#{ fandom }

[aroaceleovaldez]

i had a thought of "do people not know what AUs are anymore?" and then i remembered nobody explains fandom stuff to new people anymore so it is entirely plausible people genuinely don't know what AUs are and nobody has explained it to them, so for today's lucky 10,000:

"AU" stands for "Alternate Universe" or "Alternative Universe" (same difference) and is basically any thought scenario for a fandom that isn't canon and can't fit within the canon universe. If it takes place in the canon universe but something is notably different, that is typically what's known as a "Canon divergent AU," because it diverges from canon.

an AU can be absolutely anything. There's a couple of widespread pan-fandom au scenarios that often get thrown around, like coffee shop aus, genderbend aus, hanahaki aus (hanahaki is a whole thing in itself i'd recommend researching on your own), etc. One you might hear sometimes is "crossover AU" which is when you have characters from one fandom interacting with characters from another.

You can have as many aus as you want. They can be whatever you want and you can do whatever you want in them. It's a sandbox for you to play around in and explore how things would be different or how the characters would act in those circumstances or environments. Maybe they have different relationships with each other. Maybe they behave slightly differently. Or you can just say "Okay, [x] is true. How did they get here? How would things have to be different for this to occur?" which can also be fun.

If you are ever confused about why people ship something that seems completely out of the blue or doesn't make sense to you in the canon setting, there's a good chance they like it in an AU setting! Not everything everybody is interacting with is necessarily the canon! Not everybody wants things to exist in canon and just want to explore playing dolls in a different sandbox and that's okay. And their sandbox might look a lot different than yours, and that's also okay. You have the freedom to make your sandbox whatever you please. Do whatever you want forever. Get funky with it. AUs are fun.

Okay that's my schpeal. everybody go have fun and play nice now.

[prokopetz]

Starting discourse about whether writing porn about Socrates counts as RPF.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

"I didn't comment on a fic I liked because I don't think the author would care or remember my comment anyway". fanfic writer here, I still remember comments I got on my fics from seven years ago. I still think about them and they still make me smile. your kind comments are what motivates us and what helps us keep writing.

I personally know writers who take screenshot and print out comments they got from their readers.

TL;DR comments matter to us writers more than you think. if you like a fanfic, never be shy to let the author know ♡

[bebx]

love this for me right now

[bunnymami13]

can we bring back filler episodes please i’m tired of 6 episode seasons

give me a HOLIDAY EPISODE, a random and unnecessary beach episode, FLASHBACK EPISODES FOR NO REASON!!

the girls are yearning for filler episodes :(

[thebeetleb0y]

Watching TikTok try and rewrite fandom history by saying fandom culture was created by teenage girls makes me eye twitch to an extent I’ve never felt it twitch before. The middle aged women printing out Spirk erotica to share with each other in the 1900s did not die for this!!!! How dare you erase our important historic moments!!! You would be nowhere without the 30 year old women who dedicated their free time to making these spaces happen. Put some respect on their names!!!!

[alabohaterka]

Edit: First of all, thank you all for your participation ❤️ You managed to gather over 100 responses during the last 12 hours. I did not expect such a great turnout but as always the fan communities on Tumblr did not let me down, thank you once again.

Due to the number of responses, I have to close the survey sooner than I expected.

I wish you all the best and I hope that the good vibes you gave me come back to you ❤️

Hi, I'm looking for people willing to participate in my BA research. It is a survey about how being in fandom influences motivation towards learning English.

If you have some time to spare, English is not your first language but you are more or less actively involved in any fan activities in English, please take a moment to help me (I would also appreciate it if you shared the link with your friends that could help 😉)

[frownyalfred]

“I feel bad enjoying/reblogging this because canon Bruce Wayne is an abusive piece of shit” is such an unnecessary addition in the tags of my posts. Can I not have a fluffy batfamily/batdad headcanon in peace? You guys are so married to one (1) version of Bruce Wayne and you’re making it everyone else’s problem to what…have us feel bad too?

You can enjoy things that are “bad” or don’t line up perfectly with your worldview. Please stop doing this.

[socialjusticerogue]

Last night at choir, I was telling one friend about my fanfic, and another friend joined us. Friend 1 to Friend 2: You're probably wondering what you just walked into. Me: No, Friend 2 and I met when I was still running my Harry Potter Club. She's fine. ;)

Reblog if you've found friendship because of your fandoms.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

the only excuse I see from people who think it's okay to give fanfic writers unsolicited criticism is "if writers can't handle criticism, they should not be posting their works online" and tbh I think it's such a weak, pathetic excuse to be entitled.

someone not wanting unsolicited criticism on something they do for themself — for fun, as a form of self-care — out of love and passion has nothing to do with whether or not they can handle criticism. because we're not talking about a job they get paid to do. we're talking about a damn fanfiction. a hobby. something writers do in their free time as their source of comfort and getaway.

it's their art. not yours. it can be whatever and however an author wants it to be.

instead of trying to justify your action by gaslighting writers — whose works you read for free — that they "should be able to handle unsolicited criticism", ask yourself why you feel the need to go to someone's fic, read it, and then complain about things you don't like when you can always quietly leave if you don't have anything nice to say.

"can fanfic writers handle unsolicited criticism?" "can you learn basic manners and how not to be entitled?"

either respect artists or shut the fuck up forever.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

giving “unsolicited criticism” on someone’s fanfic doesn’t make you cool and your “suggestion” is definitely not helping the author lol

what fanfic is is 1.) free, 2.) something an artist writes for fun, 3.) their source of comfort and joy.

unless specifically asked, fanfic writers are not looking forward to hearing your unsolicited criticism, even if you do so “politely”. by reading someone’s fic, you ask the author to let you in their house and they let you in. if you end up not liking their place, you quietly leave. you don’t start telling them things you don’t like about their house.

“but I was being polite when I tell them their bed should be bigger” “I was saying it so nicely when I let them know pink did not suit their couch” no. you’re not helping. you’re just telling them they should adjust their place in order to fit your personal liking. it’s their house. not yours. build your own house instead of telling strangers how their houses should be.

if authors didn’t ask for your opinions and if you don’t have anything nice to say, be quiet.

[knebellindemann]

[toomanystanstoolittletime]

god this is so them coded

— David Cronenberg, Consumed

[fanonical]

spin this wheel of fanfic tags. this will be the theme of your day tomorrow.

[dubioushonour]

Spin this wheel of ~300 AO3 tags three times.