#i just have more experience in it bc in writing fanfiction i can rely on the original media for the happy bits

[skyborneveggie]

mad at my own writing skills rn

[canpandaspvp]

KEEP TALKING ABOUT THE SBI FIC THING IM REALLY INTERESTED!! I've always wanted to study that side of the fandom under a microscope but it's scary.

buddy that place is WILDDDD. ok so things you need to know abt sbi side

1. they're damn good writers

2. i don't think they know how to write fanfiction

3. in another universe they create some very well known, published authors

because essentially everything they write is so fucking detached the second it enters an au. with dnf and the general dt side of things, there are differences. sure often times it's a bit more identifiable as fanfiction but that's not a BAD thing. it literally just means people know how to write fanfiction which is what they were intending to do anyways so like hooray

with sbi, i've read SEVERAL (as in i can go into my bookmarks right now and count out at least 10) fics that have just changed and deviated so far from the original source material that it's hard to even understand what they're talking about. in that regard, 100% dnfers get caught out before sbiers, but that's only in the circumstance that they get published at all. sbiers are really creative -- TOO creative, obviously to the point of creation ocs with names and descriptions that often times only vaguely resemble phil, tommy, wilbur, and techno -- which gives them the upper hand publication wise.

that leads into dark sbi which, let it be known, i have NEVER EVER liked. i personally thought it was harsh and unenjoyable but also goddamn did they make some good stories. obviously i read them bc even though i hated the vampires and the kidnapping and shit, it was good. the upper hand of writing fanfiction is that shit is more fast paced and attention grabbing, due to the lack of exposition and shit. so sbiers likely get published first, get discovered on booktube (not booktok cause they only read romance that's packed with tropes to the point of dysfunction), and they at least semi-spread from there until someone is who can't handle any difficult topics in fiction gets upset. but that's a different kind of controversy entirely

sbiers are good authors but they're stuck in this weird limbo of "it's not fanfiction it's just inspired original content" which sort of creates a new genre entirely. they pull some good fanfiction elements into its own realm entirely and it's really frustrating when you want to read fanfiction of something but if you're looking for something fast paced and good to read that aligns with the weird fanon universe they've created, they're your subfandom.

a lot of fics also appeal to personal issues that people are able to project onto easily (i speak from experience) so, while dnf is typically shorter, more accurate, and lighthearted, sbi has dynamics that people often crave in their real life and more people that they can insert themselves into. um that sounds weird but ykwim

they also have The AU's which dnf has but it's just not to the extent that sbi has it. the trifecta:

1. superhero aus

2. royalty aus

3. foster care aus

ran that tag for a good 2 years minimum. those are the sort of Peter Parker Goes On A Field Trip To Stark Industries type of aus where you have a good baseline that people get attached to, so you can sort of rewrite the same story different enough that people feel like they're reading smth new each time. and it works!! if people were to publish an sbi fic (which would likely fall into one of those 3 categories), it'd be realllyyyyyy recognizable just bc it was such a staple in the community. ifl im missing some other big categories but those are just the aus that i remembered off the top of my head that showed up a fuckton

don't get me wrong, i ❤️ dnf fanfiction and you def could publish it if you tried hard enough, but those authors do shit right. the characterization is so niche and specific, the dynamics are so unique, and often times, there just isn't enough in one fic to build and create a story. so much of dnf fanfiction relies on the fact that you already know those two, you know who they are, how they behave, their stakes regarding each other, etc etc. with sbi, the authors end up essentially writing their own stories so much so that they have to tell the story like it's a novel rather than fanfiction. it's very interesting imo esp bc fanon tommy for example is so extremely, incomprehensibly different from c!tommy or cc!tommy, with only enough hits of similarity to keep you hooked into the story with the illusion that you're actually reading the same character, when more often then not, it's like 1/4 tommy, 1/4 fandom misinterpretation interpretation, 1/4 author projection, and 1/4 recycled oc. again, speaking from experience.

also, sbi authors are pretty cocky about their writing, and it's really noticeable when they write a fic with the intention of changing the names and couple minor details to submit to an editing company for a few rounds of revision before they publish their nyt bestseller a few years down the line. they didn't need to leave the fandom to abandon their shit. lorehead analysts have a decent grasp of their content (but i'm biased), but lorehead writers?? different monster entirely. the second dsmp stands for something like "delicious small mtown pforsuperherovillanvigilanteshenanigans" then you know they're too far gone. they're attached to THEIR characters, not the dsmp's; if it means sacrificing the original source material for real life recognition, they'd do it in a heartbeat. i don't blame them but the point still stands.

this is all over the place i'm so sorry idek if i said anything you wanted to know but

tl;dr sbi fanfiction sort of became its own medium between fanfiction and original work so they're more likely to get published, but they fall into the same dynamics in the same type of universes that would easily get them figured out. dnf writers just seem to mind their damn business more. anyway, most dnf writers that left the fandom seem to want to completely forget that they ever did That. usually they just orphan/delete and move on cause they're embarrassed.

sorry again i'm so not good at explaining my thoughts but i did NOT spend 2 1/2 years reading sbi fanfiction 24/7 for nothing. i need to put my experience to use somehow so thanks for letting me do that 😭😭😭

[michaelsfavgirl]

boo, you’ve inspired me a lot and I fr want to start writing Michael imagines but I’m scared that I’m not gonna have motivation, no one’s gonna read them, and that I’m just gonna flop completely 😭😭

can you pretty please give me some advice if you can bc babes idk 😭🙏

Omg that’s wonderful!! Don’t be scared, the mj fanfic side of the fandom was literally non existent on here when I first posted my fics and now look there’s more of us <3 We need more mj writers!!

Listen you really have to get the thoughts of “no one’s gonna read them, they’re gonna flop blah blah” out your head, and I know it’s hard but trust me the best way to KILL your motivation is by relying on external validation. Of course I’m not gonna sit here and say that people reblogging and commenting on fics won’t give you more motivation to write but that can’t be the only reason/source. So try to remind yourself that you’re doing this for yourself, for fun, as a hobby etc.

Now when it comes to writing advice, first find out what style of writings you’re most comfortable with and length. Do you think you’ll prefer to write a few thousand words or shorter fanfictions? Do you want to write one-shots, headcanons or drabbles? Try to experiment more or less with all to see what you’re best at.

Then, if a blank page intimidates you (I relate) try to just word vomit all your ideas/things you want to mention in your fic, like a little summary. To make this even less intimidating use the text to speech button and just start yapping. Then you’ll be able to use that as some sort of guideline.

While writing try to include both mikes and readers/ocs perspective, even if you’re writing from the first point of view. (Btw I’d recommend using the second or third pov, but you can do whatever feels more natural) this will make the readers feel more connected to the story and want to continue reading. Also don’t waste time by being too descriptive about things that don’t add much to the story, there’s no need to describe the outfits, or morning routines before your characters meet up yk, unless it’s necessary/integral to the plot.

When it comes to writing dialogue (if you’re gonna go for Mike) try to recall his interviews and the way he speaks, use similar language and even phrases/words to make the conversation feel more natural. Trust me most people hate when the dialogues seem unrealistic and fake, it shouldn’t feel like reading about your own oc who just has mikes appearance and name, if that makes sense.

[nikadd]

i think that. and this is not just abt supernatural but thinking abt spn is what got me to this point. i think that sometimes (presumed) cishet writers would come up with a gay joke out of innate mundane homophobia bc of the backlog of gay jokes for inspiration and it’s really a gay joke by straight ppl for straight ppl. but what these people don’t consider (simply bc they don’t think gay people exist when they write gay jokes) is that sometimes these jokes could actually describe an actually funny situation or thought that is familiar and recognizable by actual gay people. so then it’s not actually that much of a stretch for gay people to presume that a gay character could make this joke (or this joke could have been made abt a gay character) and - like other parts of dialogue or scene actions that are not that joke - could give some insight into this character.

i know i’m basically chewing this whole argument up to feed baby birds but what i mean is there is this tinge of clueless-to-ignorant lack of consideration for what these details do to characterization and character arcs, and so i understand (but, have to note here lest i’m misunderstood, do not excuse) the writers’ utter confusion at actually gay reading of their work, bc they only have straight audiences in mind. sure, some gay jokes said by and about certain characters on spn are quite homophobic in the gay rep/trope way, but as someone who’s gay irl and knows other irl gay ppl, i can easily picture some of them either saying or doing something that spn joke described.

i’m still thinking abt that comment? tag? something that said “haha dean being bi is my favorite running gag of the show” and how much that actually reveals abt, well, everything they were doing. bc sure, it was definitely in many ways a joke bc contrast and opposites are funny, and it’s funny to put a super masculine womanizer guy into situations and spaces of gay desire on both his and other men’s side, and you get a real kick out of those moments bc isn’t it just something uncomfortable and taboo. but then there’s him as a person, who constantly experiences these things, who is shown to be building strong emotional bonds with men, have a difficult relationship with his masculinity and masculine models of his life, show desire and attachment towards other male characters, whether it’s a monster in a male form that successfully seduces him, a trickster angel in a fictional sexy male doctor form that is also set up to affect specifically him, or an angel in a male form who is his biggest non-familial emotional connection.

there is a strong separation as to what a person does and what a fictional character does, as there are specific rules for fictional characters and what their behavior, words, and actions in general can represent. but when we talk about gay characters, the rules are somehow a lot more specific, because we simply don’t have much variety to how gay characters are written, so writers have to either rely more or less fully on previous examples, or try to base certain things on how real gay people are. then you run into a wall bc sometimes how real gay people are doesn’t fit too well into the rules and tropes, and you have to adjust. this is why i think a lot of times people prefer fanfiction of non-canon gay ships to how actual gay representation is written in movies and tv, bc there are so many elements that are, while not necessarily untrue - like, sure, there are coming out scenes and such, for example - seem to be limited in the ways how they can play out.

all that is to say that sometimes cishet writers do stumble into an organic way to set up a gay character, but do not recognize them as such, and there’s a lot of conflict that follows. what i think is that there is a limit to what an intention can excuse, and there are many conversations to be had as to how strong and explicit certain implications have to be to be considered canon.

[falsegoodnight]

hello ris! im a new writer. im asexual and have never had sex. ive written some unpublished fic without sex in it but i think i wanna challenge myself to write some sex scene even if it's only 1k. do you have any advice on this? because i really don't have any experience about it😅 should i watch porn? should i read more pwp? i want to ask more writer mutuals about how they get so many knowledge about sex but i feel silly bc most of us are the same age how can i not know anything about it😅 im sorry i only have the courage to ask you because you're really nice and im sorry for dumping this on you. you don't have to answer this, i hope you have a good day💕 so excited to read more of your works you're so amazing

hello!! first of all, don't apologize! you're not dumping anything on me!! and you also shouldn't feel silly for not knowing much about sex at our age or ANY age even if you aren't ace!! anyone who tries to make you feel inferior for lack of knowledge regarding sex or not having sex in general is a loser, and that is that <3

second, writers write about things they haven't experienced or don't know fully all the time! i personally don't think sex scenes are any different. obviously people who have had sex may have an "advantage" so to speak in writing about it just like someone who's a marine biologist irl would have an advantage when it comes to writing a fic where a character is a marine biologist, but if we all wrote only what we actually know and have experienced... well, fics would be boring as fuck lol. so when we do set out to write about something we're not familiar with, some people may decide to just wing it (which is valid), but most of us do a little research.

and you've already mentioned two things that i think are great ideas!! if you're comfortable with it, watching porn is honestly a great way to navigate things like body or limb placement (especially for more complicated positions) or other visual details!! and reading pwps or sex scenes from writers you believe successfully write smut is also a great way to get a feel for things like specific language, how they develop the scene, etcetera. i know a lot of writers have shared advice for writing smut too so you should look into that!! i also attempted to give some basic advice here (i also link some other posts to check out!) if you're interested. it also depends on what sort of sex scene you want to write – if you want to write something a little kinkier or delve into d/s dynamics, i definitely recommend checking out actual bdsm websites/resources for accurate information on how to portray a safe and healthy dynamic (definitely do not rely on fanfiction as a sole source for this in particular lol).

although it may seem intimidating to write a sex scene, i really would just approach it like you'd approach any other scene with a physical component! research and practice are your best bets!! i definitely haven't personally experienced every type of sex-related act that i've written about and i think that's the same with a lot of people, so don't feel discouraged about that!

i wish you the best of luck with all your writing endeavors!!! feel free to reach out if you have any other questions or just want to talk!!

[bottlesandcats]

hiii!! i hope it's okay to just ask you, i really want to start writing fanfiction but i'm so embarrassed of my writing style and in general, ever showing it to anyone? do you have any tips for beginners? 🥺

Hey there Anon! Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, but I was at work when I saw your ask, and wanted to really think about what to say before responding. With that in mind, I hope you don't mind a really lengthy answer.

I have to say I’m incredibly flattered to have someone ask me for writing tips, and will do my best to provide some insights based on my own experience. I'm no expert, but I've done a lot of writing both academic and creative. Of course, it goes without saying that the following strategies are what work for me, personally. Everyone works and thinks differently, so some of my suggestions may not fit the way you work and that's totally okay!

Because I am an anal nerd, I've organized my responses into categories.

Writing Style

Firstly, remember that your writing style is unique to you and you have nothing to be embarrassed about! But honestly, I think a lot of writers feel the same way; I don’t actually like my fiction writing style, either, and am always working to improve it.

One thing I’ve found that helps: find authors whose style you really like, and read and reread their stories and study how they write. What’s their sentence structure like? How do they write dialogue? How do they set up scenes? Is it through dialogue or more through the use of a character’s thoughts? This is what I do. I have three authors, who all write in a particular way that I really love, that I tend to reread and study for inspiration. Just know that your style is not set in stone and you do have the ability to adjust it, it just takes practice.

At the end of the day it's easy to wish we could write like our favorite authors, but don't be too hard on yourself; your style is special, too!

Getting Started

When I used to write research papers in school, I was a big fan of creating outlines before I'd start writing the actual paper. However, for creative writing, I don't use outlines because I find that I'm constantly changing things around. The outline would either have to be so basic in order to allow for flexibility that it wouldn't be of much use, or it would become irrelevant three chapters in.

Writing that first sentence is probably the hardest part of writing a story. What I did, for the story I'm working on now, is picked a part that I was really excited to write about and just started with that, first (I'm pretty sure it was something that comes much later in my story, that I haven't even posted yet). That helped me to get really into the process and feel confident about what I was doing, which made it easier to move onto other sections. What I'm trying to say is don’t be hemmed in by feeling like you have to write sequentially. I tend to write scenes as they come to me; I don’t force myself to write consecutive chapters, if that makes sense. For example, in my current story, I had chapter 14 finished before chapter 11 bc I had a burst of inspiration and just wrote it all out. Just be aware that sometimes this can lead to you writing yourself into a corner (which did happen to me in this fic), but the beauty of it all is that it’s your story and you can change whatever you want!

If you’re writing a story with chapters, keep a point in mind. My beta reader actually taught me this. With each chapter, ask yourself “What is the goal of this chapter?” Think of chapters as mini stories that, when combined and read in order, create one big story (duh). Therefore each chapter should ideally have a purpose that moves the overall story forward.

Write about what you know. If you don't know -> research

Authenticity is really important to me. I have googled the most random shit for this story: "Did soldiers have to repair their own uniforms in WWII?" "Popular slang of the 30s and 40s." "How to make jambalaya." "Popular cigarette brands of the 30s."

I have also been very careful around race in my story as it involves POC and I'm as white as white gets (I got a hyphenated name and everything). When I address a character's emotions around race I try to match it to how they acted in the show/movie. I don't rely on conjecture or how I think they'd feel, bc as a white person, it's impossible for me to truly know what it's like to be a POC. This also goes for dialogue; it can be easy to turn people into caricatures. I've watched TFATWS at least three times, and have watched numerous interviews with Anthony Mackie to try and make sure I write dialogue and emotion that fits him as an individual and not a stereotype. It's not perfect, and I'm sure I've made some mistakes, but it's something that's really important to me and I try my damndest to make sure Sam Wilson comes across as authentic.

Getting Edits

I see a lot of people suggest sharing your work with friends or family to get feedback. I'm not really a fan of this because I'm pretty private about my writing. I don't want anyone that I know reading it bc, frankly, I'm embarrassed (hey look how we came full-circle there!). Besides AO3, Tumblr is the only space that I feel comfortable enough to share my work without fear of judgement. I think the preferred alternative is to get yourself a beta reader. This is the first fic that I've worked on with a beta reader and...wow, what a huge difference it has made! I found my beta reader when he posted on tumblr expressing an interest in beta'ing, and so I messaged him (hey @3dg310rdsupreme). It’s the best decision I ever made. He has truly made me a better writer, and my current in-progress fic wouldn’t be nearly as good without him offering edits, acting as a sounding board, and reigning in my excessive use of lengthy paragraphs (he will probably cringe at these paragraphs, here).

Posting Your Story

If/when you do decide to post your story in a public forum, try to maintain a loose posting schedule. When I first started uploading I committed to a chapter a week, but by the eighth chapter I was getting too stressed and found myself glued to my computer 24/7 trying to keep up. Hold yourself to goals so you don't wind up abandoning the fic, but remember that you are your own boss and this is meant to be fun, so go easy on yourself. I'd also recommend getting several chapters finished BEFORE you even post the first one, to give yourself a head start. You think you have plenty of time but it's surprising how much time edits and rewrites can take.

It can be really scary to share your work with others. Writing is really hard, can be very personal, and it's an incredibly vulnerable feeling to put yourself out there like that and leave yourself open to the judgements of others. I was terrified when I first started to upload chapters because I just wasn't sure what reader etiquette was like. The last time I posted a fic was on FanFiction.net almost 10 years ago and ppl did not hold back their criticism (I think things have vastly improved since then or maybe AO3 readers are just nicer). I can't emphasize this enough: you are not obliged to take readers' criticisms/feedback whether they are constructive or not. I don't ever leave criticisms or corrections when I comment on other writers' stories; I honestly don't feel it's my place to do anything other than support them as they are sharing their talents for free. Some writers welcome constructive criticism, and will typically state that in the notes if they are open to it. I do not; it's why I have a beta reader. I did have one reader post a public comment correcting me on a couple things (one of which was a misunderstanding on their part) and I politely requested that in the future any corrections should be sent to me privately, not publicly shared.

Wow...I think that's a good start. I really hope at least some of these tips will be useful to you! Thanks for reaching out, feel free to do so again, and if you ever want to send some pages my way you are more than welcome to! Just remember, be kind to yourself and have patience bc seriously…

[misterbitches]

I ship muren and li cheng bc i only saw it through gifs then i watched this episode cos i was like im only starting this show if they kiss im waiting and they did and it was nice and i got so anxious that i was about to fucking vomit. I really like them together. The top/bottom shit is dumb and i hope if they must mention it they all build a bridge and get over it so they can switch cos who gives a shit. I didnt realize how large they all are like most “tall” men on tv are lying. But bc that kid is so thin and tall and the other one (idk the stepbrother) is huge too. Li cheng is shorter than them both but more ~manly~ but still short so why doesnt he take a DICK UP HIS BUTT XD since that’s all that fucking matters and there’s only 2 genders and 2 eays to have sex lmao so nothing else otherwise ur screwed

Hd a terrible past couple of weeks personally and because i keep seeing my peopl eget murdered and things ripped from us ^_____^ anyway here’s Some libertatrian communist dumb bitch discoars so i’ll tag it:

keep in mind these are my opinions’”” when i engage in discourse. I am not the end all be all and I don’t need you to agree. There’s some shit I am non-negotiable on but thsi is just exchanging of information. Any authoratative tone I take on comes from my beliefs, my life, my experiences, and what I choose to cultivate as a person and an artist. I dont have control over your feelings, you do. If it hurts you then either tell me the issue and be PRECISE about it, understand that context matters which is why i type so much in engagement, and do not fucking lie or misconstrue my words. Do not call me western ever in your life either. I am a black-american. I have adhd and bc i am a black woman if ur automatically thinking im brolic i am accepting money in my paypal for ur wellbeing to get me to shut the fuck up.Thanks.

The stepbrothers storyline is stupid and lazy writing. I really want to counter people that say it’s written well and that it’s interesting because it isn’t. Even if it was illicit and fucked we can write a story out about this. Let’s rethink what they could have done shall we:

- become stepbrothers at about 16 and their parents mismanage the relationship and they fail in trying to get an integrated family together (this is what happened in the #iconic transit girls and that was fuckin’ weird but hey dude guess what we watched it and it was weird but not unethical and we know one is like 19 and the other is 21 and a girl so it’s like wow you avoided so much and handled their stepsister story very…….um lightly given the end lmao but it was there and people had AGENCY)

-OR you realize that freak is obsessed with him and then he realizes it and is like “bitch i swear to god” and in typical shtity trope BL fashion they can find a way from obsession, to loss and independence when you lose your obsession, to “love” if they choose

- have the fucked up shit but make it clear what the issues are and you literally cannot write your way out of it so do not try

But why can’t fucked up things be shown? Also this is realistic.

0. Well according to you but no one said that they can’t. So that’s on your interpretation of critique (that is, again, not bullying or harassment.) They can, i just gave plenty of scenarios in which it is affective and not just annoying to witness, trope-y, and frankly ridiculous and offensive. Sorry! They don’t do it well. You can come up with alternatives too. See #2 btw.

1. No it isn’t doing a good job of reflecting life because life has consequences. The exaggeration in drama doesn’t mean the arc shouldn’t be there. Almost always things that aren’t heavy with the message or meant to be sobering in a deep way are COMPELLING. The realism is the basis for art because we are human. This is not the way real humans act.

Someone said Tharn Type was mature and I had to laugh because no, no one acts that way and is “in love” if they act that way that means they fucking hate each other and they’re immature and frankly it’s just not that interesting for many of us to watch because the dramatization of the “realism” is fucking bonkers. That was such poor writing it is unbelievable and someone has the audacityt o say it’s how real adults act. Fucking murder me if I’m with someone for 7 years and we break up over a miscommunication and for some reason I am not as horny as my always horny boyfriend. The fuck? What kind of lives do you lead? Either you are not an adult or you are an adult who needs therapy.

I also hear the “realistic” argument but then people try and temper it with “but also it’s fiction.” What do you think fiction is? Why do you think filmmaking exists? Number one, it’s propaganda in the sense that you want others to buy into your presentation and see what you see. That means that the creators are telling people and influencing them WITH ART BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT IT IS about their feelings around a situation. That’s why it is imperative to be responsible as a filmmaker and artist and underline the deepness of creepiness if that’s what they want. If they want to relay that rape sometimes ok and psychos are crazy so they get boy (??!?!?!? BITCH?) then they achieved it with no innovative information. We know people get raped bc we are human beings and many of us live with that fear. You know, being the target demo and all. And bc BL loves that trope it’s rape fantasy peddled to young people and women. Just like shitty wattpad fics or NYT best sellers. Hooray, what now? Or are you trying to purport that this isn’t glorified fanfiction? Which it literally is

2. This is the issue with these shows. No one is saying that fucked up shit cannot be shown. There’s a film about a woman who is raped and she falls in love with her rapist (because he was masked but i think we find out later that she knows. Binoche is in it.) I have no desire for that film—i think it’s by a man and i extra dont care—but I hear it’s sort of powerful for many. I heard it was a good film. But the act itself is always eschewed and the conflict comes from how fucking ridiculous it is especially finding out that she knows. The power imbalance adn the possibility. They may not have handled it in a way I would have cared for but it was there.

There’s simply no imagination because these people do not care that much and aren’t great writers and filmmakers because they simply do not have to be. Sorry.

The industry doesn’t rely on the best they rely on efficiency (this is everywhere.) You can tell by the camera angles, the editing, the camera itself (idk if it is multicam but the flatness is typical soap flatness without the glowboxes to soften their faces.) Simple constant lighting. Now the surroundings are mostly beautiful. But even to some of the costumes. And those edits are abysmal, some of that camera work.

So with all that said even with the couple I extremely enjoy I see its (H4) faults. Add into that a lazily thrown together “shocking” love and if they are trying to get us to feel a type of way about its sexiness they fail. This is why movies like 50sog, 365 days, etc aren’t enjoyable to people because it’s fucking strange situations that they dont want to entangle or make enjoyable to viewers across the board. They know what people will take. It’s just that bitch what are we here for if even the sexiness isn’t there for ur stupid story.

At least with that teenager and 30 yr old man in MODC (which i do not love but i like them in theory if it wasnt totally repulsive to me and also if it was developed in a way that was good TO ME) they had their, er, “sex appeal” i talk about this as well the main couple in MODC to me, visually, was a miss. Not bc whatshisface was small and stuff but bc he was so sickly and they needed that to propel the story but it was just not appealing given how the story progressed. A missed opportunity in tying the two together besides making him look waif-y and sickly only to have the “did ur mom die in a car crash? No, cancer” type of move in not another teen movie. But the opposite. And not funny. Wayne tho????? GORL. Eggs. Cracked.

fandoms have a very warped sense of harrassment and discourse.

Most fandoms have harassers who are “protecting” the cast and crew who don’t need their protection (or maybe the crew does since they probably dont get paid well but why the fuck would anyone care about that lol) but very few have the people who have concerns or massive critique about the show are not going to be “bullying.”

If people are saying “if you like xyz, u suck” then sure it may suck for you to see but who fucking cares. Either talk to the person or don’t be friends with them. That is not bullying or harrassment. Things that are shitty get criticized. Fuck, things that aren’t shitty don’t. Get away from this idea of cancel culture and people misunderstanding the story. We have the ability to.

Think beyond your noses of personal preference. You don’t have to convince people of what you believe. Discussing it is good but critique is not bullying, harrassment, or hate. Neither is fucking roasting shit because even this shit I like (manner of death lets say) deserves it. Art is meant to be critiqued and if you dont fucking like the bullshit people make then say it. They know stupid stories like this are scandalous and they don’t give a shit in how to present them.

And guess what? You won’t like everybody. Many people can’t stand me i’m sure. Oh well. I mean frankly I don’t like that and I feel very unsettled when I don’t feel understood. That’s ok! I have to temper it. Sometimes calm myself down. I won’t get anything and everything I want. And you won’t like every opinion and sometimes it’s like “man am i a dummy?” But the part of growing up is fucking maanging that and beng honest about “bashing and harrassment” and “bullying” and growing up. Yuo can like what you want the “let people like what they want thing” is so fucking juvenile and THAT is not the real world. Which is probably why so many people feel that way, they dont want to live in the real world. Unfortunately, you do.

Think beyond our noses of personal preference and what we feel emotionally in conjunction with others. You don’t have to convince people of what you believe. And you can say things that you believe to be true but it doesn’t make them so or maybe it isn’t received that way to people. And many times we learn new things in the discussions “oh shit i didn’t see it that way” right? Discussing it is good but critique is not bullying, harrassment, or hate. Neither is fucking roasting shit because even this shit I like (manner of death lets say) deserves it. Art is meant to be critiqued and if you dont fucking like the bullshit people make then say it. They know stupid stories like this are scandalous and they don’t give a shit in how to present them. Usually the “opposition” in these situations aren’t the popular beliefs that permeate through society. Trust me lmao

Antiblackness

Antiblackness is a thing. It permeates everywhere. It permeates in this genre and it permeates in fandom. Get it the fuck together. Also do not conflate cultural relativism with being repsectful. They are not barbarians, they are smart human beings either making work or deciding to. We all have diff cultures but we have fucking sense in what is respectful and not. And if we don’t we fucking learn. You cannot excuse things and say “oh culture” when you have 0 idea of that culture or actual people who are radical etc and are fighting against it. Additionally the word westerner is an ignorant term when referring to people in the US or UK who are black. Because we are not. We extend sympathy to other groups and empathy since we know so there is no inherent power imbalance between a black viewer and their subject. Don’t suggest that because it’s wrong and ahistorical and contextless.

FIRST the fallacy of representation as freedom makes people fucking complacent, individualistic, and doesn’t let them think critically. Consumption and discourse around consumption is not helping material conditions of the marginalized communities in your home, the black ones who are ignored, those intersectionalized in these communities. Groups talk about art and what it means for them outside of just what we see and because we also don’t have access to a bunch of Thai reviews or what movements or going on we are less likely to know if we don’t FUCKING SEARCH for it. Because art is constant...which leads me to....

Representation is difficult. It matters and it doesn’t.

Tthese shows are not meant to overturn the LGBTQ+ community.

There are queer filmmakers and artists in these countries. Deep illustrious film careers or even TV that is moving and deliberate. We can even see it with the dude from “your name engraved” in their short series he was in beforehand. BL is no wa pejorative because it is simply not “qu**r” storytelling whatever that means. But know it has always existed everywhere and there are also out artists or radical artists in all these countries who do no respect mediums that are cash-grabs and poorly made.

ex: As much as “Like in the Movies” sort of isnt for me and is a bit hamfisted you can tell how much love goes into that. Love of the characters, acting, and message. Yes it’s cringey to see some of the lines (like very tbh subtlety wasnt exactly their strong suit) and yea naming them after lenin and marx is just 0ihgoaudgijposkagjihou BUT GUESS WHAT? THEY FUCKING DID IT. THEY TRIED. And class was a large component as well bc u cant fuckin ignore it. The show is aware of the machinations in its world as a show but also in the philippines and for a fuckin reason. And duatarte? Loooooooool so like yea not so sure bl makes him love his ppl but the show isnt trying to do that

It’s not a transgressive genre and it has no reason to be. No ethical anything under the way we live it’s just trying your fucking best to be. That’s it. They serve societal ills and capital’s purposes. Which is fine but it is not revolutionary.

These countries in SEA or even SA do not have as big budget for even mainstream dramas—though things are changing and that’s bc REVENUE like revenue from kpop is fucking huge for SK and again so much about that is bc of what happened in their history from japanese imperialism to WWII to the US—so for “queer” stuff it is sort of now important to make that an export and it sure is one. Not only globally or to the west but a lot of these places make their money within asia (duh!) outside of their countries. OBVIOUSLY. so BL is a way to output and gain money. The thing is, it doesnt seem to be put back into the industry at all. For people in all these countries to make works that aren’t for mainstream or wont reach as many people there’s a difference between trying and just shoving shit in your face and going here it’s gay you like it right? But dont antagonize the inherent patriarchal nature of BL.

Another thing: did you guys know thailand was never colonized? You should look it up. There’s little hints of things in ITSAY to represent french influence still. Isnt that fascinating? Find out why. It’s certainly interesting that the representation, though damaging and dubious many times and also incorrect like any media, is huge in asia and this isnt a commodity here (the US) exactly. A lot of that has to do with colonial ideas of gender of which I am sure. But listen………lmao

Sometimes people dont give a shit. And it very much shows. Here is the thing once again. GOOD TRANSGRESSIVE WORK exists.

Een within the capitalist Bs paradigm or you can see people trying (I can sort of applaud parts of lovely writer) also queer media has always existed everywhere the reason you don’t know about it is because it gets takena nd commodified into a mainstream product. We hvae little incentive, particularly if we are not fans of cinema or art in gen, to search fror others when the output is right here. Being dictated by others and the state and who will give you money. No longer an effort of a cast and crew who want to convey things. But google [any country] independent cinema, radical cinema, queer radical cinema, or even retrospectives on the cinema and rethinking what is queer and radical in film. What if we took that, diluted it, got rid of the creators who put themselves through all the work, ignroe al the nuances and do……………….two actors who are conventionally attractive with no chemistry making out.

It’s the same here lets say daniel kaluuya winning the oscar for the film about the BPP. I heard it was okay and not too offensive but it still isnt’ enough. It still isn’t like hwood isn’t trash, nnati black, misogynistic towards BW and women, and all that other shit. It was pushy but it can’t be enough where we are. Black KKKlansmen i think won an oscar, by circumstance i fuckin hate these award shows they mean nothing, and i like the film a lot but he has his misogynoir still resting in his films even if it is poignant. And it was a film that honestly wasn’t really made for black people. And should all art be a response to direct trauma or trying to make ourselves palatable when we’re just human?

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and it’s importance (capitalism) but also sorta individual responsibility

Considering a lot of these actors are rich and then just dip that’s another problem. Mainstream isn’t what sustains marginalized art ever. It doesn’t change in the vast ways we think it does. What changes is the people of these groups pushing, fighting, forcing and then capitalism trying to make it work under capitalism. It will not. It cannot.

This is why artists and labels often don’t mix or you see people like Sonic Youth doing whatever they want and pissing off their label but making them give them money. Same with Nirvana. Vince Staples. The thing is they can fight and make good shit but what capitalism helps people….not care? They don’t respect the audience? We’re getting those returns on poor executed product placement, lighting, editing, framing, fucking acting. And you surewon’t see mixed black asians in these shows. WHY R U is the oNLY one i have seen it in and he just disappears (but that was pretty cool.) so who the fuck is this representing? And before you start: asian countries are not homogenous the way we believe them to be. There are marginalized communities outside of even mixed people that are harmed. So you can skrrt cause on that one: you’re wrong buddy. But it gives us the IDEA of a paradise which is what they NEED.With representation and visibility comes consequence and responsibility as artists. What it allows them to do is coast and not think complexly because why should they; it’s mostly the fantasies of some older woman who probably has money and much less interaction with the world. It’s bonkers. And what that allows even further is for them to say YOU ARE THE THING THAT YOU CONSUME and the THING THAT YOU CONSUME IS YOURS. It is not, it is not your identity, form a close bond but figure it the fuck out. Especially for adults who are hellbent on twisting their minds into pretzels and can’t acknowledge what’s just laziness in art and not giving a fucking shit. Truly.

There’s damage that has been done from Parasite as he was supported by CJE&M and the bullshit obsession america had and eveyrone’s poor interpretation of it if they are rich. BJH is a socialist and he is a filmmaker. He has made films that are outstanding and cost a lot of money. But now a fear for indie filmmakers is just not being able to raise that much or have that much attention. Getting funding that helps them instead of expecting the Next Big Thing that is a fad because capitalism is trash. Yes this funneling of money is absolutely harmful to us artists. Even buying in is strategic. Additionally, that film is probs one of the most radical films to have that wide release and accolade (unlike “Sorry to Bother You” which i have a lot of thoughts about. One being that asian exports are acceptable but black ones are not. This is an overall art critique and global media critique. Blackness is removed, not respected.) However, filmmaking isn’t green, it can’t be socialist, and it’s a lot of work. They used tons and tons and TONS of water to do a huge beautiful feat but we still know there is a cost. We have to figure that out because it shouldn’t be. It doesn’t go back into the crew’s pockets the way it should and the work becomes that of the director’s and actors solely. It’s fucking hard. We have to do our part but it doesn’t mean we are doing it perfectly. We just have to try to do better. So does BJH cos he needs to not be a misogynist but anyways i digress.

additionally and this is something some users fail to understand: people in the media sphere generally have fucking money. I went to film school that was international with super fucking rich kids. Taiwanese kids, kids from south asia, china, thailand. They had money. No not upper middle class money, not “rich” money, not some paltry 1m that’s chump change. Fucking money. Fucking RICH-RICH. MILLIONAIRES. BILLIONAIRES. WHICH IS DISGUSTING MIGHT I ADD. The domestic people didn’t have the money for school (in the UK) and i am in a massive amount of debt like every other black student that went there. You do not understand how much money is needed to survive so people who turn to these crew positions even casting etc need this fucking money usually. OKAY. A lot of the people that do well in these dumb shows or even on a larger scale HAVE MONEY. The reason these industries are small and struggling is because of lack of people and lack of resources to independent shit because oh gee it takes money to make things.

Why should I try? Well you don’t have to really if you have money or a name. Yet...

We can tell when like those Tik Tok shows or DCOMs dont give a shit (anymore.) You know how frustrated we get when content for young people is garbage? Well, see, BL is literally that under that system. Occasionally we will get something good now but there is virtually no need in any sector in the world at this point to truly figure out how to make it better and what to do to enhance artistic literacy, outreach, teaching people new things, getting people from these communities there and having true realistic says. Art and culture is IMPERATIVE TO WORLD LIBERATION but not when it is so stiffly trying to bend to capital’s idea of progressiveness. No. Neoliberalism. No.

That’s why in a way ITSAY is a huge feat; it takes from films etc and they clearly had money (the actors rae rich too which….lmaooooo j’aime pas) but it was a respected fucking script, acting was important, blocking, framing. There’s very little to critique as a visual medium for that because I understand what they are trying to do, their market is going to be mostly young girls, but they RESPECT THE FUCKING AUDIENCE. And guess what guys? You can make money from it!!!! WOAH! Since that may be the only goal which is disgusting and repulsive.

HOWEVER AND THIS IS WHAT IS SAD: itsay is an ex of a great show however knowing the actors backgrounds and the pseudo trouble it stirred when they weren’t supporting people protesting against the coup in the summer it really put a damper on my enjoyment. And this is how we can see that:

a) it’s honestly just a show and a good one but b) now what?

These kids (actors, who are like idk 19? 20?) are rich and not saying anything while countless actors, who were filming, did. Even tul who has $$$$ and the thing is the protesting against the coup legitimately attacks the rich. As it should. The protests going on were cries for help, against a dictatorship and fucking coup, asking people to get fucking help for covid, having kids be able to live. There’s a mini on VICE about this and it probably doesnt go too in depth but there’s a kid in there who talks about his friends getting into drugs and how he just wants to make music, have fun, skateboard. And it’s harrowing to see. This is a direct example of what these things do and don’t do. Yea we know a good show is here, we know growing up and slice of life, we know this is a bit of escapism and idealism but the idealism is reflected in the way these actors also choose to live their lives. So what progress? To who? For who? How is this helping me? What purpose does it serve? I say ITSAY serves its purpose as a piece and a glimpse into possibility of growing up but i do not say it antagonizes a broader issue that needs to be relevant in some sense but simply is not. It’s very singleminded and, well, it’s sort of like “besides my sexuality, what do i have to worry about?” But for real humans like....a lot. I do not respect their decision at all.

Why can’t we do our jobs and make something decent and respect our audience? No time, gotta make that sweet sweet sweet cash baybee. Look how progressive we are! Don’t look at history and material conditions. Thanks in advance, management.

History 4 does not have that respect. Many of these shows do not. Sometimes we hit good, sometimes we don’t. But in the end we cannot settle. And I won’t. If I am critiquing something I will not be shy and if I am meant to enjoy something as escapism then these shows NEED to highlight that and it’s rare sometimes (the best twins is a good reminder like that show is bad but man do i Brain Empty when i turn it on and i like that and there’s not much in it that makes me want to kill myself from annoyance but there are transphobic jokes i dont love however the whole show is a comedy about this dude’s crazy homophobic sister and she is constantly positioned as wrong and they talk about the aforementioned trans women as the actor was in drag. Interesting that they can manage that, huh?)

Oh btw.....taiwan has a very complicated history but ignore all the bad stuff it’s good now you can kinda sorta get married and stuff. KMT? You know how i learned that? I care about human beings and read about it lmao. I am not Taiwanese and look at that. So now I have historical and DIALECTICAL~**~*~****~*~*~ context so i can judge it as an artist, a black woman from america, and from the knowledge i have to pick up on their history to see if this fits into a broader picture besides the micro-one of sexuality on an individualized level. And this is kinda where it comes full circle: these shows are not you, you are not them, they do not exist in a vacuum because nothing does. The failure to critique now means continuing on as it has and it will still do so. History and time are not linear in the sense we think it is. Someitmes things are better, sometimes things feel more austere. We are not living under liberation though and these shows are not going to do so. So they are not US nor are they for a nebulous “us” of which the groups are all fractured and have diff opinions anyway (my opinion as a black american is going to vary from an asian woman’s say and that could really clash and i do not feel solidarity with all those in every community i am for several reasons.)

Final thots that have taken up my time and the only thing i actually wanted to write but got distracted:

Anyway my dissertation is that I ilke Muren and LiCheng a lot a lot and i like how cute they are and how truly dumb li cheng is. This is an example of mostly good writing, decent actors, nice chemistry, and sort of a calmness to them. And I super enjoy how Muren is pretty forward with LC in the sense that being together is like very important to truly be together. When he was like “no i didnt forget!” Or when LC asked him something in the office I forget it was 6 am and again i almost threw up and muren nodded and then LC leaned on him. Very cute. I want more of them tho i may have to skip that othre couple (the cameo the ones from MODC) but omfg the younger one HIS HAIR GREW SO MUCH HE LOOKS SO MATURE AND CUTE OMFGIJ0HUG9SAOGIJPKOAGJSIOHUAGIJP hahhaha the one good thing i will say about THEM.idk how old the actor is i figure he was young idk it makes me happy to see him he’s very cute. I hope he’s in something i can watch and not gag at. Is he hot? Who knows but he is a cutie!!

Anyway muren and lc have a good thing going it’s nice to watch ho\pe they dont fuck it up but im truly a sucker for some true finds 2 luvas i think some user on her\e was like i’m not a fan of friends ot lovers bc it doesn’t seem like they’re actually friends and maybe they were referring to this show idk. But it made me think and it was a very good observation. So i think they are friends and also luvrs <3

[theghostofashton]

You seem to have a sensible approach regarding Kurt/Blaine/Klaine. Do you have any pet hates in fanfiction - like anything people write in their stories about Klaine that really annoy you?

oh wow, thank you! that’s really nice to hear! i have a background in psychology, so i try to keep motives and intentions in mind when i look at characters. no behavior exists in a vacuum, you know?

as for what i dislike... not much, if i’m honest? i’m not too picky when it comes to fic. there are rarely things that are bad enough for me to stop reading a story. i think that comes from me being a writer myself. fanfiction is the author writing what they want to see/wished would happen, usually. it’s for them first, so i kinda keep that in mind when i read.  

i do wish that people would lean a little bit less into the ‘kurt’s cold and blaine’s needy/clingy’ thing, though. i feel like this is just kind of a misunderstanding of both of them as character traits rather than trauma responses. i don’t think kurt takes the coldness people characterize with all the way through adulthood. the show puts him through a lot, and it feels like he’s always processing something (struggling w his identity through s1, the bullying getting so bad he has to transfer in s2, being denied every opportunity he tries for in s3, the breakup through s4, finn’s death, the pezberry fight/losing his roommates - i haven’t gotten to the nyc arc yet, but based on spoilers, he’s got one episode with blaine before he gets bashed - i think people don’t realize this a lot of the time, in fic. we rarely see kurt not processing/reeling from something difficult, which is another topic i could talk about forever lmfao and it definitely colors his character. 

same with blaine. he’s not this fragile, clingy little thing. he can hold his own and his story doesn’t always need to be about him needing/relying upon kurt. i know blangst is popular, and it makes sense bc we didn’t get enough of blaine’s story in canon and there’s way more room to speculate, but i think people overuse kurt’s strength and underuse blaine’s? again, also worth mentioning - blaine’s story basically from the rocksalt slushy onward was traumatic experience after traumatic experience. he spends a lot of time processing too, not to mention what happened to him at his old high school. i just feel like there’s way more to explore in their characters. (also adding for blaine: i don’t believe his parents were abusive, and i think the ‘blaine beaten up and his parents are in some other country and don’t care so he runs to kurt and the hudmels save him’ is so overused and ignores so much nuance in blaine’s story)

i also think there’s a ton of value in kurt being vulnerable and dealing with what happened to him when he was younger (don’t even get me started on him being ~resilient~ bc i have so much to say about that), and blaine leaning into his newfound strength post s6 breakup. 

........this became a whole essay that probably didn’t even answer your question, i’m sorry. feel free to let me know if i was unclear or vague!

[yume-fanfare]

hi i am that anon from like 29th Dec (last dang year) who said i read ur tsuki no hime and loved it and that u understand Aizou. i have read more of ur stuff since then and now i NEED to ask you for writing advice, on both characterization and general writing tips since I didnt mention it before. Sorry about that! i just forgot i sent an ask and i do not get notifs at all (or does anon asks not get notifs?) Also, ART STUDENT! That's why the nice art and art leaning!! I feel smart for sensing it

oh yup, tumblr doesn't send notifs for anon asks! but i'm glad you did see the answer anyway

this post is hideously long, so answer under the cut!

so, on characterization: it is mostly a matter of what would they say, rather than what you want them to say. the joke about "the characters do what they want to" instead of what the writer wants is pretty much true if you want them to be in character lol (that's why sometimes a little bit of OoC isn't too bad)

checking the source material is the most important thing: look at prior similar interactions the characters have had and how they reacted

this is kind of hard with LIPxLIP, as there aren't that many translated texts about them but with honeyworks the most canon and reliable thing to use as reference are the mvs. the mvs are drawn in a way that can pretty much be understood even if you don't have the lyrics, and sometimes it's even better if you can't read them, to properly focus on the images better

look at their expressions closely: while aizou is always explosive in his anger, yuujirou often has a more indifferent expression. so, when they fight, aizou is probably the one to blow up first while yuujirou maintains his composure better. it's kind of the classic "this was only a brief passing panel but i am going to expand on it" www

but the thing about fanfiction is that it's always a bit of a character analysis in itself. you don't start writing having already a color-coded folder of possible situations and reactions a character would have for each setting. you just throw the characters in a scenario and then think from there onwards, and eventually you'll be able to have the folder of situations and what you think their reactions would be like. (though, this links back to the prior point, if the characters have gone through a similar situation in canon, use that as guide! plus, finding little references to canon when reading is always fun)

for general writing, i'm going to mostly talk about my own experiences and process! i'm in no way a professional though

the basic is reading a lot. not just books but also fanfic. in fact, since you're writing fanfic, i Encourage you to read fanfic. even if your story ends up novel length, the way of treating the story is different from that of an actual novel. for example, because you're working under the premise that everyone knows the characters already. the general style of fics is different as well.

in fact, the style is the main reason i'm saying this slfkslfkslkf

read a lot of stuff and find a style you like. think of it as sewing together pieces from here and there to make a frankenstein amalgamation: this person's metaphors, the comparisons from here, the descriptions from there

personally, i adore the "long one-shot with a long title formatted (like this)" fics that are mostly feelings and descriptions and as little dialogue as possible, and some that occasionally play with the "show don't tell" rule, and some months ago i read a book whose descriptions amazed me because you could feel what the character was focusing on the most, rather than being general descriptions of the situation (i actually have a lot of thoughts about descriptions but that's a post for another day). but also i really like dialogue and plot-driven stories, descriptions can get boring and before trying to break rules, you have to be really good at following them

but, let's go step by step: developing an idea

for this i'm going to mostly reference the multichap i finished a while ago as an example

i started with just a few vague concepts in mind: non-idol au with aizou who does some sport and likes music but is insecure about his singing and yuujirou who does some music related thing and encourages him to sing in a way that's somehow related to the hozier song to noisemaking (sing), because it's what inspired me to write in the first place

then, from then onwards i wrote down what would happen in the first chapter of the story bullet-point-list-style, including things like the roommates part or the clubs the boys were in (at first yuujirou was in the choir club lol the change was a last second decision that idk why i took) and then bits of dialogue here and there that would be The Turning Points. those first dialogues were for the fight at the end of ch 1, the apology-date in ch 3 and then some vaguely unused ones for the "yuujirou encourages aizou" part, as those were the first key moments i thought of

because, since it's enemies to friends to lovers, an important aspect was character development

not all fics have character development bc not all of them are long enough (if you're aiming for short and sweet then there's no need). but if they do, i recommend you write down how the character was at the beginning of the story and then how they were at the end and then fill in the middle later, think of what those key turning points that made the character change were (the more little things you add, the more gradual it'll be)

samishigariya illustrates this very nicely: the song starts and finishes with the same lines, but the ending ones feel more light-hearted. the beginning has pre-arisa ken and pre-getting-along-with-yuujirou aizou, when they were the lonely people the title mentioned, and the ending, when they're not lonely anymore. the in between can be seen in depth during the other songs: ken before arisa was a playboy who didn't take love seriously, but after meeting her he realized that games were not all there was to love; and aizou used to be quite cranky and high-key a loner, but then he "meets precious things and knows of love". i will not elaborate on that because this isn't an aiyuu post but Oh You Know

for the fic, aizou would go through that same process, more or less: someone who doesn't really form meaningful connections with people but who, in the end, would end up having quite a bunch of people who care about him as his relationship with yuujirou advances too

since the relationship was the main focus, i wrote a very simple outline for how it would develop throughout 5 hypothetical chapters that was just: 1. civil w each other but mostly bad > 2. bad > 3. half friends > 4. pining > 5. date

and then with that in mind and the bullet point list, the final basic outline ended up like this:

there were scraped ideas and ideas that made it in later, but i believe having a simple outline, a bare skeleton to add things to, is important. stories need continuity, development requires a prior buildup

it's especially important in multichapter fics where you post as you write, you need to have a more or less clear idea of what's going to happen because you can't ignore scenes you've already posted

shorter stories don't need it as much, you can think as you go, but it's still helpful to know where you're going with things to avoid getting stuck

and, on getting stuck: don't be afraid of deleting things. if you can't figure out how to continue things, then delete the situation and start again. it might feel like you'd be wasting time but in the end, it is so much better than being stuck on the same scene for weeks

in fact, you don't have to write in order. jump to the next scene and you'll figure it out later. you Can write the scene you want to write and then build everything else around it

it's normal to write a scene and then realize it would make more sense later in the story, or that it would be better if you added another scene earlier, or sometimes you just find it easier to jump from one part of the story to another. rely on your outline to keep track of what you've written, what you have left to write and what's the best way to arrange your story. make your story understandable

which bring us to editing

there's a lot of much better posts on editing stories, but yeah ctrl+f is your best friend: don't repeat yourself too much. and be sure to vary sentence and paragraph length, as well as sentence structure, to give dynamism to the writing

now, i've mentioned before the show, don't tell rule, but i'm going to talk a bit more about it because it's quite important

once again there's a lot of posts that explain more in depth what it is, so i'm not going to expand too much on that, but, very basically, try to avoid things like "then some time passed and they became friends". explain it: what happened exactly? how did they become friends? if it's important, show it to us, instead of summarizing

since things like these make the story longer, it also gives room for more development and proper explanation for things that happen

for example, the fic was originally going to start with them already in the room, and the whole situation would have been explained in a single paragraph somewhere, but by actually adding the scene where they first arrive to the dorms and argue with the lady at the main desk, the story flows better and it let me actually describe their first meeting

and uuuhhh i think that's all? this took super long to write i hope i didn't forget any super basic stuff lol

i want to add that for enemies to lovers i greatly recommend this post bc it's super good but yeah i think that's basically it, if you have any more specific questions just shoot me an ask

[tartareus]

you know something that i hardly ever see anyone in the rpc discussing???? enjoyment. fasten your seat belts, slutpuppies ! this post will be lengthy af for something so simple no cakewalk.

so, enjoyment in roleplay and the lack of it. yep, that’s what i’m going to discuss here tonight. it’s crazy right?? especially when we are all so keen to stress that roleplaying is in fact just a hobby and therefore should not add more pressure to the writers that partake in it - quite the contrary, honestly, it should lift some of the weight of the burdens we carry irl. now although some opinions might diverge on what can or cannot be written in rp ( and tbh that’s neither here nor there right now, not the point i’m trying to make here anyway, but i digress.... ) i believe it is safe to assume that, all in all, roleplaying should at the very least bring some fun to the writers involved. 

we often see praises that go along the lines of ‘oh my gwad, your [insert character here] is soooo canon! you write them sooo well!!’ and while that’s all fine and dandy, really there’s nothing wrong with saying that ( i’m guilty as i come, i usually say that when i really like a portrayal of a character so yeah, pot calling the kettle ) and obviously i’m not saying these comments are not sincere, it has just dawned me something, something pretty big for me.

i used to be so terrified of duplicates in the past - seriously, i’d softblock anyone who wrote the same charater as i did because i felt so damn insecure about my writing skills ( not to say that i don’t feel that way anymore, of course i do - i mean, we all do sometimes, it’s natural ) && overall characterization. i eventually grew out of that phase, thank the gods, and have had the greatest rp experiences with duplicates ( yaay! ) but try as i might to stop it.... every once in a while i still catch myself red handed whenever i compare my portayal to the one of a duplicate. i’m not so proud to admit that this makes me feel like shit, not much about my writing per se but the way i get into my characters heads that is.

today was one of those days, but something crossed my mind ( it might come off as silly and pretty obvious to some, but i honestly never thought of it in this light ) and it all felt different when i realised why i shouldn’t care about that. if roleplay is nothing but a hobby all about creativity, then why do we keep pressuring ourselves to cling to canon so damn badly??? sure it’s nice to play a character well enough to the point that your peers recognise not only your skill but your portrayal as a whole as something almost as good ( dare i say if not better in some cases ) as the canon source material - but is it really necessary?? not really.

i mean, even though we do share a common hobby and for it to work we kinda have to write with someone else ( otherwise that’s just pretty similar to writing fanfiction ), we shouldn’t have to put our enjoyment levels at the mercy of someone else’s approval or not??? i’m not sure if i’m expressing myself right here but - we really shouldn’t care about what people think of how we write or how we play a character, okay ???? it’s a fucking hobby, for fucks sake man, chill out bc no one here is going to win an oscar for playing a good tyler durden or edmond dantès or whatever ??? this is for fun and fun only, the rest is confetti.

so yeah, i legit cannot believe how long it took me to realise this but here i am and???? i’ve never felt so good with my writing because of this new mindset??? i mean, playing a character well and playing a character because you enjoy doing it are two different things that sadly are not always linked but that’s not going to be the end of the world here. all’s well as long as the writers are enjoying themselves. aiming to be the best [insert a character here] in the rpc is okay for some but it does rely heavily on the opinion and approval of others, which links a hobby - something that in theory you do for your own enjoyment and distraction - to something beyond yourself and subjective...and if i’m honest this does not suit me at all?? it’s not a competition, there are no winners or losers here. it’s supposed to be just plain good ole fun.

i’d much rather play a muse on my own way because i honestly enjoy doing so than play it because i’m hella good at the portayal even if it no longer brings me as much fun as it used to because i keep forcing myself to be better or more canon-ish than someone. what i mean with this is that all portrayals are valid and there’s plenty of room here for them, some might not like the way you write a certain muse but that’s okay. luckily, rp is just a hobby an as such, only you get to decide if you’re having fun with something or not - to the hell with what anyone else thinks.

[docbe]

It’s interesting hearing ppl be anti-ace in pride month bc I think a lot of people think about ace spectrum as just, not being interested, and that it therefore affects your life to the same degree as not being interested in like, horror movies or a new AAA game might. That it’s a simple “opt-out” of any sort of sexual experience or identity altogether, rather than another set of complex interactions with a highly regimented, scripted societal concept of “normal,” e.g. hetero nuclear family with clear gender roles

You’d think for a community that focuses so much on the topic of representation in media, it would be a little more obvious that like...in almost every story, romantic/sexual love comes up as a theme or sideplot, and in many of them, it’s presented as a critically important key to happiness or success. As a culture, we recognize that anytime a character is in the same room as another character with the chance for there to be sexual tension, then that sexual tension p much automatically exists by default (assumed straight, but if the character’s label is revealed as gay,etc., follows accordingly). When the lead guy meets a woman with more than a few speaking lines and a meaningful interaction, they are a Romantic Sideplot, to the point where a lot of romantic writing is frankly lazy or forced-feeling simply bc it relies on ppl expecting it as default. 

And the thing is, that sort of interaction follows you in real life in a lot of ways. It often feels like meeting people starts with the benchline of “am I or can I become sexually/romantically interested in you?” before moving down the lines of other ways to relate. And while I personally never really fell in the “I’m broken, I need fixed” mentality regarding my sexuality (demi-, to be clear), I have felt alienated or kept at a distance in the process of trying to disengage with this unspoken norm, to the point of it kind of becoming my default. As I’ve gotten older, it’s gotten more pressing, and it feels like many spaces for adults come with the caveat of being related to potential sexual/romantic availability 

And it’s hard coming to terms with the fact that the world has designated the “most important relationship” as something that’s counter to you in some essential way. Like it’s a bit of a cruel realization to recognize that you’re probably always going to be playing second fiddle or be a step down in status to the people you view as most important to you because your relationship with them is not sexual or romantic. Being ace-spectrum is not opting-out of wanting meaningful relationships, but it sometimes comes with the resignation that you may have to accept that. 

But that’s why representation and community matter. There’s a lot more discussion about things like queerplatonic relationships, about very meaningful but non-sexual ways of relating to others, and it’s awesome to see it come up in media, even if it’s just fanfiction. The notion that something like love, or more specifically, devotion, loyalty, commitment, accountability, compassion, or the act of cherishing/being cherished, can still exist for you outside of the realm of romantic or sexual situations, is something I think everyone deserves to see and understand. And I think that’s worth including in the discussion alongside other LGBTQ+ topics

[kae-karo]

Hi, I hope you don't mind me asking, but I was wondering, do you think there's a line that can be crossed over when writing phanfics? I'm not here to judge, it's just that there's obviously respectful & disrespectful shipping of real people, & I know you write phanfics, so I was just interested if you feel there's a topic people may be better to not write about or better to not do in some way when it comes to fics. Like, is it too far to make honest assumptions about their families for example?

oof heavy heavy question but a fair one, i hope my answer does it justice

let me start off by saying that, as a phanfic writer, i inherently exist in a grey zone. i won’t sit here and say that writing phanfic is morally fine and there’s no problem with it. i’ve also wrestled a lot with this concept as a writer and like. it’s not an easy one to tackle? pardon me bc i’m gonna go on a smidge of a tangent before i get to your specific question

now, that being said: it’s important to remember (both as writers and readers) that phanfiction is just that - fiction. i never ever go into writing a fic, even a hc, with the intent of ‘oh i wish dnp acted like this’ or ‘i actually genuinely believe dnp act like this’ and while it certainly doesn’t absolve anyone of anything in writing/reading phanfic, i do believe that intent does matter (in a similar vein to how intent matters with posts - is the author saying they genuinely believe or are trying to prove something we have no way of knowing or no right discussing? or are they making a joke or a shitpost that is not meant to be taken at face value?)

now, with phanfic i think it’s of course much more significant and impactful than most posts, but it’s simultaneously also,,,,,not? if that makes sense? bc the inherent nature of phanfic is that it’s fictional, we’re (supposed to be) acknowledging right off the bat that nothing in the fic is actually trying to depict actual real events

but by the same token, we aren’t completely absolved of writing whatever just bc it’s fiction

first of all, ofc, dnp are real people with real lives. now, they have - fortunately for us writers - come to terms with ignoring phanfic for the most part and seem to be fine with the fact that it exists. but they are still real people and it’s probably not in the best taste that we write phanfic at all but things to avoid? imo the only thing we should absolutely avoid doing with phanfic (aside from the obvious, like sex with minors) is try to shove it in dnp’s faces. there’s nothing beneficial that can come out of that for anyone involved, end of story, and imo that’s outright disrespectful

now, within the realm of fiction and what’s actually being written, i think that as long as everyone has an ounce of common sense and doesn’t take a writer at their word (ie i’ve seen people actually think dan’s family is homophobic or abusive just bc it’s written in a fic, which we know nothing about and shouldn’t rely on fanfic to be a source of facts for us) then nothing (again, aside from the obvious) is really off limits?

when you say ‘make honest assumptions about their families’ i think we’re running into a sort of wiggly territory, bc the way this is phrased makes me think you might be referring to either a writer taking their fic seriously and based in facts (where we may have none, or very limited ones) or a reader taking a writer at their word and treating fic as reality, or as ‘based on reality’. so i refer to my earlier point: nothing’s off limits as long as we use common sense. a reader should go into a work understanding it’s a work of fiction and may, for example, be based on a real event, but it is ultimately fictional. a writer shouldn’t make claims that they genuinely believe their writing reflects reality/facts (and as an added note, although i could rant on this for ages, should tag their works appropriately, even if they think it’ll ‘ruin a plot twist’)

a final thing, i personally have things i don’t feel comfortable writing about and i draw a line on - among them, major homophobia (bc i personally have been lucky enough to not experience that), coming out stories (bc i never really had any major struggle with that, nor did i have any Big coming out story myself, so i don’t feel i’d represent it well), underage explicit content (bc,,,,,underage), physical abuse either externally or within the relationship (1. i’ve never experienced it and wouldn’t do it justice and 2. i have no interest in portraying it), major character death (i read one (1) fic with mcd and never recovered, would never impart that on anyone else)

so like. for me, my thoughts are 1. write what you want as long as it’s clear both for you and the reader that it’s fictional (and ofc doesn’t break any laws) and 2. don’t ever try to like. show it to dnp or bring their attention to it? fanfiction is just that - fiction for the fans

[f-imaginings]

Didn’t think I’d have to do this but I’ve got people coming to me left and right over this nonsense, conveying threats to have my work reported and pulled down blah blah blah, so let me summarize my case publicly and let you all make up your own minds. 

I’ll start by saying truthfully that I’ve never read TNP. I don’t generally read fics with non-con in them bc of bad past experiences, but from reading the prologue when researching what i supposedly plagiarized the writing seemed really good and enjoyable, with interesting themes and references. I’m sure its a lovely fic and people who enjoy it should as it stands on its own merits. 

I also haven’t plagarised anything. There is a lot of he said she said happening over that so I’ll just present the facts I have and let people make up their own minds. So far there’s just been one side of the story very loudly being told. I’ll say my piece here and people can make up their own minds. 

So I’ve never read their story. I’ve been getting some nasty harrassment though claiming I plagarised it to write my own story, which is Knowing Me, Knowing You on ao3. It’s a Billford fic, and it’s inspired by abba lyrics, Gravity Falls the series, and Journal Number 3. 

Two days ago I got this anonymous comment on my fanfic. 

This anonymous poster spammed the comments in the fic in many chapters, and also felt the need to tell everyone who regularly comments on my fic by replying to their comment how shitty my writing is and that it’s plagarising this other fic I’ve never read. 

The link to the full comments thread is here if people want to read and do their own sleuthing. 

The comments rather spitefully tell me how my writing is terrible, how I’m scum, how unoriginal I am ect. I’ll let you all read it and make up your own minds about whether this is fair to say or not. 

I then decided to go speak to the author of this fic i had supposedly plagarised, because I thought it was a misunderstanding, or that a follower of theirs who was very zealous had took it upon themselves to go rogue and harass other writers who (these are the similarities as far as they’ve been explained to me) write Billford, and have written about a human Bill helping Stanford with the portal. 

Here is my conversation with the author of TNP, screenshotted, so you can read that and make up your own mind about it too. 

It was quite startling for me to have been spoken to like this when I went amicably to a fellow writer hoping to solve a situation that was groundless and unnecessary. I was called a liar, and passive aggressive for having approached the author directly with the situation seeking a resolution. 

In an ideal world I would like an apology for this behavior, but I won’t hold my breath, I’m just here to state my case and clear my name. 

This is my fanfiction. It’s 163243 words long as of it’s last update. I started writing it on the last day of January 2017, and since then it has inspired me boundlessly. I get a lot of joy out of writing it, which is clear to see when you look at how quickly I’ve been churning out these words in this small space of time. Three months have gone by and I’m on 18 chapters and it’s been wonderful to write, I’ve had some lovely reviews from folks, and these have been the first negative reviews I have seen for it. 

I asked people who have read both of the works, my own and TNP, what the similarities were that led the author to believe I had plagarised. 

What I heard as feedback was:

Similarities

Both Billford pairing fanfics

Both involving human Bill

To do with building the portal

Differences: 

Storyline

Plot

Character design. My human Bill is black. He’s black, with gold eyes, yellow hair, and gold binding tattoos sewn into his skin. I’ve been told their Bill is italian??? Not sure where the similarities are there. 

Dynamic between Bill and Ford (TNP apparently has Bill and Ford sharing the nicknames darling and kitten. Rest assured, through the entirety of my 160,000 word fanfic not once do my Bill or Ford ever call each other anything even remotely resembling ‘darling’ or ‘kitten’ they are more likely to call each other a pain in the ass in my fic) 

World building

Characters (mine contains plenty of Fiddleford, Wendy’s mum, who I have called Willow Oakwood bc a lumberjack falls in love with her, Lazy Susan, Keyhole and Amorphous Shape, the paradox buddies, Pyronica and Kryptos on the front lines, Argos Panoptes, Raha Diniero ect) 

Sexual content (TNP contains rape and sexual harassment, my work is a slow burn of epic proportions, they only kissed for the first time in my last chapter, and Bill is averse to being touched by Stanford at first. My work also is entirely consensual as I can’t write non-con due to personal experiences)

Key events (my story involves events such as hunting down the gobblewonker with a harpoon, nearly being devoured by the island head monster, going on a double date with lazy suzan and wendy’s mum and raising the undead, giving birth to the summerween trickster, stealing treasure from Quentin Trembley’s grave, a heist at the Cryptix Noire Warping Black Market’s, and Fiddleford’s wife Patricia telling baby Tate to stop crying) 

Writing style (My writing is more light hearted, I make lots of jokes because I want to enjoy my own story. I’m told TNP is more serious)

Direction (I do not know where TNP is going, having never read it, but I know my story is going to follow along with canon up to the betrayal, after it, following Ford through the portal, and back out for Weirdmageddon) 

Having completed four years of university studying English literature, I’m very aware of how serious plagiarism is, and how seriously allegations of plagiarism need to be taken. If someone’s poured their effort into creating a work, they deserve to be credited for that work, and if a work was created in reference to something else it’s respectful to cite your references. So here are the works I have referenced in order to create this fic. 

- Hirsch, A, 2016, Journal 3; Gravity Falls, Disney Press, LA. - Gravity Falls, complete series, 2016, DVD, Disney XD, created by Hirsch, A, et al. - Abba’s complete back catalogue. 

I’ve also referenced several Wikipedia pages; the page on black markets, on hyperpyrexia, on Leonardo Da Vinci, on stethoscopes, on Argos Panoptes in Greek Mythology, and the page listing the different planets and races in the entire Star Trek series. I’ve relied on the Gravity Falls wikia to help me maintain accuracy with character names, places, details about the Shack and so on. 

I haven’t referenced, nor have I read The Ninth Paradigm. I would have tentatively liked to from reading the synopsis, but I have decided I won’t be reading it any time soon following the conversation I had with the author of the fanfic, which has soured me somewhat from consuming their content.

I work full time, 38 hour work weeks, and run a second job on the side. Something I don’t have time for is drama. I’m quite frankly surprised I even have the time to dedicate to writing this fanfic of mine, but I do, because I love Gravity Falls, I am excited about the story I’m writing, I get to laugh at my own jokes when I’m writing, I get to entertain myself, and in posting this here, hopefully entertain others.

I’m not writing this to impress anyone with my prose or build this fic into anything more than it is, it’s just a bit of fun set to Abba lyrics, inspired by Dipper in the shower singing Disco Girl aka Dancing Queen.

If I were a younger writer, or if I were less confident in myself, this kind of harassment, both in the comments here on ao3, and the conversation I had with the author of TNP when I looked to resolve the situation, would have been incredibly damaging. If I were a younger writer, being harassed, I would find the fandom uninviting, toxic, incredibly discouraging and unhealthy.

Billford as a pairing has a small enough fandom as is, looking through the tag on tumblr, there are anti-shippers adding to that environment of harassment. Adding to that environment of harassment within the fandom can only be damaging. I believe fandoms should encourage writers and content producers, that fandom should be a community where you support one another, and the base content you all enjoyed that brought you all together.

Gravity Falls fans are smart. They followed a quirky, clever, coded show from start to finish and loved every bit of it. I’m presenting the above information here so that you can all make your own minds up about this issue. I think that’s fair.

That’s all I have to say about this issue.

[crescendo-system]

iM ASKING DEF HALP ADVICE but ya I'm not always able to properly relax and then any memories are like, hazy and watered down, and the last time I was able to get real deep into focus I felt a Bad memory coming on and got tf out of there

ooooo, yea that can happen. Personally speaking, I had that happen once and I continued to pursue the memory to get it over with? but it was already affecting my mood terribly and I had the time and mental preparedness to just have some sob time over the memory. it’s possible you may need to set aside time where you’re ready for it if that memory starts to resurface. I say this more because it might blindside you otherwise, or lurk underneath your consciousness and affect your mood if it goes on too long (which has happened to me a few times with my Dave kin.) But yeah if you can’t handle it then don’t feel pressured to face it just yet. 

the method I use is actually probably good for avoiding that sort of thing, since it’s meant to be a guided mental walk through your memories. I’ve found it’s possible to dictate or affect what memories you see, to an extent. It’s reliant on visualisation so you could guide yourself away from that memory, perhaps. I’ve never tried to use it to avoid a memory so I’m not certain, but it’s possible. 

Said method is built and personalized off of this handy dandy post right here, though the initial setup often led to me losing focus since i myself am a bit adhd lmao.  This post is an inconveniently long and rambly iteration of my specific process and observations that have built up around the method as I’ve adapted it. (I’ll be reblogging both of these to this blog momentarily since I neglected to when archiving I guess, whoops)

main takeaway from these is  probably- learn to visualize and utilize your mindspace to your advantage, and to sort of ‘cherrypick’ things - but don’t try to be too controlling or things will be unsuccessful, unclear or will just fall more out of control.

As for alternatives - I’ve found a few other things that help me, but personally speaking they’re not as consistently successful or reliable. They are however an invaluable resource so I recommend giving them a peek. ;)

(under readmore bc this got Lengthy™ as is in my nature to do lmao. I hope some of this helps!!)

1- paying attention to your dreams. I’ve gotten some kin details from dreams. Sometimes it’s layered in bunches of dream gunk, but if a character from my canon was there to my knowledge, I pay close attention and analyze for symbolism and alternate interpretations. This includes old memories before you kinfirmed, as well - sometimes there are details there that help as well. I’ve known someone who dreamt a kin memory in their childhood as a nightmare. It may not happen with everyone, or be obvious, but I recommend combing what you do remember of your dreams, now and then, just in case.

On a related note, keeping track of your dreams may help you remember more of them in general, and may make it easier to find kin memories. keeping a little notebook, even just to jot down key phrases or doodles, will help you remember things about the dream that you would lose on your own.

2- impressions, feelings etc - of course there’s a danger of overthinking, or of personal preferences/projections affecting it, but sometimes a gut feeling might lead to something more connected to a memory. I figured out one of the swaps in a bloodswap timeline of mine based on gut feelings alone (they had been a former matesprit so the emotional connection allowed me to figure it out better)

3- media. This one is tricky and random. I’ve regained memories from song lyrics, melodies and character themes, fanart and even some fanfics. it can be a phrase, or a certain action, pose, situation. Heck I’ve recalled a memory from a totally unrelated video before. Rather random, even if you look specifically at content/themes relating to your kin. 

But there is a way to tip this into your favor - do you write? draw? make music? anything artistic/creative? then you may be able to pull from your kin memories if you do something based on your kin and the canonmates/settings/etc you had. I have a friend who’s discovered over time that many of the fanfictions they have written aren’t just fics, but actually based on memories from their timelines. They’re not always accurate portrayals of events, or quotes or dynamics, but the core flow and content has always matched up. Likewise, the way I draw/drew characters based on ‘headcanons’ have tended to match up to one of my own canons, and I believe I’ve also written fic snippets based on experiences from my timelines. And as I regain more memories, I’m beginning to write using the memories as a springboard, hoping to expand upon what was initially just, an emotion and specific image, turning it into an excavation of the whole memory I have yet to recall.

and last I can think of as of right now;

4 - talking to people about your memories - this is a very helpful exercise in general! and by this, I mean hold a discussion with someone you feel ok with, about memories and the like, as opposed to just making a post on tumblr. This conversation encourages and stimulates the brain to come up with details when describing, and sometimes the person will say something unexpected that might jog your memory, or help confirm what your canon WASN’T like.  This can sometimes be because the person knows something you forgot/don’t know, or they might say something to be silly/make a joke or offer suggestions. Someone joked about something silly that otters did when I told them about my lusus in my Eridan Leijon timeline being an otter - which surprisingly gave me a memory and also answered a few questions.

I personally am on a few servers on discord where kin talk is encouraged and frequent, plus my longest time kinfriend has always encouraged me to talk about kinstuff as well as tell me about theirs, and in doing this we’ve both made connections for the other as well as discover we’re canonmates in a few tls. 

So these are the methods I’m familiar with! I’m sure others have their methods, I know some witches will rely on spells and the like, but I’ve never been one for those things, based on personal preference. 

I hope these help, and I am always open to helping in any way I can!! Feel free to ask me more stuff if you need!! :)

[zmediaoutlet]

i love ur complicated thoughts on fic bc they border mine where on some level i know it's just fun but on another i will die with "characters are more important than plot" written across my gravestone. i can deal with a shitty plot if the characters are fun or interesting but a good plot with bad characters??? hardly

oh anon, hon–you are speaking my fucking language. 

This will be a perhaps unnecessarily philosophical little diatribe, but–whatever, it’s my tumblr, I do what I want, and I’m just dicking around until I can pick up my friend for dinner. So. Here’s the thing: I’m basically a nihilist. Realized pretty early that nothing has an essential meaning beyond the meaning that we give it. (You could argue that this actually existentialism, except that I also understand that just because we give something meaning, does not mean that the meaning is real or inherent–the thing still has no meaning, it’s just that we have decided to say it does. A semantic difference, but an important one.) Some people–read: assholes–decided that nihilism means that you smash up everything and kill and whatnot, because nothing matters anyway. That’s an absurd direction to take the philosophy. (Lookin’ at you, SPN Lucifer!) If nothing matters, then necessarily all that matters is to enjoy yourself. You could logically extend that to mean that you can enjoy yourself through hurting others, but I reject the idea that logic necessarily precludes compassion–there’s no reason nihilism has to be solipsistic. A happy, positive nihilist understands that joy is the goal, as long as you’re not hurting anyone else.

Okay, so, why tf did I just go on that little detour? Because, once you say that nothing matters–then, hell, what does it matter what people do with their fic? Surely it’s all just another fun little way to waste time until we die, right? Well, sure. That’s a totally valid way to think about it, and my personal philosophies say that I shouldn’t get all up in arms about people doing it badly, because–who cares? Well, the answer is that I do. I care, because this is one of those things that brings me pleasure, but only when it’s done well. Reading bad writing is such a thorough disappointment. (Of course, it’s also very tricky philosophical ground to start going on about what “good” and “bad” writing are, because then you get into this sort of stupid essentialist place where you start to find yourself asserting that there are objective qualities to art, and then you’re just lost, logically, and your arguments start to sound pretty asinine. Still. We in the writing community have trained ourselves to agree to a sort of canon of traits that = good writing. Are we correct? That’s up to the individual to decide. But it’s similar to how we generally agree in music that dissonance and ‘wrong’ notes are bad because that’s how our ears have been trained to understand music, not because there’s some One True Scale by which all music is measured. You get the gist.)

So. With all perhaps-unnecessary background said. One of the clearest and strongest ways that I believe you can measure whether a piece of writing is “bad” relates to the scale between character and plot. This is something which is particularly egregious in fanfiction, and significantly more noticeable there than it is in ‘original’ fiction. When you’re writing an ‘original’ work (note the scare quotes, please, and just decipher for yourself why they’re there), you have the luxury of creating a character and a plot simultaneously. Let’s say you want to write a murder mystery. You come up with your murder plot and your murderer in concert with only yourself–the murder is one that the murderer would do, because you have designed him or her to do that particular deed. Assuming you haven’t left plot holes, you’re all set. With fanfiction, though, no matter what plot you come up with--the character already exists. There is a set canon, a text, which you should refer to as you’re writing, because that’s who that person already is. In some ways, this makes the fanfic writer’s task easier--no need to introduce the reader to who Dean Winchester is, because presumably the reader has watched the show (read: is familiar with the text) and don’t need much of an explanation.

However, I could also argue (and will!) that writing fanfiction is in this particular way much harder, because there is a characterization for Dean Winchester that exists in the text, and if you stray from writing him as he is in the text--well, you’re not writing him, are you? If (to give an innocuous example) you confidently assert through narrative that Dean Winchester’s favorite food is cake--well, no. It’s not. Dean loves pie, not cake. So when you change that detail--either through carelessness or unconcern--then I stop thinking of the character you’re writing as Dean Winchester, and start to think that this is just some guy who’s shaped like Jensen Ackles. To give a less innocuous example: perhaps you assert through narrative that Dean Winchester sees his brother die, and grieves, but then moves on. Would that be healthy? Certainly. But it is not in any way how Dean would operate, and so I’m thrown out of the story.

What I’m narrowing in on here is that when you’re writing a character, you have to keep who the character is in mind. This doesn’t mean picking and choosing random traits from random episodes that are your favorite. A character is a whole, complete with good traits and bad. Dean is kind, but sometimes callous and even cruel; he is strong, but easily emotionally wounded; he’s a bit of a horndog, but he also is tender and yielding with many of his partners; and so on, and so on. Let’s say you want to write a story where Dean adopts a dog. Okay, fine, but look to the text. Dean doesn’t like dogs. This is repeated in various episodes. Why, then, is Dean deciding to adopt a dog? Here’s the thing: I truly believe there’s no such thing as a bad premise. A plot is a plot, no matter how small. But if you’re doing to use an already-established character to explore a plot, then you need to come up with a logical reason for them to do so. So: Dean adopts a dog. Why? Because the dog is so cute and his heart just melts!! No. Because after the experience with his hallucinations in s7, in an AU where Dean doesn’t go to Purgatory, Sam’s still a little shaky and tender and needs something soft in his life, so Dean sucks it up and gets the dog as a sort-of-therapy for his little brother. Not great, but better. 

What we’ve done with the second scenario is brought the plot to the character, not forced the character to meet the plot. This is crucial to making the perhaps-more-sophisticated reader actually buy what you’re selling. If you just can’t come up with a logical reason for the character to interact with the plot you’ve come up with, perhaps you should think about why you want that character to be involved at all. I believe that fiction writing relies as much on supporting logical evidence and arguments as a persuasive essay does--because what are we doing, after all, but persuading the reader to come along with us on the story we’re trying to tell? When the arguments are shaky, or when the logic is full of holes, then the persuasion fails, and the story collapses, and then, basically, I’m sad. I don’t like being sad. So we try harder.

**all of this is predicated on the idea that: a) you care about writing as a discipline, and b) that you’re not writing an AU. I would point out, though, that at the point that an AU become so alternate that the character is unrecognizable from their canon self--again, why bother to claim you’re working with the canon self? Make it a J2 AU. You can do anything there.