no offense but like…..reblog the fics you like. there is nothing more discouraging than having people read your fic without leaving kudos or any form of response. comment if you like it! send them a message! use the tags to talk about how you liked it! share the work so that others can read it too!
too often fic writers deal with people hounding them for updates, but never any feedback. end the cycle. reblog the fics you like. talk about them. share them.
Tag: fanfiction fandom
labeling fictional characters as strictly good or bad people and demanding that the narratives you consume adhere to strict binaries of good and evil at the cost of ignoring any sort of emotional or moral complexity present in said narrative (or worse, labeling it “problematic”) is uhhhhhh……..boring
August 21st is Fanfic Writer’s Appreciation Day 💕
Let’s be honest – we all forget to leave a comment sometimes. We don’t always go out of our way to click the “come talk to me on tumblr” link on AO3 to scream about the fic in the author’s inbox. On August 21st I encourage you to take a moment and show fanfic writers that you appreciate them!
How can you do it?
- leave a comment and kudos on every fic you finish reading. Doesn’t matter how short. Doesn’t matter if you’re just repeating what other people have already said. Just be kind! Keysmashing, Caps Lock, and live commenting appreciated! (Bonus points if you leave a comment on every chapter)
- ideas for what to put in a comment: one | two
- floaty review box for ao3 (super useful for commenting as you read + it has a ‘review tips’ button if you feel stuck)
- reblog ficlets, drabbles, fics, fic rec posts, etc. Put a nice comment in the tags. Remember that likes, while appreciated, don’t give the writer any exposure, meaning the posts don’t reach more people
- go to your local fanfic writer’s inbox and talk to them about their fic of your choice. Let them know how long ago you’ve read it and what story point/sentence/scene still makes you smile when you think about it
- send thank you messages to fic writers. In a world where you have to pay for almost everything, they’re supplying you with countless hours of free entertainment. It can get quite lonely without getting messages acknowledging the hours they spend writing stories – let them know their time and effort is appreciated
- make fic rec posts and @ the authors whose fics you’re recommending! (believe me, fic writers love to see their stories in these posts)
- create something inspired by a fic! You can draw fanart, make a moodboard or aesthetic post, or even write a song for the fic you love. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro doesn’t matter – the thought alone is what counts more than anything ❤
- buy the writer a coffee if they have a ko-fi page and you have some change lying around c: Caffeine keeps most fic writers awake when they struggle with a particularly slow draft or a difficult scene.
More coffee, more content.These are only some ideas out of the sea of possible ways to appreciate fanfic writers. On August 21st show the writers in your fandom(s) some love ❤
Oh hey it’s already that time of the year!!! Spread the word and signal boost, fellow fanfic fans, so that tomorrow may be a day of delight for your favorite authors ❤
I think all writers need a friend who will encourage their desire to write absolute garbage. Not necessarily something that is badly written, but like, stupid self indulgent bullshit. “Cringey” aus or crossover fanfics. Aus or crossover fics of your own ocs.
Writing that stuff is fun and is great practice, but sometimes I feel like “wow, this is hardly productive, why am I even writing this, who else would ever want to read this?” The answer is your friend who encourages your trash writing, that’s who. Write it for yourself and for them.
THIS. I saw a post the other day that literally said if you do it to a fictional character, you’ll do it in real life.
No. Just NO.
I’m so glad someone put it into words.
Lin-Manuel Miranda is a legend, and he’s absolutely right.
And I really feel like there are parts of fandom that don’t get or don’t believe this, and I think that’s troubling. I’ve seen arguments that people shouldn’t have dark fantasies, or that bad impulses in themselves make a bad person. I’ve seen so much shaming over thoughts.
And if you get to a point where it’s bad to have dark thoughts and it’s bad to wonder what something would be like and it’s bad to put yourself in the shoes of anyone who isn’t “pure”, if fiction is no longer a realm where you can confront and explore, but an ongoing test of moral purity… well, maybe not everyone’s brain works like mine, but I feel like that takes away something incredibly important to being human.
on originality in fanfic:
i’ve seen a lot of fanfiction authors, including myself, worry about the redundancy of our work, either because we feel it’s been done before or someone more popular beat us to a certain plot point we thought no one else had thought of or just because writing is hard and other writers are scary.
1. fanfiction is rooted in canon, and everyone is working from the same canon you are. even if one person is writing a bakery au and the other is writing a serial killer space opera, the point of origin means there might still be elements in common. it’s okay. (this goes double for canon aus, because the closer to the canon your au is, the fewer elements there are to vary.)
2. in larger fandoms, there are so many fics! so many. the sheer number of authors means that sometimes people are going to have the same idea. you don’t read one fic and then never read any fic like it, right? just do your thing.
3. fanfic isn’t being written in a vacuum. surrounding the original canon is the matrix of fandom memes and headcanons and metas. the ones that become popular take on a life of their own. all of the other authors are exposed to the same content you are, so don’t worry if you both borrow the same things.
4. if you took two authors and gave them the same outline, with the same plot points, and told them to write, they’d still probably produce distinct works. no one can write the story in your head but you. keep writing!
ALL OF THIS
also like let’s be real, a lot of us want to read 50 versions of very similar stories lol.
This! I guarantee that it doesn’t matter that you think “popular author” has already done X trope perfectly, if I am a sucker for that trope I still want to read your fic. I want a bilion different variations of that trope. I can’t get enough of it.
Now that I’m studying bio, may I just say how fervently I wish my primary association with the words “alpha, beta, omega” was literally anything other than what it is
My nutrition professor was talking about vitamins and said, “the only reason you all even know the words alpha and omega is because of sororities,” and I wanted so badly to raise my hand and be like “if you’re gonna be a dick for some reason, please let me explain to you in depth my immediate connotations for those words”
I’m in training to become a phlebotomist and at my last class we did blood typing and let me tell you when I walked into the lab to see A/B/O written in massive letters on the whiteboard I felt six years come off my lifespan
once I used a phrase alpha and omega of something during a lecture and one of the students giggled so hysterically I *knew* and I looked at her and she looked at me, and let me tell you, this was the most profound moment of horror and understanding I have ever shared with another person
Things I Wish I Knew Earlier In Fandom
But maybe these will help somebody now.
- Most of your fandom experience is shaped by who you follow. Find a good group of people and stick with them.
- Support your favs and a lot of them will become your friends, or at least be friendly back to you.
- Just unfollow people who bring unwanted content or negativity onto your dash.
- Block people who cause you stress. It’s not worth your time to focus on parts of fandom that don’t make you happy.
- Blacklisting words/tags is a tool you are allowed to use as much as you need to.
- Don’t feel like you have to pretend to like things that make you uncomfortable in order to fit in. Set healthy boundaries for yourself.
- Never tag your hate. Never send hate anons to someone.
- Content creators love getting comments, seeing people gush in the tags on reblogs, and getting fans in their inbox. It’s the best way to motivate them to keep making awesome stuff.
- If there’s certain content you want to see but it doesn’t exist yet, then make it. Draw the thing, write that fic. If you can’t, then comission an artist or writer, or send someone a prompt if they’re open to it. If you can’t do that either, then write meta or headcanons about it. Put it into the world.
- Create what you love. Do it for yourself first and foremost, and if even one other person likes it too, then that’s a bonus.
Vi’s Guide to Dealing With Antis
So you’re a fanartist/fanfic writer who has recently gotten some hate for your content. Not about whether or not you draw good, I can’t help you with that, about how a stranger thinks you’re a bad person for your ships. You try to avoid discourse whenever possible because that’s what fans with common sense do, but suddenly discourse is thrown onto your doorstep like a half-drowned cat that has definitely tasted human flesh before. The last thing you want to do is get mixed up in a big argument or somehow become the next Tumblr pariah. What should you do?
1) Don’t Respond
It’s really tempting to clap back with some clever insult, but that’s not a good idea if you want to avoid an argument. It’s fine to just delete an ask or ignore a mean reblog. In fact, it’s probably more of an insult than actually responding with something. Antis want attention and it’s a real power move to deny them the spotlight.
2) Block
Blocking may seem like a drastic measure to some people, but it’s just a part of social media. If you dislike someone, you don’t have to talk to them. There’s plenty of other people in the world who aren’t assholes. Don’t be afraid to block the ones who are.
3) Take a Breath
There are 7.6 billion people on the planet. It doesn’t matter very much if one person hates you. Some people think the earth is flat and Queen Elizabeth is a lizard creature. People can be wrong. You’re not a bad person for your ships. What you explore in fiction doesn’t define your morality.
4) Talk to Someone Who Cares About You
I mean someone who actually cares about you. A parent, a close friend, a pet, it doesn’t really matter who, just that they actually care about you. These are the people who matter in your life. Not strangers on the internet who know exactly nothing about you, not some fandom hivemind that polices your morality, people who really care. They know you aren’t a bad person. They know you would never support terrible crimes or harm real people. You can tell them about the hate you got if that helps, I’m sure they’ll find it ridiculous.
5) Don’t Stop Creating
There’s no better way to spite antis than to make more art. Keep drawing your problematic otp, keep writing your darkfics, show them that their hate has done absolutely nothing to stop you. If you get more hate, start at step 1 again. Remember, anons can be ip blocked from your desktop inbox. If someone threatens your safety, report it to Tumblr and don’t be afraid to pursue legal action if it escalates. Death threats are not protected speech in the US and are considered a serious crime. But most of the time it won’t come to that. If you don’t engage with antis, eventually they’ll get bored and leave you alone.
Question of Smoke 