Sunshine Revival Challenge #7

[spaciireth]

The Ferris Wheel

Journaling: Life in fandom goes through ups and downs. Reminisce about the "wild ride" of your time in fandom or in other online communities.

I was writing fan fiction in creative writing classes in primary school in the 90s before we even had Internet access... then a chance moment on a forum in 2004 lead me to fanfiction.net, which in turn lead me to LiveJournal, and the rest, as they say, is history. 

I did write Harry Potter fic in high school, though you won't see me touching that with a 20 foot pole anymore. And to be honest, I was only ever a casual fan and involved as the books were coming out, and once there was no more source material, I didn't really have any reason to stay in the fandom. 

Actually, that was often the case for me, I'd get super into something for a short amount of time, visit the fandom briefly, and then drop it as soon as I wasn't interested anymore. Off the top of my head, I think I wrote a couple of Stargate SG-1 fics, because I binged the first four or five seasons, then I had to go home for a couple of weeks and didn't have access to my friend who was loaning me the DVD box sets, and then by the time I got back to uni, I was like, "Nah, I'm good." 

My main fandoms were Doctor Who and Disney, and that's still the case insofar as I still participate in fandom. I lost touch with fic writing for a literal decade, then suddenly watched Tangled the Series in 2023 and got back into writing briefly... But again, once I had watched the series once, I had no particular desire to rewatch it and continue engaging with fannish stuff... the movie will have my heart always, but the series is... okay. It had a lot of promise, but it didn't live up to it. Anyway, that's a rant for another day. 

I became more engaged with Doctor Who again with the most recent series and wanted to participate in fandom a bit more, but Tumblr seemed the most likely place for it, and Tumblr can be a weird space... I had to step back after reactions to the finale, when there was so much stuff like "Russel T Davies needs to DIE" and yeah, it was probably just hyperbole borne from frustration (I was also left frustrated with the finale few episodes) but it also felt kind of like they meant it. 

My main "fannish" (for want of a better word) pursuit these days is generally reading and blogging, but the bookish community, at least on Insta/Threads, is a bit of a hot mess.

- Both readers and authors are entitled in so many ways.

- If you're not reading the latest releases, you don't get a lot of traction (and I am never reading the newest releases, a. because I have always been behind, and b. currently romantasy is the big thing, and while I love a fantasy with a solid romantic subplot, a fantasy setting with a romance plot is not my thing).

- Pirating and generative-AI are big things now. I guess it's always been there but now you have people commenting on an author's post promoting their book asking where they can get a free PDF, and I feel like no one was so brazen about it before. 

- There's been this whole thing where two serial-numbers-filed-off Dramione fics were published on the same day. Not an issue on its own, but basically the whole marketing plan has been pushing the Dramione angle. A lot of people have been talking about how weird it is that they leaned so hard into the fic angle when this has never been how it's done before (yes, we know 50 Shades was a Twilight fic, and we know that Ali Hazelwood's early books started out as Reylo fics, but that was never pushed in the marketing of the original versions). Plenty of trans people have been asking readers not to engage, as it's keeping the HP franchise relevant, and the authors are pushing some stuff about "fanfiction can be an act of resistance" but... they are both cis women, writing heteronormative relationships... not exactly a reclamation of anything much. Anyway, it's been a whole thing. 

So mostly, I just read my books and post on my review blog, and enjoy the likes that I get on any photos I post. Threads' algorithm is so weird, I have basically stopped posting there because I always get people giving weird responses. 

Anyway. This post probably ended up a big more negative than I intended, but it's an honest take on the scene (from my POV) at the moment, too. 

Comments

[author_by_night]

- Both readers and authors are entitled in so many ways.


Do you mean the authors who complain about bad reviews?

an author's post promoting their book asking where they can get a free PDF, and I feel like no one was so brazen about it before.

Oh, it happened to me way before. I got published in an anthology, told people I know personally, and they asked if they could just get a copy of my story instead of buying the whole thing. SMH. I kind of get it, I think their minds jumped to "ABN wrote a story!" and they missed that I was trying to promote the collaborative effort (and hopefully make some extra money), but still. You're right though that I don't think anyone would have asked complete strangers before. At least they knew me, so like I said, it made a little more sense, it was just ignorant.



od's early books started out as Reylo fics, but that was never pushed in the marketing of the original versions).

Yeah, that's so strange. I have read a book where the author told her fandom friends what it was based on, but that wasn't part of the larger marketing, more "inside knowledge" as it were.

and the authors are pushing some stuff about "fanfiction can be an act of resistance" but... they are both cis women, writing heteronormative relationships... not exactly a reclamation of anything much. Anyway, it's been a whole thing.

Yeah. If it really felt like a reclamation, that might change things, but it doesn't sound like it.

[kitarella_imagines]

Hello 😊

I think entitlement is everywhere now isn't it. I'm not sure what's made humans turn that way 😕

[muscle_wizard]

The FF.NET to LJ pipeline is strong lol, same for me.

[zenigotchas]

re:dramione fics to original published books pipeline. This is another logical step from the booktokification of selling certain genres. I see ads all the times for new romance books, all of which advertise their stories like it's been posted on a fic archive ala ao3: "The book has bi mc rep! It's enemies to lovers! ugly christmas sweaters! etc etc." I'd say that sort of advertising started because there's a huge overlap between fic writers and fans of the romance genre. That sounds like the next logical step of that sort of advertising style... "This novel used to be a Naruto shipfic!" It also gives the author this sort of relatbility and likability to the potential audience and these days, so many works ARE judged off the personality of the author.

"Fanfiction can be an act of resistance." Uuuuuuugh. I can't help but roll my eyes at takes like this. They feel so out of touch to me.

I relate to not really being into fandom and having the closest thing being reviewing or just writing about recent reads. It is such a shame to hear that you haven't been able to find as much engagement when you want to talk about older books and that some of it seems to be a bit of a popularity contest by following the latest trends. Talking about books should be more fun and about sharing our deeper feelings (analysis, the parts that hit us in the feels, etc), not about whether or not someone is reading whatever is "in" at the moment.

[spaciireth]

Do you mean the authors who complain about bad reviews?

Responses to bad reviews, but also a lot of hot takes trying to dictate how readers should review, saying things like no one should give low ratings because you don't understand how hard it is to write a book, or insisting that lower-rated ARC reviews should be held until after release. Also jumping into the comments on other authors' own promo posts to promote their books, sometimes in a "Don't worry about that one, read mine instead" kind of way.

But then on the other hand you've got readers asking for the aforementioned PDFs and absolutely dying on the hill of being allowed to tag authors in negative reviews (on Instagram and TikTok and places).

And then there's all the purity stuff from both sides, because women shouldn't be reading "porn", dontcha know.

they could just get a copy of my story instead of buying the whole thing.

Oof, yeah, can see where they're coming from but still!

Yeah, that's so strange.

And I know authors like Naomi Novik and Meghan Spooner and a few others have made no secret of the fact that they cut their teeth writing fic but you would be hard pressed to find anything you could definitively link to them.

[spaciireth]

It certainly feels that way! It's quite sad.

[spaciireth]

Love it lol. I suspect there were probably a lot of us in that early-to-mid-2000s period.

[spaciireth]

That's a really interesting point. I actually don't mind the marketing based on tropes or rep because I am often looking for those things in published books as much as when I'm on AO3, but I think you're onto something with saying this is the next step in that progression.

I think algorithms have definitely crated a vicious loop when it comes to talking about books online. The way to get engagement is to be reading what's popular, and so everybody reads what's popular in order to get the engagement, which leads to the same books getting pushed more. I've read so many good books lately that I feel are underrated because they're just not part of the current big thing, which is a shame.

[author_by_night]

I was going to say pretty much what you said - on all counts. On the one hand, as I've seen it stated, reviews aren't for the writers, they're for other readers.

I think some people just want to be told their writing is perfect. I've heard of that being a problem in writing groups. And I do wonder how many of these writers are used to nicer spaces. Especially if they're used to writing fanfic (I say that as a fanfic writer myself).

Even a lot of writing groups put being polite first, as their aim is to help you. I very much believe in that. There's still a difference between helping a writer with their story, and commenting on the final product.

But anyway, I think there've always been hurt feelings, it's just that now these people can put it all online, whereas before they probably just went to the bar and complained to whoever would listen there.

(A side issue is the fact that a lot of people publish independently, which isn't bad in and of itself, I may choose that option someday - however, they use family members and close friends as family members. Depending on who your family members and close friends are, that might be a mistake.)

Of course, it's normal to be sad if you get bad reviews. That's why I advise not reading them. But also, there's a difference between feeling sad and calling people out.

Also jumping into the comments on other authors' own promo posts to promote their books, sometimes in a "Don't worry about that one, read mine instead" kind of way.

Yikes, that is gross.


But then on the other hand you've got readers asking for the aforementioned PDFs and absolutely dying on the hill of being allowed to tag authors in negative reviews (on Instagram and TikTok and places).

I was going to say that as well. That is just uncalled for. Don't make it personal.

And then there's all the purity stuff from both sides, because women shouldn't be reading "porn", dontcha know.


*Rolls eyes* Not the porrrnzzz.

Oof, yeah, can see where they're coming from but still!


Yeah. I think they just missed the point, they're not entitled types, but it was still frustrating.


And I know authors like Naomi Novik and Meghan Spooner and a few others have made no secret of the fact that they cut their teeth writing fic but you would be hard pressed to find anything you could definitively link to them.

Exactly!

[kitarella_imagines]

It is, I keep waiting for the pendulum to swing the other way and people to start working together, co-operating again, but I don't know if that'll ever happen...