Dear Very Specific You,
You only post your fanfic in one place - your personal journal. As far as I know, you don't have a writing journal, which is perfectly fine. The problem I'm having is with the way everything is presented. It's very mixed up, with no tagging system and no 'master post' that lists every fic you've written and posted in that journal, which means that anyone who just wants to read your fics and isn't on your friend list has to scroll past many long and uncut personal entries we have zero interest in.
Normally, I don't find this to be a problem because I can just scroll past quickly without really looking at the content of the entry. However, when you start posting entries about your opinion on a certain recently-aired episode of a show you write fics for, I get curious and I read what you have to say. This is all fine and dandy until one little thing pops up.
You make a remark that is very clearly bashing fans of this show who are actually looking forward to what happens next. You are entitled to your opinion, but if you're going to bash part of your potential fan base, don't you think you should, friend-lock those entries?
-Me, the reader who is very cautious about your fics now
You only post your fanfic in one place - your personal journal. As far as I know, you don't have a writing journal, which is perfectly fine. The problem I'm having is with the way everything is presented. It's very mixed up, with no tagging system and no 'master post' that lists every fic you've written and posted in that journal, which means that anyone who just wants to read your fics and isn't on your friend list has to scroll past many long and uncut personal entries we have zero interest in.
Normally, I don't find this to be a problem because I can just scroll past quickly without really looking at the content of the entry. However, when you start posting entries about your opinion on a certain recently-aired episode of a show you write fics for, I get curious and I read what you have to say. This is all fine and dandy until one little thing pops up.
You make a remark that is very clearly bashing fans of this show who are actually looking forward to what happens next. You are entitled to your opinion, but if you're going to bash part of your potential fan base, don't you think you should, friend-lock those entries?
-Me, the reader who is very cautious about your fics now
'Bemused' is not the opposite of 'amused'. Really, it's not. No matter how many times you write it, it won't make it correct.
Begging you to pick up a sodding dictionary,
Me
Begging you to pick up a sodding dictionary,
Me
“"I find myself increasingly shocked at the unthinking and automatic rubbishing of men which is now so part of our culture that it is hardly even noticed," the 81-year-old Persian-born writer said yesterday.
“It has become a kind of religion that you can’t criticise because then you become a traitor to the great cause, which I am not.
“It is time we began to ask who are these women who continually rubbish men. The most stupid, ill-educated and nasty woman can rubbish the nicest, kindest and most intelligent man and no one protests. Men seem to be so cowed that they can’t fight back, and it is time they did.”
- Feminist icon Doris Lessing, as quoted in the Guardian.
wtf_sexism
Self-described as "a little community with a lot of rage," you can soak up impassioned vibes and read blistering exposes detailing sexist attitudes in the news, pop culture, and science! A must-join community if you are, or love, a feminist. (NB: the topic of whether a "man" can be a feminist is outside the scope of this spotlight, but will probably wind up on the Writer's Block.)
It might be amusing to watch - in the same sense that drivers rubberneck at grisly car wrecks.
( “'Equality in the workplace' has nothing to do with equality between the sexes and everything to do with women seeing themselves as the new nobility.” )
I suspect we will hear nothing about this 'sexism.' Women are, after all, so oppressed. Just ask (a chosen few of) them.
Okay, fic writers. You know that little thing called creativity? It kind of exists, but I guess you tend to like beating it with a crutch or something, because when I see you posting a fic where the title doesn't even exist? I kind of ehhh, what? at you.
But then I have to ask, are you really asking for people to give you their name so that you can put them in? On top of the title lackage? I guess I don't even have to mention that you only posted the. Oh. Summary. For a fic that doesn't exist. MY BRAIN SPLODED, NICE JOB, NOW I WANT BRAAAAAAAINS. But yours is a bit too dumb. Possibly too tough when cooked, but I don't have experience with that. Really.
But hey, at least you aren't the one posting the mary sue fanart banner fic. Which really, how am I supposed to take that person seriously when they decide to misspell the fic name. Sorry kid, it's Boundaries. Not Bounderies. I mean, you could get the post title right, but noooooooo, not the banner!
Edit to clarify the first one, since I make generally no sense at one in the morning: a person posted the summary for a fic they were going to write to a comm, and were requesting numerous self-insert characters for, quite honestly, 98% percent of the characters in the fic. A little creativity couldn't hurt em.
But then I have to ask, are you really asking for people to give you their name so that you can put them in? On top of the title lackage? I guess I don't even have to mention that you only posted the. Oh. Summary. For a fic that doesn't exist. MY BRAIN SPLODED, NICE JOB, NOW I WANT BRAAAAAAAINS. But yours is a bit too dumb. Possibly too tough when cooked, but I don't have experience with that. Really.
But hey, at least you aren't the one posting the mary sue fanart banner fic. Which really, how am I supposed to take that person seriously when they decide to misspell the fic name. Sorry kid, it's Boundaries. Not Bounderies. I mean, you could get the post title right, but noooooooo, not the banner!
Edit to clarify the first one, since I make generally no sense at one in the morning: a person posted the summary for a fic they were going to write to a comm, and were requesting numerous self-insert characters for, quite honestly, 98% percent of the characters in the fic. A little creativity couldn't hurt em.
- Mood:
confused - Music:Tonari no Totoro
I don't know anything about Twilight vampires except that they sparkle. I do, however, know that any hunter from Supernatural who encounters a vampire from Twilight will not automatically reach for a stake. This hunter might try a stake in the process of trial-and-error to see what kills these sparkly things that can't be vampires however much their behavior resembles vampires, this hunter might take it at its word about being a vampire and then take a machete to its neck, but this hunter is not going to assume that a stake will kill a Twilight vampire. Because the only vampires this hunter knows about are Supernatural vampires, and in Supernatural, staking a vampire only pisses it off.
Dear my Disney darlings ( <3 )
- Mood:
calm
The subject of many TLM fanfics has been on making sense of Ursula's comment about things were when she lived in the palace. Well, while browsing eBay, I found a book by Disney Press called Tales From Under the Sea. Not only does it give Ursula's origins, but it also has a few stories about the most neglected characters in TLM: Ariel's sisters. Inside is a short story about Alana, Arista, Adella, and Andrina. Nothing on Attina and Aquata except for a short poem where they are the subject, but it really doesn't focus on any of their personality traits. The only other tidbit? Attina has a pet catfish named Fin-Fin. Now while Disney had plenty of characters to work with, they decided to add even more for this book, which I doubt you'll find in any other TLM story. So, summary aside, here's Tales From Under the Sea. 
HEADS UP BEFORE YOU CLICK THE CUT: THIS POST HAS IS CHOCK FULL O' SCANS, 77 AFTER THE CUT. IF YOUR COMPUTER IS SLOW, THIS IS GONNA TAKE A WHILE.
( Read more... )
( Cut to save flists from pictures )
tl;dr author makes up silly rule that has no canonical basis, and makes an impressively built woman disguise herself perfectly as a man.
tl;dr author makes up silly rule that has no canonical basis, and makes an impressively built woman disguise herself perfectly as a man.
blahGot into a debate in another forum over this:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/hero
I'm inclined to say that education is probably worth the investment. Anyone know of any studies that have looked at the impact of of similar efforts?
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/hero
I'm inclined to say that education is probably worth the investment. Anyone know of any studies that have looked at the impact of of similar efforts?
I count myself lucky to be the author of a fanfic with many reviews. I am also proud that pretty much all of them are positive. I understand that I am not owed these reviews, and I am always happy when I get an alert that I have received a new review.
That said, could you reviewers write a little more than "Loved it! Write more!"
It's not that I desperately need long flowing reviews to satisfy my ego. It's that detailed reviews, especially constructive criticism, help me become a better writer. They illustrate what I'm doing right, and where I need improvement. From your perspective, more detailed reviews results in a better story!
So if there's a fanfic that you really like (especially a WIP), you might want to take the time to write up a detailed review. Explain what you liked best, and what you think the author could do better at. If the author seems to have contradicted canon by mistake, point it out (politely). If you have any excellent ideas for where the author could go next, suggest them.
That said, could you reviewers write a little more than "Loved it! Write more!"
It's not that I desperately need long flowing reviews to satisfy my ego. It's that detailed reviews, especially constructive criticism, help me become a better writer. They illustrate what I'm doing right, and where I need improvement. From your perspective, more detailed reviews results in a better story!
So if there's a fanfic that you really like (especially a WIP), you might want to take the time to write up a detailed review. Explain what you liked best, and what you think the author could do better at. If the author seems to have contradicted canon by mistake, point it out (politely). If you have any excellent ideas for where the author could go next, suggest them.
Lovely new princesses ( <3 )
- Mood:
artistic
Let's say you really, really don't like kink, to the point of saying a few of these things in a public post (paraphrased):
"All I could think was: how is possible you can do that to a person you say to love? And how is it possible someone might enjoy being flogged, hit by a paddle and then whipped?
I know how a whip feels on the skin...It hurt like hell.
I know some pain...can be pleasurable given in the right context, but this kind of pain? NO. The mere idea [of giving or receiving such pain] makes me sick in the stomach, even if I'm dealing only with fictional characters."
Any attempt to explain the wonderfulness of BDSM to people who completely understand YKINMK but want to help folks understand is met with, "Thanks, but I'll never understand despite me asking people to explain why they find it so appealing."
You've gone so far as to critique fic in your chosen pairing that takes a turn down Saddest Tick Alley, and nobody's really taken up the cause. What to do, what to do?
I've GOT IT (or rather, yoursockpuppet friend already suggested it)! Write a fic where the usual 'dominant' knows what BDSM is and hates it for the exact same reasons. And I do mean exactly:
"But personally [Usual!Dom] couldn’t understand what the patrons of the club found so appealing. More, to be perfectly frank, he didn’t want to understand. As far as he was concerned there was something twisted, unhealthy, even perverse in these practices, and nothing on Earth would ever make him think differently.
This strong belief was mainly due to the fact that [Usual!Dom] knew how a bull whip felt on his back."
ETA one more quote I didn't realize I'd missed:
"During the past three months, [Usual!Dom] had seen several married couples come to the club. That was probably the thing that had shocked him most. How could someone cause pain to the one they loved even if they asked for it? He had tried to picture himself doing some of the things he had seen to any of his wives...and promptly became nauseous."
Your self-insertion is showing. Might want to fix that in a way that isn't a long author's note asking people to just hang in there and maybe [Usual!Dom] understands more than you THINK he does!
"All I could think was: how is possible you can do that to a person you say to love? And how is it possible someone might enjoy being flogged, hit by a paddle and then whipped?
I know how a whip feels on the skin...It hurt like hell.
I know some pain...can be pleasurable given in the right context, but this kind of pain? NO. The mere idea [of giving or receiving such pain] makes me sick in the stomach, even if I'm dealing only with fictional characters."
Any attempt to explain the wonderfulness of BDSM to people who completely understand YKINMK but want to help folks understand is met with, "Thanks, but I'll never understand despite me asking people to explain why they find it so appealing."
You've gone so far as to critique fic in your chosen pairing that takes a turn down Saddest Tick Alley, and nobody's really taken up the cause. What to do, what to do?
I've GOT IT (or rather, your
"But personally [Usual!Dom] couldn’t understand what the patrons of the club found so appealing. More, to be perfectly frank, he didn’t want to understand. As far as he was concerned there was something twisted, unhealthy, even perverse in these practices, and nothing on Earth would ever make him think differently.
This strong belief was mainly due to the fact that [Usual!Dom] knew how a bull whip felt on his back."
ETA one more quote I didn't realize I'd missed:
"During the past three months, [Usual!Dom] had seen several married couples come to the club. That was probably the thing that had shocked him most. How could someone cause pain to the one they loved even if they asked for it? He had tried to picture himself doing some of the things he had seen to any of his wives...and promptly became nauseous."
Your self-insertion is showing. Might want to fix that in a way that isn't a long author's note asking people to just hang in there and maybe [Usual!Dom] understands more than you THINK he does!
- Mood:
annoyed
If you want people to actually read your multichapter fic, it might be a good idea to tag it, add it to your memories, or put in a 'next chapter' link at the bottom. I hate it when there's no real way of finding fic at someone's journal, other than by going through all their entries (and I don't want to particularly do that).
Seriously, how long does it take to add a "Fic: Title" tag? Which would be the option that requires the most minimal of effort.
Seriously, how long does it take to add a "Fic: Title" tag? Which would be the option that requires the most minimal of effort.
I know it's a classic. It's so much a classic that rants about it are a classic. But people - please give the Healing Cock cliche a rest!
While it's true that some rape and/or abuse victims can use sex as part of the healing process, it's definitely not true for all of them. Furthermore, being able to successfully come following or during penetrative sex is not a magic sign that everything is going to be all right, tra la la, and your newly happy couple will live happily ever after. Writers of the world, please stop writing it as though this were the case.
Also, depending on the canon characterization of the people you're writing about, you can mix in a healthy dose of OOC to go with the mix by taking that route. If your victim is known in canon for refusing to accept help from others and for being very independent, bursting into tears in their lover's arms and wistfully commenting on how they're curious about what it's like with "someone they love" right before engaging in their first bout of penetrative sex since the rape isn't going to fly well. Yes, strong people can cry. Yes, independent characters can seek outside help. Please just find a way to do so while still writing that independent character and not turning them into Stock Victim #3. Respect, people. Show some.
While sex can be healing for some, please don't assume it will be for all or that everyone will respond to it in the same fashion. The idea that all problems in life can be resolved by the magical application of a penis is an insult and is frankly offensive.
While it's true that some rape and/or abuse victims can use sex as part of the healing process, it's definitely not true for all of them. Furthermore, being able to successfully come following or during penetrative sex is not a magic sign that everything is going to be all right, tra la la, and your newly happy couple will live happily ever after. Writers of the world, please stop writing it as though this were the case.
Also, depending on the canon characterization of the people you're writing about, you can mix in a healthy dose of OOC to go with the mix by taking that route. If your victim is known in canon for refusing to accept help from others and for being very independent, bursting into tears in their lover's arms and wistfully commenting on how they're curious about what it's like with "someone they love" right before engaging in their first bout of penetrative sex since the rape isn't going to fly well. Yes, strong people can cry. Yes, independent characters can seek outside help. Please just find a way to do so while still writing that independent character and not turning them into Stock Victim #3. Respect, people. Show some.
While sex can be healing for some, please don't assume it will be for all or that everyone will respond to it in the same fashion. The idea that all problems in life can be resolved by the magical application of a penis is an insult and is frankly offensive.
Dear specific Holmes/Watson writer,
I do appreciate the fact that you've tried to Victorianify your writing; I know it's not easy to pull off, and anything else would be painfully OOC in this fandom. Sadly, that just makes it stick out further when you having Watson referring to a "swell idea", or describing Holmes, even to himself, even in his narrative voice, as his "best mate". CAPSLOCK NO. May I refer you to 'painfully OOC' above? It made me want to cry, dear author, particularly when you've already used such lovely words as "jesting" and "irascible", two personal favourites of mine.
Really, though, the only thing Watson would describe as "swell" would be actual swelling (literal or euphemistic, you filthy fankids, you).
*
on a related note
Dear Sherlock Holmes fandom,
I really do love how everyone's suddenly put on their top hats, dusted off their canes and got out their thesauruses. I love the neo-Victorianisms and wordplay in a nice slice of Holmes fic. This fandom is excessively diverting, and never ceases to make my day.
I do appreciate the fact that you've tried to Victorianify your writing; I know it's not easy to pull off, and anything else would be painfully OOC in this fandom. Sadly, that just makes it stick out further when you having Watson referring to a "swell idea", or describing Holmes, even to himself, even in his narrative voice, as his "best mate". CAPSLOCK NO. May I refer you to 'painfully OOC' above? It made me want to cry, dear author, particularly when you've already used such lovely words as "jesting" and "irascible", two personal favourites of mine.
Really, though, the only thing Watson would describe as "swell" would be actual swelling (literal or euphemistic, you filthy fankids, you).
*
on a related note
Dear Sherlock Holmes fandom,
I really do love how everyone's suddenly put on their top hats, dusted off their canes and got out their thesauruses. I love the neo-Victorianisms and wordplay in a nice slice of Holmes fic. This fandom is excessively diverting, and never ceases to make my day.
- Location:the kitchen table
- Mood:
bouncy - Music:MK Ultra - Muse
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- fanficrants :: ihasstopwatch : (no subject) [+20]
- academics_anon :: gobsmacked : (no subject) [+6]
- fanficrants :: andymort : Dear authors of all age and fandoms, [+29]
- anti_feminism :: baron_waste : “The unthinking and automatic rubbishing of men” [+2]
- anti_feminism :: baron_waste : Oh, brother. [+4]
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- fanficrants :: mercuryblue144 : (no subject) [+31]
- d_princesses :: llamacicatrice : (no subject) [+10]
- partofthatworld :: naf20c : Ursula's Origins Explained, By Disney! [+10]
- fanficrants :: ansela_jonla : Er... she *what*? [+55]
- fanficrants :: allira_dream : Review rant [+21]
- anthropologist :: ladyofannwn : heroin for dummies [+8]
- fanficrants :: meshakhad : A request for more detailed reviews [+63]
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- fanficrants :: onlyonechoice : I see what you did there... [+97]
- fanficrants :: applebygirl : Organise Your Fic [+13]
- fanficrants :: maychorian : Heard this one before? [+18]
- fanficrants :: ginzai : Ye Old Cock (Does Not) Go Here Rant [+47]
- fanficrants :: amoen : YMMV on the vocab. [+46]