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Anonymouse · 1y

Will you write more mlm?

TLDR: Yes, I will be and see below for what I have currently in the pipeline.

I'm halfway through the HythAzemEmet fic thing that I've been enjoying from a character study aspect. Learning a lot about my Azem, Hyperion, because of it and how he views himself and his relationship with his partners.

I'm also kicking around more ideas with Yrkir and whatever matchmaker with benefits game he's playing with Sicard and Emmanellain, some Erenville/Urianger, G'raha/Urianger (current and ShB era), and G'raha/Erenville fun. I still have my mlm prompt list to work through too.

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Now for the less fun but honest response:

I'm reluctant to write more mlm fic because of the overwhelmingly negative experiences I've had from the mlm shippers from the early 00s as a young fandomer on ffnet, LiveJournal, MediaMiner, etc to now. While I am more than well aware it's "not all mlm shippers!" and follow folks who have been nothing but wonderful and enthusiastic in their own ships (and enjoy them very much!), the openly hostile, entitled, and gatekeeping attitudes across multiple fandoms do not inspire me to branch out.

Said attitudes and behavior are a large portion of why you see a predominantly femme/female focus in my writing; early fandom told me "no one likes female characters/femme presenting characters/there's no place for them in fandom/etc." and the sheer amount of double standard/character bashing continues to be off the charts.

I'm going to end this by saying something I've seen others say as well; if you want more mlm/wlw/trans/ace/etc ships, fics, art, and so on? Don't drive away the people who haven't written/drawn/etc yet. Encourage the writers/artists whose writing you like. Commission them to write/draw/gpose/etc. If you see them considering it/hesitating? Cheer them on instead/encourage them.

Be part of the solution, not part of the force driving people away.

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