crystalmy188

[crystalmy188]

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

[crystalmy188]

oh so when a bunch of roman senators kill their leader it's #girlboss but when i, macbeth,

[crystalmy188]

Yes I re-read my own fics because I wrote them for ME

[crystalmy188]

literally cannot believe "first ever live action omegaverse show" is not bigger news on tumblr

[crystalmy188]

Every time I see a bunch of posts from Neil Gaiman on my feed I think, "Neil... you're procrastinating writing again, aren't you"

[crystalmy188]

Writing question here. Do you ever find yourself, mid writing project, doubting your story? And if so, what do you do to get through it?

Keep writing.

[crystalmy188]

우리 다시 만나자...

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I made this illustration for YJH's birthday on 3rd August (but I just finished it today). I present to you KDJ in his ethereal dead wife mode (my fav 🥺)

[crystalmy188]

Do you ever have moments that can be summed up by this image?

[crystalmy188]

Rewatching good omens with my bf starting from S1 and I forgot that’s what Canon Aziraphale sounded like

I’ve been in fandom space without consuming the original media for too long LOL

[crystalmy188]

/ Orv novel main story + epilogue spoilers

"Did you know, Dokja-ssi?" - A Jung Heewon comic about platonic love

[crystalmy188]

Well that’s foreboding

[crystalmy188]

y'know, one thing i don't see get talked about much in regards to asexuality is how it feels to never be 'sexually motivated' by anything

and not just when it comes to advertisements using 'sexy' models to try and sell you stuff, but like. in general

sex as a favor, sex as a bribe, sex in exchange for whatever

casual sex, 'friends with benefits' situations, even simple flirting

it all looks a whole lot different from the perspective of someone who's immune to manipulation via sex appeal, who has virtually no understanding as to why sex would motivate someone to cheat on their partner, etc. etc.

sex is worthless to me

i mean, it's useful as a story element in fiction, but it genuinely perplexes me that sex is such a driving force behind so many aspects of irl society & of people's individual lives, for better or for worse

and that it's so deeply ingrained into how the average person views the world & various situations, because the average person feels sexual attraction, whereas i do not

i think the barrier between aces & allos is actually even deeper than it seems on the surface at times, because it's more than just the grating expectation that everyone must want to 'settle down' and have kids, it's also the fact that the majority of the world is sort of 'in' on a joke that aces will never truly be a part of

[crystalmy188]

HOW ARE YOU ALL STILL ALIVE AND JONGDOOK POSTING

[crystalmy188]

bunny apples

[crystalmy188]

It's so fucking bad today, bro I can't >.<

[crystalmy188]

i saw across the spiderverse last night and my life will never be the same again

[crystalmy188]

I love writing. Would love to do it again someday