I beg of you, please stop using only AFAB/AMAB to refer to female/male (gendered) readers. These terms were largely made by the trans community to explain the sex they were given at birth, not the gender they actually are.
I am not a woman, but I am AFAB and itās been a really shitty experience reading fics labeled with only āAFAB! readerā (which again, only designates anatomy) only to be slapped with fem terms, making me feel pretty uncomfortable.
Just to be clear:
AFAB/AMAB only refers to anatomy! THESE TERMS DO NOT DESCRIBE GENDER. (what pronouns are used, if theyāre called girlfriend/boyfriend etc) This means that when a reader is only marked as AMAB, that only means that reader has a dick, not that reader is a man. (And vice versa)
Please please please tag/label your fics accurately!! it may seem like a chore at times but itās really important as a reader to know what youāre getting into. Mark your readers as gn, fem, or masc; and if itās relevant to the fic (if anatomy is discussed): AFAB or AMAB
Sincerely, a trans person who really wants to read all your amazing fics without getting misgendered about it.
This post is a huge PSA for anyone writing X Reader content
You may not think this post applies to you, but it does.
There is a massive issue with inclusivity and assuming the audience. I have seen and personally experienced, time and time again, that me and many others feel as if we have no place in fandom. This specific part of it has to do with the majority of "x reader" content out there. It is all written for a cisgender (mostly heterosexual) white woman audience.
Now, cis white women getting content made for them is OBVIOUSLY not the issue here. People write for their personal interests, and there is nothing wrong with that. We all know this, and we all enjoy a fun story with our favorite characters centering around us.
The main issue here is the mentioned women not tagging their content properly, refusing to tag their content properly, straight up lying in the tags or not tagging things at all.
Trans men, nonbinary people, trans women, gay men, disabled people, fat people, intersex people and many people of color or non-american readers are constantly left out of fandom space and forgotten entirely. I've seen hundreds of complaints about it, and it needs to be spoken about more. While I'm on specifically talking about the fanfiction part of it, it is a VISIBLE issue in every fandom space you could possibly partake in. I don't even need to explain to you the rampant racism and transphobia in the cosplay community.
And the fix is extremely easy! TAG YOUR THINGS PROPERLY. It is the easiest, simplest form of allyship one could do for the community, and it goes miles. However, a lot of you seem to not understand how to, even if your heart is in the right place.
How to tag your fanfiction for the general audience:
- Specify the gender of the reader. This goes MUCH farther than just what pronouns are used. I've read WAY too many fanfics that tell me it is gender neutral, only to be hit with nicknames like "princess", or to be told the intended reader loves dresses and wears a bra.
- In tags or a prior description, mention every nickname used for the reader and every possibly gendered descriptor. It's really not difficult, and doesn't take too long.
- If necessary, mention what style of clothes the reader is specified to wear. And if this applies as well, specify any highlighted personality traits you gave the reader.
- Specify the body of the reader. This also goes much farther than gender. "Afab" and "amab" don't exactly cut it. Many people are triggered by certain words connected to genitals, so specify what words are used for those as well! Also, if you are trying to write a gender neutral body, PLEASE specify whether it is entirely gender neutral or something is implied. Many say it is gender neutral, and then explain how the reader's body self lubricates, or even has a clitoris. Please do better than that.
- For the love of God, do not automatically feminize the "GN afab" reader you wrote without a warning, and PLEASE MENTION if breasts are even spoken of, let alone used for smut reasons. And do NOT refer to someone's body as having "fem" or "male" genitalia. just say vagina or penis, please.
- Specify what body type you had in mind. Many fat or even slightly chubby individuals need to look for fanfiction that specifically caters to them, because "neutral body reader" writers, tend to not make it neutral. If you have any specifics on whatever you have written for the body mentioned, do tag it!
- Specify what sort of skin tone or hair texture is mentioned, if at all. Many POC complain that they read neutral fiction just to find straight hair, pale skin, light eyes, and blushing faces to be mentioned. If any color of the body is mentioned at all, or anything is implied, do say so! This also can go for specific things you may not think about, like how long it takes hair to dry, how easy it is to brush, hairstyles and other things of the sort.
It may seem like a bit of a list, but this is really the LEAST you can do for your community. We are consistently forgotten and ignored anywhere we go, and the simple things like this truly mean a lot.
- If there is an implied location, or anything to imply a place of origin, it's best to be on the safe side and mention that if it feels important.
- Please tag if you put the reader through, or mention a past traumatic event. Casually putting the reader character through things like an abusive ex, abusive parents, bad home or work life, or something like a car accident can be highly triggering. tag your scenes thoroughly! This also applies to putting the reader insert through something like sexist comments, unwanted touching of any kind, and similarly negative situations.
I cannot tell you the amount of times I've turned to fanfiction as an outlet and an escape, as many others have, just to be jumpscared by my favorite characters misgendering me. It's truly a miserable experience knowing no place is actually welcoming to me, or in the very least accommodating for people who aren't like them. This post is NOT meant to shame or send harassment to those who are forgetful, but ignorance is never a good thing to uphold. No one is asking you to write for an audience you don't want to, we just want to KNOW who you are writing for. Assuming an entire space is all one demographic is never, ever a good thing.
If you need help writing for a demographic you don't fully understand, just ask people who are a part of it how they would! Look at how other writers write and tag their content, and listen to anyone if they have necessary critiques. I wish you all happy writing! :]
Reblogs are highly appreciated, as this message needs to be spread as far as possible!
Terrifying realization: I want to be Known. Like famous. Not like uber famous. But well known.
I canāt tell if this is my genuine want, or only there because the people I look up to/who seen happy and successful are in some form well known and famous.
Like Iām not a monster and cruel and I feel upset when things happen to people but I went to a protest today and felt absolutely nothing the entire time. I was so apathetic. Horrible things are happening and I canāt feel a thing about them. I just want to escape this mess.
Iāve had the feeling that Iām a coward for a while. But truly this cements it to me. Intellectually I want to care and support others (and myself) in their fights for justice, but man I just canāt feel anything other than the despair of cognitive dissonance. I think I was disassociating on some level for most of it.
When there were speakers talking I just felt like this is all futile and useless. Well meaning, but talking isnāt action. We talk and talk and talk and do what. How does that actually fix our problems. I donāt think anyone is gonna listen at this point. They have no reason to. I want an assassination or something. Fucking anything.
Yes yes I know this is privilege. I am privileged. Frankly that only makes me feel worse.
im sorry but i really wish a lot of you x reader writers would learn that afab/amab are not stand in words for "cis female"/"cis male".
you can literally just say "fem reader" or "reader goes by she/her pronouns" when writing fics that aren't smut and not describing genitals because using AFAB in place of that makes no sense and is incorrect.
even when writing smut people know that the majority of the time if you just say "fem/male reader" it's a cis reader, whereas saying "afab/amab reader" alone does NOT imply gender (unless stated otherwise for trans readers) which is why people usually pair and assume gn terms and pronouns with it.
pls I promise you don't have to use terminology you see on here if you don't know what it means
Btw just in case anyone is reading these and worried for my well-being: Iām fine and mentally stable and well, this blog is for my darker thoughts and saddest/most upset moments (and those like āreblog for good thingā type posts) so it doesnāt show the full picture. Iāve actually been doing great :)
I love when leftists decide to get mad at liberals/anyone who is left leaning but may not be at the same understanding as them instead of the actual fascist running our country
Yesss guys you are helping so much!!! ššš¤Ŗ
Drink af lovin it. Underage drinking FTW. I love my friends even if theyāre doing cigarettes or some shit idk. Like I wish they werenāt but eh whatever man whatever. For some itās a phase or itās social but for one theyāve been thru it so like of course they have bad habits but I trust them to take care of it man and be safe. They better be safe or Iāll killem yk? I donāt like getting left out but in cases like this they know I wonāt enjoy it and i know I wonāt enjoy it so like. Nah Iām goo. I love them. Honestly kinda happy for the chance to sober up a little on my own. I better get more sober- feelin too sick. Not alcohol poisoning sick but sick ya feel? Ya dig,?
Forget dysphoria, have you ever felt the deep dread that a doomed hero must feel when you realize that at your very core youāre a creative person who likes to create more then anything else in the world on every levelā¦. Which means youāre either gonna have to push your core to the side to work or starve to death? Because Iām breaking down about that right now.
Obviously there are other ways but my god is it luck based. I frankly donāt feel like doing anything now. I donāt feel like feeding myself. I donāt want to live in a world where I will have to sideline my passion for the sake of literal survival (when the place I live in has so much excess right now)
I do love my dad a lot and he does love me a lot and itās really nice- he did like give some more apologetic and genuine thoughts and Iām feeling much better now it just was a reflex and bad timing. Thatās how relationships are. Sometimes someoneās an asshole, intentionally or not. What matters is how they deal with the aftermath of that (and if thereās changes in action afterwards.)
You Know The Oracle At Delphi? Iām The New Guy @theneworacleatdelphi - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
