#anyways. Fan fic writers and fan artists who post because they love what they do

[i-am-a-fan]

They’ve marketed our sight. They’ve marketed air. They’ve marketed health. They’ve marketed sickness. They’ve marketed death and they’ve marketed birth. They would market your own thoughts back to you if you let them.

[olderthannetfic]

Yeah, no, this recurring "if you posted it to the archive you OWE ITS PRESENCE TO US FOREVER" take people keep regurgitating is some absolutely entitled bullshit no matter how you dress it up as ~*respect for art and the artist.*~

Ok, I never wanted to wade into this never ending wank about deleting fics because I didn’t think I had anything to add, but this comment in the comment section of one of the most recent asks on this topic sparked something for me. Probably it’s not even an original thought, but here I go.

Is it ok if an author doesn’t like their book any more, so they just start going into libraries and destroying copies of it?

That’s a bad analogy because the library paid for those copies and the author was presumably paid for their work? And also it wouldn’t even be legal for the author to do that? I hear you. I still think it holds some merit in terms of helping us think about this in terms of libraries being a place of preservation for the community, which is how people who are complaining about fics disappearing view fic archives (thus, “archive”), but I do see the flaws in the analogy.

What if a friend crafted you something as a gift, and you absolutely love it and treasure it, and you tell them so at every opportunity. Is it cool for them to take it back and throw it away because they don’t like it any more?

That analogy makes it too personal and doesn’t really work because “people should just download copies of every fic in anticipation that the author might delete it, and authors aren’t breaking into people’s houses to steal back copies of fics they have saved”? Ok. That’s fair. But I think that analogy at least conveys how personal the disappointment of a fic disappearing feels for many fans. Especially if they voiced their support to the author, it’s a big bummer when the author receives that support and then turns around and says “well I don’t think it’s good enough any more, and I’m taking it down so no one can enjoy it.” But I agree, that’s not a perfect analogy either.

How about an analogy I think I have heard before, one in which an artist created a piece of art and donated it to be displayed in a public space for the community to enjoy, then subsequently decided they wanted to remove it from view and destroy it. I think even if they were legally within their rights to do it, most people would still look at it as a pretty lame thing to do. This analogy doesn’t fully satisfy me, because public art on display doesn’t feel fully analogous to fic in an archive for me, and depending on the piece and the setting there may not be the same expectation that it’s going to be preserved there.

I think all of these analogies taken in combination kind of start to convey why this is a big deal to people. And as many have said, it’s not that we don’t acknowledge it’s the fic writer’s prerogative to delete, or that we feel entitled to the work, or that we don’t realise we can and probably should download our most favourite fics. None of that changes the fact that to take down a fic is taking back a gift and removing something from a community archive dedicated to preserving that media. Anyway. This is my beer-fuelled rant complete with three separate analogies that really contribute nothing to this very done-to-death discussion. I’ll go be quiet now.

--

Eh. I don't think people are confused in quite this way.

Some of them are upset because a few "Never delete!" people actually say aggressive or aggressively stupid things.

A lot of them want to never feel judged, and that includes by hearing that other people are upset.

But a poisonous and idiotic breed of them don't value fic and are mightily offended that other people do.

I get these clowns on here all the time. I haven't blocked all of them, but they're all dumbasses and they all sound the same. "Ooh, it's just casual!" "Ooh, I'm so mature for not having feelings and it totally isn't a mental illness symptom, how dare you?!"

Listen, dudes, wanting to destroy your hobby stuff is not a moral failing. But treating your hobby as "just a hobby" and "It doesn't matter" means you're a boring person. Come cry in the notes, but it won't be any less true.

Art is something to be passionate about. Preservation is something to be passionate about. Life in general is something to be passionate about.

Destroying art is sometimes part of art. Thinking it's pretentious to care deeply, however, makes you a loser.

[stormxpadme]

There's a bit of fanfiction negativity in the tags :(. Looking for something to cheer me up, what's your personal scogan fanfic favorites?

Yeah, I saw that, both in the scogan and scogean tag, with posts even including the character name tags. Like. Not cool, people. Way to make authors feel shitty who have been guarding the ship lighthouse for the last 20 years. Claiming in the most popular tags, there's only like 1 good fic among more than 1500? Wow, okay. So I was very happy to receive your ask. Let's counter that negativity with some awesome scogan reads!

Damaged by scottxlogan

Can't do any scogan rec list without including the leading authority on the subject. @scottxlogan is the author who pulled me into this ship years ago, not to mention they're a great friend, unbelievably talented writer and artist, and they deserve all the love. Damaged is surely one of their most ambitious projects and deserves every single view, kudos and review out there. Set in the DOFP finale verse that is no doubt the author's specialty, the story comes with an alluring, intricated plot that leaves you on the edge of your seat along with all the feels.

Submission by scottxlogan

I'm also including a newer work by the same author in case you just want to get a feel for how wonderfully she writes these guys, not to mention the shameless steamy goodness that are the author's smut scenes. scottxlogan is an expert at reversing common fandom tropes believably, and this will leave you longing for more of these power exchanges easily.

he carries the reminders by Wolfsheart

@mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea is another great friend and author I would trust even with my biggest squicks (not that she writes those anyway :D). She's not only technically brillant and very well-versed in the lore which makes every pairing she writes a great read (check out her Tony/Emma, too!), but she'll also never fail to make you laugh or put those hearts in your eyes. And don't miss all those pop culture references that even put Peter Parker to shame! She also gives us scogan fans exactly what we need with stories like this one, combining our fav hurt/comfort tropes with a healthy dose of canon fix it.

I loved you since I knew you by strangenewwords

@strangenewwords is a fairly new and dearly beloved addition to our group at @scoganbingo events, but she's already made a huge impact with her delicious smut and angst stories that hit you right in the feels. Technically also brillant, the linked story is definitely one you don't want to get spoilered for beforehand because the ending will leave you in absolute awe and tears. The author doesn't shy away from including the darkest sides of Scott's past but handles every subject with the necessary care and respect, and as I said ... You don't want to miss out on all that delicious smut!

The Day Before the Soldiers Came by Cerylid

Cery is offering a much-needed fixit for the team dynamics between the X-Men and Logan before X2 with this story. It comes with a lot of humor but also far more feels than you expect. The texting is hilarious but it's the quiet tones that get to you.

*****

Speaking of fix-its, since that negativity in the tags kinda got to me, too, I might just throw in one of my own works here too since I also got lots of Scogan stuff out there.

My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold

is basically my go-to X3 fix-it. You look for something to make that movie right, you got it all right there. Along with a bit of horror (we are talking about resurrection, after all) comes a dramatic rescue mission in a mental limbo, and you get an Avenger and Emma Frost guest-starring. There's a couple of follow up chapters that explore both scogan and Tony/Emma a bit further, and we even get a Laura version in old movieverse along the line, and of course all the nasty nasty smut you guys are here for.

########

So, that's it from the top of my hat. All these accounts have even more great stories to check out, and there's lots of other scogan authors out there with great stories to enjoy. So don't let anyone tell you, there's no quality scogan stuff on AO3.

[twosides--samecoin]

Working on my in-game photography and fic every day, even if it's only research or a few words here and there. I'm very happy with my artistic growth this year.

The healthiest mindset I can come up with is that I'm in competition with myself. My opponent in the ring is my own limits and imagination - it's up to me to push myself to go bigger and better and learn something new. Nobody can wind up & land my haymakers for me. I have to be my own mentor, my own beta reader, my own biggest fan, my own clique, my own critic.

I can't appeal to everyone (and have had to suppress the want to prove myself; someone determined to keep their nose turned up is the ultimate carrot on the end of the validation stick), but I can certainly appeal to myself, even though I sit in a Venn diagram of self-carved niches. I don't fit in with screen archery tropes or fanfic expectations. I haven't yet found a beta reader/editor who's able to give the eviscerating critique I'm after (beta reading/editing as I understand it is more than "thumbs up no typos!! oooh fun scene!!"). Hell, fanfic is a tough hobby and can be an isolating culture - you'll have silent readers who love your work but are afraid of commenting, people who withhold kudos until the end in case you write something problematic and very opinionated readers who post about how they want/don't want writers to do certain things or tag a certain way. More private Discord cliques pop up as public fandom continues to fragment.

I can't control a lot that makes me anxious about fandom and being social on the internet, like whether or not I'm being iced out by a stranger or whether my stuff just never graces their feed. I worry all the time and self cringe at moments where I misread social cues/tone. Somehow we're on the "write a lot of words and we're accepting toward neurodivergence" website but it's difficult to connect with people authentically and convey what you really think. It's difficult feeling like I am always on the outskirts of the fandom, and have felt that way since I joined. It's been especially hard this year because my support system has fluctuated dramatically since moving to the USA.

I can only focus on my own art. Not fitting in, being too weird even for the weird people and going my own path is the story of my life. If no one gives you your flowers, you can always grow your own.

I think saying, "Fuck it, I'm done trying to impress others, I'm just gonna make the art & stories I wish to see" is paying off - I'm working on some portraits and visual storytelling for an FO4 modder. I'm gonna help evoke Emotions and Themes!! Plus I have my own mod shenanigans to tinker with. And the ficversary is coming up! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡

Anyway nobody wants to hear me soapbox, so-

[clegfly]

Woo, it’s about time I made one of these… *cracks knuckles*

MORE ABOUT ME!!!!

HIIII!!!! My name is clegfly, or just cleg!!!! I’m an artist/ writer / professional paint drying critic/j. I’m just a silly person doing silly things, don’t mind me. I use they/them pronouns and I am aroace!!!

LIKES

BULLET POINTS BULLET POINTS BULLET POI

Pancakes. All day. All the time. Everywhere, anywhere. Pancakes

That goes for bacon too

JELLYYYYYYYYYY!!!!1!1!1!

Why are these all foods what else do I like uhhhh

Warm. And cosy bed. And fire. And all that stuff

OLD COMPUTER AESTHETIC!!!!!! N64!!! WINDOWS XP!!!! ALL THAT SHIT

Bugs in theory

PLANTS

MUSICAL THEATRE

Graphic novels

Video games… ough my beloveds

Books

Okay now this is too long

Oops

Sorry

JELLYFISH JELLYFISH JELLYFISH

The ocean full stop actually

In theory

CHINCHILLAS

Uh

Yapping

Analysis

DISLIKES

anything on my DNI >:((((

Bugs in practice

Sport

Exercise

I’m literally hero omori

Commitment

Stress

Internet drama

Anyone who gatekeeps like. Anything.

INTERESTS???

All day every day, baby.

MAINS

OMORI- main interest as apparent by one peek at my blog… The brainrot is immeasurable and everlasting. Send help. It’s been almost four years. I love this game, its characters, story, EVERYTHING so fucking much. I’m like a billion pounds in debt to it also. I will be homeless but at least I will have my big ass heromari collection.

PMMM/ Madoka Magica- my favourite show! Consisting purely of sparkles and sunshine!!!! Why are you crying??? I’m sure not!!!!

DDLC/ Doki Doki Literature Club- another favourite of mine!!! I see a well-written cast of characters I deeply relate to go through extreme horrific horror beyond any of their comprehensions and I’m SOLD!!!

Coraline- the horrors are all consuming, but at least it’s both a visual and extremely well-written treat!!!!

TADC/ the amazing digital circus- won’t lie, watched this show when the pilot dropped and LOVED it, but forgot about it after a while as it didn’t stick with me. Then episode three came out and I’m now reduced to a blubbering mess whose brain is now significantly comprised of two fictional chess pieces. What happened? I don’t know. Send even more help.

LITTLE GUYS THAT HURT MY BRAIN SOMETIMES

Petscop

Fnaf

BATIM/ bendy and the ink machine

BSD

Deltarune

Undertale

Hawaii: Part II

SUBJECT TO CHANGE BECAUSE IM PROBABLY FORGETTING LIKE 20 AND ALSO HAVE LIKE 20 STILL TO DISCOVER

HOBBIES?!2!2!

Ya!!!! :D

Art

The main thing I do on my silly little page!!

…in which the art is mostly unfinished doodles… but that’s okay!!!! We ball anyway

YOU CAN SEND THE CLEG REQUESTS!!!!! ALL DAY ANY DAY UNLESS I SAY OTHERWISE!!!! Do not expect premium quality though lmao. (And also nothing related to DNI. Shouldn’t have to say this but. Uh. Yeah)

You cannot yet commission the cleg :(

Writing

Currently on a writing hiatus and have been for a little while (5 MONRHS WHAT) but… i do!!!! That!!!! Aka I write fan fiction AGH

Mostly. Heromari stuff. Actually all heromari stuff. I think I have one fic that isn’t heromari and it’s one I co-authored I love them your honour…

Yeah

DNI

Bit of a bummer, but I gotta set my boundaries to keep the weirdos out!! That being said, do NOT interact with my blog whatsoever if you:

Are a shotacon, lolicon, proshipper, pedo, etc etc etc. (yucky. Yuck yuck yuck. Fuck off)

Are homophobic

Are transphobic

Are aphobic/ arophobic (why. Why are you even still here)

Queerphobic in general actually get OUT!!!!

Actively shit on any of my main interests. Like ACTIVELY go out of your way to tell me how bad it is (what. What is the point. Just go)

NSFW is on thin ice but I will likely just block the tag if you post about it... however PLEASE keep it away from me I am very sex repulsed and WILL block you ON SIGHT!!!

Are racist/ xenophobic

There is likely LOTS more I’m forgetting so I will update this later… also just saying I reserve the right to block ANYONE no matter if you fit into this criteria or not. If I don’t vibe with you I will politely block you and look the other way!!! No theatrics required

Anyway with all the negative stuff out of the way… I really hope you enjoy my blog!!! I’m just here to have fun honestly and express my ideas and passions and work on a little page of the internet so!!!! Hope you have fun too!!!! :D

[quinloki]

Hi Quin <3

I may or may not have gone through your entire catalog haha (^///^) Thank you for feeding us all so well ☆ Such stunning works!!!!! (シ_ _ )シ

I was wondering, I find that I keep on reading the same people a lot. Have you discovered some cool new people to read from recently? any great recs? stuff you keep coming back to?

Anyways, you're awesome!! And I can't wait to read what you come up with next!!!!!

=O Sideblogs and everything?

...

Σ(っ °Д °;)っ

(*/ω＼*)

Goodness. ❤️I'm glad you enjoyed my stuff enough to read all that. I'm a terribly wordy ^^;

Ah! But hmmm... I do tend to read from many of the same folks, especially since I ended up surrounded by impressive writers.

But let's do this:

@swampstew - if you follow me, you know her. I cannot fathom otherwise, and if you don't, start here.

this is @icy-spicy's master list - I'd have that cold shower ready before you start, but there's more than One Piece there.

@mydisenchantedeulogy writes for a lot of fandoms, her words are so good I'm a fan of her stories without even having seen the universes they come from.

@un-shit-yourself is a long time real life friend, and a fantastic writer. Mostly Dragon Age, but the writing pulls you in. We chat, but we don't usually cross post, so you probably don't know about this one even if you do follow me.

@zoros-sheath - if you haven't read Magnets, start there, otherwise go hog wild. I can't imagine you're going to find anything bad.

@standfucker - whew, I look - Zen makes me wonder why I even write because what she writes is just too goddamn hot. Y'all don't need me, you got her. (I say this in jest, I'm going nowhere I promise) White Out and Rotation are two of my favorites, but Stowing Away to Save Yourself is something I specifically requested and gods was I served well.

@writing-yarn-goblin and @lyndsyh24 and @theaceofflamesposts are here, but you're more likely to enjoy the first two on Wattpad and the last on Ao3. Lyn's getting more active here, but her library is full of good stuff - fluffier than my usual work, but just as good imo. Lyn is one of the biggest reasons y'all get to deal with me at all. She was a saint when I stumbled into Wattpad.

I love @heyitsdoe and @/bas-writes stuff - they are both phenomenal writers. Bas has shifted away from OP a little and is more into JJK, but if you're looking for solid fic to read, then you will find tons there and I promise you'll enjoy it =3 Doe is super sweet and her writing is always a full meal, I've commissioned her and it was far and away worth every penny.

Honestly, I'd really recommend checking out my Following page. I leave it public, but everyone on it is either a friend, a writer, an artist, or some combination of all three.

I could go on in this post for like 5,000 more words and not hit everyone who has delighted me. @cyborg-franky @coza-main @lerya-fanfic @leakyweep @leftsidebonfire -- I'm going to hit a damn tag limit again.

@thus-spoke-lo is a little on the darker side, but gods alive I love her work, and I could read it for hours if I had the hours to spare.

@vizkopa writes in a way that helped me loosen up and write more how I wanted to, so thank her for that, and enjoy what she's got - mostly on Wattpad I believe? I know that's where I've read it.

Seriously, just peruse my followers, if you need something new.

But know that like me, they're 18+ and that's a boundary for their comfort as much as anything else. So don't break that.

[deadchaoticcosmos]

what are you looking at?

anyway salutations, i have finally made an intro post after a year of meaning to.

the beginning or the end, the end or the beginning

to all the people who have struggled with self harm

especially the ones who don't have the battle scars to prove it

so yeah hi,

some main shit you might want to know,

i am non binary/genderfluid(idk still fighting with my own fucking brain), i am also pansexual and i think i may be demi-sexual/demiromantic, idk ,you dont care about my silly brain not knowing shit about myself.

i am experimenting with the name dorian because my stars does that name have a chokehold on me, so you can refer to me as that or don't i don't mind, really you can refer to me as anything you want as long as it is not offensive and mean.

i am a minor but i am truly an old man, also a very hyper (at times), sophisticated 4 year old.

i am irish, i speak english and *not fluent,but one day* irish and french

personality= INFJ

also not to good with tones so if you could tell me that would be great

more random things♡

i am fucked in the head, but i am undiagnosed with probably a lot a shit but we love that!

umm idk i guess i am a poet?

i am trying to write a book but transferring it from my brain is a lot harder than expected

i am decent at art

and i like to read

also a big fan of nature and space and stars

also i just LOVE ART, I WISH I COULD CONSUME IT

oh yea do love school except for the social aspects especially love maths history french and science!

my ao3= DeadRABStar

also i am a slytherin

also big thanks to fan fic writers and just fan artists and fans in general , you mean the world to me and you deserve everything good in life

okay shit i like time

fandoms=

marauders, this is like my main thing right now and has been for a while

i kin everyone basically because my personality is all over the place and is making its own children somehow and now im making it everyones problem

i kin kinda all of them because i am all over the place with everything and my own personality cant chose shit for the life of it, but regulus the most

i kinda look like remus but with james potter glasses and instead of scars on my face, they are all over my arms and legs

ships♡= i can roll with anything but my preferences/ships i love and are obsessed with are

jegulus, starchaser, sunseeker, pandalily, rosekiller, wolfstar, dorlene, marylily, pete/benjy(reading a fic with that paring and am obsessed) nobleflower, quilkiller, narcissa/lilly, panda/xeno, bartylus, moonwater(idf with thus ship name though but there is no other to call them)plus any other ship really idc how small the ship gets love i shall love it unless i hate it cough princechaser and sometimes snilly and kinda any ship with severus cough, no offence

again no offence don't come at me but i don't like jegulily and i think regulus and lily would be best friends (?) like they are friends in my mind but idk, no hate

platonic ships i love but some i do also like as a couple sometimes, moonwater,prongsfoot, jilly, prongstail, james and remus, regulus and pandora, james and pandora, james with any of the slytherin skittles,pete and mary and any others i may be forgetting right now but give me some poeple and i would love their dynamic

i do have lots of controversial opinions on the black family(i love them your honor)

i feel like lily and petunia's relationship should be talked about more

and some golden trio ships=

drarry, hermine(?)/pansy, seamus/blaise, seamus/dean, ron/hermine, blaise/pansy and luna/ginny

(btw harry and luna are regulus and pandora in the next generation)

also FUCK JKR, i wish i could murder that bitch, we do NOT support her and her 'opinions' here, if you do get out, leave

feel free to talk to me about any of these topics i just listed

im kinda apart of the rioardion, cant spell for shit<3, universe fandom but not really

a little bit of lockwood and co. but i am really just a big fan of the books dont really interact with fandom

a new one but i am kinda already lowkey obsessed, shameless, no comment

i LOVE music, i listen to mainly rock or classical and some pop but really whatever i am in the mood for

some people are=

queen, bowie, tx2,abba, florence and the machine, the beatles, the rolling stones, chappell roan, conan gray, maisie peters, tv girl, girl in red, the smiths, the clash, elvis, elton john, mother mother, hozier, måneskin, blondie, slipknot, korn, cheap perfume, unörthadox ,my brain is fried and can't think of anything right now so i will update this (can you tell how gay i am yet)

some shows and movies=

psych, Princess bride, ferris bullers day off, the breakfast club, gilmore girls, clue, beetlejuice, saw, scream, friday the 13, nightmare on elm street, talk to me, heartstopper, derry girls, how i met your mother, dead poets society, that 70s show, seven brides for seven brothers, perks of being a wallflower, goonies, oceans 8,pretty in pink, room, heathers (winona ryder one), the simpsons, disengagement, shameless and again my brain is fried and can't think of anything right now so i will update this

love musicals but i think wicked is my favourite one, i saw it for the first time when i was really young and it's always kinda just stuck with my and im seeing it again in a couple weeks, however this might change because my feelings towards others are changing so who knows who will my favourite, anyway musicals are amazing

and again, feel free to talk to me about any of these topics i just listed

DNI ( DO NOT INTERACT) IF

you are, transphopic, homophobic or do not support lgbtq+, are racist, mean or anything else

we want nice, supportive, chill people here (nice and chill are kinda ekoej because i am neither but you get what i mean i hope)

you can vent to me if you want, i am here for you always, you don't have to be afraid here

that being said this is also kinda a vent account, sometimes i just like typing out my problems and tell you people because i feel like i can't tell anyone in real life, which is true

mental health is important

my Spotify (playlists)

https://open.spotify.com/user/31mpkfgmto566jbdd2hcn3j4wxzy?si=sa4cWVBFQTKOpF9uQTbp9Q

FREE GAZE, FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸 AND AGAIN IF YOU DON'T SUPPORT MY VIEWS ON THIS LEAVE

i will update this if i think of any thing else i want to say but feel free to come and chat with my in my asks box and ask about my opinions on certain shit, idfk, and also share your opinions and thoughts because i am a nosy person

my other accounts

@romulusfuckingtraitor (role play, remus)

@romulusfuckyoufuckingtraitor (idfk what this is but i mostly reblog political stuff, and if you scroll to the end the second post are resources to help Palestine 🇵🇸,now pinned)

@sendmetotheasylume (a shameless reblog blog, i did say it was only a reblog blog but i did make one post, do not take my word for shit fuck

@helpmedieplwease (drarry, golden trio era, also a bit of next gen(cursed child)

@begaydotumbler (marauders, mostly jeggy)

@slurpyjuice (aftg)

last updated 13/09/2024

[arcane-vagabond]

Arcane-Vagabond's FAQ

Hi! Welcome to my FAQ page! Here is a list of the different questions I get asked fairly frequently or things I've had to address more than once.

✨ Can I tag you in my fics?

Did I ask to be tagged? Then no.💛

(You will be blocked if you do this anyway.)

✨ Can I make fan art of your fics?

My brother in Christ…..we will have a spring wedding.

(Just let me know/tag me/give me credit)

✨ Can I be added to your taglist?

I do not have a taglist. If you would like to be notified on when I post, follow my sideblog ( @sailoraviator-library ) and turn on post notifications. I will ignore requests asking to be put on a taglist from here on out.

✨ Do you have a posting schedule?

Not currently, no.

✨ Can I request something?

Yes! But please keep in mind that I might say no if I'm not interested or comfortable with the topic. Usually, I will send you over to an artist/writer who I think might be able to fulfill your request if I cannot.

✨ You haven't answered my ask/request/questions or updated my favorite story in a while. Why?

While I try to get to requests, sometimes the writing juice just isn't plentiful for an idea. Also, I'm a grown woman with a full time job, friends, family, and other hobbies/obligations outside of this blog. I travel for work which means at any given time, I'm sitting in a hotel room after multiple hours of driving. If I have time, I try to answer everything, but I also have (as of 7.30.24) 94 requests sitting in my inbox, with some from a couple of months ago. Please be patient.

✨ I want to write a story, but it's similar to yours. Is that okay?

Listen, my love, as long as it's not a complete ripoff of one of my stories, I really don't care what you write. You want to write about mermaids? Please do! You want to write about cursed pirates? Go ahead! The nature of AUs is that you are going to use similar tropes for the stories, and the nature of tropes is that you are going to have similarities to stories that use the same ones. There's only so many ways you can write a meet cute in a bar.

✨ Will you promote my fic?

I try to reblog fics I come across, and promote the ones from smaller authors as much as possible. However, that does not mean my blog is a billboard for you to promote your fics on. I was once a small time author, so I know how hard it can be to get your stuff out there. Shoving your work at me is a guaranteed way to get me to NOT read it and actively ignore it in the future.

✨ Why do you have so many WIPs (Works in Progress)? You know you probably won't finish all of those, right?

I do, and that's okay. That's the nature of writing fanfic, unfortunately. Not everything is going to get finished. You also have to understand that just because I haven't touched a story in a month or two doesn't mean it's been abandoned. The writing muses just haven't given me inspiration or motivation to write for it. I will make an announcement and take something off of my masterlist if I have decided to abandon it.

✨ What are some thing I can do to get my writing noticed?

Tag appropriately. I cannot tell you how many people are going to scroll past your writing if you tag a character fic with the actor (for example, tagging a Jake "Hangman" Seresin fic with Glen Powell). In fact, you are more likely to get yourself blocked versus someone reading your fic. Make use of the "Read More" feature on your fics. People are more likely to block you than read your fic if they have to scroll endlessly past your fics. People will find your fics by searching the appropriate tags. Just give it time.

✨ What are some things I should do when posting/writing?

Do NOT write real person fic. It's one thing to write about a character that doesn't exist, it's something else writing about a real life person who will suffer the consequences when people will inevitably mix reality with fiction. How would you feel if someone wrote a story about you where you did all of these things you'd never do?

Put appropriate trigger/content warnings above your fic. If you are going to write about sensitive topics, it is SO important that you warn people before they reach the story. Writing about losing a child, cancer, or sexual behavior? Tag it explicitely so people can filter it. Do not censor your warnings and do not use "angst" as a catch all. Allow people to protect themselves.

✨ I didn't like [insert fic here].

I literally don't care. Telling me you didn't like something instead of scrolling without a hateful comment makes you a loser, actually.

✨ Do you take non-fanfic related questions?

Yes!! I encourage them, actually! Never feel like you can't shoot me an ask that's not related to fanfic or fandom because I love chatting!! Even if you want to chat with me about fics, I'm more than happy to do so!

✨ Who do you write for?

Mainly Top Gun Maverick at the moment, but I might write for other fandoms in the future! I wrote reader inserts, and it’s good to note that my reader inserts are female unless otherwise stated!

This is by no means a comprehensive list, and will be updated as I get more questions!

[hottiemcdottie]

Hello. I hope you are doing well.

I'm a new fan of Monk, and I have a question about Tony/Monk and Bitty/Sharona.

I have started to read your fanfiction novel, Mr. Monk and The Port, and I like Monk's and Sharona's chemistry already. The only thing I dislike is the cursing, which is just a personal preference. I know you are a big shipper of the two, and so am I, but I just was wondering if you ship Tony and Bitty as well?

In some of your post, you mentioned both Tony's and Bitty's choice of action. I never put that much thought into it. I just thought the two are incredible actors, which they are.

I sense that you ship Tony/Monk and Bitty/Sharona behind the sences, and with their unmatchable chemistry and double act, do you think anything ever happened between them behind the scenes? I'm not counting on it because Tony is married, but I would like to hear your thoughts.

Another question, how do you think Tony, as well as the main cast, responded to Bitty Schram leaving? There's no comment on anyone's behalf, besides the network's statement. The cast's chemistry is really good. Everyone played their part well. It saddens me that Bitty left because of a contract disruption, or the reason she truly left, because she truly made the show. This is talked alot, but the way the writers have written Sharona's leaving was horrible.

Anyways, thank you for responding in advance. Take care!

Hello friend!

I see you have caught onto my not-so-subtle hints!

Unfortunately, as Bitty Schram is currently out in Idaho and appeared recently on a MAGA podcast (without video), I have had to give up my ship, as I can of course not support anyone who stands with MAGA. She was not asked to appear in the Monk movie, and that's justified in my opinion.

But yes, before this I did think Tony and Bitty had at least done a tiny bit of kissing off-screen. I don't think he would cheat on his wife in any substantial capacity, so that's just speculation. They had major chemistry though, and it was clear they adored each other and that never changed. It's the root of the double act they were able to create.

And I still think Adrian and Sharona would have been a good match when he'd done some recovering. I think Monk very obviously was in love with Sharona and she loved him back. I think Bitty was pretty clear on it because she said in an interview that Sharona (and she herself) "loves him no matter what" which is a nice statement. And of course Tony said he couldn't think of any other guest star in the 8th season that mattered to him, which was VERY sweet. The writers even said they wrote Sharona as the exasperated wife.

It was also so sweet to see how excited and happy he was to have her back for the 8th season. I hated the storyline but you could see the love and chemistry had gone nowhere. Their acting choices really did reflect their feelings for each other and I loved that.

I'm disappointed in Bitty Schram, of course, given that I would have expected much better from an East Coast, NYC-adjacent artist, but I have to shrug at it too. When MAGA loses in November, they'll go back to whatever they were doing before and maybe she'll come back to the East Coast. Who knows?

So the original reason for her firing was stupid and inept management, and she did deserve better than she got. And I do think she had massive chemistry with Tony Shalhoub and that for me translated into potential for romance once Monk did some recovering.

I like to think that now that he lives in New York with Molly, Sharona comes to the city to see him.

Also thanks so much for reading the fic! It's the ending I would have wanted for them before the movie came out.

[orangepanic]

Hi.

I just want to say... I read all of your Irosami fics, and when I Say all I mean ALL of them.

I love your written, your mind, your imagination, and even love the way you go for the angst!

I do not comment in them because... English is not my first language and also I am shy, I do not what to say beside that I loved the cap or some thing like that, and... Some of the fics are old (I comment in "Players" about a Taylor Swift song and then I realized that the Fic was so old and I was like "Mmm, maybe I Should haven't post that...")

Anyway, I love your fics and I really enjoyed read each of them.

Pd: I really hope you can continue Firestorm.

I spent a long time thinking about how to respond to this. The gist of it is: please don't ever be afraid to interact positively with a fanfic writer or fan artist in any way.

Messages like yours mean SO MUCH to creators. Especially in small fandoms like LOK, and for rare pairs or small ships where works have a very small audience. Every single comment is treasured, no matter how short or in what language or how many years after posting it comes. Each kudos counts when we might overall get less than ten, or five, on an entire piece we spent weeks or months on. Rare pair writers especially are counting on just a few people for any kind of appreciation because we know our works don't have the broad appeal that big ships do. We want to make those few people who do care happy, and it's nice to know when we do.

Also, every writer I know loves receiving comments on older fics. We worked just as hard on those as we did on new ones, and it's devastating feeling like if we don't get a reaction within 24 hours than no one will ever read that work. This isn't instagram. It's not cringe to comment on old fics. Please tell us you love old works just as much as new ones.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for reaching out. You honestly made my whole week with your kind note. Maybe my month. And if you ever do want to leave comments, don't worry if you don't have much to say besides "I liked this!" You're welcome to write comments in any language you choose - I read a few, and I have translators for the ones that I don't. However you express yourself, fanfic writers will love it. I promise.

And yes I will finish Firestorm. I promise that, too.

[chiocchi]

Chiocchi!

Big fan of your artistry. I love your art so much! And those graphic novels you have on ao3??? Heaven sent! I use them as an imagery reference if I read any similar trope haha!

I asked the same question to leafiloaf since I love them too, but I'll be very interested to know your artistic journey if you don't mind sharing. How did you start with your art?

Tysm for being in this fandom ❤️

youknowmevj! omg thank you so much! You're too kind 😭🥺❤️❤️❤️ And yess lots of love to leafiloaf

Thanks for the ask! I've never told anyone about it and I'm so excited I'll give you so much unnecessary context. Oops long post.

My artistic journey

I've enjoyed drawing since I was little, but mostly I just drew doodles in my notebook. Anime was a big inspiration for my style and I wanted to create digital illustrations too. When I was a teenager, I tried using a mouse and a PC, and my finger and some app on my phone, but the results were always terrible. I told myself it was because I didn't have a drawing tablet, so "of course my drawings will look ugly" and stopped trying.

However, I promised a discord friend that I would do a drawing for her in December 2020. So, I downloaded this app called "Ibis Paint" on my phone and, with all my effort despite my lack of ability, I drew Harry using the app and my finger jskldhfsa

I was so hesitant and nervous about showing it to her. I could tell it wasn't pretty, just "weird and awkward", and I felt embarrassed. But she told me it was good (LIES) and somehow convinced me to share it with others on the server. Despite feeling shy, I shared it anyway. To my surprise, three people told me it was pretty! I appreciated their kindness.

It wasn't until March 2021 that I returned to drawing digitally and on a more consistent basis. I was mainly doing fanart for a game that I liked.

In May or June (I can't remember exactly), I stumbled upon an artist who created incredible art using Ibis Paint. And I realized that I didn't need a drawing tablet, just more practice and skill, because if they could do it, then I could do it too! That was the moment I began taking art more seriously (still as a hobby, though!).

Due to the pandemic, I had a lot of free time, which I used to watch a lot of tutorials, practice gesture and follow the advice of artists I liked. With every drawing I made, I could see an improvement, which motivated me even more to keep on working hard (drawing became a source of comfort during those depressing times. It was just really fun).

In late 2021, I mentioned to a childhood friend that I wanted to buy a drawing tablet, and he asked me if I wanted his old one, which I excitedly accepted. Finally, I had the tool that would make my art incredible… or so I thought! I was terrible with it. For the first few months, I preferred Ibis paint and my finger. But I eventually got the hang of it! What I love the most are the multiple brushes and pressure settings. I'm such a hoarder, even if I don't use all of them ksklajdl.

In 2022, I participated in several bigbangs and zines, but what I'm most excited to talk about is the tomarry comic that I started.

My tomarrymort art

I've read tomarrymort fics since 2017, but I wasn't active on the fandom. In 2020, I joined a writer's server (all love to Amanda) and met the friend I mentioned earlier. So technically, you could say my love for tomarrymort lead me here kek

Even though my main inspiration was a game, here is some fic fanart I made.

This is my first tomarry art (July 27th, 2021). It's a scene from Genius by the Numbers. I think it looks weird kjdshk

I also made art for A Mating of Convenience, what started in beautiful rooms, Dripping Fingers and for Ale, beloved. (I think I've never posted these before.)

Then two things happened: I saw comic on ao3 (If I'll Ever See You by festivewind) and I was like "WOW! THAT'S SO COOL" and "omg we can upload comics!"

The second thing was me being rejected as a webtoon background artist (naturally, as I wasn't good enough for the specifics) and the spite made me want to do my own so I could improve my weakness (the grind never stops 💪🔥).

I read some of my old notes for story ideas (I'm not good at writing but I still had some snippets of stories). And boom! Love triangle but the 3 of them are idiots (affectionate). Fun fact: the original version had a murder, someone in Azkaban and someone hating the other forever :D

Don't pretend started as an anonymous work because some of my friends knew my AO3 username and I was afraid of screwing up the format (I don't know html) and looking like a fool DKJALKSJL I was also afraid of possible backlash (I'm an over-thinker).

None of that happened (comments were very kind and nice!) But idk, it was nice being anon. I'm awkward and shy and I usually don't know what to say to compliments (Sometimes a "thank you" doesn't feel enough but that's all my brain can offer 😭)

Then I made some tomarry christmas art and shared it on TRoR discord server and someone asked me if I had Tumblr and I said no but that gave me the idea of making one.

Since I planned Don't pretend as being a long story, I realized it'd take me a long time to finish it and I wanted to contribute to the complete tomarrymort works! That's the reason I took a pause and made A Soulmate Like You.

Anyway, I made this tumblr on January 2023, and the plan was to fill it with art so, eventually, when I found the courage to make my works non-anon, I could link to this page. Except that I posted one drawing, and that was enough for isalisewrites to know it was me HJKASDJLA. So I stopped the anonymous thing.

I'm still not used to being "perceived" 👁️👁️ but I've learned it's not bad. People have been really kind and I think I'm less shy now! I'm very happy to be part of this fandom with lots of kind and supportive people and incredible fics and fanart <3

[esther-dot]

For a while, until season 5, when I still thought Tyrion was a good man and never considered Jonsa as a couple, I thought Sansa and Tyrion could be a possible couple. A kind of Beauty and the Beast story. I know that parallel was made for Sandor and Sansa but I always found difficult to think of them as such and in political terms made no sense. Before Jonsa, who did you think Sansa would end up with ?

Oh, I think you are quite right to read some Beauty & the Beast into their dynamic, anon! I've gotten some questions about "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" which is his in-world song along those lines and he’s associated that or B&B to a number of relationships. Finding traces or even direct references to it in a certain dynamic doesn't necessarily mean a mutual romance or an endgame couple, it may simply be one of the facets he wants to explore of a certain idea. So to me, it's certainly valid to find it and talk about it there, especially when there's such a contrast between the beautiful prince who abuses Sansa and the man society has tried to dehumanize who stops him. None of my "anti Tyrion" posts are meant to deny that, they're just written to highlight how he too wronged her, even if Sansa wasn't quite fully cognizant of it.

Tyrion may be a villain only slipping further into his villainy, but he has those moments when, like the Hound, he protects Sansa. The fact that he wanted the North so much, but stopped himself from sleeping with Sansa we can read as a moment that defies the expectations for him who has been stigmatized. On the one hand, well, it's the bare minimum, he isn't exactly a hero for not sleeping with a child who was forced into the marriage and is a prisoner in KL, but many times over, we're being shown that he isn't quite the monster his family/society made him out to be. This is not to say he is a good man, he did marry her because he wanted power, but I think it is meant to criticize society's prejudices.

Anyway, I actually didn't ship Sansa with anyone before Jon! I was a very casual fan who wasn't involved in the fandom, and I was simply happy to enjoy the show as it was. It was during the long hiatus that I become very curious about what the ending would be, found Jonsa, and am now a living testament to the power of smart meta writers, wonderful gif makers, talented artists, fabulous fic writers. The damage is immense. Just say no to fandom, kids, or this may be you! 😂

Even though I enjoyed Tyrion, I could never stomach him (or the Hound) with Sansa. Their interest in her while she's so young, the way Tyrion took advantage of her situation for his own benefit and the Hound threatening her....I couldn't be at peace with that. If say, Tyrion had married her and took her away to safety, or if the Hound had offered to help her escape KL without the frequent insults/threats of death/the assault, then you could imagine that Martin might be planning to have these play out in the fairytale way, but he didn't do that. He might be talking about the trope, is certainly referencing bigger ideas here, but it isn't following the path of the og story.

Also, I don't think Tyrion's choice to marry Sansa is defensible. She was a child bride. She was going to be forced to marry someone. She couldn't really say no, so her agreeing to it isn't meaningful. It's good Tyrion felt bad, but Sansa didn't have good options. I was very disturbed that D&D wanted us to think Tyrion was a great guy in s8 even though he was angry with Sansa for abandoning him and also wanted to reestablish his relationship with his child bride. Creepy AF.

Let’s see….I do think Sansa x Pod is a cute idea, Sansa x Jeyne is sweet, I think you could write aged up Sansa x Willas fics, lots of fans fell in love with the unnamed Prince of Dorne from the finale and started listing the benefits of long distance relationships...but even if Jon didn't exist, I don't think there is a canon option for Sansa that has both the potential of happening and would be good for her which is why a lot of people believe she'll marry a rando post canon. And I could be happy with that if the rando has a long face, a very large dog, and a surprising familiarity with Winterfell!

[tossawary]

Hi! This is another Fandom Trumps Hate post for people who are thinking about joining up as a creator but aren't sure. I'm not making this one rebloggable because I'm going to talk a little about my personal experiences with fan events in general and FTH in particular over the years (feel free to link a friend to this post, though, if they're on the fence about participating).

About 10 years ago now, when I was very new to online fandom, I didn't know how to feel about fan charity events. Some of them seemed kind of shady (and some fan-run things are shady, let's be real, but FTH's donations go straight to the charities and the mods never touch it). But some of them seemed legitimate, and as I was spending a lot of my free time making fic and art anyway, I thought: didn't I kind of owe my creative skills to a good cause? When I did decide to refrain from joining these events because I knew that I was too busy, I still felt kind of guilty about it.

Now, a little older and a little wiser, I feel pretty confident saying that if you're really not sure or enthusiastic about participating: don't do it. I am personally handing you a "Get Out Of Jail FTH Guilt-Free" card and telling you it's cool if you're too busy. It's seriously fine.

Here's why:

Fan events, whether we're talking about charity auctions or big bangs just for fun, are often pretty significant commitments. Being "required" to write fic, especially being required to follow someone else's prompt can be a very different experience to writing whatever you want for fun. (Not not fun, just different.)

Some people write fanfiction instead of attempting to publish original fiction to become "real writers" because, as they'll talk about on their own blogs, they want to write as a for-fun hobby. Like painting for fun or baking for fun. Just because someone likes making a fancy cake every once and a while doesn't mean that they want to open a catering business, you know? Things can change when you've made a commitment and when there's money on the line, even if that money has gone to charity. There's an added layer of stress.

If you've never written prompt fic on request before, then it's hard to know how you'll find the experience, if you'll find the stress of it a light burden you barely feel or a heavy burden weighing you down every day. Sometimes, you'll end up writing something you're not 100% into. I've had artistic projects (talking mostly about school and work here, not any fan projects) where the idea was fun and I was proud of the end result, but the work itself was kind of grueling because it wasn't what I personally would have chosen to do.

My FTH bidders over the years have always been incredibly cool people who have proposed fun ideas, which I have really enjoyed writing, and they'll often work with you to find a prompt that you love. I have found my FTH projects rewarding experiences. But I'd be lying if I said that when working on a FTH fic, I've never once occasionally thought, "Man, I kind of wish I was working on something else."

You have to be able to resist the allure of your latest plot bunny and finish the current project. If you're really bad at finishing your WIPs or if you're really bad at finishing your WIPs within a time limit (FTH deadline is Dec 31st of the same year), then maybe creating for a fan event just isn't for you. And that's fine!

There's a reason that FTH recommends in their Signup Tips for First-Time FTH Creators post that new creators start with only one offer and to start small. Write a 5k fic, not a 50k one. Draw a single, cartoony drawing, not a 5-page comic in a realistic style. It's a very responsible thing to do to test the waters of an experience before jumping in the deep end.

Part of the stress of these experiences comes from the fact that if you don't fulfill your promise to create for your bidder, you can get banned from future FTH auctions. Big Bangs and Secret Santa events will also ban you (not because of FTH, FTH doesn't blacklist you to anyone or anything). And you don't want to disappoint your bidder! They seemed really cool and you can feel like you're letting them down just if you make them wait too long.

(I promise you that most bidders are pretty chill people. I personally am happy just donating to the charities and I really don't care when/if my creator gets back to me. Their wellbeing is more important to me than a fic or a piece of art.)

If you feel like you won't be able to fulfill an offer in time or if you don't really want to take a prompt from someone else instead of doing your own thing, then it's fine not to make an offer. (Likewise, if you ever have missed creating something for a fan event because real life stuff came up, then it's fine. You're not a bad person. Life gets in the way sometimes. You thought you could at the time. There are other things to participate in when you know you're ready.)

The thing is that creative skills are much, MUCH more valuable than people are putting them on auction for here. If I was charging a minimum wage of $15/hr for my writing skills for what I've done for FTH over the years, I would have made them THOUSANDS. (I doubt I've made them $1000 total.) I participate in FTH usually when I'm feeling at creative loose ends and want to work on prompt fic. I want the collaborative experience of writing something specific for someone else. It's a project that scratches a particular writing itch for me (the stress of a commitment is there, yes, but it's so easy to carry that I barely notice it), which isn't for everyone, and the fact that this event raises some money for charity is kind of just an added bonus.

If someone is donating $25 dollars to charity so that you'll write them a thank-you gift of a 5,000 word one shot that took you at least 10 hours to write, that is NOT a balanced exchange. If we take the $15/hr wage, that is $150 of labor for $25. This is NOT an efficient way to donate to charity. This is a fan event.

Now, some people require a higher minimum bid for their work than I generally do. (Which is good. They are right to do this. I should probably also do this more seriously.) Some people require $100 dollars for a 1k fic. Some people say they'll write 1k words per every $10. There are ways to bring things back into balance and make things more efficient.

So, if you think that a disparity between the amount donated and your donated labor will piss you off, then put serious minimum bid requirements. Your creative skills are valuable. It is okay to enforce boundaries on your donated time and energy so that you don't end up writing 50k of an idea you don't really like for $25, because that sounds like a recipe for resentment. (I keep mostly to myself, so I have never heard of a situation like this with FTH and am just exaggerating to make a point.)

And if people don't bid on your offer? It doesn't mean that your creative skills aren't valuable. It just means that your offer wasn't what someone was looking for at this particular time. (Honestly, as a side note, it's incredible how much the success of a pitch for a book or show or movie depends on just happening to be made to the right people at the right time. I'm serious. It's a very real thing in the entertainment and publishing industries. I have attended talks by people who say that they've had to pass on great pitches specifically because they're looking for a property to sell to 5yo boys that year and already have a property being sold to 10yo girls.)

If you need to pass on participating because you're busy: look after yourself first! Don't end up disappointing your bidder and yourself because you don't have the time or energy to spare. If you can do it, but it means really stressing yourself out and sacrificing other things to find the time: don't do it. Look after yourself. Don't hurt yourself and your creative muscles over a fan event. Breathe. Take a nap. Play some video games. Participate as a bidder if you have the spare money or just advertise the auction if you don't (if you want to). Or just cheer on creators in AO3 comments or with kudos. FTH allows you to make a donation and add it to their count, even if you don't bid or if you don't want to make a bid.

Would you be happy to know that someone was grinding themselves down trying to please you? Don't do that to your bidder. They're your fellow fans, often fellow creators, who just want to chill and donate to charity, and they'd be really upset to hear that you were making yourself miserable because of their donation.

I have never failed to fulfill a FTH offer. I have only participated in fan events when I know I can do it. I have always enjoyed myself. But I work in a creative industry and I have seen a lot of creative people hurt their own passion for something they love or burn out by trying to force themselves to work on things. (I know this sounds very dramatic. I'm not saying you will burn out. You may be totally fine or maybe only lightly stressed at the end. You'll probably be great, honestly. I bet you're a kickass creator. But it's fine to be wary of burn out until you're in a more confident place.) So, to any creative person, especially younger ones, I wanted to write all this out to tell you that it's fine not to do these things. It's not that serious.

Keep fandom a positive space by giving yourself room to breathe and coming back even stronger when you're ready, as a creator, bidder, or just a supporter. If you've already signed up but you want to pull out of FTH before bidding starts because something came up, email the mods. If this extended rambling about burn out has only strengthened your resolve to kick this fan event's ass, then that's awesome! Good for you! I think it's good to reassess your creative energies every now and again, and I think it's fine to say, "Okay, I think I need a break, I don't want to let anyone down," as much as it is to say, "Yeah, I'm pumped up! I'm good to go! Let's do it!"

EDIT: This whole post sounds kind of negative, so to add more positivity: if you really, really want to do it, then I think you should go ahead and join FTH! Just know your limits. It's okay to start small and to set firm boundaries. FTH can be a lot of fun! You can meet cool people! You can feel like you're making a difference! You may end up writing great and rewarding fics that you never would have written otherwise! Plenty of people have joined FTH for the first time feeling really uncertain and had a great time, no regrets.

Don't do FTH just because you feel weirdly obligated to participate because it's for a good cause. Do FTH because you want to do it.

There will be other events.

[byers7wheeler]

Firstly I really, truly need you to understand you’re not a bad person for still enjoying the show and I am so sorry you’ve been made to feel that way.

I’m going to try and lay things out in a way that’s easy to understand:

Boycott - It can’t be boycott. ST is already getting made. Everyone is already getting paid. Nothing is stopping season 5’s release. People are being dramatic as hell and all you really can do to assist is cancel your Netflix subscription and not interact with posts on official pages (but absolutely post clips or screenshots etc same as usual for your own pages and enjoy them that way! For official accs it’s interaction levels people want to target)

You can also not buy merch, however if you receive merch as gifts from those who know that you like ST you are not a bad person for loving and keeping them!!! It’s not your money! I have to say that because I have seen others believe that, which is ridiculous. No logic to that.

“But then again there’s a literal genocide going on.” - Darling, it’s okay! It’s great that you show so much empathy, but there’s really only so much you can do. This specific situation is so dire, even things like donations as one normally would do to help have been discouraged because it’s not making it to the actual people! There’s a reason we sometimes feel helpless about it okay? You spread awareness when you feel you can, you go to protests if safe in your city, you write to any officials in your govt if safe to, you avoid giving to any brands you’re financially able to not support, and that’s kind of all right now. Recognizing your privilege in being able to step away when it feels mentally heavy is good too, but you’re still allowed to take a breather for a few days if needed. Nothing, absolutely nothing to do with your favorite show and your enjoyment of it.

The main thing:

A fandom is merely an extension of its source material, that is all fic writers, fan artists, video editors etc are doing. It is all fictional and removed from the streaming service. Nobody here is a marketing team - we all have SO much smaller influence than people think; we are not influencers, we are not promoters or journalists or review critics. Posting to your fandom feed does nothing. Posting to your personal Insta story about a new trailer? yeah that’s more promoting than sharing hype in a fandom space is.

If others can’t separate characters from actors, or are still at an immature stage where seeing someone’s face is enough to ruin their whole day and feel the need to change a character’s appearance because of it, or are unable to regulate themselves and step away and come back after cooling down instead of saying a million unnecessary things in the heat of the moment - that’s not my problem. It’s not your problem. They will try and make you think it’s your problem, what they’re saying and doing is truly morally correct (can’t be, they lack nuance in everything), that because they’re right you have to do exactly what they do - but you don’t. You can’t shut down a fandom and you shouldn’t. They can go away if they can’t separate things (and thankfully most are going away 🙏).

Nobody is pathetic or an asshole for still enjoying the show and everyone should keep an eye on the types of people who say things like that to guilt you (usually a fellow minor, mean spirited and often gets in random fights anyway, stans celebrities and isn’t used to a fandom where it’s understood fictional characters are not real people.).

Another big thing - it’s understandable to want opinions or talk things out with others, but I so discourage listening to anyone who tries to help but does so in a mean way (your gut will tell you). I say this because I saw you say the pressure of others is getting to you. Again I’m sorry, because that pressure is affecting so many people and it’s so good you broke free from that and asked instead of following blindly. So many of those people especially on tiktok will be minors and while they may know information, they don’t have a lot of experience and context to put it into and it’s all very surface level and performative. Not all of them, but definitely the one’s going for people’s throats. You’re 21 - find better sources and don’t listen to them. Step away from tiktok for a bit if you have to.

You’re not a shitty person. You’re not a shitty person. I hope you keep enjoying the show and when a wave of hate comes once filming starts or trailers drop I hope you stay strong! Try and find some people (preferably other mature adults) on tumblr or something to lean on! All love to you.

Omg anon you’re actually so fucking nice and sweet, I won’t even respond to all this I’ll respond more to your second one

[amazing-spiderling]

for the fandom ask game: 5 6 11 16 23 24

something you see in fics a lot and love

I really love seeing Foggy sort of leap-frogging over his panic and anger and confusion in moments of crisis to get right to the part where he works on being helpful. That, "We are going to fight about this later, but right now I need to stop that bleeding" sort of thing. Foggy is absolutely allowed to have emotions and fall apart in a crisis, but he has a good head on his shoulders and certainly after a certain point he's had to learn to compartmentalize just to survive being in Matt's life. I think it's comforting to imagine having a friend or partner like that- I guess it speaks to the idea of there always being an undercurrent of love. No matter what else is going on in the moment, no matter how furious or scared or worried the events taking place right now make them, they do not supplant the love that is at the basis of the relationship. I just think that's neat.

something you see in art a lot and love

When artists really have fun with the clothing, paying attention to details and making things really specific. When someone really pays attention to drawing a certain kind of shoe- I'm just... yeah, that's the good stuff. :)

if you’re a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?

Well, I'm a little bit of both- but I guess a fic sprang to mind first so I'll answer for that. (tw for fictional CSA mention btw) So, as I've not-so-casually mentioned, one of my first big/long term fandoms was Metal Gear Solid. And I know that some of the memes from that series have escaped containment, and to the outsiders it might look like "Call of Duty but with the occasional zany moment" but it does have a lot of story (too much, some might say XD) and intricate character relationships and lore and, ugh it's just SUCH fertile ground for art and fic and all the things that make fandom great. But, it *does* also very much appeal to gamer dudes of the usual type. And normally this is fine, the transformative fans and the archival fans largely keep to their own fandom spaces- but sometimes there is crossover that rubs one group or the other the wrong way.

One such case is that there is a character who has an "affair" with his step-mother, but I put that in quotes because when the dust settles, it turns out this happened when the character in question was 16. There is TERRIBLE fallout from the event (family trauma, suicide, estrangement) and the game plays it all straight- this is something that broke the already fragile family to pieces. BUT for a long time, the joke was "haha character banged his stepmom". Which. Ew.

Anyways, I always really wanted to write a story that sort of expanded on those events, not the actual relationship/abuse/fallout, but more the events that precluded it, mostly what made the character an easy target. (Isolation, otherness, a lack of confidence in who they were as an individual). Basically, I wanted to really tell a story that treated the matter with the needed level of seriousness, if only to say, "hey, this isn't a punchline, this is a traumatic experience".

I ended up watching, "The Graduate" a few times as sort of... research? Partially for tone, partially because the themes and characterization in that movie matched the vibe I was trying to go for in my own story. (I can't help but think that Kojima, known for referencing movies in his games- might have had it in mind due to some shared imagery.) This was maybe the first time I did something like that, watching a movie to pick it apart for nuance in tone, as opposed to looking at it for canon events, timelines etc.

So that story ended up being, "Surface Tension", which first appeared in the "Metal Gear Solid: Lost Years" zine, and then eventually got posted to AO3. It's not my best reviewed fic by a long shot (understandably, it's a difficult subject material and not shippy or anything), but it's one that I can say I am proud of.

a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

Wow, this one is tricky for me- I feel like a lot of fans are way more detail oriented than I am when it comes to canon. I'm always the one in awe when people are like, "Oh in episode seven, this one song is playing in a car as it drives by, and that's significant because it came out in 2013 and that was the year that..." and i'm just like "you guys know the names of songs?"

I guess to that end- I always liked the line in, I think it's season 1 where Matt says it's a "90's Top 40" kind of guy. I think it's really funny because people characterize him as having... well, let's just say "better" musical taste, but like, no. That dude would bop his head if you played the Spin Doctors.

the fandom you’re curious about because of a mutual

I have no idea what's going on in the Trolls fandom, and at this point I'm afraid to ask. But they all look like they're having a great time.

how has fandom positively impacted your life?

I've made so many friends, and as someone who doesn't get out as much as I'd like (especially as an immunocompromised person in the middle of a pandemic), my fandom friends are so, so important to me. I love the feeling of having a group of people who love the thing I love and being able to waltz into a space and say, "Hey, who wants to do this crazy thing with me?" and have even a few people say "Yeah, let's fucking GOOOO". ^^

I also think I wouldn't write nearly as much if it wasn't for fandom, and writing has certainly gone a long way towards helping me become better at unraveling the balls of yarn in my brain and making them into sweaters and scarves, as it were. I think a lot of the time when you write, you're practicing empathy- because you're forcing yourself to see the world from someone else's perspective. Maybe the character you're writing about had something in common with you, maybe that's what drew you to them in the first place, but identifying that also helps you understand more about yourself *and* how you relate to others. So I like to think that writing has helped me relate better to other people, even the ones I disagree with, and made me more able to slow down and ask, "well, why does this person feel/think that way?" Storytelling is so important for a lot of reasons, but that's a big one for me.

[backofbeyondcomic2024]

I miss waking up early in the morning and walking to this gorgeous park in Australia. I miss people walking up to me and asking how I am doing as a hello, the genuine warmth I felt from both the Sun and from people I've only met once and I fear I will never meet again. I miss being free to be myself, no questions asked, just a bit of snarky humor thrown my way and gentle acceptance from those I encountered.

I miss going to Australia Zoo. And the Koala Sanctuary. And getting lost all the damn time, because I couldn't take my meds and travel sickness meds at the same time...lol. I hate getting lost here in SoCal, it's a matter of life and death. But in Aus, it was all part of the adventure. In Australia, I felt for a brief moment like I was living. It was surreal.

It's funny. I brought my Darren Hayes pony to his home months ago, and now, I am fully entrenched in his book, Unlovable. And I've loved Savage Garden since the mid to late 90s, and now I see Darren for who he is in full, his facets beautiful despite the darkness he endured, and damn. (A review on said book is forthcoming, as it is it resonates so strongly with me that I'm not quite finished with it...but I will finish it, because Darren? You can write. Please keep going, please don't stop being a voice for people like me.)

I sit here in my dark apartment with my beloved cat and I collapse inside. I'm burnt out. I've been teaching for over a decade--nearly two!--and my heart is no longer invested in the people and places it used to be.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a paleontologist. I was privileged to be given that chance. But I also wanted to be a musician, an artist, a writer. I loved playing the violin, I was good at it. I was given a scholarship to college for it. I turned it down and I think, all these years later, I made the wrong choice.

Some mornings I cry walking to the bus stop or waiting for my ride to/from work, wishing it was the violin case in my hand instead of my rolling backpack handle. I want to sneak my art supplies to work and just draw all day while my students discuss their assignments, but then, that's unprofessional and besides, my free time doesn't exist when I am at work. And my heart aches for being a kid again, free to create despite the chaos around me at home and at school and at work...

I wanted to be a creative writer. I dabble in fiction, in fan fics. I'm self published, with Iara's Crossing, a book I started as a kid. But my heart yearns for another path, while being myself in the country I live in is as dangerous as hell. Christ, what is this, 1984? Fahrenheit 451? Handmaid's Tale?

Anyway. I promised myself I would try not to become a complete misanthrope. I'm doing my best to be better inside, damnit!

At any rate, I ache to return to Australia again someday. I wish I had the courage that Darren did, to tell his story in full, with brutal detail and beautiful unmatched prose.

In the meantime, my goofy comics and fan fics will have to do, to fill this void.

Until the next post,

~DLP