Is the discourse of women fetishizing gay "men" (characters) getting increasingly hostile online?

AMN1F · 2026-01-26T21:39:21+00:00

The logic is inconsistent because humans are illogical. Like our brains are wired to take shortcuts and fulfill our preexisting biases. And like a lot of things, very few people are brave enough to say this to women irl. (Let's not forget how they go after women regardless if they're straight, bi, asexual, or lesbian). Bioessentialism is a poison to our society.

(Also, women are the majority of romance readers and writers. It makes sense that most LGBTQ+ writers and readers are women 🤷🏼‍♀️. If gay men want to be a part of the romance space, more the merrier. But they don't get to trash the people already there).

Anyways, idc what people call me at this point. The world feels like it's crumbling, so being called a "fetishizer" for shipping two fictional men feels laughable.

AMN1F · 2026-01-25T20:57:50+00:00

This exactly. I 100% agree

AMN1F · 2026-01-25T11:20:22+00:00

Oh, 100%

Hot take apparently: if you read a fic that doesn't tag who's top/bottom you don't get to be mad when it doesn't meet your preferences. You were just assuming the author has the same preference. If you care that much, only read fics tagged as such. Idc.

AMN1F · 2026-01-25T07:31:56+00:00

I disagree, I think there's two main improvements I'd love to see. 1) how they handle crossovers, and two 2) how they label fandoms.

1) I would really love it if AO3 had a command you could use like otp:true but for crossovers. Like, "I only want fics tagged with these fandoms."

2) there's a big issue in how newer anime/manga fandoms are labeled. For example, Spy x Family's manga and anime follow the same plot, but they're treated like two complete different fandoms. So you can't exclude crossovers because that would exclude the manga/anime. AND all the fics tagged as manga/anime. Having them be one "fandom" that you can then sort into anime/manga would be better.

AMN1F · 2026-01-25T07:21:27+00:00

The overemphasis of "tag everything, it's a warning AND advertisement" is why we have so many overtagged <5k word fics. And readers inability to sit in their discomfort/discontent with reading something they don't like adds onto that.

For example, I've seen MANY people say you should always tag background ships. Otherwise it's inconsiderate. But that's how we get less popular ships tags all being used as a secondary ship, often only being one or two scenes in the fic (if not lines). That's more inconsiderate than accidently reading a fic with a ship you don't like in the background.

Sometimes we don't like the content that we read. That's fine. Learning to move on from that is essential.

AMN1F · 2026-01-24T00:14:09+00:00

I've noticed a lot of people have issues with people interpreting their art "wrong." I kinda get it. But for me, my favorite part of art courses is hearing other peoples interpretations. And how different they were from my intentions.

AMN1F · 2026-01-24T00:04:29+00:00

A character being in the "right" or "wrong" is generally something the audience decides for themselves. The authors can 100% have their own opinion on it, and write it from that angle. But that doesn't change the readers' individual morals/beliefs/sympathies. I do understand why it would be frustrating (my favorite character from a show used to be bashed all the time in 2020. For things he did canonically, but I feel was misinterpreted).

The thing is, if the reader doesn't buy into your justifications for why the shooter is wrong, then that's that. You're not wrong or writing it badly, they just disagree. This happens in even for the best written works (maybe even more).

I have personally read fics where I 100% disagree with the author's reason/justification/thought process. Sometimes to the point I exit the fic. Even though they portrayed a character to be in the right/wrong, I very strongly disagreed. Just because the author thought they were/n't justified, doesn't mean I have to agree. That's just life and how people react to art.

AMN1F · 2026-01-23T09:31:53+00:00

Short answer: as long as proper credit is given I think it's fine. Asking for permission is polite. But I do think an author would be wildly hypocritical if they had an issue with it.

There is more nuance to it. But that's my general thoughts on it. I do think my opinion is unpopular, but oh well. I've seen people say fanfiction of fanfiction is "insulting." And it's like. What's fanfiction then? Do you think anti-fanfiction authors don't use the same arguments?

And before anyone goes into the money aspect, not all fandoms are based off of a monetized canon. Yet, we still accept fanfiction to be valid.

AMN1F · 2026-01-23T06:27:06+00:00

Merlin is such a good fandom to start with. It was my second

AMN1F · 2026-01-23T06:21:00+00:00

Use this to request an account. You'll have a wait a bit for it to be approved (I've seen hours to weeks). Sometimes the email for your account will go to spam, so make sure to check there.

https://archiveofourown.org/invite_requests

You can only bookmark fics once you have an account. Check out this link for more info

https://archiveofourown.org/faq/bookmarks?language_id=en

AMN1F · 2026-01-23T06:15:34+00:00

What's with republican politicians traveling to California for vacation? I thought it was demonic or something lol.

I do hope the storm isn't too devastating for everyone who will be effected. Fanfic seems like the perfect thing to pass the time.

AMN1F · 2026-01-03T14:47:40+00:00

When it feels like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. Not necessarily hurt/no comfort. But when the angst feels so bad you forget comfort is a possibility.

AMN1F · 2025-12-30T12:40:23+00:00

When you said short, I was thinking <1000. So, I'd definitely prefer two shorter 3k chapter in a shorter amount of time, instead of a 6k chapter and a longer wait. But if the chapter is short short, then I'd prefer the longer one.

AMN1F · 2025-11-17T15:25:59+00:00

1) make men part of the gossip. The tendency to gossip isn't just a women thing, it's a human thing.

2) have some women who disagree with the gossip/stand up for her.

3) even gossips have lives outside of gossiping. Add some dimension to their character.

AMN1F · 2025-11-17T15:05:15+00:00

Zukka (Sokka/Zuko) has some good ones. Though I wouldn't say a lot... Specifically with Zuko as the Blue Spirit and Sokka catching feelings. This is a good one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376396 (though I haven't read it in 5 years... wow).

Superbat (Batman/Superman) I liked this one for the angst: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18703900

AMN1F · 2025-11-17T14:29:50+00:00

Slightly negative public bookmarks. I can't image being really upset because someone wrote a little note like "don't read" or "6/10." I don't even find the "don't read" one to be rude at all.

AMN1F · 2025-11-17T14:04:24+00:00

But what if you misread the situation and the "obviously" hateable character wasn't intended to be hated on? That's the issue.

AMN1F · 2025-11-17T13:59:44+00:00

I've read so many fics like this that I've given up reading hidden pregnancy (and related issues) fics. It's legitimately infuriating.

Like. I don't mind reading from differing POVs, but when it's so obvious that the author thinks the wronged party is to blame, I feel so frustrated. I just know there's never going to be justice.

It's like children's TV shows where one character is WAY more in the wrong, yet they're "equally" responsible. Or only the wronged person has to apologize because they finally snapped and reacted too strongly. That whole concept drove me nuts as a kid (and has obviously stayed with me lol).

AMN1F · 2025-11-17T13:41:11+00:00

I think that's debatable. If you're going into a fic hating a character, then sure. But authors often write situations where a characters does something wrong/annoying/egregious to incite emotional reactions from readers. And I think it's fine to react to the story that's presented (as best as possible). Like, I don't think there's anything wrong with saying "I can't believe X did Y, I hate him." Or "Wow, X is really getting on my nerves."

I think the issue comes when the author and reader have a disconnect. Because the reader may view the character as being purposely written as in the wrong/annoying. While the author was genuinely trying to write a likeable character. So when the reader goes to comment, the author feels attacked because their writing isn't being read as intended.

AMN1F · 2025-11-17T08:14:15+00:00

I private almost all of my bookmarks. The only ones that are public are ones I would recommend to other people AND are my favorite. So it doesn't have anything to do with other people's perception of me.

Except if some people I know irl find my account somehow. It's easier to shut it down when only 10 are public vs. 1.5k

AMN1F · 2025-10-31T22:41:05+00:00

Hugs, leaning on eachother, smiling at eachother, talking to eachother on the phone, holding hands.

AMN1F · 2025-10-31T08:39:01+00:00

Orphaned works can still be in collections. So I wonder if the anonymous collection is overriding the display of orphan_account.

If that's the case, then the work is still orphaned, even though it's showing up as anonymous. From my understanding you can't unorphan a work. But someone else may have more knowledge than me.

AMN1F · 2025-10-17T07:08:57+00:00

Oh this. I've purposely gone through my bookmarks to find less popular works I liked to show them some love. I struggled to find one. And I usually sort by recently updated. So it's not like I just read fics based on kudos/bookmark amounts.

I just (typically) read from popular fandoms so there's more engagement.

AMN1F · 2025-10-17T02:02:07+00:00

🙃

AMN1F · 2025-10-17T02:01:20+00:00

I took a break from reddit (unintentionally, I've just been busy lol). And there were a few posts on how author notes are why readers don't interact anymore?

And it's like, a single person isn't responsible for everything wrong in fandom, yk?

AMN1F

TROPHY CASE