rpgwrites:

So I made a post about comments and reblogs. That post did really well. Or according to me it did. But that’s not why I made the post. I wanted to make a post like that for a long time. To be honest I was afraid people would react really badly to it. That’s part of the reason I made it vague. Many people left wonderful tags and reblogged their opinions. I appreciated each one of them. I loved to see the communities response that and everyone is really positive over it. So thank you for everyone’s thoughts.

I decided to make another post to give more of my thoughts. I wanted to write why I feel like I feel about all of this. Some might agree. Some might disagree. We all have our opinions and that’s wonderful. Feel free to say what’s your opinion if you want to.

I might go into personal stuff here but I’ll try not to go on too much on that. This was inspired by a conversation with my one friend and all of your replies. Here goes:

First off reblogs. I’ll be honest. I get it. It’s so frustrating when people like but don’t reblog. They are the only ones that see it now my project I poured hours upon hours of myself in it won’t be seen by others. Why don’t they reblog? My first reason why I feel like this is I don’t want people to feel pressured to reblog my stuff. Do I get frustrated when I get mostly likes? Heck yeah I do. I sometimes wonder what I did wrong. Is my writing so horrible? I get that self doubt. But I don’t want people to feel pressure. This is all for fun. As some of my friends constantly remind me this isn’t work. It’s all for fun.

My second reason is where I get into personal stuff. If you follow me you might now I have some mental health problems. It became really bad last year. I was in a deep hole and my depression was so bad. I would scroll aimlessly on tumblr. Not even have the energy to reblog stuff. Sometimes I didn’t even know what I scrolled past. Believe it or not but sometimes a like and reblog requires energy. Especially emotional energy. And if you have none it’s hard to be supportive. Yes it can be easy to like and reblog but sometimes you don’t have the energy to do that. Sometimes people might be going through something and they can’t even get to like or reblog something. There might be a reason behind it all.

There can also be other reasons. Like there are lurkers. When I first joined Tumblr I just checked out reblogs whose writing I liked. I didn’t like anything and I didn’t reblog anything. I only checked out tumblr first. I left tumblr for months until finally I followed other tumblrs and liked and reblogged stuff.

Comments. Where to start. I came across fanfiction thanks to my one friend that told me about it. I thought it’s amazing. I would spend hours reading it. But I never commented. Why? I was heck of nervous. Leaving your first comment is terrifying. I only did it after I posted my first fic. I remember being so scared to do it. I was so anxious. Yet I felt like maybe my comment won’t mean anything though I knew I would love comments. But that’s just me right? Or that’s what I thought. I felt like if I want people to comment on my story I need to comment as well. That’s not the reason I comment today though nor the full reason I started to comment. I wanted to show my appreciation. I’m thankful I left a comment and start commenting. But I get why people don’t comment.

Then commenting not on every chapter. At first I felt very weird commenting on every chapter. I felt like such a weirdo. So at first I didn’t then I started only on stories that updated. Later after talking to a friend about it I started commenting on every chapter on completed works too. So I get why people don’t comment on every chapter.

Lastely reading updated works. I really really really want people to support my in-progress works. Sometimes there is that tough chapter and I just need a boost. But what if there’s none? What if you feel like giving up on a story? A comment out of the blue can just inspire you to finish the chapter. People commenting with each and every chapter can encourage you through the difficult chapters. But just like writers gets burned out readers can too. It’s not the same thing but it happens. I know becuase it happened to me. Keeping up with dozens of stories can burn you out. You can feel like you can’t breathe. Some people have reasons why they read completed works only. They can still support your completed works.

And that’s from me. Thank you for reading.

fanficmemes:

Worst part about writing for a new fandom is figuring out the characters speech patterns

The best way to do this is to watch part of the show, or all the movie, or some of the book or comic etc. that the character is in with your phone notes function, or pen and paper. You’re going to write down some key wordsand maybe some key phrasesand that’s it. If you like the show / book, rewatching or rereading sections shouldn’t be much of an issue! You can do this with more than one character at the same time, just have a different list for each!

Firstly, not all characters are written consistently dialogue-wise, which can be a winner if you want to be flexible re: what dialogue you’re using.

Think about what you’re hearing/seeing. Think about greetings. How does the character meet people? Do they say ‘hey’ or 'hello’ or 'hi’ or 'what’s up’ or 'greetings’ or smile or just launch into sentences? Likewise, when they leave a conversation, do they just leave?

What are their 'hesitation’ words? Do they say 'um’ or 'ah’ or 'mmm’ or 'hmm’ or 'like’ or 'welllll’. Do they pad their sentences with things like 'I think’ or 'I’ve just realised.’ Do they say 'yeah’ or 'yes’ or 'nah’ or 'no?’

Do they have any common short phrases they use: 'As I was saying’ or 'by and by’ (no one says this) or 'absolutely not.’ How do they (if they do) swear? What words do they prefer? If you’re lucky, the show may give you things like preferred endearments, or how they tend to react when they’re outraged.

Doing these things alone will give you pretty much all you need to make a really good version of that character’s dialogue. Also, for people who have OCs, doing this with what you’ve written so far (or before you even start) will help your character stay consistent.If you want to go deeper, keep reading!

Find one or two styles of sentence, or sentence fragments that feellike the character to you. It could be: 'you speak the truth’ or 'took you long enough’ or 'sure seems that way’ or you’re a bitch.’ It could be: 'Well, frankly darling, I don’t much care either way’ (which tells you a lotabout the character in one sentence) or 'Whoo, lads, we’re hitting the piss tonight!’ or 'H-hi everyone, um, don’t mind me, um…I just have something I wanted to ask you.’

Are they prone to long or short sentences? Do they have lots of pauses and half-sentences or do they speak cleanly in complete sentences? Do they prefer a snappy comeback or are they more reticent and shy? Are they comical or serious? Are they wry? Are they an emotional or cerebral speaker? Are they using their body when they talk, or are they locked in?

Do they swear and are they coarse or vulgar? Or are they very prim and proper? When I was writing Bull and Cullen in Stuck on the Puzzle, it was fun for me to contrast Cullen’s very upright, stiff dialogue against Bull’s vulgar, coarse dialogue.

What is their styleof dialogue? Is it contemporary or old-fashioned? If it’s contemporary, does it have a style? Are they a 40 yo working in an office, vs. a 19 yo at university? What is their age? Where are they from? Does their culture or ethnicity influence their dialogue? When I was writing the Gancanagh, an Irish fae, it was very important to me that he almost never use anyone’s name while referring to them, because this was an aspect of Irish folklore and sometimes dialogue, to say 'this man here’ instead of 'you’ or 'Tom.’

The trick is to then use these things, but not so much your character turns into a caricature. As in - you can add new stuff! Especially if it’s alongside old recognisable statements. You can add other formal speech patterns alongside a formal speaking character.

Anyway, hope that helps! I know not everyone wants to go this deep, or wants to do this, but for people who do want to learn how to do this, this has held me in reallygood stead. Also! Once you start actually just asking yourself these kinds of questions, you won’t always need to actually write stuff down anymore, you’ll start observing anyway when you want to fic something. :D

eddiepumpkinn:

do you ever feel like you love a character more than their own writers do

astolat:

tofixtheshadows:

Do you think Naomi Novik ever looks at AO3

sees some incest mpreg

and whispers to herself “I never wanted this.”

No. :)

sagihairius:

you ever hear a new song and immediately go “oooh the fake scenarios in my head are gonna love this”

elytrians:

elytrians:

shipping fictional characters together as an adult is actually very fun and i encourage it. it is also one of the worst things you can do to yourself and should not be attempted. it’s very simple really.

pros of shipping fictional characters as an adult: having a more mature and experienced outlook on people and relationships actually opens up a lot of new funny, interesting, and even thoughtful ways of engaging with the concept of fictional people kissing. also, it’s fun.

cons of shipping as an adult: you will inevitably form an extremely niche and personal interpretation of the relationship between your favorite fictional people who you want to smash together like barbie dolls or possibly on-fire waste disposal trucks, and become extremely annoyed by the popular fan interpretations that are bland and formulaic by comparison. but since you are also involved in the deeply cringe activity of getting emotionally invested in a fictional relationship you have no chance of being taken seriously if you complain about it, and therefore no choice but to try to ignore it and make your own content that is liked by 3 of your friends who are the only like-minded people you respect and that one account that likes everything you post anyway

dragonnan:

emachinescat:

Favorite whumpees?

There are so many characters that whump so well, emotionally, physically, or both. Why do we do terrible things to the characters we say we love? No clue, but the ones listed here are my current favorites to whump, in no particular order.

• Shawn Spencer from Psych
• Angus MacGyver from MacGyver
• Merlin from Merlin
• The Doctor from Doctor Who (Eleven especially)
• Jonathan Sims from the Magnus Archives
• Jim Lake Jr. from Trollhunters

Reblog with your favorite characters to whump! Tagging a few friends who have been known to whump, but anyone is welcome to add to the list!

@dragonnan@saplesss-tree@holbytlanna@impossiblepluto@here-to-reblog-stuff@nywcgirl@refinedbuffoonery

Oooooh nice!!! So because I’m obsessive a bit I’m dividing this between those I like to write about whumping and those I like to read about whumping (also everyone from the first list is automatically included on the second)

Written whump:

• Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock on BBC
• Molly Hooper - Sherlock on BBC
• Shawn Spencer - Psych
• Lucifer Morningstar - Lucifer
• Tony Stark - MCU
• Stephen Strange - MCU

Read the whump:

• Crowley - Good Omens
• 10th and 11th Doctor and Donna Noble - Doctor Who
• Peter Parker - MCU
• Malcolm Bright - Prodigal Son
• Alec Hardy - Broadchuch
• Plus a variety of others depending on random cravings

Tagging:@sgam76@ceruleanmindpalace@ariaadagio@ahollowyear@aelaer@kitcat992@hanuko@disappearinginq@theleftpill@mrs-n-uzumaki

I’m not into hurt without a comfort component, so not much whump for me. But I do love me some hurt/comfort something FIERCE. My faaavorite receivers of hurt/comfort are:

Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and/or Angel)

Castiel (Supernatural)

Legolas (Lord of the Rings)

Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)

Spock (Star Trek)

Clark/Superman (all media types)

Anyone who wants to chime in is welcome! Tag, you’re it!

all-or-nothing-baby:

sometimes, it dawns on me just how incredibly happy i am that fanfic exists as a medium. like, the amount of experiences had, the excitement and thrills and tears and joy—and more—that writers of fic can give to so, so many people… it’s immeasurable; and it’s wonderful.

and just. what an amazing thought, you know? in a world where we’re all struggling to get by, recognising this beautiful thing we have created, knowing that we’re all sharing in taking some sort of pleasure/lesson/comfort etc from reading and/or writing it?

that’s really special.

hellneedsaruler:

Fanfic is the peak human experience out there . Everyday a different stranger tells me a bed time story about two fictional men we’re both obsessed with

practicefortheheart:

“While many people think fanfiction is about inserting sex into texts (like Tolkien’s) where it doesn’t belong, Brancher sees it differently: “I was desperate to read about sex that included great friendship; I was repurposing Tolkien’s text in order to do that. It wasn’t that friendship needed to be sexualized, it was that erotica needed to be … friendship-ized.” Many fanfiction writers write about sex in conjunction with beloved texts and characters not because they think those texts are incomplete, but because they’re looking for stories where sex is profound and meaningful. This is part of what makes fan fiction different from pornography: unlike pornography, fanfic features characters we already care deeply about, and who tend to already have long-standing and complex relationships with each other. It’s a genre of sexual subjectification: the very opposite of objectification. It’s benefits with friendship.”

—

Francesca Coppa, “Introduction to The Dwarf’s Tale,” The Fanfiction Reader(viarembrandtsw(viafinkspiration)

“It wasn’t that friendship needed to be sexualized, it was that erotica needed to be … friendship-ized.”

Oh dang that is spot on!

(viarosalarian)

lilliebellfanfics:

reispinkoveralls:

theliteraryarchitect:

Just remember: If all writing fiction ever does is keep you from losing your goddamn mind during this pandemic, it has served you well and needs no other justification for consuming hours upon hours of your time. It does not need to be good. It does not need to be finished. It does not need to get published or praised. It only needs to soothe you, to hold you, to occupy your mind, to amuse you, to tether you to this world, to keep you from going mad, to keep you company, to keep you alive.

I think reading and writing fanfic literally kept me alive in 2021

For the people in the back

callmearcturus:

for real, if you see a fic that seems abandoned but you really want to see if it might be completed

i would genuinely suggest not mentioning the fact its abandoned at all. instead, just leave the most effusive comment you can. tell the author specifically what you liked. if they are in a position they might continue it, you might remind them what they liked about the story, and thus maybe revive it.

that is probably your best bet to get a story finished, much more than asking “hey is this abandoned” or asking for it to be continued.

roselightfairy:

I love rereading my own fanfic, actually. It’s like the person who wrote it knew exactly what I wanted and was writing it specifically to appeal to m—oh wait.

en-theos:

People nowadays are so obsessed with redemption arcs like. Give me a good corruption arc. Watch me go wild over my favourite characters going mad and committing atrocious acts against the very nature of humanity