#greatrunner talks about writing

[greatrunner]

There is a point where 'you don't know how to use it' stops being an acceptable response

"the tagging system is great, but a lot of people don't know how to use it properly, both as authors and readers." "no? ao3's system is actually very amazingly done. It's actually won a Hugo Award because it's that good"

I think a system that doesn't account for user error or user habit for misspelling or creating different tags for the same things, creating tags like they're writing for tumblr posts, stops being a functioning or helpful system at all.

If this kind of issue persists, and people have to rely on user extensions (AO3 savior) to mitigate things they don't want to see (despite a pre-existing filter system that, honestly, negates itself with a "choose not to use warnings" and the option to post media without tags), that system can no longer be blamed on the user base.

If there are no systems in place to prevent redundancies, that's an admin issue that's not being addressed. And from the looks of it, intentionally so, and users can no longer be blamed for it taking advantage. The decay or lack of functionality of a site is the responsibility of the persons maintaining it.

Unfortunately, the persons maintaining don't have an issue with the quagmire it calls a tagging system.

I have long been of the opinion that the tagging system in AO3 is a manifestation of laziness, born of wanting to do as little work as possible in making your website navigational. It also makes what folk recently learned about the OTW and how it treats its volunteers kinda scummy.

Also, let 2025 be the year people really start grappling with the fact awards are used to launder ideas and certain people before they're an actual recognition of skill or merit. Have we learned nothing from the Video Games Awards?

[greatrunner]

I'm sure somebody has said in a reblog or tags, but this isn't really a recent development. I'd argue this is a mainstay in most fanspaces where fanfiction is the predominant currency, esp if the writer started out during the late 90s and 2000s (like myself).

I remember getting reviews and DMs on FFnet from people who liked my stories (or the ideas behind them), but thought they needed structural work.

So, after taking one of them up on the offer to Beta Read (proofread) my stories, I started doing what everyone else my age was doing then: Sometimes leaving an author's note or note in the summary that said, "Not Beta Read". Typically meaning a): I posted this "hot off the press" or b) "I went over this once or twice, but not thoroughly", c) I don't have a beta reader..

By the time FFNet started allowing people to offer Beta Reading services, I stopped doing that because it became a chore, and I really didn't (and still don't) have mutuals who will proofread or go over my work. So, I started doing it myself. Now I get paid for my writing, so I don't ask anyone unless I'm willing to pay them for their time and... well, I'm broke, so I can't.

Kinda surprised people are still warning for it, though. Old habits, though.

[greatrunner]

I am very concerned for reading comprehension when a tweet that says "women/girls don't cause [people to] rape [them]" gets a wealth of reactionary responses like, "uh, actually women/girls can be rapists. something something school teachers!"*

One of these things is not like the other.

It takes less than sixty seconds to read something, read it again, then double check to make sure you're not misunderstanding it.

*(to say nothing of the retweets/replies that comprehend and believe, "actually, women are at fault for being raped. They're all whores.")

[greatrunner]

So, there are some people wondering where my fanfics went when they were reading them on AO3.

They didn't go anywhere. I didn't mass delete them. I just removed them from Archive of Our Own in protest of their Pro-Zionist/antI-Palestinian leanings.

If you still want to read them, though? They're on Fanfiction.net where they've been for the better part of my fan-related writing 'career'.

[greatrunner]

Every time I read or listen to a description of Colleen Hoover’s books, I’m just like, “Yeah, this asshole used to write fanfiction and was definitely one of those dweebs who thought she was hella progressive for writing “dark fic” online.”

[greatrunner]

Too often fantasy age gaps (esp in the context of vampires) are used as a shield for other mucky ass behavior that genre media itself has normalized as non-threatening. Rarely are they ever used to inform anything about the story being told.

This is something I noticed as a teenager who was the target demographic of novels like Twilight but didn't have the language to speak to. When I learned the author was a Mormon. I really started to question the motives of the story. (As an ex-Mormon - the circumstances surrounding "age gaps" in that cult are bad news from top to bottom.)

So, yeah, I'm always weary and critical of its use in fantasy, esp given how much media from the 90s (my formative years) really leaned into it without commentary. How it is depicted will make or break whether I stick with the story.

This poll is not Twilight-specific but it's Twilight related. Edward is 100 years old when he and Bella start dating. Some people are good with this, for others it bothers them.

It's fairly common in paranormal/fantasy romances for these sort of gaps to happen between a non-human love interest who is really, really old and a human who is like, 16-25. This is not a Twilight only phenomenon.

What are your Thoughts? Are you cool with Generic Human dating an immortal vampire, ageless angel/demon, or 10,000 year old fae/elf/whatever?

*for example, in Twilight, Edward was 86 years old when Bella was born, he could have still been alive if he were human. In contrast, Carlisle was already about 250 years old when Esme was born, they never would have been alive at the same time without the supernatural context.

[greatrunner]

I feel like if folks had thought - like, really thought - about how a-term-which-I-shall-not-utter-here, that is currently being used to scapegoat Black users and critical analysis writers that don’t sign-off on everything with a “it doesn’t effect reality” attitude, it wouldn’t have become a legitimized term on such a widespread scale.

But folks didn’t, and now we have juvenile dog-whistle (a term I’m not using incorrectly or lightly), coined by individuals who fancy themselves progressives (despite doing the most vile and racist shit, and couching behind the language of social justice and abolition), being used by actual anti-racist media consumers and academics writing about patterns in fandom.

And there’s no real thought to how they wound up where they are.

...Mostly because they think the terms innocuous and personally have no issue with using it to describe any subset of persons or communities “on both divides”.

Folk chose to argue using those terms, and now they’re stuck in a frame-of-reference that there is no reshaping, and damages nuanced discussion.

[greatrunner]

Perfectly acceptable answers to, "Where are my friends?" at sword-point

"We got separated"

"I left them behind"

"I don't know. But my friend needs your help."

Perfectly baffling answers to, "Where are my friends?" at sword-point

"You think you know this world, but you don't." (?????????)

"You're not gonna kill me."

"Ooh, you tried to kill me."

[Knocking your opponent out]

[greatrunner]

(An expansion of a previous post.)

As I've gotten older, it's become easier and easier to spot when someone is writing fanfiction with an informed perspective on the character and the media they're watching, and when they're writing fanfiction to use the character as a mouthpiece for their personal opinions, grudges, or agendas.

Unfortunately, more often than not, I've come across the latter and not the former.

[greatrunner]

It's a terribly insecure position to take on any kind of criticism or dislike expressed about tragic or darker narratives. How did you come to that conclusion, first of all, if you weren't willing to engage with the argument(s) with some kind of nuance? It rather smacks of 'making a thing your whole personality'.

Posts that are like “people who hate and avoid tragedy are bad because they obviously can’t handle the tragedy and evil of the real world or uncomfortable subjects and that makes them stupid” are the epitome of making up a guy to be mad at

[greatrunner]

Gargoyles is kinda stupid in the way the storytelling is clearly spinning its wheels via throwing every Urban Fantasy™ cliche and the kitchen sink into it’s series run.

I don’t think this show ever had a conclusive or overarching story to tell beyond the very concept of the show (”living gargoyles in a 90s modern day world”). It also seems kinda odd to even compare to Batman: The Animated Series, whose comic-bookish storytelling at least lends itself better to serialized nature of children’s television.

Mostly, I just don’t think the use of Shakespeare and King Arthur really works in the long run and feels more like a crutch for the storytelling itself (even if I’m aware that Wiseman and co. just wanted kids to read or investigate those particular stories more).

[greatrunner]

ProWritingAid's beef with passive voice is more than a little annoying.

[greatrunner]

Something I’ve noticed, and remembered, about fanfiction based on ensemble groups, is that a lot of authors never seem to consider the interior / off-screen lives of the characters (particularly in multi-chapter fics).

For whatever reason, they take every moment they see or read, or experience in gameplay, as the totality of the characters lives.

No one spends any time away from each other, no one has things they do apart from each other, no one has things they don’t share / tell each other (and it’s not some big betrayal). Everyone lives in the same place, and their personalities are boiled down to such simplistic terms that some (or most of them) are eventually infantalized because the proximity and closeness becomes their only defining trait through archetypes like, “the baby”, “the mom”, “the dad” of their cast.

You end up with these stories where some stan of a (typically) white (male) character (usually the comic relief or quippy dude) is ‘treated as invisible’, and that one character (who typically hates them) sees more than their friends b/c “he’s so ignored and neglected”, and, not to be a heel, but...

Have y’all ever actually been in a relationship where you aren’t attached to the hip of the person? Where you can go days, or months without seeing or talking said person and this isn’t treated like a massive crime because you aren’t checking in with said person (less than all the time)?

And when it comes to romance fics, it often feels like fandom is so enamored by the idea of characters spending all of their time together, that it borders on fetishization (”something something involving zero consent”, “claimed by [blank]”) or limited imagination.

Most of the time, these are grown-ass-adult characters. And if they’re not adults, they’re kids with other interests, and the time you consume with these characters in certain stories and scenarios shouldn’t be considered the totality of their existence.

[greatrunner]

Took the words right out my mouth, honestly.

I think the issue with Boom! Comics and how they've handled all the hypothetical questions they've run with using the Buffy/Angel license are problems that affect their general handling of famous IPs overall. I get the feeling that company is run by superfans or people who are so in love with their own ideas for things like BTVS and Power Rangers, they never stop to think "Is this a good idea for this particular franchise?"

Willow as a vampire slaying witch sounded awesome (that's a combo breaker, right there). Robin Wood as a teenager with a potentially healthily life (and living mother) being raised as a watcher sounded neat. Robin dating Buffy (because everybody noticed that chemistry between D.B. Woodside and Sarah Michelle Gellar) had the potential be a fun, fluffy teen romance (or tragedy knowing Buffy). Bisexual Xander was also interesting (if they did something with it), Xander being Buffy's childhood bff instead of Willow, also something you could run with. As was Anya as a Vengeance Demon ex-Watcher (???).

Robin Wood, Faith Lehanne, Kendra, are all characters that have potential for their own story arcs as well (they don't need to be attached to Buffy to, like, exist). Robin Wood is a walking, talking example of a Vampire Slayer (Nikki Wood) who decided to make a life for herself outside of her calling.

Boom! Comics Had every opportunity to make something really compelling with everything that was already established for all these characters.

The show is full of characters you could make a longform or one-shot series about, or not. But...

Instead, like you said, it's very much just published Fanfiction. Everybody's friends with everybody, Xander was a MRA vampire (I don't like the dude, but damn, why?). Willow wasn't a vampire slayer, just the same ole Willow who mucked something up with magic. The Sub-Zero of the series keeps getting jammed into the middle of everything (why the fuck was Spike on a goddamn road trip with everybody?????) if he's not part of the inciting incident.

Popular supporting characters are just the cheerleaders or the "in my headcanon we're pals" way, and characters who already had an otherwise unpleasant and racialized treatment in canon (Robin) only get worse treatment in some flimsy ass "Girl Power" story where all the dudes end up possessed by some underground evil (I forget the details).

And, then Angel, a character who was primed for the opportunities a comic book could provide in terms of long-form storytelling, angst and drama, just kinda got kicked to the side or fizzled out because no on writing him seemed all that invested in the survival of his title if they couldn't stick Spike into that shit. They went nowhere with Gunn, that cop lady, Fred, Oz. I don't even think Cordelia or Doyle even showed up, but I stopped reading at the start of the "Multiverse" arc.

And, like, for real for real, I'm not a fan of the Bangel romance (not even as a kid). But I can appreciate that the creep factor was "kind of the point"*, what with dude being both a vampire (a monster character whose schtick is about moral dubiousness, violation of personhood) and a stand in for the threats young women meet as they grow up (even if they don't see them as that). I can also appreciate that he, as a character, was meant to contradict that as a remorseful vampire.

However, I liked that their dynamic allowed for other interoperations of their relationship besides romantic (and that the show kinda reinforced for that with those Very Special Guest Appearances Boreanaz made post-S3).

You can have Bangel where Angel is still determined to make amends for his sins and help Buffy at the same time. You can have Bangel where they're not necessarily friends, but allies. Hell, Buffy and Angel could've even had a mentor/teacher dynamic like Blade/Whistler if you wanted to get interesting.

But instead, the writers decided to go with Buffy hating Angel on-sight during the Hellfire (or whatever) arc. And in opposition, Buffy ends up being more receptive to Spike being her ally and friend-of-a-friend, or her unironic love interest (The Last Vampire Slayer) despite all the heinous shit homeboy did. But Angel, the dude in her corner from the jump (however selfishly and aware of that), gets paid dust.

Like, really? Really, fam?

I was potentially optimistic about Buffy being reinterpreted outside the writing staff who worked on her series for all those years from TV to Dark Horse. Instead, I got exactly what I figured I'd get from a reboot series trying like hell to distance itself from its creator (despite there being no way to do that). Folk eager to regurgitate BTVS Fanfiction I've read for years (only slightly less racist).

*(even if the show stopped trying to make that an undercurrent at some point because TPTB bought into the unironic romance <_<)

Why Boom Still Can’t Get Buffy Right

My love for the Buffyverse is concrete but it has its limits. Yesterday I had a very unpleasant experience finishing yet another unimpressive Buffy run, courtesy of Boom Comics. It’s always disappointing to me because Buffyverse has so much potential and untold stories. It’s a goldmine that is constantly held back and simply can’t find its footing in the comics medium. Why is that? 

Boom’s been rather relentless in trying to make Buffy work. Several years and runs later, there’s still no big WOW story that can attract readers and viewers alike. Not just that, but even seasoned buffy fans don’t seem very interested in continuous attempts at rebooting the Slayer tale. You can blame the word reboot (it does tend to scare people) but the real reason is still Boom’s inability to deliver a good captivating story.

Boom had tried reinventing Buffy, sending her back to school, developing alternate realities and futures. But in every iteration, Buffy and the Scooby Gang were plagued with the same mistakes over and over again. 

Hey, I’m not sure what I am, so bear with me here 

The characters from Buffy are some of the most well-developed characters out there. Each one has a point of origin, a story, and a final form. We love them because we know them. And we know them extremely well. 

Let’s take the fan-favorite, Spike. We’ve seen his whole afterlife and even bits of his life. We know how he became William the Bloody, then Spike, a neutered vampire, and finally, an ensouled champion. We know how, and more importantly, we know why. 

I’d hate to throw in one more why but there is a reason Spike exists in the show, and we know it. 

When you read Boom comics, it feels like writers stick him into every arc just because they like him. He brings nothing to the story, he has no soul or chip yet chooses to join the scoobies. That does not look like the Spike we know. That guy was in s2-s4, not s5-s7. That’s the guy from School Hard or the one who got the Gem of Amara and happily marched to kill Buffy. 

But there’s nothing stronger than the author’s desire to make things ‘right’. Hence this spike lookalike joining the team every time. 

The funny part is, I can very well imagine a soulless chipless Spike who’s not a monster. If Dru sires him and never sees him again, if she never introduces him to Angelus, if he keeps on writing his bloody awful poetry only forever. He probably would’ve turned out like that poor librarian guy whose glasses Dru broke or like Harmony who still tried to be decent. But it’s the writer’s job to explain it, to write it into the story, not just throw a character into a book and see whether they swim or go down. They will always go down. 

Spike is only one of the issues here. In the show, both Kendra and Faith exist to show us the perfect (according to the council) and the fallen slayer. Two possible realities for Buffy. They have their own arcs (well, Faith does) but the show is strong because supporting characters serve a purpose. Just like the people we meet in real life always serve a purpose for us. You might believe that one character pushing the development of another is cruel, but that’s still how good stories are made. That’s still why Buffy is popular 20 years after the show’s finale. 

Kendra and Faith did that for Buffy in the show. In the Boom comics they just exist. They show up for no reason and they just hang around. You can take them out of the story and nothing will change. At one point in the initial reboot there were three slayers at the same time, and that felt more like a fix-it fanfic than a quality comic book. Unfortunately, some slayers have to die and some have to turn evil. Besides, without her rebellious personality, Faith is meaningless.

I have one more bone to pick. I know that Buffy and Angel (still the OTP of the show!) are a complicated matter to many modern writers. And readers, and viewers. There’s no place to hide from the creep factor and even though I will defend this ship till the day everyone finally agrees with me, I can’t deny its presence. But that doesn’t mean you get to discard this ship and separate Buffy and Angel into different books. One doesn’t exist or grow without the other. There is no Buffy in love with a vampire without Angel. There is only Vampire. Slayer. Dead vampire. 

Without Buffy, Angel is not in LA helping the helpless. He’s in New York eating low rats. Before trying to launch two separate books, how about Boom launches one good one, that provides background, even if revised and adapted to the modern days? 

I always worried what would happen when that b*tch got some funding

All this chaotic mess with the characters determines the stories Boom puts out. They tend to have an interesting start but by the time issue 3 comes out, it’s either Camazotz flying around Sunnydale, a giant crab taking over the main street, or whatever the hell Silas was (a soul eater?) Didn’t care for him much. Not even when we were evil. 

More often than not Boom writers suffer from the same disease that plagued Dark Horse comics – scale. Just because you can do anything doesn’t mean you should. Comics allow you to draw literally any kind of baddie but you are playing within a specific world, and suspense of disbelief only goes so far. Besides, in the show, it all grows gradually. You go from the Master to the First evil. In the comics… seriously, what the hell was Silas? 

From what I’ve read so far, Boom knows how to ask interesting questions: 

What if Buffy went to school today?

What if Willow took over as the slayer? 

What if Buffy was older? 

Those are all good what ifs but Boom has a problem following through. They don’t know the answer to this question and it feels like they’re making it up as they go along. If I’m being honest, it even feels like they wrote random ideas on pieces of paper, through them in a hat, and started pulling each time they hit a wall. 

Characters show up for now reason (hi, Tara from the latest run), they don’t feel like themselves, and the saddest part – none of it feels like you are getting your favorite show back. 

These characters deserve better than that. 

And there’s not a one who can say this ended well

At this point, I don’t know if Boom wants Buffy comics to succeed. I don’t mean to be this dramatic but every time someone mentions comics, fans think Dark Horse. Not because they are still considered canon, but because they had a connection to the beloved show. Boom comics don’t give you that, so you can’t look the other way when writers don’t deliver. It’s just how it works. 

I keep thinking what Boom can do to get out of this vicious circle. And I do believe there If they want to successfully play in the Buffyverse, they have to seriously up their game. It’s not impossible either. I mean, Something is Killing the Children is being released by the same studio. And what is that if not a more gruesome version of Buffy? So it’s not exactly magic. It’s doable. 

Personally, I still hold out hope that someone would dare explore the terrifying bloody past of the Whirlwind. Wouldn’t that be fun and gory? I’d like to see deep well-thought-through stories of past slayers. I’d happily read a well-illustrated comic run based on In Every Generation. And if we have to go back to Buffy variants, why not reinvent her story? But before we get to that, we’d have to work through every step of every character. Get them to where we want them, and start with a story that we want to tell, from start to finish. From her first day as a slayer to her last one (she didn’t have to empower the potentials after all).

That, of course, requires a lot of work. And if Boom isn’t ready to put in that kinda effort, they could just move from season 5, introduce a new slayer, and watch how her adventures unravel.  

Buffyverse is a hell of a property and there are too many stories waiting to be written. I’m probably still gonna give it a shot whenever Boom comes up with something new. I just hope I won’t have to write yet another long read complaining about it. 

[greatrunner]

Browsing through my essays like, “Damn, I actually wrote that. Damn, that actually makes sense. Damn, I’m good.”

[greatrunner]

Me: I’m gonna write a sequel trilogy fix-it.

Also me: Hold up, hold up. This is actually pretty good idea for an og story.

Me again: [abandons fix-it fic and starts plotting space fantasy]