Here I go again (your link is below, no worries).
So, on my iPhone, I have the wordpress App – very handy. Using the reader, I can check if anyone has posted stuff on their wordpress pages and last week I had this strange post (not that the post was strange, but it was from a site that I do not follow). Anyway, the poster/blogger/commenter was talking about how fanfiction writers always hurt Sookie – some even raping (some even having Eric rape) etc.. I realize that what he wrote was true and I took pause. The woman in me who studied psychology (she’s still in my head somewhere – I was going to SAVE the world, one therapy session at a time) stopped to think about it.
We DO put our main characters through tons and WE READ IT Too. I was truly trying to think through this person’s blog. I was defensive/ashamed of my writing, I was defensive of my reading, I was defensive of my position on women’s rights (I mean, my GOD – one of my Sookies is a stay at home mother for God’s sake).
Another 24 hours or so and I calmed.
I realized that he’s right – we write and read it. He’s also completely entitled to not like it. So I’m going to clear the air with a few confessions – sit down please – there could be shockers:
1) I LIKE Disney princesses. YEP – I like the Prince saving the Princess, I like knights on white horses, I like damsels in distress. In my writing and reading I like couples who save each other (maybe its with a sword, maybe its by being their go-to person). OH MY GOD – I just heard about half my readers fall over – laughing I’m sure. Do I ONLY like damsels in distress? No. Do I set out to live my life like that? No. Do I teach my daughters to wait at home to be saved? No – What do I teach my daughters? See 2
2) I have a stay at home dad husband (12 years and counting). I have a graduate degree and am a highly respected professional in my field. I’m thinking I’ve got women’s rights covered here. I can ENJOY a story and NOT LIVE that life. If I expected to live that life, I’d be waiting for my owl from Dumbledore or Prince Charming on that famous white horse that I confessed to liking. It’s quite possible that some days I wish roles were reversed at home and I live some of those dreams out in fanfiction. Don’t we all – so many RICH Erics, fancy clothes, jewels – fantasy fiction. Nothing wrong with that.
3) I write fiction. It’s not reality, editorial statements, ideas for how to live life etc.. It’s fiction.
4) Since I’m already confessing you should know everything. I like John Denver music. SHOCKER! Here’s why: John Denver was my mother’s Askars. She LURVED him. She had a full size poster of him that hung behind a closet door (I knew it was there). His music played in my house ALL THE TIME. My Mom is gone – I play Rocky Mountain High and she’s with me. If that hasn’t shocked you, I’ll confess that I also enjoy SOME (SOME) Barry Manilow songs (NEVER COPACABANA) and at the same time, I like the Ramones and X (Hungry Wolf anyone). I will tell you – The Carpenters – not on your life. I have some lines I won’t cross. IF YOU like them – that’s also fine.
5) Finally, Some days I believe Peanut M&Ms are an appropriate lunch. Some of you already know this – but I want to be clear.
NO – onto your links:
TEASER – WARNING – this teaser is adorable but it will give you more questions than answers. You have been warned. It’s an upcoming character – a new fabulous banner from Sephrenia.
Chapter 10 How many last goodbyes?
Thanks for reading this rant, you are free to go read the next chapter in my FICTION story.
Mags
magsmacdonald 
You probably saw the post if it’s the one I’m thinking of because meridiean reposted it. We were actually talking on Facebook we were talking about it. Go to my page on February 19th. While we were talking the post showed up in her email.
We all wish for an Eric and know that that M&M’s are totally appropriate for lunch. I agree with your 1, 2, and 3 except for the princess part. I think that’s from being raised by my father and my two boys. 🙂
Love ya, Mags!
Don’t let your creativity and your talent be polluted by people jealous of others’ work! The people which harassing authors on ff.net trying of pollution wordpress with post which convey ideas of another age. Readers admire you for your ideas. Do not let others tell you how to think
xoxo
Thank you – I am feeling perfectly fine – I just needed a day to process it. Thanks for your encouragement – you are a FF Queen you know.
M
OOPS = see I know so little about the blogger – it’s a HE not a SHE.
Sorry bout that.
Interesting..(let me respond to Disney Princesses first)..I love them. And I have a 4 year grand daughter who believes she is a Disney Princess. Her father (my adorable son) knows the dialogue for every character in Beauty & the Beast.. that is real daddy love, to sit through a movie that many times…
Now about writing fiction..We need adversity, for good to triumph over evil, for our hero and heroine to rise about what happens to them..You write delightful stories,keep doing that please.
Thank you – and your son and my husband could probably compare notes on the movies they need to watch. My husband is VERY happy the girls are over their Barbie movie phase. . .
Thanks again.
M
To me, the true definition of feminism is when no one downplays or stands in the way of a woman doing what SHE wants or needs to do. If she wants to be the CEO of a Fortune 500, more power to her. If she wants to hike the back 5000 in Australia, more power to her. If she wants to be a stay-at-home mom, then, yeah, more power to her.
I adore the myth of the Disney Princess – I love the beautifully drawn power and grace of a sweetly clean and tidy romance as much as anyone else does, and if I had a daughter or son, I’d let them enjoy that myth for as long as it didn’t impinge on reality. After that point, we’d start having talks…
Neil Diamond and David Lee Roth were my (RIP) mom’s John Denver, and yeah, those tunes will call back awesome memories. 😀
My motto about writing (that I actually have on my site): But, in the end, writers are going to write what writers want to write, and readers are going to read what readers want to read, and sometimes the twain should not meet, and that is perfectly fine.
I feel that, as writers, we have a bit of an obligation to our readers to not encourage acceptance of domination, abuse, rape, and other vile things, but that is my own opinion, and it’s how I choose to write my own stories. How any other writer on the planet chooses to showcase abuse topics is up to them, and all readers have the free will to decide to NOT put that kind of thing in their brains. Long story short: to each their own.
And Peanut M&Ms absolutely are an appropriate lunch…especially when paired with éclairs! 😀
OH – I agree with you – it’s about choices for women and not caring or judging. Now – onto your mother’s bands – we would have been friends (your Mom and I) – I had David Lee Roth ALL OVER my wall while I was in college. and now – I’ve totally dated myself. Hate when that happens. I MAY quote your motto on my profile – it’s perfect.
Thanks.
~M
If you want to use it, go right ahead! I created it because every single issue between a writer and a read boils down to rights – my right to write what I want, and their right to either read it or to not read it.
I don’t mind true, honest, well-meant criticism, but I detest the complainers who, basically, bitch just to be bitching. And when it comes to subject matter, if a reader were to have an honest issue with it, by all means, PM the writer about it, but don’t be a horrid bitch about it in public just to be making some noise. That’s just plain rude. Either stop reading the story (no one is holding a gun to your head and clicking that pretty little x at the top of the screen is REALLY easy… ), or talk with the writer in private – it’s as easy as that.
(I should come up with a non-personal, for-site-only email address, I guess, even though I never write sensational plot arcs, to enable private complaining… 😀 )
Mom got me into Van Halen (before it became Van Hagar), Billy Idol, The entire soundtrack to Top Gun, Jan and Dean (the entire beach sound genre, and so many other groups….she was beautifully eclectic!
1) I too like the Disney Princesses. If I didn’t, my husband and I wouldn’t go to Walt Disney World at least once a year. Not all of the Disney Princesses require a Prince Charming to save them; in fact, there are some princesses that have saved the princes. I think we all like fairytales, because it is the idea that there is a Prince Charming (or Princess if you like) out there for each of us. It is the idea that there is someone out there that will love us as we love them. It is the idea of finding our other half. What is so bad about that?
2) I do not have children; I have two dogs. That being said, my husband works from home and makes twice as much money as I do. I went to college for four years, have a science degree, and work for a pharmaceutical company. My husband and I try to split everything 50/50, but it doesn’t always work out that way, because he makes more than me. That doesn’t mean I expect him to pay my way through life. Life is about partnerships; they are symbiotic relationships with each person giving and taking.
3) You said it, we write fiction. That’s the beauty of fiction, it can be anything and everything we want it to be. I do not live in a fantasy world, but it is nice to sometimes lose yourself in someone else’s troubles or happiness. I do not think I’m a Katniss Everdeen, Lisabeth Slander, or Sookie Stackhouse. All of these characters have faced unimaginable adversity. While I do not condone any man, woman, or child being absued, assaulted, exploited, or murdered, it does happen. It happens in real life, it happens in the world of entertainment. If we write about adversity, why does that make us a terrible human being? When I wrote chapters 12 and 13 of my story A Different Life, I was bombarded with anonymous reviewers who did not like the overtones of BDSM and sex. I was called everything from an atheist (technically I’m a theist, I believe in God, but do not follow a religion) to a whore (Why does having sex with someone outside of marriage make you a whore?). I almost stopped writing after these reviews. However, there are some really lovely people out there the world over that have convinced me to keep writing. And it is for those lovely individuals that I keep writing. When I post a controversial chapter, I am now eagerly awaiting the anonymous reviewers that want to rake me over the coals. If they don’t like what I am writing, why do they keep reading? I’m over 30 chapters into ADL, so for them to comment on the most recent chapter means they’ve been reading the whole time.
4) John Denver….well, I’m an Orioles (baseball) fan, so I get up every 7th inning and sing ‘Thank God I’m a Country Boy’. I like all types of music; I listen to everything from Scandinavian metal bands (Nightwish) to classical to opera to rap/hip-hop. Our differences are what make humans interesting.
5) Nothing wrong with peanut M & M s for lunch….I’ve done the same thing with Snickers bars or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Keep your chin up! There are those of us out there that love what you write, and eagerly await the next installment. Even if you only have one person out there that likes what you write, it still means you’ve touched someone else’s life.
Oh – I’m fine – I was sharing the END of my thought process and I’m good. Just decided to come clean since fantasy seems to be a bad thing for some. Not us – and I’m fine with that (I stumble sometimes reading comments like that – but not like I did before). It IS the others that love our writing and tell us that keep me going – just like you said. I’ve also decided that even if I’m the only one reading it – I’ll probably never stop writing now . . .
Snickers ARE packed with protein . . . PB Cups – have you had the minis? LIke shake the whole bag into your mouth in like three swoops? YUMM. Off for chocolate.
M
Well, peanut M&Ms have protein. OMG, the mini PB cups are deadly! The mini Rolos are just as bad! I wish I had candy in the house right now. Oh well, I’ll settle for the cookie dough Oreos hubby found in the grocery store this week.
🙂
I love your stories. Thank you for making me smile.
Thank you!
M
you made me laugh, and i know what Blog you mean i read it too… but i also agree with you 100% ….KY
Glad you could laugh at my confessions. Thanks!
M
I love fanfiction for what it is…an escape. It is FICTION that I can choose to read or not…I am an adult. I personally love the idea of a happily ever after because reality is not often so pleasant. I make more money than my hubs but we share everything. Also, can you ever go wrong with M&M’s?
Thanks! It is an escape writing and reading!
Reality is almost never as pleasant honestly – you get the angst without the knight on the horse for many.
M&Ms – what a round of approval I’ve gotten on that one.
M
Read the blog, and agreed with some of the guy’s statements, BUT! I happen to agree more strongly about #’s 2,3,4,&5. Oh, hell. I loved the Disney Princesses when I was a little girl – all 3 of them back then. I loved John Denver way back when. “Annie’s Song?” Still one of my most favorite songs, EVER. The first Van Halen album in 1978? One of the best ever, and I went to see them on their first tour. Very, very cool. I helped fight for womens rights, and continue to do so, and always will. Having spent the greater portion of my adult years as a single, working mother dreaming of someone taking me away from all the drudgery & stress of it was a favorite past time! It was only a dream, not my reality, and I knew the difference. I don’t think the guy had a problem with fiction as a whole; I think it was just certain types of FF, and he was, at least from my guess, a little tired of reading the same recycled plots. On that I agree. However, it’s all fiction, and it’s best to keep that mind. As I told him, it’s like watching TV. If you don’t like what you’re reading, stop & find something else.
Now about those peanut M&M’s? I could not agree more! They also make a wonderful dinner, and if you run across the almond ones – you’ve found a treasure! YUM!
Ok – Runnin’ with the Devil (from your fav album) – love it- but Dance the Night Away has always been my top (VHII). However – I never saw them in concert 0 OY – I’m 30 years beyond my VH Obsession and still jealous!
I would never go to the almond M&Ms – they are too healthy (The almond is better for you than the peanut I think).
I’m not worried about that blog (You know me, I sat in the corner – possibly with MMs- at first) – but then I realized I don’t care, I finished the M&Ms in my hand – cause they will eventually melt – pulled up my big fat girl pants and went back to writing. I added some rape and incest just in case – ONLY KIDDING!!!
Thanks for making me laugh – and I guess making me jealous too.
M
Runnin’ With the Devil, Jamie’s Cryin’ – great tunes! Seeing VH live was an experience & it was in a spectacular setting with the best acoustics one could ever want…then it was torn down years later. Some of the structure was left so it still has great acoustics, but nothing like before. I saw so many bands there! David Lee Roth? I probably would have enjoyed the concert so much more without his disgusting antics & spandex that left nothing to the imagination. Getting the opportunity to so closely see Eddie Van Halen play guitar is one of my most favorite memories. I’ve seen nearly everyone from my era of music in concert (most more than once) except for Led Zeppelin – due to John Bohham’s death – but, I did see Robert Plant & Jimmy Page in 1999 or maybe the early 21st century. It. Was. Amazing.
Almond M&M’s healthy? My ass, stomach, and thighs would disagree. They are just as addicting as the peanut ones, but harder to find so I usually go with the peanut. They do make a great meal when one is typing away; like chocolate cake, they’re not just for breakfast anymore!
LOL for the additions! I hope you made them good & smutty, added whips & chains along with all other accoutrements associated with BDSM while the damsel in distress awaits her fate and we all send reviews stating how much we love it as our chests are heaving, we’re breathless, simply cannot get enough, and must know immediately when you’ll be posting the next chapter!!! muaw…
Sound about right?
Have a pornolicious afternoon!
You’ve ruined my day!! I received one of those LP to iPod converters for Christmas – well all this VH talk- I just finally went for my albums and the converter. My poor kids will be subjected to VH, Billy Squier and Journey for the rest of the day.
M
As they should be! My oldest loved The Who so much that I gave her my “Tommy” tape when she was only 3! Not the movie soundtrack, but the band’s version. After a few years she saw the movie & got the soundtrack. When the musical came around, it was inevitable that we would be going. She sang the lyrics throughout the entire show! Too, too funny! And Journey? She loves Journey. I’m not a fan, but I swear she plays them in her car purposely just to get back at me for when I wouldn’t her or her siblings change the station from mine in the car! My car, my music! Just think of it as part of their musical education! LOL!
For the record, I like Disney Princesses, John Denver, Barry Manilow, AND the Carpenters. (Plus Metallica, Queen and Josh Groban…lol!) 😉
How could I forget Queen and Josh Groban (and ahhhhh – Glee).
M
Adversity is a part of life as well as fiction. Stories could not mirror real life without it. A lot of the violence against women is physical because it is an easy route for the abuser. A woman’s strength is her inner core of steel and much harder to destroy. How can you show a character’s growth and strength without putting them through their paces?
I enjoy fiction with an HEA because we rarely get it in real life and it means so much more after a struggle. Keep writing and reading because you enjoy it and I will do the same.
You’re so smart – can’t enjoy the sunshine without the rain. THANK YOU!
M
Here, Here! Very well said, Julie, and very true!
Do I have to mark follow on everything I want to follow on here???
No – if you followed once – you’re good.