More Fandom Secrets Responses and Assorted Fandom Foliage
tl;dr I enjoy lurking Fandom Secrets and finding post fodder there. I feel like that's mostly what I do anymore. Eventually I'll come up with my own ideas for content, guys. :P No images behind the cut, just typing out and responding. Because why not.
This isn't making fun of anyone's secrets, either! I'm not always snarky, sometimes I just like commenting on things I see other people saying.
Too many authors use Chose Not to Use Warnings on A03.
(Paraphrased secret.)
I think often people really mean to use the "No Archive Warnings Apply" tool, which I agree sits much better. I'm not sure it was an option until relatively recently, though, because I feel like the first few times I posted to Ao3, I was uncomfortable selecting "Chose Not to Use Warnings." However, it also wouldn't surprise me if I didn't notice "No Archive Warnings Apply", especially because when I originally posted to Ao3, I was mostly using it as a storage space.
I DO make sure to list out any potential upsetting themes in the notes, or in the tags. Overall I think that's best, sometimes even with archive warnings.
... I realize I don't miss the Harry Potter fandom as much as I miss the way fandom interacted back then.
We all feel that way, I've ranted about it enough, but here is an additional point to consider: Harry Potter fans had a bit of a double whammy because even when fandom was more communal and had more forums and the like, Harry Potter was a worldwide phenomenon that occupied just about every corner of the internet. There was a bit of something for everyone. You could much more easily find forums or websites or communities for your fandom interests. Then, if you were into LJ (or one of the older blogging sites), you could add all of those people over here, and everyone read your 87 posts on whether or not Ginny's hair was dark red or light red with genuine enthusiasm.
Then we tried joining new fandoms, and it was a lot harder, because even when fandom was still a thing, I don't think too many of them were quite like that. I felt I was the only one in Heroes fandom, for instance, who thought Sylar was shitty and didn't care about him or ship him with anyone. Meaning there was... really nowhere for me to go. It sucked. I stopped watching the show anyway, but my point is, there's an example of smaller fandoms kinda making it hard to engage at a certain point, whereas with a huge fandom, it's way easier to curate your experience. Until the entirety of that experience changes, but again, I've painted that deer pretty teal.
ETA: As a quick aside, I did like Sylar as a villain. It wqs the "Sylar is hot" stuff that bored me, and I certainly didn't ship him with Mohinder. (I was partial to Matt/Mohinder, IIRC.)
(I prefer when) Either my slash ship isn't the canon one or I prefer them as close friends/found family.
(OP means as opposed to slash ships in heteronormative fandoms.)
I've said before that I find purposely not shipping canon fascinating. I just can't relate. No disrespect intended, of course, you do you. I do wonder why that is, though? More creative room?
I do understand just not liking canon pairings. It's more the idea that canon pairings are always boring.
In other news, here's a question for those of you who read WIP fanfic: Which do you prefer - fewer but longer chapters, or more shorter chapters? In other words, would you rather read a fic that has 8 chapters that are 14 pages each, or 20 chapters that are maybe five pages each?
This isn't making fun of anyone's secrets, either! I'm not always snarky, sometimes I just like commenting on things I see other people saying.
Too many authors use Chose Not to Use Warnings on A03.
(Paraphrased secret.)
I think often people really mean to use the "No Archive Warnings Apply" tool, which I agree sits much better. I'm not sure it was an option until relatively recently, though, because I feel like the first few times I posted to Ao3, I was uncomfortable selecting "Chose Not to Use Warnings." However, it also wouldn't surprise me if I didn't notice "No Archive Warnings Apply", especially because when I originally posted to Ao3, I was mostly using it as a storage space.
I DO make sure to list out any potential upsetting themes in the notes, or in the tags. Overall I think that's best, sometimes even with archive warnings.
... I realize I don't miss the Harry Potter fandom as much as I miss the way fandom interacted back then.
We all feel that way, I've ranted about it enough, but here is an additional point to consider: Harry Potter fans had a bit of a double whammy because even when fandom was more communal and had more forums and the like, Harry Potter was a worldwide phenomenon that occupied just about every corner of the internet. There was a bit of something for everyone. You could much more easily find forums or websites or communities for your fandom interests. Then, if you were into LJ (or one of the older blogging sites), you could add all of those people over here, and everyone read your 87 posts on whether or not Ginny's hair was dark red or light red with genuine enthusiasm.
Then we tried joining new fandoms, and it was a lot harder, because even when fandom was still a thing, I don't think too many of them were quite like that. I felt I was the only one in Heroes fandom, for instance, who thought Sylar was shitty and didn't care about him or ship him with anyone. Meaning there was... really nowhere for me to go. It sucked. I stopped watching the show anyway, but my point is, there's an example of smaller fandoms kinda making it hard to engage at a certain point, whereas with a huge fandom, it's way easier to curate your experience. Until the entirety of that experience changes, but again, I've painted that deer pretty teal.
ETA: As a quick aside, I did like Sylar as a villain. It wqs the "Sylar is hot" stuff that bored me, and I certainly didn't ship him with Mohinder. (I was partial to Matt/Mohinder, IIRC.)
(I prefer when) Either my slash ship isn't the canon one or I prefer them as close friends/found family.
(OP means as opposed to slash ships in heteronormative fandoms.)
I've said before that I find purposely not shipping canon fascinating. I just can't relate. No disrespect intended, of course, you do you. I do wonder why that is, though? More creative room?
I do understand just not liking canon pairings. It's more the idea that canon pairings are always boring.
In other news, here's a question for those of you who read WIP fanfic: Which do you prefer - fewer but longer chapters, or more shorter chapters? In other words, would you rather read a fic that has 8 chapters that are 14 pages each, or 20 chapters that are maybe five pages each?