regret

"writing process memes of "mmm this is the REAL goiod part" but idk is this one too niche.

I need to talk more about my Liu Mingyan transmigratior au actually. Like. Imagine you get transported into your favorite guilty pleasure novel that you write fanfic of every guy having insane hate sex in, and then it becomes cannon that two of them actually DO love eachother and so you just. Continue writing the weirdest “rpf” imaginable.

me on the bokris ao3 tag obsessively refreshing while everyone else is on damon's instagram 💔💔

((Sometimes I stare in awe at some of the things fandom come up with. There are times I mean that in a good way and others in a WHAT DOTH MY EYES LAY UPON???????? kekekeke))

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a big block i have in creating fanworks these days really is not having the time, but honestly. i know that it's kind of just an escapist distraction taking my energy away from things that will actually improve my life in the long-run? and i try to justify it because it makes me happy and we all need hobbies :)

but like... i do not think it actually does make me happy at this point lol. most of the things i get ideas to make aren't things i really want to these days, just things i know will give me a tiny hit when 2 people maybe reblog it. and i think i can get more joy out of just playing a real life instrument or sketching an original character for myself instead of as a performative thing for strangers in my phone who have lost the knowledge that you're supposed to interact with things you like because fandom creators r not content factories.

Hi Mark! I just wanted to say that I hope you're still doing okay and taking care of yourself, and I hope you know how appreciated you are! <3 You're one of (if not the top) nicest people in the fandom, you're like the only person who consistently leaves nice tags on my art haha, so I just wanted to make sure you knew your kindness doesn't go unnoticed! (I know you're probably taking a mental health break or something right now so you can delete this if you want instead of replying, of course! I just wanted to give back some positivity for my favourite positivity goblin! <3)

Don't worry hun, I didn't get any of that impression from your first ask, lmao. I was indeed taking a bit of a break, as I had been hit with one of them unpredictable waves of crippling depression for a few weeks lol, but I am feeling better now! And I do have tons of cool art I need to queue up, that's for sure, WHY DOES EVERYBODY DRAW VILLAINOUS CHARACTERS SO GOOD, TEACH ME YOUR SECRETS

on the topic of that post about traditions, i was also talking with some friends about how i really like the "modern traditional" aesthetics of overwatch. you can definitely tell its the future, but there's a lot of regional building techniques in places that allow it that also abandon western aesthetics in favor of embracing the culture of the maps area. i know it's to give each map a unique aesthetic and the creators were not thinking as deeply about it as i am, but i enjoy thinking too much. big central cities obviously need metal and glass and so forth to support the infrastructure, but on maps for smaller locations, you can see that they're made with mostly local supplies. it was on the mind because i saw a video about the stigma against grass thatched houses in africa and how theyre seen as a backwards way of living, when in reality theyre actually the most environmentally friendly way to make a house in the area and theyre also energy efficient. you dont need to run heating and cooling through a house that heats and cools itself, you dont need to worry about food spoiling if its kept chilled naturally, and you dont need to worry about costly repairs to your house if the materials are readily available. its trying to build every shelter in a western style to try to show the world that a place has been "civilized" that leads to the loss of efficiency and culture and history and a million other things. anyway i think im probably the only person who cares about the sociopolitical implications of the funny monkey with a laser gun game this much

Currently trying to rewire my current main fixation with one of the lesser ones since I need tame and relaxing thoughts atm,,

It's hard.

Big fandom L: when a more modern creator implies that 1) fanart is "pedophilia" or "illegal." Or 2) that the onus is on other creators for making fictional content they want to make rather than strangers for sending this content to the creator unprompted. What a let-down

Like!!! Obviously, don't send random people you don't know ANY kind of nsfw tagged content! But?? That doesn't mean that stuff that grosses you out is evil? My lord. Nowadays you can't have an opinion without making it a belief or have a belief without it being treated like some evil opinion.

The thing with the Byler twist - and it is a twist, even if we’ve predicted it - is that all that the general audience really needs to be on board is to realize that all of Mike’s behavior will have remained in character. No sudden change or confusion to accommodate this fan service ship. Even if you didn’t see it coming, it is very consistent with his behavior over the seasons.

That’s all you really need for a good twist. Not predictability but rewatchability. Does it makes sense? It doesn’t matter if it was built up. Because this isn’t a slow burn. It’s an “it was under my nose the whole time” subversion. Yes, it’s been built up from the start but that’s the part about being under your nose the whole time. Some people will have caught it some won’t, but ultimately, the fact that Mike’s behavior won’t change is what will make people see it.

Because the general audience is, by definition, not actively fighting the idea. Casual viewers. Character consistency is all that’s needed. Even if it WERE to be fan service, if they were to be able to execute that unplanned plot with great character consistency, props to them, that’s the story now, and I’ll accept it. (Just like I say a non-Byler ending would be totally great if it can maintain character consistency and realistic happy endings within that - I just can’t think of a way it can). 

This has been a long way of saying.

Mike and Will getting together will not feel out of character or like an adjustment or accommodation to this “new” storyline. And that’s really all that’s ever needed for a twist or subversion to work. It doesn’t have to be foreshadowed or predictable. It just needs to make sense. And as long as that’s true, no general audience member will fight it.

🧿

🧿what steps do you take to not take things personally if a fic doesn't do well, or if your writing/posting/sharing experience isn't going how you'd like it to?

this is a difficult one to answer. broadly speaking, i feel like most of my fics do well--better than i expected them to do when i first started posting, since in previous fandoms i never got much attention at all. but i think i've honestly just tried to aggressively not care and force myself to think about other things. just forcibly keep my perspective on it neutral. this is not advice that will work for everyone lol

early on, once i gained a few mutuals and friends and people who regularly interacted with me, i sort of set a goal that success was at least one person leaving a nice tag or comment on something i made. if i got that, then i was happy! fortunately for me, that is basically a guarantee for all things i post, since i have enough mutuals that even if it doesn't get super popular there will still be some feedback. i think i would be very hurt if i posted something and nobody responded but that doesn't normally happen to me. i know that it does happen to other people though, which sucks. it's not a good feeling.

so i guess the only thing i can say is just try to aggressively mentally train yourself to be satisfied with very little and then when you get extra it's special xD

fic writer asks

it's so anticlimactic how hoseok said he was gonna enlist and then did nothing about it like omg dude can you just go already

i'm so glad i didn't go through what s2 bylers went through when season 3 came out that must've been devastating

So was anyone gonna tell me that s5 is so unbelievably sad or was I supposed to find that out myself.