#not hidden in an unrevealed collection

[sarcasticdolphin]

So. About Mirrorverse.

Yesterday I discovered that my former co-author for the Mirrorverse deleted her two stories that were part of the series off of ao3 and removed herself as a co-author of the series. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but that is when I found out about it. The two stories that she wrote both (though the former part 5 more than the former part 3) contain plot points that are important so the later parts of the series make sense.

I honestly haven't decided what to do yet. My first thought was just two write two new Mirrorverse fics to fill the gaps, and I do want the series to be properly whole once more.

But I honestly don't know if I'm going to be able to do it. The me of 12-16 months ago, when the earlier parts of Mirrorverse were written, is very different from the me of now. As a person and especially as a writer. Add to that every time I think about Mirrorverse I'm reminded of my former co-author, which normally results in my writing 'mood,' as it were, rather souring.

I want to write the fics. I really do. Mirrorverse was (and still is) my fanfic baby and I worked on it week-in, week-out for an entire year. I was (and still am) very proud of myself for seeing it through, especially because it was originally planned as a one-shot. I want it to be what it deserves to be, not a puzzle missing two very important pieces.

But I don't know if I'm going to be able to (or willing to) put myself through the level of emotional pain that will be involved in outlining and writing those two replacement fics.

[typinggently]

I can’t lie, my head is spinning. Maybe I SHOULD put my ficlets and stuff on AO3 because frankly, there is some good stuff I should reread more often.

[romione-trope-fest]

2025 Trope Reveal!

It's time for another Romione Trope Fest!!

We will begin accepting submissions on February 1st, and reveals will begin on March 1st!

This year, we are doing reveals a bit differently. Rather than posting two fics per day, we will post ALL the fics of a specific trope each day. Reveals will last one week only, and no waiting around -- prepare to be bombarded by tropey goodness.

All fics must be submitted directly to Tumblr by following this link. We also have an unrevealed Ao3 collection that you're welcome post in, but all Ao3 posts will be hidden until their Tumblr release date.

Visit our FAQs for more information!

Okay friends, let's get creating! We can't wait to see what you come up with.

Your Mods,

@be11atrixthestrange @voldemorts-tap-shoes @adenei @cheesyficwriter

[thediktatortot]

Once again begging writers on Ao3 to make sure none of your fics are in Closed, Moderated or Unrevealed collections without your knowledge.

No one can add your work to a collection without you approving it, but once approved the owner of that collection can make YOUR fic be unreadable if they so choose to by doing one of the above three.

So, do a regular check on your fic and make sure they haven't been hidden from your readers, and if they have been added to a collection that has been closed, moderated or unrevealed, go into that fics Edit settings and remove that fic from that collection.

If you want to stop people from inviting your fics to collections all together, you can go into your preferences and select:

[gallavichthings]

Gallavich Fanart Masquerade 2024

It's here! Our first ever fanart-only event (thanks @michellemisfit for the idea!).

The rules are pretty similar to the fanfiction masquerade. In a Masquerade, artists will create fanarts anonymously, attempting to create something in a style different from their usual in order to fool the "admirers". These fanarts will all be revealed at the same time on May 12th - our Fanart Masquerade Ball! - and admirers (who may also be other fanartists) will have two weeks to attempt to guess who's behind each mask, that is, who did which fanart.

Details after the read more.

Requirements

None. Any art style will do, as long as it's drawn, I suppose. Traditional or digital, colored or b&W or lineart... Just no edits. And absolutely no AI, of course.

I need fanart ideas!

Maybe this will help.

Sign-ups

Signing-up is required and can be done here. For this event, sign-ups can be done up to the time of posting. Unlike other events, this is one where you will need to sign-up only at the end, after the art is done. You'll be required to add your AO3 username and the title of your fanart (yes, you'll have to give it a title, sorry - it can be pretty simple though).

Is NSFW accepted?

Yes, as long as it is correctly tagged. Please keep in mind that in this case, it's possible some people might not be comfortable in viewing it.

What if I don't have an AO3 account?

Then I'm very sorry, but in this case, you won't be able to participate (as an artist). For his event, having an AO3 account is mandatory so that you can post in the collection. That being said, a lot of people have AO3 invites, so ask right now and someone may be able to send you one. (Or, worst case scenario, we can find writer buddies to post for you.)

Posting

Posting needs to be done on AO3 because the Fanart Masquerade Collection will be unrevealed and anonymous. All posting must be done until the eve of the Masquerade, so May 11th. On May 12th, all the fanarts will be revealed and available for the admirers. The fanarts will remain anonymous until May 26th, when the game ends. The winners will be revealed shortly after, along with the prizes (more on that below). After the artists identities are revealed, they are free to post their fanart wherever they please.

Because unfortunately AO3 doesn't host images, your fanarts will have to be hosted elsewhere and linked to AO3. They should stay as hidden as possible. One possibility is posting privately on Tumblr and then using the image link to post on AO3. If you don't know how to do that or don't have a place to host the fanart, please contact us and we'll help you out.

When posting on AO3, choose to do it under the Gallavich Fanart Masquerade 2024 Collection (as in the picture below). I'll take care of the rest. It's important to do so when posting and not after, or it won't work.

Voting

Voting will be done via a new form, which will be disclosed only after the fanarts are posted. All fanart titles will be displayed and the admirers will chose from a menu who they think the artist is.

Points

There are two ways of winning this game, as an artist and as an admirer.

Artists are awarded 1 point for each person who correctly guesses their fanart and 3 points for each person who wrongly guesses it. That's right, you get more points if you're actually able to deceive everyone!

Admirers are awarded 5 points for each fanart they guess correctly, but they lose 1 point for each wrong guess.

Artists can also be admirers, so they have twice the chance of winning.

Prizes

The winning fanarts will get short fics based on them! And the one by the winning artist will be the prompt for one week in the @galladrabbles.

[supersantafemslash]

Posting to the AO3 Collection

Done with your secret santa prompt and ready to post it? Here’s what you gotta do. First get your work all ready to go on AO3 (filling in all required information like rating, fandoms, title, summary, etc.), then before you post, go to the Associations section.

Start typing supersanta2024 in the “Post to Collections/Challenges” field and select it from the dropdown. Then in the “Gift this work to” field, type your prompter’s AO3 name and select it from the dropdown.

Once both these fields are properly filled out, go ahead and post your work. It will stay hidden until the Supergirl Christmas 2024 collection is revealed on December 25th  :) Please make sure to add your work to the collection by the deadline of December 20th.

You can view and edit your work before the collection is revealed here. It will be the only one visible to you, so just scroll through till you find it! (Note: As the collection is moderated, it might not appear immediately. This does not mean you uploaded incorrectly! It will be up shortly, and in the meantime you can also get to your work via your statistics page by the works listed there.)

Starting a few years ago it's also been noticed that the collection will not populate when you type it into the collection field! That doesn't mean it isn't posting there, it's just some weirdness on AO3's part. As long as you have the correct collection name in the field, it will post as unrevealed.

If you're anxious about whether you have it typed correctly, there is a "Post to Collection" button on the profile page that will auto-populate it for you and show the collection name as selected.

[dghdabigbang]

It's Almost Time...

The posting period for the DGHDA Big Bang 2024 is almost upon us! Authors can begin to add their fics to the unrevealed AO3 Collection starting TODAY if you're ready early, and the Collection will go live around 9am PST on Friday, July 5! You can post publicly anytime from July 5 - July 8 (Fri-Mon).

As the deadline approaches, here's what participants need to know:

Artists

Post your work on Tumblr-- make sure to tag @dghdabigbang so that we know to reblog it here!

If you’re in the DGHDA discord, share a link in the #self-promo channel!

Authors

Post your work to the Bang's AO3 Collection: DGHDA Big Bang 2024 (New Works can be created following the link above and selecting "Post to Collection". To post from your Drafts, use the following steps: "Edit" > "Associations" > type "DGHDA Big Bang 2024" into the "Post to Collections / Challenges" field > "Post". If you've added your work before 7/5, it will be "hidden" until the collection goes live. If you're having trouble with the step, let us know!)

Post a link to your fic on Tumblr and tag @dghdabigbang so that we can reblog it!

If you’re in the DGHDA discord, share a link in the #self-promo channel!

For anyone:

If you are worried about meeting the deadline, please let us know! We understand life happens, and we have pinch hitters standing by for exactly that reason! The earlier you let us know, the more time our lovely pinch hitters have to catch up with their new partners.

Can't wait to see everyone's works very soon!

[fountainpenguin]

hiii new reader here! I'm loving your neighborhood watch au :) I have a question though, what's up with all the hidden fics if you don't mind answering?

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it! I'm hoping to post more for that AU during 2025; working on the buffer this winter :) Next up should be "Goodchild Oscar," which I started a long time ago and have been itching to share. I love NW AU so much...

And good question! My hidden fics are in an unrevealed collection called Riddle WIPs:

Hidden works are my drafts, but in a way that prevents them from being auto-deleted by AO3 after 30 days (i.e. the way AO3's actual draft feature does).

Keeping my works in this unrevealed collection lets me see everything, organize everything, link them to other works, prep my tags in advance, and do my color-coding HTML in advance (for works that use the green/yellow/red name system for life colors). Multi-chapter works also get their spoiler dropdown boxes in advance too.

This is a lifesaver when working with series. I have my works in multiple series, and every time you add one of those (or an inspired work), you have to save/post to refresh the page before you can add another. People who subscribe to a series (as opposed to the story or author) get the notification after a work is posted. I like to make sure my work has all the series attached to it upfront, not just one. It's nice to feel like I have plenty of time to do everything I want for prep purposes without stressing about a 30-day timer.

In short, it's a LOT easier to stick to a weekly upload schedule if all the work on the AO3 side is done in advance and all I need to do is slap the chapter in and post. Here's a draft I prepped last night, for instance:

/slaps his little head - This work can fit SO much body text when I'm done.

On posting night, all I have to do is add the text, change the update date to the day I post, remove it from the unrevealed collection, and presto! People subscribed to any of those series (or to me as an author) get the notifications :) Huge time-saver that lets me keep my regular update schedule.

If you check that publish date, you can see I actually made this draft in April. I just did the tags and cover art for it last night, as I'd like to get this work posted very soon. It takes me a while to get around to each individual project, but at least I always know where to find them and I can do the parts I have energy for when I have free time.

I just made a spreadsheet this week that links all my docs and AO3 works, so I am living large...

Another reason I do this is because I often have limited Internet access, but I do have offline access to my writing docs. I have a lot of back-and-forth time on the road, and sometimes I finish my writing when I'm away from home. It's so nice to prep the AO3 side in advance while I have a stable Internet connection and mouse instead of doing all that on the trackpad.

[cnt'd - Long post]

Back when I started doing this with hidden works, it was mostly because AO3 had a bug where every time you rearranged a series, you had to manually edit every single work that came after it if you wanted the Previous and Next links to work properly.

And I did. Every time I posted. Because that's how I am. I write a series titled 130 Reasons Why I'm Fairy Trash, which used to be arranged chronologically before I went through and changed them to recommended reading order, and there are 130 one-shots in it. I have tasted so much pain...

In other words, the series feature was great for people posting new works that come "next" in the series, but it wasn't working well for people who like to rearrange the order when they post something new. Ex: I have both the Pixels Imperfect and Neighborhood Watch series in chronological order. Using the unrevealed works, I took the time to arrange all the hidden works in advance so that the timeline was properly arranged regardless of what order I submitted fics in. This way, I only had to dedicate a couple days to getting all my current WIPs prepped and arranged, with the hope being that my links would work properly for a long time before I wrote a new work and had to find a place for it. I have never written a series chronologically in my life and I think it would kill my motivation if I forced myself to do that, honestly.

I'm pretty sure this rearrangement bug was there since I joined AO3 in 2018. Guess what they fixed while I was in the middle of adding all my drafts and arranging them all :'D

This is the best bug fix ever; my crops are watered daily and my skin is clean. I live in constant fear this bug will return and I will once again be relegated to spending hours of an evening painstakingly updating every work that comes later in a series... instead of the 2 seconds it takes to place a work now.

Bonus reason why I like the hidden work feature: I have thousands of documents after my 13+ years of posting fanfics and writing original works, many of which are no longer as up-to-date as posted versions that received minor revisions over the years (like spelling fixes).

It's super nice to have a place on AO3 to keep backups where I can easily find them and not mix them up with my outdated files (which I should clean out, but hesitate to do so because it would take me days).

I do have downloaded backups of all my works as well (Bless FicLab). Went through and did a sweep last month! I will not lose over a decade of my life... I bought a flash drive necklace to slap them on, so they will literally have to pry this stuff from my cold, dead hands.

FFN went down for a week earlier this year and I had a few works that were exclusively on FFN, not yet on AO3, so I was very quick to slap those into my WIPs collection as soon as I could, haha... One of those is 30k words. Yep. Not losing that.

I really wish AO3 would let people use Previous and Next to navigate through a hidden work because it's very obnoxious for me and others who want to click through the series and then we slam into a hidden work, but c'est la vie.

I fear the bug's return with my life, and for this, everyone must click extra times to navigate around the wall.

Fun bonus screenshots of what I see on my end even though these works are hidden for you guys:

Pixels Imperfect #2, baby! ... The first wall you hit if you're trying to read the series by clicking "Next," haha... Oh no.

And some Neighborhood Watch:

The story beats are there! I'm just not yet... but it's a much bigger decision to drop a WIP if you're already "halfway there" because you've got the prep work done. Some people may not want to put that "pressure" on themselves, but I don't mind it. I like seeing the works yet to come so they remind me of how excited I am to get there. They just seem so close...

I'm easing into a hiatus from posting fanfics this winter so I can build my 'fic buffers and post a few one-shots I've had sitting around. Fingers crossed that 2025 will have a lot of NW content. I'm very excited for it and I'm glad you're looking forward to it too!

-> I am so glad NW is only the first 5 Life seasons in the same timeline, because if I had to work Wild Life's mechanics into the worldbuilding, that would be a rough one...

My late-2025 is set up to be extremely busy IRL and the next couple years are sure to be as well, so I'm putting my all into prepping buffers right now. This'll be a lifesaver for me down the road.

[thepromptnetwork]

Posting time!!!! ✍️

here we go!!! keep them coming! if you need some time this week to finish up and post, no worries.

reveals will take place at the end of the week (around ~6 Sept) but the collection will remain open for late additions (including wips)!

A reminder: Be sure to submit to the collection (TPNMiniBang2024) when setting up your work on ao3.

Hit Post and your fic will submit to the collection but will remain hidden & unrevealed until mods reveal. After 6 Sept any late posts will automatically be visible when you publish.

[hermitcraftguesstheauthorevent]

hey, I noticed there are two fics in the collection rn (one of which is my own), but the one that;s my own says "unrevealed" and then the title and everything, meanwhile the other just says "mystery work". what's up with that? (idk how these things work)

I checked the collection on my end, and both works are safely hidden!

You can always see your own work while it's in a collection. As long as the work title says "unrevealed" it's still properly hidden from everyone else.

Everything's working as intended.

Thanks for the ask!

[withgirl-sq]

What happened to Avatar Azula Book 3?

I was messing around with collections again (sorry this has happened twice now 😮‍💨 lol), I've been toying with the idea of having fics unrevealed until I have more of it written, I just wanted to test what options I would have -- It wasn't working when I gave up and went to sleep so I just left it on there didn't realise it had hidden the fic!

It should be back up now!

I'll be sure to use a one-shot or something to test it on next lol

Thank you for asking though, made me realise there was a problem!

[quicktimeeventfull]

psa about ao3 collections:

i would encourage authors to turn down collection requests for their fic because readers can mark their collections as unrevealed, which will hide your fics. i do not think this is necessarily done maliciously — a lot of readers do not realize this is how that feature works

if you are a reader who wishes to organize fics, you have two options:

make a collection of bookmarks rather than a collection of fics. this does not affect the fic and does not require author approval. bookmark collections must be public to be useable, as private collections will also be hidden from yourself

add your own tags to your bookmarks, then sort/filter as you would on the remainder of the site. this does not affect the original fic

[taejinbingo]

Welcome to TaeJin At the Movies!

(reblogs greatly appreciated 🩵🤎)

THE CONCEPT:

Make TaeJin the stars of your favorite movie! All genres of film (and film only, please) are welcome.

TIMELINE:

31 Mar - 14 Apr 2024: Prompting

15 Apr - 13 May 2024: Claiming

30 Aug 2024: Works are due by Midnight KST

05 Sep 2024: Work reveals begin!

INSPIRATION: aka Prompting

Prompts must include the max acceptable rating (Mature and/or Explicit only) and archive warnings you are okay with seeing in the final work.

BE SPECIFIC: Tag your preferred ship(s), and list your Do Wants (DW) and Do Not Wants (DNW)

Prompts that include desired word counts and excessively detailed plotting may be rejected (this is a prompt, not a commission—please be kind and keep in mind writers are under a deadline)

TaeJin must be the main focus!

TREATMENT: aka Claiming

Two (2) claims per writer (only one (1) can be a self-prompt)

One (1) claim per prompt

Complete the Google signup sheet

Claims will be confirmed via email

Once claim(s) are completed and work(s) submitted, you may claim again

SCRIPTING: aka Writing

Minimum word count for a fic is 1500 words; Final works must be in English

Dropping is allowed at any time, please email to let us know

SUBMITTING: Not as dirty as it sounds 😂

You may submit your work at any time, up to Midnight KST 30 Aug 2024

All works will remain hidden until the deadline (AO3 hides unrevealed works on your Stats page)

Please hold anything that identifies you until AFTER Opening Day

TAG YOUR WORK PROPERLY

ALLOWED CONTENT

This fest stands on the side of artistic and creative freedom. Dark and uncomfortable subject matter is permitted. Content will not be policed. We are trusting readers to know their limits and writers to respect prompt DWs and DNWs. Not all DWs need to be included, but NO DNWs should appear in your work

Please keep in mind that this approach may not be for you, and that it is perfectly okay to back button away and pretend we don’t exist.

OPENING DAY: aka Reveals

Works and authors will be revealed on 05 Sep 2024

If you miss the premiere, but still want to add your late work to the collection, feel free!

QUESTIONS?

Reach out via Tumblr or Google Form!

See the full collection details right HERE.

Ready to PROMPT?

Ready to CLAIM? Make sure to fill out the SIGN UP! (this opens 15 Apr 2024)

[theattoyearchive]

The Attoye Week Collection

The Where, The Why, and The How

Attoye Week is almost upon us, and we're all sooooo excited! With all the works on the way, we decided to create an Attoye Week collection on Ao3 so everything can be in one place. All works for this year's Attoye Week will be in the collection Attoye Week 2023.

The collection is currently unrevealed but will go live Monday, Aug 14, at 9am EST. Any works added before that time will remain hidden. The collection is open and moderated. This means that any works added will need to be approved by an Attoye Week admin. We will do our best to review and approve works in a timely manner, but please bear with us if there are any delays.

Be sure to review the rules before posting, and we'll see you all on Monday!

If you aren't sure how to add your work to a collection, here's a quick guide below the break:

First, you're going to want to head over to Ao3 and Post a New Work (or Edit a Draft):

Second, fill in all your work info (Title, Pairing, Fandom— the whole nine), then scroll down to Associations, right under the Author's Note section:

Third, under the Post to Collections/Challenges Section, search up the Attoye Week collection and select Attoye Week 2023 (attoyeweek2023):

Lastly, copy & paste your fic into the Work Text, then hit Post!

Note: If you add your work while the collection is still hidden, you'll get a message at the top like this:

It will disappear when the collection is revealed.

We can't wait to see what you all have in store!

[februaryfangfest]

Hey y'all. We're in the final stretch of things, and so here are your guidelines for how to submit your work.

Posting Details

Here is our Ao3 Collection for the Event. Your works should be sumbitted here by the 1st of February. They will remain unrevealed until the event, and we'll reveal new works each day of the event.

If you are posting fanart, you should still post this to ao3 and our collection there, but you will need to host the images offsite. Here are Ao3 guidelines for how. You can take try using private tumblr posts or discord links, but here are three free image hosting site options that allow adult content: Postimages, put.re, and Macintosh Garden.

Event Rules

The theme is Valentine. All submissions should try to incorporate the theme in some way (even if it's a small way).

All submissions must be your own creation and cannot have been posted publicly beforehand. Fresh creative blood must be spilt!

Stories and artwork can be set at any point in the past or future, in hidden glimpses we never saw in the show, reunion stories, worlds where Darla’s still around, etc. The characters can be souled or unsouled or in any what-if or AU your heart can dream up.

Your work must involve at least two members of the Fanged Four. The main ship should be the Fanged Four or one of the sub-pairings (Spangel, Dangel, Sprusilla, Darsilla, etc).

Minimum word count for fic is 100 words. There’s no maximum - one shots and chaptered works are equally welcome, but they should be complete and not part of a pre-existing fic series.

Any rating is welcome for both fics and art, but please tag responsibly.

No bashing of the group or its members, please. We’re here to show them love. This is a celebration of the characters and their dynamics with each other, not the place for your dissertation on which vampire is better or worse than the others. They're all good vamps, Bront.

Be excellent to each other!

Our Discord is here if you have any questions, or want to chat with everyone about the Fanged Four and Fangfest. It's also where we'll be hosting our watch parties during the event.

[memorizingthedigitsofpi]

Hey, so was looking in my marked for later and I found your "mystery work" in there? I'm like, how did this even get here?? I can't click on the actual fic to remove from marked for later, or add it to in the first place. I'm not against it being there, im just a bit confused. I pretty much just read gomens fics rn, and I don't recognize either of what you've published. Did there use to be a regular fic in that collection? If so, could you tell me a bit about it? I'm not asking you to repost if you don't want to, im just trying to get to the bottom of this lol. Don't mean to bother you, I know this is a bit of a tedious and pointless question.

Thank you

It was most likely one of my site skins. I put them all into an unrevealed collection this morning because I'm pissed off about things you likely haven't even heard about but that had me close to deleting my accounts last night.

Anything that isn't a fanfic isn't visible to anyone but me anymore. If people wanna be assholes, then I'll take away the toys.

If I sound angry, it's because I still am, but like I said I doubt you'd even know why so I won't get into it.

No worries about the question. You taught me what happens to fics marked for later when they get hidden in a collection! I had no idea.