Round 3

[bbcmusketeerskink]

Welcome to the BBC The Musketeers kink meme

The lowdown: You post your prompt, anon or not. Someone else will hopefully fill it (also anon or not). Not for profit, just for fun. And in this case, for king and country.

Anon is on, IP logging is off.

Rules:
No wank
No kink-shaming
Be respectful to everyone
The mod is not your babysitter
Use the warnings
No prompts with characters under the age of 16 in sexual situations, please.
Please keep the discussions in the prompt post to a minimum. We have a discussion post

Mandatory trigger warnings/warnings for both prompts and fills:
non-con/dub-con
abuse (physical and mental)
issues such as racism, sexism, homo-/trans-/-bi-/ace-phobia etc
character death
suicide
self-harm
eating disorders
extreme physical or mental illness
substance abuse (alcohol, drugs, medication)
bullying
gore and horror

If this list misses anything, do let me know, though please understand that if absolutely everything is added this list will never end.

You are encouraged and advised to add additional warnings at your own discretion.

Please make use of the subject line.

If your prompt alludes to the book or any of the other adaptations, please let us know which one.

Lastly, prompt freezes (which I have to say I’m really not fond of) etc will be at the mod’s discretion. I will decide on a prompt cut-off point for prompt posts once I know how fast the meme moves.

Announcement: A blanket spoiler warning is necessary for prompts pertaining to season 2. Just season 2 Spoilers in the subject line will do.

Archive:
https://delicious.com/bbcmusketeers

Discussion post:
http://bbcmusketeerskink.dreamwidth.org/557.html

Official fill post (I strongly suggest you use it for better visibility of your fills):
http://bbcmusketeerskink.dreamwidth.org/418.html

Mod contact post
http://bbcmusketeerskink.dreamwidth.org/1356.html

Free For All Round 1
http://bbcmusketeerskink.dreamwidth.org/1823.html

Comments

Re: Fill More than blood 6

[(Anonymous)]

NA (kind of can't believe I'm about to blather about this)

True to what you're saying, I'm generally on the side of being very supportive of whichever prompts emerge. However, I don't think it's always valid to say that any fill should fly, or, more accurately, I don't think that it's valid to say that any fill should just be unquestioningly supported without this kind of critical feedback. Nor do I think that if someone has this kind of reaction to a fill, they should just be shut down or dismissed with the refrain -- 'Go write your own fic then, if you don't like it'.

For one, I think this particular feedback is on point. I hope the author takes it seriously and doesn't just dismiss it with something along the lines of 'haters gonna hate'. That may sound petty of me, but I don't think so. For two, I think readers who were drawn in by the prompt should be allowed to tell the filler that they may be losing some of their audience, and why. I think the culture of respect on a meme is very important, but I don't think that should be equated with 'shut up and just be happy with whatever you get'.

So I'll add my voice to this. Though this isn't the type of fic I normally read, I was drawn in by the prompt, so I did read it. I enjoyed the first part, but as it dovetailed -- very quickly -- into d'Artagnan Angst while Aramis disappeared into the background, becoming increasingly positioned as a foil for d'Artagnan's insecurity rather than the other way around, I shrugged and took this one off my check-for-updates list.

I wasn't fully invested in the story, so it wasn't a huge deal to me, but I've been on memes where I felt like prompts got hijacked and where character-focus-switching prompts happened a lot, and no one was allowed to express critique about it because prompters and readers felt obligated to not say anything and just shut up because they were lucky enough that their prompt was even being filled.

I'm also extra sensitive to character focus snafus, since in one previous meme I've been in, it seemed like it happened to every single one of my prompts, on purpose. The filler who kept picking my prompts and switching the character focus telling me they just wanted to be unconventional and edgy -- (yeah, I didn't get that either) -- when really I felt they just wanted more angst for their own character and liked the prompt for their own character. It was astoundingly frustrating to me.

No, I'm not saying that this was a purposeful snafu of the prompt. And no, I don't think this feedback has to mean the filler should stop writing the story, and of course it's still going to have readers, and readers who really love it.

I just also think the feedback -- that this has turned into a d'Artagnan story and has jumped off the mark, that Aramis is looking more and more like a jealous and manipulative lover rather than someone whose depression and pain at being infertile is being developed -- is valid feedback to give. The jump to this becoming d'Artagnan's story happened really fast.

Re: Fill More than blood 6

[(Anonymous)]

I have nothing to do with this thread or story, but I couldn't help but read along, and must therefore co-sign this:

*I don't think that it's valid to say that any fill should just be unquestioningly supported without this kind of critical feedback. Nor do I think that if someone has this kind of reaction to a fill, they should just be shut down or dismissed with the refrain -- 'Go write your own fic then, if you don't like it'.*

And this:

*I think the culture of respect on a meme is very important, but I don't think that should be equated with 'shut up and just be happy with whatever you get'.*

In fandom, it seems like we've skewed towards the idea that any bit of evaluative critique, even if respectfully stated and considering - and valid - is seen as wank or bullying. It creates no room for dialog, and no room for valid feedback. Why do we do this?

When I was young and new to fandom, I received my share of critical feedback. Not all of it was valid, but some of it was very on point and, luckily for me, most of the time, respectfully stated. It made me think about things. Even if I didn't agree, it made me consider things that had never occurred to me before. It made me more discerning. It pushed me to be a better writer. I'm not saying I never got defensive, but I also learned to step back and look at things and when it was needed, to ask questions, and to dialog about my fic choices and become more confident in them.

For clarity, I'm not on board with disrespect. I do agree, though, that we can be respectful without sacrificing the ability to give genuine feedback beyond "this is great, thanks." Additionally, we can give feedback without resorting to being attacking or condescending, and without requiring the author to automatically conform and agree, if that makes sense.

---

Okay, so I'm realizing this should maybe be in the discussion post. Since this is just a fly by comment, I'm going to leave it here, for now, and hope that doesn't twist anyone out of shape.