I wasn't meaning to imply that they're the same, so much so as that it's not that much of a stretch that they might go together--but point well taken.
the only gender-headcanons type thing that i’ve seen in RPF that i can sorta understand why some authors do it is for Achievement Hunter GTA-verse fic, because Jack’s character when AH plays GTA is a woman, and AH GTAverse fics are at least somewhat about AH’s GTA personas but that still feels at least a little weird, even though i know the basis for it. and other RPF gender headcanons definitely rub me the wrong way. (note: achievement hunter is fine with RPF of them in general, so that’s not an issue)
xtremely srs fanfiction gripe: no ones writing my niche ot3s and thats biphobic*, probably (fenris/fhawke/isabela and garrus/fshep/tali are Valid and Extremely Good ships!!!!!!!!!!!!) *because im bi and it offends me
tfw reading fanfic about a canon nb character and the fics assign them a gender because using 'they/them' is Just 2 Much Effort. even worse because it's actually good fanfic otherwise luckily I've gotten into the habit of saving fanfic I like so I can just open the fic up and change all the pronouns to gender-neutral ones!! mwahahahaha
Witneree? I've found that 'they' has become my default pronoun for a single person, gender not otherwise specified, to the extent that my brain really wants to write it into academic papers. Unless it would be very easy to rephrase to avoid any singular pronouns at all, I have made the conscious decision to go with it. I'm never going back to writing "he or she". Fuck that noise, I'm not erasing nonbinary people in my own damn essays. Of the two teachers to whom I've submitted essays recently, I would be absolutely shocked if one of them objected. The other one plays things a bit closer to the chest but I'd still be quite surprised and disappointed if there were any problems. So far so good! (Also I'm completely capable of artlessly holding forth at terminal length about the ethics of the situation if necessary. I doubt it will be necessary, as I feel like the administration would shit itself if it became aware of a gender discrimination issue against nonbinary people, but like, sternly. It would sternly shit itself on my behalf.) I know 'they' can trip people up if they're not used to it. You know what trips me up? Reading alternating gendered pronouns in different paragraphs of the same essay.
@Verily: big same. even putting the issue of erasure aside, 'he/she' is so goddamn clunky, and it really sticks out when reading things, whereas 'they' just blends in so super naturally you won't even notice it. kinda like 'said' vs more descriptive/specific words for dialogue tags in a way? 'they' too has become my default pronoun for talking about anyone unless I know their specific pronouns, and even then I keep catching myself writing 'they' to refer to someone because it just comes so instantaneously to me (it even happens with my goddamn ocs!). tbh people who say it's too much effort have no real excuse--you'll trip up the first few times writing it instead of 'he/she', yeah, but that goes for everything, and the learning curve + effort needed in this particular instance is so damn tiny. anyone who insists otherwise needs a stern talking-to about respecting nb people + people's personal choices of pronouns (and good technical writing imo)
"S/he" is a lot less obtrusive if your essay-setter doesn't want you to use "they" for some reason. Oh, funny thing I found:
me: looking for a rarepair me: finds a fic with 4 different ships i like tagged, as well as about 8 specific kinks/sex acts most of which i'm also into. GREAT!!! fic: has 1 chapter, of a total 765 words, involving precisely NO sex or even ship content. last updated 2 years ago. me: weeps
I know we all hate it when characters are made into villains just because the author hates them, but it's possibly worse when they're made into villains just because the author needed an antagonist. I mean, really, "Okay, I need a rapist. I know! Legolas!"
Though I gotta say, on that note, some fandoms are really hard to find villains for in AUs which require them (fusion-type crossovers with things which do have a villain, for example). Not usually an issue in fantasy stuff but I imagine it is in things which are supposed to be realistic slice-of-life - like, I'd have a hell of a problem finding an antagonist in a My Brother's Husband fic. I've had that problem with Hetalia, in that the characters are certainly antagonistic to each other but I can see where all the characters are coming from with what they're doing.
Hobbit and LotR fandom's complete lack of interest in exploring the idea of female goblins and orcs. Lack of female Uruk-Hai I can sort of get since in movieverse they appear to spring fully formed from mud by magic, but goblins are a natural species within the 'verse and presumably reproduce.
Me: “Oh, look! A fic tagged with just the semi-popular pairing I like! From a good author!” Me: /clicks on it with naïve optimism Fic: /absolutely nothing to do with pairing I’m dying for Also me: /quietly drags hands down face
It's abrupt and lacks an artful flow to it. Like poorly written fanfiction summaries that aren't actual summaries. Along with punctuating your frustration with this practice. good poem
It's the best thing I've ever written, probably. I'm gonna print it out and hang it on my mom's fridge. Seriously though, why do people do that? I get it, summaries are hard, but like. If you do in fact suck at them, we can tell! You don't need to point it out! Preemptive self-effacement is not endearing!
I have been successfully enticed to read fics by summaries that are literally like “a thing happens. Another thing happens. A character has an emotion”. It doesn’t have to be that hard.
i've seen people put "i suck at summaries" in their ao3 tags before "i suck at summaries" is the eternal plague of fanfiction it has been there since ffn and will be here a thousand years hence, when everyone is posting their fics on readfanfiction3k.net* *far as i know, not a real fic site
