#it's not like i *know* why they're choosing not to be upfront about the content

[not-poignant]

7 & 8 for the writing asks!

7. Your favourite ao3 tag.

The Explicit categorisation or the Rape/Noncon warning, which is pretty dark now that I think of it. I don't generally search Additional Tags very often, but if I do, Hurt/Comfort is at the top of the list when it's not kinks.

8. How slow is a slow burn?

It depends on the author and their style. And it depends on the characters. But I've seen stories labelled a slow burn that are like 5k words long and I have to admit, that's not a slow burn to me.

There's also different kinds of slow burn. You can have early sex but a slow burn to love. You can have early sex but a slow burn to kink. I've read a few different kinds and I tend to enjoy them all.

But I have no fixed idea of how long or slow they should be. I'm not like a slow burn puritan or anything. People can use the tag and I can decide for myself if I think it is based on like...word length and the writing style. :D

~

From this meme!

[myfandomrealitea]

Do you consider “cntw” or maybe “this may contain upsetting material” kind of warnings a valid one, as in it’s a “here be dragons” kind of thing?

Theoretically yes. (It is valid at face value, but I personally have a more nuanced view to tagging and content warnings.)

Technically no author has to include warnings (unless its AO3 and you're required to either use the given warning labels or choose 'chose not to use warnings') however there's a nuanced symbiosis with readers and authors, and if your deliberate intention is to put your art, especially triggering or traumatic art, out into the public, I believe you should be offering at least minimal safeguards for the people who may come across it.

'This may contain upsetting material' could mean anything from 'someone gets a medical procedure in this fic' to 'midway through the fic the MC is brutally kidnapped, raped, sold into human trafficking and tortured for years.'

Personally, vague warnings for content is fine over-all, but if I myself was going to be writing something extremely graphic or triggering, or if the 'content' in question made up the majority of the work, I'd offer additional warnings in some form. I know a lot of authors don't want to spoil future content or plots, but you could make an external document or Carrd page or spoiler-titled chapter with some warnings and information for those who are being cautious about their reading experience while also giving those who do not want to be spoiled the option of simply not looking.

Things like this are why I kind of hate the AO3 subreddit a little, because they get incredibly bullheaded about the blanket 'no obligation' rule. And while its true that authors have no obligations to their readers, its also true that people cannot actually do things like 'curate their own experience' or 'don't like don't read' if they never actually know what they're looking at until it turns into piss kink or domestic abuse midway through.

"I don't have to" become a kind of shitty stubborn tagline. If you actively want other people to read your stories and engage with you, you kind of have to also co-exist with those people. A lot of the time when I see people complaining about low engagement I check their works and the summaries are poor, they don't tag, and they don't use warnings.

To go back to my old Salmon Analogy, its kind of like warning for an allergy. You can choose to tell people that your dish may or may not have salmon. And you can choose to say no instead of telling them it has salmon. But then you can't be surprised or upset if they refuse to eat it or if they get pissed off because they wound up in hospital after eating it.

Ultimately, it is entirely up to you, the author, on how you present your work to the public, bu that also means accepting the results of those choices afterward. In the same way the reader is obligated to accept responsibility for choosing to read that work regardless of limited warnings or no warnings. However I personally find its just more effective over-all to be upfront about what a work contains.

As a reader, you should err on the side of caution and take CNTW or vague warnings at face value and assume the worst. Because the author isn't directly saying the content of the work is extreme, but they're also not saying it isn't. And if you suspect a lake may be infested with hungry crocodiles, you just don't jump into it.

[virtue-and-beneviolence]

Vi's Selfies Event

This one's all about being self indulgent. self shipping. self love. etcetc. So many folks are shy about self shipping and for silly reasons. That's why I'm here to say fuck it for you. For the next week or so, we're celebrating the joys of daydreaming about your faves.

"But that's cringe, virtue." Disrespectfully fuck off. If someone wants to bitch or judge anyone having some good, harmless, self-soothing fun, they're not welcome here...Now that that's outta the way, lets talk about how this is gonna go down :)

You (yes, YOU!) are going to send me an ask about the self ship of your choice. Tell me a bit about yourself. Tell me a bit about your character (I don't know every anime super well so this could be really important if its not tokrev or another one I'm really engaged with). Send a mood board or playlist or anything you think will help me appreciate the dynamic! Pic crews of you and your fave are welcome!

In return you'll get me gushing over you and your fave. Simple as that. Some little headcanons or scenarios for you to ponder, and probably some questions about your beloved self ship dynamic!

Important notes and rules:

Unless you explicitly request me not to, the ask will be published with your silly lil head canons or scenarios.

You don't have to be a moot, but I will not accept anons for this event for logistical reasons. PLUS this is unabashed self shipping! Nothing but resounding support here so no need for anon!

I will only answer one ask per person - so choose your self ship carefully!

You are not restricted to TokRev, but know I may not be very familiar with your character and that might affect the kind of content you get back.

I may get a little suggestive in the HCs so clearly state somewhere in your ask if a little suggestive content is a hard no

Be respectful to anyone and everyone else who takes part and consider interacting more with others' self ships.

I still reserve the right to refuse an ask if I feel uncomfortable, I don't expect that to happen, but I'd like to disclaim that upfront anyway

Block SelfVi's Event if you dont want to see this

So if you ever needed a sign that it's okay to talk about your self ship, consider this it and drop by for the SelfVi's event :)

[randomloserlover]

this is exactly what I love about II fandom aus, and by extension other object show ones too. they're so interconnected and rigid. you can't stray too far from the original source material without completely warping the setting and making it unrecognizable. you have to play within the set of rules the shows have. altering or adding anything signifigant to your au usually breaks all canon plausibility of it because of how specifically these worlds work.

if you do wish to strongly diverge from them, it has to be done slowly overtime in the story. otherwise you have to state upfront there's new elements at play unrelated to the show itself. and, unlike a lot of other fandoms, that's often a massive alienation which tends to heavily discourage people from looking into your fanfic. the core parts of the shows are what makes them so special to us, and the characters are made who they are entirely because of being in them. changing that removes the most important bits of the source material and might as well be about something else entirely.

then there's the limited but lovable cast of characters... there's a reason why there's so many evil test tube lab aus, lol. it feels weird and wrong to portray one of them in a negative light unless it's already a common normal in the fandom. and even then it still feels like a destruction of their character, the canon version of them wouldn't do these things. it's practically a disservice to fans who enjoy them. every character has something compelling about them- it's rare to find a nobody that people seldom like. yet authors need an antagonist, so they have to choose someone or make a brand-new girl up.

the absolute weirdest thing about all of this is how outlandish it all is to anyone outside of the fandom. object shows are so different from other types of media that enjoying fan content of them can be difficult if you don't know what they're about. I mean, it's literally talking objects. every now and then I get reminded of how odd this fandom is, here's an example from a fic I read recently (fanfic is called All That Glitters Isn't Gold, written by @kanatacs on ao3):

no one outside of the osc is going to take this seriously lol. we enjoy such a niche little world that looks ridiculous to anyone else. II just took this a step even further, it's wholeheartedly disconnected from any semblance of a real world to ours. it's kind of impressive how much effort fandom writers put in to follow the newly revealed canon, really. yet because of our love for these shows we commit ourselves to creating content that mirrors them, little or a lot, and fully immerse ourselves in these isolated universes.

the weird thing about writing osc and specifically ii fanfic is that like. everybody is the main character. and there aren't any like one-off side characters or background characters you could demonize for your fanfic about abuse or whatever

and since for a lot of object shows LITERALLY nobody in the world exists outside of the cast you can't create a guy either. so if you want to write about a character being abusive and horrible to another character it literally NEEDS to be a character who is also a main character and probably someone's favorite babygirl character. idk its a weird dynamic vs shows where you can make up your own extended lore if you need abusive parents or exes or whatever. everybody needs full empathy and personality bcuz they are like..... an actual guy in the show. there's nobody who isnt really important

most osc writers would get around this by just choosing a super unlikeable character from canon and making them abusive or whatever (nickel, trophy, silver spoon etc) but it isnt as common in general for those types of stories to even exist bcuz..... there are such specific limits to the world they even exist in. and if its a completely different alternate universe they basically feel like your ocs

they all live together and play together and compete together. NONE of them have outside friends or family. they dont even exist outside of the concept of the show they're competing in. they'll never know another person. romance doesnt really seem to happen very much at hotel oj anyway. Basically just a bunch of guys existing outside of time and space and reality in their own hype house. the most you can do is two characters from different seasons who never interacted