#I generally don't give a fuck about other people's opinions regarding fics

[onebrainsel]

Do you ever have an idea for a fic, and then you're like "I'm never making this." because you feel it'll either be ignored or hated? And both of those would hurt?

Yes, I always advocate for 'writing for your own dick'. And I do that. The last fic I posted is a great example of this on my end. But I had another idea and for some reason that one has me skittish of even breathing about it.

[mhsdatgo]

The Helaemonds/Helaegons need to calm down.

Don't get me wrong, it's always refreshing to see some people fill in the gaps of a basically untold relationship such as the one between the green kids in general, but this goes beyond basic obsessive shippy discourse. Leave this poor girl alone. Why's there an obsession with having her be romantically paired with her brothers, one worse than the other?

I understand the show has basically shown so little of her to the point where we didn’t even have a coronation for her on screen, so therefore you can self insert through her and have fun with headcanons regarding Aegon and Aemond. Really, I'm not faulting their girlies, you can be head over heels for whatever actor in character you want (unless you put them on pedestals and start acting like they did nothing wrong and pounce on whoever contests them, THEN we have a problem) but I assure you, Helaena would barely want anything to do with either of them.

Aegon is a sex pest turned sex offender, a drunkard and a neglectful father and husband at best. Her infamous toast in ep.8 has us believing that he cannot for the life of him interact with her unless he's horny drunk or that he forces himself on her at worst.* He was ready to leave them all in ep.9 before he was caught. Even the book is subtle about their relationship: all we know of them is that they sleep in shared chambers, that she was someone important and reliable in Aegon's council before B&C, and that he named her and Alicent the true Queens of his reign.

*(⚠️TW: PERSONAL OPINION⚠️ I'm not saying this last one isn't a possibility but it's sill outrageous for the way people speak about Helaena in defence of this "claim". No, she wouldn't joke about her own r*pe in front of the whole table full of people she doesn't know and right beside her abuser, and despite the hour-long metas I've read about how she's basically "too sheltered" to know what r*pe even means, I assure you she's a high-functioning autistic, not 5 years old. She can understand it perfectly.)

Helaemond is a pure show invention, I honestly wasn't expecting this many people to go up this kind of train. They barely interact, and most of the time it's Aemond saying he'd "perform his duty" should Helaena ever be wed to him, or that stare in ep.9 when he enters her chambers toiling after Alicent. It's, as always, the Aemond girlies who think poor Helaena would live her best life with Aemond, or that they are already romantically involved behind the scenes. The amount of "if one possesses a thing, the other will take it away" edits from people that are FULLY CONVINCED "the thing" is Helaena and that "the one" and "the other" are Aemond and Aegon respectively is honestly concerning.

Fics that are all about Aegon doing the worst and unspeakable things to her so "Aemond can come and save her" are y'all okay? Out of all people, HE has to save her?

Babes, I'm sorry to break your bubble, but this isn't Aegon IV/Naerys/Aemon on steroids. Aemond didn't give two shits about Helaena. No, he wasn't jealous when Jace came to ask her to dance, he just wanted to stir some shit. If we talk about the books, he didn't fucking hesitate to leave King's Landing, his sister, his mother and whatever he was doing for the Riverlands the second he heard that Daemon was there. And he brought the only means of defence they had with him. If he knew how important Vhagar was for the city's defence, he's evil, if he didn't realize it, he's dumb as fuck. Which one is it, Aemond girlies?

People beat each other to the curb about Jaehaerys, Jaehaera and Maelor's paternity like it's the Wars of The Roses. They put Helaena and Alys against the other like they have personal beef with one of them.

Stop mentioning this sweetheart only when it's about praising or hating one of her brothers. No, it's not the only option you have because she's underdeveloped as a character. There's actually another one.

LEAVE HER THE FUCK ALONE.

[snickerdoodlles]

emberfaye replied to your post "choose violence ask game except its just me complaining about fic tropes..."

☕☕☕☕

am going to do my absolute BEST not to ramble too much here, but okay so!! 4 Chay things that will have me back-flipping out of a fic at the speed of light:

babyfication of Chay

i just. ugh. ugh. he is not a baby. he's a 17-18yo guy who half-raised himself due to some shit circumstances and took care of himself entirely by himself for minimum several months. the only difference between him and an adult is that he's not making his own income. Porsche and Arthee doing their best to give Chay as much of a childhood as they can afford him still doesn't change the fact that Chay grew up young and fast just like the rest of this cast. if he acts uwu innocent baby i'm gone. if the author calls him an uwu baby in their notes i'm gone. ugh.

being weird about Chay's or Barcode's age, specifically in regards to sex

as above, i'm pretty shirty about people babying him in general, but fandom is plain weird about Chay having sex. esp him and Kim having sex. 1. their age gap is not that big, and their circumstances have left them on pretty equal footing re the growing up too fast thing. 2. please assess why you think 18 fixes whatever your concerns are with 17yos having sex. 3. teens have sex. dunno what tf was happening with the rest of you but i knew kids even young as junior high who were already fucking. sure, i thought they were fucking idiots for it, but my concerns about people having sex young are rooted in the fact that sex is an inherently very vulnerable act and that's a lot to put yourself thru emotionally during the age range when everything's a wild emotional cocktail. but like. teens still do it. teens are gonna experiment with adult things and sometimes that means experimenting with sex. i personally might not think it's a good idea, but something not being a good idea doesn't inherently make it a bad one either. please stop being weird about it thanks.

calling Chay "bambi"

i just really don't like it. part of it's related to the babyfication thing, but mostly it's just one of those silly things my brain went nOPE on and oh well. back click. 😂

mischaracterizing Chay's anger

so like. this one is tricky because a lot of it comes down to personal interpretation of canon, but also like. a lot of my mischaracterization gripes involves people writing tropes or drama anger instead of Chay's anger, so. yeah. 😂 a lot of people default to writing explosive anger because it's easier to write, but in canon Chay is just. so completely not explosive. and it's not because he's bottling up anger (which!! even if he was, suddenly exploding due to pressure isn't a good thing, gah).

a lot of Chay's personality stems from Needing To Be Okay. a lot of Chay's personal motivations are trying to help Porsche with his burdens and when Porsche won't let him take on extra responsibilities, Chay does what he can to not add to Porsche's plate. and part of not being a burden is quietly dealing with his anger and resentments on his own time. (another factor playing into that is Porsche and Chay really only have each other-- Porsche deals with his anger very quietly too, and it's very characteristic of how they really don't want to hurt each other because they don't have many other people they care about, so they remove themselves from tense/bad situations best they can to reflect on their anger and return to talk about it after they've calmed down.)

Chay is fierce in his anger, but he withdraws when he's pissed and he always tries to talk it out with the intention of achieving clarity. and if i don't feel like a story's going to handle Chay's resentment/anger in a way that feels true to how it was shown in canon (there's a few litmus tests but mostly i'm going by vibes), i just click out because i already know any plot conflict won't feel fully or properly resolved to me in the end :/

[ send a ☕, get a bitchy* fic opinion ]

*personal opinion, I'm not going to be mean

[anghraine]

For no particular reason: a grab-bag of answers to questions I've gotten, usually more than once, on my SW fics. Austen ones later!

Lucy Skywalker:

1— Why did you use "Lucy" for your female Luke Skywalker instead of something more space-like/Star Wars-y?

Because "Luke" itself isn't that kind of name. It's the perfectly common English form of a real, old, familiar name. I was looking for something analogous—a name with a common English form, something that's been around for a very long time, ideally with a similar appearance to "Luke." I stand by my opinion that "Lucy" is the closest fit, not something "spacier."

2— Why are Lucy and Leia seventeen c. ANH instead of the canonical nineteen?

Because Star Wars "canon" is a shape-shifting void beast and I stick firmly to the films and sometimes scripts. The movies don't give Luke and Leia's ages at any point in the OT, but the ANH script says Luke is eighteen and Leia is about sixteen. For the Lucyverse, I averaged them out to seventeen.

3— Why is the wampa episode different, with Wedge Antilles captured first?

The pervasive misogyny of most GFFA societies in the Lucy fics led to Lucy being ultimately accepted into Rogue Squadron but not as leader; Wedge occupies Luke's role as commander and even gets his shifts. Consequently, he's the one in place to get mauled by the wampa, but he has less options for escape and would have died if not for Lucy and Han's impromptu rescue mission.

The other reason is that the changes to the sequence made it more interesting to write about than just ... novelization-style with a pronoun switch, which I'd already done through much of the first fic.

4— Speaking of the pervasive misogyny of the GFFA in the Lucy fics, why is that a thing?

When I look at the roles of women in the prequels and then at the near-total dearth of them in the OT, the difference is very glaring. Maybe this is just a relic of the respective times in which they were made, but idk, it feels like the domination of white human men during the Emperor's reign has a certain resonance with Imperial era politics. That includes the fact that (as depicted in the OT) the military arm of the Alliance is scarcely better in this regard. It genuinely feels to me like there's been real, in-world, large-scale change from the PT era.

And I generally prefer to lean into fucked-up aspects of a canon and underscore what's wrong with them rather than to headcanon them away. So that's what I was doing there.

And the idea that the particular misogyny of the Empire flows down from Palpatine and this minefield changes Anakin/Vader's approach to Lucy (and hers to him) was far more interesting to write about than "everything is basically the same, lala what systematic misogyny." The events of The Jedi and the Sith Lord were always part of my plan for the fic and one of the main things that made it interesting to work towards.

SW: Rogue One

1— The idea of Cassian being from Alderaan is, um, interesting, but according to the Expanded Universe—

The extent to which I do not care about the SWEU can hardly be overstated. Please feel free to stop correcting my fanfic with SWEU/TV show factoids.

(Sidenote: I only wrote Alderaanian!Cassian in the ad astra verse, though he speaks Alderaanian in all of them.)

2— Will you ever finish per ardua ad astra?

Yes. I'm sorry it's taking so long, but I will if it kills me.

3— You've talked about Leia/Jyn/Cassian, but ...

I do actually have two fic ideas for it. I've written some of one, but not the other (and of course, I prefer the scenario I haven't written). I do hope to write some, someday.

4— Will you ever finish the Persuasion fusion with Wentworth!Jyn and Anne!Cassian?

Probably not. ;_;

SW: Other

1— Your Skywalker headcanons about Tatooine slave culture are interesting. Are you going to do more with those?

My Skywalker headcanons are not Tatooine slave culture headcanons. The enslavement of Shmi and her surviving people happened in her young adulthood in nearly all my fics.

I will do more with my headcanons about the Alsarai, though!

2— Will you ever write the sequel to Revenge of the Jedi?

Probably not. I had it planned and outlined, but a lot of the ideas got absorbed into other fics, and I'm not feeling it these days.

3— Will you ever continue the one-shot fic where Vader defects with Luke in ROTJ?

Yes and no. I can't really say more.

4— Is Anakin really Leia's stepfather in Redemption?

Yes.

[agent-cupcake]

Hey, another fanfic writer here—I saw ur recent post regarding lack of interest, and I have a few things I’d like to share that would hopefully help you since I’ve felt, and to an extent STILL feel the way you do about the topic of only really getting attention for fics of other more popular fandoms while the ones your proud of are just… 20 likes, as you said.

Apologies for the unasked advice, I come from a place of complete empathy since I’ve been there again and again to where I’d write a shit one off for a fic and it would get more traction then the stuff I actually put work into—like “wow you guys prefer some garbage written fluff of x character but this fic, which i have poured a LOT into, isn’t really acknowledged?” and unfortunately, there’s really no way of getting past that feeling beyond just completely removing yourself from the concept of being praised/putting importance in other people’s thoughts.

Genuinely I have not felt better than now when I post fics because I completely disregard people’s opinions—both good and bad, whether it be praise or mild hate—whatever is said, I feel nothing. This has fostered to the extent where I get annoyed when I get excessive likes for a fic because I find the notifs annoying. It’s a sad reality, but as writers (or creatives in general) it’s a detriment to consider others, especially when YOU, a painfully, undoubtedly SKILLED writer whose unpaid.

Seriously, not to give you the sloppy or whatever, but you’re fucking GOOD. And not to be the “hehe im a hardass and hard to impress!” but genuinely, reading your fics just makes me “😨” BECAUSE THEYRE SO GOOD?? HOW ARE THEY NOT PUBLISHED WORKS?? HOW ARE YOU ONLY GETTING 200 NOTES?? And it pains me to read that you’re deeply effected by the lack of traction you get, because I understand, but you must understand your worth isn’t defined by degens online who want a good smut or just a person who wants to read any content made of a niche character :(

Yadiyadia, long story short: You’re good (REALLY good) and I STRONGLY advise you learn to completely detach yourself from the want for praise and learn to create merely because you enjoy it, because in the end, all that matters is that YOURE happy and you, as the unpaid and sinfully underrated fanfic writer, enjoy the process.

I was being whiny and pathetic last night I don't like the way I came off so first off, I thank you for sending this, and thank all of the people who responded to my complaining with such kindness and understanding. There are so many wonderful people who have followed and interacted with me throughout the years. It's really unfair when I get depressive to be whiny about interaction when I have proof that so many people are willing to read 20k+ word fics. That's, what, over an hour out of their lives? Regardless if they comment or interact beyond that, it's something I'm way too willing to take for granted. I do apologize for speaking in a way that devalues what a blessing all of you are. When I'm upset I have a tendency to speak in a way that plays on guilt or sympathy way too much and, combined with my poor communication skills, I really do not like the way I came off especially since the people who reached out are the same ones who have been supporting me to begin with. It's poor behavior and I should be more mindful. Really, truly, thank you so much for offering your kindness and support, it really does mean a lot to me.

This is good advice and you're right that it's something I should keep in mind. Perspective is the name of the game unless you want to suffer. For the most part, I really do try to think this way. You know, create for the sake it of, enjoy what you do, all of that. To clarify, a little bit, the feelings behind my rambling last night, I view creation as an inherently interactive process. I have an idea and try to figure out how best to express that idea so I can share it with the reader who can then interpret and respond to that idea. The reader can tell me if I properly expressed that idea, or if I failed. That's why even something as small as "this was hot lol" is meaningful is because it's somebody telling me that I was successful with expressing my idea . But if this is how I feel about content creation, the only conclusion I'm able to draw from saying I don't care about feedback is to never post anything at all. I can't be "good" in a bubble. There's nothing to be learned, or understood, or measured if I am the only audience for myself. I write and share stories to express ideas to others because I genuinely think I have something to offer other people. Sure, it's often an appeal to sexuality or ridiculous levels of heightened emotion for the sake of titillation, but there's a lot of evidence of just how valuable people deem content like that. If somebody is willing to read a 20k+ word fic, I would like to know why. What I was whining about more than anything was a lack of interaction rather than traction. I don't expect to be wildly popular with reader insert, but it irks me that people would be more willing to demand I post more content (such as with the HxH stuff) than they would to show their appreciation for content I've already put up and they've consumed. Now that I'm not in that state of mind, I can acknowledge that this was a childish view to take that could very well not even be true on top of weird framing of holding my fics hostage for the sake of attention.

Anyway, I'm sorry that was an objectively bad take and I'll blame being sad and tired. I truly thank everybody who has responded kindly and with a reminder to focus on what actually matters (degeneracy and thirsting). I apologize again for putting people in that position it was pretty lame of me.

[adventuringblind]

Awwww im sorry :(

Life sucks most of the time (unfortunately) sometimes and a lot of ppl deal with it better than us.

If no one’s said it yet IM FUCKING PROUD OF YOU FOR NOT GIVING IN.

Regarding the angst fics: GIMME. I’ll be the LAST person complaining cause it actually makes me feel something other than indifference and numb.

And max??? Your Ghoul max especially??? I WILL EAT THAT SHIT UP. GIMME. (On your own time and writing speed ofc).

If it ain’t obvious I’ll read pretty much anything you write. I’m a sucker for your ao3, I’m rereading one fic or another daily atp.

Also cause I always see you and 🦡 talking about energy drinks (monster) I’ll add my little quirks about caffeine in general cause I keep being told I’m weird for it and need some kind of opinion from ppl who don’t know anything about me:

I have said for YEARS that I don’t want to try energy drinks because I have an addictive personality. I damn well knew that I’d be addicted to the caffeine “high” or sleep (depending on how my adhd took it).

Until February when my friend but redbull in a separate cup and had me try it. Summary is I liked it and immediately wanted to cry when she told me cause damnit I’ve been avoiding it!!!!

So now I have EXTREMELY strict rules about my redbull consumption (it’s the only source of caffeine other than Coca Cola I actually enjoy the taste of (no I don’t like coffee)). And refuse to try anything else because one is bad enough.

Sorry this is so long but your always asking for ppl to talk… so I just did (whoops)

- 🦒

Okay yes… I am aching for human interaction. The interaction I’ve had with friends recently is not the greatest but in my defense! I’m still religious and so are they and we all have different values. As in - tumblr is like my side hoe that nobody knows about. I’m also bisexual which isn’t the most values thing in Christianity and so I get some weird looks when I rant about pretty woman. I CANT HELP IT THO WHY ARE YOU ALL SO GOOD LOOKING IT’S NOT FAIRRRRR. Same goes for a lot of other shit. Drinking and sex and smoking and sex and - the list goes on for days. IDK man just Lemme liveeee. Also trying to explain to people why you won’t go back t church is a pain. Like - idk? You watched my dad abuse my mom for YEARS, didn’t say anything and gossiped instead about how we were the ones not following him as the head of the household, the proceeded to hail him a hero because he stayed with my mom after she dealt with a fucking predator? Not thanks! I’d prefer never to speak to y’all again!

(Sorry for the random trauma dump lol)

That all being said, the interaction I’ve had is limited to my fiancé and my beta reader who is overseas in the UK. My fiancé has friends and goes out with them and I sit watching movies with my parents while getting trashed. My sister is there too. I love her dearly. But she’s 17 and dual enrolled to graduate with her associates degree in a couple of months so she’s busy T_T

Basically - I’m alone with my thoughts majority of the time and it’s not a fun place to be.

I’m considering making this specific Ghouls Max fic into a mini series because there is so much shit here. Plus, background Landoscar and Charlos have me FERAL. The plot is actually a lot like my Ao3 fic in some ways but not? Like themes are similar ig. I fell in love though and might make a series of one shots that follow Max and Reader post the events of that fic 👀 (which I will have for you EVENTUALLY)

Redbull isn't my favorite unless it's sugar-free (don't ask why because I find it IRONIC). I feel you with the caffeine thing and finding it hard to pace. I don't have a crazy reaction to caffeine and usually get by with a monster in the morning. Coffee tastes gross unless it's one of those places that have their own coffee beans and stuff. Which - okay - I'm from Washington state, and we have SO MANY COFFE PLACES HERE. I have three that are a 20-minute walk from my house. Also, Starbucks sucks.

Saw your ask right after this by the way and laughed because I'm blind and the emojis looked similar, so I didn't even realize at first!

I'm glad to see me and 🏍 are spreading our propaganda 😂

[davyjoneslockr]

mista for the ask game?

Hell yes my beloved guy

favorite thing about them: I love memeing about how funny it is that the personification of his soul is just six little guys, but also there's a lot of layers with his stand that I adore so so much. Like, the fact that he actually has to take care of the Pistols, combined with his sorta protective behavior regarding the rest of the gang (esp Narancia), is really sweet and kinda heartbreaking in hindsight. Also, I definitely read a lot of his superstitions as OCD-related (he's just like me woah), and the Pistols keep him on a comforting routine, so there's that angle, too. Also the thing from PHF that mentions stands in multiple parts/colonies being representative of something deeply sad or broken in the user... yeah :)

least favorite thing about them: I'm always torn about the opening scene from PHF because I love both Mista and Fugo dearly, and I can definitely see where they're both coming from (in fact, I'd say I sympathize with Mista a little more), but like. At the same time. Buddy. That's your friend. Chill out.

favorite line: Every single line he says in the dub plays in my brain on loop 24/7

brOTP: Oh I have SO many. I adore platonic Fugo + Mista and Torture Dance Trio obviously, but I also think (in an everyone lives AU where they don't hate each other post-VA lol) his friendship with Giorno is super funny. Just Local Disaster Man looks at Scarily Competent Maybe Evil Kid and is like "we are best friends now :) let's go to mcdonald's I'll get you a happy meal :)" He definitely tries to give Giorno life advice, and it's mostly terrible, but Giorno will sometimes take it seriously because there's a part of him that thinks of Mista as his cool big brother. Also, Mista and Trish are canon bffs, they hang out at the mall and paint their nails together

OTP: Good evening Naramis micronation <333 While they're sort of high-strung in their own ways, I like the concept of them being able to just be chill with each other, and just. Y'know. Do stupid things together, and find contentment in a way that their lives don't otherwise allow them to. They strike me as two people who just naturally work well together. Also, I love the dynamic of "chaotic dumbasses who probably spend their dates setting things on fire in a Target parking lot, but are somehow role models for a super well-adjusted and healthy couple"

nOTP: oh no fingers crossed I don't wanna start discourse I don't like Giomis tbh. Their platonic dynamic is fun (and their like. weird beef in PHF is super interesting), but I just cannot see them working romantically at all. Mista, especially, I can't picture ever developing feelings for Giorno, even in an AU where everyone turns out fine. Idk, it seems boring at best and toxic at worst.

random headcanon: Oh I have so many and I think I've already shared a bunch, but I feel like talking about the "Hol Horse is Mista's dad" thing. I know it's like a popular joke theory because Guns, but I think it's also legitimately interesting if you draw parallels between Hol Horse/Dio and Mista/Giorno. Like, the PHF bonus chapter, to me, is really reminiscent of the scene from SDC where Hol Horse tries to shoot Dio, but ultimately backs down and is sort of manipulated into keeping his loyalty. Maybe someday I'll write an elaborate post or a fic about this or something.

unpopular opinion: He's not just stupid comic relief!! He's not just Generic Cardboard Cutout Horny Man to throw into spicy fanfics!! He's an interesting character and I love him dearly!!

song i associate with them: Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head by BJ Thomas. He just wanted to have a simple and pleasant life, smh canon.

favorite picture of them: I love the color palette in this scene so much it's so fucking sick

[wowsoboring]

Deconstructing baseless Harry Potter arguments #1: Harmony Edition

There’s a very helpful account on instagram (this instagram page merely gathers toxic harmony shippers, they don’t ship Harmione or hate all Harmione shippers, please don’t send them hate, show them love and support) where you can essentially find stupid fucking bashers who make baseless arguments. I’m all for Harmione shippers, as long as they don’t denounce Romione, bash Ron and just peacefully co-exist. To my pleasure, such people are out there: they just dont seem to be seen as often as the ones that are not nice. Maybe all I see is the mean people and the majority is nice, but in this post, I am attacking those who make baseless claims and bash Ron/Romione/Hinny/Ginny. I don’t myself hate all Harmione shippers. On top of that, as a Romione/Ron fan, i do acknowledge Ron’s character flaws along with Hermione’s and I hold them on the same pedestal.

This is copied directly from my own instagram page, granger.weasley_ on ig.

Anyways let's get deconstructing

1)

rebuttal:

Yeah okay mf; maybe don’t compare real-life relationships with fucking fictional ones. Your relationship going wrong has nothing to do with Ron/Hermione. It has everything to do with you and your ex: the *real life* people involved in it.

2)

rebuttal:

The weird subreddits and discord servers also seem to have a lot of die-hard Harmione “non-canon” shippers. They bash Ron and Romione (along with Ginny and Hinny) with a burning passion without any objective sense of remorse. They ignore all the merits of Ron’s character and bash him to push their agenda. They can’t even do so much as fucking acknowledge any of Hermione’s character flaws but still somehow manage to fixate on that one time when 11 year old Ron just shit-talked one line while Hermione had just publicly humiliated him in front of the Charms class and practically shouted at him for doing the spell wrong just before. I personally don’t because Hermione was 11 too and wasn’t that good at social cues that early on, which is more than okay. Neither am I.

Only a few people in the Romione fandom bash Hermione. And it’s not like Harmione shippers (most, not all!) don’t bash Ron and Ginny remorselessly, right? The fucking hypocrisy.

If someone considers Ron as the best member of the trio, it is their own opinion and not a fact. I do that. If you consider Harry and Hermione as the best member of the trio or in the whole wizarding world, most people don’t give a flying fuck and probably won’t argue with you because it is simply an opinion. That will only happen when you pass that off as a fact.

Statistically speaking, most (not FUCKING all) Harmione moments are in the movies. The weird dance scene especially. The passionate kiss that happens in Ron’s vision, shit like that. Ron is pushed to the sidelines in the last set of movies while Harry and Hermione show each other endless love and support. “I’ll go with you”. The books on the other hand, describe Harry and Hermione as siblings multiple times, with very little Harmione references.

3)

rebuttal:

So you don't want us to fixate on the large majority of Harmione shippers who do the exact same thing, just kissing Hermione's and Harry's ass and hating on Ron. However you will fixate on people who are most likely not EVEN bashing or hating but pointing out a few character flaws in Hermione in a fair and unbiased way. I would know, I'm a huge fan of Hermione as an individual character (in the books). The only criticism I've seen of Hermione to this day has not been bashing. In the comment section of my own fics (shameless plug) I've seen some Hermione bashing. On an ao3 comment section. And I've seen so damn fucking many people bashing Ron, Ginny, the Weasleys etc. and garner tens and thousands of upvotes on quora.

What does Ron even need excusing for? The running away incident and Krum. What does Hermione need excusing for? Canaries, contributing to Ron's insecurities by making him jealous through Cormac and Krum even though she didn't even like them (especially not Cormac, she fucking hated him). Ron wore a locket that literally highlighted his fatal flaw (insecurity) in an echo chamber. Harry kept getting annoyed when Ron wanted to check in on his family. Harry asked Ron to leave; Ron didn't say that shit in the books about Harry's parents being dead: that was plain shock value.

And sorry for repeating myself but I have seen quite a few Harmione shippers bash Ron and Ginny and excuse every single thing Harry and Hermione have done.

4)

37 upvotes on this weird comment that makes no sense? Echo chamber alert! You know what us Romione/Ron fans all have in common? We have never experienced such an echo chamber. I made a pro Ron/Romione post on reddit and got a considerable amount of people who bashed Ron and Romione in the comments.

The amount of Hermione haters is very few compared to Ron bashers. Nobody hates Hermione for being independent, determined, etc. We dislike perfect movie Hermione who’s an unrealistic image of females and seems like some sort of agenda than a real woman. Most Romione shippers/Ron fans and book fans in general (except for you apparently) dislike movie Hermione and still are fans of realistic book Hermione. Most, not all. In general, we do not claim anyone who does the exact same thing to Harry and Hermione that these sorts of Harmione shippers do to Ron, Romione, Hinny and Ginny. I say this on the behalf of all Romione shippers and Ron fans.

Ron's not a bitchy lay-about drama causing loser. That's Steve Kloves's movie Ron. In the books Ron is realistic and simplistic and apologizes whenever he causes problems. He acts up substantially twice in a span of 7 years where he is also a hormone-fuelled teenager.

This is so contradictory and juxtaposed to the point of near delusion. First you talk about how Romione shippers bash Hermione and then you bash Ron as a Harmione shipper. Mate, fighting fire with fire will get you called a hypocrite. Fix yourself.

5)

So the movies are fine when they work according to your agenda? And yes how dare he add such a (fake) chemistry fuelled moment between Harry and Hermione while defeating the entire purpose and groundwork for Romione, the sadness caused by Ron leaving and so many more things? Those Harmione moments you mention seem friendship -esque more than anything else.

Steve Kloves's moments ruined many things while just paying fan service to the Harmione fans he'd birthed through years in the course of 6 movies where he showed Ron as a, how you so eloquently describe it, lay - about drama causing bitchy loser, Harry as one dimensional and Hermione as a zero - dimensional Mary Sue who might as well be the main titular character. Obviously Harmione fans such as yourself don't see the problem with it as it fits your narrative

6)

We do care about Harry and Hermione at large. Most Romione shippers rightfully bash Draco, Pansy, etc. not particularly Harry and Hermione, that's quite rare. Harry and Hermione can get along without Ron as friends. Ron and Harry can also get along without. Hermione as friend. So can Hermione and Ron without Harry as friends or more. I don't understand your point and how what you said is any different than Romione or Ronarry’s friendship.

7)

Constant arguing is not what they do. They bicker, they apologize, and sometimes they just do it for the heck of it. They are argumentative teenager. Opposites attract doesn't work in the sense of fire and ice, it works in the case of Brownie and ice-cream. Ron is passionate, laid back and insecure. Hermione's passionate, a workaholic and not as insecure. Ron can help her get calm and composed and get her to give herself a break. Hermione can motivate Ron and re - enforce his confidence.

It wouldn't be step incest. Harry and Ginny do not regard each other as siblings. They do not look similar whatsoever. And a Harmione shipper also bashes Hinny and Ginny along with Ron and Romione? Checks out

" that fucked up Harmony" hahaha. What?

8)

Are you literally going to date someone on the basis of what Harry Potter ships they prefer? That is so shallow end depraved. Your Harry Potter ship preferences should not be the groundwork for your dating life. Please understand that. Harry Potter is a fictional world which is not real. Hogwarts doesn't exist. Magic doesn't exist. I sound like a Dursley but that's what it is: a fictional realm with fictional character. I would personally not give a fuck if my best friend or significant other was a Harmione shipper. In the case of them being a Ron basher, I would ignore it as if it was just a minor inconvenience and something we wouldn't be discussing and that's how it should be with you. Fuck BuzzFeed, your opinion on what Harry Potter ship / character is your favorite says squat about your personality and relationship with others in a romantic or platonic context. But who cares? Live your life however you want. I'll be stoic.

9)

It's not opposites attract rubbish or high school opposites attract. Ron and Hermione aren't polar opposites like I said, they are a bit different but similar too in many ways. They have a lot more in common than Harry and Hermione. Ron and Harry have the most in common. Both Ron and Hermione are passionate, loving, argumentative, caring, etc. Your argument lacks substance. It's biased trash. And what does “obhwf " mean?

---------------------------------

at the end of the day, i’m just an annoyed teenager. I try my best to be open-minded to people but only as long as they are too. I tried to use my brain more than my feelings for this post. 

[ghostlygun]

2021 Fic in Review

I felt tagged by @liminal-zone, so here we go!!

Total number of completed works/fandoms written in: 48 completed fics published on AO3, 11 completed fics published on a non-english fanfic site, 7 completed original stories. (Only 5 of all of these are multi-chapter though. Most of them are short oneshots.) I mostly stayed in the MCU/Cap movies fandom except for some crossover shenanigans.

Did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? SO MUCH MORE!! I had a 'I think I'll never be able to write again' crisis going on in 2020, so I didn't expect this sudden rush of productivity at all!

What’s your favourite story of the year? Oh man, that's a tough one! I had so much fun with so many different story types this year, and I liked how most of them turned out! But I think I've reached my peak with that crack fic about Actor Sebastian Stan constantly being mistaken for Very Wanted International Terrorist Bucky Barnes. It's sadly not written in English and I suck at translating, so you'll have to trust me that it's hilarious.

Did you take any writing risks this year? I mean, I started writing noncon fic, so, yes, absolutely! I love trying out new things, and this year has been a blast in that regard.

Do you have any writing goals for the new year? Not really. "Finish my WIPs" is always a goal, but I won't promise anything. I've learned that writing goals don't really help me achieve things, and that it works best for me when I write the things I'm in the mood for, when I'm in the mood for, as often as I'm in the mood for, rather than sticking to a schedule or fixed goals.

Most popular story of the year: Surprisingly, it's still Notes, the second fic I ever uploaded to AO3, at the very beginning of my current fandom obsession. It was probably solely due to good timing - I published it the week after the first episode of TFATWS aired.

Most under-appreciated story of yours, in your opinion: I think that's clearly A Bitter Eternity - although I completely understand why it's not that popular. It's a Hydra Wins AU and very, very sad.

Most fun story to write: I wrote so much crack this year, and the non-crack was also fun to write, but my favorite is Guard Dog. I just love bureaucracy crack and paperwork shenanigans.

Most unintentionally telling story: I am a firm believer in the fact that you absolutely cannot tell anything about an author's personal life solely based on the fics they write. (It may work the other way around - if you know someone, you might recognize elements from their lives in their stories.) So, no, I don't think a single story of mine was unintentionally telling. (Well, my HTP stories tell you that I'm into fucked up shit, so there's that.)

Biggest disappointment: It kind of bothers me that, considering the amount of words I wrote this year, I cannot write longfic. I can type out oneshots pretty fast, but as soon as it's becoming multi-chapter, it takes me months to even continue, let alone finish.

Biggest surprise: Noncon fics are hot, actually. Also: The sheer amount of feedback and enthusiasm on AO3, OH MY GOD. It's amazing!! I was not used to this. I come from a fanfic site where comments/interaction in general are rare (especially when you write niche stuff like I do), and when I moved over to AO3, there were suddenly so!! many!! people!! who liked the same stuff as I did! Who create so much content for it and who like the content I create! I've never been a "give me validation or else" kind of person - I write stuff because I want to, and if no one reads it, that's fine, at least it made me happy. But OH BOI did all those lovely comments give me a motivation boost!!

My favourite part of fandom in 2021: MY FELLOW TRASH PANDAS I LOVE YOU *BOOTSTEPPY*

Tagging: Everyone who wants to do this!

[tsukidrama]

j anon ♡

the coolest mf on the planet sent me a review of my most favorite fic i've ever written. i ended up breaking it up for ease of reading as we both ramble more than usual (this is not an issue, you know how i love to talk)

links:

cold hands, cold heart part 2 [nsfw]

(and also part 1 too just in case)

i didn't want the ask to leave my inbox because i've been rereading this every day recently 🥺 you're amazing, can i just say that?

IM LITERALLY SOO GAYY FOR WRITING THAT QLDHEKSJ AND SO ARE YOU FOR THOSE BEIN UR FAVORITE PARTS IWLEUKJDS. seriously though, thank you!! i don't even know how to properly respond to this i just start kicking my little legs happily. the imagery rly is what pulls you into the story 😩 ngl i wrote this so that i would know what it felt like to be there with her in that moment but it's sooo endearing and sweet to hear other people's reactions to reading it, especially for the emotional aspects and not just the steamy bits. omg j, the experience of being understood 💕

oh damn yeah i see why you say that! it's the heavy visual imagery and the association with the moon, too. it makes me feel so 🥰 to know that somebody is out there and making connections between my different works 🥺 that's so personal and i love you so much for it holy shit.

and thank you for the validation too, i feel so seen!! exactly! all the details are essential to the plot and to the experience i'm describing, it literally could not have been shorter. hell, if anything, i could have made it longer.

NONO ITS NOT DUMB AT ALL OMFG THIS IS HONESTLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE COMMENTS YOUVE EVER MADE! LMAO I HAD TO GIVE IT IT'S OWN SPOTLIGHT WLKEJHWKDJF I AGREE SO HARD! in canon there is no way in hell that they'd have the time or care to make sure their pubes are shaved. i dont like when people give them hairless pussies, i know it's not that deep but i feel strongly about it qjsnemmddn

in my humble personal opinion, Annie would TOTALLY have a bush anyway. always, even in modern AUs. lmao she doesn't give a fuck, and anybody that would take issue with that just wouldn't get anywhere near her pussy to begin with! also pubes are sexy, i said what i said. it's like a welcome mat yknow? soft and inviting.... honey,, i'm home!

YEP THATS IT THATS THE FIC. that's the best way anyone has ever summed up the central point as well as "Annie opened up and gave herself to reader while still holding back deep down". yowch! my heart hurts.

hnmng... yeah. hehe. wouldn't you just die? every single time i reread that scene it still has the same effect of like, needing to hide and bury my face away lololol. why thank you! i do my best to try to do realistic smut in general, it makes me feel closer to them.

GIRL.... you're over here like "does this make sense???" and i'm over here shrieking and dancing because this is like,,, what i've always thought about the fic. nobody but one other friend and my literal wife has ever pointed out to me that they don't think the story is just about sex. like yeah obv they fuck so in that regard it is, but it's not about getting laid. it's about a genuine moment of connection between Annie and somebody who has a very pure love for her, even if it is to the point of naievity. especially if it's to the point of naievity.

they care about each other so much :') it takes a lot to make her cold heart melt (pun intended)... i guess i got you too! aHA caught you slippin ;))

thank you 🥺💕💕 like yeah it's just fanfic but it was also a character study, and my only way of giving a fictional character the love and gentleness that i feel she deserves 💕 I LOVE HER SOOO MUCCHHH 🥺😵

girl stoppp that's such a mood. you should see my drafts. recently i wrote the phrase "in the barn" three times all in the same sentence, it made me cackle. while writing I jus let the spirit flow thru me...... and then i edit like a madwoman to make sure that it's not chickenscratch gobbledygook because it often is at first. lmao i'm not always as well-spoken as people seem to think.

i think that the awkwardness is actually essential! especially since it's their first time. but like i was saying earlier about liking things to be realistic: when having sex, soemtimes you accidentally get trapped in an awkward angle, or slip and smack your partner in the face. it's messy and wet and sweet and funny, and my goal is for my writing to reflect that.

drljlakjdfh like a wwe match 😂 positions are important and worth describing in my opinion! i'm glad you don't think it's too much though, sometimes i worry that it is.

yesssssss kldjfhkaj thank you!!! for the millionth time thank you! hheheh i love the gentle and sweet talking during smut, it means everything to my soft heart. shockingly i haven't written more smut for Annie (it's because i loooooove her it's so EMBARRASSING actually! I used to be smut queen) but i swear to god just u wait until i post more and you see how consistent i am with reader doing things that she likes.... reader remembers.... and do i seem like the kind of person who is going leave my beloved princess and the queen of my LIFE unsatisfied??? i'd die first

I LOVED IT!! sorry i took a while to post my response though! i went back and forth between not wanting to publish it at all (literally i want it in my ask box forever i can never let go) and then being too overwhelmed by my feels to respond coherently akljfdhlasjd I just have a lot to say and so many feelings, I MISS YOU BTW

[tundrainafrica]

hi, maybe you're tired about this kind of convie regarding hange's gender but i really need your opinion. is it that wrong if i consider hange as a she? istg i'm not anythingphobic, i'm just still stuck with female hange in anime. i stan aot since 2013 and felt just fine to open up about my preference in hange's gender but lately, considering hange as a she is like the most sinful thing in the whole planet and even being attacked and i don't know what to feel about it. 😩

Thank you for the ask anon! 

Lmao, I am tired of this discourse but I’ve kinda accepted that it’s never gonna end really so I’m still happy to give you my opinion about this again. 

I have written about it here.

Before I go into this long ramble again I’d like to clarify some terms which tend to pepper the discourse of gender, sexuality etc etc etc. 

Biological Sex: What genitalia where you born with? Either born male, female or with both genitalia. 

Gender: What do you identify as? CIS, Trans, Nonbinary etc.

Sexuality: Who are you attracted to? Homosexual, Heterosexual, Bisexual, Asexual, Pansexual etc. 

Gender roles: Where do you fall on the gradient? Feminine, Masculine etc. 

And the point of this is, the discourse on gender is soooo complicated. Like very complicated because Hange being interpreted as NB to some people only covers the question of gender. Like these do not cover every other facet of the gender sexuality discourse. 

Because everything up there is ‘mutually exclusive’ to a degree because everyone is so complex. Like you can take a random option in each of those, fit it together in our heads and you would still come up with a realistic person. Because that is how complex human beings are. I have friends who decided to get a boyfriend, realized they were trans, transitioned to male but had both boyfriends and girlfriends. I have a butch lesbian friend who dated a few guys then decided to date girls then decided to transition. You have me who literally tried everything on the sexuality spectrum, crushed on a few girls in high school, crushed on a few more girls in college, thought I was asexual for a while, fell in love with a guy and realized I love dick. 

You can actually have a biological male who identifies as nonbinary but is bisexual  but has feminine tendencies. 

And that’s why even I find it so confusing to address the issue of non binary Hange vs female Hange. Because they are not even in the same bracket. Like we can have a non binary female feminine bisexual Hange all at the same time if you think about it. 

If you have read all my fics and all of my meta about Hange, you would see that I refer to her as a ‘she,’ but at the same time, I do not portray Hange as overly feminine. I headcanon that Hange has tried dating women and I also head canon that Hange has female genitalia (yo, I write preggo Hange fics). She actually falls somewhere in the middle. And what makes the gender part so hard to consider is because usually whether someone decides to identify as CIS, NB or Trans is up to the person. 

And there are just so many other hcs I want to tackle as a fanfiction writer and as a Hange stan beyond her gender and that’s why I don’t really headcanon the whole discovery part because even as a kid, I have never been so particular about my gender. I know I’m a biologically a woman, I have feminine and masculine tendencies. I have loved both men and women. but gender just seemed like just a decision which I just didn’t want to think too hard about.

I mean where I live, my first language doesn’t have gender pronouns so I can avoid the whole discourse altogether by just using Tagalog. I’m the type of person who will just have this person think I’m a man all the way until they meet me because I just wanna get things done and I feel no need to correct people. My first crushes were all women, despite my being a woman and the first people I have ever loved were women and I didn’t want to decide whether I was bisexual, heterosexual, homosexual etc. yet because even teenage me just found it way too complex and too final and just went around saying I liked this girl or I liked this guy and generally because I’m that type of person, I don’t spend a lot of my time thinking about gender even in a fandom space unless somebody asks.   

And does it make me homophobic/LGBT-phobic etc etc for deciding to use ‘she’ and deciding to tackle questions about Hange beyond her gender? No. Like this conclusion is inherently flawed. I was hella gay for a huge point in my life. 99% of my crushes were women. Then there was this period where I didn’t enjoy romance The only guy irl I have ever crushed on is my current boyfriend. But even when I explored my own gender, sexuality, it was always an ‘in the back of my mind’ thing. I didn’t have huge personal metas about what exactly my gender was or where exactly I fall or what pronouns I prefer.

And nobody is obliged to look so deep into this discourse. The important thing is in real life, we respect people’s pronouns, we respect the names they want to go by and we respect people’s preferences (as long as they aren’t dangerously criminal.)

And the thing is, this isn’t even real life. This is a fandom space. And in a fandom space, everyone is literally interpreting characters however they want. We have people literally pairing off Levi with both men and women and technically we’re assuming Levi’s gender, sexuality etc. Sure it might diverge from canon but does that make our headcanon any less than the others? Like Levi’s sexuality has never been confirmed and technically we’re all just assuming what kind of person Levi would have wanted to fuck right? Like every yaoi pairing, every ship is just fans assuming someones gender, assuming someone’s sexuality. 

And sure people could argue, ‘Yams’ didn’t confirm her gender. But Yam’s didn’t confirm anyone’s sexuality either but here we are pairing Mikasa off with Annie then pairing Mikasa off with Eren. Like same energy with ships, are there ships which are inherently superior to others? And technically, I could headcanon Levi as a woman if I wanted to and no one could stop me. I mean sure let’s celebrate that some of our headcanon and preferences have been acknowledged but what battle are we trying to win here really. 

To answer your question, it is not wrong. Having any opinion and having whatever headcanon you have about any fandom in this space is not wrong.

Sure, Hange is a comfort character to many people for various reasons. Hange is a comfort character for me but Hange is not any single person’s comfort character. Hange is a gift to us by Yams to interpret and play with however we want. Hell, every other character we’ve ever grown to love was a gift to all of us by the author. And we can choose to hc them however we want. That is the magic of fandoms.

If I wanted to, I could make some eruri and ereri mpreg fics for the kicks, I could interpret Levi as every single gender, sexuality on the spectrum and it would be just as valid. I mean I won’t because I don’t jive with those headcanons or those types of ships but I would respect people who have those types of preferences.

This space is free for everyone. We can choose what we want to consume and we can choose how we want to interpret characters. 

The only responsibility we have as fans is to use the right warnings when we post shit and to respect everybody else’s preferences. 

What I would consider ‘sinful’ is just dropping some unnecessary hate into a place which is supposed to be our safe space or pushing an agenda or an opinion and being hateful about it in the process. Like sure, spread your agenda, spread your opinions and your headcanons but please be nice about it.

We’re all just sad people trying to survive in this crapsack world.

[fatechica]

You don't need to post this on your blog or anything, I just hope you don't feel pressured to change how you write because of recent drama. I say ignore those people. If they don't like it, if they jump to ridiculous conclusions, that's their problem. Your writing is good, and the people who read it will know it's good, and the people who know you know you are good.

Anon, first of all, thank you for the kind words about my writing and thank you for giving me an out with regards to answering this publicly. I appreciate both so much and thank you so much for your kindness and consideration.

That said, I’m going to do the ill-advised thing and wade into this. Not because I desperately want to, but because there are things I need to say that I think should be part of this discussion. 

A NOTE BEFORE I BEGIN:

While I welcome honest debate about the nuances of this general topic, I will not engage in dishonest, hostile attacks. I am not afraid to turn off all anons and continue on Tumblr mostly as I have been: as someone who primarily reblogs gifsets and graphics and occasionally posts links to my fanfic. I cannot be bullied off this platform - in fact, I will not. I have been around for too long to let people hiding behind the safety of anonymity dictate to me what is and is not allowed.

It is not up to anyone here but me what my level of involvement is in this fandom and in this space and no one has the right to decide for me. Go ahead and block me from seeing your content directly if that’s what you want (if that’s even possible - I never know with Tumblr sometimes). But I exist on Tumblr for reasons other than Stranger Things (weird, I know, considering that’s all I reblog) and my self-worth isn’t tied up in this platform. So, with that said….

To start, to say that I am disappointed in what I saw today in the Stranger Things fandom is a massive understatement. Regardless of what caused this - regardless of your opinion on what is, essentially, a gray area (as in an area that not everyone agrees about the definitions of) - ganging up on and bullying people is completely unacceptable. If you can’t see why that’s wrong, then I don’t know what to tell you.

Fandom should be a space where everyone feels like they have a place. Not the same place that you have or I have. But if they want to participate in their own corner, there should be somewhere they can look at and go “yes, that is where I can be”. And this is regardless of what that might look like.

For example, I hate the Harringrove ship. Like with a passion. I think it’s incredibly disrespectful to Steve’s character and I cannot understand the leaps of logic required to turn Billy’s storyline into something worth redeeming. I think it’s also incredibly exploitative of gay relationships and it squicks me out to no end.

Does that mean, however, that I don’t want people who do ship them to have somewhere to go? Of course not! People have a right to engage in a piece of fiction however they choose (because, at the end of the day, it’s fiction and the characters on the page literally aren’t physically harmed). And it’s not up to me to say what isn’t allowed.

But, conversely, I don’t have to see it if I don’t want to. No one can force me to read Harringrove fic or engage in Harringrove posts on tumblr. But, here’s the thing: I’m responsible for curating my own fandom experience. Which is why I filter out the Harringrove tag on AO3 and block the Harringrove tag on Tumblr.

I would never, however, go the Harringrove tag or find a popular Harringrove blog and harass them. Even if I think it’s wrong. Even if I think their ship is exploitative. I would never try to drive people out of a fandom because their experience doesn’t mirror mine, because they get enjoyment out of something differently than I do.

But, that’s about a ship portrayed by actors who are of age. Which is where the very gray area in what happened today comes into play.

I think we can all reasonably agree (even though I know there’s some people who won’t) that explicit material about characters portrayed by underage actors is wrong. And, when I say explicit, I mean play-by-play, detailed descriptions of sexual acts.

Some people will disagree with me. That’s fine. I literally cannot stop anyone from having their own opinion about fictional characters.

(I know some people will argue that it’s different when they’re aged up and they’re imagining different people as older versions of the characters, but that’s between you and your conscience. And, like with Harringrove, I just don’t wanna read it at all. Nor do I want to write it.)

But there is a massive difference between writing about exploring healthy, emotional intimacy (which often includes suggestions of physical intimacy since a lot of, though not all, relationships are made up of both) and writing smut meant to titillate.

The first is character-driven, diving in and showing how people form healthy relationships. The second is just exploitative.

The first is about coming-of-age when you’re in love and you don’t know how to handle everything and you’re figuring it out as you go. The second is about shock and arousal.

The first is about balancing the emotional and the physical, about trust and respect and love, about how it feels to be head-over-heels in love with someone; it’s about how we grow and mature and set healthy boundaries. The second is about pornography and that’s it.

The first sometimes includes hints of sensuality and suggestions of more. The second is only about the physical and nothing else.

(And, yes, I’m aware there is a whole sub-genre of “Porn with Feelings”, but this fandom has not really embraced that as a sub-genre so it’s not worth mentioning.)

Now, like I said, we can all pretty much agree that the second one is wrong. 

But the first one? That’s up to your comfort level. It’s up to you to decide where that line is.

You don’t want to read fiction about older teenagers navigating relationships, which often includes dealing with their own sexuality? Well, then, the back button is your friend.

You think anyone who suggests that something physical happens between teenagers means that the author is imagining those very teenagers having sex? Well, then, that’s you projecting onto that author. You don’t know what went through that author’s head when they wrote it.

If you think that everyone who writes anything or suggests anything intimate about characters who are played by underage actors are immediately imagining those characters played by those actors having sex, then you are no better than the people you’re accusing of imagining that very thing. Because guess what?

Now you’re imagining it, too.

I have to say, it takes a lot of nerve to go into someone’s writing and tell that author what they were thinking when they wrote it. I know once a piece of fiction is released into the world, the author loses the ability to control how it’s interpreted, but authorial intent IS A REAL FUCKING THING and NO ONE is allowed to dictate to an author what he or she was thinking when they wrote it.

Because unless you’re a mind reader, you have no goddamn clue what that author was thinking. And if you get offended by what you’re reading then, like I said, the back button is your friend.

Which brings me to the final thing I want to say at the end of this very long essay: we have got to stop gatekeeping in this fandom.

Believe me when I say that gatekeeping and purity trolling in all forms has led to the downfall of many fandoms and fandom communities (see: ALL OF LIVEJOURNAL). I’ve been there - I’ve watched it happen. There is literally no better way to stifle creativity and fandom growth by dictating what is and is not allowed in harsh, black and white terms.

So, if we want to have a healthy fandom where open discourse is allowed, where people can share their interpretations of the characters and explore what must be going through their heads as real people growing up might be experiencing, if we want to make this a place where people feel included for years to come, if we want to have a space where people can create and post and share, WE NEED TO STOP DOING THIS.

Learn to agree to disagree. Learn that some people have different boundaries of acceptable and appropriate than you. Learn that most people do not approach sensitive topics from a place of exploitation and titillation.

I’ve long been concerned that we aren’t mature enough as a fandom to handle nuanced discussions like the one that didn’t happen today.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t have a lot of hope for this fandom if things continue on the way they are. And, though I’m not going anywhere for the time being, I hope that I’m proven wrong. I hope we can learn the difference between inappropriate and uncomfortable; I hope we can learn how to have nuanced, respectful discussions where we disagree and separate to our own corners to experience fandom how we want to experience fandom.

I hope that we can figure out how to grow up as a community.

But absolutely nothing I saw today tells me we’ll be able to do that.

[elenatria]

Regarding the anon message you got about don't put your Valoris things in the general Chernobyl tag. First: Anon, FUCK YOU. Second: Thank you that you did tag it with the general Chernobyl tag because that is how I found that there is stuff for this ship. That there's a ship name for it. And by using that one, I found even more. So yeah, tagging it that way made me find nice things and tbh the antis can dance upon my grave once I am dead. Until then I have no fucks to give :) Have a nice day.

Ok you’re glorious can I kiss you like literally, kiss you, who are you?  A-hem don’t mind me, I respect your anonymity. *loves them in secret, staring into the void with longing eyes*

I thought this was over, that everything had been said, but apparently it has not. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to say a couple of things before we put this all behind us and keep shipping Valoris for as long as it lasts.

Yeah, I found out who that anon was, apparently she had way too many issues of her own (if I could judge by the angry posts in her blog that I found later on a random search). The funny thing is that she never EVER blocked me as I advised her to, instead she kept coming to spread her toxicity here, waiting for my next “irreverent” Valoris post I guess, striking again when I posted the Valoris kiss. I mean apparently her issues had made her addicted to several things, anger included. That’s the issue with antis. They have… issues.

And yeah. Do you want to know what some Valoris fans do now? And I say this with the utmost respect to their choice even if it saddens me. They don’t use the “chernobyl” tag so as to avoid being targeted. As you saw yourself, people did demand from us to limit ourselves to the “valoris” tag because they didn’t want to see our headcanons in the more general “chernobyl” tag.

In other words, they said “Ghettoize yourselves if you want to keep safe from our trolling”.

Lol wut?… o__O

Of course I stopped tagging their dramaz here with “chernobyl” because yeah, it was getting tedious, HOWEVER whenever people ask me to not use the tag, you bet I will.

And another reason for me to use it, the more serious reason that you mentioned: if I don’t use the “chernobyl” tag for anything Valoris how am I supposed to find like-minded people? How are they supposed to know where to look? This is tumblr, not wikipedia, everyone is posting memes, vids, gifs, opinions, and Valoris shippers are the only ones not allowed to use it because antis are unable to use their brains or… the block button? How are we supposed to find each other? How are we supposed to know there’s a name for this ship? I remember at the beginning trying to find Valoris fics on Ao3 and there were no specific tags (and no fics for that matter).

If I’m looking for people who like the things I like you BET I’m gonna use the general tag even if it’s a bloody minefield. I’ll set my flags for those who want to find them. 

 Oh yeah me too, I ran out of fucks a million years ago. Now I’m just here to ship and let ship. If they can’t do the same I sure am not gonna stop because of them.

And if anyone wants a list of names to block in order to enjoy their Valoris experience peacefully, pm me.

[essayofthoughts]

hmm ok generic but: only one bed, miscommunication, a/b/o ?

Give me a fanfiction trope and I’ll grade it

Only One Bed - C

I don't go seeking it out, really. It can be fun but mostly I don't buy it because Only One Bed is something easily circumvented - sleep on the floor, in a chair, somewhere else. It's usually only a temporary situation, there's other options etc. etc.. Basically, this trope only allows for a very short amount of time to convince me of whatever you want to convince me of with the fic, and in my experience Only One Bed is a trope best paired with other, longer-running tropes, such as Fake Married/Fake Dating (see previous ask). On it's own I generally won't bother.

TL;DR: I don't hate it but how it's usually used in shipfic is something I only find effective in conjunction with other tropes; I wouldn't usually read this on it's own.

Miscommunication - D+

Okay so how I do I explain how I feel about miscommunication...

How 90% of fics do it: FUCK NO FUCK OFF THAT'S NOT MISCOMMUNICATION, THAT'S NOT EVEN COMMUNICATION TO BEGIN WITH.

How the GOOD fics do it: Oh god I hate you, why would you do this, I know why they don't believe it, I know why they think something else but it's SO OBVIOUS THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER.

Basically this is often done extremely badly with characters not communicating at all, lying to each other, or being deliberately obstructive or otherwise just... not communicating. This can be incredibly frustrating not in the narrative tension way but because it makes all of the characters seem incredibly stupid and I hate it. Shippy or not, when done badly - as it most often is! - I detest it.

When done well on the other hand it is the tastiest thing I ever did see. The cases where it's barely even miscommunication, it's that the involved characters have their own worldviews that mean that they just don't see the obvious care from the other/s because why would someone ever care that much about them? Cases where the miscommunication is a matter of genuine cultural difference where it's not contrived or awkward but just a genuine mismatch in how they interpret certain things or understand certain terms. That's the shit I like.

I like the cases where characters talk past each other because they're working from very different bases of understanding - a great example for this in Critical Role itself is the Vex&Vax conversations regarding Vex's titling or how confident she seems. Vax doesn't understand why the title means so much to Vex because to him she's always had worth. He doesn't understand that for Vex her confidence is an act because she has always seemed so confident and he takes his own strength from that. The idea that she isn't just the awesomest person doesn't occur to him, it does not compute - so they miscommunicate.

TL;DR: This is usually, in my opinion, the wrong tag to attach to a fic because most fics tagged with it feature failure to communicate rather than miscommunication. It can be done well, but it is done well so rarely I am wary of this tag and will often avoid it if it seems contrived to me.

A/B/O - F

NOPE. NOPE. FUCK NO.

1. Slash fandom has some just... truly appalling treatment of female characters and A/B/O is a trope that often people use as an excuse to further sideline female characters, usually due to some certain internalised opinions, at least so far as I can tell.

2. At it's best A/B/O is a woman's fantasy about a happy slashy ever after with babies and a white picket fence. At it's worst it's... rape and sexual assault and complete failure of consent, refusal to acknowledge or allow trauma, arousal treated as consent and just... a whole load of other issues.

I avoid slashfic for a bunch of reasons, but triggered in part by reading a BBC Sherlock Fanfic written before the introduction of Mary Morstan to the series that included her because she's in the books... and made her a habitual cheater cheating on John to justify John and Sherlock getting it on. They wrote in a character, mischaracterised that character from the primary source material they could reasonably be basing her on, and made her a wilful habitual cheater in order to provide a moral excuse for John's cheating on her with Sherlock. The level of just pure fucked up justification there that was completely unneeded because she didn't even exist in the BBC series at the time infuriated me. The fic was otherwise good, but once I grokked that, at it's basest level, that was what they'd done, I was very angry! And I looked over other slashfic and realised it happened with abandon, one way or another.

And then I looked at A/B/O and realised that oh hey, Roving Slash Fandom is basically the vast majority of A/B/O and decided fuck this, fuck that, fuck no never again. I am notoriously picky about what slashfics I will read, and A/B/O goes into my automatic blacklist - if AO3 had a tag blacklist feature, it would be on it. As it is, it is the first tag I blacklist when I search for anything.

TL;DR: I avoid A/B/O because I can't stand slashfandom and don't trust it. A/B/O falls into slashfandom more than it doesn't. I can think of one (1) A/B/O fanfic I've enjoyed (an unfinished Crimson Peak one) and otherwise the triteness or conversely the rapeyness of it just makes me uncomfortable, irritable and thus nope the fuck out.

Give me a fanfiction trope and I’ll grade it

[carraville]

Hi there I'm writing a fic and wondered if you could help me with something. I don't know an awful lot about David beckham Paul scholes and Phil Neville. I know your a man Utd fan and you'll probably love them all haha but just tell me what they're like from what you can gather as people and players. Even if it's just your opinion that's fine! Thanks so much for your help

ok SO i do love them a lot and i know much more about them than i ought to, so much so to the point that it might be more useful if you had something more specific you need to ask about, because i…am far too involved in them??? buT general-wise i wrote a draft primer on the co92 a while ago and I’m just going to copy and paste from there and hope this helps!!!! 

putting this under a read more because this is....long

BECKS:

Everyone and their mum (especially their mums, probably) knows who David Beckham is, but did you know him when he thought that curtains were not just to make windows pretty but also for hair? Did you? Because curtain becks is almost as bad as half-alive mullet becks (although nothing can beat cornrow becks in the history of what the fuck were you thinking, let’s be real).

What can I tell you about Becks that you don’t already know? He has OCD and has to have an even number of coke cans in the fridge. He took cooking classes when he was at Milan and learnt how to make pasta (a far cry from his humble beginnings in Gary Neville’s kitchen). His middle name is Robert for Bobby Charlton. He’s honestly a more down-to-earth and clever bloke than people give him the credit for and he’s really just a little boy who’s loving what he does and works incredibly hard for it? A lot of people always remember the underwear modeling (for good reason, I mean, have you seen) but in doing so they dismiss his playing days, which is ridiculous because he was so fucking good. And hey, you can be good at both football and looking like a life-sized, anatomically correct Ken doll! His crosses were exquisite, his free kicks were sublime, and the partnership he had with Gaz is still guilty of murder for killing me through old, grainy youtube videos. Also everyone’s always keen to stress that he’s never really let fame change him or the way he deals with people, which is lovely.

If you wanna kill urself, watch his retirement interview with Gary, because it perfectly sums up who he is. Boy from Leytonstone who wanted to play football. He’s so insistent on being remembered as a player that it really breaks your heart that more people don’t. No one talks about how he tried that Wimbledon goal every day in training, or how he still hits exquisite free kicks aged 40plus because he practiced them for so damn long. He’s a beautiful talented hardworking boy and I lov him!! and he’s not arrogant or anything at all he’s just so cool!

Becks left United in 2003 after a bit of a bust up with Fergie, even though they remain on great terms nowadays. It broke everyone’s heart, it broke Gary’s heart, but it wasn’t so bad for Becks bc he found a Spanish goalkeeper to frolic around with. Still couldn’t watch us play for years, though, so there!!! In 2007 he moved to LA Galaxy, in 2013 he moved to PSG, and he retired then. It was great, he got thrown into the air and shit bc he was retiring so it wouldn’t matter if he broke his legs. ffs lads.

Fun fact: I still laugh at the fact that his house in Hertfordshire was called Beckhingham Palace

SCHOLESY:

My favourite story of him regarding this Intense Dislike for Humanity is this one: after the 2008 CL final, which we won, he was the first and only one on the team bus while everyone else was ostensibly getting drunk off their tits. At the next press conference, reporters asked him if he’d wanted to have some time to himself and reflect on how he’d finally gotten redemption for 1999. He stared at them and said, “I just wanted to go home.” 

IDC IF IT’S AN URBAN MYTH IT BASICALLY SUMS HIM UP ENTIRELY.

My other favourite story of him is him telling AC Milan’s president that ‘if you want me to play for you, you’ll have to buy this club’, because we’re the best club in the world. Seriously, his love for United is so great. Sometimes he’s described as an Oldham fan, but he’s said before that it was United first and Oldham second. Did I say ‘said’? I probably meant smoke-signalled it because this bitch is so hard to get interviews with. There’s this great one where he’d just retired or something so the BBC got him to do an interview and their first question was ‘is this a living hell for you, then?’ and his response was ‘it is, really, yeah…I’ve been thinking to myself ‘why the hell did I agree to this???’. I know people have been knocking him for talking a lot more nowadays but a) he’s a pundit, it’s his job to talk and b) I rly think it’s just because it’s his only link with football that he has left?? So he puts himself thru it, because he just loves football so much, and that makes me love him even more? The directors of CO92 had a kickabout with him and described it as watching a little boy play again and I think that’s just the most beautiful and pure thing and Scholesy is so pure. Except when he’s setting people on fire.

BC HE DOES THAT A LOT, like, you think he’s quiet so he ain’t gonna be up for much banter but, my dude, he is the most savage person you will ever encounter. The closest I’ve ever seen him come to pissing himself laughing was when he was describing attacking Phil with a 50-yarder and knocking a POOR INNOCENT BOY flat on the ground. Laughing at that! Also his sense of humour is absolute wreckage. Gary has the best story:

People think Scholesy’s shy and quiet but he’s one of the most cutting people I know. Example: the day Diana Law, who worked in United’s press department, was chatting with the players. “Gary, you remind me of my brother for some reason,” she said. “Why?” Scholesy replied, quick as a flash. “Is he a knob too?”

HAHAH u knob. AnyWAY this is getting long but tldr tiny ginger little shit who hates the world and would probably hate how much i love him. He debuted for United in 1994, scoring twice against Port Vale, and retired in 2011, then unretired in 2012 and waltzed into our starting XI, and then retired again in 2013. So the only person we could find to replace Paul Scholes was Paul Scholes. smh.

Fun fact: he used to steal all of Gary’s shit and hide things and he’s SUCH A LITTLE SHIT, both literally and figuratively, I love it

PHIL:

ok phil is just the sweetest purest cinnamon roll you will ever meet, ever, I mean you probably won’t ever meet him but u know what i mean. Sometimes I think he’s too sweet bc he’s such a dumb pushover. Someone once said he was everyone’s favourite Neville just by virtue of being not Gary. Which is hilarious. ANyway he’s a fuckin sweetie pie and family man who constantly refers to his kids has his babies even tho Harvey is, like, old enough to drive I think?? and he’s an incredibly good dad to Isabella especially who has cerebral palsy but he’s so!!!! supportive!!! and god what did we do to deserve this dumb boi. If we were doing a CO92/Spice Boys crossover he would be Redders hands down because he also gets a lot of stick, from his commentary to his analysis (I s’pose it doesn’t help when ur bruv keeps winning shit like pundit of the year), but he always takes it on the chin and laughs it off and keeps on being such a good person, kind to everyone he meets and genuinely good-natured. I love his self-deprecating humour, it’s the best thing. He also loves United a lot, altho probably not as much as he loves Gaz uwu

Ok, so he’s not the world’s most exciting or greatest player, but he was honestly rly talented and people can forget that?? I mean you don’t just make captain of Everton bc you’re the United captain’s lil bro. He scored some amazing goals when he was at United - maybe the olden day Jesse Lingard - not a great goal scorer but a scorer of great goals. And he was always so intent and almost enthusiastic going into things, which kinda mirrors his puppy personality, which I lov. because don’t let his puppy dog eyes and smile fool u, ok, he’s just as driven as all of them and he will get what he want. probably just with less blood and dead people than, like, scholesy.

He’s two years younger than the rest of them so he made his debut in ‘95 and then heartbreakingly left in 2005, going on to captain Everton (but not before scoring an own goal against us bc he loves us still really). He retired in 2013.   All these kids retiring in the same year! Tsk. It’s like they planned it or something.

Fun fact: he was a brilliant cricketer and used to play with Freddie Flintoff. A tear shed for the hungover Philip at Buckingham Palace that we never had

[jamesnovakwinchester]

(1) idk what u think about this from a writer's perspective but don't u think there's an oversaturation of bangs that may contribute to authors feeling overwhelmed by their schedule & not being able to do the work they want to do bc they're so worried about how much they have yet to do?? it's something i've noticed in this fandom in particular?? there's so many bangs coming out and they're all back to back that no one gets a chance to rest & breathe & live their lives without a schedule

(2) of bangs looming over their heads and thus fostering a sense of despair as authors feel guilty and immense pressure bc they feel like they have to write even tho their plate may already be too full,,, idk it just seems like there’s constant demand for new content that may be leaving authors wrung out especially since no one pays them for their free content (commissions not included obvs) it’s not a criticism just something i’ve seen in my time in the spn fandom

So I’m gonna answer this in two parts because I think there are a couple things being hinted at in this ask and I have a lot of thoughts about these topics.

So, one, do I think there is an oversaturation of bangs in the fandom and do I think that leads to author despair? Kinda yes but also kinda no.

There are a buttload of bangs in the spn fandom, that’s for sure. And, there have only been more in the past year. I can name at least four that were brand new this year and three of them are starting today. But I think these bangs exist for a very specific reason. I know the mods of the DCJ bang and I know a big motivation behind that bang was to get more art for Dean/Cas/Jimmy (there was literally one art work before the bang) and to get more fics that weren’t all written by the same few people. Seriously, prior to the DCJ BB announcement, there were maybe 100 works for that ship on A03 and most of those that had been written post Pitchers and Catchers and by people who all knew each other on tumblr. The Saileen BB, which I’m co-moding, was created as a retaliation to canon. It was a “fuck you, we’ll keep the love alive”, kind of thing. Other bangs like the Crowley BB and the BMoL BB were created out of love for those characters and fans who just weren’t done with them yet. In many ways, that’s what fandom is all about! And it encourages other writers who might be on the fence about writing their idea or don’t think anyone will care because it’s not one of the Two Big Ships to write and for readers to find authors who write something they’re interested it. It’s really awesome in that respect.

The issue, I think, comes when a person is a multishipper or a shipper in one of the ships that has an assload of challenges. Destiel has, currently, the BB, the reverse bang, the tropefest, the harlequin challenge, another BB (because there were issues with last year’s BB and some people got really pissed) and probably a few mini bangs, too. I know Wincest also has a BB and reverse bang, but I don’t know if they have challenges to the extent that Destiel does. If you’re a Destiel shipper, but particularly a writer, you know the issue with oversaturation that ship has. (But I will save that for the second part of the answer.) As a multishipper, I want to write for all the bangs. I want people who love the same ships as I do to have new content, and I want to read new content, too. I want long fics with character depth instead of just one-shots all the time (not that there’s anything wrong with one-shots or the people who stick to those, I just tend to be a long fic reader). For people like me, who want to read and write it all, the fact that a million and one bangs all at once can be stressful, and it does make me feel a little sad when I can’t participate in all of them. But I think the fact that there are a lot of specific bangs that deal with specific characters or ships is a good thing. Those of us who do ship obscure things and those who prefer genfic have a place to explore characters, make friends, and find new readers. And, not every writer is going to care about every bang. A strict Wincest shipper probably doesn’t care about the Crowley BB, and a genfic writer probably doesn’t care about ship focused bangs either. The people who are going to have the biggest issue with overextending themselves are going to be the people who write for a lot of ships and/or characters. In general, I think it’s a good thing that we have a lot of bangs. It’s a little strange, sure, but SPN’s fandom is wild. We want to see our favorite characters live on after the story is done, and I think that’s cool. I can definitely see how it’s stressful for some people, and I myself have stressed myself out trying to write multiple bangs at once, but it’s a learning curve and it is dependent on each author. Some can manage three or four projects at a time and others just can’t. I know a few authors (myself included) who stress out about bangs and feel there just isn’t enough time in the year to do everything they want. But bang participation is voluntary. I also know several writers who’ve never written in bang and are still stressed about the pressure to produce. Which leads me to part two…

…. it just seems like there’s constant demand for new content that may be leaving authors wrung out especially since no one pays them for their free content…

Yes. Yes, there is a lot of pressure for authors to produce new content but it has little to do with bangs, imo. I personally feel that bangs, in addition to being about celebrating characters that we lost too soon or rarer ships, are an opportunity for writers of The Two Big Ships to get attention. I’m gonna pick on Destiel a bit, but just because I think the prime example of what I’m talking about. The ship is a behemoth. Currently, (at least last I checked) it is the most written ship on Ao3.  Hundreds of thousands of words a cranked out yearly for this ship and because of that, smaller authors or new fics are lost. It doesn’t help, of course, that so many of the rec lists look exactly the same with the same few fics and authors populating them. In order to get noticed, the best chance a smaller author has is to participate in a bang or challenge and hopefully be interesting enough that bang readers will give them a shot. It sounds a little cynical, but I do think it plays a part in why there are so many challenges for that ship in particular. Authors are hungry for interaction, so we’re more likely to throw ourselves into challenges if we think we’ll get attention and interaction. It may sound a little vapid, but that’s how we’re paid. I don’t get paid in money to write, but I do get paid in kind words, so the more of that I get the better I feel and the more likely I am to continue to write. It’s kind of sucky thing, honestly.

Rather than being a main source of author despair, I think bangs and challenges are a response to it. We need to feel like we’re not just screaming into the void, here. Fanfic is an oversaturated market, but I don’t think it would be as much of an issue if readers were just a little more kind with their kudos and comments. I know that it’s different because 10% of readers leaving a “like” is actually pretty good but it still can sting and leave authors to feel that if they just produced more or better work or longer work or whatever they’d get more attention. (Or fewer “more!!” “update soon!” comments.)  It’s a strange thing, too, that most people who write for fun do so to make themselves feel better so we do tend to write other projects if one we’re doing is leaving us unsatisfied. (And then we feel more stressed because we’ve got a million things we’re working on and none of them are done and we start circling the drain in our minds.)

The demand for new content is definitely something that leaves authors feeling wrung out and unappreciated, but I think it’s separate from bangs. It may occur in bangs, too, but it happens independently of them as well. I think the stress surrounding having a lot of projects going can and does come from bangs, but I don’t think it’s the only thing that causes the stress. I think, by and large, authors feel the pressure to create lest they are regarded as unimportant. That’s, of course, not true, but that’s how a lot of us feel at times.

That’s my opinion, though. If anyone else wants to weigh in they’re more than welcome.