technology related sensory memories from my childhood
- sliding the metal cover on floppy disks
- the slight resistance of inserting cassette and video tapes
- ripping off the strips of holed paper off of dot matrix printer paper
- rolling the wheel on a disposable camera to take another photo
The heaviness and rubber texture of the roller ball in a computer mouse, and the little ring of lint
Unkinking the curly cord of a telephone while you talked
The -peww sound and slowly fading image of a crt monitor turning off, and then running your finger through the static on the dusty glass
The crunch of opening or closing a plastic Disney vhs cover
The sound effects in kidpix
Extending and collapsing metal antennas and using them as magic wands
…God, it is so weird these things aren’t around any more. Cause it’s true, the sensations are so distinct. It’s bizarre to think about missing these tiny relics.
- The ditditditditdit of a rotary dial phone setting back to zero after you spun up a number
- The weird fart smell of non-leaded petrol compared to leaded, back when it was new and unusual
- The subtle give under your teeth of the rubber on an Atari joystick as you chewed on it
- The CHONK of a TV dial as you changed channels
I honestly think that… at a certain point there is a line to be drawn when it comes to criticising fic. Unless explicitly asked for, I don’t think it’s the right for readers to insult or criticize the plot of a story. I can understand and support readers asking for clarification or explanation if they are confused, but to rewrite the fic to fit YOUR liking is insulting imo. Grammar/continuity errors are different but like… i dont think its anybody’s right to insult an author’s plotline.
Insults are generally not okay in 95% of human interactions (5% is grey area that I’m leaving in case people want to argue with me). This isn’t unique to fanfiction. In the immortal words of Wil Wheaton, “Don’t be a dick.”
The thing is, when we criticize published work, we don’t send that criticism directly to the author. We write reviews that get shared around fandom. The people who send hate and criticism directly to the author are generally looked at negatively.
Betas and editors are in charge of helping the author improve, not fans.
I don’t really understand why readers feel that they SHOULD be offering criticism. I understand the desire to do it. I’ve struggled writing comments because all my positive thoughts came with a ‘despite.’ But I’ve never felt like it was my place.
more of a question directed at some of the anonymous question askers, meant in entirely good faith bc I am curious, what’s the difference anxiety-wise between sending a detailed anonymous ask to a blog like this one about not liking to leave comments, and leaving an anonymous comment on a fic saying “I liked this!” or something similar? both are anonymous, but one takes half the time than the other? why are short/anonymous comments dismissed out of hand?
I’m going to have a go at offering some potential explanations, and if anyone else wants to chime in, send an ask and I’ll reblog this post with the added input.
First of all, some context: I am approaching this as a person who has an anxiety disorder, but my experiences and thoughts can’t be taken as a blanket statement as “this is why anxiety does this thing.” For example, commenting often makes me anxious but not because I’m worried about how the author will respond to it; instead, it’s stressful because I have difficulty approaching and beginning vague or undefined tasks.
With that said, you’ll find some thoughts under the cut, in no particular order.
For me, it requires a different part of my brain.
In the past I’ve written comments on fic apologizing for my inability to comment. Those words came easily. They’re intellectual.
Commenting is emotional. Turning the mass of emotions into words is much harder for me. Figuring out what parts of the story caused me to respond. Sometimes, even saying, “this was good,” requires a bit of thought. An anxious brain protects itself by flattening out all emotion, covering it up to give you some rest. When I’m reading fic in that depersonalized state, i just know the story makes me feel something. “I think I like this,” isn’t a very supportive comment.
So yeah, I can soliloquize about commenting forever. But it sometimes takes me a month to actually be able to do it.
Tiers of fanfic accessibility:
1. Written for general audiences
2. Presumes familiarity with the source material’s major characters and the broad outlines of its premise
3. Presumes familiarity with the events of individual episodes/chapters of the source material
4. Presumes familiarity with a particular fandom AU
5. Presumes familiarity with a specific headcanon, joke or meme known only to those who’ve been following the author’s blog since 2012
magneto is cool and his view on mutants/mutant rights is great but can we stop pretending he’s done nothing wrong in his life when he was an appalling and shitty father who was emotionally abusive to his kids (mainly pietro)
Don’t forget that in the Ultimate X-men comics, Magneto actually shot Pietro in the knee cap, crippling him for an extended period of time. This action didn’t leave Quicksilver crippled forever, but he still walks with a limp and I bet those months of being unable to walk or run or use his powers was emotionally and mentally draining for someone like Pietro. Like, running was his life. Literally who he was. And his own father took that away from him, even if it was permanently. It was for long enough. Whatever Magneto’s reasoning behind it, it was unnecessary and cruel. Even after all of that, Pietro still loves his father and would do anything for him. It’s a vicious act of dominance to emotionally and mentally abusive people, especially your own children, and it’s what Magneto does.
He’s a horrible father and a horrible person regardless of how anyone (and by anyone I mainly mean Charles who is a whole other rant) thinks he can be saved. Sure, maybe someday he’ll stop trying to kill homo sapiens, but he can never redeem himself for the horrors he put his own children through.
Ultimate Magneto is not the same character as 616 Magneto by a long shot. That’s literally a Magneto from another reality/timeline/etc and you cannot use Ultimate Mags to vilify 616 Mags.
Yes, 616 Mags is a terrible father who abused his kids. But he never kneecapped Pietro.
Yes, 616 Mags never kneecapped Pietro. Instead he tried to kill his son many times and once it was successful …
It’s interesting that Ultimate Magneto was extremely abusive against the Twins(in Ultimate Marvel, Anya never exist and Lorna was not his daughter), but when Hawkeye accidentally killed(not really tho) his son, he went berserk and tried to destroy human kind…
But 616!Mags, even he was not so extremely abusive
in comparison withUlt!Mags, was just gave up his daughter’s life when his son begged his aid to defend her from Avengers and X-Men.
Magneto’s
complicated characterization always fascinates me.
I’ve noticed that I see LOADS of fanart depicting Magneto and his children as a Happy Family but I have literally never once seen any fanart depicting the reality of how things were/are.
Part of this, I think, is the majority of fandom only being familiar with the films. Part of it is also probably wistful thinking, wishing it could have been a happy setup. And I get that. But I feel uneasy with how there’s absolutely ZERO acknowledgement of the actual abuse that happened, it feels like an en masse silencing in favor of a rosier narrative that people, especially Magneto fans, would prefer.
I too, wish things could have been happier for the Maximoffs and that Magneto had been a better person to them. I’m not saying people can’t depict these fantasies. But when there are no depictions of reality and lots of this fantasy, it starts to get a little worrying, and has me wondering how many people are even aware of what actually happened.
Grr! I wrote this long thing about how I was able to justify my affection for Erik, reread this thread, and realized none of it applied.
We do need more acknowledgement of Magneto’s past actions.
I’m not sure how you would do that in art. Maybe more family pictures without him in them? Some art with the Maximoffs, instead? Even though they had that unhealthy “we’re adopting you to replace our first kids” thing going on. I’ve seen fic that dealt with his abuse, and its lasting affect on his family. That’s an easier medium to get into things like that.
It’s so frustrating!
I consider everything after 1991 to be deuterocanonical, so Erik had POSSIBILITIES during the part I focus on. Claremont wrote Erik as a messed up man trying to atone for many, extremely bad, mistakes. He’s shown trying to rebuild a relationship with Wanda, and hoping that if he tries long enough there, Pietro might give him a second chance. Other character say that previous atrocities may have been influenced by mental illness that he’s now trying to treat.
(That trope is a different thing we’re not talking about, but as a mentally ill person it doesn’t bother me that much because he still accepts responsibility. It’s used to show how he can have done the monstrous acts he has and still have some sort of morality. Sometimes his perception of reality is skewed, now that he knows this, he attempts to account for that possibility when making decisions.)
I want to defend him because of that, but you’re right. We need to acknowledge that it happened. It’s important to admit this happened, so some new fan doesn’t start reading the comics and get blindsided.
@allwillbeone – I’m not sure saying Magneto abandoned Wanda before House of M is a good example of abuse, though. Since the only solution Pietro could find was UNCONSENSUALLY REWRITING EVERYONE ON EARTH”S HISTORY AND REALITY, I think it can be argued that Magneto was doing everything he could think of for her. Letting Xavier near her might have been wrong, but …
I think he was pretty awful to Pietro during his period ruling Genosha, though, right? I’m sure there are examples from the 90s people can dig up. All I’ve got is 60s/70s canon, where everyone is pretty one dimensional. And Xorn era, who is retroactively not him and I don’t think interacted with his kids. Just other people kids. Really, really uncomfortably.
how do you feel about authors who abandon their WIP fics just because they don’t like the fandom anymore ? I know a lot . Like there are people here who loves your fic crazily !
I have to admit, I’m one of them *hides*
When you leave a fandom, your passion for writing it sort of leaves too. At least it did for me. I feel guilty about that WIP, but at the same time, I have no idea how I’d ever go back and finish it.
IMO, the best way to handle a WIP that you know damn well will never be finished: TAKE IT DOWN.
Why are you leaving it up? So that other unwary fans will start to read it and get disappointed like all the rest? The ones who don’t happen to notice that it hasn’t been updated in years but is still not complete?
It’s one thing if you have an idea that you’ll get back to it, that the only reason you haven’t is that life got in the way. That maybe, when you’re less crazy busy, you’ll finish it. Then by all means, let it hang out there and let your readers know the story is still in your sights.
But if you know absolutely that nothing will ever pull you back into that fandom or that fic, then the best thing you can do is save a copy for yourself but take it off the fanfiction sites.
This may seem harsh, but to me it’s just a matter of being honest with your readers.
On the one hand, I see your point. On the other hand, taking it down will disappoint the people who loved what was there (incomplete as it was). I’ve gone back and reread incomplete fics before because they have scenes that I really enjoyed and wanted to read again. If the author takes them down, I lose that. The lack of ending doesn’t bother me too much because I just imagine my own.
But that’s me. I get that for others it can be upsetting to read an incomplete fic.
NO!!!!!!!!!
Please don’t take it down! Please! Please!!!
Let us read the beautiful fic!
This porn was not tagged
Real-life footage of “the object”
Today’s aesthetic: 19th Century literature where the nominal protagonist doesn’t even show up until you’re 20 000 words in.
You can say Les Misérables
No, I can’t; Valjean doesn’t show up in Les Misérables until thirty thousand words in. Even by the standards of its time, Les Mis is 50% more insufferable than average!
On the subject of “triggers” and properly labeled content. I understand the need, so don’t get me wrong here, but as someone who writes novels and fanfic, there seems to be an overwhelming amount of pressure put on a fanfic writer. If you were to pick up a novel these warnings would not exsist, unless someone had taken the time to write a review. You know going in based on genre what you could be looking at. Fandom should have a general idea of what content could be presented 1/2
This does not mean the writer should not post warnings, but readers can not expect the writers to scour every in of their WIP to accommodate sensitivities. That is ridiculous. Also, some labels cover too wide a scope, i.e. Canon Typical Violence. What I may see as such could be seen as graphic to others. Readers need to be able to use judgment. This can’t all be left on the shoulders of the writer. A good summary should give an idea of where the story is headed and THAT should be the focus.
I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you on a few points, anon.
there seems to be an overwhelming amount of pressure put on a fanfic writer.
tagging isn’t easy. Very true. But fic writers can reach out to their readers and ask the question “are my tags suitable or do they need to be adjusted”? Or writers could be open to revising their tags if a reader asks them to. No one is perfect. If you’re unsure, say you’re unsure and be willing to fix a possible mistake.
If you were to pick up a novel these warnings would not exsist, unless someone had taken the time to write a review.
And people who are worried about content wait for those reviews. If they don’t see a review, they might very well decide not to read that story.
You know going in based on genre what you could be looking at. Fandom should have a general idea of what content could be presented
Fanfiction in and of itself is not a “genre” in the same sense as “horror” or “mystery” are genres. Simply accessing fiction written by a fan about media doesn’t give me any clues at all what the content will be like beyond the fact that it will be in some way related to an existing media that I enjoy.
Novels have book covers and blurbs. They are placed on shelves in libraries and book stores according to their genres. Fanfics have summaries and tags.
This does not mean the writer should not post warnings, but readers can not expect the writers to scour every in of their WIP to accommodate sensitivities.
As a writer, I’m sure you’re already aware of reductio ad absurdum. What reader is asking a writer to “scour everything in their WIP”? If you have a rape scene in your fic, I should hope you wouldn’t have to “scour” in order to remember it’s there and tag it.
Also, some labels cover too wide a scope, i.e. Canon Typical Violence. What I may see as such could be seen as graphic to others. Readers need to be able to use judgment.
Agreed. This is why you have the freedom to add in additional tags and readers have the freedom to say “I don’t want to read a violent fic. Thanks for telling me this fic is violent.” And if the violence really is typical of the violence seen in the particular canon you are referencing for your fic, your readers should have an idea of what that means and know to jump in or pass it by accordingly. Problems occur when the violence written doesn’t match the levels/types in canon. That’s where additional tags can be helpful.
This can’t all be left on the shoulders of the writer. A good summary should give an idea of where the story is headed and THAT should be the focus.
Agreed. Now, how can we get people to write good summaries? Not everyone does (myself included, I’m sure)
Thank you so much, ao3commentoftheday!
I did, in fact, stop reading books/watching movies/TV shows because they lack tags! I do, in fact, wait for reviews and ask friends to warn me before I go to movies!
Anon, I am not trying to pressure you. I’m not sure how other people feel, but this dialogue is important to me because it lets authours and readers know what the other party values.
I value tags. I don’t read fic without them. If you’re on this site, trying to figure out how to get more feedback and readership, you could take note that a lack of tags might be limiting your readership. Even if your fic would be fine for me to read, I don’t know that if you don’t tag, and that risk isn’t worth it to me.
There are people out there who are willing to make my reading experience safe. I am so, so grateful to them. I know it can be hard, and some people are jerks when you’re just doing your best. You guys are going above and beyond.
You are allowed to be in fandom and not tag. I’m sure there are people who are fine with reading fic that isn’t tagged.
Your ask seemed to be telling me I was wrong to want tags. You seem to feel that readers are demanding perfect tagging from you. I’m sorry you’re feeling that pressure. Please, try to let that pressure go. Me not being able to read your work does NOT mean you have to accommodate me. You aren’t under contract, you’re creating work because you love it. You don’t owe us anything. I won’t read, but I also won’t mutter under my breath about what a jerk you are (unless you deliberately mis-tag things).
TL;DR: I am so glad you are writing and you don’t need to tag anything. I don’t read fic unless it’s tagged, for my own safety, and it’s okay that I’m not reading your work. If you want me to, tag. If not, I wish you the best. Enjoy fandom.
kiragecko 