#fanfic discourse

[myfandomrealitea]

"Why can't the freaks on AO3 just go and make a site for all the gross stuff and leave AO3 alone."

Because AO3 is that site. Because AO3 was that site long before you decided AO3 was better than the sites you bullied us off of before, and I can promise you if someone somehow comes up with a fanfic site you like better specifically for the 'gross stuff' you'll try to bully us off that too so you can benefit from it.

AO3's specific core purpose is to preserve fanfiction, yes, but it was also instigated as a host site for the fanfiction that kept getting yeeted off other platforms like Wattpad. Its designed to preserve all fanfiction, not just the fanfiction you, personally, think is 'allowed' to be written.

AO3 is the site for all the gross stuff the freaks make. We've been there just as long as you. We've been funding it just as long as you have. AO3 has specifically said you have a place here. The timeline was literally:

Wattpad/FF.net/LiveJournal purge fanfics > AO3 is born > The people who's fics got purged moved over to AO3 > AO3 gains popularity as the best functioning site > The people who pushed for the fics to be purged off Wattpad move to AO3 > The same people try to push for AO3 to purge fics.

AO3's source coding is open-access. You go make a polished, strict, rigid site where nothing 'icky' is allowed. You go make a site where you can control what is hosted. We already have our space.

[webshood]

I'm a Jason Todd drug denier, if you write him doing drugs we're actually enemies. /lh

If you write kid him smoking cigarettes, that's okay because it's canon and nicotine is appetite suppressing, you can use it to make a good fic of him dealing with starvation and homelessness. However, the moment you make him (adult or kid) smoke weed, just know I'll be outside your door and you'll start coughing blood in three days

[fgmetanoia]

If they ain't FERAL and absolutely desperate for each other I don't want them

[groundzero-v]

It's a bit surreal to have to say this, but please don't rate fics in public bookmarks on ao3. If you need to, you can do that in the private bookmarks, but I'm so sick of people treating fics like this. It's always the people who never comment as well.

Don't get me wrong, I totally get leaving 10/10, 20/10 and so on, it's cute way to show you loved the story, but imagine you're an author that poured so much free time, blood and sweat into working on a fic and the only thing you get is a '3/10' '5/10'. Or even 'mediocre. 6/10'.

Have a little compassion for how nerve wrecking it's to share your work (and for free!). For how we desperatly wait for any comment or nice interaction only to receive numbers like this like a punch to the face.

If you need to treat fics like this, do it in private bookmarks, not where the author - but also everyone else - can see.

[kiwisandpearls]

Seriously. Stop doing it.

[wileycap]

[spoilers for atla]

I don't like (and at the same time I like it very much) how fandom makes Zuko into a Soft Widdle Ducky.

Like, yeah, he's awkward and traumatized. But he is very much a warrior prince at the same time. Look at his confrontation with Ozai: "you're going to listen, or I'm going to cut you in two with my swords".

During the series, Zuko almost never struggles with immediate action and decisions - but he's really terrible at measured, considered action and decisions.

I want to see that side of Zuko in fic. Like, a former war minister gets out of line? "Right. Let's take this outside. Do you want fire or steel." Sure, by the end of the series he's much more mature, grounded and peaceful, but so many fics I read, he just kind of folds when people get aggressive with him, when his more canonically true self would likely just go "yup, that's a threat, first you're going to get your ass beat and then I'm throwing you in jail, I don't really care how influential you are." And I want to see him deal with that.

That being said, I still enjoy all those fics where Zuko's personality is basically 🥺🔥

[beforeastorm]

9-1-1 Bashing Fics: September Update

Wanted to share an updated graph, now that Tommy has taken the crown, officially, as most bashed 9-1-1 character on AO3 (regardless of public/private works). The chart above is a mix of mains and LIs - either they just have a lot of bashing fics overall, or they've had more written recently.

More under the cut

Here's a chart with well, everyone:

Yeah that's a mess. How about just love interests?

Notes:

This is as of September 20.

Someone asked in the tags on a prev post about which 'ships the bashing fics are written for. Here's the thing - the tools I use are good for things like date, kudos, author, where the same info is in the same place pretty consistently. Because the amount of relationship/additional tags varies widely, it all goes a bit wibbly on that part. It usually grabs the first relationship tag pretty well, but whether the 'main' ship is the first listed relationship depends on the author. So I'm not really comfortable making claims. But as a treat, I will share that there is a Maddie bashing fic where the first relationship tag is CC-2224|Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi! Just, thought that was fun.

These are only public works - not any locked fics

As an aside, I keep meaning to run the numbers on the summer of buckfidelity/infideleddie, but honestly (unrepentant) cheating fics are... just such a no for me, every time I start I end up just closing my computer. It may or may not end up happening.

If people have any interest in other 9-1-1 statistics - feel free to drop a line!

[katsmtmsdoodles]

Reblog for bigger sample size! Based on this post by @rigorwhoring

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 4

[cutebutalsostabby]

"People need to stop doing x in y fanfics"

You will take the free, adequately content-warned, non-commercial transformative works you are given, and you will LIKE them. That or use the back button.

[slowlyshamelesscolor]

What is Neutralship?

Neutralship, often known as ship-neutral, refers to those who are "neutral" or unconcerned with shipcourse. They may be pro- or anti-leaning, or completely unaligned.

Neutralship also means your anti harassment. That implies you will not bother someone about their fandom preferences, or pass judgment on their fantasies or ships.

Neufic - those who identify as neufic may be pro- or anti-leaning, or wholly unaligned; they are neutral on fiction and do not engage in ship discourse

And for short, we are called newts.

The purple flags are peacefic. The pink is neutralship.

Peacefic Emoji combos - ☮🦢, ☮📖, 🌈☮, 🌈🦢, 🦢🌙,

Neutralship emoji combos - 🎀 🫧, 🎀🌙 , 🫧🎀 , 🌈🎀, 🌈 🫧, 🌈🌙

Neufic emoji combos-  💎 🦋, 🌈💎, 💍🦋

[mywitchcultblr]

[cinewhore]

re: fanfic as content…i think that’s why i feel so disconnected from it lol. Everything is fucking content and if you are not mass producing it/staying relevant/appealing to every single person then it’s pointless to engage in the art.

I wish a very die to the word content i hate it and i hate how much the internet has capitalized off this shit. Not everyone wants to be content creators. Some folks just want to make weird art and connect with others.

[perseidlion]

Potentially controversial opinion but the way to reduce the number of fics being deleted and to increase the number of fics that you want to read is to:

Support WIPs if you like the concept, even if it's just with a bookmark (bonus points for reading along and commenting on every chapter, even if it's just with emojis)

Comment and tell the writer you love it and WHY, or just express thanks for them writing it

Share the fic with others and encourage them to comment

Appreciate fic writers instead of taking them for granted

Recognize that fic writing is gift culture and not content creation and that writers get zero compensation for writing other than interaction with readers

Request the kinds of fic/dynamics you'd like to see rather than demanding anything. (IE: You write so and so together so well! Have you ever thought of exploring X? Or: This backstory is so interesting. Would you ever flesh it out more? Or: I'd love to see your take on X.)

NOT

Guilting writers for deleting a fic and saying it's a crime or that you feel "cheated" if someone takes down their work

Making a writer feel guilty because some hypothetical somebody somewhere who never told them so might have liked that work

Criticiizing fic to the author's face or in public (either constructively or not) when feedback wasn't explicitly asked for. (Discussing the merits of a fic in private is fine)

Only shouting about fic in private and never telling the author you love their work

Only reading completed fics and never commenting/otherwise supporting. There are plenty of valid reasons to only read completed fics, but realize that if you don't support fics as they're being written, you will get less of the kinds of fic you like and fewer fics will be completed

Generally acting entitled to fic

Whining that you hate when fic writers do X or that there isn't enough of X dynamic or otherwise trying to dictate what authors should and shouldn't write

Just be positive, folks! Fanfic is a community. I will churn out thousands of words a week if people tell me they're enjoying it. If I get no interaction, that fic is a lot more likely to never be completed or even deleted.

You don't have to unconditionally support all fic writers. It's totally fine to just to kind of like a fic and not comment (though if you read it all the way through, I think at least a kudos is warranted.) But if you DO love it, please please please tell us so, even with just a heart emoji.

The silent enjoyment of fic with no expression of that to the author is what slowly kills fandom - as does positioning us as content creators who get something simply by posting, or by criticizing what and how much we write.

This is especially important if the fic is a rarepair, or a weird concept, or otherwise offbeat. If it's your kind of thing and you don't see very much of it, shout about it! I've definitely deleted or abandoned fics that were a little weird because I felt embarrassed by the fact that no one else was matching my freak.

[osamucide]

if this bothers anyone they can kindly feel free to leave or ignore it or whatever but can we stop flooding the x reader tags with half-baked thinkpieces on why people should or shouldn’t do whatever with their writing. every other post is “you shouldn’t romanticize [x]” “you’re problematic if you do [x]” “stop writing about [x]” “[x] is gross and if you write about it kill yourself” how about if you don’t like certain content you heed the content warnings, block the tags, don’t interact with it, so on and so forth. of course part of our responsibility as writers, especially ones dealing with sensitive topics, is to label and tag our works appropriately but let’s be real—i hardly see any writers (at least within the bsd fandom) who don’t make it abundantly clear what they do/do not write about, interact with, or tolerate. wait until you find out how much fucked up shit happens in real life and how much some person on the internet coping with their trauma by writing self insert fanfiction about a cartoon character doesn’t fucking correlate to the perpetuation of that fucked up shit at all. it doesn’t even have to be that serious. people are going to write and read the content they want and they’re allowed to and you spilling your complaints all over the x reader tags “to boost attention” isn’t gonna change that. if you don’t like something ignore, unfollow, block, mind your own business. it’s actually super easy

[nekittie]

randomly sad about the amount of fanfics crossovers between supernatural and 911… somewhat hunter!evan buckley and his best friend who don’t believe in shit but HOW this man is always hurt?????? please

buck in his ‘searching for himself’ era meeting the winchesters????????????

eddie diaz meeting CASTIEL the fucking ANGEL?

idk thinking a lot

[klarion-the-witch-boy]

This is in defense of Jason's "hand me down" friends.

I've seen some folks upset that Jason "doesn't have friends of his own" or "gets Dick's hand me down friends" and like. No need to shout you don't have similar aged siblings, my man (kidding, kidding). More seriously: hand me down friends are a thing for some sibling sets.

I adopted the friends that belonged to my older sibling as my older sibling drifted from them. I also watched one of my younger siblings drift from their bestie and that bestie end up another younger sibling's best friend. It just be like that sometimes. That doesn't make a friendship any less important or authentic.

Those younger siblings? Sibling A doesn't actually talk to that once-bestie anymore, besides casually, whole Sibling B talks to them all the time. That's a bit of an extreme (though still a very amicable drifting-away for Sib A and Ex-Bestie), but like. Jason and Roy? They make complete sense to me, both as a Sib that adopted another Sib's old friend and as a Sib that watched other sibs trade friends.

Anyway. Sometimes a sibling drifts away from a friend while another sibling drifts toward them. It happens. Sometimes it's only a bit of drift, sometimes it's a shared custody situation (one of my Sibs and I shared one friend, as a bestie for each of us, for years). Is what it is. But what it isn't is unrealistic or whatever. It also isn't unrealistic for Jason to lose touch with old friends and make new ones, even if those new ones are hand me downs.

That's all, thanks for reading.