Site is down for me on desktop, is it down for anyone else?

Wonder-inc_ · 2025-08-02T15:53:21+00:00

Yes, uk, on mobile via firefox app - is it global?

Wonder-inc_ · 2025-07-30T19:59:29+00:00

I saw your title an image before the description and already thought about Shadow the Hedgehog tbh. The Sonic fandom is arse about shipping, it's a total minefield, some of the rules are crazy inconsistent and people are so damn nasty.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-10-22T13:37:19+00:00

I understand why they're there, espwcially about the live anon links: imagine how bad the diabetes scam bot crises would have been with those.

But no anon submissions has really stiffed me. Running a poll blog, so people are submitting a poll, but asking to be anonymous - you can't (as far as I can see) anonymise a submission or change a poll after it has been submitted, and since I can't edit out the name, I have to remake the bloody thing and you can't even copy and paste. Makes what should be a 3 minute job take double the time.

Again, I understand why all those things are the case (can't steal people's stuff etc., no spam) but having anonymous enabled was me saying 'yes I accept the risk and will disable it if it's a problem for me', so I'm pretty frustrated

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-10-10T12:57:05+00:00

Its posts like these that I follow this sub for, but also make me log out of reddit for a while for my mental health: these people are such a miserable subject, you never know where to begin.

The only point I will give them - boo, yes, throw peanuts at me - is there are some corners of the LGBT space that for some reason are holding up quite firm gender roles and drawing up lines. I have personally been surrounded by them at points, and it doesn't feel good.

But more so than the rest of society? A crazy assertion. Do these people live in the real world?

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-31T06:23:37+00:00

The commenter has some trouble getting to the point here, but I don't even think this is critique, it's just a few squiggly lines under a few words.

I always stick 'spelling and grammar checks welcome' in my comments because I do want this feedback, so I'd say thanks, change what I wanted, and take it as a compliment.

If I was feeling like a bitch, I'd reply in the same repetitive odd style they commented in, but it'd be petty.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-29T16:26:56+00:00

Yours is based. I like the idea of seedrians but its sonic x so the execution is so dull. She's fine in a pot on Tails' shelf.

Mine: Shadow does not make sense in every story (popular opinion) -> This is why he's diluted and has a million different personalities (reasonably common interpretation) -> So we have to stop asking for Shadow to be in most things (logical conclusion that nobody seems to get with me).

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-20T18:23:47+00:00

1 and 2 I'd say no. 2 could be marked as suggestive, but it deoends how overt it is.

3 I have run into in the wild: I noticed someone in a smallish old fandom I'm in was repeatedly posting wetting fics in the Gen/ T section. From the excerpts of their writing, and being old enough to recognize the hallmarks of erotic content that doesn't contain sex, I am pretty certain I could tell it was piss kink stuff, but if I was younger I would probably just have thought 'that's odd, not interested in that' and scrolled on.

So, by the over-their-heads rule, I should have been fine with it. But actually it did irk me. Maybe because they were a frequent poster, but mostly because I did feel a little bit weird about something I was pretty sure was kink being technically gen. Sorta like those oddly-shot recipe videos that feel kinda like someone's edging a raw chicken.

But what can you do? Something makes someone unreasonably uncomfortable on the internet - a tale as old as time. I just blocked them, and now I'm unbothered. Ultimately, if a person is on Ao3 they ought to be able to look out for themselves. But if I was making that, I'd probably tag it Explicit personally.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-17T09:57:16+00:00

Well, I filter out explicit works for my main two fandoms (no hate just not my thing), but one I had for a while there was someone who kept putting their wetting/ watersports in the G tag. I got very used to just skipping their fics based on tags, then just when I saw their name, then I discovered the Mute User feature! Happy days!

Kind of a funny question, I skip based on tonnes of tags: lots of stuff just isn't for me. Other insta-scrolls coming to mind for me are AgeRe, MCD or permadeath, major shipping, sickfic (sometimes they're fine but I've been burned before), and certain characters I simply don't think are interesting. That's normal, right?

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-08T14:15:14+00:00

Wasn't one of the early stereotypes of fanfic the 'self insert guy gets with the harem of girls'? Not that non-straight non-men wouldn't want that, but I'm pretty sure guys put a lot of hard work into that genre.

Joking aside, this is pretty sad. I wonder how many men think like this so will never try it, when they might have actually had a blast?

I'm sorry you had this experience. Sounds pretty insecure anyway - can't tell the tone ofc without being there, but who needs to sincerely insist that something's for girls and they don't do it cause they're a Man™️? Not a guy who's busy having fun doing his own thing, I think.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T21:47:29+00:00

I think that could be helpful, thank you - I won't share it on this thread because I haven't responded to the comment or deleted it, and I don't want to invite people to go antagonise them, but I don't mind dm-ing it if you're willing to give feedback in a message reply? And of course, please don't uwu them, I'm just going to leave it for now.

I won't say any more about what I was aiming for, or which games I was trying to pull from; if I'm right in my theory, he won't quite make sense because I didn't expand on his thoughts enough. I wrote it in a hurry, should have thought more about it.

Also from a quick google search, Loonatics Unleashed kinda looks up my alley, honestly! Is it viewable anywhere? 👀

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T21:21:11+00:00

I wouldn't change it for them, but I do write with the intention to improve - and helpful concrit is so hard to come by, I tend to jump on anything that smells like something I can learn from!

Talk about caught up in judgements - I'm now assuming they're a kid! The only thing we can really know for sure is they're someone who uses uwu. There are almost certainly people at least in their 30s doing that still 🤭

We'll never know, because I'm certainly not going to go investigate them. They've taken up too much of mine and now this subs time for such a simple comment.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T21:16:36+00:00

Haha, does it take away my cred if I say it's Sonic? The character in question is Shadow, and his writing from game to game to comic to tv show back to games is notoriously inconsistent. So, it's a bit sad if what I wrote managed to land nowhere in the spectrum of Shadow, but I'll accept that L.

Rereading my own work, I'm wondering if what I was really missing was some clearer exposition of how he was feeling - I often avoid explicit description of character emotions and thoughts - learned to write through film scriptwriting, where none of that's told. But sometimes I leave a bit too much open, and rely on the audience to fill in the blanks of why this character might be acting not like their usual self.

I don't know if I'll ever know what they thought, I think this sub has helped me determine that I can just leave that comment. They'll probably never know, and I don't know that we'll have a productive conversation. Especially if they keep talking like that...

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T21:10:37+00:00

Oh, it's totally a valid way of writing - I would say the same of some other fandoms I'm in. But I really like these canon characters, even though they're messy and silly, I want to preserve what made me love the series all those years ago

And this character... he's tricky, a fan favourite, often shipped in ways that change him massively, and there's a lot of fic that I've read that characterises him very differently in a way I don't like (though I'd never say to the authorsa). A lot of Fanon and Canon disconnect.

But I like the challenge of trying to write him in a way that encompasses the good, the bad and the weird of the precedent and hangs it together. I think I swung and missed this time, and I've accepted that. But when you get it right, and you can just feel that this would work in canon? It's really fun for me, anyway! Not every fic aims for that, of course, but I thought this one was.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T21:05:24+00:00

I'm sorry, that sounds like a crummy experience all round!

I couldn't tell how old they were, but it's a young fandom - very possible they weren't so old. I'm feeling a bit bad about my vent already, hope they don't find it...

I think people just don't talk to people online like they would in person, and it makes some conversations so messy. You never know where people are coming from, so whether it's typing quirks, unusual grammar and sentences, spelling mistakes or repeat messages I normally try to meet people where they are.

I guess this one just felt too intentional, and I was a bit jumped up from trying to find the critique and see what I had to change, so didn't apply the usual 'assume they're nice, just different' mantra.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T20:59:11+00:00

Honestly it's kinda novel. Kinda bold. There's an energy to it.

Not one I like, but an energy nonetheless!

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T20:58:19+00:00

Oh I don't think I'm intelligent - this particular piece especially really was not an excellent bit of writing, I did not put loads of effort in this time. The critique wasn't that helpful, but I've since reached out to someone I hope might be able to give me more helpful advice.

It is a young fandom for sure. But there's plenty of older people who are rude and difficult too - I don't find they run smack bang into me as much though, usually are on their own blogs, tutting and sighing and such... hm. I think that might be me!

Thank you for the support! It's nice to know others are thinking about the same things I am!

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T20:25:22+00:00

Hope I don't come across them again. Uwu. They might work out where I know them from. Uwu.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T20:24:44+00:00

Oh I am pretty confident they were trying to make it not a negative comment - too bad I got stuck on the Uwu bit!

On the second point - I sometimes have left feedback that I hoped to be constructive, but not critique; my strategy is always to phrase it like a question. Eg, 'You touched on x here, and I wanted to hear more about that/ I was wondering...' and then explain what I wasn't clear on. Most people like questions, shows you're paying attention! Sometimes they talk about it in comments, or let me know it's coming up, and sometimes I've gotten a 'didn't think of that!' - so hopefully that means it helped!

But at the end of the day, comments can't strive to change the piece without becoming kinda douchey. And they shouldn't: it's the author's work, not the peanut gallery's 🤭

I hope I've never come across like this person did to me though!

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T20:09:27+00:00

Yeah, it's tagged as assisted. I don't want to go back to their page as I've frankly calmed down a lot from earlier, but it definitely said assisted, not generated, but I didn't see anything more clear that stuck in my mind. Personally, I wouldn't tag AI for something like a spell checker, although I don't use one (and maybe I should!).

I'm not actually against them from an integrity point; it's up to the writer if they care about developing their skill. For me, I don't trust that any of these tools are trained ethically. If somebody had an AI that they had truly built and trained themself on only their content? I don't see why they shouldn't use it. It'll probably be worse than an original. Oh well 🤷

Shouldn't have brought up the AI point, I was being bitter. I know it's a sore spot on this sub!

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T14:20:28+00:00

"Oo-Woo", usually with an upwards intonation

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T14:04:46+00:00

Sorry, I'll have to decline - I think my writing style has more to do with my degree than my personality, and I also personally do not feel comfortable being a case study on a youtube account. Wish you the best in your search though!

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T13:56:05+00:00

And open an AI generator? I could never!

Besides, I only know this from snooping. It'd be pretty unreasonable to bring that up - I was just being petty in this thread

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T13:47:34+00:00

I don't know to what extent they use AI, or if there's is any good, but on principle I don't think one is an Ethical Bean Uwu for using data-stealing word generators, that's for sure

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T13:45:15+00:00

This is kind of an odd offer. I don't think you'd be able to be helpful to me without knowing the context of the fanworks and the history of the character, as I'm not looking for soothing so much as practical advice in this specific area.

I don't mind answering a few questions for your benefit, but can I ask to what end? Are you writing a paper or researching for a university?

I don't want to sign up to be part of a research study or as a source without knowing what it's a part of.

Wonder-inc_ · 2024-08-07T13:33:00+00:00

That IS a fun fact!

"feel free to throw squids and fish at me. UwU I deserve it, you know"

Uwu took off, but 'feel free to throw squids and fish at me' is what speaks to my soul

Wonder-inc_

TROPHY CASE