Fandom rant (for those who read my last story)
I posted this story on this website, and someone anonymously asked me, and I quote:
Hi, would it be possible to make it a bit clearer that this isn't just a Leslie/Ben story? Thanks!
Which, ok, I get it. It's a surprise that this is a story where Leslie and Ben don't get together, but it fits the qualifications of the community, which is that it concerns their romantic relationship- nowhere does it say that they have to get together and stay together in order to qualify.
And I get that some people don't want to read about them being romantically involved with other people, and I'd certainly never say that's not a valid expression of your feelings. We all have to draw our own lines, and if that's your line, Anon, great! I fully support your line. If you only want to read certain types of fic, that is completely your right. I'm not going to thrust something else on you.
But... in the description for the story, I mention that it's about an A/L/B threesome. So.... it's not just a Leslie/Ben story. Because Ann's there too. And if both of them are interested in other people throughout the piece but they still are interested in each other and yet don't get together anyway, that's sometimes how it goes. In fic, and in life.
And I'm not going to give that away in the description, because that's the ending, and I want the ending to be a surprise. Because it's the ending. And I'd like to think that one of the things I did with that story was played with expectations-- people who have read me before generally expect a certain type of fic from me; funny, or at least trying to be, light, with no real villains, heterosexual. And this isn't that.
And it might be that this anonymous commenter doesn't have an lj, or they do and they don't want me to get mad at them. Which is fair; this might be someone I know and like who wants to be on good terms. Which, if you are, Anon, I promise I'll still like you. But I'm not going to change it. It's really easy to throw off a two second anonymous comment.
You know what's difficult? Writing a story.
And this one was harder than most, because I have to assert some non-heterosexuality on characters we have no canon reason to believe aren't being given a heteronormative narrative. And because it's dark, and I'm not a dark person, generally, though February was a hard month for me. And because I put a lot of myself into, more than usual. Also, I have been working on it, on and off, for a month.
Which makes this two second anonymous comment all the more annoying.
Hi, would it be possible to make it a bit clearer that this isn't just a Leslie/Ben story? Thanks!
Which, ok, I get it. It's a surprise that this is a story where Leslie and Ben don't get together, but it fits the qualifications of the community, which is that it concerns their romantic relationship- nowhere does it say that they have to get together and stay together in order to qualify.
And I get that some people don't want to read about them being romantically involved with other people, and I'd certainly never say that's not a valid expression of your feelings. We all have to draw our own lines, and if that's your line, Anon, great! I fully support your line. If you only want to read certain types of fic, that is completely your right. I'm not going to thrust something else on you.
But... in the description for the story, I mention that it's about an A/L/B threesome. So.... it's not just a Leslie/Ben story. Because Ann's there too. And if both of them are interested in other people throughout the piece but they still are interested in each other and yet don't get together anyway, that's sometimes how it goes. In fic, and in life.
And I'm not going to give that away in the description, because that's the ending, and I want the ending to be a surprise. Because it's the ending. And I'd like to think that one of the things I did with that story was played with expectations-- people who have read me before generally expect a certain type of fic from me; funny, or at least trying to be, light, with no real villains, heterosexual. And this isn't that.
And it might be that this anonymous commenter doesn't have an lj, or they do and they don't want me to get mad at them. Which is fair; this might be someone I know and like who wants to be on good terms. Which, if you are, Anon, I promise I'll still like you. But I'm not going to change it. It's really easy to throw off a two second anonymous comment.
You know what's difficult? Writing a story.
And this one was harder than most, because I have to assert some non-heterosexuality on characters we have no canon reason to believe aren't being given a heteronormative narrative. And because it's dark, and I'm not a dark person, generally, though February was a hard month for me. And because I put a lot of myself into, more than usual. Also, I have been working on it, on and off, for a month.
Which makes this two second anonymous comment all the more annoying.