TV FanFiction Thread

[wallflower75]

On 6/8/2022 at 9:17 AM, BlackberryJam said:

My chosen fandom (Jaime and Brienne/Game of Thrones/ASoIaF) is doing a fic exchange right now. So I'm sharing my thoughts on that. A good prompt for an exchange should inspire the writer. I've seen prompts that are "Book canon only, must include BAMF Stannis Baratheon, and Cersei having a love interest other than Jaime, but not Robert. There should be a hurt/comfort sex scene or an angry sex scene. The smut should happen after a sword fight. No Lady Stoneheart. Also, please have a scene of Oberyn flirting with Brienne while Jaime watches."

Clearly the prompter has something specific in mind, but that's way too specific to inspire someone. I've got my annoyed face on. 

Before I saw your second post, I thought, "good grief, who prompted that?"  Coming up with prompts is usually the toughest thing for me when I sign up for fic exchanges.  I worry about them being too specific, but I'm always afraid that if I go for something like you suggested--a few words, plus a setting--that it'll be too vague.  (I'm praying I hit the right balance this year.) (And if you got my prompts, sorry.)

4 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I don’t know how many people here interact with their fandoms (not just on AO3 but through other spaces like Reddit, Discord, Tumblr, or anything else I missed), but I’m really struggling because I feel like I don’t fit in with one of my fandoms and it bums me out even though it shouldn’t matter. I had high hopes when I came that I could make friends to discuss the show and fic writing with but it feels like I came “too late” in a way. A lot of people are already in cliques and groups, and it does not help that I don’t like the popular character and ship**. Even though people are mostly nice to me save one or two people, I don’t feel like I belong. It just makes me feel bad even though everyone has been surface level nice except for that one person. It definitely feels like if you don’t prefer the right things or write the write things or repeat the popular opinions that you’re on the outs.

Argh, sorry to hear that you're going through that.

[Cloud9Shopper]

2 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

Ok, that's just sad. I never understand lashing out at someone personally over something as inconsequential as a TV show. While I enjoy a little "shipping wars" back and forth, once I see people taking it too seriously I'm out of there. It's entertainment. It's meant to be fun. 

I eventually left the forums when it started getting toxic. it was like the Hunger Games up in there. Sadly, I also stopped writing. I'm trying to get back into it, but I'm struggling to find the right characters. There was something about House and Cuddy that just came so naturally to me that I haven't been able to recapture. 

I honestly didn’t know how intense people could be about characters and ships until I joined fandom. On top of the therapy remark I’ve been accused of not liking Abby because I must have issues or flaws that I’ve seen in her and I don’t like seeing them reflected back. I mean, way to assume? Or they tell me they’re upset I criticized her because they identify so strongly with her that they feel defensive when they see the character criticized. I’m sorry, but even if this was a character I liked…how is that healthy? You identify so much with a fictional person that you can’t cope when the character is criticized and you need to tell someone they just don’t understand the story? Sounds like I’m not the one with issues. How do you handle life if you shriek and melt down when someone doesn’t like your ship? 

My friend and I watch some of the same shows. I ship ships she doesn’t. I have never once thought to yell at her and tell her she’s wrong for not liking Max and Helen (New Amsterdam) or Mark and Elizabeth (ER). If someone is discussing SVU and says they don’t care about Liv and Elliot or they don’t want them as a couple it doesn’t impact me.

I am happy to report that I’ve not been told any of this on these boards at least. Most people I’ve talked to here are reasonable and don’t seem stuck on obsessive fandom behavior.  

41 minutes ago, wallflower75 said:

Argh, sorry to hear that you're going through that.

Thanks! I know at my age I shouldn’t be worried about it! But I think on some level we all do want to be liked and fit in. And it’s hard to feel rejected no matter how old you get I suppose! 

Edited June 11, 2022 by Cloud9Shopper

[Mabinogia]

11 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

But I think on some level we all do want to be liked and fit in.

And that is kind of the whole point of fandom, to find a group of people who like the same thing you do (same show, not necessarily same Ship) and being a part of the group. 

I have always written fanfic, not always on paper, sometimes just acted out in my bedroom, with my dolls, sometimes written out. I was an only child with some social anxiety so I spend much of my childhood keeping myself entertained. I started sharing my fics when I found a forum of people who liked what I liked and I thought, oh, they might enjoy my take on this couple. Many of them did. Some of them didn't. I was lucky in that most of those who didn't left it at "I don't really like that pairing" which made me internally think "then why did you read it? My penname is literally an amalgamation of those two characters so you had to know where it was headed?"

For a while I did fall down the rabbit hole of arguing with the other side of what became a very intense Shipper War but then I realized it was taking away the joy I got from writing and eventually I left. I am back to fanficing for just myself (since I tend to have very peculiar tastes) and I'm happy with that. Though I do really miss the feedback. :( 

I think the greatest compliment I ever got was, I had written something for the characters that ended up happening the next season on the show. A few people were like "OMG they used your idea!" Which, seriously would have been amazing! But I like to think I just got those characters so well I thought like the writers did which was such a great feeling. Though if they did take my idea, I want my royalties. Or a job writing for tele, I'd take that instead. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

22 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

And that is kind of the whole point of fandom, to find a group of people who like the same thing you do (same show, not necessarily same Ship) and being a part of the group. 

I have always written fanfic, not always on paper, sometimes just acted out in my bedroom, with my dolls, sometimes written out. I was an only child with some social anxiety so I spend much of my childhood keeping myself entertained. I started sharing my fics when I found a forum of people who liked what I liked and I thought, oh, they might enjoy my take on this couple. Many of them did. Some of them didn't. I was lucky in that most of those who didn't left it at "I don't really like that pairing" which made me internally think "then why did you read it? My penname is literally an amalgamation of those two characters so you had to know where it was headed?"

For a while I did fall down the rabbit hole of arguing with the other side of what became a very intense Shipper War but then I realized it was taking away the joy I got from writing and eventually I left. I am back to fanficing for just myself (since I tend to have very peculiar tastes) and I'm happy with that. Though I do really miss the feedback. :( 

Yeah there are definitely some times where I think about telling off a big name fan (BNF going forward) and then I realize it’s not going to be worth it because most everyone will side with her and she has enough reputation that so many of her opinions are seen as correct and people flock to her, etc. Plus…is it really worth it anyway to get into it with someone who’s over 40 years old (yes, really) and has a meltdown if someone sees her ship in a less than positive light? I just suppress myself, DM people who agree with me, and think of how pitiful it is that someone who’s 40something years old is still screaming on Tumblr if someone says something “wrong” about the ship and never stopped obsessing about a fictional couple like it’s 2007. I think at that point I wonder if they just have other life issues and are hiding behind them in fandom. 

*I’m not saying you can’t have hobbies and obsessions at a certain age, but I think the way you conduct yourself matters. You shouldn’t be 45 and still carrying on like you’re 15 because someone doesn’t ship your ship or saw it differently than you. 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Cloud9Shopper

[Blergh]

  I've done some Boy Meets World/ Girl Meets World fanfiction stories including one in which Shawn revisits the issue of considering his bio mother's fate after Katy gets unexpected news about hers and, in my stories, Riley winds up becoming a sincere friend and likable person. If anyone's interested, you're welcome to PM me and I'll give you the link. 

[BlackberryJam]

On 6/12/2022 at 8:13 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

*I’m not saying you can’t have hobbies and obsessions at a certain age, but I think the way you conduct yourself matters. You shouldn’t be 45 and still carrying on like you’re 15 because someone doesn’t ship your ship or saw it differently than you. 

I absolutely feel this way about some sports fanatics. I'm a big sports fan, but if you are painting your face, shouting at strangers and getting tattoos of your favorite team, you're no different than people getting into internet fights about fictional couples.

[Cloud9Shopper]

7 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

I absolutely feel this way about some sports fanatics. I'm a big sports fan, but if you are painting your face, shouting at strangers and getting tattoos of your favorite team, you're no different than people getting into internet fights about fictional couples.

I was kind of an intense sports fan when I was younger, but I didn’t do the tattoos or paint my face that often. (Only when they had the booth at the hockey game.) Ah good memories of traveling to watch my favorite team play and meet minor league hockey players LOL. I’m in my late 30s now and kind of lost interest in being a hugely devoted fan over the last few years, plus life happened, so now I just go to about 10-12 hockey games a year and skip all the autograph parties and road trips and fan club stuff. 

I did realize that part of why I don’t fit with my one fandom in is that I’m just not intense enough. I’m not finishing a watch of ER and then immediately starting over and keeping it on a loop all the time. I don’t strongly identify with a character or who I ship or get ragey when someone criticizes what I do ship. I read someone say the other night that cliques tend to form faster in smaller fandoms and people cling tighter to their canon interpretation and headcanons, and it made sense with some of the nastiness and intensity that’s happened that’s turned me off.

I’m in the SVU fandom too and maybe because it’s larger (over 15,000 fics on AO3) and there’s a few different popular ships but I’ve never experienced the hostility and exclusion that I’ve gotten in ER spaces. It’s unfortunate because I love most of the series but it’s so frustrating to see someone who’s such a bully carry so much weight and pick on others who write what she doesn’t like. 

[ESS]

15 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I’m in the SVU fandom too and maybe because it’s larger (over 15,000 fics on AO3) and there’s a few different popular ships but I’ve never experienced the hostility and exclusion that I’ve gotten in ER spaces. It’s unfortunate because I love most of the series but it’s so frustrating to see someone who’s such a bully carry so much weight and pick on others who write what she doesn’t like. 

I was in the SVU for quite a while years in fact, but not anymore and trust me when I tell you there was a lot of nastiness there too and I definitely experienced shipping wars and all that you mention in your post. That said I think every fandom has the drama and toxicity it just depends on the fandom and whose in it I think there could be less or more.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Thinking it’s time for a break from writing once I get up a few ideas in the pipeline.

For me personally, I just can’t keep going if the engagement isn’t there, and right now, it’s not. Even when a fic is popular with plenty of hits and kudos, very few people (if anyone) bother leaving a comment. I also kind of feel like no one really cares about what I write but they spend time praising other writers’ talent. Even that one bully in the ER fandom is told how talented she is and gets compliments that make her cry. If no one (or very few people) care what I write, then why bother? I thought about deleting my ER fics because the cliques she runs and how much influence she has drive me so nuts. 

I think I’m going to work on the few fics I have in the pipeline and shut it down for a while once they’re posted. Or just work on the rewrite of my longfic but keep it to myself until I’m truly finished. Engagement matters to me, and if I’m not getting it, I lose motivation. I’m happy for those who can write without it. But it’s not how I work. 

Edited June 22, 2022 by Cloud9Shopper

[ESS]

On 6/22/2022 at 9:38 AM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Thinking it’s time for a break from writing once I get up a few ideas in the pipeline.

For me personally, I just can’t keep going if the engagement isn’t there, and right now, it’s not. Even when a fic is popular with plenty of hits and kudos, very few people (if anyone) bother leaving a comment. I also kind of feel like no one really cares about what I write but they spend time praising other writers’ talent. Even that one bully in the ER fandom is told how talented she is and gets compliments that make her cry. If no one (or very few people) care what I write, then why bother? I thought about deleting my ER fics because the cliques she runs and how much influence she has drive me so nuts. 

I think I’m going to work on the few fics I have in the pipeline and shut it down for a while once they’re posted. Or just work on the rewrite of my longfic but keep it to myself until I’m truly finished. Engagement matters to me, and if I’m not getting it, I lose motivation. I’m happy for those who can write without it. But it’s not how I work. 

I know how you feel trust me, I feel your pain. I'm going through the same thing with my multi chaptered long fic I'm writing at the moment. I'm kind of stalled on it I know where I want it to go and all, but my motivation isn't there and I would delete it, but I have a few readers still so I don't want to do that to them and I do want to finish it so I'm gonna keep on trying I at least have one chapter done, it's just the other one and plus I've been distracted for a while now with something else which I love doing as well. I hope I can somehow get my motivation back somehow, but with the fandom and the couple I ship it's hard because they aren't popular and so underrated and the more popular couple who gets all the amazingly written fanfiction is the couple I hate which doesn't help my get my motivation back either because every time I go onto FFN that couple is all I see and it makes me sad and angry they get all of the great fanfiction while my couple hasn't really gotten any just one shots and just a few drabbles - save mine, it's really the first and only story that has my couple as the main focus.

[Ceindreadh]

@Cloud9Shopper @ESS

I've been where both of you are with regard to lacking motivation.

And it doesn't help when you're writing in less active fandoms. 

I know people will say "write for yourself and not other people" and while that's not a bad thing, the truth is that as a fic writer, I crave the feedback and acknowledgment that I get from readers. 

Are there any other fandoms you feel you might want to write it? 

I keep thinking that maybe I should pick a new more active fandom and start writing in it, but I just haven't found one yet that appeals to me that much. 

[Annber03]

9 minutes ago, Ceindreadh said:

I know people will say "write for yourself and not other people" and while that's not a bad thing, the truth is that as a fic writer, I crave the feedback and acknowledgment that I get from readers. 

And there's nothing wrong with that, but yeah, if that's the only reason, or the main reason, one is writing fic, then yes, that makes it that much easier for them to get discouraged when the feedback isn't rolling in like they hoped. The fact is that readership and reviews are a crapshoot, and there's very little most, if not all, authors can do to control it. So it does help to have other motivating reasons to keep going, if one still wants to keep writing. 

And alongside the fact that writing for a less-popular/well-known ship or fandom can affect one's chances of getting feedback, there's also the fact that it's summertime. People are outside, they're on vacation, they may have summer jobs. Or, in the areas of the world where it's wintertime, people will have school and other things keeping them busy as well. People talk all the time about how readers need to remember writers have lives outside of fanfic, and that is absolutely true. But so is the reverse. Readers have lives, too. And the longer the work one writes, the more time a reader may need to figure out how to set aside to be able to properly read and enjoy the fic. 

And then there's all the other reasons people aren't commenting as much nowadays to consider, too, but yeah. Like I said above, it's a crapshoot. 

Maybe we can all offer up recommendations of potentially more active fandoms for people to check out if they want to jump into writing for one of those :). There may be some out there some of us here haven't even considered yet or something. 

[ESS]

15 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

@Cloud9Shopper @ESS

I've been where both of you are with regard to lacking motivation.

And it doesn't help when you're writing in less active fandoms. 

Are there any other fandoms you feel you might want to write it? 

I don't know if I'd want to go into the fandom simply because I'm one that gets into a fandom and then I'll gravitate towards the non popular/underrated characters or in this case the couple (if there is one) and then if I were to write something on them then the issues would start all over again with lack of motivation after a while and everything I'm going through now with the couple I'm writing if I were one that loved all of the popular ships/couples/pairing then I think I'd be more happy to join some new fandoms, but that's not the case I've always been one to go towards the unpopular/underrated couples/ships/pairings it's just the way I've always been don't know why it's just the way I'm so I don't think going into a new fandom for me would work in my case, plus I love the couple I'm writing for anyway. My fandom I'm writing is pretty active it's just the couple I'm writing for that isn't that's my problem. 

[ESS]

15 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

@Cloud9Shopper @ESS

I know people will say "write for yourself and not other people" and while that's not a bad thing, the truth is that as a fic writer, I crave the feedback and acknowledgment that I get from readers. 

I've definitely heard that before and you're right it doesn't help when the couple/pairings/ship you love isn't written much if at all by others and I for sure love feedback especially the great comments which I have gotten thank goodness, but since I haven't updated in a while the comments haven't been there, but that said when I do update a few of my readers will be happy I think it's just I wish I didn't have to do the fanfiction all alone if that makes sense I feel I'm all alone with and it doesn't help that basically all of the people who wrote for this couple I'm writing on now are gone from FFN so it's very frustrating for me in those terms as well.

[ESS]

I've been able to get out of my motivation funk that I've been in for months now and get some more writing done on my chapter I've stalled on so I'm glad about that because this has been the longest break I've taken on the story since I started it a few years ago. The chapter isn't by any means finished, but it's progress and getting there slowly and hopefully will be finished ASAP. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I’m having kind of a nice, first-time moment with one of my fics that I posted a few days ago. It only has a couple of kudos but I’ve liked it so much that I find myself reading my own writing, which I’ve never really done before. Or if I do I have a hard time being proud of it. So it feels good to believe I’m a 10, so to speak.

I kind of want to share the love now, so here’s the story. It’s not done yet but I’m hoping to post Part 2 on Tuesday! Non-concrit (constructive criticism) comments welcome! 

FYI, this story is about a concussion but it’s not graphic. Still, no pressure if you don’t want to click! 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40415463/chapters/101243403

[festivus]

On 7/22/2022 at 9:07 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I’m having kind of a nice, first-time moment with one of my fics that I posted a few days ago. It only has a couple of kudos but I’ve liked it so much that I find myself reading my own writing, which I’ve never really done before.

I can relate to this. I honestly thought I'd never read my own fics again after I wrote them but I did it just now because after almost three years, I think I'm ready to write another.

They're pretty good, y'all. Lol. I actually enjoyed my own stories and I'm shocked. I didn't remember they were so funny. I'm an artist and I don't feel any insecurity about my art but my writing is a different story.  

[ESS]

On 7/22/2022 at 10:07 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I’m having kind of a nice, first-time moment with one of my fics that I posted a few days ago. It only has a couple of kudos but I’ve liked it so much that I find myself reading my own writing, which I’ve never really done before. Or if I do I have a hard time being proud of it. So it feels good to believe I’m a 10, so to speak.

I too have done this, but I'm conflicted after I read I don't hate it, but I also feel weird too I'd rather read something that's not my own and new especially with the couple I'm writing for at the moment. I'm not saying I'm not a great writer I think I'm, but since this couple I'm into doesn't have a lot of stories writing on them as it's hard to read my own story when it's really the only that's there that's a main focus and not just a short drabble or one shot which all of them are except for mine. 

[ESS]

Well my chapter is going great still as I've been writing a lot on it, but my issue is I don't know how I want to end the chapter though I have a few ideas I guess, but it's not a done deal type of thing and the chapter is already pretty lengthy at the moment, so I'm frustrated a bit. 

[ESS]

Well I've finally updated my story again with some new chapters!! I'm proud of myself because it took a while, but it was worth it at least in my opinion. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

Happy 2023 fanfic writers! What are everyone’s goals and ideas this year? 

[Annber03]

Nice to see this thread pop up again :). 

I actually finished a one-shot for a fandom recently ("Ghosts"). Haven't posted it yet, 'cause I'm still seeing if there's any remaining things I need to tinker with in regards to it, but I'm planning to get it posted soon. I have a few other fics I've been working on for that fandom that I've been talking about with some people, getting some good feedback and comments and suggestions. 

I'd like to post more often this year in general, that would be a main goal of mine. I feel like my fic posting is often so sporadic in general, so it'd be nice to actually finish and post a few more things I've been working on. 

Look forward to hearing about what everyone else is working on or wants to work on or whatever, and what fandoms they're really into at the moment and so on. 

[ESS]

Well sadly my motivation is down again for my story and it doesn't help that I've been so distracted lately with other personal things going on so I haven't done much writing on the chapter I've already started that said of course with my couple being so unpopular and underrated that doesn't help my motivation to come back either. Hopefully I'll get back into it again soon. 😢 Writing is so hard!! 😭 

[ESS]

Good news I've gotten a spark of motivation suddenly on my story so I'm taking advantage of it and starting to writing again which I'm happy about so I hope I can at least finish the chapter I've been stalling on for a while now and maybe even continue on with the next chapter. ❤️🤞

[Annber03]

Good luck with the fic writing! Glad you're getting some inspiration going.

I'm working on a bunch of fics, too, a lot of one shots. Hoping to get one completed and published soon, just a matter of which one it'll be :p. My current fandom is just giving me too many ideas!

[ESS]

6 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Good luck with the fic writing! Glad you're getting some inspiration going.

I'm working on a bunch of fics, too, a lot of one shots. Hoping to get one completed and published soon, just a matter of which one it'll be :p. My current fandom is just giving me too many ideas!

Thanks! And good luck to you too with your stories/one shots and I know how that is with the ideas I still have a lot of ideas for my current story I'm working on and I have them all saved and written down although every time I think I'm done with ideas I think of more with my couple they didn't get too many scenes nor scenes that I wanted for them so it's really fun to just imagine what I want for them and write it how I see fit because they didn't get in canon. 

[ESS]

Well I think I'm finally going to be wrapping up another chapter on my long multi chaptered story I've been working onfor the last few years now, but I'm stll just so frustrated and sad that I want to cry honestly because It's so hard writing for rare pairs when everyone else tends to love/like the more popular couples to which they get all the wonderful, amazing long comments and what's worse is that I didn't even get a single comment on my last posted chapter over at wattpad 😭Sometime I feel like giving up on the story and thinking it's not worth it to continue on even though I do have a few fans of it. I know I'm mainly writing for myself which of course I was at first because I love this couple so much and they barely got much screen time at all and when they did I didn't like much of what I saw and what we got on screen and they are the only couple I ship on this show as well, but on the other hand I love comments too. 

[Annber03]

I've never been on Wattpad, so I don't know what the commenting culture is like on there in general, but from what I've heard on various fanfic-related sites, commenting in general is just down across the board, for a whole host of reasons. And with WIP fics, it's always going to be lower, because a lot of readers have talked about how they don't comment on, or even read, WIP fics until they know the fic's been completed. They don't want to take the risk of getting into a fic that may get abandoned.

(Mind, I've always felt that was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, sort of like the people who refuse to watch a show until they're sure it gets renewed for a second season...and of course, it doesn't get renewed, because, well, nobody watched the first season. But yeah, readers don't want to read unfinished fics, authors get unhappy that nobody's reading their yet to be finished fics, so they stop writing them, thus leaving readers with...unfinished fics, and round and round we go. But still, yeah, logical or not, that's the general attitude people seem to have about WIP fics.)

And yes, if one's writing a raerpair, that's going to make things even tougher. Plus, I don't know what fandom you're writing for, but if it's one that doesn't get a lot of online buzz in general or doesn't have a huge online fandom presence in general. especially in certain fanfic areas, then it doesn't matter how popular or rare the pairing is, it's going to be hard to get attention. 

But yeah, if you're enjoying writing the story in and of itself, if you've got story ideas for this pairing that you want to tell, then indeed, keep at it. I am glad that there's a few people out there who appreciate your fic and the pairing in question :). Hopefully with time more people will discover the story, too. 

[ESS]

On 8/29/2023 at 11:05 PM, Annber03 said:

I've never been on Wattpad, so I don't know what the commenting culture is like on there in general, but from what I've heard on various fanfic-related sites, commenting in general is just down across the board, for a whole host of reasons. And with WIP fics, it's always going to be lower, because a lot of readers have talked about how they don't comment on, or even read, WIP fics until they know the fic's been completed. They don't want to take the risk of getting into a fic that may get abandoned.

(Mind, I've always felt that was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, sort of like the people who refuse to watch a show until they're sure it gets renewed for a second season...and of course, it doesn't get renewed, because, well, nobody watched the first season. But yeah, readers don't want to read unfinished fics, authors get unhappy that nobody's reading their yet to be finished fics, so they stop writing them, thus leaving readers with...unfinished fics, and round and round we go. But still, yeah, logical or not, that's the general attitude people seem to have about WIP fics.)

And yes, if one's writing a raerpair, that's going to make things even tougher. Plus, I don't know what fandom you're writing for, but if it's one that doesn't get a lot of online buzz in general or doesn't have a huge online fandom presence in general. especially in certain fanfic areas, then it doesn't matter how popular or rare the pairing is, it's going to be hard to get attention. 

But yeah, if you're enjoying writing the story in and of itself, if you've got story ideas for this pairing that you want to tell, then indeed, keep at it. I am glad that there's a few people out there who appreciate your fic and the pairing in question :). Hopefully with time more people will discover the story, too. 

 

Wattpad I guess isn't a commenting type of site I guess you could say because there's an option where you can just vote on a chapter instead of actually commenting, but I guess because I'm and was always so used to FFN's system that I was expecting comments more than votes when I first joined the site and I'm just not used to still even though I've been on wattpad for quite awhile now. 

Yeah I've heard this about WIP fics as well, but it's still upsetting for me you know and I don't like it because it just makes no sense to me really. I don't want to be one of those writers who abandons my story because honestly I hate when writers do that myself, but it's just frustrating and upsetting. 

As for the fandom I'm writing for it's not the fandom itself that's small or inactive (it's quite active  considering the show isn't on the air anymore and hasn't been for years) it's the rair pair I'm writing for that's the issue sadly and unfortunately. There's a main couple that everyone in the fandom is writing for that I hate and cannot stand and plus the ones that were writing for my rare pair are gone from FFN and have been for years now and so I'm the only one writing for this couple so I feel quite alone in that aspect and I hate it. There's also another couple that was also a main couple on this show that a lot of people wrote for as well, but they aren't as popular as the main couple, but still this other couple is definitely more written about than my couple especially since this other couple was there first before breaking up and I also hate this other couple as well because they were always are so toxic in my honest opinion (despite what others think they weren't always toxic) and I can't stand those kinds of couples and of course I think the main couple was/is also toxic and that's the main reason why I can't stand neither of them.

By the way the fandom I'm writing for is SOA (Sons Of Anarchy) and the couple is Gemma & Nero in case your wondering. 💓 I've been writing my story on them for a few years now (almost 4) which is shocking and amazing because I've never written a story this long before so it's quite an acomplishment for me I think. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by ESS

[Annber03]

21 hours ago, ESS said:

Wattpad I guess isn't a commenting type of site I guess you could say because there's an option where you can just vote on a chapter instead of actually commenting, but I guess because I'm and was always so used to FFN's system that I was expecting comments more than votes when I first joined the site and I'm just not used to still even though I've been on wattpad for quite awhile now. 

Ahhhhhh, okay. Yeah, I think that's another big reason commenting is a lot more hit and miss on various fanfic sites nowadays - so many of them are set up almost like social media, where you can just click a button to show you liked something, so a lot of people become conditioned to doing that and don't really think to stop and leave a comment as a result. 

That, and so many people read on their phones nowadays, and usually are doing so while traveling or on breaks at work/school or things of that sort, and that doesn't offer a lot of free time to read and comment, and some people might not like the idea of typing out a comment on their phone (I leave pretty lengthy reviews in my fandoms, so I would find it very taxing typing all that out on a phone. I much prefer using my laptop for that).

Quote

Yeah I've heard this about WIP fics as well, but it's still upsetting for me you know and I don't like it because it just makes no sense to me really. 

I don't really get it, either, both for the reason I noted above about how it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts and also because I really just do not get bothered by WIP/abandoned fics the way so many seem to. Sure, if I was really enjoying a fic that hadn't updated in some time, I'd wonder what would've happened next, but I would never feel like I wasted all that time reading it just because it wasn't finished. A good fic is a good fic, finished or not. 

And if I do read a fic that's yet to be finished, and enjoyed it, I always make a point of saying so. If it inspires the author to come back to the fic, awesome, but if not, that's okay, too - if nothing else, hopefully they're happy to hear that someone still enjoyed their fic :). 

Plus, I mean, isn't part of the appeal, if not the MAIN appeal, of fanfic is imagining what happened next in canon, whether the canon is completed or not? If people are willing to get that imaginative with unfinished canons, I don't get why they can't seem to extend that same imaginative speculation to a WIP. 

*Shrugs* I dunno. That's my take on that. 

As for your fandom, oof, yeah, that does sound rough - it's tough enough when a pairing you don't like is getting all the attention, but to lose other fellow writers for your ship besides? That sucks. Are there any online fandom spaces that might have some opportunity for you to meet and connect with other fans of your ship? A Discord, or a Tumblr, or something? 

[ESS]

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Ahhhhhh, okay. Yeah, I think that's another big reason commenting is a lot more hit and miss on various fanfic sites nowadays - so many of them are set up almost like social media, where you can just click a button to show you liked something, so a lot of people become conditioned to doing that and don't really think to stop and leave a comment as a result. 

That, and so many people read on their phones nowadays, and usually are doing so while traveling or on breaks at work/school or things of that sort, and that doesn't offer a lot of free time to read and comment, and some people might not like the idea of typing out a comment on their phone (I leave pretty lengthy reviews in my fandoms, so I would find it very taxing typing all that out on a phone. I much prefer using my laptop for that).

Yeah I hate the way fanfiction is looked at nowadays like social media and I hate social media so I'm more used to people commenting you know like it was in the old days I guess you could say. I don't use my phone a lot for fanfiction either especially when I'm writing because you it's hard for me to type all that out especially because my chapters in my story at the moemt are quite so I definitely use my computer for that among other things. 

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I don't really get it, either, both for the reason I noted above about how it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts and also because I really just do not get bothered by WIP/abandoned fics the way so many seem to. Sure, if I was really enjoying a fic that hadn't updated in some time, I'd wonder what would've happened next, but I would never feel like I wasted all that time reading it just because it wasn't finished. A good fic is a good fic, finished or not. 

And if I do read a fic that's yet to be finished, and enjoyed it, I always make a point of saying so. If it inspires the author to come back to the fic, awesome, but if not, that's okay, too - if nothing else, hopefully they're happy to hear that someone still enjoyed their fic :). 

Plus, I mean, isn't part of the appeal, if not the MAIN appeal, of fanfic is imagining what happened next in canon, whether the canon is completed or not? If people are willing to get that imaginative with unfinished canons, I don't get why they can't seem to extend that same imaginative speculation to a WIP. 

*Shrugs* I dunno. That's my take on that. 

Yeah I've read and have read a lot of unfinished stories and I don't know why and I'm not gonna lie I do get upset when it's an amazing story and it's not finished. 

Yes I agree with you that is what fanfiction is all about or it can be non canon stuff too it just depends, but it's frustrating when a lot of people don't read WIP because they aren't completed or they think it won't so they don't read it. I'm not one of those writers who would do that with my story although not gonna lie it's hard with mine because of the couple I'm writing for as I explained above that I've wanted to give up several times already especially recently, but something just always pulls me back into it you know

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

As for your fandom, oof, yeah, that does sound rough - it's tough enough when a pairing you don't like is getting all the attention, but to lose other fellow writers for your ship besides? That sucks. Are there any online fandom spaces that might have some opportunity for you to meet and connect with other fans of your ship? A Discord, or a Tumblr, or something? 

It definitely is rough for sure! I'm not exaggerating at all and as for other places for my couple and my fanfic - trust me I've tried everything I can to get more readers(plus any new readers) and more exposer, but it hasn't really worked at all. In addition it doesn't help that the character is so hated by the majority of the fandom as well because what she did and how she was and Nero is hated by association in the fandom because of the fact that he dated Gemma so that also makes it rougher for me as well, but I didn't see her as a bad person or how the majority of the fandom did and still does to this day I loved both her and Nero as characters and I fall in love with them as a couple too so I took upon myself to  write on them because they were (and are) so underrated as a couple in fanfiction and in everything else and were also treated horribly in canon by everyone 😭 and I'm pretty sure that if I didn't that no one else would write for them and my story on them is the only one on FFN that is multi chaptered, they only have one shots over there sadly. Anyway to me they were (and are) a beautiful couple and I'll never stop loving or shipping them I don't care what anyone says. 💓 I know SOA wasn't exactly a romantic type of show literally, but I just wish my couple wasn't treated as they were because there was nothing bad nor wrong about them at all they had everything in their relationship (And everything that I loved) and I wish more people loved them and they weren't hated so much and I think it's ridiculous and stupid the reasons they are hated by the fandom. 

Just curious do you read fandom blind stuff by chance?

Edited August 31, 2023 by ESS

[partofme]

I don't watch SOA, but I think if you enjoy writing you should keep at it.  I only read fanfic and don't write(I tried writing for a while around 04-05 but I'm not a good writer) and the fandom I currently read is somewhat obscure (its a british murder mystery I discovered during the pandemic) and the show has been off the air 8 years now, and there are maybe 2(or 1? but i hope its still 2) somewhat active writers for the canon pairing that I read on ff.net and sometimes there are several reviewers but often I'm the only one reviewing and I don't always feel like reviewing every chapter, I don't always like every chapter, but I always find something positive to review about every chapter because if I don't there may be no one reviewing and I want these people to keep writing.  I've been tempted to try to get an AI to write fanfic for me but chatgpt wants my phone number so I've been leary of doing that. 

[ESS]

2 hours ago, partofme said:

I don't watch SOA, but I think if you enjoy writing you should keep at it.  I only read fanfic and don't write(I tried writing for a while around 04-05 but I'm not a good writer) and the fandom I currently read is somewhat obscure (its a british murder mystery I discovered during the pandemic) and the show has been off the air 8 years now, and there are maybe 2(or 1? but i hope its still 2) somewhat active writers for the canon pairing that I read on ff.net and sometimes there are several reviewers but often I'm the only one reviewing and I don't always feel like reviewing every chapter, I don't always like every chapter, but I always find something positive to review about every chapter because if I don't there may be no one reviewing and I want these people to keep writing.  I've been tempted to try to get an AI to write fanfic for me but chatgpt wants my phone number so I've been leary of doing that. 

I do enjoy my couple I love them so much, but it's just frustrating because they are a rare pair and they aren't popular and I hate that. 

[partofme]

It's really tough but I think you should keep at it as long as you enjoy the writing and only quit when Its no longer fun for you.  If you're enjoying writing it maybe there are people that are hoping you'll post but just aren't reviewing, which I know is really frustrating if that's what's happening.  

[ESS]

5 minutes ago, partofme said:

It's really tough but I think you should keep at it as long as you enjoy the writing and only quit when Its no longer fun for you.  If you're enjoying writing it maybe there are people that are hoping you'll post but just aren't reviewing, which I know is really frustrating if that's what's happening.  

Actually you could say it's both of those things I have a few fans of the story, but on the flip side a lot don't really review either. I've gotten more support on one site than the other as well which I guess isn't nescessarily a bad thing. 

[Annber03]

21 hours ago, ESS said:

Yeah I hate the way fanfiction is looked at nowadays like social media and I hate social media so I'm more used to people commenting you know like it was in the old days I guess you could say. I don't use my phone a lot for fanfiction either especially when I'm writing because you it's hard for me to type all that out especially because my chapters in my story at the moemt are quite so I definitely use my computer for that among other things. 

And unfortunately that's not just relegated to fanfiction sites - so much of what's done online nowadays in general is more social media oriented, there's very little room for proper full on discussion about things. Which might explain some of the fighting and drama and whatnot you see in so many online spaces - hard to really understand each other and hear each other out when there's so little room for an actual proper conversation. 

But yeah. I definitely think that explains a lot about why the commenting culture has changed in fanfic circles.  

Quote

 

It definitely is rough for sure! I'm not exaggerating at all and as for other places for my couple and my fanfic - trust me I've tried everything I can to get more readers(plus any new readers) and more exposer, but it hasn't really worked at all. In addition it doesn't help that the character is so hated by the majority of the fandom as well because what she did and how she was and Nero is hated by association in the fandom because of the fact that he dated Gemma so that also makes it rougher for me as well, but I didn't see her as a bad person or how the majority of the fandom did and still does to this day I loved both her and Nero as characters and I fall in love with them as a couple too so I took upon myself to  write on them because they were (and are) so underrated as a couple in fanfiction and in everything else and were also treated horribly in canon by everyone 😭 and I'm pretty sure that if I didn't that no one else would write for them and my story on them is the only one on FFN that is multi chaptered, they only have one shots over there sadly. Anyway to me they were (and are) a beautiful couple and I'll never stop loving or shipping them I don't care what anyone says. 💓 I know SOA wasn't exactly a romantic type of show literally, but I just wish my couple wasn't treated as they were because there was nothing bad nor wrong about them at all they had everything in their relationship (And everything that I loved) and I wish more people loved them and they weren't hated so much and I think it's ridiculous and stupid the reasons they are hated by the fandom. 

Just curious do you read fandom blind stuff by chance?

 

Ooooooooh, yeah, that doesn't help matters, either, when it's a character/pairing that is actively disliked. It's one thing to ship a pairing that just isn't as popular - nobody dislikes them or anything like that, they just don't seem to spark as much fic potential for much of the fandom, for whatever reason. 

But when they are actively not liked by certain corners of the fandom, that does indeed make things tougher. It's always interesting to see which characters' sins and bad acts are overlooked and which ones are hated no matter what they do. You can see some obvious patterns in some of those attitudes sometimes, but even then, it's still interesting to see how each individual fandom responds to stuff like that. 

But yeah, if this ship has captured you the way you say it has, then ship them all you want and write as much fic about them as you wish :). It's so funny how people react to ships in fandom - sometimes people write a ship not even because they personally are rooting for that couple to have a happy ever after or whatever, they write a ship just because hey, there's an interesting story to explore here. It doesn't have to be any deeper than that.

And then there's people like you, who genuinely are invested in these kinds of ships that others don't get the appeal of, and that's fine, too! Like, seriously, from what little I know about SOA, for anyone to get judgey about any characters or relationships in that show seems kind of...hypocritical? It's totally fine for people to have their preferences and like some pairings more than others, but to dunk on people who like one because of reasons x, y, z - well, they'd better hope nobody scrutinizes their favorite pairing in turn, you know? 'Cause I'm sure they could find plenty to nitpick and criticize about them, too. I mean, hell, I've got pairings I adore  and I'm willing to acknowledge they've got flaws and imperfections. That's part of what makes them interesting to me. 

I just don't get the judging among fans when it comes to shipping. It's such a weird thing to get on some high horse about. 

I do sometimes read fandom blind stuff, yes :). Like stated above, I've got a very general/basic idea of what SOA is about and whatnot, and I've heard of some of the characters. That's about the extent of my knowledge, mind, but still. 

14 hours ago, partofme said:

often I'm the only one reviewing and I don't always feel like reviewing every chapter, I don't always like every chapter, but I always find something positive to review about every chapter because if I don't there may be no one reviewing and I want these people to keep writing.  

 I like to review chapter by chapter, too. Partly for the reasons you note - I want to encourage and support the writers whose fics I like - and partly because I'm afraid that if I wait until the end of the fic to review, I'll forget to mention something I liked. It's much easier to comment on everything I liked about a story if I do it chapter by chapter :D. 

[ESS]

Well I’ve posted up my next chapter of my story which would be 25 and I’ve already started 26 a bit. I ended 25 with another cliffhanger which I was debating on because I hate cliffhangers, but in the end I did it anyway. I’m beta-ing my story myself, but I think I’m horrible at it because I missed some minor mistakes that I had to go back and correct once I posted it and I hate when I have to do that. I wish I had someone else to look over my story, but on the other hand I did have someone and it just didn’t work out. Honestly sometimes betas are a good thing and sometimes not and in my opinion I think you should be on the same page with things especially who you ship/love when working with the other person or else it’s really not going to work and I think that was my main problem with my beta sure they loved Gemma/Nero, but they also liked/loved the main couple on the show that I hate and I was basically forced to put them into my story because they are the most popular one (in other words it wasn’t by my choice although I put them in because they were apart of the show I basically was trying to make others happy including my beta and I caved which I shouldn’t have) and I’m never ever doing that again, I’ve learned my lesson! 

[Annber03]

Yeah, you should never be forced to put something in your fic you don't want in there or which has no relevance in there just to make some random group of people happy. Partly because readers will be able to tell when something's put into a story because the author wants it there versus them being forced to put it there, and partly because, well, obviously...it's YOUR fic. Not theirs. You should write it the way you want and include the characters/pairings you want. Betas are great in terms of being able to help with plot holes or spelling/grammar errors or sorting out wrinkles in a storyline or things of that sort, but they should never be there to make the author write a whole different story than the one they wanted to write. 

So yeah, hopefully you can find a beta that actually wants to help with your story and doesn't bring their pairing biases into the mix. And sometimes it helps to have a beta who's in the fandom and one who isn't, because the fandom one can obviously help with fandom specific things, but sometimes an outsider can be helpful in terms of focusing on things without that fandom bias clouding their judgment. 

[ESS]

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Yeah, you should never be forced to put something in your fic you don't want in there or which has no relevance in there just to make some random group of people happy. Partly because readers will be able to tell when something's put into a story because the author wants it there versus them being forced to put it there, and partly because, well, obviously...it's YOUR fic. Not theirs. You should write it the way you want and include the characters/pairings you want. Betas are great in terms of being able to help with plot holes or spelling/grammar errors or sorting out wrinkles in a storyline or things of that sort, but they should never be there to make the author write a whole different story than the one they wanted to write. 

So yeah, hopefully you can find a beta that actually wants to help with your story and doesn't bring their pairing biases into the mix. And sometimes it helps to have a beta who's in the fandom and one who isn't, because the fandom one can obviously help with fandom specific things, but sometimes an outsider can be helpful in terms of focusing on things without that fandom bias clouding their judgment. 

Yeah well not sure if I want a beta at this point because of what happened and since my couple isn’t that liked/loved and really only this other main couple has stories on them over there there’s no point in me having one because I’ll probably never find one that’s on the same page as I’m unfortunately and sadly. It’s been awhile, but that’s how I remember it happening. 

By the way I hope you got my PM. 

[ESS]

@Annber03 Did you get my PM?? If so would you mind writing back? 

On another note I’ve already started chapter 26 just a bit and I’m hoping this chapter will be done faster than 25 was. 🤞 

[ESS]

I'm still writing on chapter 26 of the Gemma/Nero story I've been writing for the past few years now, it's coming along pretty well and I'm also starting a new story on them as well. Truthfully I'm a bit nervous about posting this new one up as it's a way different plot then my other one like way out there and whatnot and it's another AU/non canon idea I've had for awhile.In addition I'm just afraid no one will like it or think of it as believable, but honestly I love the idea and so I want to see where I can take it assuming it ends up going anywhere. 🤷‍♀️

Edited October 12, 2023 by ESS

[ESS]

It is so hard to write for yourself when your doing it alone and with very little to no motivation from others or anyone else that writes for your couple (which I don't have that at all). 😭 Sometimes like now I regret even writing my stories in the first place.. It's so depressing and I don't know what to do..

 

[ESS]

Has anyone ever vented about a character or a couple in their fanfics? Like what you hate people call them or how the character and couple are written by other writers? I'm asking because I have this long venting rant that I wanted to put into my latest chapter, but I keep on going back and forth on whether to post in there or not. 

I'm thinking no, but at the same time yes because this character and couple need defending because they both are treated like dirt within the fandom and not to mention both aren't liked much at all and I'm sick and tired of it all.  I'm really conflicted. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by ESS

[Annber03]

I think there can be ways to write a couple celebrating who and what they are and telling off anyone in canon who dunks on them. 

But yeah, that's  a fine line to walk, 'cause it's also very easy for the author's feelings to seep in there, too, which can break the immersion for some readers, too. Personally, I would just ignore whatever criticism people have about the pairing - you don't need to justify them or your liking of them to anyone, and it's not likely to change the minds of those who don't like them anyway. 

But it's also your fic, and your call, and like stated above, done right, it can be a fun way for the couple in question to appreciate each other. 

[ESS]

4 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I think there can be ways to write a couple celebrating who and what they are and telling off anyone in canon who dunks on them. 

But yeah, that's  a fine line to walk, 'cause it's also very easy for the author's feelings to seep in there, too, which can break the immersion for some readers, too. Personally, I would just ignore whatever criticism people have about the pairing - you don't need to justify them or your liking of them to anyone, and it's not likely to change the minds of those who don't like them anyway. 

But it's also your fic, and your call, and like stated above, done right, it can be a fun way for the couple in question to appreciate each other. 

Well that I guess gave me the answer I needed, but I meant in the authors notes not the story itself, but thanks for that perpective though, sorry I wasn't more clearer in my original post. I guess I'll just leave it out because it is a pretty long rant, but I might put it into my profile instead? Don't know yet even that it seems like not such a great idea either, but I'm sick of this couple and characters being hated on so much. 

Edited November 27, 2023 by ESS

[Annber03]

10 hours ago, ESS said:

Well that I guess gave me the answer I needed, but I meant in the authors notes not the story itself, but thanks for that perpective though, sorry I wasn't more clearer in my original post. I guess I'll just leave it out because it is a pretty long rant, but I might put it into my profile instead? Don't know yet even that it seems like not such a great idea either, but I'm sick of this couple and characters being hated on so much. 

Oh, yeah, my apologies, then, I misread. Sorry about that. 

But yeah, even then I think those kinds of posts tend to fit better on a blog or in a Tumblr post or something. People have put rants about things relating to a fandom in author's notes before, of course, so if you want to do that, feel free to go for it if you wish...

...but I still stand by the belief that most people who don't like them already probably won't be swayed by an author's note rant about them, either, and I also know some readers can be turned off by those kinds of author's notes rants, even when they agree with the rant in question, because it feels like fandom drama intruding on their reading time, even if that's not the author's intent. Plus, there's also the risk of people who don't like the pairing seeing notes like that and using that as ammunition to antagonize the fans even further because they know their criticism is getting to the fans of that pairing/those characters. In my experience, those kinds of author's notes are just more likely to invite drama than squash it. 

I very much get your frustration over liking a pairing, or characters, that get dumped on so much, believe me. I've been there myself, so I absolutely sympathize. It sucks, for sure. But I think the best way to counter that is to just keep writing fics that highlight how awesome they are and what makes them so great, individually and as a couple. Maybe you'll convince a reader along the way, maybe you'll find other fans eventually who are happy to have some positive fic about this pairing that they also love, who knows. And then if you want to talk more about why they're so misunderstood and things of that sort in whatever fandom blog space you use, or if you don't have a blog and want to create one where you can talk about that stuff more in depth, you can do that, too. Your blog can be your safe space to rant about that stuff, and you might have an easier time turning away anyone who comes in just to stir up trouble. 

[ESS]

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Oh, yeah, my apologies, then, I misread. Sorry about that. 

But yeah, even then I think those kinds of posts tend to fit better on a blog or in a Tumblr post or something. People have put rants about things relating to a fandom in author's notes before, of course, so if you want to do that, feel free to go for it if you wish...

...but I still stand by the belief that most people who don't like them already probably won't be swayed by an author's note rant about them, either, and I also know some readers can be turned off by those kinds of author's notes rants, even when they agree with the rant in question, because it feels like fandom drama intruding on their reading time, even if that's not the author's intent. Plus, there's also the risk of people who don't like the pairing seeing notes like that and using that as ammunition to antagonize the fans even further because they know their criticism is getting to the fans of that pairing/those characters. In my experience, those kinds of author's notes are just more likely to invite drama than squash it. 

I very much get your frustration over liking a pairing, or characters, that get dumped on so much, believe me. I've been there myself, so I absolutely sympathize. It sucks, for sure. But I think the best way to counter that is to just keep writing fics that highlight how awesome they are and what makes them so great, individually and as a couple. Maybe you'll convince a reader along the way, maybe you'll find other fans eventually who are happy to have some positive fic about this pairing that they also love, who knows. And then if you want to talk more about why they're so misunderstood and things of that sort in whatever fandom blog space you use, or if you don't have a blog and want to create one where you can talk about that stuff more in depth, you can do that, too. Your blog can be your safe space to rant about that stuff, and you might have an easier time turning away anyone who comes in just to stir up trouble. 

Well I ended up leaving it out because I thought about it more and I'm not one that likes inviting drama so yeah I think that was the best thing to do, but I did put a note indiciting a character I put into the chapter and also saying that the character deserved friends(because she does in my opinion). It's just frustrating for me literally. Like I've said I'm the only one writing for this couple and that's also the thing that I don't like I just wish others were writing for them or still writing, but on the other hand I hate the way these other people within the fandom write this character and the couple because it's not how I saw them if you know what I mean...I saw them differently especially the one character(the woman) whose hated on so much so I'm so conflicted with that. I write them and this character the way I want to and saw them, but I think my writing sucks so that's the main reason why I want them written on more and the other reason is because well...I'm sick and tired of just see MY story up on the platforums especially FFN. I have a few friends I talk with about my frustrations about this character and the couple (they love both thank goodness) but there's still frustation and anger for me even though I have friends who think like I do. I'm not a blog person so I wouldn't feel comfortable honestly ranting about stuff like that on one of those. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by ESS

[ESS]

You know I kind of wish I had people who were fandom blind reading my stories because maybe then it would be better and I could get more reviews because I'm barely getting any now maybe two max sadly(although I was getting a like 3 or 4 before, but I have 11 that follow the story and out of all of those readers only a few who actually read & review and two of them really don’t love this couple or characters at all which really sucks, I'm so upset and frustrated I know I should be used to this by now because rare pairs usually aren't ones that get much readers or reactions to stories, but I can't help it) or with the fandom blind option maybe I could sway a few people on the couple as well. I think it would be easier to convince people of the couple and how just awesome and amazing they are. 🤷‍♀️ Sure it might seem like it's a great thing to have a few readers & reviewers, but to me it isn't, I'm sorry, but that's just how I feel. I've tried everything I can to get new readers/reviewrs and nothing has worked at all so I just give up honestly. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by ESS

[Annber03]

Yeah, it can be tough with fandom-blind readers, 'cause on the one hand, yay, new potential fans and readers, which is great, but on the other hand, given they aren't knowledgeable about the show/characters/pairing in question, that will obviously limit what they can say about the show/characters/pairing to some degree as a result. 

On 11/28/2023 at 1:05 PM, ESS said:

.'m so upset and frustrated I know I should be used to this by now because rare pairs usually aren't ones that get much readers or reactions to stories, but I can't help it) or with the fandom blind option maybe I could sway a few people on the couple as well. I think it would be easier to convince people of the couple and how just awesome and amazing they are. 🤷‍♀️ Sure it might seem like it's a great thing to have a few readers & reviewers, but to me it isn't, I'm sorry, but that's just how I feel. I've tried everything I can to get new readers/reviewrs and nothing has worked at all so I just give up honestly. 

As has been discussed in this thread before, yeah, unfortunately, this is a problem across the board in fandoms in general nowadays. A lot of people just...don't review anymore, period, for a whole host of reasons. Even popular pairings, they have to be almost a SUPER juggernaut to get any kind of serious traction in terms of followers/reviews on fics about them. And that's with people who are fans of the canon, and/or the characters and pairings. Fandom blind readers, it's difficult in its own way, for the reasons noted above.

Honestly, and I'm speaking on a general level now as I say this, I think a lot of fanfic writers put way too much pressure on themselves nowadays, and put their expectations so high, in regards to how their fics will be received, that it makes the reality that much more of a letdown. Yes, comments are great, yes having readers and good stats and all that is awesome. I love getting all that stuff, too, it's a nice little confidence booster, for sure.

But I also think a lot of people forget that this is supposed to be a hobby done for fun. And the more people put so much energy into caring about stats and numbers and popularity and whatnot, it becomes that much easier to forget that so much of this comes down to luck and circumstance. It's just not worth stressing oneself out about it to that degree. 

As for trying to get more people to appreciate a pairing you like, really, the best thing you can do is just what you've been doing. Continue to write fic for them, talk them up whenever you're able in whatever space allows for that. It's not worth your time and energy to get stuck on the people who don't like a pairing you like, believe me, it just adds to the aforementioned stress. Those kinds of comments deserve nothing more than an eyeroll (that's what I tend to do whenever I see someone dunk on a pairing I like somewhere :p). You know what makes them so great, so just keep focusing on that (which, granted, I know can be easier said than done, especially if the negativity is especially strong). 

That being said, however, I also definitely agree that it'd be that much easier to drown out those negative voices if you had more fellow shippers to talk about the pairing with and to lean on/rally around in those moments. I don't know where the most common spaces for your fandom are nowadays ,where most fans like to gather, but I'd like to think there's got to be someplace out there where you're able to find a few more like-minded fans, beyond the few who do already comment on your fics. 

[ESS]

11 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Yeah, it can be tough with fandom-blind readers, 'cause on the one hand, yay, new potential fans and readers, which is great, but on the other hand, given they aren't knowledgeable about the show/characters/pairing in question, that will obviously limit what they can say about the show/characters/pairing to some degree as a result. 

As has been discussed in this thread before, yeah, unfortunately, this is a problem across the board in fandoms in general nowadays. A lot of people just...don't review anymore, period, for a whole host of reasons. Even popular pairings, they have to be almost a SUPER juggernaut to get any kind of serious traction in terms of followers/reviews on fics about them. And that's with people who are fans of the canon, and/or the characters and pairings. Fandom blind readers, it's difficult in its own way, for the reasons noted above.

Honestly, and I'm speaking on a general level now as I say this, I think a lot of fanfic writers put way too much pressure on themselves nowadays, and put their expectations so high, in regards to how their fics will be received, that it makes the reality that much more of a letdown. Yes, comments are great, yes having readers and good stats and all that is awesome. I love getting all that stuff, too, it's a nice little confidence booster, for sure.

But I also think a lot of people forget that this is supposed to be a hobby done for fun. And the more people put so much energy into caring about stats and numbers and popularity and whatnot, it becomes that much easier to forget that so much of this comes down to luck and circumstance. It's just not worth stressing oneself out about it to that degree. 

As for trying to get more people to appreciate a pairing you like, really, the best thing you can do is just what you've been doing. Continue to write fic for them, talk them up whenever you're able in whatever space allows for that. It's not worth your time and energy to get stuck on the people who don't like a pairing you like, believe me, it just adds to the aforementioned stress. Those kinds of comments deserve nothing more than an eyeroll (that's what I tend to do whenever I see someone dunk on a pairing I like somewhere :p). You know what makes them so great, so just keep focusing on that (which, granted, I know can be easier said than done, especially if the negativity is especially strong). 

That being said, however, I also definitely agree that it'd be that much easier to drown out those negative voices if you had more fellow shippers to talk about the pairing with and to lean on/rally around in those moments. I don't know where the most common spaces for your fandom are nowadays ,where most fans like to gather, but I'd like to think there's got to be someplace out there where you're able to find a few more like-minded fans, beyond the few who do already comment on your fics. 

This is all great advice it's just with my couple it's not easy doing all of what I'm continuing to do alone that's the point I'm trying to make with my latest posts the few friends I do have for this character and especially the couple aren't doing anything about it and especially in terms of fanfics it's only me keeping them alive in that way. The fandom as a whole is a horrible, disturbing and sickening honestly(not all of them are, but the majority are) so it's why I talk with so few people in it, but like I've said I have a few I talk with which helps somewhat, but it's still a struggle between this couple being like they are (underrated and so on) and the main woman character being hated on it doesn't do me any good and even the people do like this main character I have issues with too because they see her as what I don't they call her the "b" word out of respect and honestly I'll never understand their logic and it makes me very uncomfortable and bothers to no end..how can you love a character and then call the person names like that?? it makes no sense to me at all. The character called herself that in canon at one point and it didn't sound like it was coming from a respectful place at all and it wasn't I could tell it's why I can't call her that or any other derogatory name they call her and why it bothers me so much and makes me uncomfortable when these called fans of hers call her that...name so again I don't get it and I can't call her that name and never will because the other reason is I saw her as just a damaged woman that's it. The fandom is mostly on facebook, but I left all of the groups for this show because of the hate being still so strong for this character (that's the main reason, there were other reasons that I'm not gonna get into it on here) and the couple not being recongized and posted about like I want (ed) them to be which is barely and they were barely talked about in the groups anyway until I brought them up so yeah it's very difficult. It's hard being the only vocal one with this couple and me showing my love for them isn't easier when they aren't popular and the two couples especially the one that I hate get more love and so on...it's an on going battle for me that I'm not winning. 

As for reviews I guess you're right I have been noticing more and more people not commenting anymore on fics which is really sad, but honestly I think with my fandom it has more to do with the couple/character I'm writing about than anything else and not because they don't want to write anything and I say this because the other couple I hate within this fandom gets so much more love on their fics and get comments left and right trust me I've looked on the sites they get the long ones too...and so yeah that's what I have to deal with and I can't stand it because I hate this couple so much and yet they are written about left and right and get all the long, loving comments while my couple/character get barely anything... By the way I'm still talking about Sons Of Anarchy Gemma & Gemma/Nero as the couple, the other couple I was talking about mostly was Jax/Tara they're the couple that I hate along with Gemma/Clay who I've never mentioned until now, but Gemma/Clay and especially Jax/Tara are the most popular couples within the fandom. 

Edited November 30, 2023 by ESS