I've actually only ever got to know this app through the many memes (especially regarding fandom/ao3/fanfic culture) and today I've decided to take a leap of fate here and hope for the best!!
Anyhoo, let's go with introductions first. I'm Sayeba and I'm in multiple fandoms like anime, manga, storytime animations, kpop etc. Besides all that, I've always been a huge fan of storytelling, both in terms of reading AND writing.
In general I'm a huge fan of reading and watching the Mystery/Thriller genres, both in books (Agatha Christie and Holly Jackson) and series/movies (Monster, Erased, Bungou Stray Dogs, Hyouka etc.).
BUTTT I'm also a huge sucker for the Comedy/Slice-Of-Life genres (my most most fav genres of all time!!!) Many find the SOL genre to be slow and boring but my goodness, is this the most comforting genre to exist!! Some of my most favourite shows are SOL and that includes Tanaka-kun wa itsumo kedaruge, Non Non Biyori, Kimi to Boku, Cool Doji Danshi etc.)
As for other interests, I guess it's obvious by my header that I listen to a lot of Kpop and stan a few groups. My current ults include TREASURE 💎 and DAY6 🍀. Recently I've been getting into SEVENTEEN ✨️ (I'm a casual listener when it comes to other groups.)
Now when it comes to fanfic writing, !!!! I LOVE SLOW BURN!!! And Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Friendship and Angst With A Happy Ending...My fav tags which reflects both my reading and writing!!!
I'm currently an active writer on Ao3, going by the username of raconteur_05
I've been writing two fanfics so far, both for very niche fandoms. My main project is based on "Extraordinary You (2019)" while my side one is based on "One Day Off (2023)". For more information, you can just visit my profile on Ao3 ^_^
Yeah, that's about it for my introductory post!! Please look after me!!😔🫶✨️
I just realised that I haven't posted anything about myself since my very first intro post. 0w0
Soooo I thought about doing an occasional thing called: TMI Sessions (where I share a few facts about myself in such posts whenever I get the time) 🥹✨️
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• Latest song on repeat: WHATEVER, WHENEVER by TREASURE ✨️ (a really warm and soothing song. SO UNDERRATED!!!)
• Favourite Colour: Blue 💙
• Last series I watched: 박하경 여행기 | One Day Off (TV)
Rating: 4/5 (A pretty good series but there were definitely some missed opportunities imo) Hence how this fic of mine happened ^_^
• Latest book I read: Currently reading Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus (So far could only read the first few chapters ; haven't been able to binge-read it with university starting)
Rating so far: 2.5/5 (like I said I only read the beginning of the book so I'm not judging it OVERALL rn but yeahh, It's just seems that I can't find myself relating to the MC much🫠🫠)
Lastly,
• I recently bought 5 new books by Agatha Christie to add to my collection!! Yes, my savings have flown away but !!!!BOOKS BY CHRISTIE!!!!
Just as Prince from GHOST9 once said, "Wallet empty, Happiness plenty"😌👌💸
if you ever doubt that your ao3 comments matter or mean something: i have been struggling with my writing for 6 months straight, crying myself to sleep afraid that i will never be able to write again, that the thing i love most in the world has left me, that my writing is just gone
this morning i got this comment:
and after i stopped blubbering over it, i picked up my writing notebook, and re-read all my fic research, and opened up my document again for the first time in weeks without being afraid of it
you have no idea how much writers treasure every single comment we get. you have no idea how big an impact you can have. sometimes, just sometimes, your one "insignificant" comment changes everything
This SPOKE to me in a SPIRITUAL level fr. There were times where I often doubted when when it came to writing and there were even thoughts where I wondered if it even matters.....In fact, it really does matter. Because through such comments I get to know how much my writing is loved by those who give them a chance to read. Hence, I very much encourage commenting alongside kudos, bookmarks and subscriptions. Cuz really, your readers' words of love and encouragement make all the differences☺️🫶✨️
Ok so about these two... Where do I even begin 😭 their relationship is so wholesome and refreshing. You don't get to see a lot of female-male friendships in dramas right? For me atleast, I haven't seen a lot. The bond they share is so pure. The whole series, Dohwa is always asking "Are you okay?" Whether it be after Baek Kyung was mean to her, or when he read the comic and realised Dan-oh is about to get a serious surgery.
He is that friend who is always looking out for her and supporting her.
Not to mention, they are an absolute chaotic pair, I totally love their energy. It's so wholesome! The way he tried to stop her from cursing out in front of everyone during the trip was so hilarious. He even felt bad after what happened on the stage with Baek Kyung and even picked up the keychain and gave it to Baek Kyung, telling him not to be too harsh on her. That's how caring and thoughtful he is.
There's also one scene where he brings her a bottle of strawberry milk after getting to know about her heart condition worsening. Which was such a cute detail imo, considering Eun Dan-oh seems to love strawberry milk a lot. So, it really shows he notices every little thing about her. It melts my heart 😔🫶
Eun Dan-oh too, takes time out of her constant fight against the narrative, and to be her own life's protagonist, to plan and help Lee Dohwa change the stage, confess to Yeo Ju-da, and help him be his own story's main character. They are always scheming to help each other in their respective struggles. It's a heart-warming connection they have. It's two people, two soulmates— whether one thinks of them as platonic, or romantic— who always look out for each other and support each other. They are absolutely adorable together either way. 😁
When Dan-oh loses her Ego, Lee Dohwa is one of the most desperate to get her real self back. Because he cannot stand seeing his best friend act and live as something she would never want to. He wants her to be truly happy. Even if being "aware" brings more pain than joy, he knows that Eun Dan-oh would rather live with the pain of being aware, and having to constantly fight her fate, rather than living ignorantly as a shell of herself, controlled completely by the writer.
Extraordinary You has a lot of complex characters, with equally complex relationships. But this bond is one really special to me. And I really love these two a lot <3
fandom etiquette as a whole died when people who didn’t grow up on fandoms became stans during lockdown, yes, but why am i seeing people openly mocking fics on twitter. why am i seeing screenshots of fics with captions like “bro what is this 😭.” why am i seeing people mock fic writers for not knowing how sports or theater or college or any other organization operates in the real world.
“college is absolutely nothing like this” “why are we writing four people on the team scoring a hat trick in one game” “so tech work is nothing like this, hope that helps!”
if you don’t like a fic, and if you can’t suspend your belief enough to enjoy a fic that exaggerates or ignores real-world orgs, you don’t have to read it. you don’t have to screenshot it and put it on blast for twitter. you don’t have to post a link to it in the replies. the back button is literally there on your phone. it’s not giving baby’s first fandom anymore, it’s giving entitled asshole and it isn’t as cute as you think it is.
this and also the only difference between fanfic writers and writers who sell their own original works as careers is that fanfics aren’t monetized. that’s all.
being a “professional” writer doesn’t mean your works are inherently better than fanfics. I’ve read so many fics that are more professionally written than some published books.
whether or not a piece of writing is monetized has nothing to do with its quality.
“But Professor, the technical flaws!” “But Professor, the grammatical errors!” “But Professor, you’re not even in my fandom!” “But Professor, you’ve never even read my fanfic!”
I’ll say it again; I think your fanfic is amazing.
I read this as a reblog and, I don't want to start a big thing with the OP so I've just copied the text - my thoughts are below the cut. Since this landed in my orbit I haven't been able to write a damn word on any of the three WiPs that are open. Hopefully, getting this written will free RAM and let me get on with what I want to be getting on with.
I did not write this:
I think fanfic as your primary writing and reading background really sets you up to fail because there’s so many inherent crutches to fanfic. You don’t have to make characters enjoyable because the work’s already been done, you don’t have to describe appearances or locations or motivations because the work’s already been done, conflicts come pre-established and relationship dynamics have already been laid out. And none of this is a knock on fanfic, I am not saying fanfic is bad. But if that’s all you’ve written and largely all you’ve read then I think it’s gonna be a rough transition to original fiction, and I think you need to take some time first to familiarize yourself original works again.
My thoughts below:
This bothered me on a lot of different levels so, I'm not sure how coherent this is going to be ... hang on ... this got long and was a bit of a bumpy ride.
First: Define "fail".
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote:
To laugh often and love much;
To win the respect of intelligent persons
And the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics
And to endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one's self;
To leave the world a little better,
Whether by a healthy child,
A garden patch
Or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm
And sung with exultation;
To know that even one life has breathed easier
Because you have lived
This is to have succeeded.
If you enjoy both reading and writing fanfic and that's what you want to do - how are you setting yourself up to "fail"? Fail what? Traditional publishing? Original works? Are you failing if you aren't able to monetize your writing but you're actually *enjoying* it? Original works are great but they're not the only "acceptable" works. I write, not to make money, but because my soul demands that I do so. I POST my writings in the event that someone else might find it enjoyable or comforting or get *something* from what I've written.
Second: I've read A LOT of fanfics. And a lot of them could easily become original works by simply CHANGING THE CHARACTER NAMES. I've actually written one and I'm in the middle of writing one now - change the names of the main characters and you'd never know it was fanfic because they're AUs. The world the characters exist in, isn't the one we're used to so the world has to be built/described.
Third: We don't write fanfic because of the "ease" of using the "inherent crutches". We write fanfics because we want to watch the same two idiots fall in love over and over - in any timeline, any dimension, anywhere. We like exploring the different ways our idiots meet and fall in love. We write it because we didn't like what we saw on screen and thought "I can fix this". We write because we didn't see something we wanted to and think "I can fix this".
You do have to write appearances/descriptions/motivations - especially if you're writing an AU. You do have to establish relationship dynamics. And conflicts. Unless you're writing the same exact story as was on the screen, you put your own spin on things and your own spin doesn't work if you simply lean *exclusively* on what's there. At the very least, if you're writing a canon-compliant fic, you have to expand on what's established if you want the reader to engage - otherwise, they might as well just watch the media it started out as.
Fourth: As I've said - I've read a lot of fanfic. I've also read a lot of different original works. My tastes run toward mystery and fantasy but I've also read Harlequins and pulp magazines. I will read just about anything that strikes my fancy. I have never been drawn to wordy/overly-descriptive works. Joyce Carol Oates is considered one of the best writers of our age - and I cannot stand her works. I HATED Nicholas Nickleby (Charles Dickens) - I remember exactly ONE thing from that story - Crumpet Wars. It was the entire second chapter and was never (in my memory) mentioned again. That kind of thing frustrates me as a reader.
As a writer, I don't put a lot of descriptions in my works. I give bare bones and leave it to the reader to fill in whatever they want. "He was a tall, thin man with graying hair cropped close, wearing an expensive navy suit" <- not really descriptive but that's what I write. Is he white? Black? Asian? What color are his eyes? His tie? His shirt? You fill in the blanks. I see one man, you see another and, honestly, it ultimately doesn't matter to the story. I *as a reader* don't want to get bogged down in descriptions that go on for three or four paragraphs. I have found it tedious to read the SAME description in five different paragraphs. "The house smelled of burnt toast and regret" ... "the smell of burnt toast hung in the air, punctuating the deep regret" ... I've put aside more than one book (and fic) for that reason.
The character descriptions could fit a million different people. There are *millions* of people who fit the descriptions. Physical and character traits.
The above person said "I'm not saying fanfic is bad" ... yeah, you are. Maybe not in those words but, you are. (and I saw a reblog or a comment that said "I am saying fanfic is bad")
I've read published novels that are awful. 50 Shades of Gray is (IMO) a terrible series of books. It misrepresents BDSM in so many ways, it's insulting (a friend read the first three chapters and warned me off them). Those books started out as fanfics of Twilight (also horrible stories IMO - I couldn't get past the first five chapters of the first book).
I've read fanfics that are soul-crushingly beautiful. I've read fics that have a good story but the writing sucks and I've read fics with wonderful writing but the story sucks. One of the Xena fanfic writers went on to work as a writer on Xena. There's a Brittana writer who changed the names and self-published for Kindle. There's a Xena writer who changed the names and sold her stories in paperback.
I spent a lot of years being embarrassed because I'm a fic writer. I get the "why don't you write something you can get published" line all the time. I don't write to make money. I don't have the attitude/ambition for traditional publishing or the energy/marketing skills for self-publishing. Do I think I'm not good enough? Nope. I know I've written better fics than some of the published stuff out there. And I'm okay with that.
I also find it amusing - we see "film adaptations" of various books but, really? What are "film adaptations" other than a screenwriter's fanfic? A director's "take"?
I have said this and will probably say it again: The best writing advice in the world isn't any good if it doesn't work for you.
And, also - the worst fanfic you write yourself is better than the best original work written by AI.
Anyway.
All of this merely represents my thoughts/opinions - worth about what you think they are.
If you compare other social media platforms to tumblr, it’s a whole different world out there (derogatory). Because they’re so openly pro AI there. My friends on Instagram are sharing their instagram stories where they post AI-generated photos they got from prompt “ask ChatGPT to create a photo of a room that represents your mind from what ChatGPT knows about you”. And the template has like millions of people participating in the trend. Mind you my friends are gen Z 🤨 I thought our generation were against AI. And platforms like instagram, twitter and tiktok are promoting their AI models like you literally can’t escape it man
some people will be like “I wonder why fanfic writers don’t share their works anymore😔” and then this is them when a writer is kind enough to share something they write — as a hobby, for their own enjoyment — with them for free.
some people really don’t realize how privileged they are that they get fanfics for free. imagine having access to something for free because someone is kind enough to share it with you… and then being rude, entitled and an ungrateful pos to that person who was kind enough to share their creation with you for free
“almost 1 year is a lil too much for me” fuck off. fanfic writers don’t owe you anything. one of my favorite fics was updated after 13 years, and what I did is that I thanked the author for choosing to continue the work, I didn’t act like a spoiled toddler by asking why they didn’t update sooner. and even if a writer chooses to abandon their fic permanently with no explanation, that is their choice, their hobby, their decision. they don’t owe your entitled ass anything.
you people let tiktok rot your brains to the point you see everything as content farm and engagement. not a piece of art created by the artist’s love and passion. it’s dystopian.
