Tag: this tends to be why im wary of anons in general tbh?

Okay, so in certain historical fiction circles there’s this thing called Forced Marriage Scenario, where the heroine is forced into marriage ( usually for her inheritance if the husband is Bad™, or to save her reputation if the husband is Good™). What’s your opinion on this trope? It seems to be quite popular in The Tudors fandom recently, there’s a surprisingly large number of fics where A Boleyn is forced to marry C Brandon or E Seymour, or M Tudor is forced to marry G Boleyn etc.

Hm, I’m not a huge fan or it, honestly? Probably just because these were real people and figures and like…it just rubs me the wrong way. Royal arranged marriages are one thing, but Anne marrying Charles, who she hated, even in fiction seems wrong to me (like I love my fic Charles Brandon’s in Modern AU’s but they’re mine only slightly inspired by Tudors and I know that wasn’t what he was really like, the real CB I am none too fond of) and for that reason I wouldn’t read it.

And George Boleyn and Mary just seems weird tbh; he’s marrying his (ex? or no?) brother-in-law’s daughter? It’s not as incestuous as some marriages and it’s not by blood I know but…odd. Also she wasn’t too fond of the Boleyns, so that strikes me as very Break the Cutie trope which is one I hate. It would potentially be interesting from the perspective of them being of different religious beliefs; but I’d rather read that tension platonically. 

Idk, this is very nitpicky probably, but there were plenty of dub-consensual relationships in this era and at this court that were real, like Elizabeth Holland (his wife’s launderess, who was likely very young) and Thomas Howard, for instance, that I wouldn’t want to read AU relationship fics for the same. 

I honestly haven’t noticed this trend, but I only read fic on AO3. Has it become popular on FF.net?

Something that’s been bugging me is: I’ll get anon requests for fics, which I am grateful for!, but when I fill the fic (give or take a week, I am a full time student in two majors and one minor), I don’t get any feedback. Like, some likes, but no actual answers or reblogs? Instead, it’s just more requests, which is great, but at the same time, I don’t feel appreciated? Like, “oh they write fics, I’ll request and disappear.” Am I being ungrateful?

ao3commentoftheday:

I don’t think so. I think when someone requests a fic, they should at the very least reblog it or comment on it. I suggest turning off anon and no longer accepting anonymous requests for fics. Sending things on anon reduces social accountability and I don’t really think it’s asking too much to expect the person who requested it to at least comment or reblog.

I never took prompts on anon and the people who requested them always commented at least on Tumblr to say they liked and appreciated it and that was enough for me.

Another thought is to post them on AO3 so people can comment on them anonymously. Don’t put the entire work on Tumblr, just enough to hook readers in and then include a link to the AO3 page so they have to go there to finish reading. Then they can comment or kudos there instead of being stuck with the Tumblr system of commenting.

I’d also recommend putting it directly on your Tumblr post that you welcome reblogs. Spread the word about your work and you’ll likely get more comments from more people in the fandom. Hopefully that would help you feel more like your hard work is appreciated even if you decide to keep anon on never know who sent in the prompt.

–Mod M