i just saw a video on tiktok of someone complaining about fanfic writers who have the ✨audacity✨ not to complete a fic. that it’s rude, it’s inconsiderate, it’s disrespectful of the readers emotional investment. and then a whole bunch of commenters saying underneath that this is why they won’t read incomplete fics, that they’ve seen authors go from updating every week to horror of horrors only every month. and because i am a wise and mature individual i’m not going to stitch the video dragging them to hell but instead i’m coming here to you beloved tumblr dot com to bitch behind their back
because i know we’ve said this before but the emerging culture of fanfic writers as content creators and readers as consumers is fucking disgusting. it breeds attitudes exactly like this and turns something that is fundamentally anti-capitalist into another cycle of produce compete exploit where your worth is based on how quickly you can meet consumers needs
it’s called archive of our own for a reason. its about repurposing these stories for ourselves, for our own enjoyment and interest whether thats i want to right the wrongs of this author or i want to see what happens if this one tiny plot point changed or i want to make these characters tie each other up and fuck until they cry. its about sharing as a community, leaving these stories in a communal toy box so people who come along in a few months or few years can enjoy them too
tl;dr keep your fucking capitalist little mittens away from our stories
ALL! OF! THIS!
Plus, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, WIPs and forever-incomplete fics are just as worthy of being read as complete ones. Why do readers think a fic isn’t worth their time just because it’s unfinished? I will never understand that attitude. Some of my favorite fics are ones that happen to be unfinished, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t some of the most enjoyable pieces of writing I’ve ever read. And as someone who has some forever-incomplete fics on AO3, it always warms my heart when I get a comment on them.
Incomplete fics and WIPs need your love too! And authors don’t exist just to churn out content for you! We do it for ourselves first and foremost.
you make me wanna hop over into the passenger’s seat and kiss you while soft music is playing. come lose your earring in my life so i can find little pieces of your glitter all around me. i wanna hold your hand while waiting for the light to change. i want to hear your favorite song playing on the store radio and say - ah. saw this and thought of you.
