My Sister, My Niece, And I Are Watching LotR. Conversation Between My Sister And Niece:

“acephobia isn’t real”

hhmmmmm?

hhmmmmmmmm?

HHHMMMMMMMM??????

HHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMM?????

what the fuck do you call all of this bullshit then????

hey so protip if you have abusive parents and need to get around the house as quietly as possible, stay close to furniture and other heavy stuff because the floor is settled there and it’s less likely to creak

You know what character in the Outlander series was shafted in the television show?

Duncan Innes. That's who. And it makes me really mad to think about the fact that this incredibly shy, loyal, hard-working, slightly-bumbling, flawed man was literally written down to nothing but a plot device to add drama between Jocasta and Murtagh.

Practically nothing exists of his backstory from the books, and none of the characters feel for Duncan in the show the way they do in the books. He's not a former inmate of Ardsmuir so he doesn't have any of the backstory with Jamie, nor the mutual respect that forms so much of their friendship in the books. He's not with the Frasers at all in S3 (Voyager), so he gets no time at all to bond with Claire and tell her his past of being a fisherman caught up in Culloden, and any of his visits he pays them in Drums of Autumn (S4) is given to Murtagh instead. He simply appears in s5 as nothing more than drama that doesn't need to be there, and the series writers even admitted that in the show Jocasta marries not for love for Duncan but out of fear of being hurt by Murtagh. The major difference shows in the exchange between Jamie and Claire in the episode 'Better to Marry Than Burn':

Jamie: It should be Murtagh at Jocasta's side.

Claire: If Murtagh isn't here today, then it's his own choice.

While in the books, while I wouldnt say it's true love between Duncan and Jocasta, there is mutual respect and fondness, and it's made very clear that Jocasta does choose Duncan of her own free will to finally marry for her own satisfaction and not by the machinations of others. What's more, Jamie gives his full blessing to the match, pleased to hear that Duncan has proposed marriage at the end of Drums of Autumn:

'"I've no claim on any of my aunt's property, Duncan-- and wouldna take it when she offered. You'll be married at the Gathering? Tell her we'll come, then, and dance at the wedding."'

There are so many other examples I could find in the books to further my case but I currently don't have the time to read through books 5 and 6 again looking for specific passages. So just know that Duncan Innes in the show is a pale imitation of the Duncan in the books, and I sincerely hope that we'll see a bit more fleshing out of his character in the upcoming season 6. He's not perfect by any means in the books, but he feels so much more real than he does in the show. I love Murtagh to bits as a character, but I feel like his survival after Culloden in the show takes a lot away from situations that happen later in the story, and certain characters, and adds a lot of unnecessary drama to an already dramatic story. Duncan is an unfortunate casualty in that way.

As a fan of Captain America, I enjoyed Civil War (the film). But I don't particularly care for it as a showing of who Cap is, or who Jack Kirby and Joe Simon intended him to be when they created him in the 1940s. I understand the Accords and I can understand the way differing opinions would divide the Avengers into taking sides on the issue 8n the film. But in the movie it was a very limited character scope. And I understand that too, you can't have a huge ensemble cast the size of what the comics boasted in one film. But the movie(s) focus a bit too much on Steve's relationship with Bucky, and by doing so I think for Civil War the filmmakers shot themselves in the foot a bit. Captain America has always stood for the American people. What the country is supposed to be rather than what people say it should be. You see time and time again in his very long comic book history that he hasn't always done what government officials want him to do. He's a physical representation of what America's best ideals are. He's always kept the "little guy" in mind. And that is portrayed beautifully in First Avenger and Winter Soldier. My problem with the movie Civil War is that it's too small. It features only the Avengers. In the comic books it's the whole Marvel universe. The Avengers, the X-men, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, etc. And they're all taking sides. Sue Storm and Reed Richards separate for a time because they support opposing sides of the issues the comic storyline takes. It's ugly and it's harsh seeing that happen but it's true to life. Families are torn apart by differing viewpoints. Friendships collapse. Tony and Steve case in point. They've been friends since the 60s, when Cap was introduced back into the comics with the Avengers. And in the comic storyline of Civil War, I'm not going to claim that either of them were wholly right or wrong when it came to their taking sides. Tony stood by the government. Steve didn't, believing that the American government would trample upon the rights of its citizens. And they fought. Badly. They both drew blood. Cap's concern has always been civilans. The people of America. And by having Steve focus so much on Bucky in Civil War, you lose a fundamental part of what was so important in the comic. Steve's confrontation with Tony in the movie takes place in a vacant, "safe" place for a fight between superheroes where minimum damage is done and the least amount of lives are lost. On the other hand you have the comic where that final confrontation between them takes place amidst dozens of other superheroes wreaking havoc in the streets of New York. People are hurt. People die. And when Steve has Tony pinned to the ground with the shield raised to deal the killing blow (and he was intending to kill Tony then) it wasn't his sense of honor or morals that stopped him. It was a group of firefighters and cops who tackled him and physically dragged him away from Tony. That shocks him back to his senses. He realizes that in his desire to "win" the debate who which side of the superhero community was right, he had (in)directly caused civilians to be hurt or killed. And he turns himself in and orders his team to stand down. That is what is lacking in the movie. That is what is so disappointing to me about CA:CW. For MCU Steve he doesn't see the repercussions of what his actions have caused because in the movie the fighting is contained. He doesn't have to deal with the idea that his own actions have led to civilian casualties. He never turns himself in because there is no moment where civilians physically intervene to stop him. MCU Steve still has the moral "high ground", when in contrast comic Steve realizes that fighting never brings anything but pain for the innocents caught in the crossfire. Captain America has always stood for the little guy. Please, let the MCU remember that in their next movie.

Chris Chibnall. For God's sake you need to give us a meeting between the Thirteenth Doctor and her daughter Jenny.

Preach! Martha doesn't get nearly enough love.

Peggy Carter and Ellie Miller are related. Just saying.

A Brief Guide to Supporting Authors

As a minor change of pace, I’d like to share some information about how to support fanfiction authors. Many readers don’t believe that their comments, kudos, or bookmarks are important to authors, but they are. 

So, great! Now, let’s talk about the various ways to give feedback - including those other than comments and kudos - as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each method. 

(Note: this guide is focused on ao3, but many parts apply to other platforms.) 

Bookmarks

Summary

Bookmarks let you keep track of a story for reference, re-reading, or just because. 

Public bookmarks are displayed on the story’s main bookmark count, and private bookmarks are not. 

Authors can see the total number of bookmarks on a story, both private and public, from their stats page. They cannot see who has left a private bookmark, or when it was made. 

Works can be sorted/filtered by the number of bookmarks. 

Bookmarks can be tagged, annotated, etc. 

The bookmark feature also as a “recommendation” option

Pros and cons

Pro: a bookmark serves as a more specific form of feedback than kudos, because it also means the reader likely wants to come back to the story later, and/or that they recommend this story to others. 

Pro: if a bookmark is public, authors will probably see it (we check those!). 

Pro: because notes/tags/annotations on bookmarks are optional and not intended for the author, readers feel less pressure to have a specific depth or format - anything goes. 

Tips and tricks

how to use the bookmark tool to create a rec

how to tag bookmarks

Kudos

Summary

Kudos are the easiest way to let an author know you like their story. 

You can only give kudos once per account, or once per IP address if you’re logged out. You cannot remove kudos. 

If authors have enabled this notification, they will get one email per day that lists who has given kudos on which works. These emails are magic. 

Kudos serve as a method to sort/filter fics, and readers often use the number of kudos or the kudos/hits ratio to determine whether or not to start a story. 

Pros and cons

Pro: quick and easy 

Pro: more kudos make other readers more likely to read the story

Pro: authors do tend to see kudos, whether via email, their stats page, or the story page itself. 

Con: kudos are a one-time thing, so if you leave them early in a multi-chapter story, the author has no way of knowing if you’re still reading. If you wait until the fic is complete (since kudos can’t be removed), the author won’t know you’re reading/that you enjoy the story until after it’s complete - and a perceived lack of reader interest is a leading cause for abandoned WIPs. 

Con: authors tend to interpret kudos less positively than readers. Therefore, if you leave kudos and mean “I love this story so much!!” the author doesn’t know that, because people leave kudos for many different reasons. 

Con: they’re not specific. The impact of praise tends to increase with specificity. For example, “this fic is great” is nice to hear, but “your dialogue and characterizations in this story are great” is more specific and will generally inspire more emotion in the author. Because kudos are both the lowest effort and lowest specificity form of feedback, they don’t have the same impact as other methods. 

Tips and tricks

If, for some reason, you don’t want to leave kudos on your username, you can quickly leave guest kudos without logging out by copying the address, opening a private browser session, and leaving kudos as a guest.

You can also do this if you want to leave multiple kudos 

Subscriptions 

authors can see how many users are subscribed to a story from their stats page

authors cannot see who is subscribed to their story 

authors do not know if a subscriber is still reading, or if they are inactive/not checking updates 

subscriptions to authors do not show up in the story subscriptions count 

subscriptions can give an author a general indication of their audience for a multi-chapter story, but it’s almost exclusively a tool for readers rather than a feedback mechanism. 

Comments

This has been covered in depth before - check the links for more info. 

Your Guide to Reviews

Appreciation Without Anxiety: Commenting 101

How to Write A Good Review on FFN (most of this also applies to ao3)

tips and tricks for commenting on mobile

Why People Don’t Comment

“Can I Say This?” Culture, Comments, and Concern

101 Comment Starters

Recommending and Sharing Fics

Simply posting a link to a fic on tumblr is a great form of feedback, if the author sees it - it’s fine to leave a comment on the fic saying “I recommended this story!” with a link to the post, or to tag them on tumblr if you can find their account. 

If an author shares their tumblr account, liking and reblogging their story-related posts is a great way to show support, because it means that you enjoy their story enough that you want other people to read it. 

Authors on tumblr will often check both their notes and the tags people add, and tagging it with something along the lines of “I love this story” or “please read this” will make an author cry happy tears. 

An easy way to create rec lists is to bookmark fics or use the mark for later feature as you read them, and once per week, make a list via tumblr post. Generally, you’ll want to list the title, author (tag them if you can find them on tumblr!), fandom, pairing(s), and character(s). A brief description is nice but not necessary; if you want to add more but you’re not sure what, simply copy-paste the author’s summary from ao3. Then, if you haven’t tagged the author, leave a comment on the story with a link to your rec list. 

I don’t actually have words to describe how amazing it is to find that someone has recced my fics, but wow. I have literally cried. 

Misc.

if you can find an author on tumblr, feel free to tag them in posts (for example, “this photo makes me think of your story, @author!”) or send asks about their fics. 

If you’ve written or drawn something inspired by their stories, let them know! Don’t worry about whether it’s “good enough,” because I promise they will love and appreciate it (and you!). 

If you’ve made playlists, moodboards, metas, etc, also let them know! 

If you see someone else recommending or mentioning their fic, tag the author - they likely haven’t seen it. I’ve only found out about several things like this after a friend saw the post and sent it to me. 

If you see someone posting negatively about their fic, don’t let the author know - it’s stressful, upsetting, and they can’t do anything about it. 

This guide is not exhaustive, but I hope it’s given readers a bit more information regarding how authors receive and interpret feedback!

- Mod Rose