Fic link & thoughts on nicheness and feedback

My icon collection grows! This one is a crop of a fanart by xiyoumiyu, probably. Full ver in this tweet. Huge thanks to reverse google image search, because no-one believes in crediting fanart.

Week before last, I finished up posting a long WIP of mine for Modao Zushi, hence the shiny new icon. Compared to my prior fandoms, this one is pretty allergic to leaving any feedback, especially ones with more than two sentences, but I'm actually pleased with the response to this one! (Mostly because it had one regular commenter who left very long comments that basically picked out everything I'd meant to accomplish and approved of it all. I, uh, may have doodled hearts.) I'm especially thrilled with it, and the few super positive bookmark comments, since this is very niche content. First of all, it's coming of age, but set in the aftermath of sexual abuse by an authority figure, so the premise counts as dark. Second of all, the fandom's canon juggernaut doesn't get together. I'll give you the link and copypaste the bookmarks' text, as they're actually a really good advertisement, then share some thoughts about this fandom vs my mode of fandoming, and how nicheness affects feedback.

Rediscovery, Reconstruction (27059 words) by ExtraPenguin
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Relationships: Jiāng Fēngmián/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Qǐrén & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn/Original Character(s)
Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Qǐrén, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Childhood Sexual Abuse, Rape Recovery, bildungsroman, Self-Discovery
Summary:

When Wei Wuxian was 13, Jiang Fengmian invited him to his rooms to ‘help him on his journey to adulthood’. At the age of 15, he was sent to the Cloud Recesses to learn from the esteemed teacher Lan Qiren. When Lan Qiren found out how the Jiang sect treated its head disciple, he arranged to keep him at the Cloud Recesses for longer – and Wei Wuxian is left with the hard part of trying to fix himself and grow up at the same time.

notdexterousatall

I was unsure about this, because very often rape-recovery fics turn out to be rape-porn in deceitful packaging. I was also very wrong, because this is one of the most deeply-moving fics about recovery, healing, and personal growth that I've ever read. The characters are removed from their canon-selves, but in a way that stays true to themselves and adds another level of depth to their personalities. Wei Wuxian isn't shipped with Lan Wangji here, which is unusual for this fandom and was a turn-off for me at the start, but here it is done so in a way that feels very true to the circumstances the characters are presented in, and truthfully, having read up to chapter 4, I don't see any other way Wuxian's relationship with Wangji could have been presented. The OC's are also well developed and add to the story rather than subtract from it, and I yearn for every new insight into the characters that I am granted.

Bittersweet, but the bitterness comes at the beginning so that Wei Wuxian's personal growth can bring the sweetness at the end. I very much recommend, and I also suggest that at the end of each chapter you read the author's comments as well.

Gerifalte

ahhh, this was gold. I couldn't stop reading until the very end, and the setting is /well/ fleshed-out -very believable, consistent and real. Don't even get me started on the OCs, for all intents and purposes /people/ you could connect to and take an interest in. I was very invested in their development and context, to the point I honestly wanted to make them happy. Also LQR characterizarion is the very best, and the foreshadowing was spot-on (I had my suspicions from the first time LYH talked about her backstory, so I didn't feel like it came from the blue.

All in all, 12/10 would read again.

PS: gdi I just realized this isn't the comment section. I hope the author gets to read this -or that I remember to drop a comment when I have more time. Fingers crossed.

( on fandoming modes and feedback vs nicheness )

Oh, and a funny thing: every time I've promoted this fic by eg posting links, there has been a peak in feedback ... for my other fics in the fandom. :P

Poll #20882 Feedback poll!

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5

View Respondents

Have you observed a difference in the quality of feedback your mainstream and niche content receives?

View Answers

Yes
5 (100.0%)

No
0 (0.0%)