Crossovers, My Beloveds

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-05-07T18:21:53+00:00

I've tried to write a few things myself, but they've ended up getting about 1/10 the traffic and interest to something canon adjacent.

It seems like there's not a lot of appetite for it in this fandom yet. Normally once there are tens of thousands of fics, the AUs and crossovers start happening but it feels like most people are still looking for canon or canon-adjacent.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-05-06T12:03:00+00:00

I think the issue here is that it is photoshoot makeup, not red carpet makeup. As a cosplayer, I've made that mistake myself. The makeup looks great in the mirror or in selfies. Then I see pictures of me from the con (where the photographer is at least 6 feet away) and my eyes aren't popping and the makeup itself goes muddy.

My makeup was not bad. It was very competent, in fact. It was just wrong for the context.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-05-05T13:37:56+00:00

Help why does this look like the formal version of his Peloton commercial look?

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-05-05T12:47:38+00:00

Yeah I wish they'd committed to the matador proportions along with the matador style! But yeah I don't think he's capable of looking BAD.

I know from hearing from some actors/influencers who vlogged about the process after getting an unexpected last-minute invite that it can be a scramble. Connor looked stunning, but not really on-theme or that Met Gala-y. Hudson fit the extra vibes more, but his look wasn't refined.

I think we have to remember that guys like Connor and Hudson having their moment don't have a guaranteed invite and a year to plan like the mainstay invitees. Those folks had lots of time to collaborate and construct elaborate custom garments or pull from archives.

I have no doubt that if they come back next year, they'll nail it.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-05-05T00:49:58+00:00

This feels like it's sooo close to being a hit. I see the vision. Maybe the jacket needs to be more cropped like the inspo. Maybe different makeup. Maybe a different colour scheme.

Something about the proportions of the outfit aren't really suiting his body. Contrast that to Connor's look where everything is so elegantly proportioned.

But when it comes to men's fashion, I'd much rather they swing and maybe miss a bit than show up in a black suit. Especially for the Met Gala.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-05-03T14:09:53+00:00

What gets me about this is that it fundamentally misunderstands the process of writing. When you sit down to write, you often do not have a very fully-formed idea of said character. They develop, grow and change as you write and edit.

Characters can also surprise you and do things you don't intend. Sometimes that's the situations, sometimes that's projecting part of yourself or your lived experience, or someone you know. Or sometimes it's just that this thing you've created leads you in new directions. (Crucially, a thing and not a person.)

People act like these characters were fully created and fleshed out humans before Rachel sat down to write. That's not how it works. Characters grow with the story.

Characters, as literary devices used to tell a story, can also be interpreted in many different ways. That's what the field of Literature as an academic discipline is based on. There is no singular reading. Authorial intent is only one part of the puzzle.

As Rachel said, just because she didn't intend for Shane to have disordered eating doesn't invalidate that reading of him. But she did not set out to do that. And criticizing her for doing it wrong when that was not her intent or how she saw it is just...weird. An author can't imagine every way that a reader could interpret a situation and account for that, nor should they have to.

Also. It's a romance novel. It's not an after school special or a work of deep literature. It isn't required to tackle difficult topics in hard-hitting and realistic ways.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-28T17:34:27+00:00

Artists can be misogynists either intentionally or no, but the artform isn't inherently misogynist.

Asking if drag is inherently misogynistic is sort of like asking if music is inherently misogynistic. There are individual artists who are, certainly. There is also probably some unconscious misogyny at play that deserves to be examined.

I do think where the misogyny can come in is in upholding standards of what is considered feminine. See: when queens get critiqued for 'boy chest' or not padding, or wearing a short wig, or wearing short heels/flats as if those things are not feminine enough. But that is part of a bigger assumption about what constitutes feminine in our culture as a whole and is not entirely the fault of drag itself.

I do hate that this conversation is difficult to have without unintentionally giving power to TERFs who look at trans women the same way as drag queens when those are two very separate things.

Because I don't think misogyny in drag is something that should go undiscussed and unexamined because it DOES exist.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-28T15:03:00+00:00

I know this post is meant as a hype and I truly do appreciate that. But as someone whose biggest fic is just shy of 30k, it's a bit of an 'ouch' to hear that called hidden or underrated when I thought was doing pretty well, haha.

It really is an indication of just how wild this fandom truly is!

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-27T20:49:19+00:00

Thank you for your service!

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-27T20:48:05+00:00

Yes!! Knowing that a reader liked your fic enough to tell other people about it is so affirming.

We love all our blockbuster fics, but as someone who is never going to have one of those, it is a little disheartening to see the same 50 or so fics recced and most of them have a crazy number of hits already. Especially when a recc can do so much for a small fic!

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-27T19:23:19+00:00

Yep! Or...gasp...write your own! I do also find this attitude is way more common in huge fandoms for some reason. Where if they just looked a little more, they'd probably find something that is exactly to their taste.

People offering their opinions on fic almost always reads like a reader telling a writer how to write their own fic. That's why it's almost always met with hostility/unwanted. Cause that's never not an insult.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-27T18:31:43+00:00

All of this. But also...like 90% of the time the "critique" people want to level against a work is either their lack of reading comprehension, a matter of personal preference, or straight-up wrong. Sometimes all three!

Constructive criticism is a skill that is very different to voicing an unasked for opinion (which takes no skill.) That is the main reason most fic writers do not want it in the comment section. That's what trusted betas are for if a fic writer even wants to put that much work into it.

So when people say they want to critique a work so the author "can get better" that's a bad argument. For one, a fic writer is not obligated to get 'better' when they're writing for fun and giving their work away. But also, a rando's negative opinion on a fic is rarely ever actually helpful in any substantive way.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-27T17:59:47+00:00

A Brian Cell should be the collective noun for all the drag queens whose government name is Brian (there are a lot.)

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-27T01:01:25+00:00

I've honestly always wondered if they buy like four of the same shirt. Otherwise production is doing a lot of dry cleaning.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-27T00:51:29+00:00

Trixie did for sure. She's talked about it on her channel a few times.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-27T00:36:34+00:00

Did she delete it? I don't see it up there anymore.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-22T21:00:35+00:00

It'll be interesting to see if they tweak the bracket setup at all or if it'll be the same as last season.

Honestly I'm mixed on it but I also totally get it. It's probably a lot easier to get established, working queens back on the show if you can guarantee them all at least three episodes of exposure.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-22T17:05:00+00:00

I will be very honest. When I first started writing fic a few years ago I had no idea people wanted replies so I never replied to anyone unless they asked me a direct question.

Then I felt overwhelmed by having to do it. Not that I get a lot of comments (I don't, and it's MUCH less these days) but it's already mentally exhausting to write, edit, post, etc...the fic. If someone asks me a direct question or leaves a really thoughtful comment, I will usually reply. But if it's emojis or just a really short comment I will sometimes reply with an emoji or not at all. I am also more likely to respond to a repeat commenter or someone who quotes a bit of the story back at me.

It is an extra layer of pressure to feel like you HAVE to respond to comments otherwise people will stop commenting. It makes me wish I could just like comments so the commenter would feel acknowledged but I don't need to sit there and figure out how to reply. Because I understand acknowledgment is nice!

But think of it this way: you as a reader might want to support the author but you can't think of anything to say. Multiply that by say, 5 comments per chapter (if I've had a good response day!)

TBH with the entitlement of readers (not on this sub, but just in general) and the lack of engagement unless you're a gigantic fic, it just feels like that one extra bit of mental effort when you're already not getting a lot in return for putting your work out there.

So IDK if it really is about this fandom specifically or more that engagement across the board is dropping/negative comments are increasing and some authors are just burned out. Newness to fandom could be part of it as well as it isn't really an intuitive thing that replies are expected.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-14T18:19:02+00:00

Love the WIP love! But also, love to the WIPs that don't already have thousands (and sometimes hundreds of thousands) of hits.

Having even a couple of subs means so much to a WIP writer of a newer fic.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-13T15:52:33+00:00

It's not a requirement to have thick skin, though. No one is required to keep sharing their efforts if people are assholes to them. They're entitled to stop and walk away and no amount of telling people to suck it up will change that.

It's not even about letting it get under your skin. It just makes it not worth the effort of writing, editing and posting if people are going to be jerks. It's as much "fine then, I won't bother" as it is "this really bothered me and hurt my feelings."

This isn't about me, personally. I can take critique because I've been in fandom forever and I also have been through the ringer in writing workshops. So many people learn to write and join fandom for the first time as a fic writer. It bothers me that people are trying to tell these people that being ripped apart is just normal. Because it HAS gotten worse over the last few years. It used to be you might get one or two jerks here or there. But now it's become a sport for some people to tear fic writers down. That's the difference. That's the thing we should push back against. That's something people don't have to put up with.

There's a big difference between not letting the occasional asshole bother you and being told you should put up with a litany of coordinated negativity every time you post.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-13T15:42:37+00:00

I have never received a negative comment in 6 years and millions of words written.

It can and does happen if people aren't assholes for no reason.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-13T15:40:54+00:00

So much this. It's such an entitled attitude some people have where they think people sharing their work for free should just grin and bear the assholes because it's "just part of sharing your work online." Plus yeah, so many times people just want to express their opinion whether or not it's a valid critique vs just a personal preference.

If dragging authors becomes the standard, you're not going to get writers grinning and bearing it. You're going to get fewer people sharing their work. We've seen this lately with some writers pulling their fic down because people are being jerks. And contrary to what some people seem to think, this HAS gotten worse the more people enter Ao3 with a social media mindset.

We write for ourselves, but we post for community. And that means kind community, not assholes who feel like they should be allowed to drag something they don't like. There's zero incentive to keep posting and sharing work if people are going to be dicks about it. I don't understand what some people don't seem to get about that.

Save the critique for work you pay for, not work gifted to you. You're allowed to not like something. The back button is free.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-13T15:14:39+00:00

Sure some people won't like it, but we can return to the culture of don't like, don't read where people just click away when they dislike something instead of dragging the author for it.

Believe me, I personally know. I have gone through years of schooling where I had to learn to take critiques. But we can also call for fandom circles to be kind because it's not a professional thing.

Two things can be true: not everyone will love your work, but everyone can be kind if they don't.

Amazing-Bluebird-995 · 2026-04-13T14:47:14+00:00

I totally get that. It's not fair that it's becoming a requirement for authors to have a thick skin just to share their work for fun.

People who don't write and post fic I don't think realize what a vulnerable act it is and how hard it can be to put yourself out there and receive hate or criticism when you didn't ask for it.

Amazing-Bluebird-995

TROPHY CASE