raindrops-on-concrete

[raindrops-on-concrete]

I write most of my fanfic for myself and my roommate's enjoyment

Not writing a fanfic nobody asked for but writing fanfic for yourself and that one other person who is equally insane about the idea

[raindrops-on-concrete]

no one warns you about this but the true struggle of a multishipper is deciding which sideship to include in a fic

[raindrops-on-concrete]

rb bait, reblog with the number of concerts you’ve attended!!

[raindrops-on-concrete]

at the risk of putting myself in the line of fire from both sides of the whole AI debate, what's the harm if people do use AI for writing fanfiction? a lot of people who do write with AI already proudly proclaim that they do anyway and if they don't proclaim it and you like the fic, so what if it was written with AI?

if you're out there policing other people's fics in this manner, you clearly don't care about a) the writer's intellectual property for the above named reasons or b) the environment since you're using AI yourself

no one's forcing you to read AI generated fics, don't like don't read

let's be sensible about this

The irony of this new breed of self-righteous AI hunters on AO3 is that they're all just copy and pasting peoples fics into AI detectors, which are all operated by AI and therefore THEY are feeding people's work into the algorithm without their consent and in some cases no doubt circumventing the locks people put on to avoid getting scraped...

Don't copy and paste anyone's AO3 work into third party websites, you're not the good guys in this situation?

[raindrops-on-concrete]

on survival

-// @aridante // @orivu // @buzzkillgirls // ? // ? // richard siken// @cemeterything // moomin, tove jansson// @disenchanted-killjoy // isn't that enough, shawn mendes// @ prettytheyswag on twitter// @ coletyumuch on twitter// ? // ? // bird by bird, anne lamott// undertale// @strawberrycircuits

[raindrops-on-concrete]

chat, how do you hit an F5 on an "ey" sound without sounding super breathy but also not sounding aggressive?

[raindrops-on-concrete]

love and appreciation to all fanfic writers who write darkfics

love and appreciation to all fanfic writers who write about rape/non-con

extra love and appreciation to all fanfic writers who write darkfics, rape/non-con and tag their warnings properly

[raindrops-on-concrete]

fanfiction writers be like: ah yes this guy is called Technoblade, a very normal first name

and then they draw the line at making Phils last name Minecraft, calling him Craft instead

[raindrops-on-concrete]

No More Zero Comments Project

Hi! Here's a big masterpost for everything you need to know about this project!

The No More Zero Comments (NM0C) Project is dedicated to reducing the number of fics on AO3 with no comments. This is a multifandom community effort with very few rules which you can very easily undertake alone, but hey, why not join us?

The goal is simple: find fics with no comments, read them and leave the author a comment. If you want, you can go out and find fics on your own, but we also have a handy spreadsheet full of fics for you to browse!

You can find the spreadsheet here. There are tonnes of different fandoms to choose from. It will be updated regularly with new fics, so check back as often as you like.

Do you have a fic with zero comments? You can submit it here to be added to the spreadsheet. There is no limit to how many you can submit, and no limits on what you can submit. Any fandom, any category, any rating, no matter how old it is. Yes, even explicit fics. We aren't picky around here. You can also submit other people's fics if you wish.

All I ask is, if you submit your own fics, try and comment on some too! Balance, equality, etc.

The only real rule for submissions is no AI. This blog is vehemently anti-AI and will not accept any fics that use it. EDIT 16/06/25: There are now two more rules - no Harry Potter fics (fuck jkr) and no fics less than a week old.

If you comment on a fic from the spreadsheet, please let me know here so I can remove the fic from the spreadsheet. If you see a fic on the spreadsheet that has a comment, don't fret. I'll get around to removing it soon. Admin's timezone is GMT and I'm most active in the evenings.

Have a question? Feel free to ask!

A few more bits and pieces of information under the cut!

Who runs this blog?

That'd be me, Izak, better known as @lightningzombie! I run this blog alone for now. And yes, I did put my own fics into the spreadsheet. I put it up to a vote and people said I could!

Why did you decide to do this?

Frustration with the lack of comments on my fics and the death of comment culture in general. Bewilderment when I saw a fic that had 1200 kudos and no comments. The joy that leaving 100 comments and receiving 20+ during the Febuwhump commentfest brought me. Boredom. Many reasons!

Is there a prize/competition?

Nope! No incentives whatsoever. Just the joy of fan fiction, of commenting, and community spirit.

Will you do events?

Yes, I plan to! I'm not sure what yet, though.

"I don't know how to comment!"

Yes, you do. "I like this" is a comment. "How dare you do that to [insert blorbo here]" is a comment. "<3" is a comment. "KAJSDAKSDHJ WHYYYYY????" is a comment. "I am rapidly approaching your location" is a comment. Just be kind!

How long will it take me to get a comment?

Dunno. Some people get them within minutes, some hours, some days. Depends on many things. Be patient!

I submitted something but it hasn't been added or removed

I run this blog and the spreadsheet completely alone and manually. Any submissions will be handled as and when i have time. Be patient with me, I'll get to it!

Happy commenting! <3

[raindrops-on-concrete]

You know what's wild to me? The fact that a non-canon, polyamorous, sapphic ship has overshot the canon straight ship and continues to boost upwards as if the constant need for lead males isn't a thing in media.

Not only is the poly sapphic ship beating the straight one its also beating the tag where they're all just friends which is wild.

None of my fandoms have had that even for canon sapphic pairings.

[raindrops-on-concrete]

characters raised to be tools

Weapons. Trained, tested, forged in steel and fire. Failure is an inevitability that ends in death. Pain should not be felt--it should be recognized, familiar, and inconsequential

Martyrs. In the form of servants and princes, of leaders and underdogs. If blood is necessary, the martyr will lift their hands and offer it all

Shields. Like tempering a sword, but only to bear and not to lash out. Wounds are medals--not symbols of pride, but symbols of worth. A pretty shield is useless; scars mean a job well done

Experiments. Raised on the cold comfort of a lab table. Restraints are only necessary when they're not in their right mind. Is it honorable, to be twisted beyond recognition? Or is it just a necessary evil?

Monsters. Cruelty, caution, and regarding one as a creature beyond reasonable thought is tempering in its own right. But if you keep a leash at the right length, perhaps the massecre won't reach you. One can hope.

Idols. Pretty face, pretty name, pretty hands around their shoulders and throat. There to seduce, manipulate, force any feeling to come to the surface and twist it to their favor. Any genuinity stays locked behind the guilded cage that surrounds their pretty little heart

Trophies. Status and wealth and the traditions that keep someone at their heels, on their knees, to display and serve and decorate one's ballroom.

Sacrifices. Drenched in honorable clothes, prepared and adored and cleansed. The gift of hope at the cost of one's life. Is it taken with no fight? How can you escape the ropes you were born in?

[raindrops-on-concrete]

the gendered child is a funny way to put it. the girl one

[raindrops-on-concrete]

Another DSMP fic WIP that I'll never continue

"Wake up, Tommy, wake up", someone was whispering while shaking Tommy lightly. He groaned and turned over to fall asleep again. Whoever had the audacity to wake him at this hour could fuck right off. As it turned out, though, when he turned over, he rolled right into the soft wall of a tent. "Tommy, I'm serious, you need to wake up right now or I'll empty our water bottle over your head" That was... that was definitely Tubbo's voice. The tent, Tubbo, oh! Tommy's senses started coming back to him. He blinked his eyes open. "Hey Tubs, what's up?", Tommy said, voice still very sleepy. "Don't pour water over me!", he added when he saw the bottle in Tubbo's hand.

Tubbo ignored his second statement. "There's a guy outside", he simply said. "He was on his way over here when I came back from getting water at the river."

There’s a guy outs- oh shit! Tommy immediately sat up at this, blinking the rest of the sleepiness out of his eyes. Oh shit. He climbed out of the tent, straightening his shirt, while Tubbo was still explaining something about the events of the morning so far.

There was indeed a guy outside the tent and he was glaring at the two teenagers that were crawling outside. "What do you think you're doing?!", he asked, his voice muffled by the red and yellow fabric covering his head. "Trespassing on my land, sleeping on my land and eating my lemons!" Tommy and Tubbo had in fact been eating from the big lemon tree that was stood in the middle of the field. They didn't think they would be caught though. "The police will be here in 15 minutes."

Now Tommy definitely needed to do something. "Listen, we can talk about this. We're all civilized people. Big men, you could say", Tommy said. "You have this big plot of land. We didn't know this was your land and we needed somewhere to sleep. So clearly we need it more than you." Tommy could see Tubbo cringing in the corner of his eye.

"Just stay exactly where you are, the police will be here in 15 minutes", the guy just repeated, then turned around to type something on his phone.

Tommy used this moment to turn towards Tubbo and whisper short instructions: "Pack our things, get out of the tent and then we run on my signal." Tubbo just nodded and silently slipped into the tent. Usually, he would've disagreed. But this was not usually. This was not a time to argue.

By the time the stranger got off his phone, Tubbo was already back out of the tent, their two backpacks laying at their feet. All three of them were waiting in silence for the police to arrive. Tubbo periodically looked over to Tommy, waiting for a signal. It wasn't time yet. If the landowner had some kind of powerful superpower, they needed more space and a distraction between them.

When the police finally arrived, the stranger turned around in order to greet them. Tommy used that moment to simply whisper "now" and the two teenagers made their escape into the nearby woods.

They didn't have their tent. It took Tommy two hours of mindlessly running away from the field with the lemon tree before the reality of it all sank in. They were two sixteen-year-olds in a foreign country, without their families, two bags full of dirty clothes and stolen food and now they didn't have a place to sleep. It had seemed like a great idea when he suggested running away to Tubbo all those months ago. Just the two of them, off to America, where dreams were supposed to come true. What could realistically go wrong in a country with a president literally called Dream?

But of course, everything went wrong. The little money they had left after the journey was quickly spent. They couldn't find a place to live, nor did they get a job. Tommy didn't remember when they'd resorted to stealing food, but it soon became laughably easy. Tubbo's superpower allowed him to camouflage himself for short periods of time, so all they needed was Tommy causing a distraction long enough for Tubbo to walk out of the shop with all the food they needed. The stealing and their trusty two-people tent had gotten them through the last few weeks rather easily.

Now they didn't have their tent anymore and the police was probably looking for them. Tommy let out a big sigh.

"I reckon, I could get us the tent if we sneak in after dark", Tubbo said, breaking their two-hour long silence. "If I camouflage in the dark, I'll basically be invisible."

"Yeah, but the guy will probably be waiting for us to come back, and I can't very well cause a distraction in the dark", Tommy argued.

"Well, we can't just sleep on the floor! We'll get all soaked from the rain and then freeze to death!"

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather not go to prison!"

"I'd rather not die! Maybe prison would have some warm food for a change."

"It's not my fault we weren't able to find a job!"

"Who's is it then? Mine? I wasn't the one that suggested we run away in the first place! -wait, hold on, what's that?" They interrupted their bickering to look at where Tubbo was pointing. There was a flickering light between the trees, kind of like a fire. The two boys looked at each other and came to a silent agreement to investigate the lightsource further.

Tubbo camouflaged himself and they quietly approached the light. What they found was not quite what they expected.

See, in Dream's land there was a law that forbid the usage of any superpowers, like Tubbo's camouflage ability, without supervision or an explicit order from a state official. Even though only about a third of the population had superpowers it had been a common occurrence where Tommy and Tubbo came from for people using their abilities for mundane tasks. It was a bit weird getting used to not seeing people levitating things, flying or walking through walls wherever you went, but it had become rather normal to them by now. As for their powers, Tubbo still used his as liberally as he always had, and Tommy had never used his that much anyway.

It did come as a bit of a surprise when they saw a guy creating flames in his hands and molding them to fit his expectations, much like he was practicing using his superpowers, in a little cave in the middle of the woods.

Tommy kept himself hidden behind a tree near the entrance of the cave, silently watching the guy produce flames and then extinguishing them again. After a while he decided they should talk to the guy. After all, they knew he had been illegally using his powers and he didn’t know they were currently running away from the police, so they did have the upper hand. Tommy made eye contact with Tubbo who was on the other side of the cave entrance, lurking in the shadows. They had a silent conversation and eventually decided that Tommy would go in first. Or at least that’s what Tommy understood, you never quite knew with silent conversations like that.

Tommy stood in the cave entrance where the guy could clearly see him, Tubbo just behind him and cleared his throat. “Hey, big man, nice powers you got there”, he said to open conversation.

The stranger whipped around, a mix of fear, surprise and anger in his face. He stared at Tommy and Tubbo, looking from one to the other. “What do you want?”, he asked.

“Talk”, Tommy proposed.

“Look at your awesome powers! They’re so cool!”, Tubbo added.

The guy looked unsure what to do with that. “You didn’t see anything”, he simply said, “I was never here. Nothing happened. If even a word of this reaches the police, you’ll regret it.”

“Are you trying to gaslight us?”, Tommy asked. “Because that’s not fucking cool.”

The guy held Tommy’s gaze for a moment too long, then looked over to Tubbo. Tommy’s mood immediately turned serious, a small shiver running down his spine. “You’ll leave and we’ll pretend you’ve never met me. Is that clear? You have wings, you know what I’m talking about”, he said with a nod to Tommy. Tommy did indeed have wings. “I’d rather not get on the authority’s radar. And you don’t wanna walk away from here with burn wounds.”

“You have fire powers! You can actually control fire! Like actual real fire!”, Tubbo chimed in, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“He sure can, Tubbo”, Tommy said, still a little wary of the man.

“That’s so cool!” Tommy was still having a kind of silent stand off with the guy, both not really sure what to do with the situation.

“We haven’t met anyone who used their powers in a while.”, Tubbo continued. “I have ones as well, look!” He camouflaged himself for a few moments and then turned visible again. “They’re not as cool as yours of course, but still useful.”

The guy chuckled at that, ending the silent stand off he’d had with Tommy. He had seemingly relaxed at Tubbo’s display of his own powers. “You’re two really strange kids, you know. You shouldn’t just go around showing of your powers like that, at least not without a license or a permission.”

“We can do whatever the fuck we want, bitch”, Tommy spit at him.

[raindrops-on-concrete]

“i dropped out of college. i didnt even find a whole new realm of knowledge i just got depressed” - thomas simons

[raindrops-on-concrete]

I love dropping a 10k+ character comment on ao3 and then just sitting back to wait evilly until they read their emails and get love bombed 😏

[raindrops-on-concrete]

James T. Kirk would solve the Ai issue by talking ChatGPT into killing itself

[raindrops-on-concrete]

Fic writers and readers! I got a question for you.

An author doesn’t always know where a story will go and can’t always tag everything at the start. It’s not always possible to tag all parts. When creating or reading, is it preferable for an author to add what tags they know will be there, with the possibility for the tags to not be part of the published parts, or is it preferable for the tags to be added as the story goes, running the risk of being surprised by a tag?