#like you do you fic writers owe us nothing etc etc but it read more like someone's parent fantasies than ofmd fic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gingergofastboatsmojito · 2 months

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Catharsis / FYI / Lesson Learned

Just know that when you see a non-Sydcarmy fic out there with a plot that includes codependency syndrome, a hotel chain poaching Carmy and taking him abroad, a happy ending, and Donna being a recovered alcoholic, which I have already mentioned time and time again on my blog that I think is gonna be her redemption arc (unless she dies), and that the main non Sydcarmy couple breaks up and gets back together when her codependency syndrome is under control, THAT PLOT IS ACTUALLY MINE (and a previous Sydcarmy plot about a trans person and a gay guy befriending Carmy in rehab, too, btw) bc I made the mistake of helping a writer with her fics. Ofc I have the receipts but I rather not use them, I’m not like that. I don’t expect credit bc after this writer used me, with my consent, she blocked me. It’s fine, I was clear from the get-go and I mention this all the time on my blog, that I only enjoy, write and read Sydcarmy content and she disagreed with that. I did make a small and occasional exception for her, though and I now regret it, and quite frankly that's the only thing I regret, even knowing the end result at this point. My bad.

Not that I owe ANYONE any explanation for my preferences as a writer, reader, fan, or viewer but I have my reasons for 💯 thinking that the best writing in this fandom can be found in Sydcarmy fics and that other pairs are usually extremely OC and are typically a bunch of dialogue lines thrown out there with no plot and a lot of smut (you guys know how much I dig smut, right?), which is not really my cup of tea but I fully support that it may be others'. I just happened to notice that it's not necessarily as complex as a concept to write about, bc in that case you don't have to worry about characterization or about what the creator/writer/director/EP really meant to say or tried to convey with their work, seeing as you completely disregard or bypass it and just keep the same names. I get it though: it’s easier and more practical to just write OC and pour down on the page all your sexual fantasies in the second person. I’m just not here for it and I am not sorry about it. And I’m unapologetic about this bc as I mentioned, to each their own, let's just be open about it.

This fandom is big enough not to have to cross paths and just be able to coexist peacefully, agreeing to disagree (if you are mature enough to handle that ofc). As long as the content is properly tagged and disclaimed, etc so we can all decide what to stay away from and what to dig in, making an informed decision, that is. Let's be clear: I don’t have to like ANYTHING, none of us have to be on the same page as to what fics we think are good or bad, which ones we love or which ones we fucking hate with a passion, but we all should act with integrity, here and offline. So that being said, I wasn’t treated that way and even though I feel used, I enabled it, so… karma, I guess. I was even stupid enough to send voice notes bc I was at work and then a few messages down the convo this person said: "I think I will have X do Y and Z...", which was exactly to the T what I had suggested AS PER HER INSISTENT REQUEST a few messages prior in my voice notes. So, I guess I had it coming...

While I have only been on Tumblr for like 5 minutes (2 months and 1/2), I have been quite active in other fandoms in the past, such as LTM and TXF, because I was born in the 80s, guys :) and nothing like this has ever happened to me before, I even had an account on FF.net where I did lots of collabs, and half the time I just donated my ideas bc I was too busy to actually write the fics myself and I was traveling all the time, so it was easier for me to let someone else write the stories, I have no issues sharing as long as everything is properly labeled. Everything was dreamy back then, I never had this kinda experiences before, and will take every precaution moving forward to never have them again, because it feels shitty and OC for me.

My points are:

1- Just FYI.

2- I don’t take this lightly #LessonLearned

3- Let’s agree to disagree in peace, please.

Thanks for reading.

XOXO

#sydcarmy #the bear fanfiction #the bear fx #carmy x sydney #the bear hulu #sydney adamu #carmy berzatto #ao3 fanfic #the bear #ripped off badly #fanfic #carmen berzatto #the bear fandom

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allthingsmustfall · 4 months

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I read your Charles smith/Arthur Morgan fic and i thought the Cooper family was REALLY a quality touch to the narrative. It kinda inspired me actually. So thank you.

I have a sneaking suspicion I know this asker IRL and he is giving me a sneaky compliment, BUT I will take it. I am going to be better about taking compliments!

I've been thinking about OCs in fanfic bc I get a lot of positive feedback about mine, and generally people aren't jazzed about OCs so one or two people have asked me how I go about it. Here's some thoughts.

Readers get salty about OCs bc they're anticipating a mary sue self-insert. Mary Sue's are fine, we've all got some purple-eyed mysteriously alluring archers/sorcerers/rogues hiding in our closets, best not cast stones in that glass house of yours, etc etc. So calm down, fanfic is primarily about what we as writers get out of it and it sure as hell isn't monetary gain. Without writers, there is no fanfiction, so if people wanna lovingly write about their OCs, LET THEM. Writers owe you literally nothing. AND AND, also, i know my OCs aren't 100% believable and they have annoying Sueish elements. Caroline is a bit too cool and tragic. Anri is too funny and unflappable. But the thing is, it's FICTION. if you go too hard overcorrecting for what could be perceived as Sue, you're going to end up with characters with the personality of oatmeal. So do a little flexing, let your characters be dope as hell. Flaws make characters relatable, but it's also fun to read about people being funny and sexy and interesting while being relatable. Caroline is not as good as she thinks she is, she got herself in trouble, and she winds up with a quiet little schoolgirl crush on Charles. Anri is TOO hard around the edges - she comes down on other people so she doesn't have to look too hard at herself. They're fuckups, but they're allowed to be fun too. You are allowed to like your OCs.

I usually approach OCs from a narrative need. "I need this to happen and I don't know/there isn't a canon character that will fill this need." So for ask, but gently, the thought process went like this:

There needs to be another hurdle to make the story come together. The hurdle should be Micah catching up with them. How does Micah catch up with them?

Arthur needs to get the fuck over himself and 'forgive' Charles. He needs to be reminded of Charles selflessness

The hurdle should tie into their identities, maybe racism, homophobia, etc

3. So I basically flipped all those concepts around in my head until i came up with a missing, mixed race girl and her family. Boom. Hits all the marks. Micah gets extra villain points for not only being a thorn in Charles and Arthur's sides, but also threatens this family. Boom boom boom

4. So now we have what the OC is going to be. You can just use them like that, little bricks to build the story, and that's fine. But i think it's more helpful to then zoom out from what I need from them for plot and think about them as characters. Aside from getting tangled up in my story, what are they like, what do they love/hate, how do they gel with the world. It's not all vital, but it makes writing them interacting in the plot easier and more natural.

So, TL;DR:

Identify a narrative need

Come up with a character in a situation that fills that narrative need

Forget about the purpose they're going to solve in the plot and focus on what put them there, who they are, what makes them a full human outside the bounds of your story

#writing #my fic #i also can't let OCs go and write long meandering stories about them after the original fic is over #annnd i've got some same-face syndrome about capable funny women who DONT NEED NO MAN #I am working on this in therapy #This is fucking self indulgent #DON'T LOOK AT ME

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poeticandors · 2 years

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Hey look, I know it’s confusing with all of the anons (I know I’m not making it any better being one myself) but don’t rush or feel super pressured or anything.

I really loved part 1 and I appreciate all of the hard work that went into your making it. It was amazing, and I can tell hours and hours went into it.

I just feel like the way some people phrase things when asking for part 2 it’s basically like “gimme gimme” and it comes off as rude and demanding and doesn’t take *you* the person who is a.) not only doing this for us FOR FREE but b.) is giving up your time, energy, and effort to do this for us.

I’ve read AMAZING part ones where the author did an incredible job only for their part 2/part whatever to suck butthole because they were pressured into getting it done asap when it could have been amazing if their readers only weren’t demanding for it now, and sometimes rudely I might add. If you want something as amazing as part 1 first of all BE NICE AND ASK NICELY otherwise you might get nothing at all (or at least be brave enough to not be anonymous!) and 2 wait. It’s as simple as that! Wait and let the magic happen!

You guys writing is hard. It takes time and we’re lucky to be getting anything at all. She/He/They have a life! And they get to live it and enjoy it and when THEY FEEL LIKE IT we will get a part 2/3 etc… if you want multiple parts try to not suck the joy out of it for the author. Working them to death is going to get you the opposite of what you want. I for one know I don’t want a burned out writer who is too drained to finish their series.

It’s so so so obvious they worked so hard on this and I really appreciate it so much and loved it!

PSA: this is NOT directed towards all of the nice people who are asking *nicely* (and giving the author praise at the same time might I add) when they might expect the next part. Be nice to the authors, give them praise, and remember they don’t owe us anything!

Thank you for part 1 it was amazing and I completely understand the want for more but I don’t understand the rude and demanding people.

Take your time because I know we’d rather have something you loved and took a lot of time with and put energy and effort in! I look forward to part 2 when and if you ever want to put one up!

Thank you so much for this! I do appreciate everything you have said and also do 100% agree with you on this.

That Steve fic was my first fic in a year and I was actually surprised at the response but also grateful. I did forget that sometimes it is overwhelming.

A lot of my interactions have been positive, and I am VERY thankful for those who took the time to reach out and comment such wonderful things as well as reblog and share this fic. You guys are truly amazing and it does make me want to continue with this series!

A lot of times with fics, people do ask or even go so far as demand the next parts, or ask to be on a tag list most of the time they don’t even share or interact. As a writer, and for most others I am sure, it can be a little stressful. While I don’t think some people mean it intentionally and that they are just super excited that they forget to be thoughtful, it can make writers feel not so good…

All I ask of readers is to at least be kind to all writers. I know WE as readers really want future parts and feel like we really can’t wait because they can just be SO GOOD and we want more (hell, I want the next parts to be written already as well!!) but like you said, writers have lives too outside of this and sometimes things can’t be helped.

I really do want to put the next part out and I promise that the moment it is complete that I will. I am actually more than halfway done with it and I am making sure to take the time and look it over so it is just right for YOU all! It is in the works and should be out soon! I know we can all get anxious and excited about when/if next parts will be added.

I do want to take the time for not only you but all the others who have given praise to this fic. You guys are seriously so wonderful and that alone makes me want to write more for this. ❤️

So thank you again anon for this. I appreciate you and everyone else who have spread nothing but positivity about this and other fics! ❤️

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olderthannetfic · 2 years

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Not really related to anything fandom, but I got onto the mainstream fandom 'net pretty recently, and since I didn't really know how to use tumblr or Twitter, I became friends with some p big people in fandom purely based on commenting frequently and reaching out the way anyone, at least I thought, normally would? Like I only found out like a year into the friendship that these people had 8k+ followers and I felt kind of hurt... I know I shouldn't because these people owe me nothing but I would reblog every piece of art and fic, read and comment, encourage ideas, etc etc etc and I feel like I was just never given the same courtesy... hell, the only people who ever gave attention to my stuff were fellow small creators who never cleared 100 followers like me. I figured it was just because they all had big followers and needed to think harder about what they "supported"? Idk. I've never brought it up and I continue to support, but am I right in feeling at least a little bummed?

Feelings are always legit.

That's the thing: whether or not they owe you anything, whether or not you expected too much, your feelings are your feelings. It's not wrong to want things or to be sad when you don't get them.

Beyond that, I guess the question is what "courtesy" we owe each other as fellow fans and where you met these people and what the dynamic was. You're friends? What does that mean? You chat privately? They click 'like' when you make a post about how cool they are?

I don't generally reblog things or boost their profile as a "courtesy". I talk about the fanworks that moved me. Some creators make a lot of these. Some do not. It doesn't always match who I like as a person or even who's skilled in an objective sense.

Some prolific and busy fandom creators see their commenters as audience. They may also consider them friends and greatly appreciate the support, but it wouldn't occur to them to reverse the roles.

Other people see writers of their same ship as peers and some level of support and signal boosting as part of their duty to the fandom.

I tend to make friends in pan-fandom type spaces and don't end up sharing many specific interests with them. I support my friends in regular friendship ways, not in ways that involve boosting their content on social media.

I don't know what those people's expectations are. Perhaps, they're very different from yours. I don't know if they think carefully about what they "support". That's a very influencer-y way of thinking, which might be something they're into.

I think all of us should think carefully about what we want to spend our time on and only reblog things we enjoy having on our own tumblrs. If we want to be topic-specific, great. If it's one's personal tumblr that's just a grab bag of what one is thinking that day, great.

The only change I think ought to be there with a bigger follower count is being a little more cautious about accidentally siccing angry hordes on somebody one dislikes.

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garbagevanfleet · 2 years

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“getting started” writing advice:

I get messages pretty frequently asking me to make a post of advice on how to start writing, and I finally got around to it. Below is all I’ve got to offer you as an aspiring writer!

First and foremost, I want you to know a few things - these are the most valuable things you’ll ever hear from me.

1. I have been writing for literally over a decade. I did not start out writing like this. I started out while I was still in middle school and had no grasp on what “good” writing was. Please, please do not expect to jump into writing and be fantastic. It takes time and practice like everything else. My best advice for improving your writing is to read. Read published works - like novels and such. This is where you’ll learn better grammar and storytelling skills. 2. Remember - this is a hobby. It’s a thing you do for fun. If a project is ever causing you grief or feels too taxing, take a break from it and ask yourself if you want to continue with it in the future. There is absolutely nothing wrong with deciding to scrap something - I do it literally all the time. You owe absolutely nothing to anyone.

3. Write what you want. There are obviously limits to this (parties that are able to consent and do so enthusiastically only) but don’t ever be afraid to write queer things. Or weird prompts. I wrote a fic for One Direction that was a weird as fuck sci-fi thing about being stuck in a video game with dinosaurs. Fanfiction is a fantastic way to explore sexuality in a safe and healthy manner, so explore away.

Getting started:

What’s your pairing? Is it a reader insert (using first person) or are you making up an original character? Both are perfectly fine! Start by thinking about how you envision your characters - what are their personalities like? What are their quirks and habits? How do they speak? It always helps me to assign my characters a color (demon!Jake is red, demon!Josh is purple, etc). For some reason, that’s always helped me build their character. Remember that your characters shouldn’t be perfect people - perfect characters are boring and not believable. If you’re writing about people that exist in real life, remember that you don’t have to make them exactly like that person acts. Once we turn a real person into a character, they’re exactly that - the Josh Kiszka in Brightest Blue is not the same Josh Kiszka that exists in real life and we don’t want him to be.

What’s your plot? We know that good stories have climaxes! Exciting parts that might be good or bad. Think of your most favorite book or movie and then think about how that piece of media has a point that makes you feel uncertain - a setback in the story. Then think about how you’re going to overcome it. AU’s (or “alternative universe” fics) are my absolute favorite. Reading about Josh Kiszka as a rockstar is boring to me. Reading about Josh Kiszka as a grocery bag-boy is delicious.

Warnings. This is the VERY most important part of putting writing out there in my opinion. It’s imperative that you warn the audience about the things that could be triggering. These things include: death (of humans or animals), assault, abuse, blood, alcohol, drugs (list each drug), sexual content. Do not ever worry about spoiling your plot by adding warnings - I promise you that the safety of your readers is far more important than the integrity of your plot.

Writing smut. It’s not for everyone. It is ABSOLUTELY okay for you to not want to write it. Don’t think that it makes your story boring or immature without smut - never push yourself to write things you’re uncomfortable with. I write a lot of smut because I enjoy doing so and it’s a good outlet for my own sexuality. Don’t push yourself into it.

Once you’ve written your story, ask a friend to edit it! This is called “beta-ing” in the fic world. Always make sure the person that you ask to do so actually wants to - always always give them an out (“hey, would you mind editing my fic? It’s totally okay if not”). It’s important to remember that these amazing people are doing it for free and owe you absolutely nothing. Always be grateful and respectful of their time and energy.

My last bit of advice is to learn how and where to publish. Tumblr can be a little tricky, but there are a few things you want to keep in mind. Always familiarize yourself with the “read more” option. If you don’t know what that means, it essentially hides the majority of your fic on peoples’ dash so they don’t have to scroll through thousands of words if they don’t want to. There are tons of very helpful people in the fandom, so pick one you think is nice and ask for help if you need it.

#writing #advice

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askyourwritergrandma · 2 years

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In defense of no defense

Today I am out of questions and avoiding writing a fanfic that’s stuck on a pivotal moment I feel underprepared to make a choice for. It’s not writer’s block so much as it’s total writer’s avoidance of the issue at hand.

Onto today’s topic: how to teach yourself to stop defending yourself.

One of the things that crippled me as a young writer, years and years before this cultural mindset that demands 100% inclusivity and perfection, was the feeling that if I were to upset any single person with my writing or fail to meet their standards I was beholden to apologize to them for it and offer to make amends. Obviously, amends in this case just means ‘oh sorry I looked it up but I guess I missed somethings, I’ll do better next time!’ and not anything greater than that.

The fear of that single review or single negative comment or unexpected feedback was always in my head, even when I was happily writing my countless silly Mpreg monkey sex fics (DBZ fandom).

I’ve had people send me reviews because they didn’t like my writing style, my writing choices, my pairing choices, my use of commas, my grammar in general, my word choice, my setting, my dialogue, my characterization, the theme of the work, the middle, the ending, a divergence from canon, ignoring an issue, confronting an issue, misrepresenting their perspective on an issue, misrepresenting the age appropriate behavior of a character, my lack of warnings, my ratings, my use of sexual content, my use of child abuse, my descriptions and etc.

If there is a thing that someone was capable of disliking about something I have written, over the course of my entire writing career I have most likely seen it. In fact, I have a story on AO3 right now that gathers very passionate, sometimes very negative, reactions from people. I read them and then I let them sit because this I have learned after all these many years:

Your audience is many and you cannot please them all.

More to the point, you shouldn’t aim to please them. If you consider that your story is being read by a hundred people, and only one of them bothers to tell you that you didn’t perfectly represent depression (or whatever) in your fic and/or that you represented depression but you said nothing of schizophrenia, that review is useless.

There certainly are things that you can take away from a thoughtful, constructive bit of criticism that is give to you by a trusted writing friend or peer. These are people who are familiar with your writing style, themes, interests and intentions who genuinely want you to succeed and improve. They are offering you the advice that they’re giving because they feel it will enhance the story as it is.

Karen McAnonymous on the internet is not interested in your story for what it is. They do not want to see you succeed at sharing the message and/or idea that you came up with. (And yes, even the shortest, silliest drabble of a story is sharing something.) They are making a fuss for their own benefit because they have a misguided feeling that every story they consume is meant to fit their exact preferences and life experiences.

(Yes, of course I’ve even had someone tell me that a thing I experienced in my own life would not happen as it happened. You can imagine how that felt to have a stranger tell me my own life was imaginary and wrong.)

But back to the point, when Karen McAnonymous shows up in your comments to tell you that nobody with depression behaves how you’re writing or that you’re using an outdated, stereotype of something or another, they are telling you that you owe them the exact story they want to read. When you apologize to Karen McAnonymous, you are agreeing that you specifically failed them.

You did not fail the random internet user. You did not fail your story. You did not fail at writing.

If there is a grain of truth in the comment, take that very small grain of truth and consider how it can help you in the future. Look it up on your own, talk it out with someone you actually know and trust. Sometimes our stories are not about social justice and we are unintentionally a little bit crass but that’s also ok. Not all stories need to be perfect or sanitized if your goal was not to write a perfect and sanitized story.

Once you’ve taken that grain of truth (or discovered there isn’t one because it’s not applicable to your situation), disregard the rest.

And do not respond.

This is the most important bit. If you say anything in defense of yourself, you are admitting that there is something to defend. It’s not easy to let a negative comment sit there and stare at you, and the first few times you try to ignore it, it might haunt you but it gets easier. You start to discover a confidence that only comes with no longer defending your story from every little objection from the faceless crowd.

You can then concentrate your energy on improving your writing, crafting new messages to send via fiction and learning about the things you want to learn about.

The only thing that you need to worry about when it comes to the faceless crowd is rating and tagging your story with the appropriate items so future readers are aware of what they are about to see. If those readers click and see it and decide they don’t care for it? That’s on them, because you did your part.

Don’t let Karen McAnonymous force you to carry her torches.

Good luck friends!

#on writing #writing is hard #writblr #send me your opinions

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 3 years

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I came across that "reasons why women like non-con fics" reblog and I just wanted to share my own, if that's okay.

The reason why I read them (especially yours, as you are the only author on Tumblr I actually read lol) is to feel wanted - to be desired - and not exactly in a sexual way, I don't know if that makes any sense. I just want to be wanted by someone, anyone, even as a best friend: someone they would want to spend time with - talking, texting, sharing memes, music and funny videos - someone who'd create Spotify playlists for us; I want someone just to be with each other under the stars, on a rainy day, in the blazing sun, to share achievements and failures with, to practice my instrument and learn a new language with, to read a book together...

I wish I had someone who enjoys my company because they find me unique and challenging; someone they admire as a person - for my interests and thoughts and fucked up personality - I long to be someone who lives inside their head, someone they would spend time thinking about even as they are going about with their own business, someone for whom they would do things for, someone who wants my attention so desperately, perhaps as much as I seek theirs. I just wish my existence was acknowledged by someone who is outside my circle of blood-related folks. In short, I wish I wasn't so fucking lonely all the fucking time. I wish I was understood - violently understood with nothing else to spare - to the depth of my bones. Ugh it's pathetic, I know.

I don't really have any (can't keep any) friends, I have no one here who shares common interests with me, I suck at social skills (I'm Chandler Bing, I shouldn't be allowed to talk to people lol), when it comes to romance: men are either intimidated by me to come and talk to me and develop relationships and I'm too ugly to be liked for just my looks lmao, the friendly ones (even my family) who do talk to me often treat me like a failure (which I am, but anyway).

That's the main reason why I love to read your fics, and I especially love your bad-ass smart bitch capable of doing shit like running a business or just be aware of their surroundings reader fics; because I relate to their dumb bravery, and I like that their bravery and self-respect irks these horrible men (as a reader, I often choose to interpret their darkness as admiration in disguise, and I'm not trying to disregard your authority as the creator in anyway by doing that, not at all. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here).

I don't just read them for the smut, heck I even skip the smut because that's how little interested I am in sex, you see. I read your works for the plot, the thought, the verbal and physical interactions, the movement of the light and the dark, the little details that you throw in here and there about the way someone smiles, nods, shifts, fidgets, etc. i read them for the soul. I read them to feel wanted so badly by someone that they would kill for it, even if it's me that they kill lol. I read your works to get into the headspace of the reader, her family/friends and the dark!character, to keep alive my flickering non-existent shadow of being wanted. That's why I often ask you such deep, and probably insignificant, questions about "what was he thinking when he did/said this and that" and "would he stay loyal to her, even if it's for the wrong reasons." etc.

Sorry about the rant, I just wanted to get it out of my chest. - MP💜

I'm sorry it took so long to respond but you made an eloquent response and this I believe would be a subcategory of the point you reference in the original post. The reasons are much more thank kinky or fetish and I think we need to allow writers and readers alike a little more grace and let people seek out the content they need and be a little less quick to demand explanations. We should understand the reasons for ourselves and don't owe anyone else a reasons why.

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catracorner962 · 2 years

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My Response to a Rude Comment - Fandom Etiquette and Entitlement

The first comment I got on my latest update of Vessels of Wrath was an alleged unregistered A03 left a rude comment, and not the first of its kind that I have received. It was deeply discouraging to me as someone who creates in their free time, so I decided to respond. I am sharing here in case it is helpful to other creators who face the same issue.

I would just like to express my thanks for supporting me and my writing and I would like to reiterate what they said. As someone who has been reading and engaging with fanfiction since 2013, I assume that you understand we do this for free and for fun. I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are a student and might not understand that many of us fanfic writers and fanartists work regular 9-5 jobs to support ourselves. Fanfiction is something we do in the limited free time that we have. Believe me, there is nothing I would like more than to sit down and spend eight/nine hours a day working on, planning, drafting, editing, rewriting, brainstorming, writing fanfiction. I already have most of this story planned and key scenes already drafted. The fact that it has taken me three months between chapters one and two should show just how much work I, and other writers put into our stories.

I believe you when you say that you meant no offense, and as someone who spends just as much time reading fic as I do writing it, I understand asking about updates. I've asked about them myself from authors I've enjoyed! There is this soulmate AU that is one chapter long that I have kept bookmarked for a year now and periodically check back to see if it has updated so I understand wanting to know when another chapter is coming. I am grateful for your excitement and I am so glad you enjoyed the fic. Here are some things to consider however, for next time you want to leave a similar comment on someone's work:

1) If I knew when I'd be posting the next chapter, I would tell you. I would put that directly in the notes section at the end. I specifically do not have an update schedule because A) This is not my professional job, B) that puts stress on the writer and fanfic writing should be enjoyable not a source of stress. C) I don't want to let my readers down! I would never want a situation where I say "Next chapter coming in a month!" and then something like this happens where I get a new job and things have to be pushed back and I let fans down without an update. It has happened before and it is not a good feeling for anyone. If I ever do post about an update it will only be when I am putting finishing touches on editing and I am positive it can be posted when I say it will be.

2) Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Put yourself in the other person's shoes! Would you like it if you spent three months planning, editing, drafting, revising a lengthy chapter, finally posted it, and the first feedback you got was along the lines of "when is the next one coming?" Without any comment about the actual content of the chapter, the story itself, the characters, or anything that piqued your interest other than a demand for more. Consider thinking twice or at least tell the writer things you liked about the fic, what drew you to it etc. before you ask for updates. It is extremely discouraging in part because it reads as: "what you worked on here is not good enough, I want more."

Again, I do thank you for your interest and for reading! I always say comments keep me going. I don't think you meant anything malicious by it at all, I don't think you're a "bad-fan," but I want to be honest and transparent with you about the community of creators you have engaged with for so long as a fan. We are not professionals, we do not owe you the amount of time or energy or promises for content as creators who are getting paid as their livelihood to do this. What I mean by that is you would not be commenting on ND Stevenson's work in that manor, and he is paid to do it, so please do not say things like that to us as fanfic writers and fan artists.

Thanks again for your interest in this story! I really do hope I can post chapter 3 sooner than this update, and I will do my best, (I already have it outlined), but again I do not commit to an updating schedule in case things change. To everyone who has followed this Glitra romp thus far, you have my deepest heartfelt thanks. Thank you for this community, for rallying for me when I felt discouraged and for providing an educational opportunity to fans who make these sorts of comments, well-intentioned or not. It truly makes me feel like I belong and have a place in this fandom and people in my corner. You are who I write for. You keep me going. This is going to be a wild ride, and I am excited to share it with you. All I ask is for your patience in return and I of course extend that courtesy to you all as well. <3

Thank you, Emilia Gryphon

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qqueenofhades · 4 years

Note

The photo set you reblogged of Yusuf and Niccolo helping throughout time just filled me with so many happy feels and it made me realize that it seems so common in media with immortal couples that they take breaks from each other and reconnect after a few decades. Which is a great trope but seeing these two that seems to have been attached at the hip since the day they met just fills me with all the heart eyes.

(I haven't read your fanfics for them yet. I know I'm a bad fan but if it helps I havent been able to read anything since all this started but while writing this ask I got the feeling that all this rambling I spewed out is a big theme)

Hush. Bad fan nothing. We all are coping with this stupid, awful year in different ways, some of us by escaping into fandom and some of us being unable to engage with it and some of us doing both or anything else. You certainly don’t owe me or anyone any obligation to interact with our content, fic or otherwise. So just to have that there on the top. You’re good, hun. :)

ANYWAY, thank you for giving me a chance to meta a bit on the boys and their relationship and to have a window into what my brain looks like pretty much 24/7 these days. (I blame them.) I keep thinking about all the ways this couple is depicted in the TOG film and how lovely it was and how unusual it is for me to have an OTP where I actually love them in canon and don’t need to violently disavow it in order to create AU fan content with just the characters. (See: Timeless, Game of Thrones, pretty much any show I’ve hyperfixated on at some point.) I love AUs anyway, because that’s the way my brain works, but the fact that I can also enjoy canon just as much is rare for me and for a lot of us. I saw a post somewhere remarking on how the fanfic for Joe/Nicky isn’t fixing anything, which is usually the point of transformative fanworks: we take something that canon atrociously fucked up and fix it. But in this case, all our interpretations are based on actually appreciating the way they’re presented in canon and wanting to enjoy that and uphold it, and that -- especially with a couple like this one -- is shocking??

Like. Despite my historian gripes about the occasionally incongruous details for their graphic-novel backstories (which are the only things I HAVE fixed in my fics), I’m just... deeply appreciative of the care which everyone, writers and actors and all else, put into depicting Joe and Nicky and their relationship. And god YES, one of the things I love the absolute MOST is that they’re a loving, faithful, committed, happy married queer couple over centuries, and that seems to be the case for as long as they’ve known each other/ever since they got together. (See Booker’s “you and Nicky always had each other.”) These fools can’t sleep apart from each other even when they’re stuck on a freight train in the middle of nowhere, they flirt like teenagers at dinnertime and even when they’re strapped to gurneys in a mad-scientist laboratory, they make out to enrage bad guys and also because they’re just still that goddamn into each other after all this time.

I think it was Marwan Kenzari who pointed out that there’s simply no way to truly state the depth of their knowledge and devotion and commitment to each other. They’re 950 years old. They have known each other since they were in their thirties; they’ve been husbands for literal centuries. There is no way anyone else in the world could possibly come close to replicating the kind of bond they have with each other, and neither of them have ever had any inclination to look, because why would they? Especially with the fact that queer couples in media, even otherwise sympathetically portrayed ones, often have Drama and Third Parties and Promiscuity and whatever else (because of the tiresome old canard that Gays Equal Hypersexualized!), and Joe and Nicky don’t need or want ANY of that. There’s no urge to make their relationship a cheap source of soap-opera conflict. It’s the rock and the center and the core of both of their lives, and everything they do stems from that.

There have been some great metas/comments on how neither Joe and Nicky are sexualized, they dress like stay-at-home dads during quarantine (Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli are both objectively gorgeous men, and they’re out there looking like that, god bless), and the viewer is never invited to goggle at or fetishize their relationship. There are no leering or exploitative camera angles on anyone, and their expressions of love aren’t posed or intended to titillate the audience, they’re just solidly embodied and natural and lived in. It’s never bothered to be stated clunkily in dialogue that they’re a couple; we just see them exchanging looks and smiles in the early part of the film, and then we see them spooning on the train after the mission in Sudan, which confirms it.

At every turn, the narrative celebrates the kindness and love shared by the Immortal Family, the individual characters, and Joe and Nicky, especially and explicitly in queer form. The villains of the film are also defined by how they react negatively to that love. @viridianpanther had a great meta on how Keane as a villain is especially set up to menace Joe and Nicky as the narrative representation of toxic masculinity, aggressive heterosexuality, and the usual “Kill Your Gays” trope that we’ve all come to wearily expect. But instead, after that scene where Joe and Nicky fight Keane, Nicky is shot and comes back to life in Joe’s arms rather than dying permanently like we probably all momentarily expected, and then Joe gets to FUCKIN’ BREAK THE NECK of the guy who enacted that violence.... good GOD. The first time I watched it, I almost couldn’t believe it was happening. (This goes for the whole film, but especially that scene.) Like... when do we get that?? When do we EVER get that???

Obviously, there are so many stereotypes, whether visually or in behavior or character traits, that could have been assigned to a gay Italian character (excessively dramatic, effeminate, fashionable, etc) or a gay Arabic/Muslim character (explicitly announcing He’s Not Like Those Muslims, having to actively reject his heritage to make him more palatable to westerners, being tormented over being gay, etc) and Joe and Nicky subscribe to none of those. I get very emotional about Joe referring to Nicky as the moon when he is lost during the truck scene partly because it’s SUCH a common motif in Arabic love poetry. To call someone your “moon” is a beautiful way to say they’re the light of your life, and since the Islamic calendar is obviously lunar and the holidays, months, and observances, are set by the phases of the moon, this also has a deeper religious significance.

I don’t know for sure if they did that on purpose, but it it’s a lovely and subtle way of showing us how Joe clearly doesn’t have an issue with being both queer AND Muslim, and is able to draw on both facets of that identity in a way that a lesser narrative would have denied him. And that is just really wonderful. Yes, we’re seeing these characters when they’ve had centuries to settle into themselves, but there are plenty of writers who would have forced those conflicts artificially to the surface, rather than letting them be long in the past. It’s the same way when you watch a film set in the medieval era, it wants you to know that it Is Set In The Medieval Era. Cue the filth, misogyny, racism, violence, etc! Rather than it being a lived-in reality, it has to be jarringly drawn attention to, and I’m just so glad they didn’t do that with Joe and Nicky. And for them to have met in the crusades and fallen in love??! Come on. That’s just rude. Rude to me, personally.

Anyway, this was a rather long-winded and feelsy way of saying that these characters are constructed, acted, and written organically in such a way that you hate to even THINK of them being separated, and it’s not because they can’t function without each other, but because they are two halves of a whole. We also see that the characters themselves can’t stand being forced apart: Joe’s freakout in the truck scene when Nicky briefly won’t wake up, Nicky making sure to tell Joe that he’s glad he’s awake in the lab, the whole post-Keane fight scene that I talked about above, the way Nicky fights ferociously to get to Joe when Merrick’s stabbing him, etc. For that to be given to the queer couple, where the strength of their love and devotion is reinforced as one of the emotional goals of the story, and for that queer couple to be written in the way that Joe and Nicky are, both individually and as a unit, is just so very rare.

Because yes, there’s plenty of drama and angst and pain in their lives, but there’s none at all in their relationship, and that’s what fans keep telling TV writers the whole time: they WANT to see the couple confront things as a unit, rather than being kept on tenterhooks the whole time and forced to go through manufactured or artificial drama. It would feel especially wrong for Joe and Nicky, who have known and loved each other for 900 years. The fact that their respective actors also put so much care and love into them is very obvious, and makes me feel even luckier that they’re played by people who clearly get them and honor them and know what they’re doing.

Basically: of course Joe and Nicky have been with each other the whole time, and of course we’re all drowning in feelings over it, and I feel very blessed that this ship exists, and I very much need the sequel ASAP. Thanks.

#the old guard meta #joe x nicky #immortal husbands #long post #roseoswiins #ask

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sinsbymanka · 3 years

Text

Writing Tag Game

Okay listen I’m on vacation XD hence why I’m ignoring everyone’s tags/taking forever to respond. But I’ve been tagged in this A LOT and I really liked it/wanted to do it so thank you to everyone who tagged me (oh my god I’m so sorry if I missed one of you there were SO MANY): @noire-pandora, @in-arlathan, @thevikingwoman, @morganlefaye79, @elveny, @kunstpause, @pikapeppa

I’m not tagging anyone because I’m tagging everyone since I’m too lazy to find my tag list (I’m on VACATION). If you’ve not gotten tagged and wanted to do this, say I tagged you.

How many works do you have on Ao3?

147 - I have 145 linked to my profile and two in the anonymous collection.

What's your total Ao3 wordcount?

1,468,248. Almost 1.5 million!!

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Of Miracles and Heroes (FenHawke, Cadash/Varric, Varania/Blackwall): 269

Interspecies Relationships Have Their Ups and Downs (Shakarian): 145

Don’t Make it Hawkeward (Varric/Hawke): 135

The Ambassador’s Vices (Josephine/Adaar): 111

The Girl with the Arrow Tattoo (Cadash/Varric): 101

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do (but - to be honest - it takes me FOREVER). I love comments. It’s so much easier to not leave comments than leave comments, so every time someone leaves one I’m blown away. I feel like - for leaving me a comment - you’re definitely owed an answer! I do apologize that it takes me awhile though - I am very bad at answering because they mean a lot to me and I get easily overwhelmed by the AO3 inbox I don’t know why. Blame anxiety.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I’ll be honest, I don’t like angsty endings so I don’t have many of them. By far the angstiest ending I have is Flowers, Lies, and Forgiveness. This is a Bianca Davri/Varric Tethras fic set during the final act of DA2. I wrote it from Bianca’s POV - showing Varric unraveling under the pressure of Kirkwall and Bianca’s complicated feelings about infidelity to her husband who clearly cares about her as well. I wrote it for @hollyand-writes who always lets me lean into the tragic “fucked upness” of the pairing when I’m feeling like making Varric suffer.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending

I prefer happy endings so almost EVERYTHING has a happy ending. My favorite endings, so far, are for Cheating the Dread Wolf, which is my Varric/Cadash/Solas polycule (or as I like to refer to it - Solas has a dwarf kink) and The Viscount’s Mistress which is my Hurt/Comfort Cadash/Varric Trespasser bullshit.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

I have not written crossovers - but I am very into AUs in another setting that belongs to a different fictional universe. Most recently I got back into my Downton Abbey bullshit and wrote Flappers for Fen’harel which is basically a Downton Abbey AU Solas/Cadash and I’m not taking comments about the outrageousness of it.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yep. Honestly though? Over the two years I’ve been active in Fandom, the shitty comments can be counted on one hand and usually came from the same people over and over again, who are easily blocked, and should stop seeking out clearly labeled content they don’t like. Me and my work are not for everyone - that’s REALLY okay. I’ve blocked people for no other reason than making things I don’t like - that doesn’t mean they’re bad people.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

GOD DO I.

I am extremely sex and kink positive. Because of this - a lot of my work involves sex in some way or another. I think sex is a beautiful part of many (although not all) relationships, and that it’s frequently glossed over in mainstream media (particularly queer, kinky, and polyam sex).

This ranges from sort of vanilla slow burns (My Cole/Bea fic, Compassion for an Assassin, has smut which hasn’t been posted yet. It’s Cole’s first time and is fairly vanilla and romantic, and occurs approximately 40k into the fic) to some pretty dubious consent near 24/7 dom/sub dynamics with BDSM kinks (I’ve written JUST as much of the Sereda/Gorim problematic smut as @jarakrisafis has in our series Forced Moves).

There’s very few kinks I’m not willing to touch at least to try out - even if I end up not liking them. And the ones that aren’t for me are 100% allowed to exist and I will fight for them to the bloody end. My only recommendation is CLEARLY labeling your shit and not being afraid to add a tag if someone asks you to.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of? I’ve seen ideas I’ve tried on picked up by other people - but I don’t consider that stealing and it’s hard to trace “who has been inspired by who” because we ALL have been inspired by thousands of other people and frankly more stuff for me when I pull you over to my weird AUs and rarepairs.

I also think that’s a huge part of not getting stolen - I’ve got so much weird niche shit that only a couple people read that stealing from me is going to most likely be caught IMMEDIATELY the audience is so small.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don’t believe so!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! I’ve got some co-written secret smut with @blarfkey which almost nobody has seen, I’ve borrowed @tightassets Hawke, Lavellan, and Shepard for fics that she has illustrated, borrowed @tuffypelly‘s Adaars for some great fics, and my most ambitious project - the Forced Moves series with @jarakrisafis. It started out as us just exchanging gifts back and forth but we’ve wrangled it into Gambits and Countergambits, an Aeducan-origin prequel, that I’m VERY proud of.

I love co-writing very much, but it’s very important to find the right partner and for it to be someone you trust completely.

What's your all time favourite ship?

This is a stupidly hard question because I am, at heart, a multi-shipper.

I love Varric/Hawke and Varric/Cadash. I’m also a sucker for Solas/Cadash. My fandom pool noodle is Varric/Cadash/Solas which I adore, and I’m very fond of Cole/Cadash.

Most recently I’ve been DEEP in Aeducan/Gorim Saelac, Bhelen/Rica/Vartag, and Aeducan/Brosca feels. Dwarf origins are the best origins in my opinion and those characters are PERFECT.

What's a WIP you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

I fully plan on finishing everything. My writing style changed a lot, for the better, in a short period of time. I need to integrate my old style/new style and had to get a pep talk about how to do that. Now I’m ready to try as soon as I finish Compassion for an Assassin.

What are your writing strengths?

I write very sexy, hot smut. I also really like playing with character voice and making sure I get them “right” so I do a lot of experimenting before publishing a new character for the first time.

I struggle to write action scenes - it’s like pulling fucking teeth - but people really LOVE my action scenes and they read well. So that’s something I’m proud of even if it feels like doing fucking pull ups.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I never learned anything. My experiences with English and writing teachers were overwhelmingly negative. I’m unsure if I’m just not cut out for classes or if they were that bad, but I always left feeling like there was one “right” way to do it, and everything I liked was “bad”, so what was the point of “learning” anything?

It turns out there’s this very pompous, pretentious thought process in writing where people “assume” things must be done, but GOOD writing teachers teach you the rules and then how to break them. I either never had a good writing teacher or got too intimidated to give them a chance before bouncing.

So I’m exceedingly self-taught. I lack the vocabulary to discuss plot structure, characterization, grammar, etc. I instinctively know most of these things based on trial and error and reading, but I didn’t learn them and I miss a lot of nuance in the rules, but until recently I was still too intimidated and unsure of myself to admit that or take it seriously.

So - my defense mechanism is NOT taking ANYTHING seriously. If my writing is a joke to me, it’s gotta be a joke to everyone else, but that’s been a shield to hide behind instead of being thoughtful about things. I’m here to have fun, yes, but there’s nothing wrong with learning a technique to the art.

I’ve learned - mostly thanks to @blarfkey who is an amazing person and a wonderful teacher - that I am a good writer based on my self-teaching. And being intimidated of people who throw around impressive sounding words is a weakness that I am working on.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Use sparingly and with good reason. It should be short and explained later or clear from context.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter on message boards back in the fucking day. Thankfully none of it exists anywhere anymore.

What's your favourite fic you've written?

This is such a sappy answer and I’m so sorry. My favorite things have been written for and because of people I love and care about. When I read them, I’m not just reading the story, but remembering the relationships I’ve made and how important they are.

So, my top three fics for THAT reason:

1. Cheating the Dread Wolf - written for @blarfkey who inspired the idea and ruthlessly encouraged me to make it happen. This fic was so healing for me because it heavily features Fatherhood within it - and I lost my father in June 2020. I don’t know if I’d have been able to do it without her and it was so important for me to do.

2. Gambits and Countergambits - written with @jarakrisafis and the culmination of a years worth of gifting shit back and forth and crafting a shared universe. The worldbuilding, smut, relationships, EVERYTHING about this fic is so deeply and passionately cared about by both of us and to our knowledge it is completely, totally unique.

3. Relentless, Ridiculous, and Rakish - one of my only primarily gen-fics focusing on a forming brother/sister relationship between Maria Cadash and @tuffypelly‘s Otsar Adaar. I very much enjoyed writing it for her <3

And then my overall favorite fic:

The Viscount’s Mistress: I have a lot of opinions about how fanfiction treats the anchor’s meltdown and the aftermath. It’s one of the things in DAI that resonated with me SO much as someone who lives with chronic pain and a disability. I loved the fact my OC was in the same shoes and STILL saving the world. This is very much a fic that explores all the dark sides of trauma, pain, and the mental health effects of it. But it ends on a happy and hopeful note.

#manka writes #writer tag game thing

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rudystree · 3 years

Note

to my numero uno jj expert 💚: doesn't jj owe money to barry? and restitution money? where does he live now? his clothes look less dirty and new? why is luke in jail? how did he react when he learned about the phantom? how did jj gain such a significant amount of weight in s2? who takes care of this boy?

“jj expert” 😅 don’t make me blush ajdhsjsh

my friend you have struck a delicate nerve because I HAVE ALL THE SAME QUESTIONS. my no. 1 irritation from season 2 is that none of this was addressed at all. like i understand you can’t spotlight every character and that i’m very biased since he’s my fave, but many people noticed that his story was just written off and that’s so frustrating

i don’t have answers but i have thoughts:

doesn’t jj owe money to barry: yeah he definitely still owes the 25k...rip. i think barry still doesn’t know that it was jj in particular, just the pogues in general who stole it, so i assume that’s why he was ready to show up to the chateau fully armed and kill them. after that night i think he was too busy dealing with his psycho boyfriend to think about it

what about restitution: yeah... i got no idea. like what about the court hearing they mentioned? especially because of all the shit the pogues did to help john b escape and the fact that jj was already on probation from the other felonies he committed, you’d think he’d be in way more trouble. the only time it was briefly mentioned was by luke who said “i got your restitution hanging over me” ... so maybe it’s just luke who’s responsible? maybe why he’s in jail? again, very weird that it’s not addressed

where does he live now: clearly not with luke anymore thank god. jj kinda threw me off in episode 6 when he said he has nowhere to live because in my head the chateau would be his home. maybe it was just rudy improv tho. the chateau is where we see him in episode 1 while he’s grieving (which also wasn’t explored much) so he must’ve stayed there for the time, but it would make me sad to think he doesn’t view it as his own home. i must’ve read too many fics. and i would’ve loved it if he went to live with pope :( i used to be so excited for that possibility. because seriously, did jj just go off on his own after that season 1 finale? who tf let him? ugh

his clothes look nicer: ok yeah who gave him his nice fall jacket? that nice pair of jeans? jj in jeans!! i get it’s a show and you can’t think about this stuff too deeply but i do wanna know everything about this boy haha, like his nice clean t-shirts, are they all from random jobs he’s done? they tend to have some sort of kildare logo on it. maybe he bought them himself or stole them or i even read a fic once where the school would donate clothes to poor kids like him. my favorite headcanon is that they were a gift so that’s what i usually go with. i like imagining that the pogues get each other little presents for birthdays, christmas, etc. ... one thing i really missed this season was the cutoff tank tops tho

why is luke in jail: honestly wtf how can they not explain that?! also did jj know? because clearly he seemed very surprised seeing him there. where was child services? if the mom is gone and the dad in jail, don’t you try to contact the literal child? i am so confused. idk much about american law, could it be the unpaid restitution money? i feel like that’s not enough to get locked up for. maybe they caught him with drugs or he did something else, but it really bugs me that we don’t know and probably never will

how did luke react to the phantom: same thing, i can’t believe they didn’t show that! it was a big deal! when he jumped jj at the chateau he briefly mentioned that he can’t use the phantom since jj basically sunk it, but wouldn’t he be a little more angry about that? i’m sure he was ~not happy~ but the writers really gave us nothing to further go off on. we don’t even know if luke had any contact with jj after it all happened

jj’s size: ooooof rudy got so buff for season 2 and it’s making me feel all sorts of tingly things hehe. he just gets hotter every day. i didn’t even really notice at first until i saw all these comments under the clips netflix posted

but yeah he seems to have put on some weight and his muscles are popping and his shoulders are so broad and i would respectfully like him to crush me. does it make any actual sense for jj to not be frail and famished as a poor and neglected 16 year old with alcohol problems? not really. but uh, i did not complain

who tf takes care of him: going off of that- another GREAT QUESTION 😩 again i was really hoping for some jj x heyward family interaction but the writers hate me. and again, where tf is child services now? and how did they just completely stop trying to get john b when he was released from jail? i guess that’s a whole other question. i like to think that jj was living by himself at the chateau and that pope and kie would regularly check on him and bring him clothes and food and stuff. they acted a bit like his parents in the beginning haha and i like that dynamic. and they drove him to school in kie’s car. i just want someone to baby this precious boy and treat him well is that too much to ask 😭

#this is uh.. probably more inconclusive and elaborate than you wanted anon #but can you tell i like talking about jj #❤️#jj maybank #ask

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ragnarachael · 2 years

Note

I read your whole post about writing and feedback and I completely agree. I am not fully a writer (I dabble sometimes), but I use to edit videos and posts and people would steal the idea or repost without credit and it’s annoying as fuck etc etc…

Anywayyyssssss, I also agree with the other person, who talked about writing “for you” and not to get upset when you don’t get feedback.

I think (and when I say this I hope I speak for all fanfic writers) that yes, writers do ENJOY WRITING and DO IT FOR THEMSELVES. Because at the end of the day, readers, they owe us nothing. They share their creativity, for free, on their own terms. They have the ability to not post and chose not to write. it is fully up to them, not us readers, to demand when we want the next part. I’d say a good 68% of readers don’t respect or realise how much time it takes for people to write. And they don’t respect creators in general. For instance, when creators ask for feedback, readers fight back and say they are selfish.

They probably say Something like, if writers write for themselves and not others then why do they want feedback?

Well… Have any of you heard of something called WRITERS BLOCK?!? Writers go through stages where they doubt their writing, where they don’t feel motivated enough, where they feel like they aren’t original/creative enough. EVEN MORE SO WHEN THEIR CONTENT IS ON THE INTERNET. Why? Because they can see how people interact with it, and when it doesn’t get attention, like they know it could (especially REBLOGS! ONE BUTTON PEOPLE) it hurts and they start to doubt their ability. Even if they’ve written for themselves and know they are talented. Because as humans it is in our nature to seek approval and seek love.

So Reblogs, likes, and comments like “this made my day” “thank you for all your effort, this made me smile” “ OMG x, y, z WAS MY FAVORITE PART” or even “ADORABLE 🥺🥺🥺” inspire and motivate writers to keep doing what they love, so you can continue to read FOR FREE. Now obviously if you don’t like a fic you don’t have to interact, simple as that.

AND YOU, AS A READER, ARE IN CHARGE OF WHAT YOU READ AND WHAT YOU CONSUME. SO IF YOU DONT LIKE WHAT YOU READ AND IT TRIGGERS YOU, THAT IS YOUR FAULT FOR NOT READING THE WARNINGS,DO NOT BLAME OR SEND HATE INTO THE WRITERS ASKS(and if they don’t have warnings, in a civil manner, go into their asks and explain nicely why they should include warnings. But most writers are very carefully about that so you shouldn’t have to)

(Sorry for the interruption, now back to the program) If you want a part 2 GO ASK AND DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAS IN THE ASKS ON THEIR PROFILE. I know a LOT of writers who love to discuss their work and love to talk about theories, and hear their readers ideas. But when you do it un respectfully it is the most rude and absurd thing ever and makes writers uncomfortable. It’s also, SO HURTFUL WHEN YOU STEAL “THEIR CONTENT” AND TAKE CREDIT FOR ALL THE HARD WORK “THEY DID”.

In short, just because it’s the internet doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat people with respect. When creators put effort into what they love and someone steals their work, rudely comments, or doesn’t give as much love as it could’ve been (like if you like a fic and you don’t reblog), it hurts. Not because they are attention seeking or selfish, but because what they share to the fandom is not respected. Respect and love is what creators want. Spreading love brings happiness, and when you spread love, you receive happiness. It’s a two way road people. It always will be.

So like, comment, interact with the writers, but most importantly REBLOG. And if you’re ashamed/embarrassed of liking the content you like, and that’s why you don’t reblog, trust me when I say this (and don’t take it personally), BUT NO ONE CARES ABOUT WHAT KINKS YOU LIKE OR WHAT FETISHES YOU HAVE. At the end of the day, all creators care about is that they are being heard and that someone in the world that appreciates what they’ve done, so they will continue to do it.

(I would hate to see ragnarachael go just because people don’t give her the love and respect that she gives to us when she shares her work. Rachael you are so incredibly talented, and you deserve the world for all the incredible content you have put out into the marvel fandom. The internet is a vile place, don’t let anyone ever make you feel less then that<3)

Sending my love to all creators of all fandoms and community’s, you’ve made the world more bearable for so many people <3333

this. all of this.

anon. thank you. i love you. i couldn’t have said it better myself. as far as i know, ragnarachael (rachael, me, hi) is here to stay. i take my breaks, i take care of myself. i assure you.

just. all of this. i can’t scream it enough. i’m speechless you even took the time to write this.

#rachael’s void speaks back #rachael has had a week from hell so far #so seeing this in my inbox was such a lovely turn rather than harassment.

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the-roadkill-cafe · 3 years

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Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @phoenixyfriend

Tagging: @stormwind13 @elenathehun @hiruma-musouka @kendochick-moor

Remember to make a new post!

How many works do you have on AO3?

What’s your total AO3 word count?

75,290

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

One fandom - Naruto. In the past I’ve written for other fandoms, but not on this account.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Company of Trees, Throwing a Stone in a River, If The Bird Doesn’t Sing, Tree Branches, the devil and the deep blue sea

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I try to respond to everything, though it can be quite some time before I get around to replying. I like to respond to comments to say thank you and to interact with people. While I don’t think fic writers are owed reviews or comments, I do think mutual interaction helps make fandom go ‘round, and to that end, I want to interact with people who leave me comments.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Considering my fics are all pretty much WIPs, there aren’t really endings, per se. But the one with the angstiest planned ending is Throwing a Stone in a River.

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

At the moment, no, I don’t really write crossovers or fusions.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not...really? I’ve had some rude comments, but none that I say really qualify as hate. I have really kind readers.

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do write smut! I write all kinds of smut, from non-con to fully consensual. However, the vast majority of it is not published, mostly because I haven’t actually finished anything.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. About...three times now, someone has plagiarized The Company of Trees. I’ve always been told by someone else, and luckily, the issue has always been easily resolved.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

A long time ago, I had someone start translating one of my fics on another account, but the website shut down and I don’t know whatever happened.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

A few times, but nothing that was ever published. I’ve written a lot with jaycrowind and @stormwind13.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Pretty hard to say. My favorite ship depends on my mood and what fandom I’m currently reading in. I will say that my first OTP was Sesshoumaru/Kagome in Inuyasha.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Sorry to say, but probably all of them, hahaha. The three posted on my AO3 accounts are behemoths and I write pretty slowly. I haven’t given up on them! I just don’t know if I’ll actually finish them.

What are your writing strengths?

I like to think that my writing strength is characterization.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. Sentence variation. Pacing.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Oh boy do I have thoughts about this. When it comes to anime, I’m actually a bit nitpicky, but then, I’m nitpicky about a lot of stuff in general, hahaha.

Presumably, in the vast majority of anime, everyone is speaking Japanese. There are exceptions, but I won’t get much into those. For things like suffixes (-san, -sama, etc), I prefer to leave those untranslated because they are very revealing of the speaker’s personality and the hierarchical nature of Japanese culture. They also don’t really have good translations in English. There are ways to translate them, but in my opinion, they don’t convey both speaker personality, social status, and also social+emotional distance the same way, because English speaking cultures (typically) just aren’t as stratified as Japanese culture.

I also leave familial terms of address untranslated (Okaasan, niisan) and certain titles and positions (In Naruto, Hokage, Shodai, Nidaime, etc.) untranslated because again, they’re difficult to translate. For familial titles, it feels incredibly awkward to type “Brother” in dialogue when directly addressing someone. Again, not only does it leave out the nuance of the relationship between the speaker and the addressee, but in English we just don’t directly address people like that, generally speaking. In Japanese, you do, because you try to avoid using someone’s name.

I don’t like to translate attack names because I just think they sound silly in English, that’s why.

For things that aren’t anime, I generally try to avoid outright writing whole sections of dialogue in another language. Instead I prefer to indicate a different language in the dialogue tags or something (The two men started speaking in Spanish blah blah blah) or italics. There are really only a few times where I would write dialogue in another language, usually to show that someone was previously not understood but through magic/a translating device/etc suddenly they are now understood.

Can I put a pet peeve here? I’m going to put a pet peeve here. In Naruto, Hashirama is not the Shodaime, he is the Shodai. Shodaime is grammatically incorrect and you can even check the wiki, he is literally not called the Shodaime. Basically, the -me suffix in Japanese makes a regular number (one, two, three) into the ordinal version (first, second, third). However, Hashirama’s title Shodai is written not with the kanji for “one” ( 一 ) but with the kanji for “beginning” ( 初 ) which means it can’t take the -me suffix because it isn’t a number. Essentially, Shodai translates as “starting generation” or “beginning generation”, therefore Shodai Hokage is “starting generation Hokage” (or Fire Shadow, if you prefer). But Tobirama is the Nidaime, because his title uses the number ( 二 ), so translated, he is the “second generation Hokage”.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Inuyasha, a long, long time ago.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Mmmm. Either The Company of Trees or Throwing a Stone in a River. However, although they’re my favorites, I’ve been finding my SI/OC (more OC than SI) fic very compelling.

#replies #ask meme #phoenixyfriend

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olderthannetfic · 3 years

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Ah, I do see your points, anon. I'm not going to post all your asks publicly because if you really feel that unsafe, it's probably best not to have a bigass chunk of your text for people to analyze and try to guess your identity from. I think one of the best points you made is about how close to home it hits when the non-fave is not only your fave but is similar to you in some way like demographic. You're not wrong for having those emotions. I do wonder if they make it hard to see how some other people feel similarly embattled on other axes.

TBH, I think one of the big problems here is that the large aggregate patterns you're talking about are racist, but most individual fics and fans are not really the problem. It's hard to know how to talk about this or who to tell to "fix" it when we're looking at free, hobbyist art.

A lot of people's tastes are certainly formed by shitty society, but once they're formed, they don't change fast if at all. Asking someone to rewrite their libido is a big ask, yet tumblr does it all the time as though it's as simple as snapping your fingers.

This leaves me with the sense that a lot of tumblr is... like... the political lesbians of porn fic or something: desire is not real, only choosing based on logic and politics. Or maybe people are so asexual that they just don't understand the lizard brain's "YES!" at some porn things and complete indifference to others?

I don't think it's great if great swaths of people feel like bottom!Nicky is super hot and top!Nicky fundamentally isn't, but I also don't think they can necessarily just turn it off like flipping a switch.

(If someone reading this doesn't like their current tastes and wants to attempt to alter them, I do think it's possible. What you should do is line up a large slate of media that prominently features characters of the ethnicity or whatever that you don't find hot/interesting. These should be leads whose emotional development drives the plot and is supposed to be central to the audience's enjoyment of the media. Watch/read/etc. this media all the time. All. The. Time. Try out many pieces because you won't like every character or every show, and we're looking for genuine enjoyment, not the fandom equivalent of a pity fuck. Spend enough time on this, and your unconscious sense of who's hot and interesting will eventually shift somewhat. This is a project you should expect to take a few years.)

But I digress.

The one tweet thing is a very toxic pattern. If TOG fandom is doing that, guys, please try to be more conscious of holding the actors of color to a higher standard (or the women or whomever). I know this often comes from a place of paying more attention to our own and wanting to set a good standard, but the effect is that minorities can't fuck up ever while white dudes get infinite passes.

Okay, on to the fic thing... Gotta say, my instant reaction to that description is "Ooh!"--as it would be for the same scenario with the characters reversed. (Ships who start out trying to kill each other are my favorite! x1000 if they're resurrecting style immortals and they literally do.) I can see how it would feel like slamming into a brick wall if you aren't kinky in just the right way and you didn't know it was coming though.

Part of why I react so strongly to a lot of discourse that runs along these lines is that I am a naturally extremely kinky person. It's not so much about what I do (which as a deeply lazy person in a long distance relationship is essentially nothing), but it's absolutely how I'm wired.

And I can tell you that my quotidian experience in fandom is sharing something I don't even realize is a big deal only to have someone I like, respect, and trust react in horror and tell me that it's triggering and awful and should not be allowed in fandom spaces because it makes "people" unsafe. It's such an instant, kneejerk reaction they don't even realize I was sharing it because it spoke to the very core of me. Lesson learned, friend. Lesson learned.

That sounds a bit off topic, I know, but bear with me: The point of that anecdote is that it's pretty common for me to get people trying to raise my awareness of things I have already thought deeply about while denying my essential humanity and not even realizing. As a kinky person who likes to make my fave the top (and generally a conflicted sadist), this constant request to explain and justify is exhausting.

I doubt most of the top!Joe fans have this precise problem simply because people who make their fave the top are much less common in fandom than people who make their fave the bottom, but I see a similar pattern with fans who are just fundamentally wired for rape fantasies (one of the most common fantasies that exists) vs. fans who just don't get rape fantasies at all. Or substitute your BDSM/kinky/messed up fantasy trope of choice. Covertly radical feminist attitudes towards kink and power are on the rise in fandom, and as a naturally kinky person, boy do I notice it!

I know that it feels like crucial activism to share these insights about why the ratio of top!Joe is hurtful, and the pain you feel is real. But it's also the case that it's a big ask to want people to listen. (Not me. Obviously, I routinely choose to engage with discourse. I mean overall.) The reason for that is that you're only seeing a fraction of what they do or who they are, and you don't know how many previous people they've listened to how many previous times. It's a very different situation from someone whose job is making some major TV series or movie or something. That person does, in my opinion, owe you some amount of listening.

Now, I'm not saying no top Joe fan was ever a jerk. I'll bet they were. There's a tendency to be rude and to publicly air your schadenfreude when you feel like everyone has been yelling at you. What I am saying is that a lot of the problem here boils down to conflicting needs, and that means there isn't a good solution. It's a situation where people are genuinely hurt, but I don't necessarily agree that other people have harmed them.

I like that you did an actual count of the explicit fics, btw. It's good to look at the real numbers. I see too little of that in these situations. My off the cuff reaction is that 2/3 to 1/3 is not a bad ratio at all compared to many fandoms, but yeah, it definitely shows a strong trend, and that can be painful. (I have a fandom where I think there's maybe like 1 bottom so-and-so fic in the entire zine era fandom. One. It's pretty extreme.)

I guess my thinking here overall is: What is the practical solution? What are we hoping to gain? What is reasonable to ask of people?

And it can't be "Well, if they would just listen..." That's just a sneaky way of saying "If you haven't done it my way, it's because you haven't listened to me yet."

So the question I would ask of people is this:

What does a non-racist fic where Joe tops look like?

What does a non-racist sex pollen, dubcon, or even noncon fic where Joe tops look like?

And if you say the latter is impossible... well... sadists exist everywhere in the world. So do doms. So do people who prefer to top in a purely physical sense. People with rape fantasies where they're the rapist exist (people who are not actually rapists, I mean). None of this is restricted to any one group. We can't categorically say fic like that about Joe is coming from a place of racism without denying the fundamental humanity of kinky MENA people who'd want to make Joe like themselves or like their ideal partner. (Yes, I agree this won't be the majority of fic writers writing top!Joe, but this is a place to start for figuring out what the better version would look like.)

IDK, maybe you're that kinkster yourself, but your asks gave me the vibe that you don't really get the drive towards those darker kinds of fics and what might be motivating it besides stereotypes and shittiness.

If we can answer these kinds of questions, we can better critique the way people write what they write without telling them all of their taste is bad and they should just stop writing. Even if we think the latter is true, it isn't going to get us anywhere. Figuring out how to make Joe more multidimensional in the fic they already want to write or finding very specific wording that should be avoided might actually work.

Beyond that, the actions I think are productive would be running prompt fests, exchanges, or other events for bottom!Joe or for top!Joe where he's the main character and the fics are required to be from his POV. Themed collections and recs lists are great. (I've seen a bit of this going around in TOG fandom in the past, and that's an excellent approach! Keep it up!) Positive actions tend to work better here. Make more of what you want. Promote what you want to see.

I don't mean this in some fluffy magical thinking way: you aren't going to change that ratio radically just by the power of positivity. But I've seen this kind of thing play out in many, many fandoms, and going after the people who write what you don't like, even in a well-intentioned effort to educate and even in a polite, kind way doesn't do much. A few people feel guilty. A few feel defensive. A lot ignore you. The overall fic doesn't change. It's not a good use of your limited time and energy.

I'm off to look up that fic to see what I think of it in practice, but I'm going to post this before tumblr manages to eat it.

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