oh that Anon who said you didn't write reader inserts, I will fight them for you, because your fics genuinely feel free form. Like I have read GN!readers where they use descriptions like petite and short even in m! Or Gn! Reader inserts. Especially when it comes to Soap. Like soap is 172 cm He is my height he ain't dwarfing me.

He might be able to trap me between those big strong meaty arms and making me stupid, but I don't have to tip toe to kiss the bastard. Yet every single reader insert fic I've read outside of a handful of really well written blogs has descriptions like "you stood on your tip toes to kiss him" or "he was easily twice your height" like bitch no. Like genuinely being technically a short man I can insert myself into the character of hush without thinking "damn the author has a very specific demographic and I ain't it."

Personally I prefer reader inserts that use nicknames because y/n, c/s, ECT. Just break the immersion of the story. Not to mention it helps create diversity in the reader characters which personally just makes it more interesting to read. Sorry I saw the anon and got frustrated. Your writing is fantastic. I hope you're doing well. There is definitely criticism to be had in a lot of reader insert fics, but coming up with minor background details and nicknames is just not it.

-Hot mess rambler Anon

Yes to everything you just said. I know I've had the height conversation a million times, I'm tall and petite reader inserts always take me out of the story. BUT ALSO I have read so many x reader fics where the reader is described as having long hair! Explicitly they talk about putting their hair up or wrapping it around their finger, couldn't be me I have very short hair! But no one goes after those authors for having character descriptions.

I try my hardest to write inclusively, I want people to be able to put themselves into the povs that I write. It's a learning experience, and sometimes I read old fic and think "wow I could have worded that differently to avoid the connotation that this reader has/is x". I'm by no means perfect in keeping my pov characters shapeless blobs, but I am trying.

It's exceptionally common in the COD fandom to give reader characters callsigns. It's common for characters to use nicknames/pet names in reader fics. And like you said it helps me to distinguish which au, and which pov character I/others are talking about.

I have said it before and I'll say it again, I'm open about what I write and I understand that it isn't for everyone. I'm an extensive tagger, and willing to tag things for people if asked. At the end of the day though, I'm writing for myself, and I'm not going to stop writing for myself the way that I enjoy writing when folks can easily block me or blacklist my tags if they don't like it.