#i might have problems but at least i don't ship nonsense bullshit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

olderthannetfic · 1 month

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I found AO3 pretty intuitive. Took me like 5 minutes to realize how all the little buttons work. They're pretty straightforward. Apart from the AND filters - took me a while to realize what type of filters AO3 used. Beyond that, I'm not sure why people have a hard time? Wattpad and FFnet are way more of a pain in the ass.

It's all about familiarity.

I mean, look, AO3 works how my brain works. When we first set it up, it was what we were all used to, more or less, but an upgrade. It was hard to even see how it could ever be unintuitive because this was just How Things Were. From the style of trope tags to the fact that there's an index of fandoms by media type, it was all familiar.

But that thinking is a trap.

It's easy to say "Oh, well, that person's just an idiot", and sometimes, the problem really is laziness or sleep deprivation, but a lot of the time, it's different cultural context.

By the time we were designing AO3, I'd had many rounds of formal instruction in how to use library catalogues of various sorts, familiarity with Delicious, years in LJ slash fandom whose assumptions form the metadata structures of AO3, etc.

There's nothing strange about going "Why are ship types a top level system of organization?" or "How do I search for genre X in any anime fandom but not in non-anime fandoms?"

It's strange to me, but it's not strange in the context of people who read fanfic overall.

It's not just about learning the search features that do exist: it's about unconscious assumptions about what metadata must exist.

If you don't know to look for something and you aren't coming from a culture where poking buttons is encouraged, you're going to take a lot longer to find things than if you already have a good idea of what's probably there somewhere.

To pick two very obvious examples:

If I were designing a gen-focused archive, I'd make genre a top-level organization system, like on FFN.

If I were designing a more x-reader-focused or One True Character-focused archive, I'd make the ship searches work like Character X/Anyone instead of having to click on each ship of your blorbo or each ship with Reader.

If someone has years of experience searching for some bullshit 'trickyfish' style nonsense ship name because they're on sites with garbage searches, they'll go to AO3, plug some words into the search bar at the top, and then feel like they can't find any relevant results because everything that turns up is just that word in author's notes on an irrelevant fic. They might even go to advanced search...

...and then totally miss that the sidebar filters are the best part of AO3, and they don't appear when you do a search search as opposed to starting from a tag.

Isn't Advanced Search the most... well... advanced search? On every other website, it is, but not on AO3.

Each new site/technology/culture/etc. a person has to learn takes time and attention. If you're exhausted and burnt out, that's hard. Even if you're not, it takes at least some effort. It doesn't Just Happen, not for every person and every new thing.

We should tell people to read the damn FAQ, yes.

But I can't say I always do that myself on every site unless I'm both having a problem and invested enough to care about solving it.

On an average day, most of us don't need to care why some people have a hard time figuring out AO3.

But if anyone is planning to design a site or needs to teach a bunch of kids how to use the library or something, it's worth keeping in mind just how many unconscious assumptions are hiding behind the idea of something—literally anything—being "intuitive".

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mamamittens · 3 months

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Not bed time yet but I am having some fun considering this in my head.

More nonsense for Nikia's story!

You know, when I was making her, I did consider other shippy stuff besides Thatch.

Mostly my top fav blorbos, because why not?

It's not a long list (will likely be longer when I actually catch up to OP)

Ace was tempting but out because I mostly just want to hug the poor bean. He needs more of those and some light teasing, it's what he deserves. Nikia and Ace would just devolve into sibling bullshit, I can see it now. She just pesters the shit out of him and while a little bit of that is fine, thats not usually a very healthy couple dynamic.

Marco was another nice idea but that's just my bird + even cooler bird = Really Cool ✨ birds ✨ thought process at work. He also deserves some head kisses though, make no mistake, but less aggressive than Ace's and more "sleep now, u fucking workaholic". They'd vibe together really well though in chill time.

Shanks... I just don't think Nikia could take him seriously and the excessive drinking would not appeal to her at all. Just a no go all around but she would find him fun to hang out with at a party so long as she didn't have to drink too.

And that's about as far as my thoughts went before zeroing in on Thatch for no discernable reason.

Actually, I think it's the smile. I just really like a nice smile.

Funnily enough, I also put some thought to his most popular ship, Izo X Thatch. Not sure how it happened, to be honest. Though I can see why with some thought, it's not as intuitive as Marco X Ace (what with all the fire and contrasting traits). I would be interested to know how this ship got so ubiquitous, it may just be a case of these two not having many other ships in general.

Which raised the question of putting Nikia in there too, but I'm still a tad thrown with the idea of shipping my SI (as somewhat warped from myself as she is) with anyone, let alone two people.

But it has popped up in my mind again. It would give me more plot to thicken up the overall story. Hate writing short stories for OCs, seems like a waste, idk how else to put it. And it would give more reason on Thatch's side to not initiate if him and Izo have a more open relationship. Maybe they can take another lover if the other approves or at least knows (I imagine this is a useful rule as long as you don't get jealous and it helps avoid any awkwardness if it's suddenly revealed).

Some fun drama of Izou chiding him for stringing some poor girl along for a fling and Thatch being offended like "I don't want a fling though! That's the problem!" So they unpack that together as Izou chides him more for giving her his nicest foulard despite not going for it at all. But ultimately understanding why he doesn't because damn, that would be pretty rude to enter a serious commitment only to leave her most of the year while he gets to stay with his other lover. And she hasn't taken a lover of her own yet so she'd literally be left in the cold waiting for him to call! He can't do that! Not to mention it seems a bit much to throw in Izou to the mix when it took so long for Thatch to warm her up to him.

Too complicated and messy despite really wanting it.

And it would give me the perfect opportunity to let Nikia know earlier since Izou would definitely call her once the dust settled. Might keep the dick move of having her still think Thatch is dead but as a deliberate ploy from Izou to partly keep her safe if Teach found out about their... Thing they had going on and so she doesn't accidentally reveal Thatch survives (or maybe at first Izou really did think he'd die). The other part was in the hopes that she'd find someone she could actually commit too without the complicated bullshit of being in a long distance relationship with pirates.

Probably takes a bit to realize that she absolutely really loved Thatch more than a friend and feels horrible for lying.

She doesn't and always asks how he's holding up before even hinting at her own grief, which doesn't help Izou feel any better about lying. Izou would get some shit for that and he feels increasingly worse for his ruse as he calls her regularly to talk. Feels nice to mourn a (sort of) lover with someone who isn't also reeling from the personal betrayal of a shared brother. Maybe he catches feelings too (Thatch will laugh hard at him for this). Admits that he'd have approved wholeheartedly if given the chance but stops before including he would have liked to be involved too, she'd have fit so well with their dynamic on board. Stops because he meant to let her keep her feelings to herself to mourn as she wants without mixing himself with it (how mortifying to be told my a 'dead' man's lover that they know how you felt after the fact the whole time) but the call breaks down into a very emotional one that, once again, does not help his guilt.

Just, the timeline where I bully everyone for a needlessly long time before letting them be happy.

Or maybe I won't do any of that at all but it does make the overall story more interesting, that's for sure!

#mittens rambles #absolute nonsense #but the sheer ✨drama✨#and irony of Izo falling into the same trap Thatch did for different reasons #the woman that made two separate yonko pirates stumble and hesitate #while scowling and fussing about her winter cabin like a hermit

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