#MARI KNOWS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

[quinloki]

Canon Characters vs OC vs x Reader

Disclaimer: This is just my two cents, and my perspective on things, and I'm not trying to lay down the law for everyone. I needed to just put this to words though, in order to sleep.

I was thinking about this because of a post I saw, and some, we'll say, kind of useless comments associated with the post. Mean-spirited stuff.

Normally, in one ear and out the other, but the vibes just kicked me off down a rabbit hole of sorts an I wanted to try to put some of my thoughts to words.

First, some style vibes:

Canon x Canon Canon/Canon stories are, to me, like reading an episode of that show. I'm sitting down in front of a TV or whatever, and I'm experiencing the story As A Viewer. I like this style because I don't really have to expend much energy and I just kind of roll with whatever's happening. Generally some sort of 3rd person perspective.

OC x canon OC/Canon stories are like being on a carnival ride. I'm sitting in a car on a roller-coaster, and maybe the OC is sitting next me. I'm experiencing the story more deeply than strictly canon stories, but my connection with the OC is no deeper than say, my connection with Katniss Everdeen when I read The Hunger Games. Sometimes 3rd person, sometimes first person.

Reader x canon Reader/Canon (or Reader x/ OC) is like putting on a VR helmet. I don't get much physical input about the "Reader OC" because I'm experiencing the story through their eyes. I don't expect the reader to be me, but there's a bigger feeling of immersion to be had. Some description might happen cause it's relevant to the story, and it's still a type of ride, I can't jump the rails on the roller coaster, after all. (Even with a VN you still follow the tracks). Sometimes first person, sometimes second person (I'm partial to 2nd person perspective, but that's just me).

I love Fan Fiction, I love it. All of it, and man even more than anything, what I love is that I'm going to dislike 80% of it. Because that 80% was written for someone who is not me. (Hell, that number's probably closer to 99% if we're looking at ALL fandoms, but I digress).

Second - The VENT:

What got me the most in the post that prompted this, was someone saying "Bring back the Mary Sue OCs!" and then they went on to describe something more detailed, and I just -

Look, respectfully, fuck you.

The point is, you're not going to be happy no matter what. Whether it's "mary sue" OCs, or x readers, or alternative universes, or a ship you don't like, you're going to find something to be unhappy about.

Cause people have been bitching about all styles of fan fiction since the first "You've Got Mail" chimed in 1991. And until 1998 and ff.net you really had to hunt for it, and until 2007 and Ao3 the idea of tagging a fic for any reason wasn't really a thing. Every click was a surprise! \o/

I just have seen the same song and dance a dozen times. It's exhausting. People become okay with OCs and decide x readers are the enemy, and before that OCs were *all* Mary Sues and cringe and people who made OCs were the enemy, and before OCs people who wrote even a little OOC were the enemy, and people who wrote AUs were the enemy, and you can write fan fic but it HAS to be Canon Compliant, and everyone MUST be in-character at all times - "They would not fucking say that" was the enemy.

Look, just please - please - in any capacity, stop it with the "All X style of story telling is crap" mindset. There's over a dozen different ways to do x readers alone. I know 20 x reader writers and I don't think any of us have the same style, preferences, or vibes.

I've had a lot of comments along the lines of "I thought I hated x readers, but I really loved this." on a few different fics I've written. Sometimes it's not the style of the fic, sometimes it's the style of the writer, and my Brother In Christ - you're going to have to read some awful shit to shuffle through the thousands of writers out there to find the vibes that resonate with you.

Ostracizing entire swathes of fan fic because you need something to be "The Enemy" so you can lift up something else, and then bitching you can't find anything new to read seems like a personal problem.

And I know y'all are scrolling by TONS of posts that don't interest you, every day, as a matter of course. So don't give me that "clogging up the tag" BS, because we deserve to be here same as anyone else in the fandom.

[coquelicoq]

you can read an andy weir novel that features your area of expertise. but watch out

[meraki-yao]

I'm in a law lecture, the lecturer is talking about British history because the lecture content is Civil Law System VS Common Law System

And I'm trying so hard not to laugh because all I can fucking think about is George Villiers

Like as a historical figure, I have opinions on the real-life George Villiers, and most of them are very negative

But mix that sentiment with the fact that Nick's playing him, and I can't fucking stop laughing

Oh God, M&G is gonna be a ride for me

[fisheito]

gosh okay if it's okay can i leave some extremely persistent brainyakus for babyyakus.... like obv you can just leave this or post or just share w whoever you want i'm just some dudegirl clanging pots and pans in your boxes but! i have always loved the idea of like...... baby yakumo being taught some form of sign language (Klein Sign if u will allow the goofery) bc the mouth shapes and tongue movements of the spoken language are hard for him to grasp even with full immersion and support!!!! i also think he would have some anxiety actually using his voice bc Y'know. It's Yakumo. he does eventually become more comfortable with verbal speech ofc but oh my god i am losing my mind at (baby yakumo voice) pep-per......... once again thank you mxr requiodile for my god life. and truly what are pigs but big potatoes....... ONION OWWIES..........

my last spam i will leave u with is also! ever since i unlocked homecoming ssr yakumo and it's dropped that he made his own ceremonial clothing i became OBSESSED w the idea of grandma taking babkumo to The Crafting Circle of the village. maybe he needed a bit more immersion into human spaces before he started school so he's just cowering in grandmas lap while she's knitting and mending but slowly he starts just like wandering around, looking at all the things happening with all the crafters just letting this uncanny child gaze in wonder over all the comfort items and soft blankets and warm clothes being made. and then there's at least one giant ass loom and those things are HUGE and make a lot of clacking noises. babkumo inching closer to it but doing these big scared jumps every time it makes noise but he's just so O.O like this giant scary thing makes such nice things!!! he's been wrapped in scarves fresh off this thing!!! and then whoever is working the loom pushing the shuttle through and just patiently waiting for yakumo to very tentatively push it back toward them. tbh i don't even really think that's great weaving technique but idc we are socializing this yokai via fibers and stich-n-bitch. thank you again for the generosity and enthusiasm ;w;

i am leaving this here for everyone to see because i like it and i want to show it

[merrymorningofmay]

saw a XXk notes post about how hard it is for people in peaceful countries to keep up with their daily life while there's genocide happening elsewhere and got unsurprisingly salty because wow, poor you, now imagine how it is to do dishes/go to school/work while there's genocide happening in YOUR country to YOUR relatives, friends, coworkers etc as opposed to Some Guys on The Internet

then thought "no, i'm being uncharitable, op probably didn't expect their post to go beyond their bubble which likely doesn't include any palestinians, armenians, ukrainians etc, otherwise they wouldn't have made this tone deaf post"

then realised that it would actually be really sad if that's the case because if you care about another group's suffering why wouldn't it result in your including people from said group in your media/info bubble, why wouldn't you make their voices present in your life and ensure your perspective reflects that

[littlekingbergara]

yeah we're not doing this. she said she's not drinking because she doesn't like alcohol. just because she had A Taste of a drink on last season and Sometimes drinks in her social life or for special occasions (you know. the kinds of thing you post on instagram) doesn't mean it's a regular part of her life. and she doesn't have to drink if she doesn't want to.

[heavenlydreamangelflyhigh]

moms getting competitive w her eating disorder again

[oflights]

is there anything better than a chilly sunny day?? fuzzy sock weather? summer lovers have much to answer for on a day like this

[throttlegainwell]

Btw this is a first for me, pretty sure, but when I go into the As You Are tag (and I normally don't go into tags to begin with but still), it is wall-to-wall me freaking out over this movie. This is both hilarious and embarrassing. I am so, so very late to the party and so very, very emotionally horny over it.

[starsandthorn]

my god i am ADORING the fontaine world quests so much they are so good

[youmustfixyourheartt]

wouldn't it be cool if Mary Keay binding herself in the skin book, as well as the skin book itself, could be a reference to the three books bound in Mary Lynch's skin in the Historical Medical Library of the College of Physicians of Philidelphia

[devoursjohnlock]

Hey, I hope you've been well! I wanted to ask, since I really value your meta, what is your opinion on the necessity of John's kid according to blog theory? If he invented a baby when irl it died/wasn't his/ was fake, then how would he justify this fictional story to the people? It would make his rship with Mary seem good, but he can't make a baby appear out of nowhere in his real life and it would contradict his blog. This is the only thing I can't make sense of in blog theory and it is a bit confusing!

Hey, anon! Thank you, that's very kind of you. The short answer to your question is that I'm not really sure. My own theory is partly consistent with blog theory but not actually blog theory, and I suspect there are a few different theories being worked on by different people that involve some element of blog theory; it's possible that it's not all one thing.

What I have gathered is that blog theory tucks S4 (and maybe TAB?) into a discrete package that can be called "fiction" within the framework of the show. However... for me, Rosie Watson is one thing that makes this difficult if not impossible, because she provides tangible continuity between TSOT and everything that comes later. And if a random person in the post-S4 Sherlock universe can pick up "S4" in a bookshop and read about Rosie's development as a toddler, that might explain her absence as a real person after S4, but it wouldn't explain how/why she disappeared/wasn't born and it wouldn't contribute to anything in-universe (such as an alibi for the real John), where people can see that there is no baby. As such, there is the opposite of "a necessity of John's kid" in a fictional S4 if the rest of the show is "real". In fact, our attention is drawn to her status within S4 ("Has that come out?"). It's one of the first things the viewer is prompted to question. Why do that if the viewer/reader is supposed to be convinced that she's real?

TL;DR, I'm confused, too, although I am genuinely not the person to ask about this.

But since you did ask, here's how I think about Rosie from my perspective. Mary Morstan is consistently associated with gaslighting on this show, if you look at it through a canon lens. Her pregnancy has an indefinite quality to it, mostly to do with timing (everyone's hair is too long when the baby is born and John's "I'm going to be a dad" blog.jpg post can't decide if it's past or present). The baby mirrors both Sherlock (see John and Lestrade's comedy act at the beginning of TST) and John (Sherlock calls her Watson and speaks to her as he would to John), rather like Mary herself. So, to me, the baby feels very not-real, just as Mary does (and well... we can hardly expect a not-real Mary to have a real baby).

So, what good is a not-real Rosie, or even a Rosie of uncertain status? Why is she there at all? First, I think she is actually useful as a metaphor in a number of ways. The "Rosie is a gun" metaphor is a good example, and has interesting implications for the end of TFP. But also, she forces us to address the status of characters who simply don't appear to be real in the Sherlock universe, which is handy if you're planning an explicit confrontation between fiction and reality. That is something Doyle played with a lot and it was the focus of the 2007 film Reichenbach Falls (which... yeah, does actually feature an in-universe character picking up a book about a person in her universe who she knows is fictional, and that tension between real and not-real is the point of the film), and it's something that happens in nearly all of Steven Moffat's work and even some of Mark Gatiss's work (looking at you, An Adventure in Space and Time).

So, you know... it seems more likely than not that we'll see a similar confrontation in S5, and I have to say, that would be more appropriate in Sherlock than it may have been in any of their other work, partly because of how and why Doyle wrote the stories, and partly because of what fans have been doing with them since Doyle's own time.

[kurooandkenmasslut]

Yk, I'm still mad at you and you haven't even attempted to apologize in any sort of way? Just wanted to let you know.

hm? what are you talking about?

[cabbxges-and-kings]

I really wish s4 of turn would've included a throw back to Thomas' death (Abe's brother Thomas) when he was undercover in the British army. Since I'm sure Richard would be glad if both of his sons served, maybe not so much after Thomas' death, but still. It was built up as this big impactful thing in s1, in his trial in s3 Abe confesses that he "killed" his brother. So it was still relevant to Abe's character at that point. I know not a lot of people like Abe and wouldn't care for seeing any reference to it, but it could've surfaced in his mind after losing his father: his mother, brother, and finally, father all being dead. Since his brother served and was killed during his time serving in the British Army, it could've strengthened his bond with Mary, or something, since it's his death that caused the two to get married instead.

[luminisvii]

shout out to nintendo for dropping a grenade right on top of the splatoon fanbase, they're already delusional enough about alleged shiver simps that ruin everything, and this is making that worse

but at least now there's no """playing the splatfest wrong""" if you HAVE to choose your favorite idol now, right? and you'll all behave no matter who wins, yes? i sure hope so!

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

For the questions for fic writers, 49 and 50 please?

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

I've been bouncing back and forth between the last chapter of toy rosaries and the next chapter of nhthcth. Here's a few lines of toy rosaries:

Not two seconds later, they notice him gawping down at them like a fool. The man in the mask freezes. Claire jabs a finger at him like she’s tattling to the recess monitor. 

“He says this guy kidnapped a kid and we need him to tell us where he is.” 

Oh, so there’s where he kept the Devil. He hadn’t felt it in some time. But it’s right there, next to the pit in his chest. It seems comfortable as it finds its way up his pulse. 

“I’ve got a pair of pliers,” says Jack, jerking his head back from where he came. “If that’ll help.”

50. Answer any question of your choice, or talk about anything you want to talk about!

Let's do this one: 17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?

Okay so I have one for TMA and one for Marvel.

TMA: Danny, Jon, and Gerry Buzzfeed Unsolved AU. Jon runs into Agnes Montague while at Oxford, and it changes things. He goes on the run from the Web, picks up an amnesiac man he semi-accidentally rescued from some fucked up circus freaks, starts running even faster. They find a kind goth who joins them in their scooby adventures, because Jon is HIGHLY susceptible to serial killers and Gerry is kind enough to help him escape being bookified. They end up starting a ghost hunting YouTube channel, Ghost Hunt--not to be confused with Ghost Hunt UK, who hates them on a profound level--to cover up their monster hunting supernatural shenanigans. It gains immense popularity--because of Jon's skepticism about the existence of supernatural.

Marvel: the idea is that there are many Peter Parker's in the Multiverse, and the Collector just wants the one that no one would miss. A very lonely version of Peter gets nabbed right when he's starting off his Spider-Man career, before anyone even knows the name, by a Collector who's decided he's the centerpiece of his collection. This one is so dramatic. There's TRAUMA. There's SPACE. There's a GLADIATOR ARENA. There's MIND GAMES. the REVENGERS are there. And, Yes, I found a way for the Frank Castle's dead family to be there too. This is yet another one of my defridging the castle family stories. I am obsessed with this AU and it is so ridiculously niche. If anyone wants to ever read a space odyssey featuring Peter Parker and the Punisher's dead family, by fucking god, i have you covered.