Please don't take this the wrong way but someone who has very little time to read fics I'm used to browsing bookmarks and I appreciate a lot when someone does a fic review, which doesn't mean they should bash it of course but sometimes it really would've saved me time if I had listened to a couple of them. Again, I don't mean for reviewers to do it in poor taste and overly critically, but anyway, I hope you understand what I mean. Thank you for this blog and all the effort you put in it ❤️
Good morning, my dear. I have strong opinions about AO3 bookmarks, and they’ve actually evolved over time as I learned more about AO3, its features, and the community as a whole.
You’re right, of course. It’s very useful to other readers to see a frank assessment of a fic they may or may not want to commit to. I often cruise bookmarks before diving into a work, to see what other readers think.
But,
in balance against what the author feels when they read it, that benefit shrivels. Fanfiction is not the same as books on Amazon or Goodreads. The authors are a part of your community. They are your peers and your friends, your mentors and your ducklings. The absolutely massive effort of churning out a fic is done solely out of love (if not for you, than of the topic). An author of fanfic makes no profit, gains no material recompense other than people saying Thank you.
Authors of fanfic can be from any walk of life. You don’t know whether they are very young, very old, peeking for the first time into your culture, in perilous mental or physical health. Your critical words can and do wound them, possibly inflicting damage far beyond what you imagine you might feel if you were in their place.
I am lucky in that I am an author as well as a reader, so I understand both points of view.
So the question is: how do you balance these conflicting needs?
I think the answer is pretty simple. Stay positive. If your review is negative or critical, mark it Private. Go bitch about that story on your blog (without tags, please, no need to bring the author’s attention to it) if you need to.
If you hate the story, or found problems with it, don’t make a public bookmark and don’t leave kudos. That in itself tells the reader (and the author) what they need to know, if they see a fic with many, many hits and no bookmarks. And if the fic is good but you have to wade through 6 chapters of scene setting to get to the good stuff, you can simply leave a positive bookmark and a reader will know that they should carry on through the initial portion because there’s something there good enough for you to make a bookmark. There’s no need to even have bookmarks like, “slow start, but stick with it - it gets better”.
Writers are ripping themselves wide open when they write and post their stories. They are skinless - all exposed nerves with no protection. That’s their guts out there, that you’re analyzing; their bare, beating heart in your hands. You may believe they should have thicker skin, but unfortunately, you can’t make that happen any more than they can.
It costs you nothing to be generous, and a lack of a positive bookmark can tell other readers what you think without inflicting untold damage on a vulnerable stranger.
This might come off incredibly bitchy to Anon, but I’m honestly getting so tired of seeing such entitled behaviour in fandom. There are things YOU can actually do as a reader, instead of relying on negative reviews on works that are DONE FOR FREE! Posted on a publicly accessible website, THAT’S ALSO FREE! With a comprehensive tagging / search system!
This means you can exclude categories, warnings, pairings and ratings you know you don’t like, you can exclude specific authors if you find they’re popping up in a tag you do like and you’re not a fan of their work, you can search by most kudos! You can even, and bare with me here, use some spare time to read the first few lines of fics and curate a read later list (which AO3 also allows!) so that when you have the time to sit down and read properly you already have a set of fics you know you may like waiting for you.
Whether fandom writers are creating works around their 3 jobs, or around their family, or around their mental health, their time is also valuable and to use this time to create something that brings people joy (not matter the amount) is worth SOME RESPECT. They don’t deserve the negativety that comes with someone leaving unkind words on a BOOKMARK or in the comments.
And guess what! At the end of the day tastes are subjective, and if you think something is OOC or badly written that may not actually mean it is!! I’ve seen plenty of bad reviews with disagreement over characterisation and plot that have made me head tilt and go “wtf??” cause I didn’t get what they were saying. Personal opinion is absolutely fine. Having certain dislikes, likes and hot takes is also absolutely fine. But using those things to put people down is not fine.
TLDR: You’re not writing reviews for The New York fucking Times. Stop acting like it.
This is for @the-pretzel‘s MXTX Mini Bang fic, as i stumble homewards! It’s a canon divergence fic centered on A-Yuan. He is, as usual, a delight! (It also explains some color choices.)
I went for traditional with this one, so expect some process pics in the future.
This is honestly one of my favorite pieces this year, and it has some fierce competition.
It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve finished this series… I’m completely in love with it all to the point where I had to make a video about wwx and his journey. Any fans.. pls give it a watch and cry with me about this beautiful story 😭🐇🍶🎎🎐🏮 -2020.04.29
#does this look like a fucking five hundred year age gap to you #Thor don’t know how old he is (@magical-girl-hell)
Loki, looking at Thor toddling round with a gummy smile: Mama, if Thor is the elder, why am I bigger?
Frigga:… Asgardians mature differently from those in the other realms. Other races, like the Jotun and Vanir, mature quickly during youth. I am Vanir. You take after your mother, Thor takes after his father.
Asgard’s healers scratching their heads in the background: ah my queen-
Frigga, sweating buckets: Also mAGiC!
Asgard’s healers, nodding in unison: Verily, fair point
Frigga, patting Loki’s head: you’ll hardly notice the difference by the time you’re a 100. Take advantage while you can
