Yeah the issue I have with it isn’t the second person its that its simultaniously trying to be an insert your name in the blank (unsure if it actually goes with that bc I didn’t read it but that kinda genre) reader fantasy while also making statements about who the main character is. I don’t have commitment issues, I’m not a film student, ect. Second person can be a good tool to help you get in the mindset of a character but there’s a reason books like Twilight are written with a very generic protagonist and not an “unstable film student”. I’m mot even saying that the prrson is a bad writer, just that seeing summeries like that makes me roll my eyes.
Like I don’t even know where you got that I was upset at second person. If anything I thought people would be telling me off for cringe culture wrt reader insert fics which are a completely different thing.
The only people I've ever really heard complain about you!fic were the PPC. And they're some kind of weird community almost untouched by Homestuck, not to mention the inherent bad parts. I think you're fine. (One of the things I'm considering writing is a second person fic, but that's mostly because it kinda fits the plot.)
Eh, this is the gripes thread, you're fine. We've definitely had grumbling in here before about /Reader fics, and ones where the "reader" is actually an original character written in second person in particular.
To be honest, every time I come across Character/Reader fic, I imagine The Reader from the aforementioned PPC.
Thank you for letting me know ^^ I just. I try not to let things that are not my cup of tea get under my skin but there's just so many of the reader insert fics that its like your least favorite song is playing on every radio station at once. Also I'm always like....if you're already going through the work of creating an original character just do a shallow reskin of the canon, write an o fic, and when you're editing slowly tweak things until it's completely your own. But I realize thats not why people are doing it and not what they get out of it, lol
It's already been stated but no you're not. Even ignoring the whole Homestuck thing there are important uses to the second person in narrative fiction, be it prose or poetry. I personally find it to be a useful tool for a certain kind of intimacy. Namely, I use it to more directly place the reader in the emotional tone of the situation by way of applying my very shakey grasp on sense of self to writing. For me, second person narratives are often more emotionally affecting than third or first person, because I am able to break down my sense of being Aon and become whoever the You in the narrative is. It is that effect I attempt to capitalize on with second person. You are not the You, no. But for a moment, hopefully, you at least feel as though you are. Either way you as a reader are not permitted not to engage with the work because of the consistent usage of the word 'you'. You're not just reading someone's journal or a limited third person. You're constantly being addressed, even if the You is not you. I do get kind of annoyed though when people feel the only reason anyone writes in it is because they're Homestucks. While that's certainly why I started toying with the perspective it's not ultimately why I continue to use it. I continue to use it because it provides unique forms of intimacy that the other perspectives cannot by their natures provide.
Yeah... while Homestuck fanfic opened the door to more wide-spread use & acceptance of the second person in long-form works, it is plenty useful on its own merits and can be used to produce some interesting stylistic effects. I’ve actually always thought the second person was underrated, but wasn’t sure how to pull it off until I saw it done.
'But it can't be done!' scream the English professors. You know, people said that about free verse poetry too and I see you fuckers jerking off to that.
I was gonna say, no Homestuck isn't the only reason, but you can't over look that it is largely responsible for the 2nd person revival. That perspective has been pretty looked down on and scoffed at in most writing circles up until the last decade or so. I definitely feel it's because of the massive surge in (quality!) 2nd person fanfic spreading out from Homestuck fandom ground zero that it's had such successful proliferation.
No I can't, but I can also be pissed when my creative choices are reduced to nothing but 'oh you read homestuck'. Yes I read hoemstuck you unlikeable fuck now go away that's not why I write like this.
I just love that we have Hussie riffing on old text based RPGs to thank for stuffy, highbrow academics everywhere gnashing their teeth >:3
They fucking deserve it for having the gall to defend E.E. Cummings bullshit and then arbitrarily decide that second person cannot be done.
Aondeug, while I understand your frustration someone upthread said something very similar to that, and I could definitely see someone interpreting your post as calling them, specifically, an “unlikable fuck”.
