Prompt-based fandom events are when you really learn everyone’s colors like you’ll find the people who take the prompt “death” and come up with some smarmy ship-art of character A and character B walking over dead leaves while wearing scarves and drinking hot cider and then you’ll find the people who take the prompt “sunshine” and write how a bright glint of sunshine reflected off the barrel of a gun is the absolute last thing character A sees before taking a bullet to the chest
you can lead a content creator to water but you sure as fuck can’t make him drink
content creators, much like the elder gods, must not be given requests that can be left to interpretation, for the results bring madness upon the unwary
Fic writers wonder why people don’t review. They honestly can’t understand the silence. Writers assume that readers:
usually have something to add/criticize/say
know how to articulate their own thoughts/feelings
withhold feedback because they’re lazy or apathetic
don’t appreciate how much time/effort/energy goes into writing
On the flip-side, readers assume that:
the writer already knows how ‘good’ their work is
someone else will review because this fic is ‘obviously’ awesome
if a fic is already ‘popular,’ their feedback won’t matter
if they comment, they ‘must’ leave an awesome, insightful, detailed comment that 100% reflects their love for a fic
since words aren’t adequate, it’s better to stfu and just click the kudos button/favotite/bookmark
None of these assumptions are accurate.
The reality is that:
there is no reason for a writer to post their work except to get feedback that validates their vision, helps them improve and/or gives them an outsider perspective/interpretation of their work (which can be absolutely mind-blowing)
like, you can and should write for yourself, but if that’s 100% the case, every good fic would be wasting away in a private word document
‘readers’ are not always ‘writers’
‘writers’ can naturally put their ideas and emotions into words
‘readers’ usually don’t know what to say, which words to use to express themselves, and belittle the importance of their perspective
many ‘readers’ don’t write, so they can’t empathize with the struggle of writing a fic for a silent but attentive audience
Basically, readers don’t understand writers and vice-versa. Both parties are wired differently. Readers who also write are more likely to review because they empathize with both sides of the equation.
The Solution
Writers
Be patient, understanding, and persistent
Appreciate those who do review
Don’t get bitter, discontinue a beloved story, or assume the worst of your readers
Realize that everyone is really trying their best
Readers
Be patient, supportive, honest, and empathetic
Realize that there’s no minimum! Even two words (like ‘good work!’) can have a huge impact
Review Templates
Things to say when you’re tongue-tied:
Verbs
I liked the part where/when…
I wonder why…
I smiled/laughed when…
I was confused when…
I think that…
I predict…
I was sad/happy/angry/[other emotion] when…
Nouns
[character] did/said/felt/will do [this thing]
because… (if applicable)
[insert plot point/event]
Example: I think that [this guy] ran away from [his friend] because he was trying to protect him.
And that’s it. You don’t have to say anything else. One sentence is more than enough, but you’ll notice that once you get started, you’ll have a lot to say- so say it!
Author’s style
Your writing is:
Detailed/descriptive
Vivid
Concise (to the point)
Funny
Serious
Surreal
Unique
Compelling
Provocative
Leaves me wondering about a lot of things, and I’m curious about what happens next
Confused me a little at times (talk about what confused you! The author will be more than happy to clear things up!)
Do’s and Don’ts
Don’t
Worry about grammar/typos in your review
Suggest a direction for the story (most writers know what they’re doing and you just gotta trust them)
Think that clicking the kudos button is all you can do! Your opinion is important!
Tell the author to do more of [this] and less of [that]
Ask them to update without leaving any other feedback
Do
Leave short comments if you can’t think of anything else to say (“I like this” is more than acceptable, seriously)
Inform the author of typos (be specific)- many fics are un-beta’d. The writer will appreciate your attention to detail.
Express your own perspective even if it isn’t ‘correct-’ I think [character] did this because she was jealous, which explains why…
Understand that your unique interpretation of motives/symbolism/foreshadowing/anything is extremely valuable
Be honest, but diplomatic
Bookmark/rec works if you enjoy them, esp to help lesser-known writers
You can copy/paste from this post into your reviews. It’s hard to find the right words sometimes, but for writers, anything is better than silence.
can we please bring back “in poor taste” as a concept
Because at some point it got folded in under “problematic,” and now every damn thing that has Unfortunate Implications or deals with sensitive topics indelicately enough to raise hackles or gores somebody’s sacred cow is treated as a grave injustice or a threat to society. Online activism culture has lost the vocabulary to express “this deals with touchy stuff in a way many people might find inappropriate, and you should probably avoid it if insensitivity on this subject gets you angry/upset, but it’s not promoting hateful ideas or demeaning people or affecting anything but my opinion of the creator’s sense of tact.”
I think this really an important post.
We’ve fallen into such a rut of “everything is right or wrong, no inbetween” that stuff that’s merely in poor taste is conflated with things that are actually offensively malicious.
this is so well worded like i been trying to say this for awhile thank you
Damn. This is the thing.
I also kinda dislike that people started saying ‘problematic’ when they could be specific about what someone did wrong. It becomes this vague scary thing that someone ‘said something problematic’ and you don’t know whether they passionately defended nazis or made a clumsy joke about retail workers. And because we don’t know what someone means but we do want to be safe a lot of us just assume to worst and avoid people labelled ‘problematic’. This makes is a very effective tool to bully out people for minor flaws and to reinforce purity culture and disposability culture.
I haven’t been very involved in Silm fandom recently, and didn’t contribute to the, uh, let’s call it recent developments… But I feel like there’s a part of my brain that makes sure I’m constantly aware of what’s going on and that I know all this… stuff that makes me really happy no one could actually read every thought I’ve ever had.
imagine a sleepover with all of your favorite characters. like. all of them. each and every one
I’m pretty sure that would result in at least two murders, a trip to the emergency room, and several accounts of arson.
… I know there would be kidnappings and sword fights (and lightsaber fights, two distinct things) and several murders and probably a few people being turned into toads. And a few “Divide By Cucumber Error.”
… Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa would stop the people from the other fandoms, lots of whom are on different sides, from killing each other. Elrond and some of the other people from the 3rd Age would help. I hope.
Everyone else will be either too confused or actively making things worse.
So apparently round umpty-zillion of “people are killing fandom by not commenting” is going around, and I’ve seen a few posts trashing people for lurking/viewing/reading instead of actively participating.
My journal and my fic has always been a lurker-friendly zone. I think lurkers are great and people can fight me on this. Here’s why:
We all started out as lurkers. Or at least most of us did. Come on. I’m sure some people out there must’ve jumped into fandom with both feet and started writing and commenting right away, and good for you if you did! But I sure didn’t. I lurked for YEARS. And even now, though I’ve been in fandom since before Y2K, whenever I get into a new fandom or a new social media platform, I still lurk. I hang out around the fringes for awhile to get a feeling for the place before starting to participate. Back in the mailing list/bulletin board days, it was usually recommended that people do that on purpose, watch and listen and learn the local lingo and social rules before diving in. So you know what? You are not doing anything wrong and you are not doing anything that most of the people you see out there commenting and creating and reccing things haven’t done themselves.
We all have lurker days, weeks, months …. Nobody is 100% “on” all the time. Participating in fandom (commenting, reccing, creating content, and so forth) is WORK. It may be fun work, but it still takes effort! Even if you’re sometimes very active in fandom, then you’ll have life fall on your head or the brain weasels flare up, and you won’t have the time and energy to give. Don’t feel guilty about not being able to give fandom your extra spoons. No one in fandom has a right to demand a single spoon from you that you don’t want to give.
Some of today’s lurkers may be your friends tomorrow. How do I know this? Because I’ve made friends with some of them myself! I’ve had people delurk in my comments to say hi after YEARS of reading my fanfic without saying a word. Which I am totally okay with, by the way. And some of these people are good friends today.
So, in conclusion:
It is okay to feel too shy to come out of lurkerhood in fandom until you feel more comfortable there. It is fine, in fact, if you never do.
It is okay to be too busy and have too few spoons to comment or create stuff. You still have a perfect right to be in fandom and read and reblog whatever you want.
It is okay if you meant to comment on that fic or go back and press the kudos button but never got around to it.
It is okay if you have too many accounts already and don’t want to create a new one just to comment/participate on a social media platform.
It is okay if your personal situation (a stalker ex, controlling parents) makes it unsafe for you to create an account or comment on things.
It is okay if you can’t or don’t want to comment or do any of the other things that constitute non-lurkerhood, and you don’t owe anyone an explanation for why.
IT IS OKAY TO BE A LURKER.
Glancing at the Silmarillion fandom from afar: Detailed descriptions, intense character relations and details, sons of fëanor 89% of the material, Melkor might be sassy but sauron is VERY sassy, fingon and maedhros are dedicated husbands okay, FËANOR FËANOR FËANOR
Actually reading the Silmarillion: hundreds of years of events are covered in like two pages, um I think the sons of fëanor are doing something like over there and over here maybe, Morgoth is sending out orcs, sauron is being mauled by a talking dog– maedhros was held in captivity but you might have missed that if you weren’t paying close enough attention and fingon was there but literally it’s like a page moving on– elu thingol is actually the only one with development here to be honest I don’t know why he’s so ignored– also fëanor died like forever ago
Yesterday I saw the Silm fandom get referenced to in another post (completely irrelevant to the fandom), and I realized that we’re never addressed by anyone as the Tolkien fandom, not even by ourselves. And then I realized that it’s with good reason:
You wouldn’t know who the heck you’re talking about.
>> Just ask the Dwarves
Did you mean Dwarves from Thorin’s company who made a Quest for Erebor, or Balin’s company who sought to re-establish the Realm of Moria, or Dwarves of Nogrod who killed King Elu Thingol of Doriath, or the Petty Dwarves of which Mim and his sons were the last ones?
Sometimes I develop so many headcanons about minor characters or adopt some from fanfics and tumblr posts that I forget they actually have very little characterization in canon.
Same here 😀 And then I meet people who are not on Tumblr and I can’t explain to them why I like this particular character because he/she is so ‘boring’ in canon…
Precisely. For me, Anakin Skywalker is one of the major examples. Quite a few of the Harry Potter characters, too. And of course, the whole Tolkien fandom. Firstly there are all the barely described characters I care way too much about. Secondl there’s my attempts to headcanon Midde-Earth (at least the Elvish societies) into being less sexist and classist by “the books as we read them now are history and therefore not quite accurate, but what really happened is… “ but it doesn’t always work (a lot of important plot points kind of depend on the sexism) and it really only made me realize how many flaws there are in the books.
Sometimes I develop so many headcanons about minor characters or adopt some from fanfics and tumblr posts that I forget they actually have very little characterization in canon.
radiantanor.home.blog 