#and also why I primarily write fanfic instead of original stuff

[greentrickster]

something I really admire about your writing is that I feel a deep wellspring of kindness behind it. Even if you're kicking a metaphorical chair out from under a character there will be a hand outstretched to pull them back up again, even if they take a very long time to choose to take it.

^///^ Thank-you so much! And yeah, I- ... I write partially with the mindset that every cannon character I write about (and even some of my OCs) is someone's fav, and I try to treat them as well as the story allows in this regard.

I also... this may be a little weird, but I saw the movie Stranger Than Fiction when it came out in 2006. In a very rough description, it's about a writer trying to finish a novel, and also about the man who is both real and the main character of her novel. It's a weird, rather fun kind of meta, and it had the effect on my writing that there's now this little spot in the back of my mind constantly asking, "If you met this character, the version of them from the story you've written... could you justify it? Could you look them in the eye and tell them why it was all for the best?"

So now one of my secondary roles is my stories is hugging the characters I write from behind and whispering in their ear, "It's for the best, I promise it's for the best, I love you so much and you're going to be so happy before it's all over..."

(You know, even as I'm winding up to hit them with a baseball bat.)

It makes me kinda pants at long-form original fiction, because I have a hard time writing original antagonists and flat-out can't write real original villains, because I can't love them properly, not if I have to make them from scratch. But that's okay, because I adore writing fanfiction, and getting to share how much I love these worlds and characters with my readers that also love them. :)

Thanks for the ask!

[itsxcowboyrocksteady]

Please don't be mean to me about this 😅 It's a sincere request and I still love that everyone is having fun with all of this.

I mean no shade or nastiness towards the people who write these things or are into these things, and I'm not trying to be the fun police. Do you and have fun! But, like...

Can I get some tiefling fanfic that doesn't talk about their "sensitive horns" or how they "purr"?

The horns thing moreso. It takes me right out of it every time. Which sucks because there are so many awesome fics out there, that wind up doing this thing, and then my brain kind of checks out.

As a fanfic writer, myself, I get that fics are usually written primarily for the writer, and I totally appreciate that fact. And as such, I'd honestly just write it, myself (like I did for the lack of Dwight Fairfield {Dead by Daylight} stuff) instead of asking the community at large, but I'm so burnt out I haven't been able to work on anything on my current list, and I've been living off of the incredibly talented people writing for Rolan and Zevlor in particular. Seriously, you are all so wonderful and your work has been a bright spot for me right now during a majorly difficult time I've been going through ❤️

Although I read someone on a different site say that tiefling horns could be viewed like goat horns because devils and goats are so often associated with each other, their horns seem to be a lot more like ram horns. This is an important distinction because goat horns have important nerves inside of the horn, whereas rams don't.

If a goat breaks a horn, not only is it incredibly painful, but they can bleed out and die. Rams, not so much.

Tieflings are shown to not only have broken horns (i.e. Karlach) in both D&D and BG3, but filing the horns down is also an option tieflings can take... Which means that there aren't nerves inside of the horn. If there were, at best, something like that would be unimaginably painful. At worst, they could die from it. And considering tiefling children can straight up break off a horn and grow it back, it's even more highly unlikely that that's the case.

If there aren't nerves in the horn, they can't feel it if you stroke the horn, or graze it with your fingers, etc.

I know we all wanna write steamy sex scenes and such—and, again, because tone is so often lost in text, I don't mean this as something mean or eye-rolly—but not everything needs to be an erogenous zone. Besides, horns can still be grabbed and used as handlebars! That's super sexy!!!

As for the purring, or other Infernal traits that get written similarly, like I said, that's way less a thing for me. But they're not Tabaxi and were originally made from humans whose blood and bodies were altered by making deals with Asmodeus. It's why tieflings can only be born of two tieflings, a human and a tiefling, or two humans with infernal blood.

Again, if you're into this, or write this, I'm not trying to tell you to stop lmao. It's just that this is everywhere and I'd like some variety that takes these things into account 😅

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

How DCLA characters read + write fanfictions

Won’t do everyone but will do many.

Violetta can read all kinds of fics, although she knows her limits and if she gets uncomfortable, she stops reading. But, if she finishes a fic, she leaves the most heartwarming comment known to man. When she writes herself, she plans it out beforehand and basically writes the wholeass fic before posting the first chapter. Every title and author’s note has a song lyrics.

Ludmila refuses to read anything over 5000 words (unless it’s multichapter, but in that case she wants every chapter to be around 2000 words max). HOWEVER, she writes the LONGEST fics known to man. Her longest fic is currently 140+ chapters, the original plot disappeared LONG ago and now it’s simply characters doing slice of life things. But she has a dedicated reader fanbase that sometimes have rereads and they make memes and quote stuff daily.

Luna never checks how long fics are and have accidentally ended up reading a 100k fic in one night. She does read all kinds, but that’s because she doesn’t check the tags or ratings either, so poor girl has seen things… She also writes long comments that are just filled with emojis and exclamation points. She does post fics, but it’s very spread out and it’s rare that a fic gets updated. She posts new fics the second she got a new idea and then never update them. Her longest running fic got up to 5 chapters and that was only because she was very hyperfocused on that very fic. All fics are very slice of life and G-rated. She also very rarely writes any romance. If there’s romance then that’s not the main focus at all.

Ámbar only reads angsty stuff. She needs to FEEL something. She has read the most heavy, gory and graphic fics with a straight face. She never leaves comments but she’s there… reading it all… She also is not capable to write any fic herself without it being angsty. She has tried to cut it down, but every fic eventually has to change the rating to M or E. And… yes, she has 100% written smut.

Bia does not write fics herself, but she does like to read some others and often draws fanart of their fics. She’s known in her fandoms to be ”the fanfic artist” and everyone secretly hopes she’s gonna draw scenes from their fics.

Camila reads anything and everything, but instead of stopping when she doesn’t like a fic, she finishes it and then leaves a comment telling them she didn’t like it. In her words, they should KNOW she didn’t like it and why. She has BEEF with fic writers because of this. She also found Ludmila’s fanfic account and she LOVES to leave cryptid comments hinting that she knows her irl. With her own fics, she loves to create shock for the readers. She often kills of a random character, make people cheat, make people break up… and she loves confusing people, especially if they point out they are confused - then she’ll confuse them even more!

Pixie doesn’t read others fics because she is extremely picky with what she likes. So, that’s why she only writes them herself. It’s often VERY self-insertive, you notice she often writes about specific characters and it feels like she’s projecting whatever is going on in her life on them. Her readers often feel pretty touched by her fics though, thinking she just makes them feel so ”real”, and she only gets nice comments

Yam primarily reads and writes anything gay, ofc. She’s in a mix of fandoms, so the bigger fandoms are usually the ones she reads more in, and then she writes fics herself for the smaller fandoms, who would need some fics. She says she can read anything, but the second a fic gets a bit steamy she gets awkward about it and kinda has a hard time continuing to read.

Nina reads the most stuff, but she prefers reading romantic fics, especially about ships she likes. She has no problems reading smut, although writing it herself? No, she gets a bit more self-aware and can’t really do it. Since we’re on an agreement Nina is an author later, I think a lot of her fics are kind of ”first drafts” of her later published books (where she ofc has changed the names of everyone).

Francesca loves reading romance fics a lot, especially the fluffy ones. She also writes primarily romantic fics herself, although she often takes them down because she didn’t like how they turned out. So people often ask ”why did you remove your fic?”, especially because people generally like her stuff. But, if she doesn’t like it, she takes it down. She’s also known for uploading the same fic like 4 times and then removing it again from the website.

Helena was an active fic reader and writer when she was younger, and then sort of fell out of it. But then, sometime in her adulthood, she got back into it again. She often spends time looking for old fics she either remembered reading when she was younger or find some new fics she missed out on while she stopped reading. She also found an old fic she posted in like 2007 and then decided to update it with a new chapter all these years later, and literally started her author’s note with ”hi so I lost my memory for a solid 10 years and built my life back up again here I am! Hope you enjoy the new chapter!”

Maxi often reads his own friends fics because he’s supportive. He also really much likes to read crackfics simply because he thinks they are funny. He himself often writes chatfics because he thinks it’s a good flow in them. Also because he’s more into dialouge than description.

Simón is a person that likes to read fanfictions out loud. He’s the only one in the roller band who’s into fics, and he often finds the most odd ones to read out loud to his friends. He has read them as bedtime stories to Nico and Pedro, and sometimes him and Luna read a fic together out loud, taking turns doing voices for the characters. The only fanfictions he has written himself are self-inserts about himself and his friends.

Benicio never writes fics, and only reads some to mock them, only to drop comments like this

Diego only reads Ludmila’s fics and she does not know that he knows she has a fanfiction account. But he figured out it was her right away. He does not write fics himself.

Naty does not read a lot of fics, only occasionally her friends’ ones. She and Camila conspire that Ludmila has put OCs in her fics that are supposed to be parodies of them, but they can’t be sure yet. Naty has written probably the best fanfiction ever, but she does not post it because she’s not confident enough about it. So, it just sits on a document on her computer, unaware of the power it would have if it was posted.

Celeste read a lot of gay fics when she was younger and was like ”haha I don’t know why I’m doing this… why do I feel like this…” And then she kinda started to work on a gay fic herself, about a character Celeste personally felt connected to, figuring out her sexuality. And as Celeste wrote, she kinda projected her own feelings on it and realised her own sexuality while writing it.

[lonelyrosebindery]

What is Lonely Rose Bindery?

Hi!

If you're reading this, you're probably either interested in fanbinding, or a fic writer trying to ensure I'm not some rando on the internet trying to get your personal information or a scammer planning to illegally sell something. Feel free to message me if you have any concerns that aren't answered below!

I'm TS, but you can also call me Rose. I write fanfic on AO3 here and (previously) Fanfic.net here, blog about diabetes in fandom at @type1diabetesinfandom and @yourfavisdiabetic, and flail about misc fandom stuff on my main @too-short-for-my-own-good. I'm also on Discord @ tooshortformyowngood.

I've been in various fan spaces since the early 2010s, and I'll probably keep at until the day I die! I'm multifandom and multiship. Besides writing, I also draw fan art and make podfics, moodboards, playlists, meta, and headcanons. I've attended local and online cons and been to fan meetups.

And, at the end of 2022, I started fanbinding.

Why do I bind fanfiction?

It's March 29th as I write this, and I've read approximately 2 million words of fanfiction this year. I have over 1600 bookmarks on AO3.

I bind fics primarily to preserve them. I've seen many fics be deleted or locked before I downloaded them. (I'm sure we've all been there.) Keeping a copy on my shelf means I don't have to worry as much about losing a favorite story.

A physical copy makes rereading much easier! I get eye strain easily, and some websites just have horrible formatting.

I get to show a writer that I loved their story enough to HAND BIND it. I've met some amazing people this way!

Traditionally hand-binding fanfic pushes back against the notion that fic isn't "real writing."

What to expect on this blog:

Here, I share some of the fanbinding projects I've done, which includes fic, fan studies, meta, freely-available original fiction, public domain works, comics, and zines. Each book is lovingly crafted to honor its creator/s.

As a proud member of the Renegade Bookbinding Guild @renegadeguild, I'm part of a wonderful community dedicated to celebrating fic writers and preserving fandom's dying gift economy. It's an honor to contribute to this cause, and I love getting the chance to give people a bound copy of their writing/art--it's an amazing feeling to get to hold your own work in your hands!

To Authors & Artists:

To all the talented authors and artists whose works I've bound: consider this an open invitation to reach out to me for an author's copy! It's my small way of saying thank you for the joy (and angst lol) your projects have brought me.

I usually try to contact writers/artists directly, but sometimes it doesn't work. Don't be shy! I want to give you a gift!

I don't share any personal information (I would hope that's obvious, but this IS the internet...), and I encourage people to use a PO Box or a friend's address when being offered a fanbinding. Just make sure the friend or other proxy in question is ok with being sent fanfic!

If you don't want to risk receiving a physical copy, I can share the typeset with you instead! The typeset is the formatted PDF, to make the fic itself look like a traditionally published story. These can be plain or artistic, depending on the project and the style of the typesetter.

If there's artwork that's been made for the fic, please let me know! I look for that but it can be tricky, especially when things aren't linked together.

I do NOT share typesets to anyone outside the Renegade Bookbinding Guild, except the author/artist. Even in Renegade, I only share with established members via personal requests unless the author gives me blanket permission to share with the guild as a whole.

Lonely Rose Bindery operates on a NON-PROFIT basis.

Please note that while I pour my heart and soul into each project, I DO NOT accept commissions! I am a hobbyist driven by a deep, deeeeep love for fanfic. I bind purely for the joy of crafting, and the preservation of stories that mean the world to me.

If you are not the author or artist who worked on a specific fic, do NOT request a copy! You are welcome to ask questions and talk about the craft. My askbox is open, and reblogs are turned on.

Message me if you...

are an author/artist who wants to request multiple copies (i.e. for friends or family, or different editions)

kindly want to help with shipping costs (because international shipping is fucking expensive)

have specific colors or themes in mind for your fic

I will not take requests for specific materials, nor accept payment for any materials used.

Lonely Rose Bindery is not just about preserving fanfiction; it's about celebrating the creativity and community of fandom. With each project, I try to honor the stories and art that I love and to promote a gift economy against the rise of consumerism that has recently plagued multiple fandoms.

I look forward to sharing more fanbinds and continuing to improve my bookbinding skills. I never knew how many ways you can make a book until I started this!

Remember, my askbox is always open, so feel free to reach out with any questions, suggestions, or just to say hello. Happy reading!

[kitkatt0430]

I don't like writing fanfiction of real people like Dunkirk or Band of Brothers. Especially real person & y/n. It feels so wrong.

I also don't like fanfiction of things like Dunkirk but that's because I'm not a huge historical fiction reader to begin with. I did enjoy the Dear America series some as a kid, which was a series of fictional diaries written primarily - if not entirely - about what girls who lived through different time periods and historical events would have experienced. There was one for the Titanic I remember enjoying in particular, though I can't for the life of me remember what actually happened beyond the girl surviving the ship's sinking. And I do have a special place in my heart for tv shows like MASH and Hogan's Heroes, so I don't automatically check out on something for being historical fiction - I think I just tend to prefer my historical fiction not to be in written format.

To me, fanfiction that use real life historical settings are pretty much the same thing as historical fiction and historical fiction is basically someone writing a 'more legitimate' fanfic about history but with (mostly) original characters. Explains a lot about Abraham Lincoln fighting Vampires if you look at it through the lens of fanfic, anyway.

As for RPF and self-insert fics like Y/N types... I can definitely get why a lot of people don't like those. I wouldn't call those genres wrong - with the many recurring puritanical movements that have come and gone over the years, I don't want to fall into the kind of trap that valuing certain expressions of fandom as bad and others as good. Though to be clear this is a personal preference for how I talk about fanfic and not something I expect from others.

I think a lot of the criticism of RPF tends to forget that Real Person Fiction is a very popular sub genre of historical fiction. It's Abraham Lincoln fighting vampires and Doctor Who having the Doctor and Martha inspiring Shakespeare's writing or Rory putting Hitler in a closet or fighting ghosts in the gaslight with Charles Dickens. That a lot of RPF fanfic is centered on current celebrities instead of historical figures... well, today's celebrities are tomorrow's historical figures. There's really no difference beyond 'fanfic' RPF being amateur work and published fiction isn't. Why do I like Doctor Who doing it but not random fanfic authors? Doctor Who does it better and is more likely to pick celebrities or historical figures I actually find interesting. And then next week it's pepper pots armed with plungers. Though, to be perfectly honest, I just don't care all that much about the personal lives of today's celebrities or yesterday's historical figures either way.

Y/N fics are basically original character fics with the names filed off at heart so those have never bugged me all that much. I know that the 'insert your name here' thing is what makes them unreadable to a lot of people - being told that to read this fic you have to put your self in there and imagine yourself doing or saying whatever the Y/N character does... it can be really off putting or even turn into a major squick, especially when you know you'd handle things radically differently from the Y/N in the story. But they're still, at heart, just original character fics. After all, a lot of OCs have historically started as self insert characters with cool names. So when I'm in the right mood, I can read a Y/N type fic and just substitute in a cool name that is not mine and enjoy a fic about someone's OC getting to hang out with (or romance, admittedly, Y/N is primarily a romance heavy genre) some of my favorite characters. If I'm not in the right mood for it then the Y/N stuff gets annoying because I'm having to mentally sub in whatever name I picked (I know there are browser extensions that'll do this but I'm lazy) and it's too much mental effort. But even then it's not about the fact that the fic is a Y/N but that I'm just not in the right headspace for it.

[motifenjoyer]

❤️️❤️️❤️️ :3

i have multiple wips so i'll talk abt All of them

this may get long, so.

icdwd - aka i couldn't dance with death if i tried!! its a zero escape fic mostly exploring a potential (loveless) relationship between akane and mira. its abt a lot of things i realize i never rlly touched upon in my other works?? for context im aromantic and i like. Constantly talk abt it even to my allo friends esp abt the constant amatonormativity the world likes to throw at us. specfically how ppl feel pressured to be in a relationship. why? well, various reasons: to fit in, to be seen as "more mature" (aspecs tend to experience infantilization and this doubles if ur autistic), to be seen as human, bc u feel like itll make u whole, bc u dont realize theres another option!! ive always hced my favs as aro ever since i realized it, but i always used to focus on the ace part of my identity. so i never rlly got to write a fic that explores aromanticism, aside from a fic i wrote four years ago in which leorio and kurapika hxh r in a qpr

another thing is i have ocd and for that reason, i dont like to write abt sexual topics . but in this fic, ive been sorta delving into that (its literally nothing just a fade to black that immediately goes to like the character waking up in another character's bedroom) and idk i think it shows my growth in a way?? that im willing to finally write that stuff without my ocd trying to kill me??? idk its . smth

im also having a Lot of fun writing akane and miras dynamic. i think, with me hcing them as aro (akanes aroace and miras an aro lesbian), i feel itd stand out more compared to other mirakane fanworks and interpretations . like this isnt a relationship ur supposed to root for!!! its abusive, its messy, its Uncomfortable, gory, and both women have ulterior motives. idk i like writing abt two unabashedly flawed queer women and having them navigate a relationship when one has no experience while the other has experience but whose disability prevents them from connecting w others (akane has a similar struggle), idk!! its an interesting dynamic

queerpei - i like a lot of the descriptions i wrote. im so used to writing akane that its soooo weird writing in the headspace of anyone else. but junpeis introspection is fun, like he has a mind of his own... i have this experience when writing akane (im plural so. go figure) and even when writing diana

angelus custos - so im kinda in the planning stage for this one but . Wow. im so proud of myself and how far ive come with this project, and just in general?? i used to primarily be a fic writer until 2018, when i decided to dabble in making my own characters. its always been bittersweet, bc my friends (all artists, never writers) would tell me to just make ocs instead of fanfic and my 12-14 yr old self would always be upset by that. so my characters never rlly came into their own so to speak

until This Year. ive been watching this rlly awesome youtuber named local script man. he's a screenwriter but a lot of his advice can apply to writing as well. i dont remember which video it was, but he talked abt how a characters' motivations can serve as fuel for smth deeper, like an insecurity for example. which THEN can serve as a backstory. and idky but it all clicked in my head?? character work became so much easier when i applied this to my process. i no longer had trouble w coming up w things that seemed to come naturally to most. bc i Know im good at fleshing out characters, i just needed to know how to do it for original work, even tho ive had friends praise my characters in the past

but yeah thats prob the best part of the story rn . im still having trouble w what their voices would sound like, speech patterns and the like, but thatd prob come around when i actually write the damn thing lol

BtSoyT - the idea itself has me so excited!!! ive been watching some horror movies, specifically recs from my friend @zebatverse hehe, and idk i feel like ive been getting more inspo and knowing what i'd wanna do if i were to write horror . i have several other ideas besides this in my notebook but this is one i wanna write the most. i even made a moodboard for it ^_^

[popculturebuffet]

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: The Last of the Clan McDuck!  Review “It Was Worth THE Dime”

This is one of my faviorite comic book stories of all time. Given i’m a massive comics nerd, for both books and strips, that is the highest praise I can give this wonderful, epic, beautifully drawn and deeply emotoinal story. I first discovered it in the local library that had the second volume, and found the rest online at a now long dead fan site. And while it took me longer than I care to admit to really dig into Duck Comics, and even now i’ve only scratched the surface, I can say without a doubt this story is the reason I’m so deeply attached to Scrooge as a character, and that I was excited as  I was for Ducktales 2017. This comic showed me just what Scrooge McDuck should be at his core as a character, and showed me what a wonderful character that is. So with all that glowing praise as you can guess i’ve been wanting to cover this for years, and even considered though back when I was more primarily a comic book reviewer last year. Any time i’ve reviewed stuff before now, i’ve considered it, and with Scrooge’s Sisters Hortense and Matilda presumably and definitely debuting on Ducktales soon, and it’s about damn time, the timing could not be better or clearer to dig into this utter triumph.  But before we can take a look at the story itself we naturally have to take a look at the man behind it: Writer and Artist Don Rosa. Don Rosa is easily one of the best Duck Comics writer out there, seen by many as only second to his own faviorite duck comics writer and God of Ducks, Carl Barks. For those 1 of you who do not know, Barks was the man who created pretty much everything in the duck universe comics wise and a bit in animation too: He created Daisy, Scrooge, Gladstone, Magica, The Beagle Boys, The Junior Woodchucks, Gyro, Little Bulb, Glomgold, Rockerduck, and the list goes on. While he didn’t make EVERY duck, he made so many that it’d be impossible to imagine either version of Ducktales being possible without him.  So of course Rosa was a fan and while he took up the family buisness, he was also an artist and duck comics fanboy on the side. So when, even if it meant a paycut, the opportunity to actually write and draw them came up, he lept at it and thus became one of their publishers go to guys, even if said publisher published the stories overseas where the Duck Comics are far more popular and still going to this day, and ironically where most duck comics printed nowadays get their stories from. Rosa was known for his meticous historical research and gorgeous art that he took his time drawing to get just perfect and showed on the page. The man has easily some of hte best and most detailed duck art around and I still haven’t found a duck artist that can match him.. and if you have or found one close i’d genuinely love to see that. He is a genuinely talented, spirited guy who was sadly mistreated by disney and that, coupled with tragically failing eyesight, eventually ended his career. He’s still around and I genuinely hope to meet him some day as he still does conventions.  The man is not without fault: I don’t get his hatred of superhero comics, as while I get them overshadowing funnybooks and that around the time of his career they were in decline, but it’s just as unfair to write off Superhero comics as mindless.  garbage as it is for people to write off the Duck Comics as “only for kids” and I genuinely wish he’d see that and see how the medium has evolved so much since then. I also grumble a bit as his refusal to allow anything besides barks into his bubble, and having to be forced to include fethry on the family tree, but that’s more personal preference. I like using as much material as you got. IT’s why i’ve wanted to, and hopefully will eventually get around to, write a sonic fanfic using bits of all the various universes that for legal, ken penders being an absolute waste of a human being, and sega being stupid reasons can’t be used anymore. I like taking everything in a franchise and putting it in a blender and it’s why I love the reboot. But there’s nothing wrong with taking things as is, not stepping on toes canon wise, but still being awesome. We’re just diffrent people and that’s okay.  And a lot of his fanboy showing actually lead to REALLY good things: Goldie O’Gilt was a one off character, and while used ocasoinally overseas, didn’t really pick up as a character again until a combination of Ducktales 87 and Rosa’s work with her, as he always loved the character, and fleshing her out lead to her being used more, and gaining a sizeable fandom. He also gained the Cablleros an even bigger fandom by giving them two stories of their own, and fleshing them out a bit more.  And this very comic is the peak of that, taking EVERY mention of scrooge’s past from various backstories to set up adventures, every tiny scrap, and to his credit going to both Barks Himself and various other Barks Experts Rosa was friends with to check his work, especially difficult given he likey had to find these stories in issue or pullt hem from disney archives, and complied it into one long epic that not only uses all this info effortlessly, but spins a compelling story that gives us a clear vision of what Scrooge should be, how he became the man he is, and how he lost himself only to find himself again with the help of three precocious boys and a cynical 30 something duck. So taint all bad is what i’m saying.  As for how this got started, thankfully rosa himself provided the origin story for this project in the back of the volume of his works that contained the first 7 chapters of life and times, as well as detailed notes for every chapter. At the time Rosa was working for Egmont, the big european publisher who handles Disney’s much larger european comics market, hence why most of his stories appeared years earlier in Europe before debuting here. The american publisher at the time , and an old friend of his, called Rosa with an idea: A 12 issue Maxi-Series focusing on Scrooge’s history, since at the time they were all the rage.. and really even today mini series are still a viable market and many indie titles just have several minis instead of an ongoing. So it wasn’t a bad idea, Rosa just simply offered a tweak: He’d tell his publisher at Egmont about the idea, and let her get a crack team of writers and artists to do this proper, and thus Disney could publish it for free once it was done and for no extra cost. Rosa gave his publisher a fax detaling both the idea and the fact that it needed to be done right, given to the best person possible, and done with the greatest care. She agreed.. and naturally handed it to him, as he admits he hoped. She made the right call, a legend was born and here we are.  One last bit before the read more and before I get to the first story itself at last: Since barks wrote a lot of side stories that fit into the canon, I COULD slot them in between chapters, but have instead chosen to review the original 12 part story as was, and do the various side stories and two epilogues, the utterly fantastic “Dream of a Life Time”, easiliy one of my faviorite comics ever, and the also really great “Letter From Home”, which will likely on some level be the basis for the upcoming at the time of this review “Battle for Castle McDuck!”, after completing the story. In other words i’m probably going to be at this for years. so join me under the read more won’t you as I begin the journey of a thousand miles with a single step as we look at the humble start of a legend. 

We begin, after a fun short teaser with present Day scrooge saying his past is no one’s buisness only to get hit with an oh yeah?,  with a scrap book title for the issue, something I want to bring up since while I got that’s what it was what I never got, and  must’ve glanced over when I first read rosa’s notes when I got this copy, was that it isn’t SCROOGE’S scrap book, but his sister Matilda’s who dutifully and happily catologued her brother’s adventures. It’s a really sweet moment.. and something that will hit VERY hard when we reach Chapter 11. If you haven’t read this story or heard of it.. .that’s this story’s equilvent of “Last Crash of the Sunchaser” and clearly Frank and Matt drew from that story a bit for it, but we can get more into the parallels when we get there. A smaller but fun note is that Rosa had specific coin drawing templates, for different indentions and what not he used, and used them for the coins in these intro bits. Yes he admitted he has a problem and yes that’s damn impressive anyway. 

It’s Scrooge’s 10th birthday, and his father Fergus has taken him up to see the family land, Dismal Downs to tell him of the mighty Clan McDuck and show him the ancestral lands, graveyards and Castle. He admits to having taken this long because the Clan McDuck currently lives in Glasgow so it’s kind of a long trip just to show your son “Hey look at the decay and rot that’s our ancestral homeland”. The Clan is on hard times, as a bad shipping deal, the backbone of a rather good barks story and I wont’ be interjecting for every barks reference as it’d get rather tiring though for what it’s worth Rosa provided tons of detailed footnotes in the back of each Fantagraphics collection, so good on him. Speaking of which though they do include 10 pages of Mc Duck family history that was supposed to open this story.. until Rosa’s editor wisely pointed out the story isn’t about them but scrooge and having read his roug draft, yeah.. there’s a good gag here and there, as well as “Dirty” Dingus McDuck, scrooge’s Grandpa and the reason Dewey is cursed with that middle name. Why anyone thought Dingus was a good name is beyond me, nor why Donald thought that was a good middle name back in 2009 is again, beyond me. Good on Don though for getting that past the censors.  But yeah with no money they can’t buy the land back and they were scared off it years ago by a mystical ghost dog, the hound of the whiskervilles. There is treasure in the castle, Sir Quackly’s gold, but he accidently sealed himself into a wall while sealing his treasure in there. Their interrupted by the town assholes, the Whiskervilles who have been grazing sheep on the land and are naturally behind the hound, using the sound of it to scare off Fergus once they realize he’s a McDuck. Because apparently you can keep a Scooby Doo style hoax up for Centuries if you don’t have meddling kids around. Who knew.  Back in Glasgow, we meet the rest of Scrooge’s family: His Uncle Jake, his sisters Matilda and Hortense, and his mother Downy. Jake hasn’t really been mentioned at all in Ducktales and I know next to nothing about him, which given I share a name with the guy you’d THINK I would. I mean I know a decent amount about this Jake. 

But nothing about who the hell Jake McDuck is or why he lives with his brother and his family. Here, you guys watch the dancing Jake, i’m going to probably do that for hours after this review is done, i’m going to go sort this out.  Okay one google and finding the Scrooge Mcduck wiki page on him, Jake shows up here likely because he was referenced in the story “A Christmas For Shacktown” and apparently borrowed from Scrooge and never paid it back. Otherwise.. there’s not a lot about him and unlike the rest of Scrooge’s family he really dosen’t do much that I can remember. Except like 2017 Scrooge, he apparently has become extremely long lived, as Scrooge and Donald STILL think he’s alive in the 1950′s.. and likely is STILL alive in some form in the Don Rosa stories, given his take place after Barks and thus in the 40′s and 50′s where Barks stories were set. Hence why unlike the Reboot, Scrooge isn’t inexpecilbly over 210. But Jake McDuck sure as heck is. Maybe this highlander is a highlander.. you know the movie and tv show type. Maybe someone cut off his head. That’s what i’m going with.

This does bring me to another point about this story: While Barks gave all of scrooge’s family their names, it’s where Rosa got them after all, it’s Rosa who really made them into characters. Fergus as a loving father ashamed his family legacy has fallen and wanting his son to do better than him, Downy as an equally loving wife and mother, Matilda as his sweet and caring sister and later her brother’s moral center, and Hortense.. well here she’s just a babbling baby but her character will become clear and glorious as we go. She is adorable here though and we do get some great bits with her.  Getting back to the plot now i’ve made my points, Jake is riled up wanting to understandably kick the Whiskerville’s asses with Scrooge, who even as a sweet innocent ten year old still has the family temper already, agreeing.. but Downy gently shoots them out pointing that two middle aged-ish men and a 10-year old just aren’t enough to fight an army of them and while she doesn’t mention it the fight would just tire them out for work and accomplish nothing as while it is the McDuck’s land the combination of the hound and the lack of money to move back means it’s pointless. She also mentions their younger brother Pothole, who went to America. This will be important later. 

Scrooge storms off and Fergus laments, in a scene that’s more painful the more I think about it, how his clan has fallen, with he and his brother lamenting their chances at glory are long gone.. but Fergus has hope his son can do better, and for his son’s birthday makes him a shoeshine kit in the hopes of inspiring him to greatness. This scene still resonates since many of us are poor, struggling and not doing so good money wise. I’m sure many parents have doubts and regrets about not being able to do more for their kid.

 Not only that but the story carefully avoids the trap of Fergus accidently being abusive by you know, pinning his family’s future on one 10 year old. While yes he is asking a lot of Scrooge, to restore their family name.. it’s very clear he mostly just wants his son to do better than him. Even if Scrooge was just slightly more successful, Fergus would likely be happy with that. He’s not using the legacy as a “This what you must be” like say the Gems in steven universe did for Steven with Rose’s Legacy, the kind where it sort of suffocates you till youc an make it your own. He’s just saying “this is what you can be” He believes his child can be great and simply once him to reach his full potetial and is simply giving him a means to hopefully do so, a simple home made shoe shine kit. While Jake scoffs, the narration notes the idea isn’t worth a dime.. it’s worth THE dime. The dime that would set Scrooge’s destiny in motion. 

The next morning, Fergus goes to check up on his son and his new buisness but Scroogey’s having no luck and about ready to just quit, the poor child. Also Matilda is dragging her baby sister around like a doll and it’s entirely precious as it is funny. 

But as for those Dorty Boots, Matilda wonders why her dad dosen’t just tell Scrooge that Burt the Ditch Digger is coming. Fergus tells her to quite and then explains his plan: he’s sending Burt to scrooge, with an American dime Fergus and Matilda found, to teach his son a lesson: By giving him a hard days work, he’ll teach him what hard work truly means.. and by having Burt “cheat” him with the American dime, it’ll give him the motivation to keep going and to nto be as wide eyed and trusting. It’s a well meaning if harsh lesson, and the kind you’d expect from 1900′s parenting and fits the origin well: Scrooge still earned his first money square, as he still did work.. but his getting cheated being a lesson dosen’t diminish what it taught scrooge, and helps flesh out what I talked about above, Fergus knowing his son has great potential he just needs inspiration to reach it. And instead of just telling him that he does a con job but it’s the 1900′s. This orign, and Fergus’ part in it would be entirely untouched in Ducktales 2017, the first scrooge based adaptation since this comic came out, and I bless them for it. Frank even said this comic was used as a bible by the writers and while theirs clear deviations, and we’ll get to that, they were mainly done for good reason, and it’s very clear that while scrooge’s history is very VERY diffrent in the reboot, the core of his past is still there. 

So the plan is on and young scrooge spends half an hour killing himself to get Burt’s shoes clean before getting his dime.. and realizing he’s been had, makes this proud decleration that will be the bedrock of his entire life and character. 

Scrooge being naturally stubborn as you can see takes his cheats a leson: There will always be hard honest work, and he will be there to do it and he’ll be tougher and sharper than anyone trying to cheat him out of his pay. Fergus’ plan has the intended effect, and Scrooge having learned a hard lesson now has the drive and determination we know him for. As for why it gives it to him.. I had to think on it a bit but it makes sense: For some a setback like this would make them quit.. for Scrooge it’s just proof he CAN find customers, he CAN do this job, or any at his hardest and instead takes this as a lesson to be prepared ot out think and outfight anyone who dares cheat him again, and to not earn his money by being the kind of guy who cheats a kid out of an honest days pay, but as a good honest duck like his father and his father before him. =He will make his money square so he can be the kind of person this seeming stranger SHOULD have been. Granted we’ll see Scrooge doesn’t end up as the best person at times but .. we’ll get there.  So with the fire inside turned from a spark into the flame Scrooge soon got to work, and by the next panel we see he’s eventually worked his stand up from a small box given to him by his dad, to a three seater shoeshining bench, who he wipes all at once by stretching one of his mother’s girldes over a light pole, a detail I didn’t get the first time around but now love. Naturally being a good kind boy much like his Nephews, Scrooge always gave his proud father a portion of his earnings, if with a full receipt for tax purposes. Because he’s still scrooge after all. His dad wonders he did too good a job while Hortense glxbit’s in agreement. 

As the years go on, a now tween Scrooge is eventually able to save up for a horse cart, and starts selling Fire Wood up in the city. He eventually realizes Peat, an earthy subtance found in bogs I only know about because I had to look it up for this review, is more profitable and with some snappy marketing moves into selling Peat for the rich instead, also showing the young lad already has a grasp of how to sell to obnoxious rich people. 

But while his business is booming, our young hero can’t resist visiting his family’s ancestral home and longing for it, hoping one day to have it for himself and in a nice show of how despite his temper and tenacity forged over the last few years he’s still at hear the kind, sweet optimistic lad he was just a few pages ago, he decides to tidy up the Clan’s Cemetary while he’s here. 

Unfortunately as proof that Donald and Della’s terrible luck comes from both sides of the family the Whiskervilles are sub-glomgold levels of human beings.. or Dogfaces in this case, and are digging up the McDuck Clan’s graves to hunt for treasure. Scrooge tries to simply do the smart thing and flee, but the asshole brigade catch sight of him and mistkaing him for a peat burgalar chase after him.. and spend WAY too much time and energy chasing a teenage boy over some fucking bog grass you clearly aren’t selling yourselves. I mean spare a thought for how dumb this is: They could easily sell of of that peat to put up a fence or chop down some trees to get the material if their really that concerned about someone getting in the bog. Then again this isn the 1800 and 1900′s where the child death toll was simply “Yes”, so they likely thought whose gonna notice one more dead child on our property?

Scrooge heads toward the castle and is gestured in by a friendly mystery duck who gladly shows him around and can tell he’s a McDuck just by look, showing the castle is still in glorious condition as the whiskervilles are too spooked to go in, hence why they didn’t chase Scrooge inside. I’d say being afraid of ghosts but not murdering a child is weird but these are the same guys who thought murdering a child was plan A. We’re not dealing with a brain trust is what i’m saying.  So the mystery duck shows Scroogey around, showing off some colorful stories about his ancestors recycled from that scrapped prologue I mentioned. THe mystery man, who brushes off Scrooge thinking he’s a McDuck asks Scrooge what he’s doing to restore the family glory and while Scrooge points out he’s already working on it, Mystery Duck points out he’s still missing something: He has the drive and the dream, but peat and shoeshining, while getting him good money for his family, aren’t the thing you can build a fortune or a future off of. He then points out where Scrooge’s dime comes from: America.. and that gives the boy the idea to head to the states. As for what he could possibly DO there to start, the mystery guy mentions his uncle pothole. So Scrooge has the dream, the drive.. and now a plan: Go to america, work for his uncle on the riverboats, and work his way up from there till he finds his fortune and restores his family name.  But while his future is settled, the present is still an issue and Scrooge wants to teach the child murder club a lesson and thus borrows, though MM wisely points out it’s all his property a horse and some armor, and stuffs the armor with peat. As for what his plan is.. welllll

That.. is fucking awesome. And far from the last fucking awesome moment in this thing. It also shows off even as not quite a teen yet, Scrooge is still a badass already, and while he doesn’t have his trademark strength or fighting skills quite yet, his ingenuity is already there.. and that will always trump both. The Whiskervilles run away and into some quicksand and Scrooge vows to return one day as laird and reclaim his family land. But that’s a story for a few chapters down the line. As for who the mystery duck is, he’s naturally Sir Quackely himself, or rather his ghost, who was simply guiding Scrooge and didn’t give him the treasure as simply handing him the money wouldnn’t restore their family’s good name or continue their bloodline now would it? 

For now Scrooge returns to work for a bit before finding his way to America: A cattleboat to New Orleans looking for a Cabin Boy. And so Scrooge bids farewell to his family. His Dad, feeling bad he can’t even give his boy shilling, gives him the family pocketwatch with jake pitching in with the family gold dentures. While Scrooge naturally refuses to sell the watch, he does plan to sell the teeth as soon as possible for good reason. We then get some sweet goodbyes with him, his sisters (With hortense uttering her first words to everyone’s astonishment) and loving mother as he wonders just what awaits him in America. 

And there he stands on the bow of a ship, heading for a new land, in New Orleans he can be a new man. And we’ll see just what kind of man he becomes as this series continues. For now this is the end of a chapter but the beginning of a lifetime. 

Final Thoughts on Last of the Clan McDuck:

This story is excellent. While there are even better chapters to come, this one is still one of the most memorable and most joyous, showing just how Scrooge became what he is, where some of his values come from, others will be instilled along the way , and beginning to flesh out his family. We see Scrooge’s love of wealth comes from starting from the bottom, growing up with a family that barely had anything and badly needed everything, but was loving and instilled fine morals in him. We also see a Scrooge far removed from the bitter old man he is in present day, an optimistic naïve young lad who only wants best for his family. It’s a nice stark contrast to who he’ll become, good and bad, and a nice way to both compare him to Huey Dewey and Louie and break your heart as his own hardens before briefly turning black later on.  The art, as is standard for this series and Rosa, is breathtaking, and the story isn’t lacking in good jokes, their just downplayed so the story itself can take center stage. There’s nothing really more to say: it’s an excellent start to an even more excellent tale and stands proud among an already stellar story as one of it’s finest outings. 

NEXT RAINBOW: Scrooge goes down to the mighty Missipi to work on the riverboats and meets one of his signature Rogue’s for the first time in their first form, as well as Gyro’s dad.. or grandpa.. or possibly both I don’t know his family tree. Point is, tune in next time for some riverboat hyjinks.  Until then if you’d like to comission an episode of any animated show, especially ducktales and the various other duck related disney shows, or another Duck Comics story you really like from Rosa, Barks or whoever you want really, I take commissions for 5 dollars a review, with 5 dollars off your full order when you put in for more than one episode or issue. You can also follow me on patreon.com/popculturebuffet and for just two bucks a month get access to polls (which i’ll start once we have at least three patreons), and my exclusive discord server. And if you liked this review be sure to reblog it to show off. My self promotion done until next time: There’s always another rainbow. 

[utilitycaster]

Hello I am here to encourage you, please talk about fanfic culture and practices and relationship to canon all day long.

Thank you for encouraging my procrastination and love of hearing my own voice on the internet (also people who asked about expertise...I got you, that one is very near and dear to both my bard-player and DM heart and so I am using “hey, you can write this” as motivation to get some work done earlier today. Anyway, on fanfic and meta and them being different things: something that is almost entirely a matter of opinion but also I am right.

So just as background: I am a grown-ass adult, and despite having internet access from childhood (and, iirc, cable internet by the time I was in high school yes I do remember dial-up vividly) I just never really spent much time in fandom spaces until now, and similarly I didn’t read that much fanfiction so this does come with that perspective.

Anyway, the emphasis I see on fanfiction’s validity in some circles, the whole “um actually The Inferno/Paradise Lost are fanfic” attitudes just...never made sense to me? Like, are you enjoying writing it and reading it? Then why the fuck do you care if it’s valid literature in the eyes of, idk, society or whatever. It’s sort of like that super old tumblr post that’s like Potterheads grab your wands; why do you care if other people don’t like the things you like? Why do you want them in your spaces? So the question of whether fanfiction is Valid and Good Art is just null at that point. And thank fuck because people still argue that genre fiction isn’t literature sometimes, and instead of wasting your energy on that argument you could just read more fantasy and sci-fi novels.

(If I were to answer it anyway, which I am, as a person who is not a writer by trade in any capacity...fanfiction is a fantastic place to hone certain skills. You can skip past the worldbuilding and characterization - all the groundwork-laying and exposition - and focus on plot and dialogue and your general voice. It’s sort of the opposite of DM-ing, in that way, which is primarily worldbuilding and exposition. Original fiction is harder because you have to make people care about your characters and world, whereas in fanfic they already do, and denying that fact is silly; good professional writers who credit fanfiction still have to have good original ideas too. But fanfiction does require its own skills, and denying that is equally silly.)

One argument I recently saw was that fanfiction was literary criticism, instead, and that doesn’t sit quite right. Meta is literary criticism: it is an analysis of the work, supported by textual evidence of the work, but ultimately one interpretation.  It is possible to use fanfiction to explore the ideas of literary criticism-you can write out, essentially, the simulation of your theory-but it’s not limited to that. Fanfiction in my opinion should be generally supported by the text up to some divergence point (again, do what you want if you’re enjoying it but I do not understand the point of OOC fanfiction; you’re just taking the names of characters and plastering them on OCs, which, just write original fiction at that point) but it’s explicitly a place where you can explore things that did not and often will not happen. I’m usually not hugely into the fix-it fic in that I’m more interested in understanding why the creators took an unpopular turn, I have no taste for pretending that everything is fine when it’s not, and also, like, the finale of Battlestar Galactica still made me cry very hard even if it didn’t make much sense...but this is perhaps the best example of fanfiction reaching the potential I think it was intended to. It’s a place where you can play out a scenario that could have happened had things been a little different, whether it’s what you want to see but ultimately didn’t, or just an interesting idea you had.

Fanfiction also has other wish-fulfillment properties, namely, the emotional one. There’s a reason there are words for things like “fluff” or “hurt/comfort” or “angst”; sometimes you want these things in your fiction, and you want a character to which you relate to experience them. Again, it’s my personal taste that this be consistent with the narrative up to some divergence point, but I definitely enjoy things from these categories. This is also a strong argument against fanfiction as literary criticism, at least exclusively as such. Sometimes you write fanfiction to answer the question “What if this well-supported by canon, but as of yet unconfirmed fandom theory is correct?” Sometimes you write fanfiction to answer the question “What if we kissed in the fictional setting I like. What if that kiss happened after one of us knocked on the door of the other in the middle of the night, hand over a profusely bleeding wound in the lower abdomen, and collapsed shortly after the other opened the door, and this was neither in conflict with nor explicitly in support of the current canon.” And you know what, for all that I said validity doesn’t matter...that’s valid.

And I don’t want to say meta isn’t capable of being tied to some degree to wish fulfillment, because it is. There is (usually) textual support for multiple potential outcomes in a story because otherwise it would be very, very boring and linear and for toddlers (not a knock on toddlers, who are just doing their best with the cognitive development they’ve got); an opinion, in meta, is often stating the meta-writer’s preference of how the story may go. However, I think there is a point where the meta stops being “of the many potential textually-supported paths out there this is one I think the story will follow and also I like this” and turns into “this is what I want and I will cherry-pick the evidence I need even if it requires ignoring more recent developments or an understanding of such fourth wall concepts as author’s intent, narrative structure, etc.”

This comes up both for scenarios that go differently from how people want them (eg: death of a character, relationship not happening) and for the emotional wish fulfillment side of things (eg: injection of angst where it does not, textually, exist). And when that happens my attitude is almost always “why are you trying to make this meta when it’s fanfiction, especially since it could be pretty good fanfiction!” A really terrible fan theory or piece of meta can often make a really good fanfic story, because a theory is based in the reality of where the (fictional) story might go, whereas fanfiction allows for that divergence point.

Anyway I think trying to make fanfiction more valid and equating it to literary criticism, or worse, treating it as truer indicator of the story’s intent, in turn makes meta worse because it takes away that need for consistent textual support. Particularly in the case where fanfic is held as being a better indicator of the creator’s intent, which also throws actual canon into the mix, everything all blurs into a bland, dumb soup of “what I want is going to happen because it’s what I want and if it doesn’t the creator is wrong, and moreover, a bad person.” I think keeping these concepts separate while acknowledging the connections they have is good and makes for better everything - better theories and better fanfic. The meta that tends to make me roll my eyes isn’t the stuff arguing for an outcome I don’t want; it’s the stuff arguing for an outcome that doesn’t make narrative sense, the stuff that makes me go “man, you could have written a really good fanfic about this.”

[midnight-mismanagement]

2, 5, 19, 21 ♥️

Aww thank you for the ask! :)))

Alright, let’s do this:

2. talk about a notable time a narrative or character has looked you dead in the eyes and said “fuck your plan, here’s what we’re actually doing.”

Oh my goodness. The number of times a character has done this to me I swear, the audacity. Uhhh mostly it happens when I write short stories (I was writing something that was supposed to end in a rescue and instead ended in….murder and suicide so that was a notable example) but recently regarding fanfic, uh, in the If Anything verse, I didn’t mean for Tony to punch Loki in the face until it…kind of happened? (Sorry Loki,) and for the it doesn’t matter fic, I didn’t mean for Loki to brutally stab at his own ankle so…oops…

5. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

I feel….jesus we’re going here aren’t we ah…in terms of fanfic, there are several things I want to do right now that I haven’t, for some reason, gotten around to yet, like I want to write a fic about Loki’s Jotunn heritage being revealed to Asgard early on during Thor 1 and explore all of that but I haven’t started it yet. I also…uh, when I was thirteen, and I first started writing fanfic (for the Theon fandom), I had plotted out a whole story set after the fifth book involving him going to the Wall, and later going back to Pyke and accidentally summoning krakens from the sea by singing a song he learned from his mother, and eventually riding one and kicking Euron’s ass off the throne. And then I wanted Robb to somehow come back from the dead idk. I ended up just stopping the series before the krakens came into play, and I might not ever write it? I mean, I might, but it probably won’t be in that series, cause my writing has changed since then, so…who knows…

.In terms of original stuff? I’ve been working on a book since I was 12, and it gives me very deep existential dread, as I’ve somehow managed to tie my head in knots over it through the years so…who knows when I’ll ever actually finish that….

19. what’s something neat you’ve learned while doing research for something you were writing? also, how much do you worry about doing research in general?

Oh I’m a really bad procrastinator, so when I research, it just happens…automatically? Like, I won’t be thinking about researching as a thing I’m actually doing until I suddenly find myself scrolling through a wiki page at three in the morning looking up the effects of lyme disease (don’t ask), the Spanish civil war, or which areas of the body can have non-fatal gunshot wounds, so generally if I plan to research, that kind of makes me nervous for some reason, but if I don’t plan, then my brain somehow…gets me there…it is very weird. 

In terms of something interesting I’ve discovered in my midnight burrowing through the internet? Probably that a person or animal with Heterochromia iridium (two different coloured eyes) is also called a chimera. Like the mythological creature consisting of a mash-up of a lion, goat, and a snake. Or any mythical mash-up. I just think that’s neat. (I won’t go into the sciency stuff but it is really cool, and also, Heterochromia can be caused by physical trauma sooooo…..that’s interesting…..)

21. BIG ask: what do you think is the most important component of a good story?

Oh my this is a…this is a biggie huh, okay, um, for me, personally, I think the most important component is probably motive. Now, that’s kind of broad, and I don’t necessarily mean murder, but really, figuring out why characters do certain things opens up so much in helping me with characterization, plot outline, and how to get from point A to point B with all the good character interactions in between by first knowing what primarily drives the characters to do what they end up doing. This is basically how I develop backstory, or weaknesses or strengths and stuff. It’s a powerful thing.

I want to understand them, I want to sympathize with them, and if I don’t know why a character is suddenly trying to kill the other, or why they desperately need some affection, or a hug, then I can’t connect with the story. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’m teaching morals or anything, frankly I’d rather write a story about a bunch of characters learning to understand each other instead of condemning each other in self-righteousness (this doesn’t mean I’m going to gloss over any really bad things they might do, I just…fiction gives me more liberty with this kind of thing I guess.) 

I’m probably just rambling here and not making a lot of sense, but ah, basically, I don’t really necessarily like the “because he’s insane and evil” thing that keeps happening, or the “I’m searching for this fancy magical artifact because a cosmic being in a beard told me to.” I think it’s a way for the audience or reader to constantly be routing for the hero, and feel good when the bad guy bites the dust, but I just…it’s always made me feel uncomfortable, and the hero doesn’t end up evolving that much either. They’re just good, it’s in their nature, and that’s that. Even if my character is a piece of shit, I want to know why, and I want it to mean something. 

I guess I just like having a crap ton of grey characters, hero-coded characters who have to learn about the “villain” and villain-coded characters who have to learn about the hero and stuff like that, and what makes them the way they are and can their roles be interchangeable and are there even any heroes yada yada yada. This doesn’t mean giving redemption arcs to everyone, of course, there are some really bad characters that can’t or won’t or don’t want to stop killing other characters (or doing worse), and you don’t need to give every character a tragic backstory, I dunno I guess I just want explanations, and I want to be able to think more while I’m reading? I’m…terrible at this lmao I’m so sorry.

Anyway, thank you so much for the ask, I was…legit crying for no reason over my computer, so thank you for helping me focus on something through the throws of another mood swing :) I’m sorry if I didn’t make a lot of sense and that this is so long jesus christ oops but ahh…thank you. :)

[aly-the-writer]

Writer’s Reflections: Tag Meme

Tagged by @pikapeppa (Thank you! :) )

This little tag meme is an opportunity for writers to reflect on (and promote!) our own writing, but also to hear about the work of our fellow writers and to find something new to read!

Rules: answer the following questions about your own writing, whether fanfic or original. If you can’t/don’t want to answer a question, just put N/A. If you don’t have that many posted works, tell us about your WIPs or individual chapters/drabbles or even your ideas! Then tag as many writers as you like :) 

AO3 name and link, if applicable: Aly_H on Ao3.

What’s your most popular fic, by whatever metric is most relevant to you (hits, kudos, comments, reblogs, some other trait)? Let’s see, my most popular fic by every metric is Frost Flowers – my Surana/Zevran Voice-Verse longfic.

What’s your favourite fic that you’ve written? Oh, toughie… I think right now my favorite fic I have is “Just Another Night at the Vigil”. It’s a total fluff piece with Van Tabris/Nate.

It’s got some really close competition with “Nightlight in Hightown” – a F!Hawke/Fenris cuddle fic that’s gooey and adorable that makes me smile.

And – not in the DA fandom – but I really like how “ralof the medic for grumpy elves” turned out which was my first Skyrim fic. It features my grouchy bosmer assassin/stormcloak Riadel getting fixed up with a bit of help from his favorite Nord.

What’s your best fic, and is it different from your favourite fic?

It is totally different from my favorite because I’m a fluffy trash goblin who subsists primarily on a diet of cotton candy and pure unadulterated goo when it comes to fics. Quality does not apply to cuteness.

But uh…my best fic is probably The Dragon’s Heart. I wrote it at the beginning of the year (2018) and I really flexed my writing muscles with it. I’m super proud of the way it came out. The Dragon’s Heart is a Lavellan/Dorian fic that features a Thedas retelling of Beauty & the Beast

The runner up for this spot is probably “Those Left Waiting”, my Varric/Hawke ficlet set after Adamant that should only be read if you’re totally prepared to cry.

Do you have a fic whose popularity surprised you? Pretty much any of them that get kudos or comments. I publish expecting things to not get read. ^^’ Probably not the best way but I enjoy writing more than I do promoting so I don’t do a good enough job getting my stuff out there for it to garner a ton of attention.  Let’s see…I’ve been really surprised by the readership with Frost Flowers in the year plus I’ve been writing it. It’s a spin-off of a series written by a fic writer whose technical skills far outstrip my own, I expected it to float in the back of the archive and not get much attention and instead it’s had a really positive reception.

Do you have a fic you wish more people would read? Uh….not really? I love all of them and wouldn’t mind getting more readers on any of them. I know I’ve been kind of sad that no one gave The Apprentice a chance but I get why it’d not get any attention: it’s a gen fic, about a non-protagonist mage (the oldest of the Amell siblings), written in an experimental voice (for me), and it ends with the death of the main character at the Conclave. It’s not exactly going to be the sort of fic that checks anyone’s boxes but I enjoyed writing it so that’s what really matters.

Is there a ship or fandom you haven’t written, but really want to? Up until last week there was a really big glaring one: Merribela! Isabela/Merrill is one of my favorite DA ships but I had never written anything for them. (That’s Swagger by the way!)

I actually really want to write a proper Varric/Hawke piece but haven’t had any good ideas for it yet. I want to write some Solavellan but I have to actually PLAY the Solas romance to have a clue how to write it and I keep getting distracted. ^^’ Actually there are just a ton of ships that I need to write more for in the DA fandom.

I also kinda want to write a couple fics for Merlin but I haven’t gotten around to it. There’s also a few ships in Attack on Titan that I really want to write some stuff for. And a few other anime that I’d like to do ficlets for but haven’t found time to do a rewatch to write them.

Tell us a random fact about your writing process: “Process”…..no, I don’t think I know this word. Are you sure you didn’t just make it up? In all seriousness though I word vomit on the page in all at once in one or two writing sessions and then I don’t do nearly enough editing and throw it at Ao3. Oh! I do use excel to make timelines, outlines, and keep track of notes for my longer fics (FF is the only one with one going right now.)

Tagging: Do you write fanfic? Congrats. You are now tagged! :D

[shadowmaat]

Behind a cut because I know people are sick of hearing about this stuff.

I think part of what bugs me about TLJ is that its defenders keep boasting about how “””edgy””” and “””daring””” and “””different””” it is and how it turns our expectations upside down (as if that’s ALWAYS a good thing), but the way it goes about it is by using some really tired clichés. Poe is the hotshot pilot with a chip on his shoulder who thinks he knows better than everyone. Luke is the wide-eyed optimist who turned into a bitter old pessimist. Finn is the clueless n00b used primarily for comic relief. Rey is slotted into a similar role to Luke’s original: believing there’s Still Good deep inside the monster.

It’s... frustrating. Sure, you can make excuses about how they were limited by what was in TFA, but FFS I’ve seen plenty of fanfics that take those hints and run with them, creating fully-fledged and interesting people in their own rights rather than sticking with Stock Characters 101.

Poe’s characterization bothers me A LOT. I don’t know if it would have been less obnoxious if Holdo had been a man, but it was fucking painful to watch him be so goddamned disrespectful and shitty. It was 110% Entitled Male Bullshit. Can we PLEASE move on from this kind of toxic stupidity and let the poor man have a functional brain in his head? This is the exact kind of attitude we’d expect out of a “hotshot pilot” with no goddamned variance or originality at all and that, IMO, is why it fails. It fails the plot, it fails the character, and it fails the fan. It’s bad writing. If you have to turn your character into an idiot in order to make a plot work, then you’ve fucked up.

Speaking of male chauvinism, let’s talk about Finn. I haven’t seen this mentioned, but I absolutely noticed that when he and Rose were attempting to explain their plan to Poe Finn moved in front of Rose when she attempted to talk and did the talking instead. She got her words in eventually, but he cut her off. WT everlasting F is that? And while Finn’s devotion to Rey was cute in the first movie, he also knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, He went to Starkiller to rescue her, but she was 3/4 of the way through rescuing herself, so any lingering concern he had about her should have been solved in that moment. ESPECIALLY since she managed to save HIS ass and defeat Kylo Ren ON HER OWN with no training.

He knew where she was. She was with Luke Skywalker, legendary hero and Jedi Master. If/when she returned (and that’s assuming that she WOULD somehow return within the narrow timeframe of them being in immediate danger) I’m pretty sure she’d be MORE CAPABLE THAN EVER BEFORE of handling any sort of threat. And yet his first thought is still that he needs to slink off to “save” her? That’s bullshit. It’s also bullshit that he wouldn’t ask for permission first because holy hells he’s had that drilled into him since childhood. That whole “reasoning” felt off to me. I’m also tired of him being demoted to comic relief. His wakeup sequence made me laugh, sure, but was it REALLY necessary to humiliate him like that? And then to keep making him the butt of jokes? From all of Rose’s petty sniping at him to his overreaction about fathiers and his generally bewildered state. Just because he hasn’t been out much in the universe doesn’t mean he’s a fucking idiot. And he doesn’t need to “learn how to care about others” or whatever since HE ALREADY DID THAT IN THE FIRST DAMN MOVIE!! 

I’d also like to know why the fuck his bacta chamber was shoved in some storage closet unattended, because no matter how much of a hurry you’re in a competent doctor (and Kalonia is competent) would NEVER leave critical care patients completely alone. There are enough droids around that one of them could have kept an eye on him.

But yeah, whatever. I can retreat to fanfic to get the kind of character development I need. I just think it’s a shame that Rian was so busy making everything EPICCCCCCCC that he failed hard on doing justice to the characters.

[dragongirldreams]

So, I guess it’s time enough that I should talk about my experience with Tumblr. I mean, it’s only been, what, a couple months since I said I would talk about it?

...イヤァァですけどー...(For those who can’t read Japanese: “...Iyaaa desu kedo~...” so it would mean something like “...Even though it’s unpleasant...” or ”...Even though I’m reluctant...”)(...what? You think I’m stalling? Me? Stalling? Using the Japanese language? Stalling? ...Okay, okay, you got me.

Uh... the thing is, unlike my time spent on that forum and on Deviantart, the time I spent on Tumblr, well... I don’t really look back on it fondly. And I guess it might have been part of the reason there isn’t really a “4th” influential site...

I- I’m not talking about you though! That era was already looong over by the time my sister had me make this blog. All the people that follow me, and all the people I follow, you’ve all been great!

This already has a fair bit more than I usually put above the “Read More,” so, let’s, uh, continue this there. I suppose the above counts as ample enough warning.

So, uh, to offer a slight recap... There are 3 specific sites I (somewhat frequently) visited at specific times early on in my internet life that stick out to my as “significantl” somehow. I don’t know, I just consider them “important.”

The “First” was a roleplaying forum I was a regular on. I wasn’t really good at roleplaying, honestly, but that wasn’t important. While it was the main focus, roleplaying wasn’t the only thing we talked about. This was the first internet community I really felt a part of, the first place I felt I could be myself, really. It was also where I learned that even on the Internet there were unspoken rules and things you “just shouldn’t say,” when I said why “shapeshifting” was the superpower I wanted, and everyone else called me “weird” for it.

The “Second” was Deviantart. I didn’t actually make an account here, because I was starting to get self-conscious. I mean, I wasn’t going to be writing any stories, (my roleplaying was bad enough when I have other people to help me, I’m sure it would be even worse when I have to come up with everything myself) and I wasn’t going to be writing too many comments, (what if I said something “weird” again and made people uncomfortable?) so why even bother?

Umm, before I continue, I want to make it clear that the self-consciousness didn’t really come from the rp forum. Aside from the one “weird” incident, they never really said anything to put me down. Most of my self-consciousness either came from Real Life and all it’s many pressures, or perhaps because I also started spending some time on TV Tropes, learning all about things like “Mary Sues” and “Self-Inserts” and how it’s all bad writing. I don’t really consider TV Tropes an “important site,” though. Despite ultimately spending a comparable amount of time there as on the others, it feels more like a footnote than a proper chapter, at least to me. It’s just missing a certain, je ne sais quoi.

So, back to Deviantart. While it was (and probably still is) primarily an art site, I spent more time reading... I kinda wanna say “fanfics,” but a lot of them were original, rather than being based on someone else’s work. I guess they were kinda like doujinshi, but short stories rather than manga. That’s the kinda “feel” they had about them. Anyway, I eventually found that I particularly enjoyed “TGTF” stories, and I spent most of my time here looking at groups with that as a theme. I can’t think of any particular lessons I learned here, to be honest. It was just somewhere I could go to escape the stresses of the Real World.

Uhh... onto Tumblr proper, finally. I think I’ve said this before, but to restate it, the reason I came to Tumblr in the first place was that I wanted to learn how to be a better feminist and LGBT ally. So, I mostly hung around in political and social justice tags.

But, unlike the Deviantart groups which had moderators to decide what gets in or not, on Tumblr anyone could put anything they wanted in any tag they wanted.

I could tell some of the more blatant stuff was bunk, if you asked me I would definitely say that trans people were the gender they said they were, and that gay people had just as much a right to love each and marry each other as straight people, but... I was still a kid, and I didn’t really understand the concept of “dogwhistles,” so I got pretty easily fooled by people just appropriating progressive-sounding language, and I ended up internalizing a lot of TERF/truscum and bi/pan/acephobic rhetoric. (Also a bit of racism, to a lesser degree, because I didn’t spend as much time looking into matters relating to race as I did ones related to sexuality or gender.)

Looking at the above, it’s not hard to see a bit of a common theme there. They all paint their targets as “just [privileged group] trying to invade/appropriate [oppressed group] spaces,” and evil for it. This kinda mixed poorly with my experience with “interruptions,” and led me to somewhat misinterpret sayings such as “stay in your lane” and “it’s not my job to educate you.” I managed to see my mere presence as a “straight white cis man” as something which inherently was offensive and silenced minorities. And as I was a big Liberal until recently, I put a lot of value on “free speech,” so if my presence in LGBT and feminist spaces was “interrupting” people, then it was imperative that I, a disgusting straight male, not be in LGBT and feminist spaces.

I suppose that, if that first forum unravelled the lie that the internet was free of taboos, then Tumblr shattered the delusion that it was free of gender.

I kinda want to go on a bit, but I can’t really think of any follow-ups. Such a line just has too strong a sense of finality. Luckily, I’m realizing that there actually was a “Fourth.” And in a way, it kind of acts as a mix of the other three.

So, setting the scene. Having quit the roleplaying forum out of lack of confidence in my roleplaying abilities, stopped reading TG stories on DA to not be offensive, and no longer going on Tumblr due to it only reminding me of my body, where was a gi-- guy to go?

Why, none other than 4chan, of course! That place that’s famous for being offensive! And specifically /tg/, the roleplaying section! I am not smart. (Note: /tg/ stands for “tabletop games” ie DnD, WarHammer, MtG, and the like. It is, for the most part, unrelated to the “TG stories on DA,” which is short for TGTF) (Second Note: Like with Tumblr, I at least had the wisdom to stay away from the boards with especially bad reputations, ie /b/, /pol/, /lgbt/. I also didn’t really go on /a/ or /v/ often, mostly just staying on /tg/ --which was considered one of the more progressive boards, relatively speaking.

Anyway, in /tg/ I especially spent a lot of time in /cyoag/, or the “Choose Your Own Adventure General” threads. Now, some of you might know of the old “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, but the CYOAs posted and talked about in /cyoag/ were very different; they were more like character creators, or would-you-rathers. Here’s some I enjoyed as examples (they’re kind of a big, though);

Sorry for the image spam there. And these are just some one-page ones; there are ones much longer I’ve enjoyed, like “Serene Serendipity,” -- which is about going childhood again, and pretty wholesome despite the name -- “Royal Revival,” -- where you’re secretly the reincarnation of a princess from a fantasy world who got assassinated, but your family managed to pull off a resurrection spell -- “A Mage’s Familiar,” -- you get reincarnated as the familiar of a wizard, or a witch. It does pretty well with it’s execution, there’s a bunch of different ways you can take things -- or the “Accidental Magical Girl CYOA” (or “AMGC,” for short) -- where, for some reason or another, you are turned into a Magical Girl (although an optional perk allows you to be a Magical Boy instead, that means one less perk for other things). I find the use of rolls/random numbers really increases the replayability, and helps to inspire different ways to take things. There’s this one perk, for example, that has you roll up a second character as a teammate, and this one time I rolled it, but then the new characters kept also rolling it until I had a whole 5-girl squad to go on (imagined) adventures with. That last one actually got so popular it had to split off into it’s one thread.

...I’m not sure where I’m going with this. I mean, ultimately I am, but I’m not sure how I’m going to get there. I’ve been trying to think of ways to continue for at least a day or so, now. “Maybe talk about the culture” I thought, but what would be an organic way into it? And how would I be able to capture the feel? A lot of the important things, while nigh omnipresent, were also often in the background.

I don’t know. I don’t know if there’s any kind of lesson I learned there. But it offered some sense of community when that was what I needed, as well as some pretty good escapism.

To end things off, I think I should mention this one line I saw the other day, though I don’t quite remember were. I think it was an old tweet. Regardless, what it said was, “If you were a teenage boy on 4chan, you’re either a neckbeard or a girl.”

I don’t think I’m much of a neckbeard, though. So, I guess what I’m saying is...

[snickertoodles]

WIP Tag Game

I saw this and sure why not, I need a reason to avoid working on my article :D

“Tagged” (uh kinda) by @bookenders https://bookenders.tumblr.com/post/183277614655/wip-tag-game

1. When starting something new, how much do you know about the story before you start writing?

I outline really extensively, so, pretty much everything down to the general events of each chapter. My stories do tend to surprise me by something changing while I’m writing it though.

The plot at least I understand 90% of. Sometimes it’ll adapt or go another direction but usually not enough that I’ll need to write a new outline... (The Impossible Sky did go that way but I didn’t have an outline written for it yet because it was SUPPOSED TO BE A ONE-SHOT)

Character development specifically tends to come out during the writing phase. I might know the general arcs and how some conversations are meant to go, but I give myself room to let them primarily develop during the story. So that can go some unexpected directions.

2. What draws you to your WIP(s)? Why did you choose to write that/those over anything else?

I really can’t tell you what makes me feel inspired to write. I just kind of get ideas that I like, and sometimes I really like them, and sometimes my old ideas fall to the wayside, oops...

Echoes of Eternity kind of came out of nowhere, started as a simple “Maria and Shadow’s story rewrite” thing and then got a little out of control. Five years later...

My stories that I’m working on for my boyfriend’s (https://bionicfrogstudios.tumblr.com/) WIP series... I don’t know what happened but somehow I went from being y’know vaguely supportive and semi-interested in his world to HYPER-FOCUS SPECIAL INTEREST INSANITY MODE and now I have like four or five ideas... Namely a sad romancey thing I’m writing right now.

But why? I don’t know. Please help I need to work on my actual publishable things.

3. Favourite writing spot? Why?

My computer in my room, because that’s where it is. Even if I had a laptop I’d just be sitting on my bed or whatever, going in public sounds like a nightmare. I don’t like people looking over my shoulder.

Although if I was a millionaire I’d like have a writing room with coloured lighting and screens with scenery on every wall and rain sounds and shit.

4. Share your favourite line of what you’ve written so far!

Oh no. A lot of my good lines are context-based so this is hard.

The Memory Chapter 3: She spread her arms, smiling with chilling cheerfulness as red stained her skin and snaked down her fingers, falling to the floor. “I'm dying, Shadow.”

The End of the World(? maybe, the sad romancey thing): Sometimes the world can change in an instant, with not even a word between before and after. Just a look, and everything ends.

Blah.

5. If you had to choose one OC to bring to life as an actual person, which one would it be and why?

I’m kind of scared of the implications of bringing one of my dragons to life and having to hide and feed them.

So, uh, one of the humans... I mean Ever seems chill but I think she’d just leave me to go looking for her sister...

I’m just going to steal my boyfriend’s OC that I’m writing about and say Mreiya. Having someone super high-energy and nice around would be fun. (And extroverts like her tend to just kind of adopt shy people so I’m sure we’d get along XDD)

6. Are you looking to get published? If so, do you hope to make it a career?

Fanfic author xD I mean technically I could get my boyfriend’s permission to officially publish all the stuff I’m writing for his world, but that feels like I’m like violating some sacred rule of fandom... “Don’t charge for fan works”. XD

Beyond fanfic I currently have no interest in a fiction writing career. Mainly because I simply don’t have any inspiring original ideas at the moment. If it happens it happens.

7. What’s something you would read but would never write (or the other way around)? Any reason?

Honestly I do a lot less reading than I should but, certain types of AUs (coffee shop, high school, modern, etc.) I would read but not write simply because I’ve never been inspired by those sort of ideas. The “one plot point happens differently/a character who lived dies/vice versa/etc.” AU scene is more my jam.

Though technically The Channeler qualifies as a “transplanted characters” AU similar to the ones I listed before, but that’s more like a new world with similar lore, rather than a pre-established core premise.

8. What’s something you are most proud of about your work so far?

Mostly just proud about how much I’ve improved. When people tell me I could get published if I wrote an original story, it feels good, even if that’s not something I’m interested in. Basically they’re saying my stories read like they’re published works and that makes me pretty happy.

Also when people tell me my characters feel real, that feels extra good because that’s the biggest thing I’m going for.

What I’m less proud of is my gradual degeneration of update times... And my TENDENCY TO GET IMMERSED IN RANDOM FANDOMS INSTEAD OF WRITING MY FICS THAT HAVE ACTUAL READERS...

9. Badly describe your WIP(s) in one sentence

The Memory: Maria nags Shadow a lot.

TEOTW: Our friend just died and we’re both traumatized. Let’s go on a date! Alternatively: WOULD YOU TWO JUST FUCKING TALK TO EACH OTHER

10. Why did you want to be a writer?

Twelve-year-old me wanted to put the dragon OC in her head and her adventures on paper. It was really that simple. How it became my “thing” is a more complicated story...

Now I just want to tell my stories and make people feel something. That’s all I really need to keep me going.

[mmbookreviews]

What This Tumblr Is For

Hello there, fellow readers of m/m novels. I’ve been reading a lot lately, and many of my favorite authors have let me down at the same time that some RL friends have roundly criticized my faves while reccing dreadful books that no one with sense or eyes could possibly like. ;D All of this inspires me to finally make a blog of honest reviews.

Why this blog: As we all know, the m/m book landscape is littered with self-published and small press books with a dubious grasp of English, no grasp at all of punctuation, bizarre plots that stop in the middle, and improbable anatomy. Most Goodreads reviews sound like they were written by the author’s friends. Most sites that let you search for m/m content make it hard to search for both m/m and some other genre, or they only recommend the same five most popular books, or they don’t clearly explain what genre something is. At the same time, my standards are not high, and I often just want something trope-y to read that I haven’t already reread fifty times.

Long ago, I used to read movie reviews in our local paper. They were always bullshit, but they were written by the same idiot with bad taste, and the flavor of their dislike always told me exactly what I would like about a movie. The things that bother me may not be the things that bother you, but having reviews from the same source with the same taste is invaluable. Hence this blog.

Below is some tl;dr about what types of books I’ll be reviewing.

I welcome recs and sufficiently entertaining anti-recs. Let me know if there’s a classic or a turkey I should review.

What is “m/m”: The most concise definition of “m/m” is:

Kind of like slash fanfic, but original.

These books sound like slash because they are intended as romance novels or because they are sff with gay relationships written by women or by people coming out of slash fandom. The audience that consumes these books is mostly women. Men do write in this field, but they are less successful--which is a source of misogynist rhetoric, butthurt whining, and people lying about their identities.

I’m making this distinction because Tumblr sometimes has trouble with it in ways that attack women but that also belittle and ignore gay men’s history and the history of queer literature, gay and otherwise.

“M/M” books primarily come from small contemporary presses like Riptide or are self-published ebooks. These are usually explicitly marketed as gay romance novels, even in the case of long series of detective stories where the primary couple has resolved their relationship problems a book or two into the series. Some are marketed as other genres (mystery novels, thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, horror) but still feature a gay protagonist who falls in love.

Older books that fall into this genre are things like Swordspoint: i.e. genre fiction with major gay romances, written by women, most of them former slash fanfiction writers, and consumed by other women with the same tastes and background. I know a couple of queer guys for whom woobie yaoi cliche Vanyel Ashkevron was a lifesaver back when he was the first positive portrayal of a gay man you were likely to run across by accident in a Middle America bookstore, but overall, Mercedes Lackey’s gay characters have been part of a slash fanfic type tradition more than a gay literature type tradition.

What is Gay Lit (and gay genre fiction): Gay literature used to mostly come from gay presses and was written by cis gay men for an audience of cis gay men. Things have diversified in recent years.

Typical themes have been the trauma of being in the closet, coming out stories, and slice of life depictions of the gay community in a particular place and time. Typically, these books are more political and less happy than current m/m romance. The big focus is a gay identity, not the progression of a specific romantic relationship. Many of them are also trying to be Serious Literature, and as such have a different style of prose from genre fiction. (It can be florid or wannabe Hemingway, but it’s all trying for a more overt authorial Voice, while genre fiction typically tries to keep the prose out of the way of the plot. It’s a different aesthetic and you know it when you see it.)

By the 90s, there was more of a sense of solidarity between different queer identities, and the same presses might be publishing the works of trans authors and putting gay and lesbian literature together. However, it would be a mistake to think that gay lit throughout its history has been about “mlm” since much of it was actively hostile to bisexual men or ignored both them and trans gay men. I don’t like the term ‘mlm’, and I don’t like tumblr’s use of it to push an “I’m not like the other slash fans” agenda.

Books from 90s and pre-90s gay presses that had strong genre plots and a central romance with a happy ending often prove to be slash zine fic by female authors with the character names changed. Today, the same authors wouldn’t bother with this kind of gay press: they’d go straight to an erotica/romance press or self-publish. (Though, obviously, their ability to get published by gay presses shows that there’s overlap in tastes. I assume those presses thought that gay men would also enjoy these stories. There are certainly gay men who now turn to m/m romance novels to satisfy tastes gay presses aren’t catering to.)

Gay mystery novels by men have been and still are more common than gay sff/horror/paranormal by men. A prototypical 90s/00s example would be about an “everyman” in the person of a jerkass twink who spends all day at the gym, whining about how he isn’t physically perfect enough to steal his rich friend’s hot model boyfriend. He would still manage to have casual sex with half of the other characters but end up alone for the sequel where he’d do it all again. There’s a 99% chance this sort of book will be set in Provincetown or some other real world gay mecca and at least a 50% chance that every single female character is a shrieking harpy.

These books are clearly intended for an audience of cis gay men embedded in a particular kind of contemporary US cis gay men’s culture. They also feature much more casual sex and cheating and way less serious emotion than m/m romance novel readers typically enjoy. A m/m historical might have a loving description of absinthe use, but a contemporary m/m rarely has a banal and realistic description of poppers and gay clubs. The mystery plots aren’t bad in gay mystery novels from gay presses, but I often find the characters unlikable and the sex and romance unsatisfying. The last time I saw this category of book seriously recced to slash fans was before ebook publishing took off. Back then, you bought what paperbacks you could and hoped there was something enjoyable in there.

The bottom line is: If you want books that treat queer identities realistically, politically, and/or depressingly, there are plenty. They’re not marketed as romance novels and they don’t come from the same presses or authors as romance novels. Genre fiction by and for gay men also exists. A lot of it isn’t appealing to a typical slash fan or m/m reader.

I wish that the parts of tumblr with a yen for these genres would seek them out instead of being upset that slash fanfiction or m/m paranormal romance novels fail to scratch the same itch. Or if all of the above fail to satisfy, I at least wish people wouldn’t blame it on the existence of female readers of m/m.

I might review a few pieces of gay lit or a few gay mystery novels if I happen to reread them or if they’re awful in a funny way or they have an unusually strong romance, but I find most of this stuff irrelevant to "m/m” as a contemporary marketing category.

What else I’ll review: Anything I think is relevant to a m/m reader, pretty much, whether that’s the occasional m/m/f book I run across or a m/f or f/f side story to a major m/m series or some particularly good piece of nonfiction a m/m series used as research material.

[notanicequeen-blog]

Greetings, And Controversy

I think it'd be best to just start by saying, "Hello." I'm Elsa, and I am not an ice queen. I'm a 24 year old freelance writer--primarily ghostwriting--and if that didn't clue you in, I enjoy writing. In various different forms, really. Original fiction, text-based role-playing, fanfiction, I write all of them whenever it strikes my fancy.

And I also enjoy writing about…well, writing. That's what the point of all this is. In my adventures to write what I'm paid to write and to get my brain to calm down long enough to write what I'm not being paid to write, I like to take time out and jot down my observations on the writing process and everything around it. No matter how tenuous the connection sometimes is.

A lot of these blog entries were posted on a different blog a few years back, but they've been re-written and I'm re-posting them here, on a platform that doesn't require me to jump through quite as many hoops to stay ~*~relevant.~*~

That's all the introductory stuff out of the way, so I guess now it's time to move onto the meat of this baby. To kick things off, let's look at a…slightly controversial topic among a lot of writers.

I'm going to talk about Mary Sues, because why shouldn't I? It's the first entry and it sounds like fun.

Is there anyone here who doesn't know what a Mary Sue is? I'm going to assume you've all at least heard the term, but let's get into a bit more detail than just that.

Despite the name, a Mary Sue doesn't have to be a female, though for males the term is frequently changed to Gary Stu, Gary Sue, Marty Stu, you get the point. Cute, isn't it? However! Because of the hoops female characters need to jump through to be considered good characters, people tend to fixate more on Mary Sues than they do on Gary Stus.

Assuming they aren't just using it as a catch-all term to describe a character they don't like, a lot of people bastardize the definition to 'a character that is overly perfect,' but that's not quite right. A closer definition would be more along the lines of 'a character whose existence bends the world so that everything centers around them.' Like I said, gender doesn't particularly matter, but people are more likely to flip the table and scream, "That's so unrealistic!" about female characters doing this.

(As for where the term actually came from, I regret to inform you that it did not just fall out of the aether to give all of us nerds some shared terminology. Instead, allow me to direct you towards the Star Trek fandom. A satirical fanfiction--a very old fanfiction--was poking fun at the concept with a teenage ship captain named Mary Sue.)

Unfortunately for anyone looking to identify a Sue out in the wild, there is no one set of traits or characteristics that makes up a Mary Sue. There are some made of sweetness, rainbows, and turtledove shit, and they fix all conflicts just by walking into a room. There are some who are completely unrepentant jerks to everyone around them (especially a love interest) and they chew everyone out for the slightest mistake, but of course everyone loves them for their spunk and their ~*~attitude.~*~ Or maybe they're miserable and every tragedy in the world finds them, and the entire population is divided evenly into people who want to hurt them or protect them (have you read Oliver Twist? then you know what I'm talking about).

They can be everyday people, famous people, warriors of distant lands, beautiful but tragic broken birds, or anything else you can think of, so long as the world revolves around them in a way that strains suspension of disbelief.

But why are Mary Sues problematic?

…You wanna know a secret? It's a doozy. You might not be able to take it.

You see, they aren't problematic. Or at least not always. While it's true that some writers are going to start pulling their pigtails and throwing a tanty at the mere mention of a Mary Sue, in reality everything has a place. If someone is truly writing just because it's what they want to write, then you're free to simply not read it and no one is any the worse for wear.

As with many things, it also depends on the audience and the type of writing.

For instance, let's look at original fiction. Here, it depends entirely upon the audience. Sometimes it can just be nice to feel like the world revolves around you for a change. Oh, sure, that's not everyone's cup of tea, but if someone doesn't want that sort of story, I would like to know when it became their business to tell other people what they should or shouldn't like to read.

In fanfiction, the line is a little clearer. More often than not, a Mary Sue in a fanfic is an original character that the author has made up and injected into the world of the story, and the lives of the characters from the source material revolve around the author's original character. In general, that's frowned upon. People are free to write it, and more power to them, but most people who seek out fanfiction are looking for the characters of the source material, not a new character they've never heard of and thus are not pre-invested in. (Especially in cases where the source characters wind up warped and twisted out of their original shape so they can accommodate the new character.)

However! I can think of fanfic right off the top of my head where the source material's main character was written as a raging Gary Stu, but the writing itself and the characterization were brilliant and I loved the fic. So it would be disingenuous to say there's no ambiguity here. 

(Besides, if the author is having fun, then there’s no harm coming out of it anyway.)

There is one situation, though, where there is very little ambiguity, and that is role-playing. For those that don't know what it is (or those who are perpetually stuck in the gutter), I'm talking about a collaborative story telling game (my preferred form is text-based, but there are various types). Each person has a character (or several) and they're in charge of the thoughts, words, and actions only for the characters that belong to them.

In a role-playing game, Mary Sues are very frequently obnoxious. Because the game is collaborative, most players want to get their own time in the spotlight. Everyone wants to feel important to the story. What this means is that one player constantly trying to make the story focus around their character is going to be incredibly annoying, whether it comes in the form of constantly fixing everyone's problems, constantly being dumped on by the world, or something else. Odds are the player of a Mary Sue is either going to get a stern talking to or kicked out of the group, because no role-player wants every conflict solved immediately or for their own character's drama to be stolen or overshadowed.

However, I did say very little ambiguity, not no ambiguity. Because you know what can be fun sometimes? Complete and utter over the top, self-indulgent bullshittery where every character is equally as ludicrously special and amazing. Where nothing makes sense, nothing is remotely plausible, ‘down to earth’ is a foreign phrase, and everything is explosions, be they literal or metaphorical. Because when you get down to it, it’s about having fun. (Side note: you should all go look up The Ballad of Edgardo.)

But what about me? What do I, personally, think of Mary Sues?

Frankly, I tend to prefer more realistic characters, but I'm not going to pretend I've never read and enjoyed stories about Mary Sues. It's fun to be the center of the universe now and then.

Beyond that, I think they're a phase that every writer goes through. I certainly did. If you're a writer and you're reading this, you did, too. Every writer wants their characters to be awesome, and it can take time to refine your personal definition of awesome. Criticism and advice are fine--maybe even encouraged, depending on the writer--but being a jerk about it just makes you a hypocrite. After all, you've done it, too.