tibbinswrites

[tibbinswrites]

[tibbinswrites]

FFN.net PM requests are annoying me. Anyone else?

Recently I've had several PMs on my fanfic.net account from artists asking for me to commission them to create artwork for my fics. Assuming that these are real people and not bots, I have replied to each of them saying that they are more than welcome to create fanart but that I am not interested in commissioning artwork. I have tried to be kind but these requests are really starting to tick me off and that's starting to come across in my replies.

Here are a few reasons why I am not responding positively to these requests:

First of all, they all start in a similar way. Saying how much my work has inspired them, how they like how the scenes are done or the character work (though they never mention specific scenes or characters). They might drop in the title of a particular story but none of this praise is specific enough where I feel like they've actually read my stories at all. Pretending to be a fan of my work falls flat when you don't do the research upfront to fake it believably. Some of my stories are really short, you can't read a one-shot to pretend it inspired you? Gush about something specific. If you're going to play to my ego, do it properly.

Secondly, I created these stories and posted them for free. The most I have ever expected from my readers is the occasional kudos, comment or bookmark (or reviews and favourites on FFN). I would be THRILLED if someone came to me saying that they wanted to create art inspired by my stories. PLEASE DO! Please tag me when you post it, I would love to see it! It would make me so happy. But these specific people come to me with the expectation that I will pay them for the artwork they 'feel inspired' to create. No. That isn't how fandom works. Something inspired me to create, so I went and created. I spent hours writing, re-writing, planning and editing on any given story. Some took me months to finish. I did all that work in my own time, for my own enjoyment.

I don't have the means right now and I'm sensitive about it. This reason is obviously not the fault of the artists in question, but life is kicking my butt lately and I too am in a position where I'm trying to find clients for my business (a freelance proofreading/copyediting business in case anyone's interested). I was actually in the process of applying for government assistance when the latest PM came through because I'm in early days and haven't had work steady enough to make rent yet (though I'm in a much more privileged position than most, so I'm doing okay for now, it's just a big hit to the confidence). So even if I were interested, I don't appreciate the reminder that I couldn't accept the offer even if I wanted to. Again, I know that this reason isn't the artist's fault, but it might contribute to why my replies might not have been phrased as kindly as they probably could have been.

I cannot, have not, and will never make money from my fanfiction. There is no return on my investment to commissioning fanart from you. If I wanted to commission fanart, it would purely be for vanity (not that there's anything wrong with that if you have the desire and the means). So I think you're pitching to the wrong audience. Try authors of original stories who might actually be looking to get their work published instead. I'm not trying to start a debate of why fanfic writers can't be paid for their work when fanartists can. The reality is that we can't. But the labour that goes into creating a story and the labour that goes into creating artwork is equitable. So taking my effort and trying to make me think that your similar effort should result in a paycheck for you feels so disrespectful to me.

All this to say is that I'm tired of this aggressive style of sales pitch. It's impersonal and unpleasant and manipulative. It never mentions wanting to be paid in the first message and it makes me feel like the bad guy for saying upfront that I don't want to pay them for any artwork they create of my work. It isn't because I don't think artists should be paid, of course I do. If I wanted to seek out an artist to create art for my fanfics, or for an original story, then of course I would pay them. I would research to find an artist with a style that I like and I would approach them with the offer.

I know they're just trying to get work. I understand how uncertain and expensive everything is right now and how prevalent and poisonous 'hustle culture' is, encouraging people to monetise every hobby just to get by, regardless of impact on stress or mental health. But it's just so frustrating that they are trying to monetise my hobby. These stories that I have worked so hard on, they can't even be bothered to read to pretend they liked them convincingly. They approach me with no understanding of the community of fandom but with an entitlement that they should be paid for creating something related to the thing that I created first. Without my stories, you'd have nothing to message about. It's like if I found a piece of art and messaged the artist to say that I would write a story about that art if they commissioned me to. It's unnecessary and disrespectful. Their artwork stands on its own without needing a story at all. Why would they pay for something they weren't looking for in the first place? If I were to just write the story and post it in a reblog of the artist's work, that's adding to the community. That's respecting their work and showing that I was inspired by it without expecting anything back.

Sorry, this got long. I just needed to vent a little.

[tibbinswrites]

(copied from @dxckiii on Twitter) this could literally change everything.

They have begun a recount process. WAKE UP YOUR NEVADA FRIENDS AND MAKE SURE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM CHECK iwillvote.com to make sure their ballot was counted. if it says it was denied, they need to call immediately.

Don't scroll past this. If there's any chance someone from Nevada is following you, they need to see it. Get this as far as possible. Be loud. I know it's easy to feel hopeless right now; god knows I was crying my eyes out for a good chunk of last night, but if there's even a shred of action we can take, we can't let it slip by.

If you know anyone in Nevada, please share this with them. Reblog it. Spread it far and wide, ASAP.

[tibbinswrites]

Dean and Cas are visiting Jody and the girls one day and Dean has insisted on cooking them all dinner. He hears them all chatting and laughing in the next room while he cooks - he can especially hear Cas's rumbling replies - and it warms something in his chest and makes him smile, even though he's not actively part of the conversation.

Patience comes into the kitchen to fetch another bottle of wine and stares over at Dean long enough that he gives her a curious look. "Y'okay there?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," she says, "it's just that, I've never seen that mark on your shoulder glow so brightly."

Dean freezes. "The what?"

Patience gestures with the bottle at his left shoulder. "The handprint?" she says, with a little uncertainty after his reaction. "It's glowing brighter than ever."

Dean immediately pulls his arm out of his flannel and yanks up his shirt sleeve, but there's nothing there.

"Oh wow." Patience blinks and squints at a light only she can see. "Must be hard to sleep with that."

Dean feels like he takes a long time to respond before he finally says, "You get used to it."

"Guess you'd have to," Patience says, shaking her head as she leaves the room, "when it's as bright as that."

Dean immediately touches his shoulder, where the scar used to be, but it's just smooth unmarked skin under his palm.

He presses down.

The sound of a glass clinking over onto the table comes from the other room and he hears Jody cheerfully claim that Cas has had too much to drink (which Dean knows isn't true unless they had a significantly lot more wine).

Castiel, Dean prays, I think we need to talk about something in the kitchen.

[tibbinswrites]

collection of posts for a very specific dynamic

[tibbinswrites]

there needs to be so much more legislation when it comes to advertising, especially mobile adverts which are 99% lies and often predatory.

[tibbinswrites]

what in the welcome to night vale

[tibbinswrites]

“Rich kids should go to public schools. The mayor should ride the subway to work. When wealthy people get sick, they should be sent to public hospitals. Business executives should have to stand in the same airport security lines as everyone else. The very fact that people want to buy their way out of all of these experiences points to the reason why they shouldn’t be able to. Private schools and private limos and private doctors and private security are all pressure release valves that eliminate the friction that would cause powerful people to call for all of these bad things to get better. The degree to which we allow the rich to insulate themselves from the unpleasant reality that others are forced to experience is directly related to how long that reality is allowed to stay unpleasant. When they are left with no other option, rich people will force improvement in public systems. Their public spirit will be infinitely less urgent when they are contemplating these things from afar than when they are sitting in a hot ER waiting room for six hours themselves.”

— Everyone Into The Grinder

[tibbinswrites]

Honestly, the dream <3

If you are a fan fic writer and you're alright with people making fan art of your fic, reblog this 💚

[tibbinswrites]

[tibbinswrites]

[tibbinswrites]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[tibbinswrites]

I needed this.

Stop trying to be productive

[tibbinswrites]

why is your cat green?

She’s built different 😌

[tibbinswrites]

[tibbinswrites]

Every time <3

A COMINT !!

[tibbinswrites]