not need a daily habit to be good at writing. Develop one if you want one, but personally I don't have one and I'm super happy that way. Take your weekends, have your leisure time, goddamn it, don't be a terrible boss to yourself.

Writing can be both lonely and exhausting - make some non-douchey writer friends (or artist or creative friends), and make sure you take breaks. Because writing is so cerebral, you'd be surprised how much physical activity can help with recovery, like stretching, gentle walks, workouts, etc.

Eat brain food. Snacking during writing is actually normal. I have nuts on hand for protein boosts, but I'll also eat chocolate or snack on quick energy boosts.

Stay hydrated.

Ignore any writing advice that goes 'you must do this in order to be a writer' or 'you have to do this one thing to be successful.' They're wrong. There is no one-true-path in writing with the exception that you do have to write in order to like...be a writer, imho.

You are going to want to compare yourself to others, but be very aware of who you're comparing yourself to. If you're new, why are you comparing yourself to someone with 10-20 years of experience? If you're disabled and fatigued, why are you comparing yourself to able-bodied writers? Stop competing with people outside of your metaphorical weight class, they're not your competition. I'm not going to tell you not to compare yourself to others, but be very careful of how you compare yourself to others. I've had new writers be like 'I could never do your wordcounts (so I'm not as good of a writer)' and like, no friend, neither could I 10 years ago. This is literally a decade of hard work and practice. Some skills really just come with time. (Also most writers are more successful after writing less words than me so y'know lol).

If you get shitty comments/critiques, remind yourself that if you wouldn't take personal advice from a complete stranger like this (and you wouldn't), then their shitty comments/critiques aren't worth your time either.

On AO3, the delete, block, moderate comments function and mute buttons are all free. USE THEM. Don't bother giving haters airtime on your fics. Elsewhere on the internet, as much as you can, try and ignore review sites. Like seriously.

Learn your writing style. Practice planning, plantsing and pantsing! Practice writing one thing or more than one thing at a time. Practice different genres. You might be surprised at what fits you as a person! Think of it like being a musician, you're not trying to be a band that already exists, you're trying to be your band and you're trying to find your sound.

You're probably very good at noticing your weaknesses, get good at noticing your strengths, and use those to shore up the places where you're still building skills.

Do writing prompts. I cannot stress this enough, but learn how to write settings. Describe the dialogue of a friend. Write a character dossier on a television character. Practice worldbuilding, practice character building.

Fill the well. Read broadly across many genres. Watch many different types of media. Listen to many audiobooks. The best way to not sound derivative of a particular order is to saturate yourself with inspiration from hundreds of different places.

That's probably enough! dklsjfdas

~

From this meme!

#asks and answers #pia on writing #memey goodness #idk advice is hard honestly #learn about good story structure #write down the things you love and don't love in your favourite novels and fics #do the same for your own works #be compassionate to yourself #don't be an asshole boss to yourself #administrator gwyn wants this in the queue

[ao3commentoftheday]

I was scrolling through a post about "good comment" or something??? I did NOT know "all comments are welcomed" =/= "critiques are welcomed." I think I've been rude now that it's been pointed out to me from a different perspective I - 🤡 I wanna shrivel up and die omg I'M SO SORRY

Please don't feel bad 💓

Some authors mean all (nice) comments welcome. They're referring to short comments, long comments, emoji comments, reaction gifs, etc. They're not talking about concrit and corrections. Other authors mean all (of any kind) comments welcome, including concrit. You have no way of knowing which kind of author any particular writer is.

Generally speaking, AO3 fandom has shifted to prefer comments without critique in them. This isn't true of every website, and it's certainly not true of every author on AO3. It's just a general rule of thumb you can use if you don't know the author and their stance on the issue.

Some authors are frustrated by this state of things and in order to make it clear that they want that kind of feedback, they use the tag constructive criticism welcome. Others use @longlivefeedback's Comment Project to create an end note for their fics that clearly lets readers know exactly what kinds of comments they like to receive, as well as whether or not they reply.

I appreciate these authors for taking this extra step to make sure that the feedback they're receiving is aligned with their preferences on the matter. While "all comments welcome" seems like it's a clear statement, it really does leave a lot of opportunity for miscommunication.

#asks and answers #how to ao3

[lastoneout]

Been seeing a lot of increasingly hostile posts about this pop up again from both sides and honestly I think that "you should work on decoupling your drive to create from your desire for validation bcs audiences are fickle and algorithms are evil, so it's in your best interest to create for yourself first and foremost" and "if you want the creators you like to continue making stuff you should try to give them feedback and support in whatever way you can bcs the internet is fucked and while someone might bake just for the fun of it, if they spend six hours on a cake and take it to a potluck and no one touches it that's naturally going to be discouraging" are concepts that can and should coexist.

Like I don't think fans should feel SO pressured to engage in the Correct Way that they stop engaging all together(like if someone truly does not have the energy to comment on every fic they read I don't want them to stop reading fics in general, hearing about that makes me really sad, I want people to read my stuff even if they can't/don't want to comment), and I do think some people can go a bit too far when making "pls reblog stuff" PSAs, but I also don't think artists/writers are inherently being whiny and selfish for desiring support from the people who enjoy their stuff, especially bcs algorithms are stupid and evil and the internet kinda just sucks in general for creators so that fan feedback is really the only support a lot of us are ever going to get(and also there's also nothing wrong with pointing out general trends in fan engagement and culture and critiquing how some of them are concerning/harmful).

Is it good to create for yourself first and foremost? Yes. Is it normal to want feedback and support? Also yes. Are you obligated to reblog/comment on every single piece of art you find that you like? Not at all. Is it still a good idea to try to support people when you can? Absolutely.

Idk I just think there's nuance here that gets ignored. I'd love to hear what other people have to say tho, cuz I think this conversation needs to happen, so feel free to chime in.

#I feel like I've maybe made a post like this before but I can't remember #but yeah just trying to get my thoughts in order on this one

[greenerteacups]

Hey! Recently I've noticed an influx of overly-detailed criticising comment on some of the fanfiction stories I've been reading and your post came at the right time.

I completely agree about the difference of criticising published works and fanfiction which is basically a free gift to us (though I'd count Lionheart as great writing worthy of publishing no doubt!). But some of the comments I've been seeing in the recent months regarding ANY fic, really make me feel bitter, I guess. Especially when the reviews seem almost pretentious (as if this is a teacher critiquing a 19th century novel in the most detailed way?) so I feel for authors who do this as a hobby and put a big effort to it, as well. Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate Lionheart, always!

Yeah, and it's really strange — when you reply to those comments saying you're not interested in concrit, they usually hit back with "wow, don't be so hostile," even when you were expressing a perfectly polite preference to not receive this kind of feedback.

It's bizarre to me that some people think the Internet is the kind of place where just producing content = welcoming and embracing criticism. My brother, this is not an artist's studio, it is the gallery. You are walking around at a showcase shouting about how you don't like the paintings. Even if you have really good, smart reasons for not liking them, you're still committing a faux pas.

It is embittering, but I try to remember that such an overwhelming majority of comments are effusively positive, and it's just a toxic human brain trait to fixate on the negative. When I engage with concrit — which I try not to do — I've tried to be reasonable, but a polite "hey man, I know you're trying to help, but no thanks!" is hard to do when a total stranger has just sent you an unsolicited message telling you you're doing something wrong. Still, one does try.

That said, I confess I won't be too terribly upset if some of those reviewers are insulted by my "hostile" responses. Whatever gets them out of my inbox, lol.

#greenteacup asks #thank you for the kind words! means a lot esp today :)