#fanworks are not products

[yo-aloe-vera]

Editing for my own posts: Ao3 absolutely allows meta.

AO3 Etiquette

It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:

Kudos is for when the story was interesting enough to make you finish reading. If it sucked or was badly written, you probably left. If you finished - you kudos.

If you liked it, you should comment. It can be long and detailed or a literal keysmash. Writers don't care, we just love comments.

No critisism unless the author has specifically asked or agreed to hear it. Even constructive critisism is a no-no unless an author note tells you it's okay. Many people write as a fun hobby or a way to cope with, among other things, insecurity. Don't ruin that for them.

Do not comment to ask the author to write/update something else. It's tacky and off-putting and will probably have the opposite effect than the one you want.

There is no algorithm, it's an archive. Use the search and filter function to add/remove the pairings/characters/tropes etc. you want to read about and it will find you the fics that fit the bill.

For this to work, writers must tag and rate stories. This avoids readers finding the wrong things and missing the stuff they want. I don't care how cringy that trope is in your eyes - it gets tagged.

Character A/Character B means a ROMANTIC or SEXUAL relationship of some kind. Character A&Character B is PLANTONIC, like friendship or family.

Nothing is banned. This is an implicit rule because banning one thing is a slipperly slope to banning another and another, until nothing is allowed anymore. Do not expect anyone to censor for you. Because of the tags system, you are responsible for your own reading experience.

People can create new chapters and sequels/fic series any time after they "complete" a story. So it's considered perfectly normal to subscribe, even to a finished story. You can even subscribe to the author instead just to cover your bases.

Do not repost stories or change the publishing date without an extremely good reason (like a complete top to bottom rewrite). It's an archive, not social media. No one cares what's the most recent, only what fits their tag needs.

Avoid deleting a story you wrote if you hate it - orphan it so others can still enjoy it, without it being connected to you anymore.

This is a creative fanfiction archive. No essays on your insights or theories please. There are other places for that.

I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.

I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.

[notherpuppet]

Tagged by @az-roser this was fun! Thanks!

LAST SONG: Feel Special by TWICE

FAVORITE COLOR: Red ♥️💋🌹🍷❌🥀🍒💄🩸

CURRENTLY WATCHING: kpop music videos and video essays about solving the housing crisis in the USA. LOL I have to balance my brain

LAST MOVIE: I rewatched Final Destination 2, ahh that series is SO good but I’m literally hyperventilating the whole time i watch it! It’s great

CURRENTLY READING: Hazbin fanworks from Japan (thank you to the artists and Google translate). Many works are sold out, but I’ll link the artists under the cut.

All of Meguru Hinoharu’s work (My favorite is Kamisama no Uruko aka The Dragon’s Betrothed)

Also The Smithsonian magazine, it’s a great magazine 🥰

SWEET, SPICY OR SAVORY: All, every single day. But I am most enchanted by sweetness 🍫

RELATIONSHIP: not for me! 💚🤍🩶🖤

CURRENT OBSESSION: Hazbin Hotel ofc. Also TWICE, Beyonce, and Pokémon

LAST GOOGLED: “reusable mop” LOL I���m very eager to change the way I clean my floors. I’m trying to find the cheat code to a trifecta of convenience, environmentally-friendliness, and effectiveness. But I may just have to continue the classic way 🥴 isn’t life an exciting adventure? 🧼

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: “Morning After” part 4/4 and the concept for a new AU!? (Genderbent, human)

Hazbin mangaka whose works I am reading. Many are sold out, 18+, and/or freakayyy. So investigate with discretion. Twitter profiles of artists linked

- Marriage in Blue by Mr_Poorness

- Goodbye Ol’ Pal!! by kmsuzu

- Bomb Born Bon!! by kagimaruchisuke

- Stay Tuned by yomunow

- As You Wish, Voxy by ruriruko25

- Hello Bambi by yamiji84dp

- Miracle S*x Toy by usanoxp

- tmain04’s books

- some huskerdust fan books but neither have profiles I can find 😵‍💫

I bought all these on toranoana

[msnihilist]

"this fic was decent" "note to self: read when complete" "good for a laugh, maybe worth a reread in the future" And what if I beat you with a baseball bat? What then?

[ayara-resara]

.

[elitadream]

I remember you made a post sometime before your break where you showed a glimpse of new concepts that were still pending. Have those been scrapped? :(

Not scrapped! Just never made public. 👐🫠

[soopersara]

Can we make 2024 the year that Zutara writers add permission statements to their profiles on AO3 (and possibly add them to the Fanwork Permission Statement list too)? We have so many incredibly skilled people in this community, and so few have any information on whether or how comfortable they are with other people creating other fanworks inspired by their fics. Even if you don't think anyone will ever be inspired by your writing, it doesn't hurt to spend 10-ish minutes adding permissions to your profile so that someone might decide to surprise you with fanwork of your fanwork someday!

Is this a somewhat selfish wish because I've become inexplicably fond of recording and editing podfics, and my own fics are all 100% recorded and edited (just not necessarily posted or even scheduled) at this point? Yes. Absolutely. I want to record more Zutara stuff, and my list of Things I Can Record Without Asking Permission (or developing time manipulation abilities to write faster) is dismally short at the moment. I'm working on a few of them already, and they'll be posted as soon as I run out of my own queued podfics (so like... April, at this point), but I'd like to add more to my future podfic list.

And who knows? Maybe there are others out there who've been inspired by your fics and will decide to surprise you too!

[shotofstress]

There are like 300 of us who play DS on tumblr and it's literally 3 people who carry the Heartman and Deadman fanart and fanfics on their shoulders, especially the Heartsam ship and the Deadsam ship (the canon ship), so this is my contribution.

The fic focuses on Heartman and his relationship with Sam, although I don't know yet if it's going to include the relationship with Deadman or not, it's a work in progress.

Summary:

Heartman scans Sam's face and from him jumps to Deadman looking at him as he paces. At times Heartman wonders if Sam will be overwhelmed by all that they asked and expected of him; the preppers to make trips from one end to the other, the distribution centres to be able to carry hundreds of kilos through valleys and mountains in sun, rain, snow and BTs, overwhelmed by what President Strand and Amelie expected of him, and what Die-Hardman demanded of him. Of what he himself, Heartman, and Deadman asked of him... –he looks back at Sam– wanted from him.

[1pcii]

ALMOST DONE THIS STUPID ANIMATIC AUGHHHHHH

[numbuh]

*weakly crawls across the floor* I'M DOING ITTT I'M STILL GOINGGG 2025

[sunnylovesgirlythings]

“X wouldn’t say that in canon”

This is a fanwork Sheryl. Unless I’m actively quoting the game/show/movie then nothing they say is canon.

Because it was not said by them in the current ip holders iteration of it.

On a technical level fanwork is only required to be as canon accurate as I care to make it. And not even a tiny bit more.

[flockofdoves]

i think its so funny how many oofuri fanworks i've seen that are like 'yay its december look it snowed a foot!!!'

to be fair i have never been to the saitama prefecture of japan i could be mistaken in my understanding of its climate. but looking at weather data to double check like i don't think it snows much in december there and then average snowfall over the course of a month in january and february is like. 4 centimeters total. the most i saw in articles was during a weakened polar jet stream induced snow storm there was like 6 cm of snow

so if it is snowing a whole foot then i think i'm more just concerned for their infrastructure and worried about the effects of climate change than i am feeling the winter spirit

[earmuffstar]

Beeceit 💛 🐝

[last-flight-of-fancy]

hey, hey, quick internet fandom ettiquete lesson; X has two hands jokes only vibe if you are talking to someone who is ALSO already talking about how X has two hands. Okay? Okay. It is in fact very rude to go onto other people’s posts where only one set of hands is involved to evangalise about two hands. When seeing ship art/fic of only half your ot3, it is proper ettiquete to simply enjoy the art/fic as it is, and if so inspired create/commission/seek out the ot3 content of your choice. This has been your quick internet fandom lesson, thank you for your time.

[spacedlexi]

is anybody else out there still creating twdg fanworks 😭📢 where is everyone please dont say reddit i cant go back there

[mister13eyond]

daring to be vulnerable and open about my work on tumblr on a tuesday afternoon

i have a strange relationship with april 6th where it is simultaneously the proudest achievement i have and also my white whale that i will forever be chasing

which is funny because looking back at it now, years later, i'd probably write it differently at this stage in my life? i think i've grown a lot as a writer and there are parts to me that read clunky or messy and i think i could have pushed things a lot further

but it's also like. idk, i'd never made a fic About anything before. I'd never even made a full completed piece of fiction? and then i went from "a few oneshots scattered over the course of several years and fandoms" to this fucking.... multimedia epic. this thing i updated in real time. this thing i learned to PROGRAM TWINE GAMES for. this thing i got reviews on that said it helped people deal with their own grief, that i feel like Actually spoke to people?

and that's a high fucking bar to reach! it was a very specific and precise fluke that came from a lot of things all at once- me processing my OWN feelings of loss and fear about the future after 2020. my own slow and delicate tiptoe into a new relationship where everything was uncertain and scary. my personal way of getting revenge-via-success after a year-long burnout inflicted by a really bad friendship that had a really negative impact on me creatively and killed all my confidence in my ability to finish things.

so it's like. weird having this relationship with a piece of my own work that is so Symbolic? weird having a relationship with my own creation where it is simultaneously My Testament To My Own Ability and also The Rival Whose Shadow I'm Always Chasing.

AND IT'S NOT EVEN LIKE... I don't necessarily think it's my best writing, you know? On a purely technical level, it's definitely not BAD but i've grown as a writer since then and I think I've learned new strengths and have continued to improve

but like. also.... it'll always be That Thing I Wish I Could Capture The Feeling Of Making Again. it'll always be that weird moment of lightning in a bottle where i made something really really cool and now everything i make afterwards has to take a backseat to this project i started on impulse in 2021 because i had a bunch of feelings

[spiderfaang]

Emery reminded me of how I need more trans hcs for wcs. Especially for cats who have children.