#fanfic commentary

[waning-star999]

Awahhfjsjfnajnfnsjfnjwb wtf why is this so sad 😭

I’m going to read every single Shen siblings fic in existence istg

(https://archiveofourown.org/works/16825120/chapters/42237356#workskin)

[gophergal]

Author Commentary - I Know Where to Look (Chapter 1)

Howdy y'all! I just posted the first chapter of my first tf2 fic, and figured that rambling about my thought processes from writing it would be fun. So, enjoy?

Welcome to my first Author Commentary post!

Regardless of if anyone other than my best bud (and partner in word crimes) @cursed—alien read these going forward, I thought it would be fun to explain references and thoughts from the process of fic writing. These are the sort of thing I love to know about my favorite art. I’m a great lover of artist interviews (specifically the ones where the artist in question explains the development of the concept and reasoning for the techniques they use) and an avid reader of author’s notes, so I hope that if anyone reading my fic is like me that they will enjoy this addition to the story.

Formatting

I feel that the most notable thing about this fic is that, despite being rated as explicit, every explicitly sexual scene is under a cut. Why do this instead of just making the scenes fade to black or formatting it in a standard manner? Because, dear reader, I have had the experience of reading explicitly rated fic solely for the buildup to the smut scenes. I experience fluctuations between sex favorability to neutrality, all the way to aversion. When I’m feeling uncomfortable with explicit sexual content, I often wish there was a way to just skip those scenes entirely. But on the other hand, I also acknowledge that sex scenes CAN have narrative and character importance. For the specific dynamic that Corey and I envisioned for Red Oktoberfest- that being a relationship that starts as professional and sexual before becoming emotionally involved, those scenes would be a shame to ignore entirely on my part.

Behaviors and thoughts during sexual intimacy are rich with characterization, and I wanted to be able to express that. So, the best of both worlds, to me, was to have a second layer of opting in to reading those scenes. I may have to redo them later, however, because the way I had to go about it doesn’t work with pdf downloads and likely isn’t screen reader accessible. My current thoughts in regards to those problems is to encourage folks to download as some other format, and eventually create a podfic of this story.

Headcanons Involved

Something you may notice about this is the amount of headcanon I’m trying to cram into it. To be frank, I use most fic writing as a vehicle with which to go “look at my headcanons, boy”, so this isn’t surprising.

The first of which I would like to note is Heavy’s love of pulp romance. I couldn’t tell you why I first thought of it, but it’s grown on me like moss. Mikhail is a lover and a fighter. To me. In my heart. He views all art for what it is, and values the stories themselves pretty equally. The only important difference between the two books he’s carried with him from Russia and the pulp he’s collected in the US is sentimentality.

Speaking of those books, why the two I picked? Brothers Karamazov is a pretty obvious choice. It’s a classic and widely studied. Tsar Hunger by Leonid Andreyev, however was actually mentioned by name in Poker Night At The Inventory. In one conversation, Tycho asks Heavy what his favorite book is, to which he replies that he “prefers war.” Eventually, though, he does end up saying that he likes Tsar Hunger. I wanted to know if this was just a book picked at random, or if it actually meant something about Telltale’s interpretation of Heavy’s character. After all, the tumblr side of the fandom LOVES Heavy’s PhD in Russian Literature. It was. A BITCH. To find any information about that book. There isn’t a goodreads page for it. Or a wikipedia. Or even an amazon page selling copies. Like, what the fuck? Eventually, I found that the Internet Archive has it available to borrow by the hour. The particular copy that was archived was originally from the University of Texas and has a fabric cover. So no synopsis.

At this point I was thinking “oh my fucking god I’m two hours into this research process,” and decided I wouldn’t be reading King Hunger. I’ve skimmed it a bit and, filling in the blanks with some guesses based on the information Wikipedia provided about the author, it’s a symbolic/expressionist criticism of the monarchy, but one which also criticizes bloody revolution. Please take that with a pound of salt though. Once again, I spent a solid three hours getting to that amount of understanding.

This actually leads me to discussing another element that’s important to my interpretation of Heavy. Namely, who is father was. On r/TF2, I constantly see people arguing back and forth whether its fine to joke about Mikhail being “Heavy Communism Guy” or if that’s a gross misunderstanding since his father was declared a counterrevolutionary. (Meanwhile these same dimwits are happily joking about Medic being a member of a certain fascist regime, but I digress)

Personally, I think Mikhail’s father (who I will be calling Ivan Melnyk going forward, as I headcanon Heavy’s full name to be Mikhail Ivanovich Melnyk) was counterrevolutionary, but not anti-communist. That venn diagram isn’t just a circle my friends. In political matters, it’s very easy to get stuck in black and white thinking- and that’s fair for large matters- but, when it comes down to how people believe they should go about making changes, that’s where you get in-fighting between allied groups.

More clearly, I believe that Ivan was a man who believed in progress and common good, but found disproportionate violence distasteful. And he would have tried to impart those values on his son. However, Ivan’s death and his family’s imprisonment would really sour that for Mikhail. It adds a level of complexity where he is both someone who hates senseless violence (see: the sparrow story in Poker Night), but is extremely wrathful (see: the engineer story in Poker Night).

Switching gears, let’s talk respawn. Personally, I like the idea of it as something that exists in universe, rather than just being a game mechanic in the Documentary Video Game About the Gravel Wars. It adds some more leeway for goofy shit the mercs can get up to while also opening up more avenues for mentally trauma. Angst my beloved.

Respawn

Respawn, in my mind, works by teleporting the remains to a mechanism that then recycles the matter into a pre-programmed form. I imagine that this is updated every day for the TF2 mercs, but only by the week or month for the Classic era systems. Upon exiting respawn, subjects may experience “respawn sickness,” which includes symptoms of nausea, diziness, anxiety, sensitivity to light and sound, disorientation, soreness, ect. One can become accustomed to respawn over time, and this is expedited by the modern systems, but some might remain sensitive to respawn even after years of use.

TFI standard protocol is to switch respawn systems over to the older system in order save money and perform diagnostics/maintenance without risking the permanent death of one of their “specialists.”

Another book note

The passage Heavy reads at the end is from a novella called Special Nurse by Lucy Agnes Hancock. It is Yet Another book I haven’t read, but decided to reference. Originally, I had wanted to reference a Harlequin Romance published in 1960-63, as I really didn’t want to include that flavor of anachronism. Dont fucking ask me why, but it mattered to me. However, the vast majority of what I could find online to read was published between 1975 and 1998. There were three books that technically fit my requirements, but the two from 1961 were either vacation romance or noble romance. Which just didn’t fit the vibe I was looking for. And the one from 1963 was published in November of that year. Which would have been fine, but I envisioned this chapter taking place in late May or early June.

In the late 40’s to mid 60’s Harlequin published SOOOOO many hospital romances. And this amused me, so I desperately wanted Heavy to be reading one. But I searched multiple times and just. Couldn’t find any that I could skim through. Fuck, dude, I couldn’t even find samples or excerpts. I COULD BARELY FIND SYNOPSES. I got desperate and dug through my mom’s old romance novel collection and lo and behold, there it was. Special Nurse. It’s not Harlequin (published by Pocket Books) and it wasn’t technically from 60-63 (originally published in 1948, but received 5 print runs from 1950-19060. Mine is from August 1960), but it WAS A DOCTOR ROMANCE. HUZZAH.

Dear fucking lord why do I do this shit to myself ahhhhhhhh

[anna-pineappel]

directors cut for Walk Through Fire? I’m especially interested in how it developed into a plot and evolved over time, what scenes you thought of first, and anything else that comes to mind!

Thanks for the ask, @meatsouuuuup!!! Just getting around replying to this now. How much time do you have? lol

(Note: at the time of this reply (July 4, 2024) I still have 2 Chapters to post, so I'll answer this without giving away the end, but I can circle back once the whole fic is posted).

Warning: this is a bit long, sorry not sorry!

Plot Origins:

So, I have 2 headcanons for Klogan and how they get together:

They are playing chess in Klink's quarters, they're drinking, and things happen - This is my fic Letting the Liquor Talk

They Banter/Argue in Klink's office and sexual tension... snaps - Which is what inspired Walk Through Fire

Walk Through Fire was supposed to be a one-shot, Chapter 1 - Unravel, like Letting the Liquor Talk. But then I decided it needed to be a two-parter because... I just kept writing lol. I wrote Chapter 1 kinda from Klink's perspective and Chapter 2 - Surrender to the Darkness, is more from Hogan's perspective.

However, it didn't stay a two-parter and before I knew it, I had a whole +40k fic on my hands! 😅 Let's get into it!

Evolution/First Scene(s):

I had Chapter 1, then 2, and Chapter 10 thought of first. After writing those chapters, I had a vague outline about scenes/plot points I wanted to include:

Schultz walking in on them - Chapter 3

The gang confronting Hogan in his office - Chapter 4

The Paris trip - Chapter 5

Hogan's disguise on New Year's Eve - Chapter 7

The gang listening on the coffee maker at the wrong time - Chapter 8

I wrote the main ideas for those chapters and then... I had to connect everything with a Plot™️. Luckily, once I wrote Schultz walking in and Chapter 3, it was a bit of a catalyst to other plot points, like the Paris trip.

I also decided that I needed something between Chapter 5 and 7, and then I got the idea for Klink to tell Hogan that he is Nimrod and then Hogan shows him the operation. It was with that chapter that the fic felt like an actual fic, since the relationship deepens.

Then, I was able to write the last half of Chapter 8, all of Chapter 9 (latest update), and changed some things around in Chapter 10. Chapter 11 was the last chapter I wrote, and the fic was almost only 10 chapters. But then I had an Idea™️.

Anything Else?

I wrote Chapter 4 - Secret Affair, while at the mechanic. There was something wrong with my vehicle and I waited 3-4 hours. At the time, the mechanic was an hour away, I couldn't get a shuttle, and my partner was at work so I brought my laptop and wrote some smut while I waited, like a Normal Adult.

I was going Through It™️ when I wrote Chapter 8 - Betrayal, and it got angsty very quickly. It was quite cathartic to write Hogan being angry and having a nightmare! And it inspired a whole other Whump WIP.

I wrote Walk Through Fire before any other fic. And my other fics served as a procrastination strategy when I didn't want to work on Walk Through Fire. Nothing like procrastinating on a WIP with other WIPs/Fics!

Hope you enjoy all that! 😊

[perseidlion]

Look, I get there are a lot of valid reasons to not read incomplete fic. Lack of time, getting plotlines confused reading multiple WIPs at once or forgetting the plot between updates, not being good with cliffhangers, etc. That's all valid.

The main reason people seem to cite for not reading WIPs though, is they got burned a few times by a fic forever being incomplete.

The hard truth about that is it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you don't read WIPs for whatever reason - and especially if you don't comment on them - fics are more likely to be abandoned or go a long time between updating.

It also seems like sometimes the people who got burned by incomplete fic do it themselves. There is a date on each fic that tells you when it was last updated. I feel like some people don't look at that before starting to read and then get upset that something hasn't been updated in years. Like using tags and filtering properly, that's on the user, not the writers.

Often, but not always, if you engage with a fic you'll actually start getting faster and more consistent updates, along with upping your chances that fic will be completed. If fic writers feel like we're not shouting into the void, we get more inspiration.

Finishing work is hard. Keeping up momentum to write is hard. And it's nearly impossible to do that when you feel like no one cares.

So yes, you can choose to only read complete fics for whatever valid reason. But just recognize that in doing so, it means you're contributing to the fact that there are incomplete fics in the first place.

How many great works never get finished because everyone is waiting for it to be done before they give it a chance?

If you are someone who doesn't read WIPs for reasons other than you got burned a few times, I encourage you to read the first chapter of something that looks interesting, bookmark it, and tell the writer you look forward to reading it when it's finished. If that's true, of course!

For those of you who are afraid of reading something that remains unfinished: I promise you the pain of putting hours and hours into a story or a chapter and having it being met with crickets is much worse than the disappointment you might feel to not getting a finished story.

Also, there are many fic writers who stick to a very consistent update schedule. It's easy to tell if a fic has been updated regularly. And if you're wondering what the schedule is like? Subscribe to the fic and see how frequently you get emails before committing to read.

The truth is though, there is never a guarantee that a fic is going to be finished. Life happens and this is a hobby. It's a leap of faith for us to post and hope someone reads it just like it's a leap of faith to read a WIP and hope it gets finished. We're not owed comments and readers but that also means you're not owed a finished story. This isn't a commercial transaction, it's gift culture. Speaking for me personally, I try to honour the faith WIP readers put in me with consistent (usually weekly if not twice a week) updates.

For those of you who do read WIPs and especially those who comment and share and hype writers as they write - thank you. You are the reason there are any complete longfics to begin with.

[sorakh28]

Whumptober 2024- On a resolution in Break Me, Shake Me

PLEASE READ TO CHAPTER 14 OF BREAK ME, SHAKE ME FOR THIS COMMENTARY AND THE PROMPTS TAKEN TO MAKE SENSE.

The Lowell siblings’ conversation at the end of this chapter is a narrative interest: it works in developing two characters’ growth connected by one event. While the story itself is the Hero’s Journey of Marth not undergoing the plot of Shadow Dragon, but of growing out of expectations given to him by the backstory changes… Elice is saved from her canon capture, and is with him the entire time. She might as well be the deutragonist of the story as she, too, is personally affected by Marth’s backstory and growth.

“But that’s not why you came here, isn’t it?” Marth deducted. “Something else is bothering you, right?”

But I love how, despite how Elice wanted to tell Marth her feelings… she still feels like she lacks the strength until she’s prompted. And honestly, after what Marth went through the last two chapters, it makes sense. She’s scared of hurting Marth further; she’s scared of hurting herself further. The resolution, however, strengthens their bonds as older sister and younger brother, furthering into the rest of Break/Shake and the rest of the series.

[happypeachsludgeflower]

There’s a hobbit fanfic that’s called Shot in the Dark and istg every time I see the name I start singing it to the tune of Shot Threw the Heart by Bon Jovi

…I keep in my tabs specifically for that purpose…

[hubble-bubble]

So I'm rereading an unfinished but far along fanfic, whose last update was on rewriting the whole thing before continuing, which is fine. However, this is the first time I revisited it in a while, and the change is noticeable. They talked about doubling the length of their chapters from all the rework, but it feels overloaded with details. Every action is described to death and it feels clunky.

I'm a bit sad they didn't just leave it to rewrite a new story, but I ultimately know it's the author's story and I have no say in it.

I'll never say anything to them about it, but it feels like I'm mourning what the story used to be. It's so much harder to read now.

I'll get over myself in like an hour, but I just needed to get this off of my chest.

[perseidlion]

This is very, very true. The joy in fanfic is the sense of play. It helps you find the fun in telling stories. If you get too hung up on being perfect, you won't find your voice and the kind of stories you want to tell.

Also writing original work is way, way harder than writing fic. Part of the reason fic can seem "better" is because the characters are already established and people already care about them. If it's not an AU, the world is established, too.

Do you know what the hardest things to do are when crafting a story?

Establish and develop the characters and their relationship to each other

Make people care about the characters

Create a full and believable world

Writing fic lets you bypass all that. If you want to improve, you can focus on character dynamics, voice, flow, and plot.

Or you can just fuck around. Both are totally valid. And yeah some people have lost the "we're just here to fuck around" sense of play by trying to be the next fandom epic.

TBH I don't think you should work that hard on anything that doesn't have the potential to pay you, unless you find joy and fulfillment in that hard work. So the solution is to not work so hard and stress yourself out about it. That's often when the best stories come to you anyway.

At some point "fanfic can be as good as professional writing" became "fanfic should be as good as professional writing" and that's caused major damage to fandom spaces.

[thefandomcassandra]

do you have any favorite parts of Broken Bridge (for the meme)? what parts did you really hope would resonate with people?

Broken Bridge (read here) was one of those fics where I wrote it because I am a lover of tragedy and a lover of time loops and so I combined both. The best part of a good tragedy is that it is preventable. The best part of a good time loop is that it is a tragedy. It makes for a very hand-in-hand type of story build, yknow? The idea was actually the part I loved most. The basis was literally just "what if Jarswap!Helmut's mental world was a play, an endless tragedy of That One Moment?" and then I ran with it, yknow? The basis of the whole fic is my favorite (idk if that's conceited or not lmao)

The parts I wanted to resonate with people the most are the parts that wound up resonating with people: the feeling of this kind of horrid relief on seeing Bob again and realizing that he had been moments away from the man for decades and never looked. None of them did. The whole uh...moment when he clings to Bob-in-Gristol's shirt and sobs is like...idk for all that I write the things said, I like how much I leave unsaid and how that shapes the way you read the conversation.

The ask meme in question.

[kulai]

how i think the break went for Enid (#1 diy queen) and Yoko (#1 impulse decision supporter) sigh!! ill miss yoko forever like come onnnn

[dumplingsjinson]

List of “not-so-random suggestive and non-suggestive” prompts 

“How was your sleep?” “Mm.. It was good. Better.” “Better how?” “Better because you’re here.” (THE WAY I GOT SO FLUSTERED WTF)

“That’s my girl/boy,” Character B murmurs in a hushed voice, stroking their fingers through Character A’s hair while Character A rests their head on their chest, trying to catch their breath. (THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT INTERNALLY, THE AUDACITY HE AUDACITIED??? WHAT THE FUCK??? EXCUSEEEE MEEEEEE??? BTW, SIR, HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS IN THE MORNING-)

“Fuck, you turn me on so much with the noises you make,” Character B groans, thrusting their hips up into Character A’s and Character A whimpering softly at that. (Okay so I added the fuck at the start because it’s hotter this way bUTTTT WKGKSKFS PLSSSSS I JUST- OH MY GOD, I think I just realised that dialogue to me is SO IMPORTANT LMFAOOO)

“There are two hot things in this room right now: you, and the temperature.” (LET ME BREATHE, DAMNNNN) 

“Mmm, I’m gonna hog the bed so you can’t get on,” Character A murmurs, laying sprawled out on the bed. “That’s fine, I can just lay on you,” Character B says, making their way to the bed. “…Are you calling me a bed?” Character A questions as Character B gets on top of them, careful not to crush them under their weight. “Yeah, you're my bed,” Character B murmurs, snuggling close to Character A. (FUCKCKKCKXKDKKSKGKAKD HE’S JUST OUT HERE FLIRTING TO THE MAX WITH ME AND LEAVING ME SPEECHLESS TF)

“I told you my bed’s cozy,” Character B says, chuckling as they make their way over to Character A, who’s snuggled up under the covers. They pull the cover back and climb into the bed next to Character A, wrapping their arms around them. “And now it’s even cozier,” Character B murmurs into Character A’s neck. “Because you’re here?” Character A questions playfully. “Yeah,” Character B answers.

A laughter filled tickling play fight session somehow turning into them making out, turning into Character A straddling Character B, head thrown back in pleasure as they grind their hips against Character B’s while Character B holds onto their hips, thrusts matching the momentum of Character A’s movements.  

Spending way too much time tickling each other, peals of laughter coming from them both as they both try to attack each other’s sensitive spots. (His laughter is so cute AND I REALLY MISS HIM PLS WJDSK)

Morning cuddles and kisses as sunlight spills into the room.

“I’m gonna fuck you so good once we get there, yeah?” (MY HONEST REACTION WAS LITERALLY “???” I JUST?? WHAT?? SINCE WHEN WAS HE- AND HIM SWEARING? HOT HOT HOT HOT WKGKAKS)

Character A taking Character B’s hand into theirs while they’re driving. “You can drive with one hand, right?” they ask with a little grin, and Character B chuckles and nods. “Of course I can.” (HIM DRIVING WITH ONE HAND IS SO HOT BYE)

Character B guiding the speed of Character A’s hips as Character A grinds against them. (can he PLEASE manhandle me-)

“Okay, I’ll let you tickle me wherever you want if you give me one kiss.” (He lied a few times AHAHA, dodged my attacks instead after I gave him his kisses bruhhh) 

Character B lending their clothes to Character A since Character A’s staying the night. (The way I smelled like him AHHHH)

The soft “yeah?” Character B would mutter in response when they’re messing around with Character A and noises would fall from Character A’s mouth, involuntarily.

Stopping their play fight every now and again to kiss each other. 

Character B flirting with Character A and Character A not knowing how to respond other than half groaning and half laughing and calling them insufferable (affectionately). (Like I said, I’m romantically constipated-) 

Character B laughing every time Character A calls them annoying and insufferable whenever they flirt with them. 

Character A leaning in to kiss Character B… And then using that opportunity to tickle them when Character B’s guards are down. 

Them just laughing with each other at the dumbest shit until they’re out of breath; finding comfort and joy in each other’s company. 

Character A teasing Character B with how ticklish they are on certain spots. 

Character B tugging at the hem of Character A’s top, wanting to take it off, but Character A shakes their head and Character B immediately respects that by backing off a bit. (I’m including this because I don’t think people understand that any signs of no means no. Some people need to take notes for real)

“So… Are you going to stay over tonight?” “…Mm, maybe next time.” “You always say next time, though.” (EWLKNFWELN He really wanted me to stay, and I clearly folded so um pwnfewklnf) 

“I’m sorry if I’m like… Slow with all of this? I’m not experienced with any of this, and I don’t know what I’m doing. And I don’t think I’m ready for… You know.” “And that’s fine. Like I said, we’ll take it slow; we’ve got all the time in the world to get comfortable with each other, hm?” (WHEN I SAY I WAS GOING WEKJFNEWJKNEWFLN WHEN HE REASSURED ME, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH AHHH)

Character B climbing back into bed after taking their morning shower to get more cuddles in with Character A before they have to go to work.

“You can just change in here if you want.” (WO4HKLWFN THIS FUCKING MAN LMFAOOO, the way I didn’t listen and went to the bathroom to change because I’m still feeling too embarrassed to change in front of him even though he’s kind of seen me topless before)

Hugging each other a little tighter, and Character A mumbling, “God, I really don’t want to leave” before they part ways.

“The way you keep running around in my mind everyday… How dare you?” Character A mumbles. “Well, is there a problem with that?” Character B questions with a chuckle. (I’m bold for this one, praise me LKNEFKLNWG)

The constant check ins from Character B, to make sure Character A’s all good and well. (every prompt list has this because it’s something I’ll always fucking harp on about lmao)

Character B grasping Character A’s wrists so they’d stop attacking their ticklish spots, pulling them in for a kiss instead. (He did this SO MANY TIMES AND FAILED SO MANY TIMES AHAHA, I’m a sneaky menace) 

Character A pulling the Spiderman kiss on Character B while Character B’s lying down. (I WANNA KISS HIM MORE FUCKSLKFNES’F)

Character A waking up in Character B’s clothes and in their bed, hair all mussed up and sporting a faint mark on their neck. (I think I uh… I think I like having marks on my neck?? Made by him, specifically, IDK wpeofnew;nf)

Get home safe! Love you lots and lots, Character B texts Character A. (THE WAY I SMILED WHEN I SAW HIS TEXT WHILE HEADING TO THE STATION AHAHA, it wasn’t even ten minutes since we parted and he sent me this and I was fangirling about it to my friends AHAHA) 

“Aren’t you going to get up now? You gotta get to work,” Character A says, poking Character B’s side. “Mmm, five more minutes,” Character B murmurs, pulling Character A closer to them. (HE’S SO CLINGY AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH AHDFOEKNF)

Character A realising they might actually be falling in love, slowly but surely, with Character B. (YEAH SO THIS IS A REVELATION AND A HALF AND IDK HOW TO FEEL ABOUT IT) 

[waning-star999]

Not Yin Yu choking while Hua Cheng and Xie Lian flirt 😭😭😭

(https://archiveofourown.org/works/22146373/chapters/52932715#workskin)

[gophergal]

Author Commentary - I Know Where To Look (Chapter 2)

Howdy, y’all! Welcome back to another commentary post, this one will be a lot shorter than the last (probably?) I know that’s ironic given the extra length of the chapter, but this one just required less interesting research and decisions.

When does the fic take place, by the way?

So, I have a very specific headcanon for when canon materials take place in TF2 that may slightly contradict actual canon. Because of that, I am of the opinion that the Mercs were hired in ‘64, and this fic starts in May of that year. All of the Meet The Team videos take place between 64 and 68.

For your convenience, a list of relevant (and not so relevant) HC ages for characters as of 1964:

Heavy is 40, as mentioned in the chapter (his birthday is in October)

Medic is 46, though he looks young for his age despite going grey (This is relevant. Also his birthday is in March)

Scout is 19

Sniper is 22 (wear some fucking sunscreen, man)

Spy 42

Engineer is 38

On that note, I’m also taking advantage of the fact that MtT is in universe PR, so keep that in mind when characterization and events contradict them. I see the mercs’ personalities in MtT as exaggerations of what they actually have going on, and I think that is somewhat supported by the way they are presented in the comics, but I would never claim that is 100% the “correct” interpretation.

For example, Pyro at this point creeps almost everyone out, but only scares Scout. The fact that their own team is terrified of them in MtP is an exaggeration. Also Pyro related: you might notice that I typically use they/them for them, but in dialogue and prose, he/him is used. That will change, it’s just a result of the team assuming that Pyro is a man, since the rest of them are men. It’s just something that will change as the team gets closer.

Heavy’s backstory memory in the shower was just something I came up with on the spot. It felt right. Might have been projecting a bit about the whole “seeing your deceased parent in your reflection” thing. Who knows. Either way, every time I’m reminded of the characters’ who’s backstories we know, I’m just reminded of how if tf2 wasn’t comedic the damned franchise would just be a drama.

Also, the “victory round” (I’m blanking on what it’s actually called in the game, but you know when the winning team gets crits at the end?) fills me with genuine rage and I almost want to punch my laptop whenever I play tf2. However, if I did that I wouldn’t be able to write/draw more Red Oktoberfest queerness.

That Kotlet cooking scene is based on this recipe. I’ve never actually made it myself because meat has gotten really expensive, but it does just remind me of meatloaf. That’s all

“Horse Feathers” is something my maternal grandfather used to say all the time instead of “bullshit” or “goddamnit.” I thought it would be funny to make Engie talk like my papal *shrugs*. Speaking of Engie, he ISNT HOMOPHOBIC I PROMMY. That man is aspec and an eternal third wheel. He’s just uncomfortable with being involved in non-practical problems.

[xypheris]

Introducing the Writer Kinks:

1. The comma (,)

2. The semicolon (;)

3. The em dash (—)

4. The Overused italics

5. The Fragments (Because. Drama.)

6. THE ALL CAPS

7. The Ellipses (...)

Honorable Mentions: Long metaphors, parentheses (bonus thoughts) and repititions.

Because why write a concise sentence when you can string together 37 thoughts into one grammatical monstrosity.

[demigods-posts]

tell me why i'm running a fanfic i'm writing through googe notebook lm!!! and in the fucking audio overview!!! the ai referred to annabeth's dad as about as emotionally present as a doorknob!!! i'm literally crying from laughing so hard omg!!!

[sofiadragon]

Hey fanfiction loving friend!

AO3 has the ability to turn off comments, moderate comments, restrict comments to logged in users only, or let anyone comment on your story. Most other fanfiction hosting websites do not allow comments to be turned off and in the case of some (wattpad) highly encourage comments even on individual paragraphs.

Over on reddit, someone said it is an unwritten rule of fanfiction that you should never leave a negative or critical comment on a story. This was countered most strongly by many arguments. Despite many people asserting that their stance was the one truth and that there was no debate on the topic - there was a lot of debate about what criticism even is and where the line should be for if giving concrit is alright.

So give this some thought:

If you have tea to spill, examples or an argument you want to make, please do. I have some that go both ways, but I'm going to wait for a few responses so I don't pre-empt the results. I'm not going to vote myself for a while, either, so I won't know which way the poll is leaning when I do pour my tea. I tried to cover all the flavors of debate I've seen in the many "definitive" posts I have read here and on reddit. Please reblog for a wider sample!