Lukewarm Media Takes

on the other hand...

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 have made my stance on the Wendigo very clear: it is not your stock fantasy monsters to use. It can be used accurately if you ask the tribe in question how to use it, but if you’re looking for some “Native magic” to throw into the story, look elsewhere.

It is not a hybrid. Your character can’t be half-Wendigo or part-Wendigo or whatever. You are either possessed by the spirit, have become the whole spirit, or not involved with the Wendigo.

No, they can’t be “good” or anti-heros— they’re many cultures’ definition of evil. No, they can’t be outside of their original Algonquin/Great Lakes peoples contexts. 

This also means they don’t belong interacting with witches, especially Christian witches.

If you want to be respectful to Native cultures, put the Wendigo in its full context (including the fact it is evil in our societies) with multiple Native characters involved in the plot, or don’t use it at all.

The obsession with having Native characters be tied to the Wendigo is honestly disturbing. As mentioned, the Wendigo is often a definition of evil. It is an insatiable hunger; it is pure greed. It’s wild and untamed. It’s every negative stereotype of Native Americans— cannibals, demonic, rabid, indiscriminate hunters, a threat to civilized society— wrapped up into one.

Racism against Native Americans founded in these principles is still alive and well. Trace your logic for why you want a greedy cannibal hunter to be tied to your Native character. 

We are not your monsters.

this is why ao3 is superior 😭 I hope op has a copy of their work because, from what I’ve been told, wattpad won’t even warn or give you time to backup your work beforehand. they will just deadass delete your work. my friend once had their entire work—with multiple chapters—deleted by wattpad with no heads up. just a notification that says “your work has been deleted”.

You are not responsible to make adults comfortable. They can do that themselves. You are still a teen/young adult and you do not have to carry the world on your shoulders. You also do not need to make an adult happy on the internet.

My take: if you were really writing for fun, you wouldn't publish it and abandon it. You can't get mad at readers for not supporting that.

I shit on rude and entitled readers who are shitting on writers, which sounds a lot like you.

your take is shit by the way, because writers can absolutely write first and foremost for fun and for themselves while still posting their works online. and by your logic, it’s writers’ fault if shitty readers are rude and/or harassing them. it’s honesty giving “if you don’t want to get catcalled in public, don’t dress like that in public” and “if you don’t want strangers to criticize the way you dress in public, don’t leave your house — if you leave your house, people are allowed to criticize and catcall you and it’s your fault” it’s victim blaming at its finest and it’s absolutely disgusting.

Typically asexuals don’t have protection to begin with (we are recognised partially in two countries as of 2025, may have updated since then but doubt it) so we aren’t included.

This is the first case of “asexual acts” being criminalised.

It’s illegal not to have sex?

Is it illegal not to have sex for religious reasons now? Such as a nun or priest?

Not only that; but the laws (if there are any) around consent have just been demolished. A man could now accuse a woman who won’t sleep with him of “asexual acts”, resulting in prison time. They might have a strict “not before marriage” faith/law, but don’t tell me someone won’t do this.

sometimes I’m reminded that there are still people who don’t know ao3 was literally created by incest shippers — and the site’s sole purpose is to 1. be completely against censorship and 2. host all kinds of dark, taboo fics that are banned on other platforms — and the first ever fic that was posted on ao3 was a fic about an incest ship from supernatural.

you are in the house that was created by freaks. for freaks (affectionate). every disgusting thing you can think of is rightfully allowed and welcomed on ao3, because they are exactly the reasons why ao3 was created in the first place.

ao3 was created because its creators got tired of censorship, they got tired of dark and taboo fics getting banned on pro-censorship platforms, and they wanted a place that was safe for ALL FICS THAT WERE DARK AND TABOO.

ao3’s main principle is being against censorship and being proship / profic.

there are some things in fiction that make me uncomfortable, but instead of shaming people who are just minding their own business and not harming anyone in real life, I choose to curate my own internet experience by blocking/muting what I don’t want to see. ao3 has excellent tagging system, so instead of being a bitch, use their tagging system properly and you won’t see the things you don’t want to see.

it’s your job to curate what you see. it’s not other people’s jobs or responsibilities to censor themselves for your personal comfort. the world does not revolve around you.

also you cannot censor “only the things you personally hate” without expecting everything else, that isn’t of conservative beliefs, to be censored too. because censorship is a slippery slope and a fascist tool. I promise you there are people who think “why do tags for queer love even exist on ao3? they’re grooming children”.

if you allow the things that you hate to be censored — because someone with enough power gets to control what other people can and cannot create/consume, it will not stop at the things that you hate.