In response to snowharasho:
Nothing personal, OK? Like you, I am fanatically devoted to Soramaru and NicoMaki, lol. I’d love it if we could all just get along and respect each other, especially since we’re all in the same amazing LL fandom. :3 All I’m saying is - a little respect goes a long...
Disclaimer: I don’t follow fairymascot. I only saw this from nicomaki-trashblog’s callout post and thought the entire message about giving criticism only if you ask the author beforehand was silly so i gave my two cents.
“hey, sweet fic, but HERE’S WHAT I THINK. LOOK AT WHAT I THINK.“
that’s exactly what feedback is. what someone thinks about a fanwork.
Specific to this situation, even a wall of text on tumblr is cut off to just a single line when viewing the post’s notes or on the original author’s dashboard. As said earlier, I don’t follow fairymascot but I imagine it would’ve been under a cut to avoid spamming her followers. Even if it wasn’t, it’s definitely shorter than all these brand spankin’ new posts we (you, me, nmtb) have been making every single time there’s a response, while tagging the relevant people at the start without a read more cut. (I personally don’t care, but for the sake of this debate our own behavior is relevant, ig)
also tumblr has a word limit for private messages that makes it harder to communicate the more we have to say. it’s infinitely easier for you as a friend (i assume) to tell the author about things you liked or disliked about the fic. it’s also harder as a friend to give criticism for fear of hurting feelings. as strangers reading another stranger’s work, there isn’t that link and therefore it’s usually more objective (tw: generalizations!). in the format of a reblog, it’s easier to ignore than a submission or a PM, imo. there ARE worse ways to see that you’ve gotten really bad crit tbh. scenario: i could easily go on a longer and more critical rant about a fic without even reblogging or tagging the author but someone else in the fandom will def see it and make an even bigger fuss about people who don’t give feedback directly lmao.
anyway the point about having to ask to give feedback IF it’s negative is still mindboggling. not every thing has to be soul crushing before we stop it but i can’t see how much nicer you can make this particular piece of crit tbh, it’s that nice and non-threatening. the fic has already been posted in public and reblogged everywhere. gushingly good comments don’t need permission before being posted but actual legitimate constructive criticism, even with a disclaimer of being crit, does. really????
you’re all saying “no, i’m not saying negative things have to be filtered out”, but this is exactly the behavior that you want with this proposal; that every criticism has to be said in private and only after you get the permission of the person you’re giving crit to.
even if a reviewer is wasting their time because the author doesn’t want to hear it, it’s their time wasted and they’ve made their point - both of which an earnest reviewer knows when writing up feedback. (i loved this fic and you can ignore this but-)
instead of framing this as “you’re rude for giving unsolicited feedback! no one does that in real life! it’s public humiliation to hear that i’m not as great as all my friends and fans say!” how about “i can’t take crit even when it’s nicely phrased so i’m going to feel bad and make vague posts that gets all my friends angry so they’ll defend me by making arguments about internet etiquette! it’s rude to reblog if you have nothing good to say!”
maybe she should’ve reblogged it with “tl;dr” instead of taking the time to write crit, it’s more offensive but also more subtle?
OK…my two cents on this. Here’s a piece of advice from someone who’s taken a lot of harsh criticism from professionals.
I personally love constructive criticism. It helps you improve, focus your efforts, etc. I have no problem with the criticism itself, but at HOW it was delivered.
so i went back to actually look at fairymascot’s original crit post and what. that’s “harsh” “public humiliation” and apparently she’s being a “jerk” to”be mean”. what even.
there is completely no superiority in that post and she’s just posting how she feels about the fic and offering some very very mild advice about how the fic comes off to her and little things the author can improve in.
all these wall of texts are so completely off-base?? everyone’s acting like the author’s fic got completely demolished and her entire family got insulted when in actual fact it was written in such a positive tone and everything was offered as a suggestion, to be ignored by the author as she wished. it wasn’t even a demand that she should write a certain way.
we consume fanworks and we have a reaction to them. maybe there’s some sort of hidden vendetta between y’all but this seems like a complete overreaction and all the attempts at trying to justify why people shouldn’t reblog with comments just because it’s negative (because they’re mean!! and dissing it in front of ALL their followers!!! you wouldn’t do it irl!!) with all these unaligned analogies is really puzzling.
Didn’t want to reblog the fic itself, but I felt like this had to be said.
Unless an author—or any other content creator, for that matter—specifically asks for critique, then don’t give it. Constructive criticism is a very sore subject. On one hand, it enables writers to reflect...
i don't know what this specific fanfic is and i don't wish to know honestly... but the idea that "if people don't ask for crit, don't give it" is just ???????? to me.
maybe it's because i started fandom in the era of limes and lemons and authors begging for reviews in every chapter and in their profiles and there were entire lj comms dedicated to reviewing and beta reading, so i'm an outdated fogey but the idea of someone posting their work in public (ao3, tumblr, etc) - that's it - crit will come whether you want it or not. tumblr in particular is a platform made specifically for sharing and reblogging - it's not "rude" or a "public shaming".
maybe the crit is just flames, which is unwarranted in any case, that flamer should get off the internet. on the other hand, if your fic sucks, someone's going to tell you, nicely or not. on the bright side, if your fic doesn't suck, someone's gonna say that too.
of course the readers aren't the authors, they wouldn't know the intention of each and every word choice and sentence order by the author, but if there's positive feedback that says "i really felt what you were trying to convey", shouldn't the opposite "i think you were trying to do this but it felt x to me instead" apply too? there are things that give off a certain vibe to readers regardless of an author’s intentions, tbh.
maybe it's hard to hear that we aren't actually living in a world where we exist in bubbles that only filter for positive words and praise all the time but this is reality.
Pairing: NicoMaki
Side/Mentioned Pairings: NozoEli, KotoUmi, RinPana
Words: 19,023
Rating: M
Summary: Nico introduces ship pandering to μ’s. The following months are a train wreck.
Mirrors: [FF.net] | [AO3]
Author’s Notes: This fic is a monster. It’s the most ambitious piece of work I’ve ever tackled, but I’ve passed so many milestones with it.
I’d like to dedicate this story to my pal nicotachi because this is her extremely belated birthday gift. I also want to thank maki-is-gay, rectumlord, nishiklno, thecatprince, ikusiad, blaerofvalenwood, qllvllp for inspiring me and believing in me the whole way through. Love you guys!
Also, I hope that dropping a 19k word fic makes up for my recent inactivity. Enjoy!
ca·price
noun \kə-ˈprēs\
1a. a sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated notion or action
1b. a sudden usually unpredictable condition, change, or series of changes
2. a disposition to do things impulsively
Just throw Rin into Soldier Game trio and you got my top favorite voices out of μ’s. Also shove them in military-esque outfits and I will be the happiest camper in the world.
