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bramble-mouse · 2 months

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Bramble's Big Stinkin' Roleplay Ad

I am a 29 year old they/them wierd-ass writer/roleplayer that loves g/t and vore probably way too much.

First and foremost: You MUST have your age in your bio! If you do not disclose your age or are a minor, I will not RP with you.

With that out of the way, let me get to the good stuff.

Likes: -Vore (oral only please!)

-G/t

-Fearplay

-Borrower universes

-Faeries

-God/human interaction

-Gay shit. So much gay shit.

-Cute g/t scenarios

-Enemies to lovers/friends

-Big funky mythical giants

-Monster/human

Dislikes:

-NSFW stuff for the sake of it. If we have OCs that bond over time and it makes sense for them to bang, I'll be open to it! But horby things just for horby are a no for me.

-'Messy' vore associated kinks; scat, piss, vomit, etc.

-Cruelty for no reason; Most of my characters don't really have casual cruel streaks, but can either play the role for your OC for fun or may slip into that role if they are protecting your OC. Also, killing off your OC immediately doesn't do much for an ongoing story.

-RPing opposite OCs that are Minors. This is something that makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

-Straight up IRL self insert. I will not RP as myself, full stop. I have been asked to do this in the past, or RP with someone else who is just playing them self and I am super not ok with it. OCs only.

-Saying creepy shit to me OOC. Please don't be weeeeeird.

-Use of AI art for OC refs. Picrew, hand drawn/commissioned or even just a written description are what I like to see!

What I am looking to RP:

-Vore (primarily non-fatal, but I am willing to discuss a one-shot fatal vore scenario to RP )

-G/t (I like the beeg and the smol)

-Semi-literate (This doesn't have to mean a big novel of a post but I am looking for RP partners that intend to advance a story, even if its just something casual/slice of lifey)

-Borrower/Giant based plots (i.e. my OC finds yours is living in the walls, my OC finds yours lost in the woods). I don't mind cliche plots when I'm writing self-indulgent size content LOL. Or, if you have a really cool scenario you'd like to suggest, I'd love to hear your pitch! Let's just have fun!

-Straight up boning will probably not take place unless I feel it makes senses between our characters. Boning for the sake of boning is just not really my style :U

I would like to write one of my giant OCs! Bramble, a they/them giant wizard in training. Chill af, tends to be good for slice of life scenarios. Kind of a gremlin. They are an artist, a writer and love to do crafts. More playful and willing to pretend to be mean. They have a bioluminescent belly! Well suited for slice of life, borrower themed RPs and modern fantasy. They are only for a platonic RP as they are married. Frio, a very pretty he/him frost giant hermit who studies magic. Very gentle and sweet, very scared of hurting tiny folks, constantly fighting his rather gluttonous instincts. He's good at knitting, loves animals and cooking/baking. Good for a fantasy RP, slice of life or something with horror elements! He is good for romantic or completely platonic bonds! Aine, a she/her storm giantess archmage and magic teacher. A goofy mom type with a big laugh, a tendency to tease and be playful, but ultimately loves spoiling tiny folks and doting on them. She's silly and can be a bit careless sometimes with her play but always makes sure to check in with her tiny friends if she goes a bit far. Aine suits fantasy stories, both modern and high fantasy, as well as slice of life. She is perfect for mentor/student type stories, as an adoptive mother figure and also for romance if that is what suits the characters. Good for platonic relationships!

-I am willing to write one of my tiny OCs but it'd have to be with the right giant OC (and be non-fatal scenarios ; -; I'm bad at being mean to my little guys). If you are interested, please ask and I would love to tell you about them!

I am also totally willing to write canon characters!

My current muses are: F/FXIV: E.met-selch, G'rah.a Tia, E.stinien, Y's.htola, Hy.thlodaeus S/tardew Valley: E.lliot, F.armer Protag (they/them), S.ebastian B/aldur's Gate 3: K/arlach, A/starion

I love anything remotely D/&D universe so I am completely willing to write this world! I have a few OCs I can offer up for this that I don't have profiles set up for, but I can blab about them for you if you'd like to write this!

I'm currently watching the D/ragon Prince and A/aravos already has an ironclad grip on me. Once I'm caught up, I'd be willing to write him! (no spoilers please! I'm midway through season 3 as of writing this, and will update this section once I'm finished)

Please DM me on here if you are interested!

I tend to prefer writing through Discord channels! If you aren't comfortable giving me your Discord, I have absolutely no problem figuring out another way to write with you.

I have no expectation for how often you post. I completely understand that life and writing inspiration can be tough to balance out! I have chronic health things and a neurotype that can make me wander a bit, so I get not posting daily. Never feel pressured to match my post lengths either! Sometimes I get stoked on a post and need to barf out a bunch of stuff.

I do prefer you post a decent amount, but only because I need something to work with. Even just a few lines of dialogue and your character making a cup of tea are totally fine!

If you've read this far, thank you and I will offer you a thimble full of choccy milk. You're fantastic, bud.

#mouseymusings #g/t roleplay #g/t rp #g/t fluff #giant/tiny #g/t #g/t community #g/t writing

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nerds-and-clones · 2 years

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Welcome to the dnd session! Introductions

Synx-The lovely dm that will use players backstory against them

Dos-A tiefling bard (bc the tieflings are for the gays!) who flirts with Synx’s male npcs and is a little shit

Benny-A cleric orc who heals everyone with weed and wants to declare themself as a god

Tres-A elf ranger who goes batshit

Lucinda-A warlock tiefling because she’s edgy

Valerie- her dnd oc

Uno- a joke character like a goblin bard who uses a stylophone

Marin-A barbarian Triton woman named Oceana who likes blood <3

Marcus- a poor little meow meow elven wizard trying to romance Oceana and rolling a 5 or lower every time

This is absolutely amazing bestie

I can imagine Synx getting real tired of Dos flirting with the male npcs while Dos claims he to do it to gain information

Benny brings actual weed to the sessions to rp his character accurately

Emil (Valerie's oc he's a half orc necromancer) is a lil shit as always and will be complaining about every single fight

Uno will play Megalovania at the start of each fight for bardic inspiration

And Marcus will be such a silly little simp that even when he rolls a 5 or less the enemies will mock him somehow

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x-lovegood · 5 months

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I finally cleaned up my shelves in my dorm!

closeups under the cut :D

Oh I should mention there are bones and teeth on the last picture

#silly gay wizards rp #my pics #not pinterest for once!

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arthur-rex · 2 years

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𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙣

— 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙨

(𝙋𝙀𝙉)𝙉𝘼𝙈𝙀: Rex (believe it or not, this was suggested by one of my older Merlin writers. Previously I went by another penname - hence ooc @sparringett) 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙊𝙐𝙉𝙎: they/them 𝙕𝙊𝘿𝙄𝘼𝘾: libra sun, aquarius moon, aries rising 𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙇𝙀 / 𝙏𝘼𝙆𝙀𝙉: married (and it’s complicated)

— 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨

𝙞. I am bisexual and I am a Christian. I really really love being gay and being accepted by Jesus Christ. It’s bloody amazing. All the religious fundamentalists out there have no idea. Silly sausages.

𝙞𝙞. I am a huge dog person. If you interact with me on discord it is likely you have already been met with one or two pics of my dog. Caesar’s helped me through some tough times and continues to do so. A dog loves unconditionally. Man’s best friend, without a shadow of a doubt.

Actually, have a picture:

𝙞𝙞𝙞. My big dream is not actually to publish a best-selling novel. I’d like to be a songwriter and release an album. Again, doesn’t have to be phenomenally successful - just known of and respected within the indie music scene.

— 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚

I’ve been writing creatively since I could write. RPing for the last 20-odd years. The first character I ever RPed was an OC Entwife. Yes, one of those that got fed up and left Middle-Earth early because the Ents seemed to do fuck all and simply let the humans, wizards and orcs wreck the forests for so long it became unbearable. I can’t remember her name, I think she was affiliated to the Californian redwoods. I was 12 years old. Anyway, puberty hit, and then all my muses suddenly became male, bar one, so Arthur is actually just the latest in a long line of... uhh, mostly blond males. James Kirk, Raoul Silva (ok he dyed his hair but whatever), Heath Ledger’s Joker, Simm!Master. I’m not sure why this happens but it’s happened enough to be noticeable. Although, I do have Tom Riddle and Will Graham to fly the flag for the brunets.

— 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚

Mostly males. Mostly villains actually. Raoul Silva, Tom Riddle, the Joker (Heath Ledger) Will Graham, Arthur Pendragon (as a demonically possessed vampire), the Master (Simm!portrayal) and (sadly) Daenerys Targaryen verge into this territory. I have got Arthur who is fundamentally a good boy, to balance things out. Also, I write as Capaldi’s Doctor, aka the love is kind and always wise doctor to help with managing the bad boys (and girl), while being a grumpy asshole about it xD

— 𝙨𝙪𝙗-𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚𝙨

Lots of angst. Happy Endings. Very simple. Although within that if an author drops in: hurt/comfort, soulmates, first time, D/s, childhood trauma, UST (until it isn’t), polyships, fem!slash ... I will probably jump for that fic / plot that bit faster. Any fandom involving DRAGONS is also a big big pull.

— 𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙩𝙨 𝙫𝙨. 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙨

I love to plot. I really should devote more time to fanficcing, but RPing just keeps drawing me in. Some of my longest threads on arthur-rex though did start out as memes, so... I’m not against using them. I’m really fine with writing in whatever way works best with my RP partner. I do like the long, complex stories though, so if we start writing together, buckle up because you’ll likely be in for the long haul.

𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙙: @ofmagik 💛

𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜: @thewritcrinme @sorceress-queen @miladys-servant-gwen @thelonewendwater @fatedestined @excaliborn (belle you can pick which account to reply to, if you like @bilan-igg @lespendragons @shireentheunburnt @kingalfrcd @constcllations @dcrkknightren @xxonceuponafuckxx @reliquusrex @multistoty @irritablereddemo

Also open to non-RP blogs! Fanficcers, feel free to fill in if you’d like :)

#Tagged #Munday

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magnoliasandbeardedtooth · 7 years

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you should talk about your ocs! please... tell me about them...

hooh boy you don’t know what you just started

rubs hands together

Oliver, Julian, and Lucus are part of a kind-of-real-life universe that my friend made up for his elsen oc’s (I made them specifically for that new universe, out I also rly rly love elsen so they have OFF versions too) These are my main ones, the ones I think about daily, the ones I will cherish forever

I had literal paragraphs for these guys but I cut them down cause it was a fuckin book

Oliver is my top #1 oc, I love him so much. He’s really fuckin tall, and is the softest nicest person ever. He’s that one guy that is terrifying when he’s angry because he rarely ever is. He wears nothing but sweater and will die of heatstroke before he takes one off. His favorite color is pink. He doesn’t get enough sleep and works 2 full time jobs, at a hardware store in the mornings and at an arcade evenings. When the fair comes around in summer, he works weekends there too. He’s bad at cooking cause he only has time for coffee, microwave diners, and his girlfriend (who is teaching him how to cook).In OFF, he’s a carnival worker in Zone 2, and is dead insideHe was created specifically for my friend’s oc, Eli, who is his girlfriend and they love each other so gosh dang much. He is also Lucus’s and Julian’s kind-of-father-figure (and used to be their cushion, until Eli told him she wasn’t comfortable with seeing them so physically intimate without her, and he respected her and asked them to stop, which they did)

Lucus is Loud Boy. He has severe ADHD and is Gay As Fuck. He is almost always smiling and laughing. He’s the one who always gets in trouble, but everyone loves him cause he’s super nice and rambunctious. He’s the one who goes to Pride almost naked. He’s even worse at cooking than Oliver. Like, most people who are bad at cooking get the reaction “Oh whatever, it’s a mess, but it’s mostly edible.” His is “God jesus please don’t let him touch anything in the kitchen, please lord.” He works as a mailman, but only the guy who takes the package and puts it next to the door, cause he can’t drive, even he knows it’s a bad idea for him to try. He also can’t remember if his name is actually Lucas or Lucus, but he’s been writing “Lucus” for as long as he could remember, and no one corrected him, so he just rode with it.In OFF, he’s one of the postal workers in Zone 1, and he opens letters, reads them, throws them out, and steals from his coworkers’ quotas.

Julian is Sour Boy. He’s quiet, anxious, depressed, bitter, and guarded. He’s not mean, but he’s very scared of people as has become bitter as a sort of defense for when people dislike him, which he thinks is often. He’s very quietly polite, though, and though he has a lot of trouble being close to someone, and once he does he’s very warm. He’s also very witty and has insane clap backs, like he’s the one that destroys people (Lucus fucking loves it). He rly loves hanging things like mobiles, and his ceiling is covered with them. He works at a butcher’s shop, but because of how cheap and terrible his boss is, he cuts himself on the bad equipment a lot, so his arms are covered in small scars (not from self harm though).In OFF, he works as one of those people who take the metal from the cow halves, which is where he cuts his hands. When he finds a piece he rly likes, he’ll take it and hang it up in his home.

Julian and Lucus are qpp, they’re so fucking tight. They met in college, and have been roommates ever since, but soon after they got an apartment, they started sleeping in the same bed. Lucus used to have a crazy crush on Julian, but Julian is ace aro, and Lucus respected his boundaries and values him too much to be away from him. In turn, Julian respects when Lucus rly needs sexual attention and goes to pick someone up. Julian supports Lucus, and Lucus encourages Julian, to the point where they save each other’s lives. I like to say that Julian keep Lucus from burning alive, and Lucus keep Julian from freezing to death.

I could write a WHOLE LOT MORE about them but that’d be nutsALRIGHT then there’s also Jamie and Annie, who are a couple that met online, and now either visit each other often, or have moved in together, I can’t rly decide which.

Jamie is a trans boy, and started transitioning back in middle school. He’s fully transitioned now, with top and bottom surgery, with strong support from his mother, who is dead now. He LOVES anything nautical, absolutely loves it. He sings sea shanties to himself, he has tattoos, he’s saving up for his own boat, the works. He especially loves pirates, and reads anything he can on them. He’s kind of condescending, especially at first glance, but he’s strongly supportive of Annie.

Annie is a very very shy girl, and super insecure. She rly doesn’t like herself, especially her body. Like at all. She only wears baggy clothing, and is constantly doubting if she’s worth Jamie. She’s also an amputee with one of her legs, though I don’t know to what extent, from the knee at the highest I think. Back when she was a kid, her father moved to alaska and brought her with, cause he was super into shit like alaskan reality TV and Call of the Wild and stuff. He prepared as much as he could, even lived with a local for a while to get the hang of it. But one time, when Annie was out hunting, a blizzard came in and trapped her way away from their home. She nearly died and ended up losing some of her leg. That’s what made her father decide that it wasn’t worth it, and moved them back.

Jamie super admired her courage, not only in that, but in her surviving day to day, and Annie really admires Jamie’s confidence and ambition. They also both greatly appreciate the love they give each other, since they both feel super alone.

Amour is a poly girl who just wants to find the loves of her life. Her name isn’t legally Amour, but that’s the one she likes using (I can’t remember which legal name I decided for her) She’s also socially anxious, kind of like Annie, but not because of self loathing. She’s more scared of outside opinion than herself. She’s also a sort of sex worker who caters especially to those with a “fat kink,” though she’s also a fan of doing lingerie and other stuff that I haven’t decided. She’s a very new oc, so there’s not much about her yet, but I know she runs an nsfw blog with at least a few other people, one of which being a girl she looks up to highly.

I also have a Starbound oc whose name I can’t quite remember. She’s a novakid and she’s awesome. She’s all cheery and silly until she kicks ass. She loves her crew and thinks they’re all awesome.

Whisper was created for my by a friend, he’s based on the will-o-the-wisps. He’s a teeny little being made out of like plasma, and he wears a hooded cloak and has a crescent moon shaped mask that covers all but one eye. He leads humans deep into the forest to feed… other things. He loves shiny things and LOVES soda, and can create minor illusions.

Whisper’s friend is the same species as him, but she hates humans hates being around them, hates hearing about them. They only thing they’re good for is feeding… other things. And also using certain body parts for spells n shit. She’s a very angry little witch. She has long spiky twigs coming out of her head, and she can make and control brambles. She wears a lil witchy cloak and a big hat, and a scrap of cloth covering one eye that’s snagged on some of her head twigs. I’ve been calling her Bramble Witch, but she still needs an actual name.

Rei’orin was created to rp with a friend of mine, but he’s kind of grown into a universe of his own. He was originally a djinn in the rp, but has since become a strong magical mass with highly destructive tendencies. His power can be compared to that of our sun, but beings who are more like the size of Rigel decided he was too much of an asshole and trapped him on earth, just when it was being formed. He was so pissed, he delayed the cooling of the crust and formation of the first cells by a fuckin while. When he calmed down, he participated in whatever life popped up, especially human civilization. Then humans discovered him and found out he was being held there against his will, and used it to develop trapping mechanisms of their own, which they used to trap other djinns/star beings on earth for their own purposes. When they thoroughly understood how to do it, they trapped him not just on earth, but a teeny little object that they could manipulate him with as well. Also he’s genderfluid!! As far as human identities go

Bois is a demon who’s job it is to corrupt souls and bring them to hell. Most demons have a different methods, and Bois’s is to pose as a potential victim of the person’s worst desires and have them take it out on him. Once they do, he’s able to take their newly corrupted souls to hell. He’s a very sassy boy, and doesn’t get along with one demon in particular, whose abilities I can’t quite remember.

I also used to have a mer oc named Ahti that lived in a mangrove forest, befriended a young pheonix girl, and traveled around with her after another, older, more powerful pheonix lady gave him legs and turned him into a wizard. He grows old and after the pheonix girl dies and is reborn, he continues to travel with her despite the loss of her memories, and kind of raises her. This happens multiple times, until he grows old and dies. I don’t rly rp with him anymore tho…

ALRIGHT AND THIS IS THE BIG DOOZYThese next ones are all for the universe I’ve been developing for a while. I can’t say much about them cause to do that I would need to explain the rest of the world along with them

FIRST is the cyclops lady (wth 6 arms), who is a seer and STILL after all this time, doesn’t have a name. She used to just be a regular old cyclops lady who got married to someone of another species (he was a big boy). Soon after they got married, however, one of the divine forces of their world bestowed her with an eye that could see the future. All was fine for a while and she was learning to deal with it with her husband’s support, until a few years later when they were caught in a fire. Something took over her, kind of like a divine instinct, and forced her to sacrifice half of her body and her husband to keep her eye undamaged. She completely lost the use of 3 of her arms, and partially on the other 3, and she can only really do stuff with her top right arm. She also keeps the femur bone of her husband as a keepsake, and uses it as a cane (it’s still a bit too big for her). Now she works as the seer for the royal council of the 5 other nations, as well as owning a magical items shop. She also sells potions (which are very dangerous and outlawed) on the black market

One of the Royal Council members is a queen called The Silenced. She is very very intimidating. She wears a mask and doesn’t speak a word. Before she became queen by herself, she used to rule with her husband, but bad shit happened and she ended up getting exposed to divine magic. Unlike the cyclops seer, she wasn’t given the ability to deal with it, and instead was severely wounded. Her face was disfigured and she mentally lost the ability to speak.

Another of the Royal council is the Bramble King, who is a partial floating skeleton with an animal skull, spiral horns, field grass growing out of his skull, and a big ol cloak. He looks intimidating but he is just the friendly grandpa.

Another of the Royal council is Loch Raven, who is a beast covered in feather, with a raven’s head and 6 arms, though she walks quadrupedal. Despite being a bird thing, she sends the vast majority of her time in the water, and is only comfortable in the swamp that is most of her kingdom. She is always wet, and never dry ever. Like you could try and dry her off and she would never be dry. Her kingdom’s leadership is based on a tournament style overtaking every few years or so. Someone who wants to be ruler challenges the current ruler and they fight to the death. Whoever wins gets to be ruler from then until someone challenges them. Loch Raven has the 2nd or 3rd longest lasting rule so far, lasting a could decades.

A recent addition to the royal council is a pair of twin magitech robots (kind-of object heads) Their kingdom was previously ruled by a dictator who would not be let into the council, and has recently gone through a civil war that has left most of their land a wasteland. Once the resistance won, the twins, who had been strong leaders in the war, took over and asked to be part of the council.

The last member is a friend’s oc, a big fuckin mantis whose kingdom is on the other side of nearly impenetrable mountains.

All the monarchs get to bring two advisors to the council, and no one else.

there was another old character that I included in this universe, that used to be the guardian of an unknown forest somewhere, without knowing who made them or why they were created, only that their purpose was to defend the forest. Since then, I’ve moved them to this universe, where they defend the forest that was where life first began on the planet. They’re this big thing, like at least 20 ft. They have a face made out of wood and long straight black hair, and two long feathers on their forehead, kind of like antenna that point backward. They don’t have a body, but a big sheet of moss, leaves, vines, etc swoop down like a cloak from where their shoulders should be.

WELL THAT’S ALL MY MAJOR CHARACTERS I THINK

gosh I love oc’s, they’re so rad

I rly rly appreciate you asking about them, thank you so much 💖💖💖

#speaks #oc's #asks #gosh I've been writing for so long I hope it's not too late #Anonymous #I have been waiting YEARS for someone to ask about oc's

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jixiani · 4 years

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In defense of fanfiction

I’ve been thinking about fanfiction lately, (really I’ve been thinking that I should really be taking some of this time to write more, but that’s another post) AO3 just had their yearly fundraiser so of course the old discourse over the site and its history was dragged up again and then Sarah had brought it up this morning and well, I have a lot of strong feelings on the subject. Let’s start with a little personal background: I have been reading and writing fanfic since the late 90’s. It started out as something silly my best friend introduced me to and we would sit in her mother’s computer room and giggle over ‘speculative fan fictions’ and participate on months-long roleplay scenarios on chat boards and take turns passing notebooks full of handwritten stories back and forth which were every bit as terrible as you’d think two 14-year-old girls could come up with. Unfortunately, we were in the Vampire Chronicles fandom so we had a front-row seat for the Anne Rice and her lawyer's debacle that will from here on out be referred to as “The Dark Times”. We watched our friends’ work get pulled, our RP sites close down, we feared that we’d get a cease and desist letter, we hid our notebooks and dreamed up our stories exclusively verbally. I was deeply ashamed of my secret love of fanfic for years. I kept writing, but I kept it secret, I kept reading it but would never admit to it. Fanfiction was something shameful, taboo, some terrible sin akin to watching porn, and not the good socially acceptable kind of porn. But time moved on and fandom moved on and fanfiction started to be more acceptable. I joined Fanfiction.net, I wrote some stuff on Livejournal (although I still kept it set to private). I read A LOT of fanfiction, jumping fandoms, and leaving reviews. People I admired came out as liking and writing fanfiction. Of course, then the purges hit. Strikethrough and the like. I’m not going to get into that here, because that’s a rant all its own. Anyway, those were also some dark days as fandom searched for somewhere to land. I stumbled over Archive of our own a few years ago and I aggressively support them whenever I can because they fight for the fandom. Now I speak out in defense of fanfiction whenever possible. I’ve attended panels at conventions about fanfiction, I support and share posts about it from my favorite authors, I let everyone know that I’m proud of my fanfic (although I still don’t post it, that’s because I tend not to finish things and I don't’ want to get someone excited for something I know I’m going to abandon in a month, not because I’m ashamed.). So let’s talk over some points because Sarah brought up a good point today. Why is fanfiction such a shameful thing in the fandom community, and in the writing community? One of the people on my friends list who I admire and is a professional, published author once rolled their eyes and scoffed when I said that I wanted to go to the fanfiction panel at a convention. Yet, no other facet of fandom is treated this way. I brought this up on Sarah’s post and I’m going to reiterate it here. Fan artists are not scoffed at, people flock to their tables in artist’s alley. Fan-made comics and doujinshi have led to careers writing and drawing comics and scripts for the same series their fanwork was based on. No professional costumer or prop maker sneers at cosplayers, in fact, there are now professional cosplayers. Fans wait in line for hours to watch masquerade skits at conventions. Fan-dubs like Dragonball Z Abridged and Nescaflowne are hugely popular and have led to professional voice acting gigs and production studios. But if an author dares to mention that they got their start in fanfiction? The horror, the outrage, the hate mail. Yet so much of our media could arguably be called fanfiction. Dante’s Inferno? John Milton’s Paradise Lost? The Aeneid? Classics? Yes. Fanfiction? Also yes. Joyce’s Ulysses is just an AU of the Odyssey. Anything written about or based on myths? Anything involving King Arthur? Sherlock Holmes? Shakespear...Oh you can cry adaptation all you want. Let’s face it if it’s written by some old white guy it’s literature and a classic and an innovative reimagining but really it’s just fanfic and it’s everywhere. West Side Story is a fanfic of a fanfic since Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet off a poem by a similar name. My Fair Lady? Pygmalion AU. Hamilton? Real Person Song Fic! 50 Shades series, Mortal Instruments, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea, hell there are literally hundreds of published Jane Austen fanfictions. John Gardner’s Grendel is a retelling of Beowolf. The Wiz, Wicked and the rest of Gregory Maguire’s books? The Wizard of Oz doesn’t enter public domain until 2035. The Magnificent Seven? Kurosawa called and he wants his seven samurai back, he’d also like to reclaim Yojimbo from A Fist Full of Dollars. Speaking of tv, how about Black Sails? It’s a fanfiction prequel to Treasure Island. Any comic book not written by the original creator. Any book series based on Star Wars, Star Trek, Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, etc. I could go on all day. So why is it, when so much of our popular culture consists of what basically boils down to fanfiction, that fanfiction is seen as a shameful indulgence, as “cheating”, as trash?Part of it boils down to sex. Read any article that brings up fanfiction and there will invariably be a line where the author distances themself by saying something along the lines of they don’t personally read it, or how slash fic isn’t their thing but to each their own. (Both quotes from some of the sites I pulled the above list from) A lot of people seem to think that fanfiction is just porn, and while yes there is some fanfiction that is porn and some of it is very good, the same can be said for regular fiction as well. People don’t blush and giggle over Lord of the Rings, yet when I say that I’ve read fanfic that’s longer than Tolkien’s trilogy I may as well be talking about how I read Aragorn/Boromir slash fic regardless of what the actual subject matter was. Yes, there’s sex in fanfiction. A lot of it is gay sex. You can read Lolita in school but Harry Potter fanfic? Gasp, think of the children! Even if that fanfic happens to be about what if Petunia loved Harry like a son instead of pushing him away and neglecting him. There is some really fantastic fan fiction out there. Some of it has sex, some of it doesn't. Some of it deals with queer characters and experiences, some of it doesn’t. There’s nothing inherently wrong with erotica and it’s an entirely separate issue. Not every fanfiction is a 50 Shades-eque erotic rewrite of Twilight, and even if they were, so what? A lot of fanfiction has to do with wish fulfillment. You want to know what happens next, or what would happen if this had happened instead, or if there was this character. You want to see someone like you in your favorite fandom. I had wanted to adventure with Bilbo when I was a kid. I wanted to go on adventures and fight and ride dinosaurs. These desires don’t go away just because we grow up. I got into roleplay and larp and gaming because I still enjoy make-believe. I write for a lot of the same reasons. Everyone wants to be the main character. Fanfiction gives you that chance. You can write yourself into a story, you can write someone that’s like you, you can write someone that’s nothing like you but what you want to be. So, let’s discuss our old friend Mary Sue. She gets trotted out as an example every time someone brings up fanfiction (or any uppity female character ever). Mary Sue was born in the 60’s. She is an actual character from a Star Trek Original Series fanfiction. Yes, fanfiction existed in the 60’s. Mary Sue was the brightest and prettiest girl to come out of Starfleet, she managed to be in all the right places at the right times to save the ship and capture the heart of Spock. Self insert fics and Mary Sues are at the heart of why we should be terribly ashamed of our fanfiction habit. Except, what was Luke Skywalker if not George Lucas’ self insert Marty Stu? There are countless male characters that are as bad or worse than your typical Mary sue and they are never called out for it. Seanan brought this up in a post once about her character October Daye, her editor had said that the character was too competent, too cool, and that it was unrealistic and she should tone it down. She had him replace the character’s name with “Harry Dresden” and reread the story and suddenly it was fine. There are a great many articles and essays about our friend Mary Sue and I implore you to read some of them. She is not the enemy we make her out to be. Fanfiction, on the rare occasion that it is accepted, is seen as some sort of training wheels, or baby’s first writing. It’s amateurish, it’s juvenile, it’s just not very good. If we are not ashamed of it, then it’s expected that we are only using it as a starting point to hone our writing and move on to professional published works. It’s either that or something terribly self-indulgent that should be kept to ourselves. Some fanfic writers do go on to become “real” writers. Seanan McGuire has always been very open about how her agent first approached her after reading some of her Buffy/Faith fanfiction. Some “real” writers also write fanfiction. Neil Gaiman won a Hugo for his Chronicles of Narnia Fanfic. Ursula Vernon and Mercedes Lackey write fanfiction in their spare time. Some fanfiction writers never become published authors, not everyone wants to. Some are happy to have a dozen 150k fics about their favorite fandom, or maybe just one 500k epic, some, myself included, may only have one short fic posted somewhere. There is nothing that says that you have to use your hobby to turn a profit. (By the way, for reference, War and Peace is 561,304 words, Dune is 187,240 words, you cannot make the argument that fanfic writers don’t put time into their craft when they have more words than Tolstoy under their belt.)Some of the ‘training wheels’ analogy is true. Fanfic is a terrific gateway to writing. It teaches pacing, plot, character development, how to take criticism. If I ever do write something professionally I will not be nearly as afraid of the red pen as I am of bad reviews. Anonymous readers are the most ruthless critics. May the literary gods preserve you from ever having your fanfic read aloud as an example of how terrible and ‘cringy’ fanfiction can be. There is a lot of fanfiction out there that is written by teenage girls, and it reads like it was written by a teenage girl, but the only way to get better at something is to practice. Fanfiction allows budding writers to do that. There are no rules, no one standing at the gates to bar entry, and entire communities of people willing to give advice and commentary. Sometimes it’s less helpful than harmful, but there is something about posting a new fic and waiting for that first ‘like’ or ‘kudos’ or a review. There’s something to be said for instant gratification. I have read a lot of really terrible fanfic. I have slogged through stuff that would make Mary Sue herself cringe. I have read about the ½ vampire, ½ werewolf, ½ fairy long lost princess. I have read grammar that would make your eyes bleed. Not all of it has been confined to fan works. I have read fanwork that has had me convulsing with silent laughter to the point that I wondered if I would die. Dialog that was ten times better than anything I had read in a professional novel. Fanfiction should not be judged by its worst offenders. We don’t hold Dune to the same standard as Twilight. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is not terrible and cringy because 50 Shades of Grey overuses the phrase “Oh my.” There is some absolutely terrible fanfic out there and there is some pretty terrible published fic as well, but we don’t hold that against most novelists, so why do we hold it against fanfiction writers?I guess that brings us to the elephant in the fandom. Sexism. Fanfiction has historically been something written by and for young women and there is nothing more shameful than something liked by a young woman. Boybands? The color pink? Horse Girl books and Sparkly Vampires? Society hates them. We mock them. It is not acceptable to enjoy them. Sound familiar? How many times is something considered cool until a woman decides that she likes it? We as a society hate women and hate the things they enjoy and we hate teenage girls the most. Think of how much people hated selfies and duckface and instagram. How much hate was directed at Britney Spears, One Direction, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber? Whether it has a basis in something or not, we hate them, we make jokes, we share the memes. We write them off as having no substance, as being stupid, not worth our time. Belittling of teenage girls for their interests and fandoms isn't a new phenomenon. Remember Mary Sue? Not only that, but a lot of fanfiction is gay. Women and gays are still the punchline to a lot of jokes and we can’t ignore that that plays a big part in people’s hatred of fanfiction, even if it’s not on purpose. Fanfiction has always been a bastion for people that couldn’t find stories about them in popular fiction. A lot of mainstream main characters are straight guys. A lot of fanfiction main characters are young women or gay men. Now, I admit that I’m oversimplifying this, and especially in recent years as it is becoming safer for people to come out as other genders and queer and as having mental illness or not being neurotypical, you are seeing more of that reflected in the fanfiction community. I don’t want anyone to think that I am purposefully leaving anyone out of this. The fanfiction community has not always been so great at being inclusive of people of color or transgender, it’s getting better, but I’m not going to stand here and pretend we’ve always been perfect. In the last several years I’ve seen a lot more inclusion. As I said, fanfiction has always been a home to the “Other”, as that expands to include more individuals so too does the community. Fanfics provide us with a place to work through issues and present perspectives that we don’t get to see anywhere else, without having to create an entire world from scratch. It’s accessible to everyone. I’ve spent the better part of an afternoon researching and writing this. I hope that I was at least partially coherent and I got you to at least take a look at why you feel the way you feel about fanfiction. I’m not sure if I exactly got across the points I was trying for, there’s a lot more eloquent, well thought out arguments out there from more knowledgeable people. Check out Seanan McGuire, she’s got a lot to say on the subject.

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