All Debates Abt The Artistic Merits Of Fanfiction Fail To Recognize The Purpose Of Fic. You Dont Write

all debates abt the artistic merits of fanfiction fail to recognize the purpose of fic. you don’t write fic to be published or to learn how to construct a narrative although you can use it to develop style. you write it so that your friends will message you “bestie you’re utterly deranged for this one im eating dirt” 

i’d love to see more fantasy/sci-fi worlds where a species lifespan difference between a married couple, or between friends, is a normal factor of life. i’m tired of dramatic angsting about it, i want to see how people cope with it when it’s just an everyday part of the world

Could really use more media where wives viciously protect their husbands

I’ve written about it again and again and again and again, but what makes the Murderbot Diaries so special is how compassionate it is. It is a series that is essentially about growth and healing from trauma, about someone who has been hurt and abused all its life having its pain recognized by the narrative and being allowed to learn, over and over, that when it is ready to reach out it will find that there are still kind people in the world who will answer that need with care. 

There are thousands of other, crueller, more callous stories out there that will tell us the complete opposite. That no one can be trusted, that everyone will fail and disappoint you, that you’re on your own, that the world is full of selfish, short-sighted, small-minded people who care only about themselves, and that you must become equally selfish, short-sighted, and small-minded to survive. Some of these stories are the very real experiences we accrue in real life. In stories like these, no one ever helps you– if they do, it’s incompetent and useless, or going to cost you something you can’t afford to pay. In stories like these, you’ll only fall if you try to lean on others. You must reject them instead, and one day you’ll fall anyway.

But that’s a miserable way to live. None of us are born alone, and none of us are fit to survive alone, and none of us can live without each other. And even at its most cynical and anti-social, Murderbot lives this truth. It rejects the senseless vengeance of the mass murder spree, it finds context for its emotions in the stories of media, it reaches out–wherever possible–to help those it can help, trying earnestly to do its best by others. And in doing so, it finds itself surrounded by genuine friends and allies it can rely on. Humans, bots, other constructs–whole communities of people who will never abandon it as easily as it fears.

It’s so important to have stories as compassionate, as real, and as true as the Murderbot Diaries- so that when real kindness is offered to us with an outstretched hand, we can recognize the evidence of our eyes, and trust enough to reach back and take that offered hand. And one day, to be healed enough to offer that hand to others in their turn.

Say it with me now

You are never late to a fandom. Your fic is never "invalid" for being "late". Your fic doesn't need a high word limit. Your fic does not need a high standard. Your fic does not need to be highly popular. Your fic isn't less valid than a popular author's fic. Your fic isn't inheritly bad. Your fic is amazing. Your fic is valid. The only thing that matters is that you're having fun. Fandom is not consumption and consumerism. Fandom is fun, free and for the people. Fandom is not a popularity contest. We're all nerds at the end of the day.