#for a certain part of the fandom at least

[foxy-eva]

How to start out as a Fanfic Writer

I occasionally get asks about how to start writing fanfic and how to increase engagement, so I decided to make a post with some advice!

Find joy in creativity My first advice is to write about the things you personally enjoy and really want to bring to paper. Practice your writing and read other people's work (and books) to find your own voice and writing style. It's about having fun and not about being perfect. And please please please do not use AI.

Participate in writing events I know there aren't that many in this fandom anymore but some people still host writing challenges or events and will reblog your work or post a masterlist with your fic if you participate. This way more people will notice your story.

Support other writers If you want to get other people's attention, you have to actively engage with other fanfic writers. Read their works, reblog it and leave nice comments. Make a rec list with the stories you liked. Other writers will notice and might check out your blog at some point because they recognize your name. That's how I became mutuals with a bunch of blogs with a much larger following than me.

Find a community One of the best parts about posting fanfics is being part of a fandom and getting the chance to find other people who love the same things you do. Not only is it incredibly rewarding to be part of a community, it also helps with increasing engagement on your fics. People you regularly talk to will be more likely to read and reblog your stories! This doesn't just happen out of nowhere and "bigger" writers don't suddenly have a few chosen ones who become their friends. We all started out somewhere and prioritized talking to other people in the fandom. You have to actively message them, join a discord etc. Before I posted my first fic I reached out to one of the largest CM fandom blogs at the time and now she's my best friend and we even met in person. Isn't that wonderful?

Use the right tags Tagging your posts appropriately is very important so people can find your stories. You can look at the tags of well-performing fics in the fandom and see what they used. I always check if my fic actually appears in the tags after posting because sometimes tumblr randomly shadowbans certain words and will hide your post. That really messes with engagement!

Be patient Trust me, I know how frustrating it is to put so much work into a fic only for it to not get that many notes. That's not a skill issue! Sometimes people just get lucky with a post and it blows up right away. I wasn't that lucky. It took at least 6 months of me regularly posting stories until my fics finally started getting more notes.

That's all I can think of for now! I hope this post is helpful to some of you. You can always come into my inbox or my dms if you need advice about writing, I'm very happy to help! I love finding new writers and making new friends in the CM fandom, so please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

[ayy-ayycaptaiin]

I think one big reason why the animations and movies and media adaptations are treated with so much contempt by those who try to undermine dickkory is the numbers of viewers. A comic will have, at the very best, a number of 200k-300k readers (and that is a best case scenario with a best seller comic, generally the number is much smaller). In contrast, an animated series like Teen Titans or animated movies like dcamu have millions of viewers. Count in the Titans live action show or Teen Titans go which are now streaming on platforms like Netflix and have dickkory and you get other millions. A big part of those viewers will no doubt get curious about comics dickkory and will pick up Ntt comics to read about them.

I get why dick//babs shippers are frustrated by it and why they feel the need to treat media adaptations as inferior, but the simple truth is that media adaptations are essential and much more important than the comics themselves in terms of audiences. They reach a far wider public and cement certain ships and characters into popular culture. And the media, at least until now, preffered dickkory as the love story because they are a classic comic romance.

But to claim none of those people picked up a Ntt comic or a Nightwing comic is simply false and a very arrogant claim to make, especially as the current comic fandom is all very much aware of which ship is canon and the editorial decision.

Well said, anon! Couldn't agree more with you!

People tend to forget DC isn't exclusive to comic books, they're a company that sells transmedia storytelling. Whether they like it or not, films and animations will always have more audience and are the main gateways to comic books. Let's not forget dickkory shippers from video games like Injustice, media like video game is important too!

The fact that the other ship is also adapted in many medias like BTAS, Young Justice, and video games (although not that prevalent) AND YET they never took off like dickkory just proved of the general audience's preferences.

Continuation to this post

[samdeanjohn]

i understand why "female coding" is controversial and i even understand to an extent why people choose to make it an "everyone is equally wrong and ridiculous" problem. however, dean's atypical position in the narrative, especially considering what he may seem like aesthetically when we first meet him, has been a topic of discussion since 2005. dean enjoyers (including critic sheila o'malley) have for the most part always approached this with the nuance it deserves and alongside discussion of his (and the show's) masculinity. it's not treated as some forever get-out-of-jail card, but as a legitimate analysis of his character and his relationship with gender.

but as with many things about dean that make him fascinating and anything but a caricature that neatly fits into tropes, it inspires a certain insecurity from some fans who prefer sam. part of it comes from the belief that supernatural has one main character and therefore only one of them can be a complex individual, which of course would not apply even if jensen really was a supporting player and not a co-lead. still, the idea that purely by existing and being popular dean "steals" things from sam persists. under the guise of "reclaiming sam's main character status" dean's traits and relationships are frequently appropriated and given to sam in a way that distorts both characters beyond recognition. since the motivation is really contrarianism, the reasons why some things are interesting and resonant with dean get lost in the copy/paste process.

as to not derail with other examples, i will focus on the gender thing. it's really not a coincidence that with the post-spn finale fandom renaissance, along with dean appreciation there was a new push to diminish him in every possible way. i'm sympathetic about the disrespect and misplaced aggression shippers were exhibiting toward sam and jared. but the answer isn't to tear down dean to elevate sam who is awesome as he already is. especially from the side of fandom that mainly focuses on the brothers (plural!) and is theoretically supposed to like both of them. after dean's death , we got new waves of posts about his gender, sexuality and trauma and instead of simply contributing to the conversation or ignoring it, some people got mad. and we got endless gender essentialism in the form of "actually, sam is female coded. no, sam is a woman. every woman in the horror genre is sam. sam outliving dean who died young and beautiful to give him a heteronormative "happy" ending is sam being the final girl. she/her pronouns for sam in casual conversation. claiming sam textually suffered misogyny from dean who is the most cishet man on tv and nothing but a amalgamation of every "toxic male" trait ever", etc. all incredibly childish, exhausting and self righteous. it's unforgivable to watch 15 seasons of a show and come away thinking either brother was that simple.

when people discuss dean and femininity, they don't seek to cast dean as the one and only victim and everyone around him as a patriarchal abuser, it's not about guilting anyone into liking dean better, it's certainly not about female coding making dean incapable of having flaws or causing harm. and as horror is a primarily female genre, it's not about how no other male character in the show can occupy a female trope. this whole thing is misunderstanding why people are drawn to dean in the first place. it was never about wanting a perfect person to put on a pedestal as an example but about appreciating the complicated whole, thorns and all.

what's troubling about the "sam is a woman" rebuttal is that the word woman really becomes a synonym for perfect victim. it becomes all about being infantilized, having zero autonomy and never making a single choice. when it comes to actual female characters, audiences have always valued their agency even when a narrative has afforded them very little. at least the deer/lamb/rabbit sam trend is more honest about what it's attempting to twist him into. the more i see this phenomenon in whatever form it takes, the more i'm convinced it's really just about creating the blandest least dynamic character possible. and sam deserves so much better than that.

[inchidentally]

unfortunately i feel like the whole “heart-eyes piastri” thing’s been … rampant enough for it to have Reached him (or reach him eventually) and im just curious if you think it’s something that he would step away from (or if he even could ?? since it genuinely seems so involuntary to me personally) once he’s like. exposed.

going on a tangent now but i wonder if the drivers had a part to play in mclaren moving away from their long-from content ? or if it’s like. just something their team Decided

this is a good place to just quickly reiterate this since Lando and Oscar are so much more relaxed and have clearly gone to a new stage in their friendship:

FANS SHOULD NEVER EVER BRING UP RPF OR SHIP RELATED STUFF TO LANDO OR OSCAR ABOUT EACH OTHER. ALSO DO NOT ASK MEDIA OR THE TEAMS TO BRING IT UP TO THEM. IT WILL END VERY BADLY AND UNCOMFORTABLY AND POSSIBLY MAKE THEM WITHDRAW EVEN MORE FROM FANS. THEY DO NOT DO BROMANCEY STUFF AND ARE FAIRLY PRIVATE WITH THEIR DOWNTIME TOGETHER. PLEASE KEEP LANDOSCAR RPF IN FANDOM ONLY*

anyway I fully get what you mean anon and it's part of why I've always wanted to keep the types of 'rpf is real' and 'if it weren't for those pesky gfs these men would be together' ppl awayyyy from landoscar bc Lando and Oscar are not knowingly playing into any PR bromance or engagement with fans - so it's hard when we get this great content bc it's so sweet and there is a genuine fondness and gentleness to them that is so !!! but there also isn't the same kind of like agreement that the bromance guys all have with fans. the group padel pic in Monaco is a great example bc it was well coordinated, a joint instagram effort, all those guys play up the bromance stuff for fans with various drivers - so while it's fully legit friendships and guys bein dudes, it's also expected that fans will freak out and therefore has a side benefit of being great publicity. that's the norm for most drivers tbh!

whereas yea things like Lando and Oscar simply looking at each other in sweet ways and giggling at things we either aren't allowed into or jokes that are only funny to the two of them, and spending downtime together playing padel just the two of them or with another set of drivers or hanging out in hotel rooms or chilling casually at the palace in Bahrain - but not posting about it is a very clear message of while they don't mind that fans know about their time together (there's no crazy secrecy) or that we comment on their dynamic, they have also chosen to not cultivate that PR relationship with us beyond what McLaren and sponsors require. again, not in some crazy secret thing! Oscar isn't crazy secretive about Lily or his family, but he also doesn't encourage or engage with fandom about them beyond very surface mentions.

which is more than fair and there's another anon I'm gonna reply to about how I've always suspected this was a choice of some kind between Lando and Oscar based on strengthening their relationship as teammates as well as friends - even if it wasn't necessarily a spoken agreement.

ANYWAY back to your point about the hearteyes, I will at least say that this has been talked about by fans in public spaces pretty much since the start of his time at McLaren and definitely since the finish the lyrics video. so I'm sure he's already seen it and would've altered his behavior by now if it really bothered him that fans comment on it!

but I definitely agree that in general fandom needs to observe the very obvious boundaries of Oscar being a quiet, private guy who doesn't even like discussing his relationship with his girlfriend in super emotionally revealing terms let alone have fans or the media poke and prod him about the fact that he looks at Lando a certain way. tho I do think he'd wisely sidestep somehow and bring up Carlos or Daniel again. and I absolutely think based on his social media history he's very consciously rerouting fan attention when he does that. esp the fact that he chose to interact more with Lando's merch company when he was a fan and not a fellow driver in the same formula, it's similar to how they talk to fans about landoscar and carlando etc which is kind of a filtration system so that Lando's mentions don't take the brunt of fandom. but that's even more of a reason to respect Oscar's space and not put him in those awkward positions either.

.

.

*and honestly even with guys who are fine with it and encourage it, it's still not advisable bc this sport exists in extremely conservative spaces and these men will only want the gay jokes and bromance bits to go so far.

[nalyra-dreaming]

A few thoughts about Louis and being sidelined / supporting in s3.

I'll preface this - again - to say that this "supporting" is nothing I want. It is simply something that's been said, and set to happen from the get go, and before it really hits I would like to get my thoughts on it out.

Under the cut, imagine the Ao3 disclaimer here, please, so read on your own volition:

Over the last few days I have seen posts triggered by the awards mostly, but also seen "the discussion" on discords and in DMs.

"The discussion" being the fear of a black character being sidelined once more, as has happened so many times before.

Which is unfortunately a more than valid fear, but one that I find difficult to address, in this fandom, but also especially in this setup of the show.

Because:

The show set them up for this fall, this trap from the very beginning.

I'm not saying this to invalidate the fear, nor point a finger going "it was always there!!", no, I'm pointing this out because in the joy and relief to have a lead like that - to have Jacob in a role like that, to have representation like that - it is often overlooked that it was all very much deliberate.

This Louis is more, thankfully. He has eclipsed book Louis for me, and I am extremely grateful, because this Louis is so much more.

He was created as more, too.

And he was created... for Lestat.

I am not trying to be hyperbolic here. Or argumentative. Rolin Jones said in the season one podcast, when asked how these "famously white men" could make Louis black, that they came at Louis through Lestat. Crafted him, so he would appeal to Lestat. (Episode 8 of the IWTV podcast)

The show reimagined Louis, and brilliantly so, and Jacob lifted him to something truly special, but the switch we are about to witness was always set to come. Louis, "the" vampire of IWTV (the book), was sidelined after said book in the VC as well, Anne had to leave him behind, imho, because he was her stand-in for the very real pain of losing her daughter.

This won't happen here, at least not in that capacity.

Thankfully.

But it will still feel grating.

Because the black lead of the first season (which was split in half by covid, therefore giving us more) will take the step back. Become supporting.

And no matter what they will do, that will look... bad to some extent at the very least.

And it was inevitable from the get-go, unfortunately.

Because this is the setup they chose.

It won't be fair, it is not fair. It was always inevitable doing the VC.

These things... can and do co-exist in this show. A two-edged sword, in a way. To have a lead like Jacob, brilliantly reimagined, but knowing by recasting him color-consciously they are setting themselves up for the backlash, from the get go.

I have no doubt this backlash will come. It will come with accusations of racism, of them "wanting to push out the black character." Of them wanting to finally get to their "white hero", "look at AMC, they can finally promote as they want to", have already started. I have seen sentiments of the teaser at SDCC being already "more" than what Jacob "got".

I get where these statements come from.

I get that. I get the frustration, and also the very real context it stems from, in our so unfair world.

I get wanting, and needing the representation. I get wanting and needing to keep Jacob.

I get that what they did with Lestat in s1, and especially episode 1x05 and 1x06 that realizing he will be lead will feel like a slap to the face for some, no matter the revelations of 2x08.

I get that this feels like a trap, and the show is walking right into it, deliberately.

It’s just been... "a trap" that‘s been set up from the beginning, and to a large part intentionally.

And I say that completely understanding the feelings on the matter: it is, and unfortunately so.

Which leaves us... where?

I don't know. The disappointment and apprehension of seeing it happening is understandable and very much based on real experience after all. Which does not negate that it would have happened in this show in any case, because, well... it's the Vampire Chronicles. And Lestat.

And they are doing the books, even closer than I anticipated.

Closer, too, than I, personally, would have wanted them to(!), for some parts, because some of these stories... do and will come with similar "traps".

So ultimately, with what's to come I hope...that they manage to give Louis the "more" they obviously try to give him. I hope that will work(!). I hope the change won't feel too grating.

[karenandhenwilson]

You know, I'm not surprised that part of the fandom sees the seconds of Tommy's grief and devastation when he watches Buck on the security feed and doesn't see any of his emotions.

This part of the fandom has proven over and over again that all they know is to scream their emotions out into the world and most often than not turn those emotions into anger. They've also proven they aren't able to be empathetic to other people and other people's experiences.

We've seen the other characters being loud in their grief, most of them at least. Chimney and Hen where wailing in desbelieve and grief and even a little bit of anger in Chimney's case, I think, though impaired by their injuries. Buck is super loud and outspoken in the way he breaks down.

Athena is a little quieter in the moment it happens, but we've already seen her being loud about her grief in the promo for the next episode. Ravi and Karen are a little quieter, too, but they hug each other and still show a reaction that is easy to catch.

Tommy, on the other hand, is, true to his character, pulling into himself. He doesn't allow his tears to roll. He hugs himself and stays frozen while he has to watch Buck break down and can't go inside, and is probably not sure if any kind of comfort from him would even be welcome at this point.

I think we'll see a very similar reaction of quiet grief that's being pulled inside and not shared with many people in Eddie next week. (Because, yes, they did make Tommy and Eddie purposefully very similar to each other. Just not for the reason this same part of the fandom claims, because the truly important things are still different.) Because that was how Eddie was with Shannon. He bottled up that grief for years, and as he's still not gone to therapy to deal with that, I think it will be just exactly the same.

So the same people who are now cussing out Tommy for having no emotions, for not being affected by Bobby's death because they aren't able to look at his face and see his very clear reaction in his forcefully unmoving face, will cry next week about Eddie being out of character for reacting in a very similar way.

Or I might be wrong, and with Eddie, it will be absolutely clear to them how deeply the grief impacts him even when he is hiding it, and they'll once again show their hypocrisy. I guess we'll see.

[pardonmydelays]

all jokes aside, our show is in sixteen days and i've never been more anxious about anything in my entire life

[wemlygust]

For some reason (no reason) I currently want to read nothing but Fullmetal Alchemist x My Hero Academia crossovers. The good news is: there are many! The bad news is: SO MANY of them are abandoned/discontinued or have been on "hiatus" for literal years. 😔 Something about this particular crossover makes people give up in the middle of writing it, I guess? The way the two "magic" systems (for lack of a better general term) mix is always fun, but I guess it becomes pretty complex worldbuilding pretty easily: maybe that's why? Or maybe crossovers of all kinds just have a higher abandomnent rate in general? Maybe?? Or maybe with some exceptions? The Danny Phantom x DC crossovers don't seem to have this issue, but that's perhaps an oddball/unusual crossover fandom that's kinda become its own primary fandom in a way? I really have no idea. I'm just dangerously near "fuck I guess I have to write one or there won't be more..." territory here. (Reblog and optionally complain about the problems in your fav crossover fandom, if you want?)

[spingtail]

every day on this earth is another day being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment (having to see a whole thread of people saying the one (1) "androgynous"/even slightly just barely masc female character in a franchise looks better with her hair down because she's pretty)

[nonbinaryeye]

Ah, never mind, I got kicked out of bg3 big bang because warning explicit description of killing and graphic depiction of violence was not indicative enough of how explicit my writing is. :'))

[galacticlamps]

very minor thing I still definitely deserve a medal for:

being raised catholic, and now as an adult repeatedly falling in love with characters that fandoms like to declare catholic, but still managing to reject those headcanons because at heart I'm too much of a stickler for accurate analysis to get behind them when i know the person in question is really meant to be anglican/episcopalian/whatever other flavor of christian

i am being, as the poets say, so brave about it

[moe-broey]

My therapist hasn't killed me yet 👍

[maythray]

ii3 still sucked so bad i. really dont get how they messed that one up so bad. and it like Kind Of left little stink lines on ii2 BUT its like. fine its like how my room has always been next to my cats litter box and if you are attentive enough you can smell it faintly always but its been like that long enough that its like. whatever. i still like to be in my room. and all. does this make any sense?

[deus-and-the-machina]

ngl the worst thing about the xenoblade fandom (which I think is the root cause of a lot of other issues) is that it’s mostly on twitter. I have to subject myself to twitter for any real consistent fan talk or content. legit there's always some new stupid topic of argument ive noticed in the past few weeks on there and its all very silly and frustrating and what im saying is everyone should move to Tumblr. please. for me. 

[fierykitten2]

I have the urge to play Scarlet/Violet while watching Hermitcraft, drawing F-Zero/Pokémon crossover fanart and listening to a playlist of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden all at the same time but given I can’t draw my own fanmade Megas/regional variants while watching Hermitcraft and actually knowing what’s going on, I don’t think that’s a good idea

[ebonytails]

Hey everyone, if I opened a Patreon, what would you like to see from me?

I’ve already thought of it as the place to post WIPS of both personal and commission work. But what else would any of you be willing to pay to see?

Would you be interested in Procreate Files? It’s been several years since we last had a Patreon running, so I’d like to know what interests you! Feel free to send me asks or replies to this post!