{"id":239620,"date":"2013-12-04T13:21:29","date_gmt":"2013-12-04T13:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2013\/12\/04\/crap-is-a-sign-of-life-new-bad-stories-are-a-sign\/"},"modified":"2013-12-04T13:21:29","modified_gmt":"2013-12-04T13:21:29","slug":"crap-is-a-sign-of-life-new-bad-stories-are-a-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2013\/12\/04\/crap-is-a-sign-of-life-new-bad-stories-are-a-sign\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
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Crap is a sign of life. New bad stories are a sign that this genre \u2014 fan fiction, the genre I adore the most – is alive and well. Bad stories mean new people are trying to write in it, and people are trying to do new things with it, and maybe new people are joining the audience, too. When only the best and most popular are writing in a genre, it\u2019s on its deathbed. (See: Westerns and Louis L\u2019Amour.) I want this genre to be here forever, because I want to read it forever. So I\u2019m happy that teenagers are posting Mary Sue stories to the Archive of Our Own.<\/p>\n

Does that mean you have to be happy? Nope. I can\u2019t make you do anything. (I can think you\u2019re wrong, but hey, being wrong on the internet is a time-honored tradition among our people.) But when you start making fun of a writer and bullying her in the comments of her story, simply because she\u2019s writing something you think is bad and embarrassing, well, that\u2019s when I say: shut the fuck up or get the fuck out. Because she\u2019s not a problem. She\u2019s just doing what we\u2019re all doing \u2014 having fun, playing with words, throwing something out there on the internet to see if other people like it.<\/p>\n

But you. You\u2019re trying to stop someone from having fun. You\u2019re trying to shame people into not writing anymore. And that, folks \u2014 that is the definition of shitty behavior. (Mary Sue fantasies, on the other hand, are just the definition of human behavior.) It\u2019s bad for people, it\u2019s bad for the future, and it\u2019s bad for the genre. So you\u2019re a problem.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

thefourthvine – In Defense of Bad Writing<\/a> (via jerakeenc<\/a>)<\/p>\n

This? Is really, really important (not re: me, as I am old, mean, and soulless, but re: writers who are not<\/em> old, mean, and soulless), especially when you are talking about public commentary, and\u00a0especially<\/em> when you are talking about commentary that is unsolicited.<\/p>\n

If you really want to improve the quality of Fic At Large, by all means, strike up relationships where you can have meaningful dialogues with other writers and provide trustworthy and meaningful commentary on their work, and (ideally! mutual beta love is the best love!) where they can do the same for you. In fact, if such a concept tickles your fancy, I know of a writing\/making shit club that you might find interesting<\/a>! But there is a world of difference<\/em> between participating in a community in which people mutually solicit and provide suggestions for one another to help each other out, and leaving mean, snarky, abusive comments directly on someone else\u2019s fic.<\/p>\n

This is extra\u00a0extra<\/em> true if you could be construed as being in a position of power relative to them, which, if they are a new writer and you are not, you are<\/em>.<\/p>\n

(via fizzygins<\/a>)<\/p>\n

I do not have enough words or reaction gifs to truly emphasize just how incredibly, incredibly<\/em> important\u00a0this is. \u00a0The culture of mocking fanfiction on the internet (which almost always<\/em> entails mocking girls when they write, and particularly young<\/em> girls) is toxic and really sexist at its core, and, in a culture that mocks literally almost anything and everything young girls do<\/em>, takes away one more space for young girls to do things. \u00a0And those spaces are really, really important, because they\u2019re places where young girls are creating and sharing things because they want<\/em> to\u2014they have a vested interest in this thing, and are taking a really big risk by trying something new (writing) and sharing it publicly (AO3, FF.net, wherever) for others to read (who are, more often than not, strangers, even in fandom communities). \u00a0And mocking that process or leaving vitriolic, spiteful comments, mocks the girl who took that risk<\/em>. \u00a0And that\u2019s teaching her to not take risks; to not share her work; to not, in fact, write or create ever again. \u00a0And that\u2019s the most detrimental thing you can do\u2014to a girl, to a community, to a genre, and to art and creating in general.<\/p>\n

(via ally-wonderland<\/a>)<\/p>\n

also i\u2019d like to note that there\u2019s some painfully obvious self-insert<\/em>, painfully badly written slash<\/p>\n

some of it with an original male character, even<\/p>\n

but it doesn\u2019t get attacked like mary sue fic<\/p>\n

which sends the message that girls and women can only find safety in identifying with male characters and living out their fantasies through male avatars<\/p>\n

you\u2019re not safe as a woman<\/em>. what you want is wrong when channeled through a woman character. it\u2019s only okay to want things if you imagine yourself male<\/p>\n

trying to live out fantasies through a female avatar is evil and wrong and disgusting<\/em> and deserved to be shamed into the ground<\/p>\n

and that is sick and twisted shit<\/em><\/p>\n

and ain\u2019t nobody gonna convince me the overwhelming popularity of dudeslash isn\u2019t pernicious while that double-standard exists<\/p>\n

are there women and girls who would independently enjoy fantasizing through male characters in dudelsash if there weren\u2019t that obvious, coercive fandom pressure?<\/p>\n

of course<\/p>\n

but as long as the pressure is there, you cannot fucking tell me it\u2019s not shaping how women and girls feel and where they direct their pleasure and you cannot pretend that the predominance of dudelsash is entirely innocent and simply a byproduct of female fans following their bliss<\/p>\n

not when certain avenues of bliss are ruthlessly cut off by misogynistic hate<\/p>\n

(via mswyrr<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crap is a sign of life. New bad stories are a sign that this genre \u2014 fan fiction, the genre I adore the most – is alive and well. Bad stories mean new people are trying to write in it, and people are trying to do new things with it, and maybe new people are … <\/p>\n

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