Greetings Again. These Are Going To Be More "meta" Questions.

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

This... this is actually true.

I've got a ton of stories going on in my head, Soulless!tale only being my favorite, and I can tell from personal experience that the best ideas come when you're bored. Once I was in a six-hours long car trip, only my mp3 to entertain me because my phone didn't have battery. I played my playlist, put it on loop and just... stood there. Staring at nothing. For six hours. Of course, there were occasional pauses, to eat and pee, but besides those it was all the same. It was the same day I started thinking seriously about this AU of mine, and started building FC's (not canon name) personality. Next thing you know, I already sketched out in my mind some episodes of them interacting with people from across the multiverse.

And obviously, school hours play a big role in helping me develop my stories.

By posting this I just wanted to say... be bored. Because that's how you find inspiration for your stories. And maybe, maybe one day it'll end like with Tolkien.

You will create a masterpiece worshipped by those that will read it years later

Video by Jed Herne on YouTube

...

...

Ok.

I was reading Inverted Fates, a fan-made comic on a swap universe where all the main characters have their roles swapped in couples but they maintain their personalities. So for example Papyrus is swapped with Sans, Toriel with Asgore et cetera. I arrived at the cutscene in which you meet Sans and Papyrus, and after that there was an interaction with the conveniently shaped lamp. Papyrus said that the lamp was too convenient for it to be casual, and there must be greater forces at work around there, and then...

... Papyrus, what the heck.

So true.

I mean, it's OKAY to like him, don't misunderstand me, just like it's okay to like any other character, but this... It's too much. It is simply too much.

The fandom literally worships him. HE WAS THE FRICKIN TUMBLR SEXYMAN BACK IN 2022 (I think it was 2022, not sure). WHAT THE HECK GUYS.

And don't get me started on how many Sanses there are out there and how few Frisks, Charas, Toriels, Papyruses, Undynes, Alphys's, Mettatons, ASGORES MY MAN, ASGORES, have their own AU and story and don't just exist ignored.

GIVE MORE STORIES TO THE OTHER CHARACTERS TOO. THEY DESERVE ONE.

Like and Reblog if you like Undertale, but can't stand the fandom's worship of Sans or the many AUs that treat him like he's the main character...

Please Reblog This If It’s Okay To:

Send questions about yourself

Ask questions to/about your characters

Ask about your headcanons 

Send questions about your works (fanfics, art, music, RPs, etc) 

Ask about popular ships/headcanons

Ask about plot ideas you’ve had but haven’t acted upon yet (snippets of AUs, a scenario you wish to write/draw but haven’t gotten to yet)

Questions about other ships/headcanons that aren’t as popular or are rarepairs

Questions or comments about favorite tropes, headcanons, characters, foods, weather, or anything else you are okay in answering!

To anyone that is seeing this, please help her. She is a wonderful writer with very good ideas and also a good person. Your help will mean the world. Thank you.

EMERGENCY COMMISSIONS

Hey y'all, I really need your help. I got laid off on two jobs that I had and no longer have sustainable income for my college bills. I'm really struggling for money right now and to afford food.

If you wish to donate, here is my Kofi link: https://ko-fi.com/zelphin12477085

I can also do emergency writing commissions. Want a short story or a paper edited? I got you. Message me here or on discord for more details.

Please, anything right now helps me. Thank you for your time.

Masterpiece

Animation based on the fanfiction: For The Forgotten Ones

by: Im_Sorry_Buddy

My day:

It was pretty crazy.

Yes.

It doesn't matter how strange the interaction is.

I don't care if you tell me the most random of things.

Interact with me.

Reblog if you want more interaction with your mutuals and followers :D

I am Dragonflame, God of the game.

... Guess the time I spent on writing my AU is coming back to bite me.

I am Arran, god of the most important thing

EDIT: if y'all don’t wanna use your name use your username