Ptera Waters
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My fanfic WIP list | My original fic WIP list (updated both 11/2023 and 1/2024, respectively)
AO3 page | Original novels | My Ko-fi | My author twitter
For news about my original works (including the Mr. Sandman rewrite), join my mailing list and follow @terrapwaters !
My sideblogs: @ot3monsterhunting, @that-stonathan-life, @triadverse, @polyamspicysix
Big bangs I run/help run: @st-rarepairbang, @strangerthingsbigbang, @ofmdbigbang
Discords I run: Stoncy/Stranger Things, Fiction Writers (Original Fic Support)
Other social media
Bluesky| Instagram| Cohost | Pillowfort | Tumblr
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I'm loving the discussions about the role and purpose of fandom, as well and what activities are needed to keep fandoms alive and flourishing!
However... as a fandom creator (writer and artist), I sometimes feel like too much pressure is concentrated on creators. I don't know if this is a frustration others share? Not only should we keep making things, but somehow we also end up becoming these central fandom figures who can feel pressured into responding to comments (or else we're called arrogant or ungrateful), making friends (or else we're rude for ignoring well-meaning people who reach out), and being the drivers and pillars of that community (running events, responding to memes, etc. – and everything falls silent if we stop). It's a lot of work!! I don't always have the time and energy to make things for fun and then also engage in all the ways people might sometimes feel entitled to because they enjoy my works.
I really wish that more "non-creating" fans in the community would discover their fandom power!! and not just rely on the visible "producing" creators to be the only people worth engaging with. It takes nothing more than passion to write a meta-post about a character or a plot point, or to create an ask game, or to DM someone else who you see posting funny tags – not just the creator! Maybe your followers have other tips for evening out the balance a little more?
Anonymous
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, anon. This is an observation I’ve seen in many parts of life, not just fandom.
A lot of people feel as though they need permission or an invitation of some sort in order to contribute. That’s why I always end my answers by asking people to share their thoughts. I want to make it explicitly clear that I want people to add things into the reblogs (which I can then share out for more people to see) and the replies (which people can at least read even if I can’t reblog).
I have heard fans who are readers but don’t write fic say that they think they can’t get an AO3 account unless they plan to post something. This is incorrect, of course, but a lot of people make that assumption.
I think at least some people (I don’t know what kind of percentage) assume that someone who is writing fic or posting art or making podfics and video edits etc. has some sort of expertise that “allows” them to post.
People with less confidence or with less practice etc. sometimes need an extra nudge before they realize that they’re welcome to contribute too. If that’s the case for you, please allow me to say:
You are welcome to post in your fandom, even if no one invites you to. Even if you think you’re not good enough. Even if your idea isn’t “popular.”
Start a conversation. Share a thought. Talk to folks who reblog cool shit. Be a folk who reblogs cool shit. You don’t have to do everything in order to do something.
As mentioned above, please do share your thoughts in the reblogs and replies to keep the conversation going.
Other things people can do:
- make a rec list
- make a “here’s all the fics I’ve found in this fandom with this one trope/general vibe/very particular setup I just think is Neat” list
- make a “welcome to the fandom, here’s the fics that people will just assume you’ve read/know about to get you started” list
- make a “if you liked [popular fic A] you might enjoy [less well known fics B through N]” list
I’m not a fan of reccing a ‘most popular, you’ll be assumed to have read’ fics, since that encourages the idea (even unintentionally) that 1) certain authors are better than others, 2) certain headcanons are better than others, 3) you’re assumed to know certain headcanons (and maybe even agree with them), 4) leaves other potentially better written, less popular fics in the dust.
I recommend simply just recommending your favorite fics. (Steps 1 and 2 above are great!) Don’t mention popularity as it has zero connection to quality. In fact, I recommend not differentiating fics by popularity at all. It’s not a valid statistic, since it becomes inflated by advertising and prolificness of the author (which is what causes popularity most of the time).
Just adding on some of the best beta readers and editors I’ve ever worked with are not writers, and oftentimes not “creators”
They’re just readers with opinions on stories. Opinions that can be used to help me brainstorm and point out the shit that doesn’t work.
Also the people that helped me get settled back into fandom after a long hiatus are the ones who are “just” readers who “just” leave “silly little” comments on fics.
Those fuckers are my favorite people and I have never met them in real life but I would run into a burning building for them.
It’s an ecosystem y'all. Can’t have the flowers without the pollinators. And before you go “I’m just a mosquito” mosquitos are massive pollinators.
shoutout to the fans who help you find that one specific fic you read a while ago and forgot to bookmark
i love you guys so so much, and i will continue to ask you to find them for me cause it takes me weeks what takes you like, half an hour in my experience
and also people who leave encourageing comments and proofreaders who may not make their own things but make creating so much more easier and fun
and also people who manage and maintain archives so we have somewhere to keep oir stuff
people who manage printing and mailing zines
people who will sit in a vc with you and help you brainstorm
people who have specific knowhow and can advise for realism or even silly things
people who write prompts to get your creativity flowing
people who upload their media online so they can be pirated
people who analyze scenes and point out implications and details and their own theories
people who learned sindarin for fun and will help you pun
people who help you brainstorm
who manage a discord full of fans
unpaid tech support
and the guy who holds your camera so you can make fanvids
i love all of you
I love running CageBlade week but it’d be great to see other people do other events too! I can’t run everything I’d love to see /and/ participate in it, and when you drop in a doodle (even a silly li'l 5 minute b&w on lined paper sketch) to an author or create bingo cards for a bingo-prompt event or drop a kudos or a <3 comment on a fic - those things help. Reblog fics, make rec lists, *share your love*. Otherwise it often feels like shouting out into the void :(
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ALTEdited to add: Since a lot of people are reblogging this original post, I’m adding the updated version I did that incorporates the intersex circle…
ALTI know intersex people are still getting excluded in a lot of LGBTQIA+ spaces (let alone wider society) and I think it’s crucial to show this group is included in the statement that we all deserve equal rights.
(via whentherosespeaks)
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CJ losing their helmet in the third period
Vancouver @ Seattle | April 18, 2026 -
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Really wish we’d, on the left, stop laughing and assuming this is ACTUALLY about strippers. I’d be willing to bet this ISN’T about some one with the actual job of stripper being somehow hired and sent to a school, that indeed DOESN’T happen - instead it will be used to target any female teacher who, like, wears a bikini on social media one time. She’ll be called a “danger” to children and fired, as a cover for the fact that she’s pro-queer or too far left or doesn’t support ICE enough on that same social media. The bikini pic will just be the legal tool used to ruin her life
A friend helped me out by looking up the actual bill and YUP, it’s to target queer people and sex education. NOT. STRIPPERS. STOP MAKING IT ABOUT THE FUCKING “STRIPPERS”.
Anyone who thinks ladyshinga might be off track, here’s the breakdown.
Actual bill name: Stop the Sexualization of Children Act.
Purported purpose: “to protect children from being exposed to explicit material in the classroom”.
How it’s sold in the press: “Ban strippers and porn from classrooms!”
Actual text of the bill: Expands the meaning of “sexually explicit content” to include the words “or involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism”.
Not and. Or. Meaning “involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism” is in and of itself enough to be classified as sexually explicit.
Actual result: Illegal to mention the existence of trans people or admit to being trans in a classroom under threat of being prosecuted as a child sex offender.
(via weathernerdmando)
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Squick
Squick is a noble word. It recognizes and honors your own personal taste while recognizing and honoring that your personal taste does not dictate morality.
I wish we used it more.
(via magdalyna)
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this might just be a Me Thing, but i think it would be hilarious if Spider-Man, the one character known for his wisecracks, just doesn’t understand memes
He’s not a teenager anymore, Vine is long dead and he doesn’t use Tik Tok, he’s out of the loop
(via adhdavinci)
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i had so much fun drawing pwhl teams as snoopy! please do not repost outside of tumblr. dm or send an ask to request a specific player or different image size :)
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imagine you’re the captain of the best team in the league but then you’re sent to a new expansion team with hand-picked greatest players in the league and the first half of the season is fine but not great but it’s alright because you’ve just been named the captain of team usa at the olympics and wow you’ve lead your team to a gold medal! you’re at the top of your game even though you’re now injured and on ltir and while you’re gone your team falls to last in the league. you are one of the greatest hockey players in the world, and you’re captain of the very first team to be eliminated from playoff contention. this happened to my friend hilary knight.
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