From Now On If You Come At Me For The Things I Get Off To In Fiction I'm Just Gonna Assume You Want To

From now on if you come at me for the things I get off to in fiction I'm just gonna assume you want to fuck but don't know how to ask ❤

The day that you understand that fanfiction has no literary/value difference to published literature and writing is the day you will understand exactly why readers and authors need a symbiotic relationship in fanfiction media just as much as the published author and their reader.

Right now, you have unlimited access to free literature.

I don't think a lot of you fully grasp the actual, true meaning of that. You are accessing literally as much content as you want, that you have had to do absolutely nothing for, for free. And often on a single website that you are also accessing for free, and don't need a hundred and one different kinds of log-ins or passwords or paid subscriptions to access.

If I want to read a specific type of story, I don't have to spend gas money to go to the bookstore that might not have the story I want, or funnel money into a blood corporation like Amazon to access it. I don't even have to pay someone for the time and effort and skill it took for them to write it.

I can go to my search bar. I can type in 'AO3' and I can access 141 variants of the same story for free and all in less time than it takes for my morning coffee to brew.

I am accessing content that cost these authors literal hours of their lives. Their time, their skills, their research, all for free, and I have to do absolutely nothing in return for it.

We take this kind of freedom and resource for granted, and even more so the people who actually enable us to have it in the first place.

Writers who talk about wanting engagement aren't being greedy, needy or selfish. They're not writing just for the 'clout' or whatever kind of half-cocked accusation you want to make. They're asking because engagement is what fuels more content. More community fulfilment. More productivity.

A lot of writers write for themselves, but they also write because its something they want to share with other people. Its a contribution to a shared interest. Its longevity to the enjoyment you experience within that space. Its a continuity of a limited source.

So many people sneer at fanfiction authors who offer commissions and it genuinely makes me want to rattle them all like a marble in a bean can.

Because you pay for books. Because someone took the time to write it. You don't sneer at the rows and rows of books in stores. You don't demean the authors who spent literal hours, sometimes even decades of their lives writing them.

People who write fanfiction are still authors.

Fanfiction is still literature.

Fanfiction's existence depends entirely on the authors.

Appreciate what you have. Understand the value in what you are being given.

Basic gratitude and respect is by far the absolutely minimum you should be giving in exchange for quite literally all the free literature you could ever want, on demand.

You can support something's right to exist and still personally find it weird/offputting/not understand it.

So many people act like to be respectful or supportive of something you have to throw your whole soul into enjoying or understanding it, and that's really not what it's about.

Sometimes, being supportive really is just;

"I find this strange as hell but you enjoy it and I'll support your right to enjoy it."

#i think better yet everyone needs to remember that if anyone else made a respectful romantic advance on you#it would be considered fucking mean and rude to tell people what about them is unattractive to you#its not any nicer to do that to trans people. literally just say no thank you i don't think of you that way. like you would to anyone else#idfk why everyone is so caught up on the idea of finding a respectful way of informing trans people that they're unattractive to you

This wasn't about trans people or finding a way to "respectfully tell them what about them is unattractive to you." People can talk about bodies and genitals without it automatically being about trans people.

This is a general discussion about how its often seen as a negative thing or a personal insult if you find someone unattractive or aren't compatible with what they're packing.

Not personally attractive to someone =/= ugly or unattractive as a whole.

I did use genitals as an example (in terms of what is or isn't demeaning language because trust me some people do push to know why you're rejecting them) and that was perhaps my mistake, but I'm referring to a multitude of qualities. Even things like the amount of muscle mass someone has can be attractive or unattractive to various people.

In short:

Nobody is inherently ugly or unworthy because you aren't attracted to them.

Attraction can't be forced and people aren't bad for not being attracted to someone or to certain qualities.

Preferences and needs are inherently harmless. Demeaning people or being cruel to them and using those as an excuse is what causes the harm.

Having preferences and things you are not visually or sexually attracted to is actually normal and perfectly valid.

The entire point of the 'preferences aren't an excuse' campaign is kindness, not forced attraction. That you don't shame other people for not fitting your own preferences or needs.

"I'm sorry, I'm exclusively attracted to vaginas."

vs

"Ew gross, I'd never date you, you've got a penis."

We need to stop demonising people for not finding certain qualities personally arousing or attractive, or having a strict need for a certain type of genital.

If people shouldn't be forced to change themselves to fit someone else's preferences then people's preferences shouldn't be disregarded and forced aside to fit someone else's qualities.

Nor should someone not being attractive to you be a valid reason to shame, demean or be rude/cruel to them.

This post is your reminder that you are not obligated to blog about current events.

Things are bad. Really bad. Do not let people guilt trip you into tormenting yourself even further over the fact that things are bad. Doomscrolling is not activism.

If you're just on tumblr to blorbopost or reblog pretty pictures, you are not harming people by inaction.

You are not a bad person for not dedicating every aspect of your life and leisure space to whatever disgusting mask-off attack on human life and dignity some government has decided to enact.

Take action where you can, but don't confuse doomscrolling and digital self harm for action.

If you need to lose yourself in blorboposting, go for it.

If you need to log off for the day, whether it's to take irl action or to protect what little sanity any of us have left over the past 7 years, then by all means, do.

Morale is important. Hope is important. Small joys keep us from burning out completely in times like this. Do not let any "if you don't reblog this I'm judging you" guilt trip convince you otherwise.

I am a big believer in respecting the statements celebrities make about their relationships, sexualities, ect and also understanding that there is always the potential for it being dishonest.

There are hundreds of celebrities who've come out to talk about blocking contracts and to reveal their sexualities or relationships literally decades after the fact. There really are still agencies and contracts who will prevent celebrities from talking honestly about who they like, date, ect. And there really are just celebrities who don't want to announce what they are or who they date to the world for their own reasons.

I will never argue against a celebrity's voice or disagree with their own authority over themselves, but I'm also not a crazy freak for staying aware of the fact that in thirty years time that celebrity could come out and say it was all a lie.

So many people are made fun of for believing celebrities are or have previously dated, or that certain celebrities might be closeted queer, and honestly as long as they're being respectful of how that person or people currently exist, we should all just shut up about it.