#author ranting

[waywardsou2]

Some idiot: "Why are you reading your own fic, that's shallow and stupid"

All fanfic writers and writers everywhere: "Who the fuck do you think I wrote it for?!"

[prlssprfctn]

Kinda need the whole family being tired as fuck from Tim's love stories and drama, so they send him away every time he finds a new crush.

Tim, struggling on how to confess to Kon: Hey, Dick, can you give me a dating advice? Dick: Oh, sure Dick, beaming cluelessly: Are you back with Steph? Tim: Oh no, I- Dick: Oh, right, sorry! Bart, right? Tim, embarrassed: No, I was- Dick: Omg, sorry, it was, uh, Bern? Tim: You know what... Forget it. Tim: *leaves* Dick, sighing in relief: Works every time. I hate giving dating advices.

Tim: Steph, can I have a dating advice? Steph, unimpressed: Are you cheating on someone again? Tim: ...Whatever.

Tim: Bruce- Bruce, hopeful: Yeah? Need help with something? Tim, thinking twice: ...Uh, actually no. Bruce: :(

Tim, stopping in front of Damian's door, unsure: ... Damian, right through the closed door: Drake. Spare us both. Tim: *groan*

Tim: So, I have this situation... Duke: Wait, I'll put the voice message recording, I need to send this to Cass, while she is on the mission Tim: Oh my god, MY LIFE IS NOT EVEN THAT MESSY! FORGET IT.

Tim, seething through his teeth on Jason's doorstep: You are my last hope. I am not even kidding. Jason: Woah. What happened to Alfie? Tim, with his eye twitching: He started to reminisce about his romance with Lizzie. Like, Queen Elizabeth. Lizzie. I can't listen to this any more. I need fucking advice. How to confess to Kon. Jason, who constantly writes fanfiction, but since his love life is non-existent at this point, uses his family's messy dating histories as an inspiration and references: ...Okay. Tim, gagged: Seriously? Jason: Yeah. Just work with me. What we are working with? Bridgerton ass romance? Miss Austen type of flair? Bronte's kind of insanity? Tim, sniffling: tHanK yOu

[bamsara]

I think that one thing people fail to understand is that unsolicited literary criticism coming from an online stranger who is reading with no knowledge of what the authors intended goal is, is not going to be received the same as say: the authors beta reader or friends who know what the authors intended goal and has the sufficient knowledge and input to help the author reach that desired outcome.

"But I'm only trying to be helpful" How do I know you have the knowledge and literary skill for you to be able to actaully do that when we don't know each other and you are essentially a stranger to me? Are you applying this criticism based out of personal biased experience and desire to see the story or characterization be driven in another direction or tweaked, or do you know the author's intentions for the character? If the story is incomplete, are you basing your criticism of a character on the incomplete narration with only partial information available of them or are you building up a report until the story's completion? Did the author provide you with the information needed to make a fully informed criticism?

Have you discussed with the author what their plans are or are you assuming them based off the narration, especially if the narration is proven or implied to be unreliable or missing key points of the plot? Are you unbiased enough to help them reach their desired outcome for the characters and story regardless of your personal feelings towards the characters/antagonists and setting? Can you handle being told your specific input isn't wanted because you're a reader and/or have no written anything relating to their genre or topic? Do you understand and respect that the author's personal experiences might influence their writing and make it different than how you would have done it personally? Do you understand if an author only wants input from a specific demographic relating to their story?

If it's for fanfiction or other hobby media, are you holding a free hobby to a professional standard? Are you trying to give criticism because you feel like the author has produced 'subpar job performance' of their fic? Are you viewing their work as a personal intimate outlet or something that must conform with mass media? Are you applying rules and guidelines when the fic is shared for simple sharing sake? Is your criticism worded appropriately and focused on the parts where the author has requested input on rather than a general dismissal and or disapproval?

Have you put yourself in a place where you assumed you have the input needed for the story to evolve better, or have you asked what the author needs and what they're having trouble with? Can you handle having your criticism rejected if the author decides their story doesn't need the change and not take it as a personal offense against your character? Are you crossing that boundary because you think you are doing the author a favor? Are you trying to be helpful, or do you just want to be?

I think sometimes when people hear authors go 'please don't give me unsolicited writing advice or criticism' they automatically chalk it up to 'this author doesn't want ANY constructive feedback on their stuff at all' and not "i already have trusted individuals who will help me with my writing goals and- hey i don't know you like that, please stop acting so overly familiar with me'

[morallysuperiorlips]

PLEASE Write Your Book!

I'm serious. Please write it. If you need a sign to start, continue, or whatever is inbetween, this is it. Go do it.

I spent the past couple weeks indulging myself in some BookTok recommendations. While some were indeed good (Kings of Sin, my beloved), some were just...I don't need to finish my sentence there.

I DNF'd some books for the first time since I read Lord of the Flies (sorry Golding, you put me to sleep with your descriptions) and I powered through others in hopes that they would eventually get better. The general consensus I ended up getting was that I could not understand for the fucking life of me how these books got published. The writing in some of them was no better than that of a 2010s teen writing Maximum Ride fic on Wattpad for the first time, with the characterization abysmal enough to match.

I don't want to knock any specific author or book here, because I will concede one thing: they finished their books. They got them published. They're successful. For that, I commend them, because I'm still on my way there myself and I can't take that away from them. Jolly good show.

But that brings me to my point: if they can do it, YOU absolutely can do it too.

If some of these Amazon and NYT bestsellers can have prose on a Wattpad level with characters that have enough poorly-written cognitive dissonance to make Deadpool or Walter White jealous, your fleshed out, deeply intuitive, and remarkably creative epic can sit right alongside them no problem. Whether you're writing the next GoT or a romantic slice-of-life, there is a not a goddamn thing on this planet stopping you from rolling up with the big dogs.

If these guys can do it, so can you.

So, stop telling yourself you can't. Stop letting other people tell you you can't. Stop comparing yourself to these authors who, respectfully and bluntly, can't write for shit (or at least need to fire their fucking editors, good lord).

WRITE YOUR DAMN BOOK. PLEASE. WE NEED IT.

(If you like my guides, prompts, writing, or art, consider supporting the blog today! All donations help me keep this thing up and running and all are appreciated <3)

[inkcurlsandknives]

This gripe is not directed here, but towards other platforms I as an author am forced to exist on when I wish I could be under my desk working on a novella.

But. If I see one more post about how it's "cringe" to self plug your work. Istg. Look me in my queer brown eyes. No one else is going to say my name or put my work in the ring for me.

If I want to be a part of a conversation or have any opportunity I have to put myself forward. In this era of abysmal publishing support even trad authors like me are out here hustling. We are doing it all, publicity, appearances, book swag all out of our pockets, during time we could be writing. All while publishing throws massive deals at white dudes who don't even have a book written!!

Do you think I've worked this hard, kicking down literally hundreds of doors slammed in my face to publish a book to give a single shit if it might be cringe to put my hat in the ring????

[frownyalfred]

hot late night take: people are pissed about authors on ao3 who use the “chose not to warn” tag/warning on fics because they feel entitled to all fics and are frustrated when those fics are not explicitly written, tagged, and catered toward them specifically.

telling them “just filter those fics out” doesn’t work because deep down these bean soup fanatics think that they are entitled to every fic.

[lou-wilham]

I can't believe I have to say this again

Look. I've posted about how piracy fucks the little guys at least twice already, but guys, seriously, I'm being so fucking real with you, PIRACY FUCKS THE LITTLE GUY.

And this is just another shining example of how.

8 of my titles are on this list. 8 of my titles that I spent months writing, editing, revising, crying over, screaming over, plotting, putting my heart into have been pirated, and then used to train some soulless AI that will then go on to make money for a big corporation, without my consent.

And I'm on the lower end. Other authors literally have over 100 works on this list. New authors just getting into this have their debut books on this list.

I repeat, this was done without our consent. This was done because someone pirated our book, and made it available to the general public for free.

So when I beg you to please not pirate books. When I tell you that it's literally ripping the potential to make our art our livelihood from our hands. When I say that every author would 100% rather you come to us and ask us about where to find our books outside of pirate sites, or even to see if we have any ARCs available if you can't afford it. . .

I do so because in the end the only one you're hurting is artists who are just like you. Just trying to put food on the table. Working long hours. Giving up weekends. Putting everything they've got into their work. And all we're asking for is that you not pirate our books, so that we can pay our bills.

We do this thing because we love it, but there's no reason that doing something we love that provides entertainment for others shouldn't make us enough to live off of. If you don't believe that, I'm afraid you've fallen for the brainwashing bullshit that some jobs "just aren't worth anything". And that, my dears, is a larger problem than I have the ability to express.

Everyone should make a fair wage from drive thru workers to writers.

Everyone should be able to pay their bills.

Don't pirate shit.

Thank you, goodnight.

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[torglives]

can i stand up and say that ros AND yellow are completely irredeemable from lukeys pov or will the audience not like that one. because it’s honestly just been something that’s been bothering me a little bit. the way they talk about him like he’s less than human gets under my skin. can i just rant for a minute. is this okay with everyone.

like imagine you’re thrown into this new world and someone you’ve never met hates you for hearing your voice in a pocket dimension. and then murders you for it like an hour into your life. and then everyone acts like it’s okay because she’s going through a real rough time. and yeah she is, but how does that make it okay? they defend it, because she was scared, but you were scared too. what about your fear? you didn’t even do anything. she keeps threatening to kill you, and you can’t do anything, and you’re powerless. and then you join the opposing faction, because why wouldn’t you. and then her factionmate kills you a few days later. and it’s all one big joke. the entire faction hates you and they believe you’re evil, because they have to justify themselves somehow. no enemy of the kingdom can be innocent, so you must be evil, but you don’t even know who you are yet. and the king takes responsibility for all of it, willingly.

and you’re not perfect, but you try to remain kind. you ask her if she’s comfortable with you attending her event, and as you’re leaving, she calls you back and tries to murder you. again. and she’s friends with the guy you’ve sworn your life to, who’s likewise sworn to keep you safe. and she tells him it was just a little tap, like it was nothing. later, you try to stick up for yourself, defend your innocence, and she tells you that she doesn’t view you as an equal, much less a human being. your death does not matter to her because she doesn’t believe you deserve to live. she doesn’t believe you’re anything at all. "you’re nothing to me, lukey," and everyone lets it happen.

she continues to berate and belittle you, and threaten your life, and so does everyone else, because they’ve decided you’re evil. and it’s funny. and you’re weak. sneeg, and ros, and tina, and zam—and foolish lets them. and then ros dies. and she comes back weird and wrong, and people say to you try to start over, so you try, bitterly. but you’re evil. she calls you a dog. a pet. mocks you. says you make her want to be violent.

"like, i hardly touched lukey, and he hasn’t stopped whining about it."

and something’s got to give. someone has to take responsibility, so,

"i didn’t plan this, foolish. but i’m letting it happen. much like you did."

and everyone screams, see! we knew he was evil all along! we were right! — but this was never your decision to begin with. it’s never mattered what you truly are, because they’d already decided for you.

[millaniumcat]

"But we need to separate the art from the artist..."

NO. STOP.

"Separating the art from the artist" and "death of the author" does not mean what most people think it means, and i am so sick of people using this as an excuse for an artists horrible behaviour. Yes, i am looking at you, J.K Rowling and Till Lindemann (and so many more.)

"Death of the author" is a LITERARY THEORY that argues that the meaning of a piece of art is determined by the readers interpretation, not the authors intention. It is a TOOL used by LITERARY STUDIES to determine the meaning of a piece of art.

It is not a good argument in an everyday discussion about problematic authors. And it is certainly not an excuse for people to keep supporting artists (and art!) that are queerphobic, transphobic, anti-feminisitc, antisemitic and misogynistic.

And no, "separation of artist and art" is not a reason to ignore the problematic views of the author that are INHERENTLY INCOPORATED in the art.

DO NOT EVER use "death of the author" or "separate art from artist" as an excuse. It is not.

[waywardsou2]

After the recent scrape of Ao3 I feel like now is a good time to say a few things

Authors: Limit your works to registered users only, you are going to see a drop in activity which is going to suck a lot but it's 10x better than having your work stolen and used to train AI. Please take care of your precious work

Readers: If you aren't registered, it's to get registered. You've probably been lurking on ao3 for at least a little while, and if you want to be able to properly interact with your favourite works then the best thing to do is get registered. This way authors can feel supported and you can still interact with your favourite works. It's important the authors and readers help each other out here

Registered Readers: It is important, now more than ever, that you comment and kudos on works that you enjoy. Even it was just one line. Hit that fucking kudos button. And never ever be afraid to comment on fics. You have no idea how overjoyed authors are to get even a single emoji for a comment. And if you have more to say, please say it. it means so much to the authors

AI "writers": Go fuck yourself

Good luck to the writers and thanks in advance to the unregistered readers

[neverenoughmarauders]

The author about Sirius’ feelings about James, Lily and Harry: “Those three people that he loved beyond any others.”

The books: clearly build up around this narrative.

The fandom: Remus was Lily’s best friend. Sirius was obsessed with Remus. James was obsessed with Sirius’ pureblood obsessed brother.

….

yeah, right…

[irrevocablecondition]

we are incredibly blesseddddd in the harry potter fandom. no matter what era you are reading, there is such a wide array of fics for you to enjoy - such a multitudeeee of long-fics, aus, ships, tropes etc etc. we are so blessed to have this much to engage with.

but with that comes a lot of entitlement i feel. because there's more to "compare", there's more to call "the big fics" or "the best fics" and suddenly we're no longer blessed, because people don't appreciate fandom for what it is - a bunch of losers (affectionate) sitting in their rooms, writing fanfiction about wizards in their spare time, and sharing it with strangers online. rather it starts becoming competitive.

and 99.99% of the time, it's not the people writing these fics that start the comparisons and the competitions, it's those reading it. they'll publicly question why a fic has so many hits, they'll assume that fandom etiquette no longer applies just because a fic is popular, and they'll forget that these are people writing them, not just ao3 pseudonyms. they'll critique writing styles, get hung up on typos or grammatical errors etc etc. they'll start saying which piece of creative writing done by a person in their free time as a hobby is "worth it" and which ones aren't. and it's wild because they're the ones that have put these fics at the top. they're the ones that have decided these fics are the most worthy,,, and then they critique them?

and most of this is because of the hierarchy, absolutely. there's been a mass separation of readers-writers because people refuse to engage, and they start viewing themselves as "customers" receiving a "product" and they complain when it doesn't fit their standards. some of it is also the changing face of fandom spaces as they get big on more traction-based platforms like tiktok. all of it comes down to entitlement.

they start enforcing standards for fanfictions to live up to and start dictating what "good" writing is, as if that doesn't go against the very nature of a fandom space. a space where everybody's voice is heard and everybody has the same opportunity to create things (side tangent: this is not the time to be dictating what voices/experiences/talents deserve to be heard. free and open sources of literature are incredibly important right now. we often talk about the fact we hold fanfiction to the same standard as publit, which yes we do and that is not what we should be doing. but now we're starting to police it the same way publit is, and now is not the time. there is never a time tbh, but now when book bans are running rampant across the world? you want to decide which fics deserve to be read and which ones don't? hm).

and the worst thing is that not only are people critiquing the works we already have, but they demand more.

they'll say there's no more long-fics getting written, and then they won't go and engage with WIPs and encourage authors to continue, they won't start a fic until it's complete and then complain that nothing is complete. they'll say there's not enough fics for a certain ship, and instead of engaging with those producing them or encouraging love and engagement for them with others, they'll go into comment sections and hate on another ship. they'll say there's not enough of a certain trope and then they'll read one and go "hm. not like that" or not enough of a certain character and then go "actually i don't see them like this so this is written awfully".

most of all, they'll say that certain fics or ships have a ruined a fandom, and then they'll post things that go sooooo against what a fandom is, and just add to what is actually ruining wider fandom spaces - entitlement.

you are not entitled to long-fics, these are being written by people in their free time, and you refuse to engage with them as they're being written. you are not entitled to perfect grammar and presentation, fanfiction is for everybody and it is not a profession, it's a hobby. you are not entitled to the characterisations that you deem to be best, everything is malleable and you engage with what you like (better yet, write it yourself if you're so open to shitting on others. you do it then). you are not entitled to regular and consistent updates, you do not get a monopoly over this person's time. and you're going to see a lot less works over time if this is the way you treat them.

you are not entitled to any content in a fandom space, and no one is required to provide it for you. and most of all, your opinions and your characterisations and things you enjoy are not more worthy than anyone elses' - reading is subjective, we learnt this in primary school.

fandom is for self-exploration and it is self-curated. it's so self-curated and if you are having such a negative time in fandom because you can't find anything "good" or "worth it"? maybe there's some self-reflection to do as well. maybe you should sit and wonder why you feel entitled to things and why you feel the need to pit authors against each other or critique free works publicly, instead of wondering why other people are reading them.

we are so incredibly blessed to be in a fandom as diverse as this one with such an array of interpretations and such a wide spread of fics to choose from, but let's return to our roots and remember that - despite how many there are - everything is written by a Human Being. in their Free Time. For Fun.

and it's not fun to watch videos calling works bad get thousands of views and likes. you are not owed anything. and it is not okay to say these things just because "they'll never see it" - it says a lotttt about you as a person that there has to be some kind of impact for you to be kind.

it's like,,, would you go to a free bake sale and go "god i fucking hate red velvet!!!" and tell them they're doing a bad job, or would you pick up the chocolate cupcake you like instead and move on with your day whilst acknowledging that someone, not you but someone elseee, might like red velvet??? ykkkk??? you get me????

[wanderingblindly]

Tapping the sign in my pinned posts; minors, do NOT interact with me about smut. Ever. I will block you immediately for your own good.

Now, I would like to step on my soapbox about this for a moment, because it’s rarely explained why this is so problematic. It’s more than just minors being at risk for things like grooming — after all, if you have faith in your ability to talk to adults safely, then why should you care? It will also affect the accuracy of your self-perception.

Teenagers naturally want (and need!!) to explore their sexualities in a way that’s safe. And for some teenagers, that includes fiction online. I’m never going to say what you can or cannot read, because I’m not your parent.

But it is NOT normal to do any exploration with adults. And it’s not because minors are “too dumb to understand things” — it’s not about that at all, really.

Talking about sexually driven things with adults when you’re a minor, intentionally or otherwise, can establish that as a normal behavior. If the adult you’re talking isn’t aware that you’re a minor, they may be very nice, they may make you feel seen and heard, and they may make you feel validated. And those things can be really addictive as a teen! It’s fun and exciting and relieving to not be Weird for having these thoughts; it might be aspirational to see adults being candid about their interests, and you want to be like that too.

Accidentally talking to “good” adults may lead you to behave differently than you would around peers, because you want to fit in and match their energy. This may negatively affect the authenticity of your self exploration; are you actually learning about yourself, or are you attempting to mirror people that you admire?

Accidentally talking to “good” adults may open the door to talking to adults who know you’re a minor and want to take advantage. And because you’re desensitized to it, your guard may be dropped; the baseline of what you accept in conversation has changed.

All that said, I — as the responsible adult — remove myself from the equation. I choose to not actively encourage or participate in your exploration, and I prevent potentially unsafe scenarios by doing so. It is part of my responsibility as a mindful adult to actively ensure that minors do not get desensitized to speaking about certain topics with non-peers.

The thesis is this: minors should talk to adults as it pertains to things like life advice, safety concerns. Exploration should be done within your peer group, both for your safety and for the safety of well-intentioned adults who may not realize that you’re so young.

[thegremlininyourcloset]

shoutout to fictional women and girls. Nobody gets them like I do. “She’s a bitch—“ She’s a teenager. “She’s evil—“ she got angry once. “She has no personality—“

you aren’t looking hard enough.

there are LOADS of interesting fictional women & girls that just get ignored by fandoms. Sure, some of them appear in lots of stories—but they’re never the focus. They’re just a plot device, a source of advice, a conflict.

And yes, sometimes, when you write fanfiction of female characters who aren’t given much depth by their authors, you have to dig deep.

maybe she wasn’t given all that many traits—but take what she has, and run with it. Take an aspect of her background, dig into how it might have affected her. And you can absolutely give her traits that weren’t quite there in the original text.

People do that with less popular male characters all the time. In fact, they do it with popular male characters even more!!!

(I’m looking at you mha fic authors who wrote a billion and one stories centered around your bland fucking protagonist being a completely different character

no hate tho I just don’t like deku—)

let her be feminine without being weak.

…but don’t project femininity where it isn’t there.

And, most importantly:

don’t be afraid to make her flawed. Make her angry, make her dramatic. Make her vicious and violent.

don’t make her perfect. don’t make her a prop.

make her interesting.

@fictfrenzy @themoonwitch-mustspeak @lordbasilsnek @lena-thinks-too-much @thebestusernamepossible @illustrativewriter

[m-inntii]

[BEWARE!! SPOILERS FOR AMPHOREUS AND GAY MEN!!!,!,

MYDEI AND PHAINON YOU GAY LIL SHITS YOU AIN’ FUCKIN SLICK I SEE YA.

Phainon hesitating when leaving Mydei, wanting to help him before leaving anyway, and then being an anxious mess outside, being shown worrying about him every moment, like 😭

(also ignoring the fact iT’S FUCKING IMPLIED HE WAS GONG TO SACRIFICE HERSELF I THINK?? IDK TAKE MY WORDS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT CUZ I DIDNT UNDERSTAND SHIT ABT WHAT HE WAS GONNA DO BUT LIKE BRO SXPECT AN ENTIRE RANT TO HIM AT SOME POINT.)

Phainon SPECIFCALLY told Mydei NOT to come to his ceremony because he should heal up, and he still did ANYWAY cause he was WORRIED. LIKE- Self-deprecating and all that Mydei is sure but HE CAME TO HIS CEREMONY WHILE INJURED BECAUSE HE WAS WRORRIED FOR HIM LIKE…bruv you ain’ beating no allegations

Phainon beign the only person Mydei can truly spar without holding back, and eveN SPARRING FOR 10 FUCKING DAYS STRAIGHT ONCE??? WHAT???

ALSO THIS

LIKE OH MY GOD THEY CARE SM FOR EACH OTHEER KIKE BRO I’M CRYINg

also you cannot tell me that Phainon is depressed in some way. He lost his entire hometown apparently, his entire mission is fueled purely out of a want for revenge, and the only reason he took up the role of the chye so heirs is because it gave him a purpose like…lol he’s so depressed. Mydei please help your boy

ALSO APPARENT THERE’S A MEMORY CORE OF PHAINON BASICALLY CALLING MYDEI HOT??? LIKE??