arawen898

hey so. don’t do this.

“coming from a place of respect” there is nothing respectful about a comment like this. this is exactly why I say witch hunt, speculations and accusations harm the writing community as much as ai does, if not more.

I am not saying “you’re an asshole if you think a fic is ai”. I have come across fics that I believe were ai-generated. but instead of asking (accusing) the authors, I make my own decisions whether I’ll continue reading for the benefit of the doubt or quietly exit the fics and look for something else to read.

because with every accusation like this, there’s always a chance of a genuine, innocent writer getting wrongly accused.

last but not least, fanfic writers do NOT owe you anything. they write for themselves and their own enjoyment. their ao3 accounts are their houses and they were kind enough to let you in their houses. for free. (you get to read things for free.) you don’t go into other people’s houses and tell them “actually I think the way you decorate your room is sus. did you actually do it yourself or did you ask a robot to do it for you?”. THEY 👏🏻 DON’T 👏🏻 OWE 👏🏻 YOU 👏🏻 ANYTHING. and I say this as someone who is not a fan of ai fics. if you don’t like what you’re seeing, quietly leave.

I may not be the best person for this because my writing process is pretty different from yours;

my first draft is always my final draft. I respect people who have multiple drafts for a fic but for me, whatever I write in the “first draft” is what’s getting posted. I proofread for typos and grammatical errors prior to posting but that’s it. ever since I started writing fics almost a decade ago, my first drafts are always the final drafts. (I don’t know how to have “more than one draft” for a fic because when I write, I always write what I want to be in my fics, so if I write it down, it is in the fic.)

I have never had a beta reader. I prefer working alone. this way my work is 100% me and I get to fully decide what I want my fics to be, how I want my fics to be. every decision comes from me and me alone. (I am not saying having a beta reader is bad, I know it’s can be super helpful and the majority, if not all, of writers have beta readers. what I’m saying is that it’s not how I personally write.)

so you’re asking this from someone without a beta reader, whose first drafts are always the final drafts.

that said, my thoughts on this that may or may not be helpful is that I believe you may be overthinking your draft because you’re already expecting your beta reader to judge it. if you’re already writing with this “what’s the point? it’s unsalvageable anyway” mindset, then chances are that it’s already unsalvageable even before you write it. not because it’s actually bad and unsalvageable but because your mind has already decided that it’s unsalvageable and you’ll have to rewrite the whole thing. and then you’re stuck in this endless loop. if I’m being honest, I can’t imagine still enjoying writing if I think “everything I write is unsalvageable and must be rewritten. I’m going to be rejected by my beta reader and I can never please them”.

I don’t know how your beta reader is, but if they’ve ever done anything that makes you question yourself and your ability to write then maybe, they may not be the right beta reader to you and you’re better off without them.

there’s a difference between “honest constructive criticism from a beta reader that helps an author improve their skills” and “constantly feeling discouraged by a beta reader who always make you, as an author, feel like everything you write is unsalvageable and must be rewritten.”

here’s a reminder: you don’t write to please your beta reader. a beta reader is supposed to be someone who guides and gives advice. not someone who constantly makes you think “this is unsalvageable and I have to rewrite everything”. because if it gets to that point then I’m afraid your beta reader is tearing you down instead actually helping you, and in that case, you’re better off without them.

I am not saying they should never beta read for anyone either because I don’t know them or how they beta read, but from the information you gave me, they may not be the right beta reader for you.

i have been wanting to write about a ship i enjoy that is quite rare in my opinion, because i haven't been able to find any works of it so far.. the thing i'm struggling with is that, after one of my friends got mad at me for shipping them (because "it isnt a valid ship because x and y don't like eachother"), i began wondering if it actually wasn't a good ship. This lead to me questioning if i actually had any reason to ship them in the first place or if i was just shipping them to ship them. (if that makes sense)

obviously i still really like the ship, but it left me puzzled, because i've seen a lot of people complain about people just shipping characters mindlessly and i couldn't quite tell if it was a big deal or not..

anon, I say this with respect, no one needs a reason to ship any characters. shipping fictional characters is not a thesis or a scientific paper. it's all about fun and letting one's imaginary run wild. if your heart says these characters are in love then they are in love. even if they hate each other in canon. even if they have never interacted or met in canon. shipping and fanfics have never been about "strictly following canon".

again, canon is only a suggestion. how much of it a fan will follow, if any, is entirely up to them.

not to mention... shipping characters who hate each other and are enemies is literally one of the most common ways characters get shipped together. my ship is in-ho and gi-hun from squid game. they are archenemies in canon. in-ho killed gi-hun's best friend in canon and I'm sure gi-hun fantasizes about killing in-ho. actually I’m sure they both fantasize about killing each other. and the ship is the most popular squid game ship, so popular that netflix, the director and the actors acknowledge it.

what I'm saying is: people ship characters who try to kill each other and are enemies all the time. that's what makes a ship hot.

regardless, if a ship makes you happy, then that is a valid reason for you to ship it.

I honesty cannot imagine a sane adult getting mad at someone else for… shipping fictional characters together. like… if you (general you) don’t like a ship then just… don’t engage with the ship? it’s literally none of your business which characters people ship anyway. my friends have ships I don’t vibe with. and I just mind my own business and let them do what they want. shipping and fandom space as a whole is about one’s own enjoyment. it’s not about “having to follow canon” or “having to have proper reasoning before shipping characters”.

if your friend has a problem with this, show them “the frozen rise of the brave tangled dragons” ship from 2013 where jack froze (rise of the guardians), rapunzel (tangled), elsa (frozen), princess merida (brave) and hiccup (how to train your dragon) are shipped together and they have an orgy.

i know the island yada yada yada...