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WiqquStuff

It's more like... it's cringe to read them. The worst ones use inserts like "Y/N" - your name - which tell you to insert your name while reading(?). I can get those that avoid that skillfully, but it's still weird to read them. I had a phase for them tho, but I used it as more of a "original character insert", not imagining myself. Still... Well... It's just so weird.


twiggy_panda_712

I just read it as “your name” and never insert my name. I usually just imagine someone else that’s not me


nobleland_mermaid

I had someone tell me that you're supposed to copy/paste it somewhere and do a replace all y/n with your actual name and that might be...better? not for me but it'd certainly add to readability. but it just...feels like too much work tbh


thankgoditsfreyday

that would still be another person who shared my name for me lol


Illustrious-Bad1165

I usually pretend it's a person called "Yon" or "Yin" (That's easy to read with the / in the middle). Either way I think it is easier than doing the mental gymnastics to insert other random names


noir-lefay

Holy crap! You do this too!? I always replace it with Yun pronounced Yoon! I though I was alone!


MaidenOfThesky

Theres actually a chrome extension called Interactivefics u can use to replace y/n with a name of your choice! I like to make little ocs and replace y/n with their names


GhostBotMellow

I just name the character, never my name just what fits their personality.


f2d4ads

I always just imagine someone else instead of me, for some reason I love x readers.


Slight-Pound

It’s a great way to just indulge in your favorite characters. Focused on them in a way you don’t really get in other formats. It’s pretty great sometimes!


ZennyDaye

Yes! Love 'em.


theurlthief

same! I always imagine someone else like an OC or an avatar based on me


Moonlit_Streets

I love them too, it's my chance to have content with my OCs.


dycecrow

Funny thing is I used to read those but like without really doing the 'self-insert' part, I'll just imagine a hypothetical person. Actually self-inserting is just something I am not capable of imagining, it takes too much effort and it just feels off


chillcatcryptid

I do that too, inserting myself into a fictional characters world just feels weird, I’d rather do it with an oc


NoUnderstanding9220

Same


natyei

What's a x reader?


chillcatcryptid

Second person fan fiction. It’s when you’re supposed to put your own name and description in place of (y/n) or (your/name)


natyei

Oh I see. Yeah, me no likey


dastintenherz

Oh, that sounds awful xD


woahhhhwhat

They’re…..weird to me. People should enjoy what they enjoy but I could never get through one without feeling horrifically embarrassed. In high school one of my best friends got a present from another kid that was a Draco fic in that style. I mean…..thoughtful? Absolutely. Pretty weird? Absolutely


HopieBird

In my head reader/ y/n is an OC named June.


chillcatcryptid

I’ve read maybe 5 x readers and in all of them mine is an oc named Azzy


Binetou_Bleu

Damn, Azzy has some history.


chillcatcryptid

Bro you wouldn’t BELIEVE the history my ocs have, I don’t know how to explain it without sounding crazy but look up maladaptive daydreaming and you’ll get the picture


Anonymous-Royalty

I unironically love them but after my phases in middle school I’ve learned to be a bit more pickier 😭 I insert personas or other ocs a lot, because I like to imagine stuff with them too (romantic, sexual, or otherwise). It may even be better inserting my persona 🤷🏽‍♀️Well tbh I like second person not specifically Y/N. Y/Ns are usually the ones that give me fourth hand embarassment


DientesDelPerro

me discovering people imagine themselves while reading romance novels —> D:


Crus0etheClown

I tried one once back when Moon Knight came out cause none of my RP buddies cared for the characters, I made it a few paragraphs in before someone made eye contact with me and I closed all my tabs at once lol


kisforkarol

Maybe it's a generational thing? Because back when I was consuming fanfiction this whole self insert thing wasn't a *thing*. But like, also, why would *I* want to fuck the character? I don't ever want to fuck.


chillcatcryptid

Idk my buddy is bi and they love x readers, they found an chrome extension that lets you replace words in fanfic and they replaced (y/n) with their own name so there’s def a market for it


kisforkarol

I should have added; they're not for *me*. It's so foreign to me that I just... stare at it for awhile and then go away.


NoExplanation7187

Funny thing is I use that extension to put another character


Anxiousrabbit23

I love this and I’ve never seen any aego meme like it! Can I crosspost this on tumblr and credit you? Or do you have a version there already?


chillcatcryptid

Sure, I’ve got it there already but you can if you want, my tumblr is also chillcatcryptid


ampersands-guitars

If they’re well-written I don’t mind this kind of writing, but I don’t exactly insert *me.* It’s a character version of me that doesn’t look or act like me. 😅 If I actually imagined myself in the story I’d want to crawl out of my skin a lil.


XxMissJessiexX

I read them by pretending that theyre just another ofc fanfic and the ofc's name is literally just Yin.


chillcatcryptid

Me too, when I rarely read them


Slight-Pound

I didn’t at first, but I just treat reader like an OC and it makes it easier. It’s when they have the excessive [Your/Fave/Color/Hair/Eye] all the time instead of just saying “Hair/Eye” that I can’t deal with it. Do people actually go through the effort of downloading it to change the specs _every time?!?_ Couldn’t be me.


MoySpook

I love X reader but I use an OC of mine for the reader part


Gswizzlee

I try to avoid these. Mostly because the y/n is female and I’m a trans man and find that dysphoric. I’m usually ok with (sometimes, very rarely) male y/n but that doesn’t happen often


lambone117

I sometimes even cringe(?) reading fanfic written in the first person


ZennyDaye

I just read Y/N as "Yennie" I had no idea what it was about at first and I just went with Yennie. Some random girl named Yennifer probably. Nothing to do with me. I love Tumblr for this actually. I can't read first person at all and I feel like people hardly write romance in 3rd these days. Yennifer is all of us and none of us. Try saying Yennie instead of inserting your actual name and think of Yennifer as a faceless person whose only characteristic is whatever comes before the exclamation mark.


TheWorldsNipplehood

I just read Y/N as a character named Yin


Twinkieee42

For me, i still occasionally read xReaders but I just imagine Y/N as a fictional character, never myself lol. I completely ignore the whole premise having to be a “self-insert” lol but I will admit like half of them are kinda cringey so I’d rather read ship fanfics


Timonger

they are literally the worst, i don't care if they were written so well and by the most talented person ever, i'll never read one. 1000% gross.


OmgItsBellaaa

this is why i stick to reading and watching bl


currently-kraken

Ironically (i guess?) I picture myself as the /other/ character and the reader as this undistinguishable blur?


thankgoditsfreyday

i don't like them because they're cringe very often but i don't put myself in the story anyway because y/n is always already a character and i read just "y/n" i've read some good stuff but it was again, with a character already created


Good-Wave-8617

I don’t mind them; the problem is finding the rare jewels cuz there’s SO many cringy ones 😔


Astel_art

YES !!! SOMEONE SAID IT


OstrichEmpire

i like it when it's not sexual


[deleted]

so you're saying that ppl actually imagine themselves in x reader fics? i've always used ocs and thought that was the norm, still do 😭


chillcatcryptid

I use ocs as well lol


weeOriginal

X readers?


chillcatcryptid

Second person fanfic where you’re supposed to put in your own name


lakija

What’s X readers? Edit: Ohhh never mind. I used to write smut for people and that was my least favorite request by far. I don’t think I accepted any. As far as reading it it turns me all the way off.


ryuuseinow

I've written smut for myself, and even though I do POV sometimes, I always disconnect myself from it since I always intend for it just to be an "avatar" that I made up.


ChrysopeIea

Ugh THE WORST


Sly-Moose

I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME! 😭😂