Well, the no full-on faces was in the preliminary discussion, before she'd read the draft. She was fine with it.

Oddly, if the faces are hand drawn rather than digital, I don't have the same aversion.

Yes, the first five or six ABO fics were interesting, but they get sort of by the checklist after that. It's fascinating that you'd drawn the picture of the omega offering his neck without your really being aware of it. Artists constantly amaze me, because I can't do what you do.

It's fascinating that you'd drawn the picture of the omega offering his neck without your really being aware of it

THe author saw it--she wanted a picture where they looked like they were off in their own little world, and even though I hadn't consciously taken that from the words, it's what she got--subconscious, plus after effects of the artists I've been drooling over.

She's an artist (ID=artsiel), so I felt more pressure than normal. And I couldn't make head nor tail of a certain layout key to the illustration, and I knew it was because she'd detailed it down to the finest minutiae, and then written at the level of detail that best served the story. So I didn't want to go wrong against the pictures in the head.

She sent me the pics she'd been using for imagery, and it really helped.

As ABO goes, artistically, I guess I'm not attracted to most of the visual signifiers, so I'd not really though them out. I *despise* overt feminising them in art (I've unfollowed at least one tumblr because Cas had hips in every picture.

If there are x% ABO stories I like, I don't think they have much common visual information.

I'm stunned that ABO has come along and made MPREG into an annoying distraction instead of instructions to nuke the story from fire. In general I don't like the reproductive biology, but I do like a writer who can take the status quo of "no one agrees" and make interesting worldbuilding out of it.

I'm also pathetically into soul bonds right now, so ABO is attractive like that. I IZ SAP.

Next time, don't ask for a late post date.

I have now decided she gets one picture per chapter (8), a title card, a section separator, and an icon.

Readers, do you prefer your bang pictures inline, or in a separate masterpost? Does your opinion change as an artist or an author?

I prefer them within the story, if only because I might not be bothered to click on the art masterpost. I suppose the ultimate ideal would be three posts, art, fic, and blended, so that those who just want to see the art don't have to scroll, and those who don't want someone else's possibly crappy vision of a scene to interfere with what be an otherwise good read. But pictures that I don't like are easily ignorable if they happen to be embedded within the fic. For me, at least.

I'm greedy, I like both. I like the pictures incorporated into the story itself, but I also love to be able to go to the art post and glee all over the artist. Plus, seeing art *out* of context often brings out points I want to ask about-- inspiration or technique, or some other thing I'm curious about.

Do you remember the movie The Commitments? A very simpatico supervisor and I together interviewed candidates for an opening in the office. She confessed her first impulse always was to ask, "So who were your influences?" And that's a question I always want to ask creative people, especially visual artists.

As a reader, the story works better for me with inline art. But as an artist it's the worst choice if you care about kudos, and on your home territory to boot.

Cuts down drastically on the amount of feedback for the artist.

I would think that if you are a person likely to give feedback on a story, you'd take the time to backtrack and give good feedback to the artist if you liked them. I you are a person likely to click both the art and fic masterposts, it doesn't follow that you are 1) a person likely to give feedback, and 2) if you are, that you like the art enough to give feedback. If the second case, if you like the art in the embedded version, I'd think you'd backtrack to the artist to give said feedback.

In short, I feel that if you are a type of person to give feedback, feel that something is worthy of praise, you'll take the few extra clicks to make it happen, because it was just that fucking good that you couldn't get it out of your head and just HAD to share. If those few extra clicks means that you won't, it probably means that you wouldn't have with only a few clicks, and it wouldn't have been anything amazing to read about your work.

This post is also a load of bullshit because I know nothing about what most people decide to post and not post.

I don't like art in a story, so if I'm going to look at the art at all, I prefer it separate.

I know I really appreciate art, and like it in the story (as long as it's illustrating a scene, I guess), but I do have to go and look at art masterposts separately to comment as they deserve, and by separately, I mean once a week, not right after reading the story.

I think it's an extra task to match the mood of the story with the mood of the art (one I think I achieved with my first one, even though I think the quality of the art in the upcoming second one is better). Hell. I can't match the mood of all the pictures...

Anyway, if the pictures are properly fairy tale storylike (there was one of Cas as a dragon that did it really well, by the time I get to a masterpost, I forget that characteristic.

The failings are all on me, as a commenter. As a consumer, art with pictures is unquestionably the best. PMM and my author are on crack. Unless all the choices of scenes to illustrate stood out as memorably to the reader, there's a level of ??? when going back and looking at pics, especially if there are a lot.

Since I just decided to give her one picture per chapter (just one left to decide on), some are bound to be confusing when viewed in isolation from the narrative. But that's me and the author's requirements. I hope to quote enough text to help bring the moment back.

My method of working is to print out the fic, read the hard copy (why??? It's the only time I read hard copy....) draw the picture, print it out and stuff it in the right place in the stack, and move on.

But I also stick the pictures in the electronic copy for my own viewing pleasure--the first author took that copy as her posting copy and posted stories inline. Which I think was even more important for that story than this one.

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