#anonymoose?

[spnfanficpond]

To our anon:

(Sorry this took so long, but you know us, always be SLOW!)

Thanks for continuing to reach out and let us know how you feel. We really do rely on you guys telling us what is and isn't working because we're just two people and sometimes we can't see it.

The main goal of the Pond is, and always has been, to have a place where everyone is welcome and safe to enjoy and explore. That being said, we honestly don't know what to do about some of the things you're bringing forward.

First, let’s talk about safety in the Pond. Safety is not the same as comfort or agreeing on everything. We are a community of many different backgrounds and personalities and there's bound to be a certain amount of clashing. We expect that. But we also hope that people can do what they have to do to keep any clashing from turning into a hostile environment. If that means you need our help to do it, we're happy to talk to any member or act as mediators. If there are members who believe/support/interact with the pond in ways that aren't the same as yours, we encourage you to avoid them. There are hundreds of members and it doesn't get us anywhere if we focus on our differences.

Let us be clear, though. When someone says they feel unsafe, we need to know the details --who/when/how-- so we can try to deal with it. Just telling us you don’t feel safe gives us nothing to act on. If someone comes to us and says, “XYZ said this to me yesterday in the discord server and it made me afraid,” then we can do something. Whether it’s mediating between the parties to help them get past it or disciplining the other party in some way, we can and will do something about it.

If your safety is being threatened, PLEASE IM one of us off anon so we can talk further and figure out how to make things right.

Next, our Manta Rays. We ask our Manta Rays to do a lot. Not everyone can do all of it all of the time. (We think they’re pretty great at managing to do most of the things most of the time.) Sometimes, our Manta Rays have trouble keeping up with everything, but as long as they continue to try and be examples of good citizens in our community, we give them the slack they need. Each Manta Ray has different strengths and weaknesses, different likes and dislikes. Some can’t read more than 3k words. Some love to read 100k words. Some love fluff, some love angst, and some love consensual non-consent incest smut.

You’ve pointed out that a Manta Ray having preferences means that writers who write fics outside those preferences miss out on the opportunity to get Angel Fish Awards from that Manta Ray. This is true. It’s a fact of life. This is why Angel Fish Awards can be given by EVERYONE, INCLUDING NON-MEMBERS. Yes, that one Manta Ray who is expected to nominate fics on a regular basis won’t read your story, but literally anyone else on the planet could read it and nominate it.

In the case of original characters vs reader inserts, like with any ships, that is ALWAYS going to be a back and forth. There will always be some folks who dislike OC’s, and some folks who dislike reader inserts. Readership is a pendulum that will never stop swinging, so, as writers, we encourage all members to write what they want to write. If you aren't sure who will read your fics, our tag list is organized with many different filters to help you find people who want to be tagged in the types of fics you're writing.

Finally, you’ve expressed concern about who will be promoted to admin. As of right now, the only decision we’ve made is that they must serve as a Manta Ray first. If someone can’t handle the responsibility of being a Manta Ray, then they will definitely not be able to handle being an admin. Beyond that, we haven’t decided how we’re going to choose, or whose input we’ll take into consideration. We haven’t even decided what qualities we want to see or what duties they’ll be responsible for, yet. When we do (and don’t expect it to happen any time soon, y’all know we move slower than molasses), we’ll make a post and let you know.

We hope this has helped to answer your questions. If there’s something we haven’t addressed or any specific actions you want us to take to help you and the others mentioned feel better, please let us know!

[mrswhozeewhatsis]

I’ve been a mutual for years. I ignore fandom discord. Your blog usually supports everyone. You’re header is “coexist”. So why the heck did you reblog that call to action against the CW and basically all thing SPN? That’s kinda disgusting. Just because a ship didn’t sail is no reason to trash an entire network. Smh. I thought you were better than that petty trash. Cancel culture is going too far.

It’s true, I normally don’t get into cancel culture and fandom drama. To be completely transparent, of all the acts that the post in question proposes, the only one I’ve done is unfollow the CW_SPN Twitter account. I haven’t tweeted using the new hashtag or replied with my own words on this subject anywhere. I mean, I wasn’t planning on watching SPN on Netflix anytime soon, anyway. Reblogging that post was LITERALLY the least I could do, and that’s about all I’ve done.

I want to make clear, though, that my actions are not “because a ship didn’t sail.” First, I had no cargo on that ship. Second, whether you like it or not, it actually did sail when Cas told Dean he loved him.

My plan, up until last night, was to distill in my own mind my own issues with the last two episodes, and then rewrite them in a way that was more satisfying to me, using the corporate CW/Covid constraints that I’m aware of. That would be my response. There would not be an, “I love you, too,” from Dean, because I didn’t think the network would EVER allow that. In my mind, the most Destiel fans would ever be allowed would be a hug and Dean telling Cas he was stupid to assume he knew what Dean felt. At best, the writers and the network would want to keep things open-ended, to satisfy those who really don’t want Dean to be anything but straight as an arrow.

To be completely clear, I have never expected Destiel to become canon. I have never wanted or prayed or begged or even just thought, “Hey, that’d be cool.” I fully expected Destiel to remain in subtext and fanon. The fact that it did become canon when Cas professed his love to Dean made me nearly fall out of my chair. I mean, I was happy about it, don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t screaming and jumping up and down happy, but I was like, “Yeah. Good for them!”

I was happy that those of my friends in the fandom who are queer finally felt represented by a MAIN character that they loved, yet sad that the character had to die without hearing that he, too, was loved. It was a bittersweet blow. 

People asked me what I thought of it, and I said, “I’m waiting to see what they do with the last two episodes.” In my mind, Cas’s confession followed by sacrificing himself DEMANDED an answer of some kind. It didn’t have to be a matching confession from Dean. But Dean needed to respond in some way, shape, or form. 

And the final two episodes happened, and NOTHING. 

I said before that a major theme of season 15 was Dean’s anger. Dean, himself - Mr. I-don’t-talk-about-my-feelings-no-matter-what - TALKED about his anger and how he didn’t know what to do about it. To me, Cas’s confession was supposed to trigger Dean to DO something about his anger, and then lead him into DOING something based on love. To me, it didn’t have to be loving Cas, either. It could be discovering that pushing people away was bad, and finally inviting hunters into the bunker to share knowledge. Inviting other people into his heart and loving them because of Cas’s love, the same way Cas learned to love the world because of Dean’s love. (That was pretty much going to be the crux of my rewrite.) I even said in one post here, “It all seems to be adding up to them defeating Chuck with the power of love, and I really don’t know how that will look.” 

But the final two episodes didn’t even show Dean really grieving? I don’t get it.

I digress.

I was upset, but understanding about not getting to see Dean tell Cas he loved him. It was never an expectation for me. No one, from the network to the writers on down to the actors, I thought, would ever green light that script.

BUT THEY DID.

AND THEN THEY TOOK IT BACK.

That’s the line for me. The fact that every step along the line agreed to make Dean queer in canon (even if it was just a matter of, “Cas is the exception to the rule,”) - the fact that it HAPPENED is phenomenal. And maybe I should be happy that it was even considered seriously enough to have made it to an almost-final script. But I’m really upset that it got through all of that vetting, and at the very last minute, when the people in the show we love had no way of fighting it, it got pulled.

It’s almost like the CW pulled a bait-and-switch on Dabb, Bobo, Misha, and Jensen (along with everyone else who would have had skin in the game). As if they went along with it just to make them happy, and then pulled the rug out from under them. It’s the CW as Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown after he’s started his kick.

This is what pissed me off and made me reblog that post. I want to support those of my friends who are hurting because of this, right now. My queer friends who feel betrayed by a network that claims to be so open to diversity and supportive of ALL people. I’m a cishet, white, upper-middle-class disabled housewife. Cut my hair short and dye it blonde and I could very easily be a Karen. I have no skin in this game. But I love people who do. And if they want to organize protests and boycotts, then I want to support them. 

I’m not cancelling the CW. I’ll watch Walker because of Jared. Even if it turns out that the theories are right, that Walker is the reason the CW made this decision, I’ll still watch. I love Jared, and want to support him. 

But I do want to do something to support those who disagree with this and want to do something about it. Because it was wrong. The CW done fucked up, but they will never change if we don’t tell them. Unfollowing their SM accounts, getting a hashtag trending, and other actions like this, are ways to get that message across. Maybe, if we can make a big enough impact, they will change. 

This isn’t cancel culture. This is finding a way to send a message to the CW that they made a mistake. 

If your hate of a ship keeps you from seeing that, I feel sorry for you.

[spnfanficpond]

I have a quick question. Is it okay if I specify reader's birthday in a reader insert fiction 🤔

Michelle here - This answer depends on who you are talking to. Some readers don't mind some details being added to their Y/N character in a fic, and others do.

In general, it's best to keep your Y/N as generic as possible. (If you can manage to keep them gender neutral, even, then a whole load of male readers out there will love you! This is difficult to do, and certainly can't be done for all fics, but is rewarding when you can!)

Sometimes, though, a plot point requires specificity. If your plot is all about body positivity, it's going to be hard not to get specific about why this particular Y/N doesn't like her body. I once wrote a fic about being in peri-menopause, so her age was a central factor. If your Y/N is getting an astrology reading, then yeah, their birthday is going to be a factor.

Michelle's Personal Pet Peeve - Keeping Y/N as generic as possible does not mean using fill-ins like Y/H/C (Your Hair Color), or Y/E/C (Your Eye Color), or Y/H/T (Your Home Town). These things throw me out of a fic pretty quickly. I mean, I can sort of see hair color and eye color, and I grit my teeth when it comes to Y/N/N (Your NickName), but the home town one makes me twitch. Maybe it's because I'm old enough to have read books long before Tumblr and Y/N were a thing, but I'm used to my main characters being a little different from me. I'm even used to them having a name that isn't mine. Reading a scene where a home town is mentioned and it's not my home town is far less distracting to me than suddenly seeing Y/H/T.

I would love to see more writers challenge themselves to write more fics using less of these fill-ins. Does your Y/N really need a definitive eye color? Unless it's plot point, probably not! If your story is written from Y/N's POV, then definitely not!! How often do you think about your own eye color? Even if you're writing from, say, Dean's perspective, there are a TON of different ways to describe eyes besides color: bright, dark, hooded, laughing, soft, loving, cold... you get the idea. Hair is a little more difficult, so simply ask yourself if there is another part of Y/N's body that Dean could be entranced by? Does it have to be their hair?

*steps down from soapbox* Okay, rant over! Sorry about that!

In conclusion, if it's important to your plot, then give your Y/N a specific birthday. If it's not, try to find a workaround. Your pickier readers will appreciate it!

[spnfanficpond]

“China virus” is not a racial slur. Just cause you are anti-trump doesn’t make it one. You are just part of cancel culture and it’s gross that you would 1. Listen to someone who tattles on a member for saying something on their personal blog. And 2. You went on their blog in hunt of other “offensive” things. I know personally that said member is not racist or anything else that is so demeaning for you to say. Just cause your political views are different does not mean hate is required. The “I don’t like it- get rid of it” mentality of today’s society is getting out of hand. Pretty sure we could find offensive garbage on every members blog if we looked hard enough. I know I’m offended by all the nasty porn filled degrading garbage most writers put out, but I am mature enough to just scroll past. I’m sure my opening sentence offended you enough that you won’t read the rest of this... I await your hate filled response.

Sorry for the late reply, Nonnie. We wanted to make sure we were polite and respectful with our response.

1. ““China virus” is not a racial slur.”

Psychology Today and National Geographic disagree.

Reference to Covid19 as China Flu, China Virus or Kung Flu is a blame tactic and promotes a rhetoric that is harmful to Asian communities within the US and throughout the world. Furthermore, Asian communities the world over have expressed how hurtful this name is and how it engenders hate towards them. We don’t get to decide what hurts other people. They do, and they have, and they have told us, and it’s up to us to listen and adjust our behavior accordingly.

The virus has a name that offends no one. Why use the name that hurts people?

2. “Just cause [sic] you are anti-trump [sic] doesn’t make it one.”

Since the member who made the post did not mention who they voted for, it’s hard to argue that this is why we’ve done anything. Furthermore, since none of the admins here have discussed politics on this blog, what evidence do you have of who or what we support politically?

Besides, there’s nothing political about fighting racism, whether that racism is conscious and malicious or not.

3.  “You are just part of cancel culture....”

Actually, cancel culture is part of what we’re trying to keep out of the Pond. We are trying to promote positivity, not negativity. Love what you want to love. Shout about that love! Just don’t poop on what someone else loves if you don’t love it, too. That’s all we ask. Be nice to each other.

Cancel culture consists of active campaigns to turn the populace against someone. If you’re going to suggest that we are trying to cancel this person by kicking them out of the Pond, then I have to ask, who told you who it was? We didn’t. If we were on a mission to cancel them, we would have posted the original anon message notifying us of the problem, which included their name. We would have publicly shamed them and incited a riot against them. Instead, we kept their name out of it. There isn’t anything more we could have done to protect them while still addressing the issue.

Everyone has the right to say what they want. Everyone else has the right to not want to listen to it.

4. “[I]t’s gross that you would 1. Listen to someone who tattles on a member for saying something on their personal blog.”

We don’t stalk the blogs of any of our 400+ members. We don’t know what everyone is doing at all times. If someone wants us to address something from another member, they have to tell us it exists. Once we see that it exists, though, we have to act on it, whether we like it or not. It’s not fair to our other members, otherwise.

This was not “tattling”. This was someone coming to us because they didn’t feel comfortable with what they saw, knowing it was against one of our, like, two rules, and letting us know. Listening to them and acting on that concern is our job as admins of the group. Just the appearance of ignoring concerns caused us trouble in the past, because it’s our job to listen and respond.

This is what adults do. It’s why our society has court systems and newspapers. When one person is aggrieved, they tell someone, until something is done to fix it. “Tattling” is a word used by those desperate to stay out of trouble when they know they’ve done something wrong.

5. “ And 2. You went on their blog in hunt of other “offensive” things. “

Actually, we didn’t. The original message we received mentioned the racial slur and insensitive posts supporting anti behavior and either telling people, or using gifs to tell people, “to f**k off”.  

We then spent about five minutes scrolling and found exactly what we were told we would find. Definitely not a “hunt”.

6.  I know personally that said member is not racist or anything else that is so demeaning for you to say.

We never said they were racist, only that they used a racial slur. Even if the usage is “innocent” --not intended maliciously, but from ignorance-- it still needs to be addressed. We can’t correct our mistakes if we don’t know about them.

7. “Just cause [sic] your political views are different does not mean hate is required. The “I don’t like it- get rid of it” mentality of today’s society is getting out of hand.”

See above re: our political views.

We tried our best not to respond with hate. We tried to calmly inform them, and the rest of the Pond, that using hate speech is not tolerated in the Pond and set forth the consequences. The response we got was disrespectful, at the least, and included cursing.

As for the rest, see above re: cancel culture.

8. “Pretty sure we could find offensive garbage on every members [sic] blog if we looked hard enough.”

And we would hope that, once presented with the fact that they had said something hurtful, they would apologize and promise to be better in the future. Had the person in question done this, we probably would have reconsidered the expulsion.

We don’t want to be the Tumblr police, but we are the Pond police. We ask that our members be nice to everyone, and have, in the past, refused entry to some people who have filled their blogs with ant-whatever rhetoric. Depending on the level of hateful content on their blogs we have gone two ways: Some we have talked to, invited them to take some time to reconsider the content of their reblogs, and to re-apply in a few weeks or months. Some have been allowed entry, but told that we don’t like the hate in their posts, that we would prefer they keep their posts respectful, and to definitely keep it out of the Pond. Basically, they’ve had two choices: stop the hate or don’t be a member. Some have chosen to not be a member. That’s their choice. Those who have chosen to stop posting disrespectful anti-anything posts have joined and complied, to the best of our knowledge.

Our members are an example of who we want the Pond to be. We honestly don’t believe that asking people to respect others on their own blogs is that big of a deal. We’re not asking our members to love what we love or dislike what we dislike. We’re just asking them not to berate or diminish people who love what they dislike. Just don’t be hateful.

9. “I know I’m offended by all the nasty porn filled degrading garbage most writers put out, but I am mature enough to just scroll past.”

GOOD FOR YOU!!! Seriously!! This is exactly how we want our members to act! See something you don’t like? Just keep scrolling! This applies to ships, fics, and respectfully-presented opinions.

This does not apply to racial slurs or hate-filled posts intended to attack, demean, and/or hurt other people.

Using slurs or degrading language to hurt other people is not the same as disliking a ship. It’s a whole different ball of wax, and we will always treat it that way.

We don’t want a member to see something that is posted by another member and be personally HURT by it. We don’t know who sent the original message, but what if they were Chinese? Maybe the reason why they came to us was because one of our members hurt them by using a racial slur against them? We can’t let it stand. We just can’t.

10. “I’m sure my opening sentence offended you enough that you won’t read the rest of this... I await your hate filled response.”

Can’t say we were offended. Convinced that you were wrong, maybe, but not offended. We have tried to keep this as civil and respectful as possible. If anything came across hateful, that was not our intention.

We know you want to defend your friend and their values, which you obviously share. The fact that no one has reported you as having used racial slurs or posted hateful comments on your blog means that you understand where the line is in polite society and have chosen not to cross it. That’s really all we ask.

[mrswhozeewhatsis]

A writer tagged in a story. I usually enjoy their writing; however, I just couldn't get into this particular story. I want to reblog it because I think some of my followers might enjoy it. I don't know how to comment on the story since I didn't read it. Do you have any suggestions that might help?

Most writers understand if a story just isn’t your thing, so don’t be afraid to just say that. I reblog stuff that I don’t read at all without comments because I want to boost work. If I read something that just isn’t what I’m into, then I’ll say that. “Not my thing but might be yours!” We all have preferences for stories, and even the best-written story will fall flat for some readers who just don’t like the kink or a certain plot point. I recently closed out of a fic written by a fave on AO3 because they were very clear in the tags and the author’s note that it was gonna be hardcore something I’m not really into. It was hard, because I’d follow them almost anywhere, just not there, you know? I looked at the tags, I looked at the note, I said to myself, “Dead dove, do not eat,” and closed out of it. And we’re all okay with that! Had it been on Tumblr, I’d have reblogged it without a comment.

Don’t feel badly about not being into something a fave writes. Reblog it with a short comment saying it’s just not your thing, and the writer will still love you, because you reblogged it! You’ve still amplified their work so others can see it, and that makes you AWESOME.

Hope this helps!!

[spnfanficpond]

Do you guys think that it's wrong to say - 'please request to be added to the taglist only if you're gonna reblog'? It's such a tedious thing to do and even some writers just leave likes without reblogging and ugh I'm thinking of just dropping the taglists all together

Sorry for the rant 😓

Michelle here - Short answer? Yes. I know a lot of readers who are turned off by things like this, and will stop reading anything by a writer for having any hint of this kind of attitude.

Long answer: Still yes. But there are a lot of factors at play that you can consider and make changes to before you get to this point.

Tags are a pain. In the past, yes, tags were a pain. I'm very pleased to announce that the new post editor that Tumblr currently has in beta makes tagging A BREEZE. When I posted my most recent fic and pasted my tag list into the doc, I was ecstatically surprised to find that I didn't have to activate the tags! Every valid tag just WORKED. It was so beautiful, I nearly cried. (Side note: #hashtags can also be copied and pasted as a list separated by commas and they will just work, up to a certain character limit. I haven't counted, but my guess is about 140 characters? I'm able to get four or five "#supernatural fan fic, supernatural fanfic, supernatural fanfiction" type tags in before one gets cut off.

Tags are a pain. An alternative to tagging is creating a library blog with just your writing in it as a side blog. Readers can then follow that blog and turn on notifications. They will then get notified every time you post, no tagging required!

Consumers leave likes without reblogging. This is their right. I know, we write and create and strain and struggle and all we get in return is a little heart. Consider, maybe that consumer is just really shy? Or maybe they curate their blog with only certain topics and your art doesn't fit? Maybe they don't want the world to know that they're secretly into whatever you wrote (be it the fandom or a kink or a political/personal issue)? But you know what, they did like it!! They clicked on that little heart, and that's not nothing. They don't owe us reblogs. Signal boosting is the job of blogs like ours, @fanficocean , and also @dirtysupernaturalimagines and the like.

Positive ways to encourage feedback:

Use reblogs of your post as timezone reblogs as you thank that reader for reading and commenting. A lot of folks will reblog their own works a few times during the day on the day they post. Instead of just reblogging the bare post, take one of those precious reblogs where someone left a squee comment, reblog that, and leave a message telling that reader how much you appreciate their comment. As a reader, I can tell you, I get a little happy, warm feeling every time a writer does this with one of my comments! I try to do the same when I can. I even tag it #thank you and #shameless self-promotion! It's okay to reblog your own stuff! You have to market you!

Make a thank you post with a link to the original post. Got 5 replies with wonderful comments, but they didn't reblog? Make a separate post thanking them for their sweet words, and of course, link the original fic post at the bottom. Tumblr used to make replying to replies easy, but that seems to be a thing of the past, sadly. So, make your own post, tag those folks, and tell them you love them!

Read fics by other writers and reblog their posts. Seriously. Be the change you want to see! When we feel down about not getting reblogs, we sometimes want to take it out on other writers in kind. "They won't reblog me, so I won't reblog them." This is bad. All this does is spread the lack of reblogs around. Want to see more fics reblogged on Tumblr? Go reblog more fics on Tumblr!

I know you're feeling down and negative, right now, Nonnie. But I urge you pick yourself up and think about positive ways you can try to change the culture around here. I can say that I believe tagging is totally worth it. I forgot to tag when I posted my most recent work, and got exactly one reader. My other "usual suspects" didn't see it until after I reblogged it with tags. Our dashes are all so cluttered that keeping up with folks is harder than ever. Tagging is essential (and so annoying when it doesn't work). I hope the new post editor changes help you, and some of these other suggestions give you a positive outlet for the feelings you're having!

[spnfanficpond]

Hey spn fanfic pond. I didn't know how to put it but I felt I really need to say this. Since most of the writers are a part of the pond I decided to put it here. I didn't post it on my blog because I don't want to be seen as an asshole but I really need to say this. If someone agreed to beta someone's fic and they can't get back to them frequently, atleast let them know that you're going to take more time or something came up or anything like that. I'm pretty sure you've got something really important and you're not doing it on purpose but please let the authors know like once in three days or something. Speaking from experience 😔

One of the first things about being a good beta is keeping in touch with your writer(s). Make a system, set reminders on your phone if you need to, to make sure you stay in contact.  Next be honest about your timeline. If you can’t get back to someone until next Thursday, tell them that. If you honestly don’t know, tell them that. Give the writer a chance to say that they need it faster and they’ll find someone else.

The four variables involved are the writer, the beta, the story, and the day that the writer asks the beta for help. Any one, or more of those variables could make the job untenable. Writers and betas who have worked together for years might not be able to work on a story together for completely okay reasons. As long as everyone is honest, there should be no hurt feelings.

Hopefully, Nonnie, you and your beta will work things out!

[spnfanficpond]

(1/2) Hey Pondies! I have a question regarding a beta reader. I'm currently working on my second series, and a beta contacted me about working on said series. We chatted for a few hours and it seemed to be a good fit. However, while this person has access to the fic since early December, no work on their end has been done since before Christmas.

(2/2) I've reached out multiple times, and they have been promising to work on the fic at another time, life, family, ect. I've been trying to be understanding but, I'm at the point where I think I should just find another person to beta my fic, but I don't want to be rude or hurtful to the person who came to me asking to beta my fic. Any advice?

Michelle here - This is a tough one. As both a writer and a beta, I’ve been on both sides of this. The best way to deal with it is to just be honest.

I’m assuming you’ve already nudged them with gentle questions about when they may have time to look things over. If not, do that, first. If you have, then just say what you’re feeling, in the gentlest way possible. Make sure they know that you really appreciate them offering and doing this isn’t an easy decision.

“Hey there! I love that you wanted to beta read for me, but I think I need to ask someone who’s not so busy, right now. [Insert deadline here if you’ve got one, like for a bingo, OR...] I don’t want you to feel pressure, and I totally get being busy, but I’m just really anxious to get this posted. Maybe we can collaborate on another fic in the future when our schedules line up better?”

Just make sure that they know that there are no hard feelings, no blame assigned, just two people who want to work together but can’t, right now.

Hope this helps!!