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Having even slightly popular mutuals is so cool. The king has bestowed upon me a like. Perhaps even a reblog

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I actually don’t mind that “dead dove” has become conversational shorthand for “fics with heavy themes where you REALLY need to pay attention to the warnings”. such is the nature of language. what i do mind is when people tag their actual fics with dead dove and then give no indication of what they’re actually warning about. that is useless. that helps no one. that is completely against the spirit of the meme. i will not be reading that

#I'm furrowing my brows at super bdsm #bdsm functions the exact same way dead dove does #like that could mean anything

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dune is so funny it literally opens like

CHAPTER 1

“It sucks that I understand Time Cube and as such cannot avoid becoming a genocidal dictator,” young Paul Atreides said to himself. “For me. Moral complexity is such a burden.”

CHAPTER 2

“Heard any good slurs for poor people lately?” asked the Baron Harkonnen homosexually, knocking back another shot of orphan tears.

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put a "∞" in my ask box and I'll shuffle my music player and give you my favorite lyric from the song that comes up.

#I'm avoiding packing

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"This is what I think. Fanfiction, as long as you're not being too creepy with it, because there is a line - everyone knows what those lines are, don't cross the line - I think it's a great way for people to express their creativity and also read more. Because it's hard to get people to read nowadays. And if you're reading a fanfic, that is increasing your attention span a lot more than a TikTok, so I don't think it's a bad thing. I think obviously the lines are blurred a bit when you're writing about real people, and each individual might feel different levels of comfort about the fact they're being shipped with a fictional character or another YouTuber. I think that's more of a strange grey area. But for me - if you're not being too weird - I am alright with it." - Phil Lester, 2024

(Those lines not to be crossed and not being too weird most likely meaning don't send creators/people fanfic of their works/them and keep it in fandom spaces)

#Phil is out here reading RPF #he said David Boreanaz/Seth Green NOW #idk why this video and this statement push me over into the #yeah they're definitely together currently camp #but here I am

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reblog for bigger sample size

#I priv bookmark only the most questionable smut #you can see everything else

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Rules: In a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words. Or as many as you feel like. tagged by @tomatowrites on my main!

“Why would you want it to be?” Kent laughs, “Doesn’t really matter, does it? We look enough alike. You can pass it off.”

there's simply no way i'm gonna be able to tag 23 people. hold on. let's tag...the number of sentences in this line, hmm?

@intoapuddle @fictropes @jestbee @psychicmoth @calvinahobbes

#memes #torturing kent parson likes its my job

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i just wanted to say that you have such an incredible skill for atmosphere and internal monologue; i just read your forever wip where phil is a faceless editor and even incomplete, you create this wonderful tension and anxiety throughout. as a reader, you feel so instantly tuned in to phil's way of thinking, his distrust and detachment permeate so much of the story. he thinks with an editor's viewpoint to both comedic and devastating effect and it's so interesting to read

nonny, this is such a wonderful compliment, wow! I really appreciate it so much, I think creating an atmosphere and tone for a story is one of my favorite parts. I'm so glad you liked the forever wip, I still think about her sometimes, that was one of my favorite Phils to write.

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I just wanted to say I absolutely adore your writing, some of your works are comforts of mine i repeatedly go back to and I just wanted to let you know! It’s just so well written and UGH they’re absolutely brilliant I love them

aw thank you friend! that really means a lot 💙💙💙

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fandom panopticon etc etc

Been hearing this is a problem again. Don't be a dick in bookmarks, folks. And yes while I made this image, I'm giving free reign. Take it. Spread it far and wide. Because I'm hearing that some readers don't know that their bookmarks are visible.

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this is a really interesting older thread. ultimately, I fall in line with OPs thoughts but more than that I think the idea that you're never allowed to be anything other than positive in comments begat the culture we have now, where youre apparently only allowed to be neutral to negative about fic in the most private of spaces. I think that shit is wildly unhealthy, normalizes internalized surveillance culture and BNFs (derogatory).

Personally, I prefer a bets/writing group situation when possibly, bc there's a level of trust and understanding that you won't get by a random passerby, so I'm not just like FLAME EVERYONE!!! but I do think this attitude has had a chilling effect on commenting culture.

Unpopular Opinion - Reflections on a culture of nice in ficdom

AO3 has ‘comments’ and ff.net has ‘reviews’. They serve the same surface function but this distinction is powerful in its consequences, especially once bulk fandoms started posting more on ao3 and less on ff.net.

Everyone is terrified to give criticism on AO3 lest they be called a monster or a bully. And the reasons to discourage it are grounded in empathy and a culture of positivity that on the surface, seems like it can’t be argued with. Who can dispute the idea that “if you can’t say something nice to you shouldn’t say anything at all”? FWIW, I think this is part of a bigger system of fear-based cultural trends in fandom social platforms as a whole, but I’ll contain my opinion to AO3 for a moment.

Here’s the truth: getting negative feedback of any kind is hard. It stays with you. It sucks. Sometimes it’s not about your story at all, it’s just harassment about fandom drama. Or sometimes it is about your story and it’s just really mean. And if you’re an active fan or prolific writer, you’ll see more of the grossness bc people like to target someone who stands out. Sometimes it’s not huge or evil it’s just something that didn’t work for the reader and they’re letting you know.

Here’s another truth: when you develop a group culture where all critical/negative feedback is treated like an insult or attack, no matter how mild, you eventually eliminate the spaces for people to provide useful, informative, or sincere criticism. Instead of a space where it’s understood that this is a working community and everyone is here to grow and be better, it’s just about the author posting their art and closing their eyes to any type of response that isn’t reassuring.

In years past on ff.net, in fandoms like BtVs, anime, Harry Potter, AtLA… I would give detailed feedback on chapters, the things I loved, the things that confused me, the things I thought didn’t make sense, the typos they might have missed, where I thought it was true to characters or not. I also received a lot of reviews to this effect. These could be a page long. It was common. If I read a fic that had parts that didn’t sit well with me, I said so, very openly, in a review. I also got messages that did the same.

Because it wasn’t a comment, it was a review. And that difference is huge.

So what’s upshot? From the conversations I’ve had and read, many authors prefer the AO3 culture. They don’t want to be reviewed, they want only supportive comments. And emotionally, I get that. I really do. I’ve been writing since 2001 in over 20 fandoms and I’ve received pretty much any kind of good or bad response that one can get for a story.

But doing it this way, we have lost something. We’ve lost a community that fosters writing and, by extension, internet communication, in a way that teaches you to accept the slings and arrows of public discourse gracefully. We’ve lost a culture that trains you to realize that you can get a flaming horrendous response to art that you posted and it’s not the end of the world. You don’t have to quit fandom and you don’t have to cry for an hour over it. You learn to treat it like noise and you learn to pull the critical value from it that you can. Having a culture that fosters criticism doesn’t just make you hardened against petty bullshit, but it also means someone can feel comfortable saying “I didn’t dig this part of the story and here’s why” and they’ll know it’s not about you and you know it’s not about you, so it doesn’t feel like your heart is getting carved out. There’s a space for talking about the work as a work.

I know that I’m a pretty good writer. I’m not the most consistent or the most creative or the most impactful, and I definitely don’t have the artistic discipline to write a novel sized story. There’s things I need to learn and ways I can improve. But I’m pretty fair at putting a sentence together. While most of that is from practice, I think no small amount is that I learned to write at a point in online fandom culture where I got all forms of feedback, not just approval. I whined a lot at the time, but the criticisms (and my responses to them) shaped me as much as the approvals.

It made me a stronger writer, and even more importantly, it gave me the tools to know when to let something affect me and when to let it slide down my back. It taught me to draw a line between my emotional self and internet drama.

That is a line that is badly, badly needed in fandom right now. We need the ability to talk about things without giving and taking personal offense. We need to respect that there are things we don’t like out there but still cannot and should not change, because our right to exist freely depends on theirs.

By eliminating any small negativities of any kind from our fanfic writing experience (in the name of protection and politeness), writers are growing up weaker. Their writing is weaker, their ability to handle criticism is weaker, their ability to give criticism is basically non-existent, and the subsequent drive toward conformity means everything is a lot more vanilla. There’s less weirdness, less wildness, less original characters and less of anything that isn’t default pleasant or familiar.

I can’t change this, I know that. Many people don’t think these problems I’m describing are happening at all bc it doesn’t match their fandom experience. They wouldn’t change it at all, to them it’s progress. At different times in the past I’ve contributed to the same stuff I’m now calling a problem. It’s taken a while (years) to accept that the community has shifted and that I’m part of that. Because it seemed to make sense and there’s some very moving discussions about keeping things positive to protect the author’s delicate self.

I’m not delicate though. And spending my formative teen fanfic years in a world where feedback was open is one of the reasons why. It made me a better writer and a tougher writer. And I know, from personal conversations, that I’m not at all alone in citing this.

End of the day, this is just reflection. I too conform to the culture of stifling-nice on AO3 comments bc I know that if I did start leaving critical feedback (even wrapped in a nice compliment sandwich), many writers would not know how to react to it. To them, I’d be an interfering bullying jerk who didn’t stay in my lane of being a passive, blindly supportive consumer. And that… well that state of affairs is a real pity, I think. It’s also a pity because fear of saying the wrong thing or an insufficient thing is one of the most commonly cited reasons that people say they don’t leave comments. I’d rather have more comments and accept some critical ones in the mix than to be living in the feedback drought that that is so prevalent. So yeah, I’m sorry this has happened and I’m sorry I contributed to it. As much as I love AO3, and will continue to support it, champion it, part of me also resents that they led us to this.

I think in the dream of making things kinder, we’ve fundamentally made fandom weaker, inside and out. And that weakness leads to people who, when they are faced with challenges, act out of fear, not out of reflection or respect.

Good intentions, y'all. Good intentions. We treated each other like babies, and now we’re vulnerable like them.

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editing your own writing is like woah you really like commas........ maybe ease up on those commas there, pal........ maybe Fewer commas would be nice

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I just....I just learned that there's a word in the English language...for when you run into someone to hug them with all the enthusiasm and strength you have....I learned that it's called glomp.

My God, English has so many words to describe physical intimacy, I'm in love

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REVERSE TROPE WRITING PROMPTS

Too many beds

Accidentally kidnapping a mafia boss

Really nice guy who hates only you

Academic rivals except it’s two teachers who compete to have the best class

Divorce of convenience

Too much communication

True hate’s kiss (only kissing your enemy can break a curse)

Dating your enemy’s sibling

Lovers to enemies

Hate at first sight

Love triangle where the two love interests get together instead

Fake amnesia

Soulmates who are fated to kill each other

Strangers to enemies

Instead of fake dating, everyone is convinced that you aren’t actually dating

Too hot to cuddle

Love interest CEO is a himbo/bimbo who runs their company into the ground

Nursing home au

#divorce of convenience is extremely my shit

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Can I be controversial for one sec

#like I'm glad that we don't do the I'm only gay for you thing #but I wish stories featured more friction like this

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"we've never fucked on youtube, though i'm sure people want us to" is the kind of thing that, in 2017, would've shut all of tumblr down. cause what do you mean "on youtube".

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fic: hangman (answer me now)

hangman (answer me now) dan/phil M 905 [how do you get used to the haunting?]

a/n: while you all were booping, i was studying the blade (watching DanandPhilCrafts repeatedly).

#several days later reblog #lol who are all of yall #ty for reading tho