#like idk what common thread they have other than NORMAL EXISTING HUMAN SOUNDS but like. idk if pain is the right word to describe it but

[thewickerking]

OK SO. EPIC WIN! SOUND HAS CEASED!! its on and off and idk if ill hear it again tonight (please i hope not) but it is GONE i am COMFY in BED. my phone DIED but thats ok shes at 3$ now and plugged in so shes going up :)

[heywriters]

I see a lot of people criticize fanfic for common writing expressions or blushing? A popular thread even has people claiming they don’t blush! This seems fake to me, but what do you think? Do people actually never blush? Some could argue dark skinned people don’t blush because you can’t see it, but that sounds racist as heck. Idk. Maybe blushing several times in a chapter would be repetitive, but blushing by itself seems like a normal reaction. Thoughts?

Everything you said is essentially true. Some people don’t blush, but most do for varying reasons. Dark-skinned people of course can blush, and even if it isn’t clearly visible they can feel they’re blushing (ex: “his cheeks burned with embarrassment”). Blushing is a natural human reaction to many emotions.

I do agree that some expressions are overused in fanfiction, but to criticize fanfic for sounding mostly the same is unfair. Fanfic writers usually writing spur-of-the-moment ideas that felt good, therefore they had no time/need to wax poetic and get inventive, especially kids and amateurs.

“Blushing” is perhaps most common in romance writing, fanfic or not, so criticizing it is unfair because emotions are supposed to run high in that genre! It’s like criticizing the tragedy genre for having too much crying, or horror for having too many blood-curdling shrieks. That’s where they go!

“Flush with anger” is practically the same as blushing except in fiction it appears this is a “masculine” reaction whereas blushing is “feminine.” Expressions like blushing, giggling, screaming, and biting one’s lip I’ve all heard criticized. My reasoning on this criticism is 1) people don’t realize how often they or others do these things irl, 2) there are limited terms to describe what the author is actually trying to convey, and 3) these are often considered feminine and therefore “bad” expressions, especially when used with male characters.

Sometimes I hear or receive criticism for how emotions are expressed in fanfic, and I’ve started chalking it up to “certain readers think expressed emotions are bad writing” and occasionally “male characters shouldn’t express feelings.” When every character is emotionally a fireworks display that’s one thing, but there’s a good deal of distance between that and sexist, cardboard characterization.

Sure, “blushing” is overused in certain genres. Sure, not everyone blushes for the same reasons. Yes, some terms apply to women more often than men and vice versa. Yet fanfiction isn’t intended to be a perfect or even vaguely accurate reflection of human life—no fiction can accurately portray everything, language limits it, and not every life experience is universal.

Fanfic is the epitome of “write what you want, how you want, when you want” and that’s a hill I’m willing to die on. Badfic exists, but leave it be. If a writer wants to improve, let them; if not, let them do that too. If you’re tired of waiting for fanfic to improve, add to the solution instead of decrying the problem and write some yourself.

TL;DR—bull, people who say that are bad at reading, it’s probably a gender thing, and since when does fanfic have rules?

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