#Wordweavers Day 11 - Looking back at the beginning of your writing journey, what advice would you give yourself?
I know you love this franchise right now but the author will turn out to be a fucking terf and the fandom kinda stinks regardless, do better things with your time and money.
This is in reference to the fact that the first time I widely shared fictional writing was posting fanfic about the Terf Wizard Books. I discussed my progression into and out of fanfic in this post, without going into any details about that particular franchise because none of it is relevant now. https://ljwrites.blog/posts/fanfic-writing-history/
@ljwrites@writeout.ink I know it doesn't feel great but I really admire people who used to love those books but have done their grieving and moved forward.
You're a stronger person for being able to recognize that even though the books meant something to you, they aren't worth putting above the lives of real people. That you can internalize the positives the books gave you and reject the idea that you must support the deeply flawed person who made them.
This seems to be hard for many folks to do...
@clarablackink@writing.exchange Thank you. It probably helped in my case that I had moved on and mostly left the series behind by the time "op is a terf" hit the fans. Even before the series became radioactive, it started feeling stiflingly conventional and uninteresting because it challenged so little of the world and demanded so little of readers--and I hold that's precisely why it was successful, in addition to a heaping of luck and other circumstances. Ursula K. Le Guin was one of many writers and critics who saw through the hype, bless her, when she called the series "stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative, and ethically rather mean-spirited" in 2004.
@ljwrites@writeout.ink I think it builds character to do what you've done and I don't think that is said often enough.
Like, there isn't a "right" way for this to happen because it can take a lot of self work to disentangle. But, the people who are doing that are showing that they're growing as people and...well...I think that's a bigger thing that gets ignored for the author's constant attention seeking cruelty.
@clarablackink@writing.exchange Yeah it seems like a lot of people are attached to the idea that "I am a good person and therefore what I like can't be harmful, and you are [shoehorn in some bigotry here, frequently misogyny and queermisia in the case of fandom] for not letting me love what I love in peace." Pretty sure there's a lot of overlap between this crowd and the "I am a good person [insert optional reference to Black friend] and can't be racist" one. I've clashed with soooo many people like that in other fandoms, which ultimately drained the enjoyment out of fandoms for me.
@clarablackink@writing.exchange Yeah it seems like a lot of people are attached to the idea that "I am a good person and therefore what I like can't be harmful, and you are [shoehorn in some bigotry here, frequently misogyny and queermisia in the case of fandom] for not letting me love what I love in peace." Pretty sure there's a lot of overlap between this crowd and the "I am a good person [insert optional reference to Black friend] and can't be racist" one. I've clashed with soooo many people like that in other fandoms, which ultimately drained the enjoyment out of fandoms for me.
@ljwrites@writeout.ink
When I see an adult today who still puts money into the Harry Potter universe, I think so much less of them. This goes double for actors and directors who agree to work with Moldemort.
@clarablackink@writing.exchange
@ljwrites@writeout.ink
When I see an adult today who still puts money into the Harry Potter universe, I think so much less of them. This goes double for actors and directors who agree to work with Moldemort.
@clarablackink@writing.exchange
@kazarnowicz@unstraight.club Same I'm basically like, "Harry Potter? In this economy?" I don't feel great about HP materials in general and avoid them on the rare occasions they come up, but I give a bit more respect to people who consume HP responsibly, as a friend put it, by pirating it. And I gained a healthy amount of admiration for Daniel Radcliffe when he explicitly pushed back at Terfy Billionaire's hate and compared her to Voldemort xD @clarablackink@writing.exchange
@kazarnowicz@unstraight.club Same I'm basically like, "Harry Potter? In this economy?" I don't feel great about HP materials in general and avoid them on the rare occasions they come up, but I give a bit more respect to people who consume HP responsibly, as a friend put it, by pirating it. And I gained a healthy amount of admiration for Daniel Radcliffe when he explicitly pushed back at Terfy Billionaire's hate and compared her to Voldemort xD @clarablackink@writing.exchange
@ljwrites@writeout.ink @kazarnowicz@unstraight.club I think the main ethical consumption off the high seas is fan created stuff but even then...
That there have been multiple cults spawned from the source material underscores a certain quality from the original that remains troubling.
I think for me its just....you need to read more than one author, more than one series. Broaden interests and adventure beyond comfortable faves.
@ljwrites@writeout.ink @kazarnowicz@unstraight.club I think the main ethical consumption off the high seas is fan created stuff but even then...
That there have been multiple cults spawned from the source material underscores a certain quality from the original that remains troubling.
I think for me its just....you need to read more than one author, more than one series. Broaden interests and adventure beyond comfortable faves.
Author-ized L.J.
