#idk it kind of just feels like youre treating your audience like theyre stupid

[irradiatedsnakes]

as an artist i get that the like-reblog ratio on this site can be frustrating but those banners that people put on their art posts that are like "REBLOG MY ART. IF YOU LIKE ART WITHOUT REBLOGGING DNI." make me about 5x as likely to just. not touch that post at all

[cryptvokeeper]

(I said you should examine the way ao3 prioritizes works over fans some time well surprise the time is now)

cuz like to some extent I do agree with art for arts sake. theres something really comforting to me about the concept that the act of creation is enough in and of itself, and that a piece has value regardless of who does or doesn’t read it. That anything made has value regardless of how people feel about it

...THAT BEING SAID

theres also something so dismissive about that attitude, you know? like, the idea that the audience and their feelings are irrelevant to a work is kinda horseshit. There is literally never going to be a piece of writing that no one in the world has ever seen, it’s not possible. Even if its just the person who wrote it, that’s still an audience, but when your posting your work on the internet for anyone to see, that audience is obviously gonna be a lot bigger! “I don’t write fanfic for other people I write it for me” ok then Why are you posting it online? why not leave it in Google docs forever? If youre gonna post your work in a public place, whether that’s just A group chat for a Couple of your friends or the entire internet, I really do think taking an audiences feelings on a piece into account is essential. It needs to be a part of the creative process and how we judge creative works. It’s not fair to treat writers like some high-minded auters and their audience like a bunch of ignorant plebs who don’t matter because the art exists with or without them. that’s stupid.

there’s also the argument that, if you’re posting your work in a public space for the purpose of validation, you’re making an unspoken agreement to open yourself up to being judged for that work. Mortifying ordeal of being known and all that. Dont like don’t read has become a common mantra and I do agree with it wholeheartedly, but on the other hand I think a just as valid mantra would be dont like don’t post. If you can’t handle the possibility of criticism of your work and you put it in a public setting where anyone can see it, then you’re gonna have problems. In the same way we criticize readers for expecting a fanfiction to be their safe space where no content can hurt them, I think we should also point out that posting your fanfiction isn’t a safe space for writers where they’re free from criticism. I think maybe if ao3 didn’t have things like comments or bookmarks or subscribing it would be different, but those tools are specifically designed for engagement. Ao3 is an archive, not a social media platform. I firmly believe that statement. you as a writer have the option of moderating those methods of engagement, turning off comments and such. But if you keep them on, you know the risks.

ok now onto unrelated speculation

All this being said makes me wonder about how the archive is going to be implementing their upcoming block feature. Like so far I’ve only seen in discussed in the context of a feature that lets readers block specific authors so they dont have to see that users works. But I wonder how it will apply to writers? Cuz like here on tumblr when you block a user that user can’t look at your blog and see your posts unless theyre reblogged by someone else right? If a writer blocks a reader, will that reader no longer be able to see Their fanfictions? That feels kind of antithetical to ao3’s policy in a way, keeping certain users from being able to read certain fanfictions. Maybe blocking a reader just prevents them from commenting/interacting With the fic? thats probably be a bit more likely, as it’s more in the spirit of the site.

idk many thoughts head full.