snuglove

Jasmin Darnell x INPRNT.

The lovely illustration work of artist Jasmin Darnell is all available as fine art prints in her INPRNT Shop.

Fight for Living!

In a new fandom, I’m still getting to know these characters. Sometimes, I hear them, and sometimes I don’t. Most of the time, it really feels like I have to write them. It’s like climbing down a ladder–in the fandom I’m experienced with, I don’t have to look at my feet. I know where the rungs will be. In the new fandom, I have to grope around looking for the rungs, and even when my foot finds them, I have to step on them tentatively, test them out before committing to the step. 

In a new fandom, I’m still getting to know these characters. Sometimes, I hear them, and sometimes I don’t. Most of the time, it really feels like I have to write them. It’s like climbing down a ladder–in the fandom I’m experienced with, I don’t have to look at my feet. I know where the rungs will be. In the new fandom, I have to grope around looking for the rungs, and even when my foot finds them, I have to step on them tentatively, test them out before committing to the step. 

I was out with a friend tonight doing one of my fave things. Reading the backs of romance novels aloud. Found this gem.

“As Hilda’s buttermilk bosoms squished up against his granite abs, Torolf almost had a dick aneurysm.”

“Torolf entered her like she was a lottery. His engorged pecker pushed inside her and she felt fulfilled with sexual fulfillment.”

“Her body was like a beautiful flower that was opening and somebody was pushing their dick inside it.”

Okay, anon. I’m gonna assume you’re asking in earnest, which I can understand, because as a born again lesbian, I, too, have many questions not readily answered by the Almighty G.

SO.

Y/N = your name

Y/L/N = your last name

Y/E/C = your eye color (NOT your ear color)

Y/H/C = your hair color

Y/F/N = your first name

Y/B/C = your butthole color

Y/T/S = your titty size

I know you might think it is not your responsibility, and maybe you are right, but when you have the ability to affect so many people when being so popular, it is probably a good idea not to be an ass about this. 

Let me tell you a few things about these “three.” They are some of the kindest, most welcoming mentors I have ever had the pleasure of calling my friends. I joined this fandom last December when I needed it most, as my mental health was dangling by a thread. I had NEVER written fanfiction in my entire life and decided to give it a try.

Did my first fics suck? Oh you bet your ass they did, I cringe when I read them tbh. But that’s just part of growing as an author/writer. Did these three come crashing down on me by tearing apart my fics or telling me the “right vs wrong” way of doing things when I ASKED for advice on how to improve? 

No. Not even fucking close.

They read my work, offered advice, commended me for what went well, and those back and forth communications grew into meaningful friendships with people who are taking their free time to produce some amazing content for a fandom filled with the aforementioned garbage (shippers, etc.). 

I do not know why we exist in this microcosm of thinking that if we handout constructive criticism it’s telling new writers they “suck” or “should quit” or “are discouraged.” If you want to be a popular writer, you have to learn what’s popular and what will get you hits. It’s basic statistics that certain things get more hits and are read more than others. But if you don’t care about being popular or wanting to improve your writing and are on here solely for fun…

then why does it matter to you?

You are not some gatekeeper to those who are seeking out advice when they have goals they want to obtain as writers. If someone writes something isn’t “popular,” it is their own free will that determines whether or not they quit writing forever. I, for one, wanted to find out how to get better and what was considered popular so I took as much advice as I could get, including seeking advice beyond the “three.” The more you ask, the greater range of opinions you get.

People want to know how these “three” got popular and how they are good writers. And you roast them over the flames for giving honest answers? “Lazy” is not this all encompassing negative label. I can think of many an academic paper I received back throughout my higher education that had much more disheartening comments than “lazy.”

Does this mean that fics that use Y/N suck? No.

Does this mean that authors who use it are lesser than those who don’t? No.

Do people have preferences in what they read and write and are ENTITLED to those opinions because we are all human beings with differing preferences? YES

Don’t make this an “us” vs. “them” scenario. Be open to criticism. Decide if you agree what this criticism. If you do, great! If you don’t, great! But taking up arms over something like whether a name is used or not is just ridiculous to me. If someone doesn’t like the way I write or the content I produce, I don’t lose sleep over it. I either find out why they didn’t like it and fix it if I agree or I say “fuck them” and keep writing cheesy, overplayed scenarios because it’s fun and I have freewill and want to keep doing it.

And I am still allowed to have opinions on what I read and what I like or don’t like while doing said reading. So do you. So does everyone. 

We are all writers and write fanfiction because we like it and it’s fun. We all cling to this part of the fandom because it keeps us from having to interact with the sickos on this site. And if people began raining hellfire down on my fics because they didn’t like that I didn’t use “Y/N” and called it lazy writing, I would shovel more Ben and Jerry’s into my face and keep on trucking. 

What I WOULDN’T do is name call and slur complete strangers on the internet when I know, and we ALL know, what real evil looks like on this hellsite.

If you wanna block people over this truly minuscule disagreement, that’s your decision. 

But what I would do if I were in your position is go and actually get to know @rosyfinger, @outtricking, and @another-sanchez-slut because as someone who was a stranger to them not that long ago and is younger than them all in both age and experience, I would say it’s pretty fucking amazing how kind and generous they have been to me both in and outside of the fandom.

They saved me and supported me when I was ready to call it quits on life.

I’m glad you have had great experiences with these three people but it does not change the fact that several people, who have some pretty visible faces in this fandom, have come to me and said thank you. This obviously proves there has been a problem for quite some times and one good friendship between you and them cannot add up for others being hurt. I’d say that is quite the act of invalidating other people’s feelings and that is also not okay.

I have no intention of slinging slurs out there (and I realize some people have done so) and I have tried to keep it civil even though I am angry. There are people in this fandom who may or may not have the same thick skin as me, who can take silly jokes or rude comments about their writing styles, and we, as a community, must support our fellow writers instead of mocking them till they do not dare to post their things and get their abilities questioned till they cannot write and enjoy it.

I am not invalidating anyone, people can feel what they feel and they are entitled to that. They are allowed to be hurt, I can’t tell them not to be and I am not doing that. But that doesn’t mean the original comment was wrong or out of place, because it was a normal opinion of a writer who prefers one type of writing over the other. And that’s okay, she is allowed to feel that way. Otherwise you’re invalidating her feelings and opinions, to flip your logic, and are committing the same acts you’re claiming I am. 

If you state an opinion on the internet, someone somewhere isn’t going to like it. And that’s okay, it’s alright to like different things and uphold one way of doing something over another. Otherwise we would all write the exact same way and this side of the fandom wouldn’t be as rich with content as it is. It’s not like tags were made calling out specific writers where they proceeded to tear others down by flooding their inbox or commenting on their fics and tearing them a new one. You’re suggesting someone isn’t allowed to have an opinion or voice that opinion when it’s over a writing style.

A question was asked, and an answer was given. 

People getting hurt is a result of the classic dilemma of “intention vs. perception.” You (general “you” here, not directing at you personally) must look at the intent of a comment when analyzing and understanding your perception. It’s having the maturity and scope of realizing not everything is about you or meant to be some vicious personal attack. Because we all know the difference as we have all unfortunately seen personal take-downs and attacks. It is a personal opinion about what is read and preferred, just like we all have preferences. 

Some people absolutely hate romantic tropes, others love them. Some people love alpha/beta dynamics, others don’t. And allllllll of those preferences are allowed, and we cannot go around policing people on what they do or do not like to read (with the exception of ped*philia, etc which I know we agree on).

If there has been a problem, people need to speak up and have adult conversations with those involved. Silence does nothing but fuel resentment and miscommunication until something like this happens. This isn’t an issue of harassment where strings of personal call outs and malicious intent are fueling some sort of personal take down attempt. Because silencing people of their opinions creates, in my opinion, an environment of stagnation and tip-toeing where there can be no creative disagreement or dialogue. 

And just because you look up to a reader or they are popular doesn’t mean they have to stay quiet about what they like to read. It’s as if J.K. Rowling said she hated reading mystery novels because they are all predictable and poorly written or something and then I (if I were a mystery novel writer) gave up on writing and never typed a word again. That’s a very odd suggestion and want from someone who has influence in a fandom.

You’re taking disagreement of a writing style personal and perceiving it as un-supportive. 

I am defending these three because they are allowed to have opinions, just like you are. It’s what makes us all diverse and wonderful writers. And if people are perceiving it in such a way that they are hurt, then it’s on them to either open a dialogue with the person who made the comment instead of blocking them, or to tough it up and realize not everyone is going to like the way you do things. And that’s okay. 

Are you sitting down? Get comfy, this one’s a doozy:

• These are photos of salps—filter-feeding, gelatinous drifters. • Their scientific name is Thetys vagina. • Vagina salps come in two morphs: solitary (📸 1) and chains (📸 2) • Solitary salps produce the chains asexually—you can see a rope of clones—the stolon—forming in the salp’s “belly,” each small orb being the gut of one salp in the budding chain.

• Chains of the clonal individuals can be tens of feet long. The chain here was about 3 feet long. • The chains reproduce sexually, beginning life as females and producing eggs. • When the female chain has been fertilized by a male chain and the solitary salps produced, the female chain then becomes a male chain and will fertilize younger female chains.

• Known as “alternation of generations,” this type of reproductive strategy is thought to help salps explode in numbers when conditions are right. • Salps may be crucial to the carbon cycle and regulating the climate, as their poo pellets sink carbon into the deep sea.

• These photos were taken by local photographer Joe Platko along Cannery Row this week. Thanks Joe!

FAQ: • We know—supposedly they were named when “vagina” just meant “sheath” and not applied to anatomy yet but idk • “Thetys” refers to a Greek sea goddess. “Tethys” was Titan of fresh water. • They don’t sting! They’re closer to fishes and people than to jellyfish!