zoey @carvedformylady - Tumblr Blog

id rather you have cringy but honest interests than try and act like everything youve ever loved was in an ironic way cause you think that love for simple or useless or silly things is beneath you . pathetic! embrace existence with both hands coward

ao3commentoftheday

I've been writing fics for a long time and I remember a time when even the smallest of fics and stories used to get a lot of engagement from their readers, even back in the days of fanfiction net and ye old forum fics. These days, one's lucky if someone leaves a kudos, let alone a simple comment. Did something about fandoms change? Did it become more consumer like?

Personal opinion? It’s not just a fandom thing. It’s a “web 3.0” (or whatever we’re calling the modern internet) thing.

Today’s internet is set up for maximum scrolling and minimal effort. Tiktok is an incredibly popular platform, in large part because there is zero thought that needs to go into watching on it. Youtube requires viewers to read the video title, look at the thumbnail, and make a decision. Tiktok just serves it right up for you.

Other social media sites are attempting to follow suit, easing the path of consumption to keep those eyeballs in place so the ads (and therefore the money) can flow. Everything from news sites with click bait links at the bottom of a story to online stores with “people who viewed this item also looked at this” - the entire internet is set up to keep people moving from one thing to the next without stopping.

AO3 isn’t social media. It isn’t news. It isn’t shopping. There’s no algorithm pushing content. There’s no “you liked this story? here’s another one just like it!” message when you reach the end of the fic.

But people get into certain habits. Just like people who are used to Wattpad use the word “books” instead of “fics” when they start reading on AO3, people who are used to watching a thing and then scrolling on are in the habit of seeing a thing and then moving on.

It will depend on your fandom, of course. And how popular a particular ship or trope is. My last fandom was full of people who’d started out in the LJ or FFN eras of fic, or the early days of AO3 and maybe that’s why commenting was so common. Or maybe it was because the early fans in that fandom created a culture where commenting and kudosing was seen as just… what you do.

I don’t really think of it as being connected to age at all. I see it more as being connected to comforts and habits. But it’s also connected to expectations, community, culture of that particular corner of fandom in particular. These days, I hear a lot of the discussion and recs and squee happens in discord servers instead of on the fics themselves. And that might be because that’s where the community is.

I also wonder (with no basis beyond my own gut) whether that period of several years where there was rant after rant here on tumblr about how to comment “correctly” might have made people comment less. I know that if I hadn’t been in the habit already, seeing the anger addressed at commenters in some of those posts would have made me decide that I wasn’t brave enough to risk it in case I did something wrong.

It’s a simple question with no simple answers, but here’s half a dozen thoughts I have in my head at any given time. I hope it gives you some insight? Or at least some things to consider.

allsortsoflicorice

“These days, I hear a lot of the discussion and recs and squee happens in discord servers instead of on the fics themselves. And that might be because that’s where the community is.”

This seems to be true. It’s unfortunate, though, because creators need to hear that you liked their stuff. It’s like water to a growing tree. Squeeing about how wonderful their fic or art is in a place where they can’t see your enthusiasm is no help all.

“I also wonder (with no basis beyond my own gut) whether that period of several years where there was rant after rant here on tumblr about how to comment “correctly” might have made people comment less.“

I’ve wondered this, too. No one iikes to get slammed when their intentions were good. If it feels safer to say nothing, people will say nothing.

I’ve also seen creators saying in one breath that they never read other people’s fic or (less frequently) look at other artist’s art, and then complaining in the next breath that their own work gets no traction.

So I wll say this: if you are a creator wishing people would leave more comments and feedback on your work, start by being the change you wish to see. Engage with the work of other people. Think about what they’ve made. Reflect. Find something you like in it. Leave comments. That’s how we will create a culture that fosters creativity.

70thousandlightyearsfromhome

I think all of this is right.

The Web is different these days. Not in a good way, IMO. There’s a reason “Don’t read the comments” has become a thing.

Everything is moving to Discord, and I hate it. Discord is better for live chat type stuff. If you’re not there when everyone else is, it’s not much fun. And it’s not good for archiving comments.

And yes, one thing I remember about FF.net, and before that, Usenet…you might get a lot of comments, but some of them might be critical, or even flames. There was lot less pressure to be only positive and encouraging. Which perhaps made people more willing to comment. AO3 comments seem very stilted in comparison.

And that last bit … I have also noticed that. So many times, I see one of those “You need to reblog content” posts…from someone who never reblogs others’ art or fic themselves.

authortobenamedlater

I went back into my FFN account a couple of years ago after not being on there since 2011 and read some of the reviews on my earliest stories. They were about 50/50. Of course I was 15 and my writing was pretty cringey, but I do remember people leaving just plain old mean reviews all over the site.

Some of that is, I believe, FFN offered a lot more anonymity than AO3. If you wanted to “flame” as we used to say an author on FFN, you just had to do an anonymous review and you were untouchable. The author couldn’t reply or contact you and until shortly before I switched to AO3, we couldn’t even remove anonymous reviews. There was an option to only accept signed reviews, but I didn’t want to cut out a good chunk of my readers from giving feedback.

Another smaller matter, FFN encourages readers to leave concrit. There is (or was, I haven’t reviewed on FFN in a long time) a line in the review box to give a “well-rounded critique” because that is more rewarding for authors. Back in the day there was also a lot of pressure on authors to openly ask for or at least not say we didn’t want concrit. Now I see authors expressly saying they DON’T want it.

AO3 though is much more social. You can leave a nasty guest review, but the author can at the very least delete it. At the very most, the author AND OTHER COMMENTERS can engage with you. You can say the story sucked and the author is a b*tch (quoting one of my most notable flames on FFN), but be prepared for some pushback. There are more fanfic-centric social media platforms now too. If you’re rude to someone on AO3, you risk running across them on tumblr or Discord. Don’t wanna make it weird, right?

Personally, I always felt weird giving or receiving critical feedback on a story that’s already posted and isn’t going to change. Like, thanks? But I can’t improve that thing you pointed out without changing the whole fic? It’s one thing if it’s a typo or punctuation error I can just edit and change, but a story decision is there to stay.

All this being said… “Can you tell me more about X?” is a great way to ask about a decision or line you aren’t sure about. You’re not saying the story was bad, you’re inviting the author to talk about the story—and we loooooove that. Make it a conversation, not a lecture, and even if you disagree at the end you can still be nice about it.

here-there-everyfuckenwhere

Just saw a post saying “please never send me Good Omens fanfic it’s literally illegal for me to read” and I was like “woah wtf happened in the good omens fandom??” And then I realised it was a post by Neil fucking Gaiman

bunny-script

this might offend some writers on here but tbh i don’t really care too much ?

why are x plussize reader fics almost always about the reader hating themselves ? that just shows how the writer actually thinks of plussize people and it doesn’t accurately represent them. there’s no need to mention insecurities and eating disorders in every other sentence and someone coming in to save them from their self hatred.

i haven’t been active on tumblr recently but i did a thing and had to share

#mlb #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #chat noir #rena rouge #queen bee #carapace #ladynoir

carvedformylady

one time shoto was bored and wanted some new all might merch. izuku found out and pestered him about it, but it didn’t take much. urararka found out too and he offered to buy her some too.

she make an offhand joke that if this keeps up he’ll buy all of class 1a some. he gets a sparkle in his eyes and leaves izuku and uraraka.

a few weeks later a package comes for one of every student in 1a. when they all open them they all have identical all might hoodies. they all questioned who got them the hoodies. izuku and uraraka knew who it was.

they confronted him about it and got worried that he spent too much money. he just smirked and said his dad payed for it so it was fine.

the next day, they all show up to class wearing the hoodie insead of their normal shirts and blazers. aizawa sighs and goes along as if nothing is different. all might cried when he gets into the classroom.

my-quirk-is-gay

@zero-gravity-n-mochi @red-white-n-daddyissues

zero-gravity-n-mochi

“The really important question here is.. How did he get a hold on all of our measurements for the sizes???!” She is truly astounded by this.

carvedformylady

cut to shoto sneaking into all the boys rooms to check their sizes, and giving mina or hagakure money to get the girls sizes

jewishbarbies

*passionately thinks about story instead of writing it*

one time shoto was bored and wanted some new all might merch. izuku found out and pestered him about it, but it didn’t take much. urararka found out too and he offered to buy her some too.

she make an offhand joke that if this keeps up he’ll buy all of class 1a some. he gets a sparkle in his eyes and leaves izuku and uraraka.

they confronted him about it and got worried that he spent too much money. he just smirked and said his dad payed for it so it was fine.

#my hero academia #mha #bnha #boku no hero academia #todoroki shouto uses endeavors credit card #todoroki shouto #todoroki enji #endeavor #midoriya izuku #uraraka ochako #aizawa shouta #eraserhead #class 1a #tododeku #midoriya x todoroki #todoroki x midoriya #dekusquad

reasons to love bokuaka if you don’t for some reason

their dynamic as a third year and a second year but being equals

akaashi is so caring and in tune in bo’s emotions

he has at least three different ways for on the court to boost bo’s self-confidence

bo is so appreciative of him and shows it all the time

bo listens and trusts akaashi judgment even if he doesn’t entirely agree bc he’s the setter

just as individuals they are everything to love

#bokuaka #anime #volleyball anime #volleyball #haikyuu!!#fukurodani #akaashi keiji #bokuto kotaro

labambinafantasma-deactivated20

If you’re European, in a couple of weeks you will be denied any and all access to fandom contents on Tumblr and everywhere else on the internet. Here’s why.

On June, 20th the JURI of European Parliament approved of the articles 11 and 13 of the new Copyright Law. These articles are also known as the “Link Tax” and the “Censorship Machines” articles.

Articles 13 in particular forces every internet platform to filter all the contents we upload online, ending once and for all the fandom culture. Which means you won’t be able to upload any type of fandom works like fan arts, fan fictions, gif sets from your favourite films and series, edits, because it’s all copyrighted material. And you won’t also be able to share, enjoy or download other’s contents, because the use of links will be completely restricted.

But not everything’s lost yet. There’s another round of voting scheduled for the early days of July.

What you can do now to save our internet, is to share these informations with all of your family members and friends, and to ask to your MEP (the members of the European Parliament from your country) to vote NO at the next round, to vote against articles 11 and 13.

Here you can find more news and all the details to contact your MEP:

https://saveyourinternet.eu

Also, sign and share this petition:

https://www.change.org/p/european-parliament-stop-the-censorship-machinery-save-the-internet?recruiter=50668942&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

We have just a couple of weeks to stop this complete madness, don’t let them dictating the way we enjoy our internet.

#SaveYourInternet now!

theconqueeror

It’s funny how y'all will reblog any and all US things but when whole Europe might lose access to internet then everything is quiet.

mmmmmmmilo

Are you fucking serious? Is this really happening? I’m European and I didn’t know a single thing about this

labambinafantasma-deactivated20

Here you have

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52016PC0593

https://creativecommons.org/2018/06/20/european-parliaments-legal-affairs-committee-gives-green-light-to-harmful-link-tax-and-pervasive-platform-censorship/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=twitterfacebook&utm_content=JURI-vote-june-20

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/article-13-european-parliament-internet-censorship-copyright-a8408531.html?amp&__twitter_impression=true

https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jun/20/eu-votes-for-copyright-law-that-would-make-internet-a-tool-for-control?__twitter_impression=true

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/eu-meme-war-article-13-regulation

Also ao3 has spoken out about this

https://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/10637

umbrxlla-acxdxmy

PLEASE help share this as someone who lives in Europe I don’t want to see the internet change forever

carvedformylady

first off no one should care about the US when shit like this is going on like we just need to shut the fuck sometimes

unnaturalbabe-deactivated-deact

tumblr i am BEGGING you to let me reblog ads, this is the funniest thing i’ve ever seen

carvedformylady

i really can’t

drowningdryonland-deactivated20

🏳️‍🌈This blog supports all sexual orientations and gender identities

Reblog if yours does too.

carvedformylady

bnha hc

tokoyami and todoroki are best friends because they whisper emo lingo and song lyrics back and forth during class. yaoyorozu wants to kashoot herself.

carvedformylady

i just thought that what if yaoyorozu goes to her gf jirou about it and she repeats something they said and jiro has to try not to smile/laugh.

#bnha #bnha hc #mha #mha hc

me: *having anxiety attack*

my mom: whY THE FUCK