#am not loving how you're making it HARDER for creators to get engagement when there's already issues with reblogs and stuff

[internetgremlin-writes]

IMPORTANT: TUMBLR & FANFICTION

Alright kids, listen up because @staff have pulled off a corker of a hot mess and have decided to add "Community Labels". I guess they've decided we can't be trusted to add our own warnings and people can't make sensible choices with what they engage with.

But why does it matter to me?

Tumblr have made labels AN OPT IN SITUATION which means every single blog here is automatically set to hide any triggering content

If you want to continue to be able to access and read fanfiction PLEASE go into your settings and click "show" on at least the "Mature" and "Sexual Themes" labels!!

ALSO IOS USERS: there's an extra fun "Hide additional content" bit just to really try and block us from any hopes of success. Make sure you opt out of that too otherwise I think content will be blocked on the mobile app!

Attached to this post are screenshots from my settings so you guys know what to look for. I could only find it on my desktop settings and not on the mobile app (for now at least)

[I feel like I should add I don't want to sound like I'm pressuring anyone... if you don't want to see certain content obviously keep it hidden and protect yourselves BUT this post is mainly targeted at the horny little gremlins I write for who will be suddenly deeply confused when their smut supply is cut off]

[darkpoisonouslove]

for the writing ask game!

💫 what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

🦋 what are you most insecure about when you post a fic?

🕯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

💌 share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

💫 what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

I love it when the commenter lists specific things that they like/caught their attention (and possibly tells me why they liked them). It really helps to know which parts of my writing work and if I'm conveying my ideas comprehensively enough. It's also nice when a comment sparks a discussion about some headcanons or worldbuilding. Other people's ideas/understanding of canon elements can be fascinating to hear about!

🦋 what are you most insecure about when you post a fic?

Answered here.

🕯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

Engaging with other fans is awesome because it can spawn theories, headcanons, discussion and the like. It can motivate people to create or help them overcome their fear of sharing what they've already created. It can also make you feel seen and understood by other people who relate to/love the same characters as you. And all of that usually leads to wonderful, strong friendships. It's the foundation of fandom because that's what we're here for. You can be a fan just fine on your own, closed off in your bedroom. But it's the engagement with other people's ideas and interpretations that makes the experience so much more fun and more fulfilling. Interactions with other fans can multiply the joy and satisfaction that you get out of creating for your favorite piece of media and that just makes fan life a 1000 times better.

I myself am very anxious in social situations but when I read a fic or see some other fan creation, I remind myself that feedback makes such a big difference for creators. It makes it almost impossible for me to not leave some comment. (I don't know super much about art so it's harder for me to comment on it but I try to at least compliment the piece when I reblog it.)

💌 share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

I already talked about the Griffin draws Faragonda to her side (instead of vice versa) during the CoL times AU and I haven't made much progress since then but it's always on my mind.

Because chapter 1 is such a fucking mess, I have turned the first part of it into a mix of five different lectures on magic courtesy of Valtor. It takes place on Oppositus where I've created a legend that parallels Griffin and Faragonda so closely that Griffin is instantly feeling dread when she first hears about it.

I think I finally managed to use the chaos with their emotions to my advantage and tie it into the theme of the first chapter. I am planning on including an older idea of mine in which when things are too hard to say, Griffin and Faragonda say the opposite of what they mean and the other one knows what the truth is. (I wrote out a ficlet with the idea here - under number 31.)

I think I'll just have to start writing it, though, because the outline has become too much of an unsalvageable clusterfuck at this point. I was hoping I could figure some things out before diving into the first draft but it looks like chapter 1 at least won't agree with me. To be honest, I am kind of anxious about starting this because it will require a lot of careful maneuvering with the characters' feelings and motivations and it will be quite long. I don't think I will be able to motivate myself to finish it all before posting but posting every chapter as I write it will probably mean long hiatuses in-between. I am unsure of how to proceed but I'll mull over it once I've done the first chapter.

Send me ((REAL)) fic writer asks

[showrunnerihardlyknowher]

can I ask what you miss about 2019? i didn't join until last year...what was it like?

Long rant beneath

The community was just so much bigger than what it was now. There were so many creators pumping out stories and artwork left and right, everything was fresh and original, hell even with Sanders Sides running amok everything was a new concept because you could mix and matched like 8 personalities in any setting you wanted. Fearplay was a lot more popular, too. Everyone made something and everyone reblogged something

But now it's just...stale. It's the same five creators over and over again because everyone else either left on their own or were squeezed out of the community. Everything needed to be fluffy and wholesome, only soft hearted male giants or epic, badass giantesses. Fics can only be 1% angst and 99% comfort, and all of those things are just not my style.

"Well if you don't like it, create your own work" I did and I love Star Wars rip off so much, but pretty quickly once everyone else started leaving I was bled dry because I was one of the few fearplay authors left. If you want constant engagement, you have to post damn near daily, which I normally don't have the luxury of doing seeing as I work full time and write at least 10K

Not to mention the community itself is so clique-y, which I've said before. It's not those same 5 creators fault that they got so popular and everyone only flocks to them, they're just trying to make something that brings them and their friends joy, but I'm so tired of seeing the same fic/art 8 times a day on my dash. Especially when they're character types I already don't care for. And if you're not friends with those creators? Forget having your work seen outside of your mutuals, it's almost like you need those creator's stamp of approval saying "Yep, this is a good post because I like it!"

And I'll be honest, I used g/t as a way to cope with my sexual assaults and baby loss. I liked being able to create dark fics with big, oppressive forces and tiny, helpless victims as a way to vent through both POVs. I liked being in control of the concept of overpowering. And now it's like...that's not allowed. You get messages or comments telling you certain tropes are fucked, or gosh these characters are swell but this would be 10000% better if it was uwu pure sugar fluff. No, I want it to be fucked up, I want to explore darker themes. "But g/t needs to be sfw because it's a comfort!!" Yes. It's my comfort as well, you don't get to gatekeep how I make my OCs act.

Also, being an author in the fandom these days is just harder than it used to be. No one wants to sit down and read a fic, they just want to see the pretty visualizes your or someone else made instead. Before, fics FLOODED the g/t tag and it was as magically as Matilda going to the library for the first time. So many stories at your fingertips! Now it's 90% art, which is fine! Art is beautiful! I've made art myself and I've had lovely followers make art for me which I am incredibly thankful for. But it's like that shortened attention span, you know? Why sit down a read a 20K fic when I can just look at art of the crux scene in 10 seconds and get the whole vibe? You're shit out of luck if you're not a popular artist to begin with.

I could really go on and list specific blogs and the shit they've done, but that's not fair of me to do. It's not intentionally their fault. That's just how the pieces happened to fall I guess. And really right now, I'm eight times more emotional than normal because my hormones are rampaging and slagging me with baby blues. Like I said, g/t used to be my coping mech for this type of thing, but with how the fandom is now, it's just not working like it used to and is making my mood feel even worse because of it.

I may end up taking a hiatus in the very near future, I may even end up retiring this blog altogether because I don't see the point in keeping up with a fandom that doesn't make me happy anymore. I'll sleep on it of course before I make any hasty decisions, I might bounce back in a couple days once my uterus stops making me depressed, but we'll have to see.

Hey, if you made it this far into my rant, please remember to reblog stories from small creators that you like. Please remember to give newbies in the g/t tag a chance instead of waiting for your fav content creator to give the all clear and declare the new work a hit, especially since they're all their own clique and hardly seem to reblog outside of each other anyways (like a little popular club whirlwind). If you want new and fresh content, then you gotta help expand the new and fresh content, otherwise authors aren't going to be as inclined to continue to develop it.

It's been a trip, y'all. Have fun out there

[alouettesque]

This isn't meant to be aggressive, but can you talk more about your antipathy for the les mis fandom? From your posts I think you're generalizing the fandom and maybe being disrespectful towards the content creators. The fandom is made up of people who love all les mis media, whether it's the book, older movies, stage musical, or 2012 movie. There's no drama, everyone likes and does their own thing, and everyone has found friends along the way in being a part of it.

Hi, anon.

I don’t doubt that Les Mis fandom is a cool, chill place to be for people who enjoy what it currently is. When I make posts expressing my frustration and dissatisfaction with the current Les Mis fandom, it’s because the fandom that currently exists is fundamentally different from the fandom that I enjoyed years ago. 

The fan culture that existed prior to the 2012 movie is gone, full stop. When I took a step back from Les Mis fandom, it wasn’t because I didn’t like Les Mis as a book or a musical. It wasn’t that I didn’t think there were talented content creators making great fanwork.  

Les Mis fandom was something that was extremely important to me, something that helped me through difficult times, something that I considered a part of my identity for years. It was something that brought me joy and knowledge and friendship. Based on your ask, I’m sure you can relate.

When the wave of new fans arrived after the 2012 movie came out, the landscape of fandom changed radically. I was open to it at first, but a few months into 2013, I started to realize that interacting with Les Mis fandom was exhausting me. More often than not, going in the tags made me upset and angry and confused. The drama and discourse was unbearable, and even when things were civil, I was finding that the fanon that was emerging and dominating the fandom was just kind of unappealing to me. The kinds of fan content that I loved (meta, highly researched fanfiction that taught me things about literature and history, canon era fanart, canon era anything) were harder and harder to find in the sea of modern au content. I was trying to enjoy Les Mis fandom and I couldn’t, and that freaked me out. 

It’s difficult to see posts about “Les Mis fandom” on my dash in the same way that it might be difficult to see someone throwing a party in your childhood home, except you did not voluntarily move out of your childhood home and instead escaped out of the bathroom window because people started setting things on fire and drawing on the walls. And maybe you walk by later and the chaos has died down, the fires are out, people are hanging out on the porch with lemonade and laughing and they’re politely showing each other their sketchbooks. But even if you wanted to go back after everything that happened, when you walk inside, you find that they’ve completely redecorated. It’s barely even your childhood home anymore, and as it turns out, the only faces you still recognize are the ones of the people who were burning your friend’s quilt. 

So.

For me, engaging with Les Mis fandom is bittersweet at best, infuriating at worst. If you like how it is now, there’s nothing wrong with that. The fact remains that the fandom that many old fans knew and loved does not exist anymore and we have the right to be sad about that and express our feelings on the matter. When I make posts venting about Les Mis fandom, I am speaking to my friends who shared my experience. They are personal posts and the level of engagement that they get is reflective of that.