u/Darkest_Lune

I am not asking because I plan to engage in BDSM, I'm asking because I'm doing research for a fanfiction, and I genuinely cannot find a good answer elsewhere. Figured I'd ask the experts.

For some context: I am writing a scene where one character (B) got kidnapped by another (A), and is now bound to a chair while being interrogated. However, character B notices that the birds are not as uncomfortable as they could've been, and uses that as evidence to suggest that character A actually likes character B (They're supposed to hate each other, long story).

Character B's arms are bound to the armrests of the chair at the wrists. I need a knot that's both sturdy and non painful in this context (though not necessarily comfortable). Ideally, it would be a kind of knot that, at most, military personnel would learn on the job, and at least, the average person would be able to do with light research. At this point in the story, character A does not care enough about character B to go out of their way to look into niche/obscure types of knots just to make them more comfortable, but if given the opportunity, they will choose one that is less harmful.

Heya! Just a totally normal question because I like to hear other people's opinions, and not because I'm trying to optimize my fics for the widest possible audience :))) /hj

For me, it's simple: A 1000/1 ratio - which is to say, 1k words per chapter. Anything less, and I won't even click on it; But other than that, I'd like to say I'm pretty open-minded!

Just for clarity, this is an inclusive and exclusive question! I'd love to hear both sides, "as long as it has ____" and "as long as it doesn't have ____"!

Alright gang, hear me out.

For the most part, I don't read in large fandoms. Sure, I'll dabble in a little TF2 or Marvel at a friend's recommendation, or if I'm in the mood for a specific flavor of angst, but that's about it. I know them, sometimes I'll write for them, but I don't read them.

No, I prefer my small, tight-knit circles. 1k or less, they tend to be. Not so small as to be practically dead, but definitely not mainstream. The problem with this, especially in older fandoms, is that a new fic only gets posted about once a month, an existing one gets updated bi-weekly and chances are, it's not going to be something I'm interested in.

So put yourself in my shoes for a minute, and picture this: You're sitting there on AO3, bored out of your mind, refreshing a fandom page and hoping you get lucky. Then, on your third visit within the hour, you see a new fic in that top spot! But then you read the tags, and you see...

It's a twenty fandom oneshot collection with only one chapter with yours.

This is not to bash on multi fandom writers. Done well, I think the interactions between characters can be very compelling. This is to bash on the lunatics who post a oneshot commission call, and decide to tag literally every fandom they're in, and post each request in the same fic. If you're going to do that, at least make it a series and post the requests separately instead of bumping the hub every time!

My hope is barely hanging on by a thread, and every time I see one of those at the top, it's strained a little more. But hey, that's just my gripe. If anyone else feels a similar way, feel free to comment. Or don't, I don't care.