Comment on Without All The Nuance

  1. Solstice (Guest) on Chapter 1 Thu 22 Aug 2024 11:00PM UTC

    I was planning to write a post-perfect ending* fic where Sol and all 10 of the friends hang out together. It was going to be this big "where are they now" sort of thing, but when I realised how hard it would be to write so many different characters and their relationships with each other, I scrapped the idea.

    It was also going to be set on a beach because when I read the stuff about the seaside proto-colony, I thought it would make the perfect backdrop for something fun and a little silly!

    Wanting to write about the exocolonists hanging out at a beach isn't even a new thing for me either. Last year in September, before I left the fandom, I tried running a fan week on Tumblr. The very first prompt to kick off the event was "beach trip.".

    The event was unfortunately a failure because I didn't have the clout/status/whatever to draw people in. I'm also not an artist; I only write fics, so I basically had nothing to share with anyone. I don't actually have any published fics because finishing things is pretty difficult for me. I write random stuff then usually delete it because I find some fault in it.

    *Perfect as in maxing out every character's friendship and saving everyone in a single run. I haven't done it myself, but there's a guide on how to do it.

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    1. MoonBugs9058 on Chapter 1 Thu 22 Aug 2024 11:21PM UTC

      Omg beach episode!! That would be really fun, you're right! Also, I didn't even know that a perfect ending was possible, that's crazy. Do you get a special ending for it, or is it just a self-indulgent completion kind of thing?

      Exocolonist doesn't have that big of a fandom, and to be honest, for me personally, I like it that way. I find that people are often much more grateful for fanworks and headcanons and meaningful discussions about the characters when the fandom is smaller. I like writing for little fandoms (mostly beacuse I'm part of my fair few of small fandoms) and I'm sure that even though you found flaws in the fics you published, those who got to read it enjoyed them as well. I've never participated in fandom weeks/months, and I don't have the art skills to draw anything for exocolonist specifically, but I hope that I'll be able to have a place in the fandom for myself, even if it's just as the guy who occasionally posts decent fanfiction.

      I do really appreciate every comment you're leaving for me here, and even in these little snippets of conversation, you've already shared a lot!

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      1. Solstice (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sat 24 Aug 2024 07:25AM UTC

        It's just a self-indulgent completion thing. I'm going to give it a try after I've earned the platinum trophy for a third time, as a sort of farewell to the game. I probably won't actually play it again for awhile since I've seen most of what it has to offer.

        I published a couple of fics to AO3 last year in March, then deleted them soon after. Even though the fandom's work page was archived, the actual links to my works aren't accessible, meaning they're gone forever (and I didn't make backups). It sucks, but it's my own fault for not valuing my work enough to think it's worth keeping. I've deleted so much stuff, and I genuinely feel bad whenever I think about how much I could've added to the fandom if I kept everything.

        I didn't post anything during my fan week since I procrastinated pretty hard, but if I can find a backup of the prompt list I made, I might revisit it later!

        All I have right now is various WIPs for a multi-chapter Sol/Sym fic that I'm writing out of order and some Sol/Tang stuff that I wrote months ago. One of the Sol/Tang fics was for a Femslash February prompt that I planned to make part of a series to give the fandom more sapphic content, but then I just... kind of gave up on it.

        As for the fandom, though, I enjoyed taking part in it and talking with everyone! There's so many nice people, and while I unfortunately didn't make any friends, I still think about some of the conversations I had.

        Maybe when my mental health is sorted out and I feel comfortable socialising again, I'll go back to Tumblr. I have so much to discuss when it comes to Exocolonist.

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        1. MoonBugs9058 on Chapter 1 Sat 24 Aug 2024 08:38AM UTC

          I often find that when I stop liking the fics I write, there are people out there who enjoyed them enough to comment, leave kudos, or bookmark. I always feel bad when I consider deleting them because I know how bad it sucks to look through your bookmarks and see "this work as been deleted" and just go "aw man i wonder what that was :(" Instead, my alternative to completely getting rid of them is to change them to an anonymous author so those people can still enjoy them without it being traced back to me. It probably won't happen with these fics or the other fics on my profile because I am rather proud of them at the moment (especially the two Tammy/Cal stories), but that's generally what I end up doing. (I have a total of 21 published fics, and only 8 of them aren't anonymous; which tells you wonders about my self confidence.) Whenever I under value my own work, I always try to remember that even if only one person left kudos or cared enough to comment, then it's worth keeping around, even if I don't want it tied to me.

          I haven't actually engaged with the fandom on Tumblr much, though I have posted about this fic, but I've seen a lot of brilliant art and headcanons, so I know the fandom is wonderful. The extent of my interactions with the fandom is actually just here on AO3; with you and other commenters, because I do try my best to reply somewhat meaningfully to every comment I receive.

          Don't rush yourself when it comes to your mental health and self-confidence! You're just as important as the ideas you have :)
          Take care and thank you again for commenting and letting me know that you enjoy the fic :D

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