#i sure will blibber blabber

[daydadahlias]

what are some lines you won’t cross as a fic writer?

please see jessay below the cut <3 TW for discussion of SA & murder

I think this is an interesting question because I don't know if you mean, like, with stuff I'd write or attitudes in general. because the first thing that comes to mind with this is, as a fic writer, I will never engage w/ the subjects of my fics about my fics. As in, I would never want 5sos to know about my stuff and I would never want to discuss my fics on any platform in which they might be exposed to it (which is why I'm not really on twitter) because they are not consenting to reading/hearing porn about themselves. do I think the lines of rpf are blurry?? yes. but 5sos have said they don't care abt fic so I'm fine and happy to write it so long as they are not unwillingly exposed to it and I know they don't seek it out themselves.

but, if you mean like, lines I won't cross in terms in what I would write in fanfic, then I think most are ones I wouldn't cross if I were writing original fiction either.

I think the only thing that's rpf specific is that while I might write an original novel about, say, the internal monologue of a murderer bc I think the psychology of what drives a person to murder is interesting, I wouldn't write a fic about that because that would be - inherently - glorifying murder because people would automatically have a good association with the person I'm writing about (like, if I wrote Ashton as a serial killer, people wouldn't be able to get past it being Ashton) and no one should be having good associations with murderers <33

(to get ahead of the accusations bc I always expect them, "accused of murder" is not the same as writing someone who is a murderer and murders for pleasure; I would not write a fic about someone who is actually a murderer bc <33 killing should not be glorified or promoted <33 and people should not find murderers sexy thank u).

so, it's basically stuff like that. i don't want to write fics that promote truly unsavory material to an impressionable audience.

(I'm under no delusions here that a portion my readers aren't most likely teens and I don't want to be writing shit about their favorite guys that makes their brain associate bad things w/ good people and therefore makes them like or become attracted to bad things; I refuse to be part of the cycle that puts young people in dangerous sexualized situations bc they read shitty fanfic in their youth thank u).

this would also extend to writing domestic abuse between any of the guys, incest, raceplay or anything promoting racism, ableism, sexism (as in, treating one of the guys like a woman - or pointblank calling him a woman - and saying he's subordinate because of this - which people do a lot in this fandom, not to talk shit), underage smut or ageplay (or anything that alludes to pedophilia), or rape/SA in general (which would apply to sexual harassment, non-consensual touching, necrophilia, sex-pollen, dub-con, uninformed consent, statutory rape, coercion, drunk sex between strangers, etc.).

now, obviously rape is a subject I have written about so I would like to point out that there is a difference between researched, honestly addressed dark fiction that deals with heavy subjects, and writing something that purposefully fetishizes/glorifies a subject like rape.

writing about rape being bad is not the same as writing about rape being hot, even though they're both touching on the subject of rape, so let's jot that down, those of you that have no reading comprehension or critical thinking skills (and if I get an ask in my inbox tomorrow that's like "wEll yOu'vE wRitTEn aBoUt rApe BeFore" I will scream into a pillow)

however, while I'm talking, this is an opportunity to express that I think topics like cnc (consensual non-consent) are a little more nuanced than people allow them to be within this context. Like, yeah, sure, you could lay a blanket statement over everything that's "never write about rape being hot" but... I do think there's a difference between cnc and rape. so,,, while I would never write about rape being hot ever, I don't necessarily apply that to cnc (like previously discussed somnophilia or roleplay) because I think it's a different topic in general.

that isn't to say, though, that I would write cnc (bc I don't think I would ever feel comfortable doing that); it's more just to say that I don't think it's as hard a line as others and that I do think a cnc kink is valid and I'm really understanding of people that have that kink. A rape kink is genuinely a different thing and I think that should always be a hard no (as in, no one should be writing fics where a 5sos member rapes another 5sos member and then frame it as sexy; that is really fucked up y'all and me thinking that should not be a hot take).

and those are the major lines I will never budge on. no murder, no rape, no pedophilia, no abuse.

and I also think it's worth mentioning that everyone's limits as a fic writer and a writer in general are different so, no, i'm not policing or telling someone else how they should write their shit but that this is how i personally think when writing mine and I'm allowed to say whatever the fuck I want on my blog, blah blah blah, disclaimer disclaimer, if one single person tells me my kink critical attitude is ruining fandom i will roll my eyes so far back in my head i will see my own brain.

hope this all makes sense and is what u wanted <3