#one for every fic and PUBLISHED NOVEL??? where she's punished and turned into a hateful bitch for not wanting to fuck Spock

[bumblingbabooshka]

TOS T'Pring should be able to live her 'I think I like this little life' dreams!!

[freedom-of-fanfic]

I'm kind of torn on the Mary Sue issue. On one hand, I don't care what anyone writes for their own amusement, but writing is still an art that does and should have standards for professionals. As someone who has degrees in writing and does it as a profession, it's a little insulting to be told that the work your poured tons of research and time into is on the same level as amateur self-insert fic. That's why I advocate for different standards for fandom vs pro work.

I feel you, anon. and I have a lot of respect for people like you who got degrees and write professionally, because words are held rather cheap with the internet being around and anyone who can get paid to write words impresses me to some degree. but:

 I’ve always felt like comparing fanfic and original fiction to be not exactly congruous? and 

I think Mary Sue suffers from maligning because she’s disproportionately evoked by the youngest/least experienced of writers.

this got … pretty long … so i’m dividing it up a little for ease.

the concept of ‘standards’

first of all, I also advocate for different standards between published/professional/marketed works and fan works, but I do so because of 1)potential spread and 2)they aren’t accomplishing the same thing.

In general, a fanwork will have limited appeal outside of the fans of the canon the work is based in; they cannot stand on their own without some additional effort. Further, fandom has its own language to some degree or another, and fanworks are frequently best understood in the context of other fanworks, like scientific papers citing other scientific papers in passing because the audience is expected to be other scientists in the field who have read it. In other words: the audience is probably fairly niche and in on the ‘lingo’. its potential damage circle is therefore relatively small. if somebody fucks up their research for a fic, it’s nbd, for instance.

On the other hand, an original work with a professional marketing team will certainly reach a much more diverse audience and probably a much larger one. It’s therefore responsible, imo, to be proportionately aware of the potential impact of the subject material and approach it accordingly (though true fiction will always have an unpredictable effect on any given individual, so there’s only so much the creator can do). I’d expect accuracy where research was done, if for no other reason than to avoid spreading false information to such a big potential audience.

and of course I’d hope that if somebody is being paid to write, their grammar/prose/proofreading will meet a certain standard of readability. (the same cannot be expected of free works done for fun that take a few minutes to post on the internet.)

having said that: standards for quality fiction writing will always be subjective. I’m always going to have questions about why The Sound and the Fury is an American classic (I couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard I tried).  What gets published can be as simple as having good luck with the slush pile reader that day. I’ve seen fanfiction complimented with incredible research: there’s a Tokyo Babylon work-in-progress with an author who has traveled to fic-relevant locales to nail story and character details. I feel the line is blurring these days, especially because there are people who make a living off writing commissioned fanfiction now (too small-scale to be an IP concern, of course).

I think the fundamental difference between fanworks and original works is not quality of the work itself or effort expended.  It’s related to structure and aim. 

Fanworks, even AU fanworks, are like interior decoration. A 'good fanwork’, even an AU fanwork, works within a pre-built framework to elaborate on or add to or evoke what drew its audience to the framework in the first place. 

Original works build a whole new house, creating a new framework from bare construction materials to draw in and house the emotions of its readers. (and then maybe its readers decorate the house with their own fanfic.)

tl;dr: if an AU fanfic was so different from canon and the characters were so OOC that the author can shave the serial numbers off and repurpose it as an original story, it might be a great original work. But it wasn’t a very good fanfic, was it?

why is mary sue so offensive to us?

I don’t know if you’ve ever read the post Mary Sue, What Are You?, but what I keep coming back to is its iconic opening. the author describes an OC at length: orphaned as a child when her parents were killed in front of her, she decided she would dedicate her life to fighting for justice. She grew up to be rich, athletic, beautiful, sexy, angsty, a genius, undefeatable in a battle of wits and agility, and everyone who meets her is instantly lovestruck. In other words, a classic Mary Sue …

but also Batman with female pronouns.

I think one could argue that Batman is not always well-written, but the relevant point here is that Batman - and Mary Sue - might be 99.9% perfection in the shape of a human around whom the universe revolves, but if its their own canon and the universe doesn’t recognize their perfection the way the reader/writer does, it’s not really 'bad’. (And there’s something to be said about why giving this power fantasy male pronouns seems to render it so much more palatable than female pronouns, but for more on that I point you to the referenced essay.)

Your ask is worded to suggest that Mary Sue is synonymous with unprofessional writing. I … kind of agree? Mary Sue is frequently the main character of Baby’s First Fanfic, and let’s be real: Baby’s First Fanfic is often being written by somebody who might be as young (or younger than) 12-13 years old, with all the inexperience, grammar mistakes, and lack of training that suggests. and as far as characterization goes, I think that anyone who takes decent writing classes will be discouraged from writing a Mary Sue. But like Batman, Mary Sue can be a perfect princess and get away with it under certain circumstances.

I posit that Mary Sue characters (or Gary Stus) - whom I will call Flawless OCs from here - are not really a problem on their own. Further, Flawless OC is more agregious in fanfic than original works. Because what makes the Flawless OC so irritating isn’t their perfection, really: it’s what the character’s presence must do to the universe (which is, in the case of fanfic, the universe the reader came to experience in the first place) that’s the real problem.

To show what a good fighter Flawless OC is, they defeat the best canon fighter.

Flawless OC has a backstory more tragic and painful than the most tragic canon backstory, and they cope with the trauma of it better.

There’s no room for Flawless OC because canon wasn’t holding a spot open for a self-insert, so now there’s a 6th Lion or a 10th Fellowship member or a Second Child Who Survived Voldemort.

The entire universe bends to ensure Flawless OC has perfect luck; their enemies are helpless before them. Everything seems to go their way except in the chapter where the their love interest is supposed to rescue them from danger. (the rescue goes flawlessly, of course.)

Depending on the author wish that Flawless OC is meant to fulfill, Flawless OC will defeat any undefeatable enemy, solve the unsolveable problem, be the envy or lust object of any character, etc etc, often without regard for the original context of the enemy/problem or the canon personality of the character.

In short, Flawless OC usually have two major issues: 

they render canon irrelevant to glorify Flawless OC, and 

the universe constantly validates their choices to a degree that wrecks narrative suspense. 

what makes each of these things 'bad writing’ is different.

The first problem I mentioned - warping of mythos, plot, and characters to accomodate the Flawless OC - is a fanfic problem.  Canon-warping absolutely allowed, but what makes it fanfic - the canon source that acts as our shared experience and usually our main reason for being a potential audience to the fic - is almost always nigh-unrecognizable. That makes for bad fanfiction, but it doesn’t always make for bad fiction. Change all the parts of canon enough and you’ve arguably got an original work. It might even be a good original work if the author has writing skill.

The second problem - the validation of the universe - is what makes Flawless OC a dull read in any context. If Flawless OC wants something, you know they’ll get it. If Flawless OC hates someone, you know they’re going to catch hell. If Flawless OC needs to be vulnerable for their love interest, something just bad enough to make them vulnerable will befall them. The perfection of the OC is less of an issue than the lack of meaningful conflict. (A character can have no faults and still be interesting to follow if they must struggle against a universe that doesn’t care.)

to wit:

there’s a fantasy book by David and Leigh Eddings - The Redemption of Althalus - that I read long ago. it stuck with me to a peculiar degree because for a book with such a unique conceit, it was incredibly boring. This is published fiction: it had editors, a marketing team, and was written by professionals with lots of experience! But looking back, none of this saved the story from featuring Gary Stu in a universe that catered to his every need.

The main character, Althalus, is ostensibly a person in need of redemption for being such a bad person all his life and never punished for it, but he’s a loveable, quick-witted rogue almost from the start. To 'redeem’ himself, he’s tasked with saving the world from Enemies (we’re told they’re evil, but I don’t think we see them more than once or twice).  Protected by the Goddess of Luck - literally - for the entire novel, there’s never a single moment where Althalus’ victory over the Enemy is in question. He never does anything really awful that would explain his need to be redeemed (in fact, it turns out the Luck Goddess is the one who protected him from punishment all his life). The enemy is weak, forgettable, and constantly outwitted, and the protagonists, supposedly people of gray morality, never did anything worse than be snarky.

The unique conceit that kept me reading was the House at the End of the World. Being the home of the Goddess, it had doors that opened to anywhere on the planet. but for an idea with such double-edged possibilities, it turned out to be an impregnable fortress of Good. The House and its owner were the forces that bent the whole book’s universe to the inevitable triumph of the main character and his companions.

A counter-example might be Miraculous Ladybug. I’ve often wondered if Mary Sue could be written well and be likeable, and Marinette - the titular Ladybug - is probably close. She’s good at almost everything and always outwits her enemies; even when she seems confident to the point of arrogance, it’s justified by her endless successes. (Her only real flaw is being clumsy when she’s distracted, and it only happens when it’s conveniently cute. this is a walking Mary Sue cliche.) Her power is to be lucky, after all.  

However: even though everything ends up right for Marinette at the end of every episode, she’s not rewarded when she acts poorly towards others. She causes herself problems when she does. Her luck powers give her the ability to bend the universe a little, but the universe is otherwise unforgiving; she’s subjected to the same banalities as everyone else and learns to be a better person along the way.

OTOH if you put Ladybug in another canon with a makeover to recast her as Flawless OC, changing everything so she could occupy a central role like the one she has in her own series, she’d be insufferable: hence Ladybug is a solid example of how a Mary Sue can prosper provided she’s in a universe designed to both feature her and contain her powers for the sake of Good.

I apologize for how long a reply this is. Still: I hope it successfully illustrates for you that:

though original writing and fanfic writing use the same tool (words), and both can use them masterfully, what original writers like you do and what fic writers do are, in general, very different things.

And Mary Sue is what you make of her. In the right universe, she’s just a very lucky person. :)

[clonerightsagenda]

alright... this is a vague as hell question so i understand if you gotta think about it for a while, but do you have any advice on writing? or maybe about the process of how you personally write things? i love how organic all the emotions in your fanfictions seem to be. it's not over the top but they still seem /tangible/, you know? i aim to have that kind of skill some day so i figure i may as well ask where i can, but no pressure or anything! thank you :)

Well, first of all, thanks for the compliment! It’s always exciting as a writer to hear that things are coming across well. And it’s very flattering to have someone come to you for advice.

Now, my writing style and process vary dramatically between fic and original stuff. There aren’t a lot of examples of my original stuff online - I put a few stories up here, here, and here, and of course there’s the shitty vampire novel, but all of those are pretty old. I don’t have any current examples of my original stuff; I’m hoping to get back into that more once TLC stops eating my life. So I guess I’ll split this response into halves, with a section for generic advice as well. So thirds, I guess.

General

This is something you hear everywhere, but the number one ingredient in good writing is time. I’m 23 years old.  I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. And my early stuff is shit. That being said, it’s fun shit - there’s this joyful abandon you can find in really early work, where the writers don’t know any of the rules, don’t care about what other people think, and are having fun in this new world where they can do anything. I love looking back at my old stuff for that reason.  But in terms of quality, it’s not great. Now…  I’m not going to be arrogant; I’m not spectacular, but I’d say I’m pretty consistently OK. Solid.  And a good chunk of that is because I’ve been writing for nearly two decades.

That being said, this time I’m talking about is over *years*. I don’t hold with advice that says you have to write every day to be a writer, even if you feel miserable doing it. Doing something when you hate doing it is a good way to poison it for yourself forever. There’s a difference between knowing you’ll get into a writing session once you start and you’re just dragging your feet vs. forcing yourself when you don’t want to. Don’t punish yourself if you don’t feel like writing today or if you don’t have the time. Don’t fret if you’ve gone a year without touching any of your wips! You can always come back to it. It’s not a race.

You’ve probably heard this next one already as well, but reading is also important. Find authors you like. See what they’re doing. Learn. And this 100% includes the writers you like online.* There are some people online doing incredible things with language that I haven’t seen as much in published fiction, because self-published stuff is a crucible for creativity that might not get past official publishers as much or as quickly. (Ngl it’s also a dumping ground for a lot of bad stuff, but you have to do the filtering). The more you read, the more you have to draw from when you’re developing your own style.

*(If your goal is publication, you do need to read a lot of what’s being published in the genre you’re aiming for. Most of my advice here is focused on just writing for pleasure. Publication has some different considerations.)

Finally, if you have an opportunity to give and get critique, go for it. You learn a lot from pulling other people’s writing apart. What worked? What didn’t? How can you apply that to your own work? Do note though, that unless people are asking for this level of criticism, they may not appreciate you showing up and giving it to them. There are some sites that involve people critiquing each other, or you might find a workshop class or group. You can also find friends who might be interested in swapping stories. Always figure out what your boundaries are and how honest you want your friends to be. Setting that up at the start is a good way to avoid hurt feelings later.

Those are all pretty general and obvious, and I’m sure you’ve heard most of them before. So let’s move on to my process and break the rest of this response into two.

Fic-related

I’ll start with fic since that’s what you mentioned. Again, a major ingredient is time. I’ve been in this fandom for 5 ½ years, which is kind of horrifying to think about. I wasn’t writing fic for all of that time, but what I was doing was a lot of meta and character analysis. I really love digging into characterization and motivation. How does this character really feel? Why do they do what they do? What would be the best way for them to develop as a person?  Those are questions I dealt with in my meta posts, but they are also questions that you frequently deal with in fanfic. Then TLC happened, and I ended up writing tens of thousands of words for these characters. That was a hell of a lot of practice. So, I got very comfortable with them. I can whip off a pesterlog like that these days.

What really got me comfortable though, was assigning a kind of speedy and carefree attitude to fic. I tend to be very protective of my work. For a long time, I wouldn’t let anyone read anything I wrote. A real turning point was when I went to a workshop where the instructor challenged us to submit something. I submitted something terrible to a literary journal, and it got rejected, but I also got a really nice note, probably since whoever looked it over realized how young I was. That first submission broke some of the tension. However, I still tend to be cautious. I’m a perfectionist. I like to get things right. So with fic, I really tried to let go of that. I don’t polish this stuff as much as I’d polish original material. I usually do a little more if I am putting it up on ao3, but I will write something in one go and slap it online. That’s incredibly freeing. It makes me more productive, and I think some of the stuff I write fast and loose is often some of my better stuff. The John and Jade pajamas thing, which I think is by far the superior tuesjade prompt response I’ve done, popped into my head all together. I wrote it down, did one pass of revision, and was done. Telling yourself ‘I’m just going to write this thing because it’s fun and I want to, and I’ll put it up online in case anyone else wants to look at it, and if they don’t like it I don’t care because I like it’ is liberating. When you’re no longer so worried about getting everything perfect and making sure other people will love it, I think you write better stuff.

In terms of process, most of my fic is short. I usually have an idea, often a few scenes will pop into my head fully formed, and I’ll write it. There’s typically not a lot of planning involved. In my longish 6-10k stories, I usually do this for multiple scenes and then paste them together. Now, I planned the hell out of TLC, but that’s because it’s 1500+ pages with over 30 characters to deal with.  If I didn’t plan everything out, I’d be halfway through and realize I’d forgotten a main character. And that would be terrible.

I want to make sure I touch on emotion, since that’s something you mentioned. A lot of it does go back to all that analysis I did so I got pretty comfortable with how I interpret these characters’ inner lives. Then I had to figure out how comfortable they would be talking about that stuff, how they would express it, and what circumstances might encourage them to be more vocal. The nice thing is, people sitting around talking about their feelings is a perfectly acceptable fic genre. I’m not saying you can’t get away with that in original stuff - I’ve seen some good examples - but it’s not a hallmark in the same way. Fic is about filling in the gaps, and since content creators often don’t slow down to show these quiet emotional moments or the emotional impact of various story events, fic writers and fic readers love them.  

When I’m writing something focusing on emotion, I try to avoid “quick fix” stories. You can’t suddenly solve depression or anxiety or trauma. Instead, my moments of catharsis typically involve someone learning to be more honest than they had before about their problems, an exchange of insecurities, a realization of what they have left to overcome, or another sort of “small step”. They’re quiet, tiny progressions on a scale of getting better, and maybe that’s why they feel more organic? Sometimes you get a big epiphany in life, but more often you get a lot of small ones.

I do think stories focused on emotional development can very easily seem forced and false, so I’m pleased that you don’t think mine do! It’s something I worry about. I think the biggest trick is to make sure the characters aren’t just talking about something because you want them to. Would they realistically admit something? How would they respond to being questioned? Are they doing this because they want to, or is it obvious that the fic author has tied them to a chair and is pointing emphatically at a teleprompter offstage? One advantage for me is that a lot of my fic is set post-TLC where people have aired a lot of their grievances. However, they’re still sometimes reluctant, say one thing and mean another, or cloak one emotion in something different. Once you know how a character behaves, you can write them behaving that way and still express the true emotions underneath through the ways they try to hide them. I think Catch Me If You Can is a good example of that. Vriska is allergic to being genuine (that’s kind of her whole arc in that fic) and so instead of being upfront about her emotions, she frequently gets defensive and hostile. However, those defensive responses betray a lot about what she’s really feeling. So often, I like to express character’s emotions in the negative space between their reactions and their true sentiments. What we don’t say or only allude to is often more important than what we do. Sometimes the words we use are just distractions.  (In contrast, Dave will talk to a wall, and TLC Jade is so determined not to repeat her mistakes she turns honesty sometimes into a cudgel or penance.) Often, characters being truly honest to each other and straight-up admitting their feelings shows up at the ending of one of my fics as the resolution moment, once they’ve worked their way up to that level of vulnerability. See: A Horrible Kind of Nice.

OK, let’s touch quickly on original stuff. In terms of process, it’s the total opposite. I outline the hell out of it. Maybe not for some a shorter stories, but for anything long? I love outlines. I also tend to start with the plot first. That’s something, after spending so many years focused on fic, that I’m starting to reconsider. I think that when I go back to original stuff, I’m going to spend a lot more time immersing myself in the characters first, so I can write them as authentically as I hope I write people in fic these days. I also write out of order. Is there some scene you are really itching to get to? Write it. This goes for scenes in the same story, though. You do need some level of discipline to not keep jumping from new idea to new idea abandoning your old ones. You’ll never get anything done that way. I do think there’s power in finally completing something too. In my experience anyway, after I completed my first long story, it got a lot easier to finish other ones. I did that with the help of NaNoWriMo, but I’ve since done it on my own.

This has gotten very long, so I’ll cap it off there.  It’s a big question that can be answered a lot of ways, and I feel like I mostly rambled. So if you’d like clarification on anything, or if you want to say 'hey Kat you didn’t answer my question at all’, feel free to ask a follow-up.

[prixmiumarchive]

Do you ever wish for a place to talk to other fanfiction writers? Do you get frustrated with the lack of commentary and text in a commentary-and-text-based medium of expression? Do your plot bunnies look like this fellow in the above, not-so-great banner? Do you miss the days when we called them plot bunnies? Has disenchantment with the state of the discussion of transformative works made you long for the days of dial-up, yahoo groups, and tiny fic archives run on GeoCities? Then this Discord server may be the solution for you!

Now, you might have questions. What is Discord? Isn’t it full of hentai? Do I have to install another application on my duct-taped-together computer? Can I do this on mobile? What, exactly, would make this have the potential for being anything better than the oft-abandoned, crickets-chirping concept of tumblr networks from a couple of years ago?

Those answers and more will be below the read-more. This is a living document which can be reblogged but whose content under the read-more may change. You can find this information and any other important updates to it in a static location at http://metamorprose.dreamwidth.org

Contents

Who this server is for.

How is it set up? 

What is Discord? 

What are Roles?

How do I set a Role or Roles for myself? 

What/why Metamorprose?

Rules for Metamorprose.

Punishments on Metamorprose. 

Disclaimers.

Who this server is for.

This server is intended for those who write fanfiction. If you have written 1,000 words or more of fanfiction, then you can assume this includes you, if you want it to. This is an all ages server with a few important exceptions. At present, there are three text-channels that are marked NSFW, meaning you will need to verify that you are of age to view them. Those text-channels are: nsfw-warren, nsfw-celebritiesrpf, and nsfw-musicbands. They are marked that way for these reasons: #nsfw-warren is a place to talk about writing fic that is rated M or E, #nsfw-celebritiesrpf and #nsfw-musicbands are marked that way because they are under increased moderation and discretion because they may deal with real persons who are living.

This server is open to individuals 13+ with the nsfw channels being restricted to those 18+. Any user found to enter an nsfw channel under the age of 18 will be subject to disciplinary action. Your curiosity and maturity is not wroth getting someone else in trouble.

Metamorprose is intended as a place for people who have a current or frequent interest in writing fanfiction. This does not mean that you must be writing at a certain pace or publishing a specific amount. Writer’s Block happens and so does real life. What this does mean is that if you are just a casual fanfiction reader who rarely writes that this might not be the most fun place for you. If you are an avid reader who has a lot of recs, even if you don’t write, you are welcome to join and see what happens. Any specific entry requirements or rules will be implemented and updated on an as-needed basis. For now, it is up to your discretion whether or not you would be a good fit.

How is it set up?

Metamorprose is vaguely rabbit themed in honor of ‘plot bunnies’ and their legacy. You do not have to care about or like rabbits. It was just the first naming scheme that came to mind.

At the time of invitation launch, the following are the text-channels on the Metamorprose Discord server:

#foxden - off-topic and social chat #rabbithole - where you go to role yourself #thewarren - fanfiction writing/process discussion #nsfw-warren - same as above for M/E-rated material #recs - rec fics by others #selfpromo - rec/promote fics by yourself #beta - seek/offer beta services #ficexchanges - yuletide? uh... anything else? promote and discuss here #catnip - PG13 very off-topic thread, stuff you just had to share that isn’t conducive to regular conversation #inspiration - aesthetics, music, etc. you want to share and chat about what it makes you feel or reminds you of #groupwatching - a place to set up sharing your favorite shows and movies and whatever else, through rabb.it or another service (not affiliated with this vague bunny theme) And text-channels for which you must have the appropriate role assigned to enter where you can discuss fanfiction writing and ideas and related topics for a given genre/medium. These subdivisions are based on Archive Of Our Own’s division of the same with some alteration.

#animemanga #booksliterature #cartoonscomicsgn #nsfw-celebritiesrpf #movies #nsfw-musicbands #theatre #tvshows #videogames #webseries These may change an the adminabun (me) is always looking for constructive suggestions on just about any aspect of my life.

What is Discord?

Discord advertises itself as “Free Voice and Text Chat for Gamers.” In addition to self-proclaimed gamers, it is also a place where one might find those who are interested in “memes” as a way of life and anime/manga fans with some overlap with tech-savviness. These are all generalizations, though.

Discord, in my personal experience, is very similar to Skype but with many more options. It is also, at present, ad-free, and to my knowledge plans to stay that way. If you are interested, the Discord team has provided a comparison chart of their features: https://discordapp.com/features

If you do game, do voice chat, or anything else, then it is my understanding that it really is a great application to use for that. For simple, text-based creatures like myself who rarely play games, however, it is a perfectly serviceable place to keep organized chats and PMs, all under one roof.

Another great thing about Discord is that you have several options to use it. You can use it in your browser simply by pressing “Open Discord” on the app’s homepage. You can use it in a desktop program/application, available for download on the app’s homepage. You may also use their mobile app, which to my knowledge is available for both iOS and Android. (I use Android, so if you have iOS issues with it, not my area.)

The application’s website is here: https://discordapp.com/

What are Roles?

A “Role” is a discord feature and term that determines aspects of a user’s status, permissions, and abilities within a server and its individual channels. For the purposes of Metamorprose, you should choose the one or two most-relevant genre/media roles and the posting medium (where you put your fic most-often) for yourself. The genre/media role will determine your username color, and if anyone hates their genre’s color I would be open to putting it to a poll. If you have more than one genre, you will inherit the color of the genre that comes first in the alphabet. AO3/Fanfiction.net/tumblr roles do not impact your name color.

The currently-available self-assignable roles are:

genre/media: - Anime & Manga - Books & Literature - Cartoons & Comics & Graphic Novels - Celebrities & Real People - Movies - Music & Bands - Theatre - TV Shows - Video Games - Web Series

posting medium: - AO3 - Fanfiction.Net - tumblr

How do I set a Role or Roles for myself? 

First, you need to be in the text-channel #rabbithole. I am just learning about bot usage for this venture, but at present I use a bot called Nadeko. She is a bot who sits there on the channel at all times and will, unless she is having server downtime, respond to your commands. The commands you need to know for self-assigning roles are:

you: .lsar

Sending the message ‘.lsar’ will show you a list of self-assignable roles.

you: .iam ROLE

Sending the message ‘.iam ROLE’ will assign the role typed in place of ROLE to you. For example, if I want to assign myself the Anime & Manga role, I type this exactly: ‘.iam Anime & Manga’. Nadeko will message you back when the deed is done. If It doesn’t work immediately, try again in a few minutes.

you: .iamnot ROLE

Sending the message ‘.iamnot ROLE’ will unassign the role typed in place of ROLE to you. For example, let’s say I am finished with my current Anime & Manga fic project or am moving on to another fic for now. I can type exactly this: ‘.iamnot Anime & Manga’ and Nadeko will tell me when she has unassigned the role from me.

Please note that using these roles most effectively is not assigning yourself every single one of the genre/media roles that you sort of like. Having one or two genre/media roles active at once will make it easy for people to see what you are currently interested in writing, are writing, etc. There are plenty of places you can ping-pong from liked-topic to liked-topic at the speed of your fingertips, tumblr included. This server will be the greatest resource to you if you use roles and the genre-specific text-channels judiciously. You can alter your roles as much as you want, within reason, so you are not stuck just because you have an interest shift. (Trust me, I am the queen of multifandom lack of focus.) Just don’t abuse Nadeko. She is a free service who does not belong to me.

What/why Metamorprose? 

I just wanted a name for the server that was kind-of unique and meant something.

“Metamorphose” is a verb meaning to change the form or nature of;  transform.

“Prose” is what most of us write in, striving for the middle ground between purple and beige.

In the age-old fandom tradition, therefore, it is a portmanteau for the process of creative transformative works: metamorprose.

Rules for Metamorprose. 

1. Treat others with courtesy and respect. Do not insult a person, disagree respectfully, and only offer constructive criticism.

2. Do not bait or otherwise goad another user into misbehavior. This will be considered misbehavior as well. If you are having an issue with a user, please come to the adminabun or any assigned mods to deal with it.

3. Do not post NSFW material in non nsfw channels. This does NOT include posting clearly marked M/E-rated fics in fic rec channels.

4. Keep on-topic within reason in the text channels that are not the #foxden. Reasonable and brief rabbit trails are fine, but don't turn them into niche off-topic channels.

5. Use good sense. Use discord's features appropriately. If you don't know how to or if you can do something, Google it first. If you can't figure it out from the first page of Google results, ask someone you trust. The adminabun is willing to take your questions about discord operation, within reason, after you have tried googling it yourself.

6. Non NSFW-channels should be kept at a PG-13 tone. There are no nsfw or profanity filters set up on the non-nsfw channels, so this is based on the honor system and abuse of this WILL get you warned.

7. Theft or plagiarism will merit a warning or an immediate ban, depending on context and severity, at admin/mod discretion. 8. Do not direct people directly to your patreon or ko-fi page. What you do in PMs with friends is up to you but do not otherwise promote monetary gain for yourself on this channel.

9. Do not offer financially-compensated commissions on this channel for fic or for art.

10. More rules may be added and will be announced, but ignorance of a rule is not an excuse to not follow it.

On Dreamwidth: http://metamorprose.dreamwidth.org/334.html

Punishments on Metamorprose. 

Egregious and flagrant violation of any of the above rules or other abusive behavior may be cause for immediate ban. However, the general rule is that 3 warnings result in a softban. This will ban you but will allow you to rejoin the channel again after you’ve had a cool-down. 5 warnings will result in a permanent ban.

Disclaimers. 

This Discord server is not affiliate with any of the following: Archive Of Our Own, the Organization for Transformative Works, Fanfiction.net, tumblr, rabb.it, dreamwidth, yuletide, or any other unnoted, official organization. It is a project by the fan and fanfiction writer whose Discord tag is Prix#9110.

By clicking the following link, you agree to be subject to the aforementioned rules and policies, whether you read them or not: https://discord.gg/z3FHEYQ