You Ever Invite Your Coworker To Watch You Give Birth Just To Spite A Racist

Feedback culture is dead, long live feedback culture!

AO3, fanfiction, and comments: the system isn’t working. 

Fic authors have a problem with feedback – or rather, with the lack of it. Fanfiction has a notoriously low ratio of comments to hits, and many of us have expressed our frustration that we can get a hundred, two hundred, five hundred, even a thousand views on our stories, but only a handful of readers will leave kudos, let alone comments.   

Unfortunately, this only gets worse for long, multi-chapter stories (aka, the longfics we know, love, and would sell our souls in a second if it meant an update), which also happen to be the stories that authors need the most support to continue and complete. Law of diminishing returns, y’all, and it sucks. 

We’re not here to guilt you into leaving comments. We want to address the problem by changing the format, and we need your help to do it. 

The goal is to increase the amount of feedback authors get from readers, especially on stories with multiple chapters, and to make it easier for everyone to show how much we love fics. We’re opening a discussion with ao3 to figure out how/if any of these options can be implemented, but first we need options to present! 

Some of our current ideas: 

Ability to leave a form of kudos on every chapter, instead of only once on the entire story: this lets authors know that you’re here and you’re reading their updates, so their hard work isn’t getting tossed into the internet void. 

Comment templates: suggested comments that can be customized or posted as-is. Many of us draw a blank or get nervous when we try to think of a comment, so having pre-made options will both increase the total level of feedback and serve as practice, making it easier to leave more in-depth comments in the future. 

Upvoting/leaving kudos on comments themselves: positive reinforcement makes giving feedback more fun and rewarding, and it lets the author know that readers are present and agreeing with other comments, even if they don’t leave one themselves. 

We’ll contact AO3 to discuss the possibility of adding any of these as native features, and if that won’t work, we’re looking into creating and sharing a user script. 

 What you can do to help: 

 As a reader, what would you like to have? What would you be most likely to use? New ideas, opinions on ideas that are listed here, they’re all good. 

As a creator, how would you feel about each of these options? Can you think of other ways of receiving or encouraging feedback? 

Pros and cons of these (note: our thoughts on this are discussed in this google doc) 

GET THE WORD OUT! Reblog this post, send it to your friends, link to it from your stories. We need as much input and support as possible to get this off the ground. 

Feedback makes for happy authors. Happy authors make for more stories. Let’s keep this part of fandom alive! 

More details about our thoughts, discussions, and ideas can be found in this google doc.

Eivor was Born A Woman

Theory on Eivor Wolfsmal and their complex identity and relationship with Gender

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is looking to be far more deep in story than we’ve ever previously imagined, especially with its main protagonist, Eivor. From the beginning, and now more than ever with recent information and hints slowly dripping from various sources it looks that Eivor may be the most complex character the series has had in years, with their gender and how they identify with it being a potential key story element - an Assassin’s Creed first. As a member of the LGBT community this is very exciting to witness.

From the initial reveal it was confirmed that both Male and Female Eivor were canon (however it took literal months before Female Eivor was even revealed, and even longer for her Cinematic Trailer to be released). Darby McDevitt, Narrative Director of Valhalla emphasized many times that both versions are one and the same, and that one cannot exist outside the other. Along with an Animus explanation, Darby also said that there is an In-World story explanation for why both are canon (which also ties in with why we can switch between genders at any point in gameplay) however it is considered a major spoiler, and he cannot say any more.

HOWEVER, a prequel graphic novel, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Song of Glory has confirmed Female Eivor as the protagonist for their 3-arc story. When asked about why this is on Twitter, Darby said that “It’s more complicated than that” and that “It’s all part of the long-term plan…”. So how can Eivor both be ONLY female in the comics, yet more than one gender in the game?

Eivor was canonically born a woman

In Song of Glory it is very blatant that Eivor is a woman, through and through. We learn a lot more about her and her family, with the description reading…

“Eivor, a Viking warrior, observes a village raided by a neighboring kingdom. Bloodshed and mayhem erupt as she seizes the attack in her own favor - but will her victory be a blessing to her clan or a terrible curse?”

In new info released earlier today, we also learned that…

Eivor is the daughter of King Styrbjorn, a wise ruler - making her a princess!

She has a brother named Sigurd (older or younger we do not know) who went East

She has been disgraced by her father, and must regain her honor by going on a quest that will eventually lead her to a “forgotten temple of a poweful God”

She also seizes another woman named Gull, who claims to have supernatural powers, and has a direct effect on Eivor herself

Her brother Sigurd is East in search of riches and treasures, and discovers something that changes everything

So why is all of this new information so important? And how does all of this tie into the canon of the game?

Eivor is Female at birth but by some sort of Isu artifact she comes across she is granted similar powers of Loki (who would of been Isu) therefore allowing her to become Gender-fluid if she so pleased.

This. This right here would explain everything perfectly, while keeping with everything Darby, the comics and Ubisoft themselves have all said.

So Eivor, having now being forced to go and restore her honor after some horrific events following this raid, will probably engage with Gull and ask for her help, who will then tell Eivor where she must go and what to do to correct her mistakes. After a series of events, Eivor eventually ends up at this “forgotten” temple, where she comes into possession of a powerful Isu artifact. I don’t know yet what it would be - a piece on her armor, a weapon, something we have yet to see on her? This artifact, now bonded with Eivor, allows her to fully come to terms with her complex understanding of her own gender. As any member in the LGBT community can tell you, gender is a very unique and complicated experience, as it is a spectrum.

Now with the powers of Loki within her, she is finally able to come to an understanding of her true relation to her gender identity, and in doing so is given the power to “switch” between male and female, making Eivor Gender-Fluid from here on out.

So Eivor, now finally being able to accept and live their truth, returns home and restores their honor, etc. And as I do believe that Eivor more closely identifies as female, yet also goes by They/Them when they call for it. So for now, I will still refer to Eivor as Her and They.

But what of her brother Sigurd? How does he tie in with Eivor and the Isu?

I do not think he will be in the game for very long, if at all. Sigurd, while Eivor was having their own personal journey, was East - most likely near the Mediterranean and Middle-East. It’s most likely he discovered The Hidden Ones, as by then their reach would of easily been all along that whole region. It is a fact that the Vikings had established strong trade partnerships with the Middle-East, and we also know that Middle-Eastern visitors (definitely Hidden Ones) come to Norway at the beginning of the game.

We also know that Eivor receives the Hidden Blade very early in the campaign, before she even leaves Norway, and that it is given to her by the Hidden Ones.

So Eivor comes home after her journey, and becomes Leader of her clan. Sigurd shortly after comes home as well, where he brings the Hidden Ones for whatever reason. Something happens to Sigurd either before the game or extremely early in the game, and perhaps when the Hidden Ones meet Eivor, because of who they are, immediately see her connection with the Isu, and therefore decide to pass on the Hidden Blade to her, as her brother is no longer an option, and she is more worthy of such responsibilities.

And so the Main Story of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla begins, with Eivor as a Gender-Fluid, Isu-powered Viking Leader ready to set out in search for better lands for their people, and to fulfill their destiny as a Hidden One.

Of course this is all theoretical, but it absolutely makes the most sense with all the rumors, allegations, hints and confirmations about their gender. With Eivor being canonically born as a woman, and for them to be given the allowance to live as they truly are (GF) validates not just the Main Campaign, but also the Prequel. And how Eivor grapples with their gender, and how they and/or others perceive themselves will be a story arc that will be revealed throught the campaign, as Darby has said several times that their gender is an arc that will be revealed in the long haul of the story.

Gender is an extremely complex topic, and to me this is the only logical explanation on how both Male and Female Eivor could ever be canon simultaneously. It’s an interesting concept, and it’s very exciting to think we may actually see a main story encompass these underlying queer themes.

With that said, Female Eivor seems to be the intended gender by birth, and therefore she deserves to shine in her own right

Play as Lady Eivor

Discovering that you’re 10 days behind the Discovery of Witches RTR.

Me: I can fix this.

The greatest tragedy of Among Us is making friends and then accidentally disconnecting before you get to say goodbye

Steve and Tony + the foreign concepts of “family” and “stability”

On my departure from Discord

I’ve been having a rough few weeks of doubts and strife in my online and fandom life, and I’ve decided to step down from Discord in an interactive sense for the time being. Saying that the decision was painless or easy on my part would be an understatement. The realization of this need for escape came on with sudden clarity, and took even me off guard.  That’s why I wanted to explain a few factors that led me to making this drastic decision.

Discord has been a social beacon for me in the time of Covid and lockdown and instrumental in getting me back in the writing groove since early 2019. I’m immensely grateful for the people I got to meet and the conversations I had, but as life reopened its doors for me, I started to become more aware of all the ways in which the platform chafed at my being and mental health.

Gradually, over time, Discord had turned from a convenient safe space into a dependency that fostered a constant need to interact, to be aware, and to perform to stay relevant. It’s all the things I hated about high school but ten times worse because I actually like the people I interacted with. To make matters worse, I noticed that this constant need to stay relevant was interfering with what truly mattered to me: building my future and fulfilling a duty I feel I owe to myself and the world.

As my resentment with the platform grew, I became more hard-line and less compromising in my communication. I’m not saying that Discord is a toxic platform, but simply that it can cause negative or toxic behaviours towards yourself and those around you. I did not like who I’d become under Discord’s influence, so I decided to step away and re-examine which values and activities I wanted to hold onto for my personal development and mental health journey. Maintaining a presence in the Discord fandom did not fit into that, so I decided to cut myself off in the most drastic way possible.

As soon as the next day, I began to feel better, like a weight of responsibility had dropped off my shoulders. Suddenly, I had mental room to breathe again, to explore the world around me, and to put words down on the page. I felt freer and more independent than I had in months, and I knew I had made the right decision.

Still, as I’m closing the metaphorical ledger, I feel somewhat obliged to apologize to those I might have hurt with my sudden departure, but I felt that putting myself first was absolutely the correct thing to do in that moment. (If only to spare everyone from my inevitable downward spiral.) I don’t know if the space is healthier or better without me there, but at least I’m taking care of myself and others by removing myself from it. It was the right decision, even if it’s still hard.

To all the people that I have known: I wish you well. Maybe our paths will cross again.

Judy The Dreamer

(Boy, does it feel good to have this off my chest.)

I love how many Golden Age “World’s Finest” covers are basically just Superman and Batman taking their adopted son Robin out for fun activities like good supportive parents (though not above a little harmless fun at each other’s expense).

Literally no one:

Not a single soul:

Male authors: