Friendly Neghborhood

Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarian. I am Phantom and Heated Rivalry trash. Also into Batman, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, Heated Rivalry and more. Librarian. Jew. Newly baked potato. 412 is home.

[haunted-hideaway]

Fic:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/86001441

A oneshot of a slightly humorous nature after much angst. Part of this series:

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[overthinkingao3]

We write for ourselves, but we post for others.

(this came out of a conversation in the comments on a previous post about an author threatening to stop updating a fic because of lack of engagement)

So there’s this idea that fic writers should write for themselves and not care too much about stats or engagement,

and i totally get the sentiment behind that. if writing becomes entirely about stats and external validation, something important does get lost - creative freedom and joy, conviction in your own writing

but i also think:

“i write for myself, but i post for others.”

because posting fic is not only self-expression. it’s social. ao3 is called an archive, but emotionally it often functions as a community space.

people post for connection, for participation, for others to bear witness to their pain and trauma and grief,

and i don’t think most people are asking to be admired so much as acknowledged. there’s something deeply human about wanting another person to encounter something that mattered to you and go:

“ok, yeah, I see what you were trying to say. I see you.”

especially because fanfic is often people processing very real feelings through fictional characters at a safe distance, one step removed,

and then uploading that deeply personal thing into a shared archive and hoping somebody else might connect with it.

And i think that’s why it hurts so much when you summon up the courage and post a fic into the void and you get nothing back,

and then it’s like,

does anyone see me? does anyone even care?

[haunted-hideaway]

I think most of us want to be seen. We want to connect with the people who read our stuff and have them say yeah, I’ve experienced or thought that too. I felt that emotion with you. It’s why we read. We want to connect. Nothing wrong with that. Reviews tell us we connected enough to someone that they wanted to say so. No reviews or readers can sting because it means people aren’t seeing us. Because what we write, even if it’s about Those Characters and Their Problems, is often about what’s on our mind and heart. Or about what we need and aren’t getting. Our writing is often revealing and it can sting when there’s no validation in the form of someone nodding, tipping their hat, and saying “I see you.”

[haunted-hideaway]

I have the A-Team theme stuck in my head. Now you do too.

[haunted-hideaway]

My sister said yesterday that she told her friend I was going through some shit cos my Tumblr feed was all weird shit. Well…accurate.

[haunted-hideaway]

How old am I? I am “threw my back out pulling a USB cable out of my dash” old. Ow.

[haunted-hideaway]

Was gonna get the grocery order started then I got distracted by an email which lead me to get distracted by fanfic. Half an hour has gone by and no grocery list has happened.

[penny-anna]

Another literary magazine gripe: Dear God don't oblige people to give you their pronouns

[haunted-hideaway]

Look at those perfect goddamned cheeks. LOOK AT THEM. Picture via my sister.

[haunted-hideaway]

We are very normal in the mornings in my household.

[rabbiteclair]

auto immune disorders happen when the immune system ignores regulatory factors and begins attacking healthy bodily tissues, due to what scientists refer to as "sheer love of the game"

[verylittlebird]

                                distraptor velociraptor =     ———————-

                               timeraptor

[haunted-hideaway]

MY FUCKING CATS. Quit being menaces before the alarm goes off. Please. I beg of you.

[haunted-hideaway]

I’m like half out on the internet and half out at work. That adds up to a whole out, right?

[haunted-hideaway]

Survived 64 kindergarteners this morning. Moved a ton of books. My everything hurts. Early to bed, I hope.

[haunted-hideaway]

LOOK AT THIS CHONK. Pic via my sister.

[magnetothemagnificent]

What word/name does your culture use as a placeholder name for an anonymous/everyman person?

For example, John Doe and Joe Schmoe in American English, Chaim Yankel in Yiddish, Ploni Almoni in Judaism.....

And also whether there are different names for when talking about more than one person, such as Berel and Schmerel in Yiddish, Reuven and Shimon in Judaism, etc.

I'm really curious, so please reblog/comment with what your culture/language is and if such names exist and what they are!

[jewishgay4il]

oh this is so amazingly guy centric

we always had shprintza and genendel; two names the teachers knew were not in use in our classroom

[magnetothemagnificent]

How could I forget Shprinza and Genendel.....

[wholesome-animal-images]

[haunted-hideaway]

Cuddle puddle!