i’m so proud of anyone who writes fanfic.   i am immensely proud of anyone who types out stories they want to see for characters that are not their creation, or their property, but that inspire them to delve into a difficult medium with which they likely have little experience or comfort. i have to be proud of that because fanfic is ultimately a thankless line of work. and it is work.  it’s work for people who’re good at writing, trained in it. so imagine how difficult it is for beginners, the impaired, those with even a modicum of self-doubt?  in that way, they are no different from any other author. writing, literature, is an art form with an ugly legacy of snobbery. academics and laymen alike still argue about what sorts of writing should and should not be considered ‘canonical.’  add to that odious environment the level of disdain, apathy, or ignorance most non-fannish people have toward fan works and you have a near-permanent, repugnant shroud of You’re Not Real encompassing the whole endeavor.  a shroud under which, miraculously, fan works are still produced with vigor and regularity, and largely without access to agents or editors who’re paid to polish. just as miraculously, these writers often receive, from their friends and peers and strangers, the sort of praise one associates with bestselling authors.  it’s miraculous because fanfic writers have been obliged to believe, from the moment they set finger to keyboard, that what they are doing is a sideshow. at best, they are hobbyists with some talent but no real standing. at worst, they are self-indulgent amateurs, muddying the waters of a true craft.  like many authors of original work, fanfic writers will never have a millisecond of calculable fame for their efforts. they may step out of their borrowed sandbox and create original work, or they may not, but there is no scenario in which they emerge feeling like an accepted member of a celebrated tradition.  even in the rare instance of pop culture turning its eye on some speck of scintillating fan work, it’s still mocked.  it’s still a sideshow, just with a brighter spotlight. so, yeah, i am proud of anyone who can absorb the reality of all the above…and still write. 

Thank you @bossuary for saying all this. I and I'm sure so many fic writers needed to hear this. ❤

Tumblr in 2012:

Tumblr in 2022:

“Everybody has experienced the defeat of their lives. Nobody has a life that worked out the way they wanted it to work out. We all begin as the hero of our own dramas, in centre stage, and inevitably life moves us out of centre stage, defeats the hero, overturns the plot and the strategy and we’re left on the sidelines, wondering why we no longer have a part, or want a part, in the whole damn thing. So everybody’s experienced this. When it’s presented to us sweetly, the feeling goes from heart to heart and we feel less isolated and we feel part of the great human chain, which is really involved with the recognition of defeat.”

Ships

If it’s not canon, at least there’s always fanfic.

The number in italics indicates how many spots a ship moved up or down from the previous year. The ones in bold weren’t on the list last year.

The 2023 Star Trek Winter Gift Exchange is here!

Q: What is the Star Trek Winter Gift Exchange?

A: This is an anonymous fanworks exchange for any fandom within the Star Trek universe, from The Original Series to Strange New Worlds!

-

Q: How does it work?

Voyager should’ve had a baseball episode. Imagine if you will:

• Janeway and Chakotay picking teams. Chakotay picks Tuvok because he once saw him exit a baseball holoprogram and has been keeping this information to himself for the appropriate moment. Beating the Captain in a traditional American game just to annoy her is the appropriate moment

• Janeway picks B’Elanna immediately after that betrayal because she knows B’Elanna will be picturing Chakotay’s face on the ball

• Harry is a great shortstop and is a good contact hitter. He bats leadoff for Janeway

• Ayala is a utility player. Chakotay takes him as quickly as he can

• Tom brags about how good he is. He gets picked last and ends up on Janeway’s team. Chakotay promised her extra coffee for a month from his rations to avoid picking Tom

• Naomi Wildman is the bat girl. The helmet is too big for her and she can barely see but everyone notices her smile

• Tuvok is really good at baseball. It’s only logical to play a sport that humans love, and it turns out that it’s also logical to optimize your technique and master a 112 mph fastball. Vulcans have stronger ligament and muscle structure so his body can handle the strain. He throws a screwball, knucklecurve and a changeup. Harry is the only one to make contact until the fifth inning

• Janeway walks every plate appearance. Chakotay claims it’s because Neelix is too scared to call strikes, but it’s really because Tuvok can’t bring himself to strike out his friend

• Neelix is the home plate ump. He does not know what balls and strikes are but won’t let anyone explain

• Seven knows everything there is to know about baseball but refuses to play. The Borg assimilated a baseball player once but they were so annoying that Seven will never acknowledge that she knows anything about the sport. She keeps score. Later, every player will be anonymously sent a scouting report

• Chakotay is a power hitter and plays third base. He secretly loves baseball even if he’s doing this to mess with Janeway. He hits two home runs off Tom

• Tom strikes out every at-bat. He doesn’t even make contact. He misses worse and worse every time. He’s been drinking the postgame beers in the dugout. After Harry steals home, he showers him in beer

• The Doctor caught Neelix making a big batch of cracker jacks when three ensigns end up in sickbay. He makes him stop and then when he finds out about the baseball game, he makes himself an umpire

• The Doctor sings during the seventh-inning stretch. He goes on for an hour. Everyone (minus Tuvok) has opened up the beers

• B’Elanna hits the game-winning single past Chakotay. She never lets him forget it about even after they return to earth. She thinks he threw the game to make Janeway happy

• Years later Chakotay tells her he actually pulled a muscle in the third inning and that’s why he missed the ball. She asks the EMH to confirm. He does. She still doesn’t believe it

These Jezebel commenters are right and they should say it

Pros and Cons of making things

Pro: Thing

Con: Make

you summed up the struggle of all creators ever so nicely

thinking about how in ancient times, at least people knew that the lives their children would lead would….vaguely resemble their own???

People have always fondly reminisced about The Good Old Days and complained about Kids These Days, of course. But—and I cannot stress this enough—when my mom was born the Internet did not exist.

like I’m thinking about how I am a college student and during the pandemic, work, education, and relationships have been almost totally dependent on a network of technology that literally did not exist when my parents were college students.

When my mom was in college, she just wouldn’t have been capable of predicting what college would be like for me. I took a full semester of college from 5 hours away because I can virtually attend class through a pocket sized device that projects my image and voice into a shared virtual classroom where I can interact with my professor and other students. I wrote research papers without physical access to a library because I could read my college library’s books on my computer.

If you’re a Mesopotamian farmer, hitching his oxen to a plow, like…idk, man. I can’t picture myself at 40. I feel like a Mesopotamian farmer, trying to imagine his sons riding John Deeres.

It’s so persistently portrayed as this eternal, cyclical thing: Get a job, buy a house, get married and have kids, save for their college, send them off to college. This is the cycle of life. 2.5 kids, buy a house, have a steady career. Just as your father before you did, and his father before him.

Except they didn’t. His father before him didn’t do this, and your son will not live like you. This is not enshrined in tradition. This is not life. This is not how things are, or have been, or how they ever been. Look at it. This beautiful, ageless world of saving for your kids’ college and paying off mortgages and nuclear families. There is no way of life to pass down to your children, no tradition, nothing your father gave you that you can give to your son! You were born into a world that is unintelligible and inaccessible to the children you wanted to inherit it, and you and your children will both die in a world that is as foreign to you both!

I don’t envy the Boomer generation, nor do I have some kind of conceited disdain for them for not being able to adapt to now. So, so much of what defines our lives happened for the first time in their lifetime, and the absence of those things cannot be explained to us. Do you remember what it was like before television? Well…what is “it?”

It’s like our generation’s dim memory of childhood before Internet, and the vast, panicky knowledge that our childhoods were mostly full of a quality best described as the absence of internet, and there is no way to transmit that idea to the kids of today or explain it. We remember it, so, so clearly. It was real. But it’s gone. Annihilated.

There’s a midrash that before he died, Moses was worried about what would become of the Israelite people after he was gone. God brought him forward in time to the schoolhouse of Rabbi Akiva. Moses listened to the discussion but could not understand a thing, and nearly despaired, until he heard a student ask Akiva, “how did you arrive at this conclusion?” Akiva responded, “it follows from what Moses taught.” Reassured, Moses returned to his own time and died.

I taught this midrash last week to a class of about ten 3rd-8th graders whom I have been teaching since September and have never met in person. I asked them to continue the midrash: if Moses made a second stop in 2021, what would confuse him, and what would reassure him?

The youngest kids had a fantastic time imagining Moses trying to use an iPad, trying to understand that he was in a classroom, that we were doing remotely what he had seen Akiva do in person. The older kids wondered if he would be astonished at our level of literacy, or our coed learning.

When I asked what would reassure him they were momentarily stumped: it wasn’t the first time this group has struggled to identify positives about their lives and experiences, except in a guilty “some people have it worse” kind of way. I reminded them of what reassured Moses in the schoolhouse of Akiva: knowing that what he taught had evolved from rather than superseded the traditions of our ancestors. “Who are we learning about right this very minute?” I prompted.

One of them acted it out: Moses peering suspiciously at his iPad, then exclaiming, “They’re learning my Torah in there!” We are not unmoored, we are evolving. It is easier to see the changes than the things that remain constant, but I think there is value, whatever your cultural tradition, in asking “what would reassure my ancestors?”

“The children are using this vast, incomprehensible magical network to mock that damned Ea-Nasir and his terrible copper. Good.”

i love to think about how my ipad holds vastly more knowledge than was available to sumerians in 2000 bce, but if one of them saw me scribble away on it with my stylus, they would know what it is! from 4000 years across history, they would recognize this object if they saw me use it! and maybe they’d say ‘you know, we use something like this where i’m from’. and i’d say ‘i know. in school we learn that you invented them.’ and in a weird, convoluted, wonderful and very comforting sense, they invented my ipad too.

I feel like Chakotay was going through some stuff in One Small Step that the show decided to just not address in favor of just becoming another Seven episode

My dude was lamenting never having time to persue his own interests because one greater cause or another was always demanding his service. He talked about leaving the ship to investigate this anomaly. He put Tom and Seven in danger and disobeyed repeated orders from Janeway (which historically he only does with a real good reason and a lot of after-the-fact guilt) to let the module go and instead of unpacking any of that the episode became about Seven connecting with humanity for the four hundred and twentieth time in less than 100 episodes. He doesn’t even get a chance to explain himself the episode just trails off like it got embarrassed that it tried to do anything with him.

Good use of screen time folks.

Everything you need for Chakotay character development exists in Voyager but then the show gets distracted by something shiny and changes the subject every time I’m so mad.

It has just occurred to me that of all the characters in Winnie the Pooh, the only ones that lack both fingerless stuffing hands and faint seam lines (the indications that someone is a stuffed animal) are Rabbit and Owl. Which carries the possible implication that Rabbit and Owl are just a normal rabbit and owl living with a bunch of sentient stuffed animals.

And somehow this makes Rabbit’s constant consternation with all of his neighbors even funnier to me.

Theyre also the only ones with bushy eyebrows and chest and chin floof, and I dont know if thats relevant but it FEELS relevant! Also someone mentioned Gopher too and OF COURSE, there is absolutely no argument that this whistling little man isn’t just an average (talking) gopher.

The more I examine this the more it feels just so OBVIOUS

You are exactly right! Most of the characters in the stories are based on the real Christopher Robin Milne’s stuffed toys except for Rabbit and Owl who were added for the books and Gopher who is exclusive to the Disney adaptations.

Here are the real Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Kanga, and Eeyore. They currently live at the New York Public Library.

It’s fairly clear in the book illustrations too:

This post has been getting a surge of attention and let me tell you that 1) I am really pleased at how kind most of the people who KNEW all this have been in explaining it, and 2) I feel a lot better seeing just how many other people didn’t have any more clue of this than I did XD It’s kinda nice being part of a post thats spreading some fun knowledge in a nice way!

Also thank you to the gracious @roofermadness in the tags for complimenting my astuteness on figuring this out from the animation character designs, you are so nice to say so and I appreciate you 🥰

put your number (0-20) in the tags!!!!!! i think i got 14!!

anyone who comments that finding ways to enjoy the brief time we have on this bitch of an earth is cringey will be blocked ^_^ <3

Giving Quality, Motivating Feedback

A guest post by @shealynn88!

The new writer in your writing group just sent out their latest story and it’s...not exciting. You know it needs work, but you’re not sure why, or where they should focus.

This is the blog post for you!

Before we get started, it’s important to note that this post isn’t aimed at people doing paid editing work. In the professional world, there are developmental editors, line editors, and copy editors, who all have a different focus. That is not what we’re covering here. Today, we want to help you informally give quality, detailed, encouraging feedback to your fellow writers.

The Unwritten Rules

Everyone seems to have a different understanding of what it means to beta, edit, or give feedback on a piece, so it’s best to be on the same page with your writer before you get started.

Think about what type of work you’re willing and able to do, how much time you have, and how much emotional labor you’re willing to take on. Then talk to your writer about their expectations.

Responsibilities as an editor/beta may include:

Your expectations of the writer/friend/group member you are working with may include:

Some people aren’t ready for feedback, even though they’re seeking it. You’re not signing up to be a psychologist, a best friend, or an emotional support editor. You can let people know in advance that these are your expectations, or you can just keep them in mind for your own mental health. As stated above, you can always step back from a project, and if writers aren’t able to follow these few guidelines, it might be a good time to do that. (It’s also worth making sure that, as a writer, you’re able to give these things to your beta/editor.)

Specificity is Key

One of the hardest things in editing is pinning down the ‘whys’ of unexciting work, so let’s split the writing into several components and talk about evaluations you can make for each one.

You can also give this list to your writer ahead of time as a checklist, to see which things they want your feedback on.

Generally, your goal is going to be to help people improve incrementally. Each story they write should be better than the previous one, so you don’t need to go through every component for every story you edit. Generally, I wouldn’t suggest more than 3 editing rounds on any single story that isn’t intended for publication. Think of the ‘many pots’ theory — people who are honing their craft will improve more quickly by writing a lot of stories instead of incessantly polishing one.

With this in mind, try addressing issues in the order below, from general to precise. It doesn’t make sense to critique grammar and sentence structure if the plot isn’t solid, and it can be very hard on a writer to get feedback on all these components at once. If a piece is an early or rough draft, try evaluating no more than four components at a time, and give specific feedback on what does and doesn’t work, and why.

High Level Components

Character arc/motivation:

Theme:

It’s a good idea to summarize the story and its moral from your point of view and provide that insight to the writer. This can help them understand if the points they were trying to make come through. The theme should tie in closely with the character arcs. If not, provide detailed feedback on where it does and doesn’t tie in.

Plot Structure:

For most issues with plot structure, you can narrow them down to pacing, characterization, logical progression, or unsatisfying resolution. Be specific about the issues you see and, when things are working well, point that out, too.

Point Of View:

Be specific about the areas that don’t work and break them down based on the questions above.

Pacing:

Setting:

Low Level Components

Flow/Sentence Structure:

Style/Vocabulary:

SPAG (Spelling and Grammar):

Word Count Requirements:

If the story has been written for a project, bang, anthology, zine, or other format that involves a required word count minimum or maximum, and the story is significantly over or under the aimed-for word count (30% or more/less), it may not make sense to go through larger edits until the sizing is closer to requirements. But, as a general rule, I’d say word count is one of the last things to worry about.

The best thing we can do for another writer is to keep them writing. Every single person will improve if they keep going. Encouragement is the most important feedback of all.

I hope this has helped you think about how you provide feedback. Let us know if you have other tips or tricks! This works best as a collaborative process where we all can support one another!

[ID: Tweet by Fiona Robertson ♿️ @FionaSNP “I am loving that #DisabilityTwitter is using ‘are you helping or are you just buttering the cat’ as a phrase for ‘is this a useful accommodation.’ And a friend recommended the Tamarian ‘Jorts, his fur unbuttered’ for ‘this person’s access needs have been met.’ @JortsTheCat”]

[ID: Tweet by Fiona Robertson ♿️ @FionaSNP “I am loving that #DisabilityTwitter is using ‘are you helping or are you just buttering the cat’ as a phrase for ‘is this a useful accommodation.’ And a friend recommended the Tamarian ‘Jorts, his fur unbuttered’ for ‘this person’s access needs have been met.’ @JortsTheCat”]

Absolutely losing it at this Reddit post

And the update

She buttered Jorts

The outrage summed in a perfect Tweet: