#and scroll past fanwork that isn't for your ship

[hlizr50]

I was shown a post this morning (I think it was from Tumblr, but I'm not 100% sure) where someone asked if maybe something was LOST IN TRANSLATION because so many Gwynriel shippers aren't native English speakers.

Now...

I'm going to give this person the benefit of the doubt and believe that they truly don't mean anything negative by the question, even though the implications are... harmful to say the least.

Here's the deal, guys.

There are Gwynriel shippers all around the world because there are ACOTAR readers all around the world. The ship is not localized to a region or a language.

When people read books, the words on the page send a message. Sometimes, if we're super casual readers, the messaging is limited or we don't read a ton into it. For other readers who choose to delve deep into how the author writes to try to understand what might come next, it is obviously a bigger investment.

But at the end of the day, we all read the SAME BOOK (and bonus content) and those words made us all feel different ways. Made us want or predict different things. And that's all well and good. The problem comes up when we try to explain why we feel the way that we do.

I'm an engineer. Even though I enjoy creative writing and art, my brain is practical. I like having evidence. I like being able to identify trends and make an educated prediction based on them. As someone who ships Gwynriel, I have never denied that there are canonical moments where Azriel and Elain have some level of... something. On page. It would be ignorant of me to say that those moments don't exist. However, for the most part FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN, when a Gwynriel shipper tries to use canonical evidence to support their ship -- WHICH EXISTS -- it's a constant barrage of 'that's not what that means' or 'how could you read that romantically?' or 'Gwyn is just a side character'. And then there are the blatant hypocrisies, like how Azriel saving Elain from Hybern is romantic but Azriel saving Gwyn at Sangravah should never be mentioned ever again.

I guess what this long-winded ramble is trying to say is that there's nothing lost in translation. We've read the same story, and we believe Gwynriel makes sense. We lean on canon and trends in the author's style to support the ship, and then we headcanon the hell out of it, because fandom is supposed to be fun like that. Some people read the story and believe that Elriel makes sense, and that's perfectly fine. But don't come at a Gwynriel shipper, attacking their textual evidence with your headcanon that Elain was barely existed in ACOSF bc she was apparently training to be a spy and she and Azriel were falling in love completely off-page with nothing to show for it.

And don't you dare make an implication so blatantly out of bounds like blaming it on some strange translation error that somehow miraculously makes Gwynriel makes sense, but only if it's not in English. Like... give me a break. And... think about what you're saying. For A SINGLE MOMENT.

#I'm just so tired #this is so dumb #read what you like #ship who you want #enjoy fanwork for your ship #and scroll past fanwork that isn't for your ship #gwynriel #fandom #sjm fandom #fandom ships #fandom fuckery #fandom bullshit #acotar #acosf #sarah j maas #sjm #acotar fandom

[black-emporium-exchange]

HOW TO SIGN UP FOR BLACK EMPORIUM!

Yes sweet nuglets, it’s that time of year again: Time to sign up for Black Emporium!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP!

↳ Helpful Links:

Rules & Assignment Requirements - Updated for 2023! || Participation Walkthrough Guide || FAQ || Requests on Ao3 || Tagset || Nominations Spreadsheet || Request Database || Parent Collection (All Past Years) Signups end: July 16 July 15, 2023 @ 9 AM US Pacific / 12 PM US Eastern / 4 PM UTC+0 || Countdown

↳ Changes This Year

RULES & ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS: Please take the time to re-read our Rules and the requirements for assignments before signing up. RATINGS: If you are interested in receiving or creating Mature/Explicit level works (see Ao3 rating(s)), you must "opt in" by checking the "E" box for both offers and requests. Please note you must be 18+ to offer/request/create Mature or Explicit level gifts. For a more detailed explanation, click here. TREATS: If you are open to receiving treats, or a specific type of treat (single-recipient, multi-recipient, fanart, fanfic), you must "opt in" by saying so in the sign up description box. This field does not apply to your offers. For a more detailed explanation, click here.

For a how-to-guide of the whole exchange that includes all of the information in this post, please take a look at our Participation Walkthrough Guide and FAQ.

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO SIGN-UPS BELOW THE CUT:

1. SIGN IN TO AO3

If you don’t have an Ao3 account, contact the mods for help!

2. GO TO THE BLACK EMPORIUM SIGNUP FIELD (LINK)

3. SCROLL TO THE “REQUESTS” FIELD

Once nominations are finished, you'll be able to sign up. In your sign-up, you'll specify the works you'd like to receive and the works you're willing to create. (They do not necessarily have to be the same!)

You must fill out at least three requests and three offers. You may only select each pairing once, but may give multiple ideas per pairing in your prompt.

If you are interested in receiving Mature- or Explicit-rated works, you must be at least 18 years old and opt-in by checking the appropriate box ("E"); this is not a guarantee you will receive a higher level.

You will have to fill out several fields on the sign-up form:

↳ Relationships

Here you can write in the relationships that you wish to request. As long as it is part of the tag set/eligible nominated pairings, it should be able to be selected here.

If your chosen relationship is in the tag-set but isn't auto-completing, this is unfortunately a bug on AO3's end that we cannot fix -- but if you copy and paste your relationship from the tag-set into this field, you should be able to submit. (Please contact moderators via email at [email protected] if you get an error and let us know what the error was.)

You may list between 1-3 pairings in the same Request field. That does not (necessarily) mean you want all three ships in the same fanwork. We allow multiple pairings in the same Request Field because it allows participants to request up to 30 unique pairings, rather than just 10. Some people group thematically, or by character.

Example of someone requesting three, non-connected pairings. The participant here loosely grouped their "platonic" ships together into one Request Field.

Example of someone requesting a pairing.

↳ Additional Tags

This field is to mark if you're open to receiving fanfiction, fanart, or both (check both boxes), for this request.

Example of someone requesting ONLY fanart for any pairings listed in this Request field.

↳ Ratings (Requests)

If you are open to receiving Mature- or Explicit-rated works, please check the box to indicate your interest. We use the AO3 ratings guide as far as judging what each rating entails.

Any participant under 18 should NOT indicate interest in M or E works, as those are intended for 18+ audiences only.

Please choose your ratings carefully! Indicating interest in receiving higher rating works does not mean you are guaranteed to receive them, just that other people will be allowed to gift them to you in this exchange. If you're not comfortable with that possibility, do not check this box.

This recipient did not check the "Explicit" box; they will not receive any Mature or Explicit level works.

↳ Letter

This is a place to put a link to a letter, if you have one. A letter generally is a completely optional, longer version of the description field, and might include more details you'd like your creator to know, or things like pictures that are hard to paste into the description box.

Letters are commonly hosted on Dreamwidth, Tumblr, Google docs, or other such freely accessible websites.

Please note that the moderators cannot enforce any DNWs you put only in your letter.

Completely optional field. Leave blank if you don't have a letter.

↳ Description

Please feel free to use this field to go into some detail about what you would like; this helps give the creator of your work some different ideas about what they could make for you.

If you are open to treats, please indicate interest. See "Treats" for more.

Examples of prompts or helpful information you could share with your recipient (reminder, your creator is not required to follow your prompts/likes):

General trope likes, e.g., Fluff, First Kiss, Dwarven lore, There Was Only One Bed, Enemies to Lovers, etc.

Stylistic likes, e.g., 2nd person writing, Tarot Card art, chat-fic, etc.

World state options you favor that are relevant to your prompt, e.g., Anora is Queen/Alistair is King, Canon Divergent - Multiple Wardens, Modern AUs, etc.

A sentence or two about why you like the pairing, e.g., "I love Cassandra being flustered around people she likes!"

"What If?" prompts, especially open ended ones, e.g., "What if Blackwall did the Joining ceremony with the Hero of Ferelden in DAO? Or met HoF in the Deep Roads during the Jaws of Hakkon DLC in DAI? Would they have similar perspectives, or different?"

Rating restriction clarifications, e.g., interested in E rated smut, but not E rated violence

Be sure to list your Do Not Wants (DNWs) -- if they're not listed in the Description box of your sign up, then the mods cannot enforce your DNWs. If your DNWs are poorly worded or go against exchange rules, they will also be considered unenforceable.

Example Description. This person has NOT opt into treats and cannot receive any. Please see here for more help formulating your DNWs.

4. CONTINUE TO THE “OFFERS” FIELD

The process to Offers is similar to Requests when it comes to pairings and denoting interest in creating fanart and/or fanfic. However, there are a couple differences one should make note of:

↳ Ratings (Offers)

If you are interested in creating Mature- or Explicit-rated works, please check the box to indicate your interest. We use the AO3 ratings guide as far as judging what each rating entails.

Any participant under 18 should NOT indicate in creating M or E works, as those are intended for 18+ audiences only.

Please choose your ratings carefully! You will be matched on this field; if you're not comfortable with receiving prompts that may include NSFW or "E" elements, do not check this box.

↳ "Notes to mods" Field

If you want, you can write notes to the mods, but this isn't required. Some things you might want to include:

If you are under 18 or do not want to receive any "E" requests/prompts from your recipient, please put a simple "No 'E' requests" or in your sign up. This will not disclose your age as we have adult participants who have asked this of mods over the years.

The AO3 username of any individual(s) you don't want to be matched with. You don't have to provide a reason as to why you don't want to be matched with someone, but we will rely entirely on the name(s) you enter; if you ask not to be matched with FanficWriter69 but you meant FanficWriter96, we can't guarantee you won't get matched. For the sake of everyone's stress level, triple check any names and make sure you're giving us their AO3 username.

Please do not use this field to ask to be matched with a specific person.

↳ "Any Relationship" Box

If you would like, you can offer to create a work for "Any Relationship."

PLEASE ONLY CHECK THIS BOX IF YOU TRULY MEAN ANY RELATIONSHIP.

The only qualifications you can make are the category of pairings (i.e. F/F, F/M, M/M, Other, Gen, or Multi) or by DA game (i.e. DAO, DA2, DAI). You cannot differentiate by any other qualification or request.

An example of someone offering to draw fanart for any F/F pairing.

An example of someone offering to create fanart and/or fanfiction for the pairing "Fenris & Donnic Hendyr," but requesting not to be matched with a specific user.

5. A NOTE ON MATCHING

After sign-ups are completed, creators and recipients are matched based on their sign-ups. Matches are one-way; that is, while it is possible A may write for B and B may write for A, you are more likely to have A writing for B, and B writing for C, and C writing for A.

You will be assigned to someone who has at least one request that matches at least one of your offers for the below two fields: relationship pairing and type of fanwork.

You will be matched with someone who requested:

at least one of the pairings for which you offered to write or draw ("Relationship" field), and

at least one type of fanwork you offered ("Additional Tags" field aka fanfic, fanart, or both — if both, you can create an assignment in either format; you are not obligated to create two assignments), and

whether or not you've both indicated interest in Mature- or Explicit-rated content ("E" checkbox)

You are guaranteed to have a match by the end of the date listed under "Assignments" in the schedule. If you do not have a match by then, please contact the mods via email at [email protected].

#be_2023 #be_signups #be_announcements #be_rules #the black emporium #dragon age rare pair exchange

[orangepanic]

Tagging is a Two-Way Street: A Rant

I'm a big fan of tags. Sites like Tumblr and AO3 use tags to make it easy to find the content you want and, just as importantly, avoid the content you don't. It's extra important for fandoms, where you have diverse types of users looking for often very specific things while avoiding others across a broad platform offering a wide range of content. Tagging can make the difference between a library filing system and digging into a bin full of toys and razorblades with a blindfold on to see what you get.

But tagging is more than a system; it's a relationship. It relies on not one, but two types of behavior. First, the creator choosing the appropriate tags to reflect the content and relationships in their fanwork. Two, consumers using those tags to filter what they do and do not want to see. Both need to happen in order for tagging to work as intended.

Case in point, I received this comment today:

On the surface, nothing egregious. There's no cursing or hate. It's a little pretentious going into an author's work to say not once but twice that you do not like their main ship, but the request is to change the tags. Fine. Sometimes readers catch things that are important, like trigger warnings. If the work is tagged incorrectly, it's good to let the author know.

That's an if.

Now, let's look at the actual tags though:

I'm undoubtedly biased, but I'm fairly sure I've made it clear that this work is not Korrasami. In fact, it's not even tagged Korra/Asami Sato, but deliberately uses the "&" designation to indicate a non-romantic, or at least a potentially non-romantic, relationship. If that was too confusing, there are at least six other tags that clearly state what this work is, and what it isn't.

Now things get murky. I could remove the Korra & Asami Sato tag entirely, which does pull up in AO3 under the Korra/Asami Sato relationship tag, but they do have a relationship in this story. It's just not happily ever after. The choice then becomes either making the tags less accurate by removing a relationship that does exist in the fic (something at least 40-odd Korrasami fics featuring an Irosami breakup do not do) just so someone doesn't have to see it when they scroll, or leaving it in and trusting that readers have the ability to use other tags and context clues to filter out what they don't want to read. I firmly believe there is more art than science here. For example, it's very hard to find content for small ships; a challenge made worse by their often being included as side or past ships alongside major ones. So tagging a major ship fic with a minor ship tag is, in my mind, worse than the other way around. 99% of the fics tagged Korrasami are, in fact, Korrasami. Only about half of the ones tagged Irosami feature that pair. Proportionally, my one fic isn't going to change the Korrasami reading experience.

And this is where tagging is the most like a relationship. It requires trust. Creators have to trust that their tags will be used and taken in good faith to filter content, just as consumers have to trust that creators have used the tags to accurately identify their work. This is especially true for fanfic (vs fanart) where it's easier to not engage with content you don't want to see if it happens to come up. Just don't read it. No one in their right mind would look at the tags on this fic and click on it assuming it's Korrasami only to be disappointed later on.

Could I have sent a nasty reply about how this work isn't tagged Korrasami, but is in fact tagged not-Korrasami a few different ways? Sure. Did I think about it? Of course I did. But instead I decided to use my frustration to say that for every call from a fan to creators to tag your damned shit, there's a call from creators to read the fucking tags and use your brain.

#fandom salt #tagging #tags only work if you use them #anti-korrasami #not really #but see I'm using tags!

[belltrigger]

Hiya, first off I gotta say you're one pretty cool person!! It's really nice to see people being chill about shipping, I wasn't even aware of the (submas/blankshipping) ship having actual content considering how much of it is just antis hating on people. (which, morally, everyone is aware that it's completely fictional, and that bullying people online iss pretty questionable..) [Unlike the antis, you give off some really good vibes. Vibes that remind me of something along the lines of having hot chocolate on a cold day ^_^ ]

Anyways, I've seen you mention the submas fandom being pretty big a while back and/or having a fair bit of older media, and I was wondering where it is? I've only seen a few things on tumblr and it's mostly newer things from what I've seen, which isn't a bad thing but I'm incredibly curious about learning more of the history of the (submas/blankshipping) ship (and perhaps reading more fanfiction, there's so many creative people out there being so kind and sharing their brilliance!!!)

PS. You are very cool and great, and I hope life treats you well!!

Thank you so much for the compliments and well wishes! (I had an entire 'rant' about Antis here, but tbh I felt it unnecessary to your ask after rereading it, haha. The point of it was essentially that Antis are what lead me to even finding out about Blankshipping in the first place.)

However, perhaps you've mixed me up with someone I've been having a reblog conversation with because I'm actually pretty new to Submas and blankshipping? It's only this past week that I've actually found people to talk to; I was starting to give up hope on the English side of the fandom.

But! I do look at a lot of fanworks for them completely off-site, and believe me, there are a ton of them. My favorite is Pixiv, because I'm still getting used to the social rules of Twitter. The overall fan environment is significantly more welcoming than Tumblr's Submas fanbase. Whether or not you ship Blankshipping doesn't matter to me; how you act to the other side does. It's perfectly acceptable to not like them together, AND scrolling past costs nothing and is verrrry easy.

I am by no means an expert, and I barely know Japanese, but I've gotten pretty good at finding the right tags on Pixiv for my own means (due in part to other fandoms I've been in.) There are R18 works there, and while they do pretty much always clearly mark them, please exercise caution if that's not what you want to see!

If you or anyone wants me to talk about the tags I look up on Pixiv, I'd be happy to do so.

#Anon ask #Submas #Blankshipping #I haven't written or drawn in a long time (burnout is rough) #but I am planning on producing my own fanworks too.