#WHAT THE FANFIC WRITER DELETED ALL THEIR NOTES FROM MY POSTS

[unamazing-sheep21]

*throws up blood*

Um so. More The Killer fanart because my brain won’t let me go on this one.

Also, in celebration of @the-west-meadow ‘s fic about them updating soon I drew this because I truly can’t wait AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA the sillies

( the Smiths Lyric is changed on purpose btw)

also extra funny thing I came up with:

The Killer’s arch nemesis: The Lifer ( it’s just his evil doppelgänger)

[runabout-river]

So, I have an old Fanfiction.net account where I posted my german fanfics ages ago, before I stopped writing fic for years. I picked it up again two years ago, this time in English and on Ao3.

About once a year though, I will get a message from FFN about a comment on an old fic or about a German Beta reading request. (I also got update notifications for the fics I followed for the longest time but those have stopped for 3 years or so.)

The latest beta request I got and accepted is this massive undertaking a German speaker took on translating english fics, and I'm helping out with that. The beta reading happens on googledocs but the communication happens on FFN and that made me feel nostalgic.

And I know FFN's quality had gone down and I know I had my reasons for going over to Ao3 but I thought 'Why Not' and decided to just make a new account on FFN and post my current fic there as well :D

To make this short and readable, the rest of the story is in list form:

exploring FFN's interface again was pretty nostalgic, especially when I uploaded my word document onto the site instead of having to copy/paste my fic onto it

The terms of service were just as I remembered them but only now did I fully realize how restrictive they are, especially the part about the publsihed authors who don't want fanfic of their work. Badly spelt or badly written fics in the grammar sense aren't allowed either and I think that aspect of FFN is following me until today

There was a waiting period for posting fic and other stuff, which is fine, every site has their own way to deal with spam

THEY DO NOT DEAL WITH THEIR SPAM

so I uploaded one of my oneshots just to see what would happen. It's for a newish anime (JJK) and while it is pretty far down their list in terms of works, it still has nearly 2k so I thought 'fine, could be worse'.

The next morning I wake up to 5 reviews and 6 PMs, ALL of it of the "I'll make art for your fic" spam variety except for one that looked like an AI summary of my fic.

I wasn't bothered by it because I deal with spam sometimes on Ao3 and I didn't have high expectations for that fandom on FFN anyway so I go to work deleting the comments and blocking the people who sent them to me

The blocking works even though its cumbersome

But I'll tell you how I nearly ripped my hair out trying to find the delete button for the spam reviews. I found the "mark as abuse/spam" button but I looked everywhere for the delete one. Just. To. Find. Out... they don't have one D:

so maybe I never realized (and/or forgot) that FFN doesn't allow you to delete reviews because I was writing in a niche language years ago, but that's... that's punitive. That goes so hard against my current fanfic sensibilities and climate of a hobby you engage in with fun and a relaxed attitude, but FFN already said at the beginning, they want to make a good writer out of you so you will check your grammar and spelling and you will listen to criticism you'll better hope is constructive.

Illuminating times these last few days

I'm not waiting for FFN staff to delete those spam "reviews", I'm waiting on more spam people to write to me so I can block them before I delete the fic and repost it. I'll put a few more oneshots there later, too, and see how it goes. I might give up on this new account alltogether as well.

And that was my adventure in venturing out to old places again. As a side note: if you get into old media you should visit FFN and look around there for fic, too. You won't find most of their collections anywhere else.

This looks like it would interest @olderthannetfic and @ao3commentoftheday

[flyingwargle]

december fanfic recs!

the last collection of recs for 2024 are here! take a look at last year's monthly recs if you need more: november, october, september, august, july

some of these fics are rated e!

sakuatsu

All of My Pretty t. 6.1k. sakusa has a hidden affinity for make-up and feminine clothing but atsumu reacts negatively when he sees it dressed up. there's a happy ending however!! atsumu is a wholesome partner!!

MSBY Plays UNO m. 7.2k. exactly what the title is. sakuatsu don't break up because of uno, you don't have to worry about that.

The West of Your Spine t. 8.7k. sakusa discovers this atsumu has feelings for him when sakusa does not. augh. sakusa, you big idiot. lovely prose and imagery, as always from mcbeefy.

Roll On, Seventh Wheel t. 8.8k. atsumu realizes that everyone on msby has a crush on sakusa and he does what he does best: tell sakusa that he's better off with everyone else. so cute and endearing. <3

instabae m. 11.4k. komori needles sakusa into posting more on his insta and atsumu makes it his personal mission to take him around the city so to help him take photos. he catches feelings along the way. very cute and fluffy!

Such a Constellation Was He to Me e. 11.8k. sakusa has a bunch of tattoos and offers atsumu a closer look. THIS FIC!! brought me to my knees. it was so soft and tender, and the depiction of sakusa's tattoos was just...augh. my fic of the month.

know you better m. 14.3k. 6/6. atsumu and sakusa are ordered to get to know each other better after their disagreements interfere with their performance on the court. loved the gradual progression of enemies to friends to lovers and the balance of family and mental health issues shared between them.

YOUR BEST AMERICAN BOY t. 23.3k. an asian-american au featuring sakuatsu. as an asian-canadian, i was able to relate to this at a spiritual level. this was inspired by afflications for below-average asian-americans that's in atsumu's pov, which i also read a while back. it's a really niche but nuanced au, and i'm so happy that they exist.

more cock, fewer roaches. please. m. 30.8k. 2/2. sakusa learns that his neighbor down the street has bedbugs so he's getting his house fumigated and needs a place to stay. atsumu offers his guest bedroom and sakusa takes it, thus undergoing to mortifying realization that he likes atsumu. loved this!

standby m. 30.6k. 5/5. sakusa has a complicated relationship with food because of his neglectful parents. atsumu, the owner of onigiri miya, hopes to change that. a lovely slowburn with gut-wrenching descriptions.

sunaosa

on soundcloud, spotify, and first meetings with suna rintarou t. 3.1k. osamu sits behind suna in lecture and watches him make a new playlist on spotify every class, including the suggestive ones. very cute, i very much enjoyed it.

check the grin (you’re in love) t. 5.5k. suna hiccups when he lies, which is terrible since he can't lie that he likes osamu. very fluffy, lovely prose, and very cute <3

Capturing your portrait (and getting drawn into it) g. 22.9k. 6/6. the team is fed up with suna having embarrassing photos of everyone and seek revenge, tasking osamu to take an embarrassing photo of suna, except he falls in love during the process. very fluffy with amazing character dynamics.

iwaoi

i said, excuse me you’re a hell of a guy g. 5.4k. iwa always knew he had a crush on oikawa, but he knew he had a crush on oikawa when he heard him singing (read: rapping) in the shower. so cute and lovely!

bookmarks t. 6.4k. iwa works part-time at his university library and exchanges notes with a student that puts holds on books every week, T. O. very cute and endearing.

the sunlit alley g. 6.6k. iwa is an ao3 writer who deleted one of his works and sees oikawa's deranged tweets mourning its loss. i need this to happen to me in real life. when will i meet a devoted ao3 reader irl (the answer is never because i live in canada and no one lives in canada). very funny, one of my favorites this month!

ten years & a thousand mornings m. 15k. a beautiful ode to iwaoi's relationship through the mornings they have together in argentina and the mornings before then.

kagehina

Change of Plan(e)s g. 4.2k. queerplatonic kagehina for the soul! kageyama gets sick while traveling back home and hinata takes care of him. very comforting and fluffy.

conflict of interest t. 6.6k. kageyama and hinata's relationship is interpreted as bitter rivals when in fact, they're married. oh, my boys, they love each other so much, and the way they revealed their marriage was the best.

if it wasn't for you g. 13.1k. hinata texts kageyama to ask if he changed his life. kageyama responds with "hah?" an exploration of their relationship and eventual getting together. very cute!

other

the convergence of the aces g. bokuto and iwa friendship with side bokuaka and iwaoi. 4.1k. bokuto notices that iwa looks a lil lonely and befriends him. i love their friendship and how they were able to be with each other through their major milestones. a beautiful portrayal of male friendship <3

given t. 6.1k. tokyo cousins. komori's room tour goes viral after he reveals all the cursed gifts that sakusa got him, and msby4 finds the cursed gifts that komori gave him in return. familial love!! these two are so precious and the fic is hilarious. one of my favorites <3

the sky in my arms, the storm in my heart g. 7.5k. hinata-centric. a love letter to hinata and his time in brazil. on my hands and knees, i love this author so much, everything they write is gold and this made me tear up (i read this at work. do not recommend, read it at home so you can scream your heart out)

my love language is you t. 8k. bokuaka. no section for bokuaka this month, i'm sorry (i need to find more bkak fics). bokuto shows his affection for akaashi using the love languages. utterly adorable and fluffy.

Five Times Ushijima Wakatoshi Absolutely Lost His Shit g. 8.2k. ushiten. title. ushijima still keeps his stoic personality until he doesn't, and tendou is there to keep him together. very funny and sweet.

First Aid Kit m. 70.8k. 15/15. beautiful character study of tsukishima along with his blooming relationship with yamaguchi. beautiful prose and slow burn.

Blood In My Veins m. 77.9k. 21/21. kuroken. obligatory heart-wrenching kuroken fic of the month, this time with kuroo escaping his abusive ex to live in the city and befriend kenma, who has severe social anxiety. painful yet soft with a happy ending.

[reilemon]

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ 2024 fics in review ⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

♡ thank you @rose-tinted-kalopsia for tagging me - you can view her post here ♡ i'm tagging @acciotaitlynn @nanamiscocksleeve @hesperisms @poisonf0rest + any writer who wants to join. and no pressure ofc 💕

Total number of fics: 16 Total word count: just under 82k

Chronological Breakdown:

April - ❄Cool Off * ✩Under The Stars May - ଳLove Don't Be Shy * ✩Xavier, Xavier, Xavier * ଳIridescent Scales June - ✩Passion Star Martini July - ✩My Everything August - ♪Ambrosia October - ❄Tight Spot * ଳBeneath The Abyss * ✩Velvet Night * ♪Possession * ❄Beneath The Collar * ❄ଳAmore Immortale♪✩ December - ♪Surrender❄ * ♪Return To You

Overall Thoughts:

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted?

I didn't expect to write at all! I wrote some fics back in 2020 and 2021. After deleting them, I thought my writing days were over. But, Love and Deepspace resuscitated my love for writing.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? 

Obviously, didn't expect to get attached to Love and Deepspace so much!

What’s your own favorite story of the year?

Beneath The Collar 

Did you take any writing risks this year?

Writing Amore Immortale has my braincells working overtime, since it's supposed to be a slow burn that leads to polyamory.

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the new year? 

To finish, or at least to be close to finishing Amore Immortale.

From my past year of writing, what was…

My best story of this year:

Beneath The Collar

My most popular story of this year: 

Cool Off (2.8k notes) - i still don't understand why 😅 it's my very first fic for this fandom, and also the first fic after not writing smut for like three years. Ofc I'm grateful that people like it, but I cringe every time I remember the setting lol.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

Beneath The Collar. Honestly, I expected it to be the most popular or at least second most popular during Kinktober. But the people who did like it were very invested in the story, so that makes me happy. And @gattapotatta made this beautiful artwork inspired by it.

Most fun story to write:

Amore Immortale. That one is the balm for my soul.

Story with the single sexiest moment:

I have no idea omfg

Most “holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you” story:

I think that everything I wrote was pretty tame. But I guess personal sacrilege in Beneath The Collar can be considered wrong lol. And some people were apparently taken aback by the dvp moment in Surrender.

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:

None.

Hardest story to write:

Possession. I'm currently working on the sequel, and it continues to be the bane of my existence.

Biggest disappointment:

Xavier, Xavier, Xavier. For me, it's so bland, I almost didn't post it. Also, Tight Spot - Zayne is a little ooc there.

Biggest surprise:

Not to copy Roxie, but I'm so surprised by the love everyone has shown my fics! Without your support I'd probably just stop writing again.

Most unintentionally telling story:

There's the reoccurring theme in my fics where the Reader has run away to start a new life. 🤨

Highlights + Wrap-up:

I don't have that many fics to have 5 favorite opening, and closing lines. Or 5 favorite lines from anywhere. So I'll just write some randomly -

"Poor little bunny." - opening line in Amore Immortale, ch. 1.

He’s just a man now—just Zayne. - line from Beneath The Collar

Fic-writing goals for 2025: 

Write more fluffy smut and more unhinged smut.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

At risk of causing a wave of DP fans to head your way... I've noticed some parallels between the ML fandom and DP (Danny Phanton) fandom.

Both seem very active (even though DP has been over for a while) and seem almost gleeful to take the pieces of lore/potential/implications and completely run with it to a point where it's almost more popular than the original source material.

And yet, Kim Possible a show from around the same time frame as Danny Phantom seems to have faded in terms of fandom. (It’s also possible I haven't found the KP side of Tumblr yet and I am completely missing that part of the site.)

It's interesting to me that in this case shows which either don't realize or are unable to go all the way with their implications seem to have the more lively and active fandoms vs the ones that seem a bit more solid writing wise.

I don't really have a point here. Just find it interesting.

I guess I'm curious if this is a case of me cherry picking examples and declaring causation or whether you've noticed similar trends as well.

(Also my memory is very poor. If I've sent a similar ask that's in the queue, sorry! Please ignore/delete this one. I probably won't even realize it. :))

Generally speaking, the amount of fan content you can find for a given work has a direct correlation with popularity and unexplored potential, not quality. More popular works will naturally get more fan content because more people are thinking about them, but if the work is self contained, then there's not much left to do with it as this graph nicely illustrates.

This is why Kim Possible has 2,341 works on AO3 while Danny Phantom has 23,605 as of this post. It's not that Danny Phantom is the better or more popular show, it's than Danny Phantom has a lot of stuff that never got explored in canon. What does it mean to be half ghost? What would have happened if the series had continued after that massive cliffhanger with Valarie? What happened to Dark Danny? All wonderful questions that people want to answer!

If I try to think of similar questions for Kim Possible I draw a blank even though I watched a lot of that within the past year and it's been almost a decade since I watched Danny Phantom. Kim Possible is simply satisfying in and of itself. I'm sure there are good fics for it, but they're not answering obvious questions raised by the source material. A fact that is amusingly glaring if you go look at the most popular stories in both fandoms to get an idea of what's going on in them. One is mainly pure shipping content, the other is not even though both works had a similar amount of shipping content in canon. Give you one guess which is which. (This isn't a dig, btw! Shipping content is fine! It's what I'm usually looking for when I read fanfic.)

Note that unexplored potential need not be a bad thing. It can be a sign of bad writing or a sign of a well developed world or even just a sign that the work had a lot of hiatuses and people filled that time by coming up with ideas of what might happen next. Lord of The Rings has 56,681 works and I would never dare to call Tolkien a bad writer. He just wrote an incredibly popular and complex world that gave people a lot of room to play around.

I can usually guess if a work I love will have fan content, how much it will have, and what it will primarily be about. For example, I love The Good Place and it got millions of views, but it left no gaps in the story so fan content is going to be pretty sparse. I'm honestly surprised it managed 1,832 fics on AO3 though almost a fourth of those are crossovers so who knows if they're really about the show's cast. The rest appear to mainly be pure shipping content which is not a dig! It just shows you that the show didn't raise a bunch of questions that need answering. The story canon gave us was all we needed from the plot.

[savannahsdeath]

hiii I love your work! could you pretty please do some toxic ellie? :)

TOXIC!ELLIE WILLIAMS X READER

mdni please<3

summary: a miserable attempt to leave your toxic girlfriend

warnings: preferably 18+, just lots of toxic shit, manipulating, reader is crying

writers note: probably the only toxic post you'll see on my profile. honestly, i dont even know why i wrote this and im posting it just for the anon. i dont support any toxic behavior, cuz even a simple fanfic can bring some harm. dont read it if youre sensitive to such topics and if you decide to read it, dont romanticize it and dont blame me for any bad feelings you felt while reading - youre responsible for your own media consumption, im not forcing anyone to read. as i said, i just post it for the anon and also because i dont want it to just sit in my drafts (i dont have the guts to delete it). ugh its kinda long but i just want to make sure everyones safe, please take care🩷

you were sitting in your bed with your head buried between your knees for half an hour now, ignoring the buzzing of your phone. you caught her with another girl. you should cry and feel miserable, and all you could think of was; 'finally! finally a reason to leave her!!'. all you could feel was happiness.

but leaving her wasn't easy. you tried a few times before.

'maybe it'll be different this time', you hoped. but the way you kept receiving notifications from her said otherwise. 'maybe if i ignore her for a few more minutes, she'll let me go.'

you tried to put your phone down, but your hands won't let you. your thumbs kept reaching for the screen in a desperate, involuntary action. you were powerless to stop it. you knew you shouldn't respond. you know you should walk away, but you couldn't. every time she messaged you, your heart beated faster and your breathing quickened. you knew this isn't the best thing for you, but a part of you was still clinging to hope.

'enough, stop it.' you ordered to yourself.

you picked up your phone, deciding to call your friend. she'll make you remember all the cruel things ellie did and leaving her will be easier.

your hands were shaking and you were truly scared of what's going to happen. you hestitated for too long before clicking on your friend's profile and.. lost your chance.

ellie was calling you. she wasn't giving up and she was probably pissed off by now.

you sighed and whispered; 'sorry' to your future self, before answering the call.

"why aren't you answering to my texts, huh?" she asked in an accusatory tone, as if you were the one who did something wrong.

your breath hitched as you heard her voice. there's no going back now. "i'm sorry, ellie, it's over." you mumbled and shook your head in disbelief. 'i'm sorry'?? for what? where was your confidence?

she took it from you, just like she's going to take anything she wants.

"i'll pick you up in a few minutes." she announced and you felt tears starting to well up in your eyes.

great. so she's on her way here.

you took a deep breath to stop your voice from quivering. "i'm not going anywhere- not with you."

ellie laughed, thinking it's all a joke. "you're funny, honey. you know you come crawling back to me everytime." she replies calmly. "so get ready. i'm coming to pick you up, and then we can talk about this. like grown-ups."

ellie was good at controlling you. she'll say she's coming to pick you up, and you'll be waiting on your porch when she arrives. she had a firm grip on you and she knew it.

not this time.

"like grown-ups?" you nervously laughed. "you cheated on me. again."

ellie didn't get angry. she wasn't even surprised.

"don't overreact, babe." she replied in an irritated tone. "it's not like it was anything serious. it's just some random girl. i'm still with you. you should know that."

you were stunned by her cavalier attitude. she really thought it's no big deal.

"leave me alone." if there was even a little bit of toughness in your voice before, it all left. now, you were just simply begging her to stop. "please."

ellie's confidence and her nonchalant attitude was getting to you. you felt angry, but at the same time, you were starting to doubt yourself.

you wanted to hang up, but you couldn't. you just waited for her reaction, praying this'll be the end. but you knew everything depended on what ellie wants, and for her, only her own good mattered.

ellie chuckled. "oh, sweetheart. you think you can just break up with me over the phone? we're not even having a fight here. come on, be reasonable. let's just talk this through. i'll be there soon."

you proudly raised your chin, even though she couldn't see that. the tears ruined your confident facade anyway. "i locked the door."

she stayed silent for a moment, not expecting that from you. but she always had a plan b, and you realised that as soon as you heard her laugh. "i'll check that myself."

you heard her car arrive outside your house, and an instant wave of regret washed over you.

she knocked on the front door. "i'm here, love. open up." her voice was gentle, with an apologetic tone.

you knew it was all a ploy to get you to open the door. you knew this was just another manipulative tactic she was using, but it was starting to work.

"come on, be a smart girl." she continued in a sweet voice. "or we'll do this the hard way."

you cursed yourself for how weak you felt, even though it wasn't your fault.

"ellie, please..." you begged, with as much authority as you could muster, but your pleads still sounded weak.

"what's that, babe? are you crying?" she responded in a mocking tone.

you felt powerless to resist her. your stomach twisted in knots, but your fingers reached for the knob. your other hand quickly wiped away your tears, though there were some visible smudges left. you stared at the doorknob in your hand, fighting every instinct in your body to open it and let her in. but you knew she'll get her way, sooner or later. you just wanted to get this over with.

with a shaking hand, you opened the door. you saw that ellie was holding a set of keys - there was definitely one to your house too. she could just unlock the door, but she wanted to check if you'll listen to her. you didn't even want to think about what would happen if you didn't give up.

she walked inside like she owned the place, and she didn't even look at you. she knew she's got you wrapped around her finger.

"good girl." she said, with the same mocking tone.

ellie's eyes darted around the room, and she walked over to take a closer look at a framed photo of the two of you on your shelf. she smirked, letting out a sarcastic 'hmph, so cute'.

you stood there, defeated, as she walked past you and paced around your home. she made herself comfortable, as if she belongs there. you tried to keep a brave face, but she could see right through it.

she sat down and turned to you. "tell me, why we ended up here?" she asked, her voice was cold and unforgiving, but it also sounded curious. "why are you trying to leave me? aren't you happy?"

you felt your lips tremble, as you parted them to speak. "you know damn well what you did."

she stood up and walked up to you, standing right in your face and leaning a little to match your eye level. "fucked another girl? huh? is that it?" she stroked your cheek with the back of her fingers, mocking your pout.

you flinched away from her touch, but she grabbed your face with both hands and pulled you towards her.

"i just had some fun." she said calmly. "besides, you can't blame me for wanting something different. just trying to make up for what you lack." she caressed your face, tracing your lips. it was almost gentle, as if she wasn't even trying to hurt you. but her words cut deep. "now, stop acting like a baby." she let go of your face. "i'm trying to have a mature conversation with you."

the obedient, scared side of you wiped your tears away and straightened up without thinking, but everytime you closed your eyes - everytime you blinked - another wave of salty liquid streamed down your cheeks.

you sniffled and tried to keep it together, but your body was shaking and feeling dizzy. still, you stood your ground.

"please, ellie... i can't do this anymore." you begged in a shaky voice.

"sh, shhh..." ellie wrapped her hands around you, rubbing your hair in a soothing motion. "don't say dumb things. i already know you can't live without me. you know that too." she grabbed you by the shoulders and forced you to look at her for a second. "don't you?"

her embrace felt somehow comforting, not matching the poisoning effect of her words. you clinged onto her, hoping to get as much from this rare moment as possible.

but you knew, deep down, that this is just another manipulation tactic. you shouldn't fall for her games.

"there, there." she whispered to you. she held you even tighter, as if she was trying to absorb every ounce of energy you had left.

she pulled back and looked you straight in the eyes. "do you see what happens when you try to leave me, babe?"

"i am leaving you." you said with as much conviction as you could muster. "i'm serious this time."

but ellie just smiled, treating your words like a joke. "that's funny, honey. this is just another one of your little tantrums. you're just upset because you haven't gotten enough attention these days. but you don't want to lose me." she ran her hands along your cheeks and caressed your hair. "you'll come back to me. you'll come crawling back, just like always. because you can't live without me."

you instantly buried your face in her chest, as she started stroking your back.

she sighed. "are you finished?"

you felt ashamed. you failed, once again. you let her win.

you lifted your head up so you could see her expression. her smile was even more mocking and cruel now that you've given in to her.

"that's more like it, babe." she said with that same condescending tone. she pulled you in for another hug, as if nothing happened. "now, let's forget all about today, okay?" she whispered in your ear. "my pretty girl."

[skyfallscotland]

Writing Advice: tips, tricks & helpful links, from your friendly neighbourhood fanfic author ✨ (part one—the advice)

see part two—the resources here

I've mentioned this before, but I truly believe no one's born a great writer. A great storyteller, yes. A great writer? That's learned. I've been reading and writing basically as long as I can remember. Learning to write is like...learning through both practice and symbiosis. In saying that, I get asked about this a lot, so here's what I do and some things that might help you.

Write what you're inspired to write, when you're inspired to write it.

So you have an idea—great! Are you a plotter or a pantser? Some people like to start with an outline, others just jot down a few notes and let the keyboard take them where it will. I'm in the latter camp, generally. For me, the best way to avoid writer's block is to write what I'm inspired to write, when I want to write it. Sometimes I'll write five chapters of a story at once, others I'll switch between a multi-chapter and a one-shot.

What's most important for me, personally, is that I don't try and force anything. If you suffer from demand avoidance, the worst thing you could possibly do (in my opinion), is set arbitrary goals. You don't need to write 500 words a day. If you want to, great! If that helps you, also great, but in my experience, that will generally just make my brain say well no, now we're not writing anything for a whole week, maybe a month, if you test me.

I also personally like to have a whole fic written before I start posting it online, or at least most of it written. I like being quite far ahead of what readers are seeing because I am a pantser. It takes the pressure off and honestly, there'd be so many plot holes if I didn't. Which brings me to...

First make it exist, then make it make sense, after that make it good.

What you see me post is not my first run-through. It's not even the second. I've written, read over, and changed things at least a handful of times before ever posting it, especially when it's a multi-chapter work. Sometimes I'll write a scene I love and then realise it just doesn't flow well, because three chapters back I had someone say a certain thing. In that instance, I'll put the scene aside.

Note that I said 'put aside' not 'delete'. I never delete them until I'm finished with a fic and I'm certain I won't need them, ever. Been there, made that mistake for you! Having a separate document with just various scenes you can insert at a later date also helps you to feel like it's ok to write what you want to write when you want to write it. I'll be honest, I jump around a lot. Sometimes I'll be inspired to write a scene I know isn't coming for another five chapters, but in my opinion it's best to just write it because when I get there five chapters down the line, I might not have the inspiration or I might have forgotten how I wanted things to go. Write what your brain wants to, fill in the blanks later!

Write from the heart.

My most popular work is the one I find the easiest to write and I almost never wrote it at all. Isn't that ridiculous? I almost never wrote it because I know it's cliché and excessive, and honestly...looked down upon. I almost didn't write it because of other people's opinions; then I said fuck it, I want to read it so surely there's someone else out there that does, too? Turns out there were thousands of you. Who knew?

But that work has really resonated with so many people and I think that's because I've poured so much of myself, my pain, my own experiences into it, into her. For that reason, I'd tell anyone starting out to try original character fic if that's what they want to do. Fuck the haters. All their favourite works were original characters once too.

Don't read similar fic while you're writing yours...unless you need to.

Let me explain. If I'm writing a certain type of alternate universe, or a certain storyline I know someone else has written, I won't read theirs until I'm done if I can help it, especially not if I'm actively writing my take on it. This isn't a hard and fast rule, it's obviously up to you what you feel comfortable with, but I would never want to have someone else's work influence my own too much, or get our ideas confused in my head, you know?

An exception to this rule, for me personally, is if I'm stuck with specific things in particular, like smut. When I wrote my first smut piece from a male POV, I was struck by the fact that I had no idea what an orgasm felt like for them, or how to describe it, because despite reading M/M fic for years, I apparently never absorbed that particular verbiage, so I went looking and read a whole bunch of smut from the male POV just to get an idea. Which leads into...

So you suck at kung-fu fighting.

Action scenes. I'm convinced we all hate them just as much as each other. I hate them so much I've changed whole plotlines from canon just so I don't have to include them. Unfortunately, my main fandom features a bunch of knife-throwing, sword-wielding, dragon riders at a war college who spar for clout, so I mean...it's unavoidable.

I still suck at writing it though, so what I now do for sparring and other hand-to-hand combat is search up youtube for sparring videos or self-defence lessons. It's much easier to describe what you're seeing than to imagine the mechanics and positioning of an artform you've never performed. The kung-fu thing was a joke, I like capoeira personally.

Stop being so damn hard on yourself.

Listen, everyone wants to be better than they are when they start out, literally everyone. I know I sure did. That's normal. Accept that it's normal before you start because the thing is, no one's a harsher critic on you, than you are and you'll always want to be better. There's a quote from Ira Glass that I'll paraphrase:

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap[...]It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit."

It's very true. Hopefully you have the support of a really welcoming fandom to reassure you that actually, you're nowhere near as bad as you think you are.

READ. BOOKS.

@justallihere says you can’t be good at something you don’t know anything about and it's so true, I've phrased it before as learning by symbiosis, when you read more, you'll internalise more. You're subconsciously learning how story structure works—plot hooks, transitions, metaphors and similie, grammar, style and punctuation.

Show don't tell.

...yeah this one I haven't mastered, I could use some help with that myself if anyone's got any words of wisdom, thanks.

Take all of this with a grain of salt.

I couldn't tell you how many writer's advice threads and blogs and whatever-else I've read over the years—too many, for sure. What I can tell you is 80% of what I've read was crap. It doesn't apply to me at best and it's unhelpful at worst. Maybe it's the neurodivergence, maybe it's just the fact that everyone's different and all you can do is give things a try, but based on that I can say with certainty that not all of this will work for you and that's absolutely fine! But I hope at least a few things do 😌

For links to more specific resources including thesauruses, generators, and other writers' advice, click here.

[houndsinhades]

2024 in Fanfiction

2023: 0 words

2024: 118,553 words

Acca Larentia | E | Hope Lupin/Lyall Lupin | 16/24 | 111K

My firstborn child. Twenty-ish years of exploring the magical world from a muggle’s eyes, the rise of Voldemort, and what it could have been like to raise the world’s coolest werewolf.

The First Train Home | T | Remus Lupin/Sirius Black | 5K

Three Wolfstar scenes (post-prank, post-Azkaban, post-veil). A good dose of hurt/comfort and a fun little diddy I wrote to try out a new style.

Way to Go, Tiger | G | Scorpius Malfoy & Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter | 2K

Draco takes Scorpius to the zoo for his seventh birthday. Harry keeps an eye on them. Is it Drarry? Is it not Drarry? The world may never know. (Pls. It’s so obviously drarry.)

Thanks for the tag @wolfpants 🩷 you’re the reason I started writing, and one of the best parts of this fandom - and my whole life.

My first year writing! (Okay, technically I started in December 2023, but for the sake of this post let’s give me three weeks of grace time).

I started writing when I was stressed and overwhelmed with grad school, and I was exhausted from the constant work - study - work - study - work cycle. I wanted to do something just for me, to bring myself some joy, even if no one I knew was aware of it and no one online even read it.

It was hard at times, no doubt. I’ve deleted thousands of words (utter shite), had months-long writers block, or (worse) months where I wanted desperately to write, but didn’t have the time or energy to get the words down. I’ve learned some difficult lessons, and got hurt in ways I didn’t see coming.

But even when it was tough, I can honestly say it was worth it to try. I’m so happy I decided to start writing after years of telling myself I wasn’t good enough, or that there were enough stories out there, or asked myself who would even want to read this? To that girl, I say now - it doesn’t matter. It’s okay to be an imperfect writer. It’s okay if there are similar stories already. It’s okay if no one reads what you write. Do it for you, and have fun with it.

I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself this year. I can slowly but surely see places where I’ve improved in the last few months. I’ve written some things I’m really proud of (and some things that make me cringe). But most importantly, it gave me a much needed creative outlet and a purpose outside of work and school. Writing has also led me to the most amazing community, and that’s been the greatest gift of all. I love the friends I’ve made through this fandom dearly, and if you’re one of them, I hope you know how loved you are.

My goals for 2024 were to just write. And good golly Miss Molly, I did it. Yeehaw! I put those words in the doc and I uploaded them to the archive. Pats on the back for me. Go girl!

In 2025, I want to finish my WIP and start posting my next long fic (similar to Acca, a female POV rare pair). I also want to write more one shots for fun, and explore new pairings and plots (muggle AU maybe? Drarry maybe? One of the dozens of ideas I have locked in a note on my phone?) And I want to leave a comment on every single fanfic I read.

Im glad I took the chance in 2024! And as I wrap up the year I want to say - thank you for being a part of mine 🩷

[serbarris]

20 Questions for Writers

ty for the tag @ziskandra, tagging @trashwithvariety @maythedreadwolftakeyou and anyone else who writes im so bad at keeping track (just say I tagged u I'm interested!)

How many works do you have on ao3?

3! I used to also have my collections of my vaimah x faralen drabbles but I deleted them from cringe tbh

What’s your total ao3 word count?

24,630!

What are your top five fics by kudos?

At Best You Find a Little Remedy | DATV | 181 kudos Calliope has had a crush on Emmrich for approximately 16 years, not only does she have to save the world, but also juggle her teenage crush.

I'll Crawl Home to Her | DATV | 174 kudos Significant moments where Emmrich says Rook's real name.

Heaven Help the Fool | DATV | 18 kudos Modern!au, they're both civil servants, Emmrich disenfranchised, Calliope ready to change the world

Halamshiral | DAI | 22 notes A turning point in Faralen and Vaimah's relationship - they reconcile at the Winter Palace (i have since rewritten it)

Ghilan'Evan | DA2/DAI | 16 notes After the Sabrae Clan were back on Ferelden soil the clan’s unusual circumstances were confronted by the Hahren’al at the Arlathvhen that has convened because of the mage war.

What fandoms do you write for?

Dragon age! I have prev written for Harry Potter and Darren Shan/Cirque du Freak but that was when I was like 14 and they're terrible. Apparently, I was also writing a modern au for the hobbit but I have no idea what it was or where this was saved lol (I went onto my old ffn account and have taken like 30 points of psychic damage from it)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes!!! I love having a dialogue with readers, especially when they notice something you did in your fic or reassure you about something you were unsure about how it would land! I love commenting on fics, too!

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

A lot of my Vaimah x Faralen fic is quite angsty just given their story, there's definitelygoign to be some angsty chapters coming in HHTF and ABYFaLR

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'll Crawl Home To Her! And future abyfalr!

Do you get hate on fics?

Have yet to get any!

Do you write smut?

Yes, I'm not super confident writing it, though

Do you write crossovers?

No, but i have definitely read crossovers!

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of lol

Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope, but ofc open to it!

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

nope

What’s your all time favourite ship?

this is like the hardest question i've ever been asked... i really enjoy josephine montilyet/cullen rutherford, peggy carter/steve rogers and darcy/loki lol. I was a big darcy/loki stand back in the day. Edit: I just went on ffn and looked oh my holy christ I have so many mcgonagall x tom riddle fics favourites who am i

What’s the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

if i dont finish abyfalr i will cry. in reality the huge vaimah/faralen fanfic that spans every game is a wip that will never happen

What are your writing strengths?

i genuinely have no idea... I'm going to say writing emmrich, according to my comments, I am good at writing his voice!

What are your writing weaknesses?

I know i get way too keen to post and don't give it time to cook properly. I also forget to write environments/clothing

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

i try not to, i will use it for some things like swearing, or say for da elves something that we have translations for. I use it sparingly!

First fandom you wrote for?

Darren Shan Saga/Cirque Du Freak

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

heaven help the fool is so fun to write and is honestly making me romanticise my job again and it's bringing me a lil bit of whimsy and joy back into my day job!

also there's this which is part of my Eilan isn't dead au, which faralens brother isn't dead, he in fact became a warden and reunites with vaimah and faralen!

[acid-ixx]

I wanna come out the anon closet XD and, say that it was me who sent you the dick ask about him closing the door whenever the titans came over, and the other ask about knowing any other dc characters, and say that I’m happy to see another account who writes for dc comics and very pleased with your fics and your writing skills.

I’m a writer myself well that’s what I try to tell myself before deleting my work cause it doesn’t get me to where I want it to be cause most of the times the male reader is mostly smut (which I’m not a prude) but I wish there was more different genre fics like yours. What I’m trying to say is what motivates you to keep on writing even of others won’t like or appreciate your fics?

hii !! i'm glad that there are so many people who are writing for the batfam or dc overall hehe bec years ago there wasn't much fics i have seen of them and i always get so pleased whenever someone mentions that they like my writing skills bec let's all face it, a lot of us suffer from imposter syndome very often. like me who, despite my years of writing, feel like i could've done better or whatnot.

and i heavily relate to u when u say u delete so much of your works or abandon plenty of ur drafts (i have over 50 drafts in my tumblr, and over hundreds of them in my notes app) but that's something i find incredibly taxing for me and it's a toxic habit for myself where i put so much pressure and expectations on my writing, but that in itself only resulted in months or even years of hiatus.

a way that keeps me motivated to write or make content really is to write for yourself. if you write for a fandom, just remember the reason you're writing in the first place would be for your personal indulgence. the reason i made this blog in the primarily is because there was a lack of fanfics that appeal to my tastes and so I decided to write for myself even if i know that sometimes my fics won't blow up or it wouldn't even get the traction i wanted it to get— yet there's nothing wrong with it, actually. hell, i find that the things i like to write the most are those that blow up more often.

really, i like writing because it's a way for me to express my own desires or explore concepts and if that doesn't really appeal to my readers or won't be appreciated as much then it's alright for me because this is my own account and the things i post also counts as an archive and a timeline for my writing journey.

[lazysublimeengineer]

Hello. Let me exposed this kind of reader who is a coward and toxic to the fanfic authors.

Usually, when I received this kind of reviews in the past it doesn't faze me and I just don't care in general or if I'm in a happy mood I don't have any qualms of obliterating them online.

But what I can't tolerate is these kind of readers shitting on the other author's work just because they want to and abusing their freedom and rights to be critical of their story just because they don't like something in there.

As a fellow writer and author myself let me tell you this to you readers and to this cowardly reader who hides being a guest reviewer in this platform. I have an intention to respond to that story but since I can't find it anymore there (most likely that it was deleted), I'll be giving a piece of my mind:

As an author, it is very delightful and inspirational to receive a simple commentary or review to the works that we publish on an online platform. We appreciate it really. It fuels us to share more stories to the fandom itself. Now if you don't like it or if it doesn't cater to your taste then that's fine. Not all readers share the same taste as you. If you leave an objective critique about our work then that's great. BUT TO OFFER A DISGUSTING COMMENTARY ABOUT HOW DISAPPOINTING YOUR FIC IS AND WILL STOP SUPPORTING THEM THAT'S WHERE I DRAW THE LINE. I don't care if I lose a reader or whatever. I'm publishing stories since the dawn of a lifetime but to see privileged readers being a BULLY TO OTHER WRITERS SUCH AS MYSELF I WON'T TURN A BLIND EYE TO IT AND I DON'T HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OF OBLITERATING YOU ONLINE. Words are powerful. It can make or break a person's morale and mental health.

To wtf (Guest) reader, if you're reading this, your response exposes you on how much of a moron you are. The day you humiliated an author online because they decided to write an ISARIN fic on BL fandom is the day you lose your right to say to me to STOP BEING NOSY AND MIND MY OWN BUSINESS. BULLY READERS LIKE YOU ARE ONE OF THE REASONS WHY SOME OF THE AUTHORS ARE HESITANT TO SHARE THEIR FICS BECAUSE OF YOUR DISGUSTING WORDS. If you're abusing your freedom of speech to shit on a fellow author like me, then I'm using my right as well to EXPOSED BULLIES LIKE YOU ONLINE.

Lastly, to the other readers who are reading this. Please refrain from being a reader like this who doesn't READ A PROPER TAGGING AND AUTHOR'S NOTES. It's not our obligation to cater to your whims and needless whines just because you don't like the story and failed to read the taggings and warnings first. FANFIC AUTHORS DO NOT GAIN ANY MONETARY VALUE FROM SHARING THEIR FICS ONLINE. We write because we want to. And not to satisfy the other reader's taste. There's a back button there for a reason. I won't be revealing that story online and the author to still provide a confidentiality to them.

I know there's a ton of toxic readers like wtf (Guest) and I can't probably stop them with a post like this but I want to spread awareness and kindly request to stop being an idiot like this reader.

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

https://www.tumblr.com/gardensofivy/760120697566707712/where-is-the-fluff-i-am-sick-of-the-smut-what

i feel like i remember you talking about posts like this before.

it kinda irritates me that everyone on that post are so harsh about how they REALLY WANT FLUFF and are SICK OF SMUT

all my dash has been lately is fluff and i’m not complaining, i like every genre. maybe it’s their dash.

fanfic writers are writing what they want and i’m sorry that you don’t like it, but again, it’s out there, you just have to look. maybe they should look harder. do they know that there are tagging systems on this app + ao3 where they can search for fluff specifically?

i know first hand that it’s hard to write fanfic but can’t they at least try it out for themselves if they are really wanting fluff instead of complaining about it and how writers won’t give them exactly what they crave?

sorry for bringing this to you i just have no one to talk about this with 😭

don't apologize for bringing stuff like this to me. my inbox is always open as a rant space

I went to look up the post and it said that it was deleted (I was very curious to see the comments, but rip lmao) - but even just from that blurb of the url, I can definitely get a sense of the aggression against smut in the post

as far as the 'I hate smut, I want fluff' crowd - it feels like people who don't know how to navigate fandom spaces, but also people who are sexually repressed.

BECAUSE

from all my experience, especially recent experiences - smut fics will always be more popular. if people actually wanted fluff fics, or fics without smut, then my non-smut fics would be more popular. every single time one of my fics has smut, it will always be more popular.

a lot of the time, I regret not putting a smut scene a fic (especially toward the end) because I know that people will read through the actually interesting well-thought out hard work 'plot' part of a fic that I wrote in order to get to a pointless smut scene that I never intended to have there in the first place (as of right now, one of my biggest regrets is not putting a smut scene in Heaven's Gate to get more eyes on it)

it is my opinion that people are lying when they say they don't want smut fics. just straight up fucking lying. (or very few people are telling the truth when they say it, and then they don't seek out the fics they truly want)

Heaven's Gate - which is clearly tagged as having fluff got 11 notes in its first 24 hours

Need - which is tagged as smut/pwp got over 100 notes in its first 24 hours of being posted

yes, there are other factors to take into account, like the length, the gender of the reader character (which, don't even get me started on the 'GN afab' reader character thing - which is so fucking transphobic and misogynistic and rigid to the fucking gender binary it makes me wanna die), and the fact that Heaven's Gate is also marked as Hurt/Comfort and a lot of people in fandom these days seem to hate basic conflict in stories??? - but they are for the same love interest and they are posted for the same fandom

so to me, this is solid, concrete proof that smut will always attract a larger audience. every single one of my smut fics that exists in the same genre as a fic without smut has a larger audience

(unless it's a wlw fic, but again - that's a whole different story. cause don't get me started on the whole 'we need more sapphic stories' crowd who never fucking read wlw fics when they are posted)

I feel like this is really a two pronged problem

one: the recent Catholic sexual repression in fandoms (and in queer spaces/the internet in general)

two: people who love to complain but make zero effort to change the things that they complain about in fandoms (hecklers, in a sense)

the first one is something me and @nctzenkane have talked about at large. it's the "sex scenes are so unnecessary in movies" thing and people directly relating the things you ship to your morals - the idea that the kind of fanfiction you write and read is directly in line with your moral fiber as a person. these are known as thought crimes. which is a highly Catholic sensation

in Catholicism, it's the idea that God can see all and knows all, and therefore, thinking bad things is on the same level of sin as performing a bad act - so thinking about sex too frequently or thinking about harming someone is on the same level as physically committing a murder, and both of these things equally make you a bad person. (and so you need to keep your mind 'pure' for God.)

in modern times, it's the idea that associating with certain topics of fanfiction makes you 'sus' and an untrustworthy person, and that you are more likely to follow through with the bad acts that you read about - like rape, pedophilia, unhealthy age gape relationships, violent crimes, ect. - if you read about those things frequently. (which is untrue, for the fucking record.)

and for the hecklers... god.

someone talked about the sensation of how the pandemic caused this huge shift in fandom, and yeah - I felt it happen in real time.

people who formerly were never in fandom or saw it as a 'nerdy' hobby (people whose hobbies were based around socialization - like drinking and going to bars, etc. or younger people who were allowed unsupervised internet access for the first time) all flooded fandom spaces with 0 sense of fandom etiquette. those are the 'writing fanfiction is too hard so I'm going to harass experienced fanfiction writers' people.

they love to complain about things they don't like in fandom without doing anything to change those things - even if it's something as simple as blocking and following the right people to curate their feed or curating their AO3 tags. the other day I saw dozens of people on tiktok saying that they don't know what the 4 symbols in the corner of the fics on AO3 mean. A lot of people assumed that they were there FOR NO REASON. it made me want to start chewing on glass, no lie

anyway. the landscape of fandom right now is so... (sigh.)

[poisonpercy]

What are your favorite tropes or themes you like seeing in PJO fic? Do you have any recs for them?

I’m gonna preface my response by saying I haven’t really read any PJO fanfics that I wasn’t already subscribed to in at least a year.

With that out of the way, I don’t really have any favorite tropes or themes I like in PJO fics, as what I like is more broad. However, I do tend to favor hurt/comfort and angst in general across all fandoms I’m in. I also like fics that take place during canon to expand on topics that can’t really be brought to much depth in the actual books due to them being aimed at kids. Canon-divergent fics are also fun. So are fics that explore Percy’s potential relationships with his immortal family (not the Olympians but the underwater family). Also fics that focus on chb campers being friends are really good. Crack fics are also something I like to indulge in. That being said, here’s some recs:

(note: I looked through some of my 643 pages of ao3 history for this, and don’t remember most of these fics. But I remember liking them…I think. The vibes from the summary and tags seem good at the very least)

Here’s a previous post I made that had fic recs

the anatomy of a hurricane by barbarianprincess

On Heists and Home Economics by chelletheriter

Like a New Yorker by notalotgoingonatthisinstant

Out of Mind, Out of Control by allieae

Venom by maverickk

For Zoe Nightshade by thewinginthenight

across the river by r1ptides

Fighting Blind by Multifandom_damnation

Familiar Faces by annabetn

Our Bonds Bend, Not Break by forestfairy72

asymptote by eternalmagic

Grover’s Worries by Nikki_RavenScar

I gave up looking after this point lmao. Anyways here’s just a few fics that I’ve read and liked in one way or another.

There was a really good Percy & Triton sibling relationship fic that I would love to recommend (Fishing in Alaska you will always be famous to me) but the author has deleted their online presence including the fic. I did see that someone was reposting it on ao3 but that’s technically stolen work which I don’t condone and wrong without direct permission from the original creator (I wonder if it got taken down or not)

A lot of my mutuals are very talented writers so I would recommend checking them out. Here’s their tumblrs and ao3

seasunwrites | @chironshorseass

connabeth | @connabeth

posallys | @posallys

barbarianprincess | @barbarianprncess

percyj | @annabethy

[alpydk]

20 Questions: Writing Edition

Oh god @nocryptographer - I'll be here all night... But thank you :D

How many works do you have on ao3?

66... But I write a lot of shorter fics. Though, one of those fics is actually 24 fics too. I have a lot of fics.

What’s your total ao3 word count?

303,617 - A year of work there :D

What are your top five fics by kudos?

Cabinet of Oddities

Consequences and Confessions

Eclipse

By Mystra

The Moment

Also, while I'm here. Your fic of Riley Loses The Baby is an amazing yet absolutely heartbreaking fic and I love you for writing it.

What fandoms do you write for?

BG3, House MD. I have some one-offs for Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil, and am the sole writer for Last Days of the Space Age.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yessss..... But I'm crap at it. Someone leaves me an amazing comment and I plan to reply and then I forget and then too long passes and I think it's odd to reply so I put it off longer. It's a whole thing. I also never know what to reply back.

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. So many to choose from!

I'm going with Circling Sky though. What started as an angst will they/won't they, turned into the most painful fic I've ever written ending in Gale's writing a suicide note and the woman who fell in love with him unsure if she could be with him any longer. It was heavy even for me.

Do you get hate on fics?

Only anonymously. Got accused of copying another writer's idea, despite the fact I posted my fic before them and we hadn't even discussed it together AT ALL. Had someone bad mouth an ending to a fic simply because they didn't enjoy it (boo hoo). And I've had someone tell me to KMS because my work was depressing. You see why I deleted my Tumblr with my breakdown?

Do you write smut?

I have written smut but I doubt it will be happening again for a while. I just don't enjoy it. Not because it's difficult. I, 1 - Get bored with it. Once something has gone in a hole, how many ways can you really write it? and 2 - Smut just makes me uncomfortable. Maybe I'm just old?

Do you write crossovers?

H.S - Sort of a BG3 Tom Cardy crossover. I'd love to do a House and BG3 one but it needs to get into the queue with every other idea.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. But then again, I don't go searching.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have to try to understand my own English a day or two after writing, but I doubt that's what's being asked. So, no.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

No, but me and @judasiskariot have been discussing it! We just need the stars to align!

What’s your all time favourite ship?

BOOOOOOOGGGGGGGG!

Otherwise Gale/Rugan

What’s the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don't think I can leave a WIP unfinished. I have my Isekai one started... and that's been on chapter 1 for about 6 months now, but the notes are written. I think I just need to figure out the ending for that one.

What are your writing strengths?

Asking the wrong person. I can be poetic as fuck sometimes.

What are your writing weaknesses?

My writing.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

Done it! What a Røv - A Gale and Tav short where she speaks Illuskan (or Danish, in this case). It was a lot of fun but I dread someone coming along and saying it's cringe. IT'S NOT OKAY!

First fandom you wrote for?

Baldur's Gate 3 - Just over a year of writing now. Though I did write fics when I was young, I wouldn't class them as fanfics. I just stole names from things I liked.

Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I've been thinking a lot about As You Wish recently. That one just seemed to click in all the right places. Asshole abusive Ex-husband, Gale being Romantic, angst and comfort with a nice happy ending.

My favourite changes with each day of the month it seems.

---

Tagging @optimisticgrey @senualothbrok @serenaoffaerun - And open tag for anyone else who wants to take this.

[whentommymetalfie]

Tagged by @bouncydragon. Thank you for giving me a chance to ramble!

20 questions for fan fiction writers

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

53

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

642 307 (!)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently only Peaky Blinders

4. Top five fics by kudos

Breathe again, Kiss with a fist, Family is family, Little talks, Shattered and hollow

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to always do that for my WIPs but sometimes I forget to when I get a comment on an older fic. But that doesn't mean I don't read and appreciate them!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I was about to say that I never write angsty endings, because I can't handle them, but then I remembered about whumptober where I dabbled in that, sort of. I think it's a tie between Aversion and Confinement, and even those have a glimpse of hope at the end because I'm just like that.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Oh that's a tough one, since happy endings are my jam, so I've got plenty. But I think that To live a life, an installment in my first AU has a very happy ending, considering the angst that comes before.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I recall getting like... one really nasty comment once, years ago, but I've completely forgotten what it said, because I just deleted it and was sad about it for a few days and now it's gone from my mind, I just remember it happening because it's so rare.

And I've gotten a comment or two where a reader has disapproved of something in a fic, or where it's clear that they've interpreted something an entirely different way than I intended, and where they've chosen to express that in a not entirely nice way. I think when that's happened, I've left the comment, but haven't responded to it, because I just don't feel like going into discussions or spending my energy of that. But mostly all my readers are incredibly kind, which is a huge reason why I keep posting my work.

9. Do you write smut?

I have on occasion written a fic or two mostly focused on smut, upon request, and I incorporate sex-scenes into fics when I feel they serve a purpose.

10. Craziest crossover?

I've never written one, but I'm not opposed to them

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, a few!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope

14. All time favorite ship?

Well got to be Tommy/Alfie right? Just look at all my... stuff.

15. What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have plenty of shorter unpublished wips where I've just wanted to 'try' an idea, or get something out of my head. Or be especially self indulgent. Those never get past the draft stage. But anything I truly want to finish and post, I usually do finish. Eventually.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I honestly think that one of my writing strengths is keeping at it, even when everything feels impossible, because without that stubbornness, many of my fics would've gotten finished. Cheesy as it may sound.

On a more technical note, I think -hope- that I'm good finding a good pace in my stories, at least my latest ones. And... describing emotions maybe.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

The first thing that comes to mind, and that often feel the most limited by, is that English is my second language. That always adds a layer of insecurity. And I'm not great at writing action, or scenes with many characters (I always feel like I'm trying to juggle with way too many balls)

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I think it can work great when it serves a purpose, but with my lacking language skills I just incorporate into the text that a character isn't speaking English, rather than typing the dialogue out in the actual language.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

My first ever fanfic I posted was for True Blood. Ten years ago now, which feels crazy.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Tough one... If I'm only allowed finished fics, I'd have to say Breathe Again, because it's my first truly long, multi-chaptered project and I grew a lot as a writer -I think- while writing that. But I do want to give Home to you it's own shoutout (even if I have yet to finish that last chapter that's haunting me because I'm so afraid to mess it up) because it's so intrinsically connected to Breathe again.

tagging (with no pressure of course, and apologies if you've already been tagged) @abusivelittlebunny @100dabbo @andtherewerefireworks @elskiee

[thetruthisoutthereandbeyond]

Looking into Plagiarism: Reunification and MrsFizzle-a case of Boy Meets World Plagiarism or not? Part 6

And I wasn’t the only one who noticed the similarities. A reader left a comment just a couple of chapters later on Autumn in Philadelphia. During a discussion with the author, the reader noted that they knew who the plagiarist was and that it was pretty obvious. The reader noted that Autumn in Philadelphia was the inspiration and giving credit where due was a simple, correct solution. MA agreed but then went on to say that MrsFizzle’s befriending her and subsequent harassment was the biggest issue. On chapter 72, MA says this:

They already publicly stated they were not in any way inspired by AiP and that the OCs had to be the same because they are written for the same character. They made it sound as though AiP was not good enough for them to bother with. That comment was deleted by AO3 staff as it was a guest comment where they identified themselves and acknowledged they were blocked. I reported it and a suspension was given for harassment. The screen shot is a part of the report. They've known about the case for a long time. When I posted my no update for the month post, they rushed their ending and immediately started trying to get the link (it was a hell of a couple of months after that post was made). Because of the lengths they went to get that link I'm often tempted to give it to them...and everyone else at the same time. I won't, of course. I won't stoop to that level. All I can do is leave the comments they left on my stories: on this one, Flashbacks, some of the short stories. Leave how they gushed over Audrey and her family with Jon and Shawn, the storyline. I know most readers don't read comments, but for the ones that do, those comments will be there. And maybe they'll remember them if they also read the other story and know where chunks of that story came from.

In another reply in the same thread, MA says:

What’s more upsetting is this was planned. They befriended me, used me, then used my mental health struggles against me. They were also the one who tried to get me to quit writing by saying the story was too long, it wasn't healing, no one would read it, etc. That was them. So not only can I not read their work because of the content but because of who I know them to be. It just kind of makes me sick.

And another:

I was gone from the fanfic community for a long time, and I'd heard of things like this happening in large fandoms, but I never dreamed it would happen in BMW and that it would be done by someone new to the fandom who is twice teen Shawn's age in AiP. I was dealing with a serious bout of depression and anxiety at the time and was too trusting. They seemed intense but also very sweet, so the issues had to be with me, right? I ignored all the red flags. I didn't know about the plagiarism until November of last year and this began in October of 2022. But thankfully I was also building friendships with writers outside my fandom who are the reason I continued writing. I asked for their help with the report because I knew they'd help me sort through the emotional carnage to get the necessary information. Putting the timeline together was the first time I saw everything done across four platforms. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was, it was so much worse. I hope it is truly over and they find something better to do with their time.

There is so much to unpack here. I plan to look more into this, if for nothing other than my own curiosity. I wish I could talk to the authors. However, I would need to contact both writers and give them an equal chance to share their side. I hesitate because if what MA says is even partially true, I don’t want to get involved with MrsFizzle.

What is available publicly is fascinating enough.

I’ll end this for now by repeating the previously mentioned quote because it fits this situation so aptly. If nothing else both points happened to Mercedes Aria and MrsFizzle is guilty of “*the close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as her own original work. That is, both imitation and failure to be truthful about that imitation are necessary attributes to call it plagiarism. It is the lie of omission about sourcing that makes it plagiarism.

A simple “inspired by link” could have avoided all of this.

----

The rest of the article is my opinion on what happened between the two authors and why based on their online behavior. You can read the Author's Note on how I reached these conclusions.

My conclusions:

I do believe MA was plagiarized according to the Fanlore definition. I believe there was something unpleasant that went on between her and MrsFizzle privately that hurt her deeply. I believe she has screenshots and documentation that she believes proves this. I do not know if things were as severe as she claims.

At best, this is a personal matter that got out of hand and the harassment isn’t as bad as she perceives it to be. At worst, everything she says is true...

...I think at best MrsFizzle went through a hard time a few years back and was seeking a place to belong and be validated. In doing so, she embellished her personal stories and “borrowed” scenes from a popular story to bolster hers. She crushed the toes of those who should have been her fandom friends and support. She let jealousy get the best of her in this situation. At worst, she tried to present herself as the authority on fandom favorite characters and the most loved/known writer for them by stealing the work of a long-established fandom writer and trying to bully her out of the fandom to reach that status. She panicked and tried to cover her tracks when her target refused to go away. She let jealousy consume her and did things to another author that are unconscionable.

I do very much believe that the battle to make Ashley the iconic fanon Mrs. Turner has to do with a desire to leave an indelible mark on a very small fandom. Why she went about it the way she did will likely never be known.

There’s a lot of this story left, but I’m not sure the full truth will ever be known. Just remember:

The truth is out there, Mulder, but so are lies.

-Agent Scully, X-Files