AO3 Invites and Obligatory Male Characters
Two matters.
1. I got a bunch of invites from AO3 a couple of days ago, so if anyone reading along who wants an AO3 account and doesn't already have one, comment below and I'll work out a way to make sure the invite code finds its way to you.
I love that archive's fan-friendly interface, I think I'd post exclusively there if it had even half the traffic of FF.net.
...which might be why I'm giving out invite codes for the site, shh.
2. As I plot my (hopefully brief) foray into FFI, I keep thinking something. I'm coming up with 'OCs' for this fic, as you kind of have to when you're trying to write about the Warriors of Light, and I know I'm happy about writing about women. I'm also cool with writing about men.
But these days I'm happily plotting the fic out in my head, and I keep having to remind myself - which one is the male character, because you have to have a male character.
I didn't even realize I was doing this until I really sat down and thought about it the other day. I'm trying to put an 'obligatory male character' into a fic that doesn't really need them. Why? Reader appeal? Habit? Sexism on my own part, that an adventure automatically has to have a guy on board?
This is also prevalent in my original stuff, too, that I'm pausing and going, "Wait, so I've got seven major female characters. No male characters. Uhhh...."
Maybe it's the whole Mary Sue thing, that's gotten people (myself among them) scared of writing original female characters. Male variants usually don't get the same level of flack, after all.
In any case, I've now decided that I don't need an obligatory male character that I really don't have an interest in writing. But I'm disappointed in myself that it even came to this, that I ever actually told myself, "so you're going to add a guy, right?"
Screw it. All-female Warriors of Light for the bloody win, guys.
1. I got a bunch of invites from AO3 a couple of days ago, so if anyone reading along who wants an AO3 account and doesn't already have one, comment below and I'll work out a way to make sure the invite code finds its way to you.
I love that archive's fan-friendly interface, I think I'd post exclusively there if it had even half the traffic of FF.net.
...which might be why I'm giving out invite codes for the site, shh.
2. As I plot my (hopefully brief) foray into FFI, I keep thinking something. I'm coming up with 'OCs' for this fic, as you kind of have to when you're trying to write about the Warriors of Light, and I know I'm happy about writing about women. I'm also cool with writing about men.
But these days I'm happily plotting the fic out in my head, and I keep having to remind myself - which one is the male character, because you have to have a male character.
I didn't even realize I was doing this until I really sat down and thought about it the other day. I'm trying to put an 'obligatory male character' into a fic that doesn't really need them. Why? Reader appeal? Habit? Sexism on my own part, that an adventure automatically has to have a guy on board?
This is also prevalent in my original stuff, too, that I'm pausing and going, "Wait, so I've got seven major female characters. No male characters. Uhhh...."
Maybe it's the whole Mary Sue thing, that's gotten people (myself among them) scared of writing original female characters. Male variants usually don't get the same level of flack, after all.
In any case, I've now decided that I don't need an obligatory male character that I really don't have an interest in writing. But I'm disappointed in myself that it even came to this, that I ever actually told myself, "so you're going to add a guy, right?"
Screw it. All-female Warriors of Light for the bloody win, guys.