#feel free to insult me in the notes idgaf

[skipping-through-time]

IF I'VE SAID IT ONCE, I'LL SAY IT AGAIN-

THE UMBRELLAS AND SPARROWS LAST NAME IS SPELLED HARGREEVES , NOT "HARGREAVES"

if you're gonna spell it at all, you gotta spell it right 😤😤😤

[bitchy-peachy]

Have you ever gotten flamed for your writing? Asking cause I think one of my stories got flamed and I feel idek.

I'd be lying if I say I haven't gotten flamed.I've been flamed for:*For writing for an unpopular ship or just a ship the flamer didn't like.*For writing yaoi and yuri (I've been told to kill myself as well as been called a "fag")*For NOT writing a ship. (Yes, I've been flamed for NOT writing the ship preferred by a flamer. I even had a flamer trying to emotionally blackmail me into writing their ship of preference afterwards)*My dark content. (lol, idgaf)*For being canon compliant, exposing things readers were either ignorant of or pretended didn't exist in canon.*For not updating fast enough. (Pffffft, people act awfully entitled for FREE things)*For my OCs. (If they don't like OCs, I don't know why they go through a WHOLE story to complain about it. They just must be salty because they just liked my writing but it was with an OC instead of their fave)*For calling out plagiarism. (Yes, someone flamed me for calling out a compulsive plagiarist of my stories. Could have been the worthless turd themselves)Whoooo. Yeah the list can go on. I've been writing for too many years to be stopped from writing whatever I wish. Someone that goes through a whole story and then randomly says something mean and unconstructive, is usually some pathetic cowardly troll because if you haven't noticed, the most vicious flamers go around insulting people anonymously without being signed into an account.If you got flamed, piss that flamer off with an update of your story or do what they obviously disliked about your story to get them to back off.You own your story, you're the one writing it, you're the one giving your time to do this.Not the shitty flamer.Who gives a fuck about them? The last time I got flamed it was over a yuri oneshot (I was called a "delusional fagotty fuck" that should slit her wrists) and my response was to write a yuri scene with fingering and saying in an author's note that they were obviously jealous I got more pussy than them.Cheer up and do your thing. If it's just plain insults that have no advice for you on how to improve, it's a flame and therefore it's pretty worthless.

[minijenn]

...sigh... 

Ok, so I’m going to do something I usually never do. Start discourse. Why? Because I got this review on the last chapter on fanfic.net and I just... need to vent for a minute (this was a guest review btw): 

“ Eh, you still have original scenes with Steven so it isn't completely copy-paste. And you have word count to go with this to boot. There are honestly only a few plot points from both shows that I'd rather see explored differently, but none of them are set to occur quite that soon yet. However, I will say that you shouldn't discourage others' right of free speech. Reviewers should be allowed to speak their mind even if it is about things the author might not like to hear. BUT, you don't always have to take negative reviews so personally. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Or as the internet puts it, idgaf. Yes, there are things out there that are flames or pure hate speech, but the right to free speech is one of responsibility in that one should be allowed to speak uncensored, but must be willing to accept the potential consequences of whatever it is that happens as a result of them speaking. If one gets beaten up for saying something that others don't like, then technically their right to say what they said in that articular instance wasn't violated (as they still got to say what they did in the fist place, rather, the right not to get unreasonably assaulted is what is violated), although the threat of future consequences to said speaker if they ever say something like that again might serve to discourage said speaker and function as a form of de facto censorship. Granted, all you've essentially asked us reviewers was "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". And honestly, I can agree with this if one simply wants to insult or offend someone for no justifiable reason, but again, telling others to not say things (or worse, that they can't or are not allowed to say certain things) is only a small leap away from censorship. Of course, the internet does provide a degree of anonymity to speakers, so it can be rather difficult for an offended speaker to actually do anything to "get back at" that speaker. The exceptions are when people use traceable or ban-able accounts. Heck, even the requirement of accounts in general can be a discouragement to all those unwilling to register and/or login. One author on this site even had a petition to get the owners of this site to remove the guest review feature altogether. While it is true that many people do use the non-traceability of guest reviews to mess with others, some like myself rather enjoy it. I suppose I've rambled on about stuff that isn't relevant to this story, but perhaps the messages of warning and "learning to tolerate by not caring" might help you. Well, this was all I feel like saying. Enjoy your day. “

K, so... um... what? I am at a complete fucking loss right now? How was me asking my readers to be kind in their criticism anywhere fucking CLOSE to censorship??? I just wanted my readers to think twice about what they were saying before saying it, but never ONCE have I EVER said that I would censor their comments. I don’t block people for saying negative things, nor do I refuse to read it. Constructive criticism is actually very helpful and refreshing, but at the same time, so very rare. Why? Because of bullshit like this! And for reference’s sake, here’s the note that I left at the beginning of Dreamscaperers that resulted in this fucking mess: 

“Ok, so... about this chapter. I know so many of you have been hyped about Dreamscaperers for the longest time, as was I. But... I'm already anticipating many of you being disappointed with how it turned out (even though I'm personally pretty proud of it). See, I kinda stuck fairly close to the original episode for it, mostly because its my favorite season 1 episode of Gravity Falls and I wanted to do it justice and also because I didn't want to give you guys too many spoilers here. So no, the Gems themselves do not directly appear in this chapter. They don't encounter Bill or anything like that. Why? Because I'm saving that stuff for later. And you all will understand why I did when we get to that point. But for now, I want to make a request of you all. Please, PLEASE don't go to the reviews after reading this chapter and complain about it being copy-pasted or too close to the episode or that it barely has any SU content in it at all, ok? Because frankly I already can't stand reviews like that from the beginning and because I KNOW ok? I KNOW that I do that, but do you know why? Because I want to keep this story in the spirit of both shows as much as possible, and maintaining the plot points and dialogue that I love is my way of doing that. So please, if you're going to complain about any of that stuff in the reviews, then just don't review at all, ok? Please. Thank you.”

Notice how I said it was a request. I wasn’t FORCING anyone to do anything. If someone wanted to go into the reviews and rant about the chapter, yeah I would probably get a little upset, but I had never stopped them at all. I just asked nicely. From there, it was the reader’s choice to decide whether or not to be considerate. 

As a media major, I find free speech and expression like, SUPER important. And for someone to assume I dont? That shit pisses me off more than anything. And someone telling me that I don’t have the right to ask for civility in the reviews to my story? Kinda seems like its own form of “restricting freedom of speech”, doesn't it? 

[scarlettrobot]

No More Hiding

Over the last week, while not in a comatose state or gliding through the day encompassed in a cloud of disappointment and silent rage, I began to obsessively scroll through Twitter. 

At first, it was a way to feel good about the massive amounts of people who were just as pissed as I was and voicing their collective disdain for the president. Then I began to parse through replies that were, plainly, devoid of logic. As I mentioned in an earlier post and more recently, I’m at a loss of how so much of this nation can be blinded by someone who’s entire campaign has been nothing but an unapologetic attack on people of color, LGBTQ communities, women, and really anyone who isn’t rich. His executive orders reflect this alarming dismissal of humanity and what I was hoping would be a four year stint of hotheaded talk and no action is starting to look like an impending, inevitable hellscape. I should rephrase that, I was never really at a loss, because that’s just naive. I’m more appalled and overwhelmingly frustrated.

The upside is there has been so much unity as a result of this common fury spawned by an unwieldy emotionally disturbed, leathery man-child, but there’s also been an intense, palpable division of the people who voted for Trump and those who didn’t. I’m starting to think this separation is not necessarily a bad thing, but something to be considered as we move forward as a country and figure out ways to heal the gaping wound this celebrity villain has exacerbated. 

I, for one, would like to know how this can happen. Healing. I’ve written about it before - this seething hatred or prejudice or what have you that prevents the acceptance of reality and promotes the belief in “alternative facts” and justifies shiftlessly falling behind grandstanding human dumpster fires. It’s either this, or other individuals simply don’t care about anything except the bottom line, so their allegiance to the country won’t go beyond their pockets. How do we get these obdurate and uncompromising rednecks people to see that what this man is doing is not only hurting every American, including themselves, but can potentially (and has already) hurt the rest of the world? It enrages me how stubborn people are. Not to mention exhausting to see these arguments defending this pool of orange bile.

Which brings me back to the glaring division, that may not necessarily be a bad thing. I mean, opposition is how we got to this place of mobilizing and organizing against the dark lord enemy administration. And it does add fuel to the fire when you see positively outrageous actions and claims made by the LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD. I dunno, something like possibly launching an investigation into “all the illegal votes” that must’ve been cast, since the Orange Wonder didn’t win the popular vote, or, I dunno, talking about the inaugural crowds in front of a CIA memorial and just weeks before comparing them to Nazis. 

It is no mistake that we’re living under unprecedented rule and every day has the potential to be been more heinous than the last and this division is causing tension, but in the grand scheme, it’s also helping sculpt our future (if there even is going to be one at this point), in a way that hasn’t been done in a very long time. More than ever, citizens are becoming involved with the political process and the dream the forefathers had for the US is coming into fruition (kind of- ya know, cuz most of them were slave owners and mega racist). The division is what’s making people pick up phones, donate money to great causes, and volunteer for amazing organizations. No one is letting anything dubious Tiny Hands does go unchecked. Our society is slowly but surely becoming more “woke.”

My only real worry about the division in this country is on a more granular level, in friendships and families, among classmates and coworkers. The division gets uncomfortable and hard to maneuver when in such close proximities. Obviously, people aren’t so uncivilized they can’t share a space with someone who has completely different views than the other, but seeing your coworker casually peruse Breitbart or mention their excitement for the Cheeto’s “next big decision” can be downright tough or ya know, the opposite. I have no idea what annoys the other side besides facts and logic. Hm, probably me saying that. 

So even if Timmy-talkative the co-worker and crazy-Aunt Jane are baffling loyal Trump supporters, the majority of the country is on your side. Proud, self-proclaimed 'deplorables,' and others continuing to avidly support this scary regime help everyone else identify those who won’t fight for the freedom of their countrymen and would gladly step on the backs of their neighbors for a little bit of prosperity. It’s good to know. There’s no more hiding. 

**Note** I posted this a few days ago, but thought it was a little too harsh. Then the next few days happened and now IDGAF. Plus, it’s Black History Month, so I’m not going to silence myself to make people comfortable. Even though I have very strong feelings about this 'celebration,’ as I feel it’s a direct insult to my culture and heritage because black history is and forever will be apart of American history, it’s still important to remember all of the people who came before me and refused to be silent or compromise their ideals for a society that continues to be unjust to POC.