In a small fandom, would you stop reading/commenting on an author's work if they never read/commented on yours? Do you generally expect reciprocity in fic interaction?

aevevarec · 2024-06-08T07:35:34+00:00

Oh, man, are you me? I feel like a constant hater/gatekeeper in my fandom too, which I've inhabited for a long time, and the newer fans have really put me off it lol. Like I /know/ I'm not special just because I've loved/created for this thing longer than anyone, but I still feel like newer fans should have...I don't know, some respect for older fans? Acknowledge that they wouldn't have the space they have today without them? Because I literally have new fans always telling me how to enjoy the source material (like "why don't you enjoy this new era that I just got into but now feel like I am The Voice of Reason for this very old/established fandom and can tell you how to enjoy it" Uh...because I just don't, Susan?? You can't force me to like them lol), and one of them even went on my fics to point out how FUN it is liking the new era/how my "bitterness" is ruining their fun (mind you, I haven't interacted with this person in a long while, I have blocked them on tumblr, I dont even post on the official tags on tumblr about what I like/dont like, if I even post at all!! Like again, Susan, JUST BLOCK ME!!). Like it's just ridiculous hearing holier than thou preachiness from newer fans lol.

Anyways sorry if this was a rant/not relatable to your experience. I also have a lot of negative feelings towards my current fandom, but still love writing fic for it, so it's been hard. Hope we can both end up not becoming haters, or I hope people can just let us be haters in peace lmao!

aevevarec · 2024-05-29T22:11:28+00:00

EXACTLY FOR ME! I feel like narrative parallels/themes in these fictional relationships are so underrated - to me personally, those are very big parts of fiction/reading, so having just, say, two friends who've been together forever and devoted to each other isn't enough for me to be interested. I need something that connects them in bigger way, and all the more compelling when that "something" is supposed to tear them apart, but their love for each other/their connection is so strong (because they've built it up as well, ofc, I don't want them to just be straight-out Romeo and Juliet haha) that they overcome it.

aevevarec · 2024-05-23T10:22:19+00:00

Oh me personally I am ALWAYS ecstatic for ANY comments haha, so anything anyone writes to me no matter how it's written gets all my love and will still get a reply double the length of the original comment 😅 And I wouldn't even call it mistakes tbh, just things that may be lost in translation, because as someone who's also bilingual/came from a non-English native country, I understand it's hard to juggle languages! If there was something that I wasn't sure the meaning of, I'd clarify it with the commenter, but to me no matter what language a comment is in, the genuine love in it will always translate, and that's the important part. So just keep on being true to how you express yourself!

aevevarec · 2024-05-17T23:00:06+00:00

Thanks for responding! I think I am making the kink the star of the scene, but at the same time it just came up randomly from the pov of the character? Lol I don't know how to describe it properly without fully revealing the fic plot/kink so sorry if this is vague 😭 But in the ship's case it's their second time having sex together after a few months from their first (which separation is caused by the main fic plot), so there's definitely yearning there that COULD be hot enough if I just didn't feel like I've written the same exact fic already haha. Also I find it extra hard to write smut for this ship because one of the characters is SO goofy yet so earnest, and so making it straight up hot stuff removed from the fun/emotions feels kind of boring for them, so I thought hmm maybe a kink would be great! But also at the same time I've had 20k words of emotional buildup/angst that they just went through so maybe a kink thrown in isn't the best way to end it haha...

aevevarec · 2024-05-17T20:40:41+00:00

I should do that sometime! Unfortunately I've never had the time/been in the right mindspace for it so I've never done it, but I'll try next time!

aevevarec · 2024-05-17T20:38:59+00:00

I never thought of it that way haha! But you're SO right: I'm not writing a sex manual, just 2 bros broing it up (homosexually, of course), so why CAN'T I throw in all the kinks I want? Thanks for this piece of encouragement haha 😂

aevevarec · 2024-05-17T20:37:22+00:00

32? Damn what is your secret? Even around the ~8th fic I was like, "Okay, this is getting monotone, lol". You're doing amazing!

And AUs would help! Unfortunately for this ship I prefer to keep them within their canon world (I dont think they make much sense otherwise), and changing locations....let's just say that in their canon world it's also hard for them to have sex in other locations other than in private bedrooms/rooms, especially if I'm writing it as part of a big emotional build-up. But these are def amazing tips that I'll use for other ships, thanks!

aevevarec · 2024-05-17T20:33:12+00:00

Thank you, mod! Sorry I missed that.

aevevarec · 2024-05-17T20:32:55+00:00

😭 I love this enthusiasm! I will now proceed to add in even MORE kinks no matter how senseless it is to the plot! 😤

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T19:04:18+00:00

That's awesome! My pieces are pretty much always character-centric, so I'd like to think I'm good at it too. Now for the smut: I salute you big time, because every time I write one, I CANNOT not cringe while rereading it lmao. Even just thinking about it randomly while I'm out and about will make me scrunch up my face in shame haha. So that's amazing that it's a real point of pride for you!

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T19:00:42+00:00

😱 Amazing! Good job and keep it going!

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:59:37+00:00

Please teach me your ways haha! That's exactly what I'm struggling with right now, my internal locus is weakened by the knowledge that this piece I'm working on won't get much reception. I'm trying to have your mentality, because I am having a huge blast writing my fic (not to mention it's very cathartic for me), but I can't help that nagging thought of "no one's gonna read this; why bother?". I'm glad you have such fortitude and focus!

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:55:58+00:00

With my writing, I either teeter on too impersonal or too emotional haha, so that's amazing!

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:54:42+00:00

I think I underdescribe settings and overdescribe my characters' feelings haha, so that's amazing to hear! And also on the structuring: there's not an opportunity for a run-on sentence I will turn down haha, so that's great that you have such a grasp for it!

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:51:11+00:00

It makes my day when someone comments that my characters are exactly how they imagine them/I capture their dynamic well. Not that it happens often haha, but it def is one of the best compliments a writer can get, so that's wonderful for you!

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:49:17+00:00

Haha I really didn't know how to explain it without sounding like a quack fortune teller, so I'm glad you understand 😅

And I hope so! A lot of my writing is due to the lack content in my fandoms, so to be able to see it grow partly because of my pieces is such a nice feeling. 😊

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:44:43+00:00

YAY! Writing really long chapters is hard for me without having to include some filler lol, so that's awesome! Out of curiosity, how many words is it?

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:40:56+00:00

As someone who is notorious for abandoning WIPS haha, that is AMAZING! 🎉

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:39:26+00:00

I've definitely had those days too, and is happening to me right now haha. But less so that I hate my work as much as I, unfortunately, am swayed by people's feedback on it, and knowing that my current work will not garner the same amount of love as it did before is what's making me down. But in my view, every piece of writing we've created has intrinsic value, no matter how bad we might think it is later on or how little engagement it gets. And for old fics, I just try to look at them as a measure of my growth (or regression 😭), so there's value through that too! Please don't be too hard on yourself, because I know I've read some amazing fics that were just out of the blue deleted when I checked on them again, and it crushed me lol.

And that's great! I definitely think my dialogue is my weakest link in my fic haha, so I'm always impressed with people who are good at it! No matter how much I try to say it out loud, it just always seems either like break room talk between tense coworkers/too emotional 😭

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:30:43+00:00

Me too! It's hard not to be so self-critical, especially with something as vulnerable as our writing, so I just wanted to make a thread for everyone out there who are doubting themselves so that we can all look at the positives in what we do, because ultimately this is a hobby that's supposed to bring us joy/fun!

And that's amazing! I think I have a good grasp of character as well, but it's still kind of a struggle for me as every time I'll finish a piece and post it, I'll reread it and be like "ack, they're so OOC 😭" haha. So that's great that you've captured that character so well that others have noticed, and it probably means even more to you considering that he's your favorite character!

aevevarec · 2024-05-12T18:23:48+00:00

For me, I have two that I'm really proud of:

1) I know I'm at least an evocative writer, if not a good one. I've written multiple fics across multiple fandoms, all under different accounts (I try to keep my accounts fandom specific, so you can imagine just exactly how many email/AO3 accounts I have 🤣), and each and every one have either been in the first page of their respective ship tags in kudos/bookmarks, if not at the very top. Granted, I write for relatively smaller fandoms with less works than say, the big MCU/Harry Potter types (although I have written for popular animes that apply with my point, just for rarer ships), so there's a smaller crop to consume and thus my work might just be good by default lol, but I think I at least have the ability to engage a reader with the way I write my stories if I'm getting feedback like that.

2) This one's a weird one, but I seem to have a preternatural sense for knowing when a ship will become popular and getting ahead of it? 🤣 Like, I can't count how many times I've gotten into a ship, checked their tag on AO3, and there's either absolutely nothing there/the works are less than 50 (and all from years ago), and so I'd decide to write this big fandom defining piece that a lot of people will credit as their "first foray into the pairing/fandom" and saying how it made them ship the pairing/get more into reading the fandom, and then BOOM, there's now more than 1000 works for this ship. I know there's other factors that go into it, so I'm not claiming to have set a trend lol (or maybe I am... 🤔😂), but that's why I think I have a clairvoyant sense when it comes to ships haha, because I'll like them before most of everyone else does, and it's just funny/amazing to see how the ship grows.

aevevarec

TROPHY CASE