#ao3 authors - including myself - are doing this FOR FREE | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

elismor · 5 days

Text

I see a lot of posts going by about comments and kudos and hits and...well... I've been thinking about the three quite a lot lately--as both a fic author and someone who spends a lot of my professional life looking at web metrics and determining which are actually important/accurate measures of user engagement.

Mileage varies, of course. And this is all just MY opinion, so do feel free to ignore it wholesale.

What I think when I see someone say that sorting by a hits to to kudos ratio is a good way to find "good" fic:

Hits are a measure of quantity (how many times your story or art has been viewed), but without knowing how AO3 defines a hit, it's actually kind of a meaningless number. We know that our own views of our work do not count toward hits, but...if my BFF looks at my story 7 times in one day because she keeps trying to read it but getting interrupted...is that one hit, or seven? And if it's seven, then the numbers are artificially inflated because it's really just Bestie trying to get her Codex fix. And...if Bestie looks at it three times today and four tomorrow...is that 7 hits total, or two?

Some transparency on the part of AO3 could clear this up handily, but until we get that...shrug. All it is is a number that may or may not be an accurate reflection of how many actual people looked at the page your fic is on. Did they READ it? Or did they nope out? No way to know.

Kudos are intended to be slightly more qualitative, but there is no way of knowing why the reader gave them. (Similar to likes here on tumblr.) It might be that they loved the piece. It might be a simple acknowledgement that the reader was there. It might even be a pity kudo. We have no way of knowing. It's, again, just a number.

Obviously, everyone is free to interpret both hits and kudos as positive reaction/interaction. I might do that myself if I didn't spend my workdays explaining to people that 50,000 "hits" to the website could be 50K people who came to learn about us or...simply the result of the computer labs on campus having the university homepage set to default.

Bigger numbers are just that....bigger numbers.

Comments are the only objective way to judge how someone is reacting to your fic or art.

So, what then? Sort by number of comments?

You can do that, sure. (I think. I confess I have never once gotten the AO3 search to work as well as people rave about.) But do keep in mind that many authors answer their comments. So, something with, say, 20 comments may be 20 people telling the author they loved it. Or it might be ten people and ten author-replies. OR, it might be three people having a conversation in the comments. You have to look and see.

Bigger numbers are just bigger numbers.

Okay, fine Elis. What am I supposed to do then?

Look, I'm not your mother or your therapist and you are free to assign whatever meanings you like to these things. I, personally, find "good" fic through a combination of things including: recs, the fandom grapevine, dumb luck, events, and just...reading some of it and not feeling guilty if I nope out for some reason.

This all sounds a little depressing when laid out like this, huh? Especially when you take into account the downward trends in interacting and the rise of folks treating fic and art as content to be consumed.

Here's what I have learned from writing fic for 30 years (well, 28 and counting):

As an author (and an artist, I would presume), you have absolutely no way of predicting which of your work will land and take hold and which will not. It's alchemy and luck and the weird (and not actual) algorithm of fandom. Sometimes, the piece you whipped out in 30 minutes and posted on the fly will land in the right person's inbox and they will share it and their friends will share it and it will get big. Sometimes, the piece you slaved over for weeks and weeks will do that...sometimes it won't. Sometimes your genius manifests and resonates, sometimes it does not.

My personal favorite fic of my own--the one I think is probably the best thing I have done in SW fandom-- has like 8 kudos and 4 comments (2 of which are my responses). Is it disappointing? Yes. Is it an indication that the fic is objectively "bad"? No.

The mercenary in me suggests that if you want to get lots of comments and kudos, you should pick the pairing that is THE pairing in the fandom and write for that--because that's where the eyeballs are, because that's where the connections are. But that is not why I write, so it's just that--a very mercenary way of looking at things. Not that there is anything WRONG with doing it that way. Supply and demand run the world. If the people want Codywan and you want the people....give them Codywan. No shame in that.

And there is no shame in wanting or seeking validation for your work, either.

But it breaks my heart to see authors (and artists) give up on themselves when they do not receive piles of kudos and comments. It's not you. It's...the luck of the draw. It's...fandom. It's...an artificial and murky set of measurements that have almost no basis in anything meaningful.

Keep writing. Keep drawing. Keep sharing. You are what you make, not how people respond to it.

#let's talk about fic baby #fandom #kudos and comments

71 notes · View notes

bindeds · 2 months

Text

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 100 FOLLOWERS ! — i genuinely can’t believe i’ve come this far with posting my brainrot for hazbin. it has and will continue to be such an honor to keep posting for you guys, and to celebrate you guys i’ve prepared a little something for you guys, hehe!

requests.

i am willing to do any requests you guys might have which includes art, gifs, character ships (radioapple, huskerdust, etc) and of course character x reader ships despite generally being an x reader blog. though of course as any sane person would, i am not entertaining angel x val.

some fics along the way …

i have been cooking up something specifically for lucifer though nothing is confirmed yet except for the fact that i want to make a longer fic for him (AT LEAST 10k words long), but i’m kinda having trouble for the plot so this kinda connects to the first thing which if you have any ideas for me to write i am implore you to hit up my askbox, please! i’m gonna need all the help i can get! i’ve also gotten a radioapple worm in my head and the premise is too good not to act on though i will say it will be shorter than the lucifer fic. because of this both of these will be on my ao3 so stay tuned!

selfships.

i thought it would be cool for you guys to tell me a bit about yourself and then from there i pick a character from hazbin/helluva (depending on which show you prefer) that i think you would like/be with romantically (or even queerplatonically for the aro/aces out there)!! i’ve seen other people do this as well and they do 3-pic moodboards sometimes and i’d love to do that for you guys! or if you guys wanna go in depth i could also make short fics dedicated to you personally upon request!

get to know me + qna!

besides all the stuff that’s stated in my pinned, i’ve been writing since i was 10 (i am 18) and i’ve wanted to be a published author for the longest time, though as i grew older i realized there’s a lot of other ways i can get my stories out to the world, like screenwriting, animating (or being both the creator and writer of my own show AHEM totally not talking about hazbin) so i’m not really sure of things yet, but i will say i’ve learned a lot about writing since i first started and even though i know this is all for fun, i take the way i write things seriously, so any constructive feedback you might have will be valuable to me! anyway, i have A LOT of opinions on everything hazbin/helluva so you can ask about those or more about me! i’m a very open person so i like to give in depth responses. but yeah feel free to ask about my opinions on helluva/hazbin as well as my personal life too!

another thing i wanted to disclose about myself since i feel comfortable after having met such wholesome people after starting this blog, is that i have been through abuse very similar to angel dust’s meaning his character meant a lot to me and he was my favorite character when the pilot first came out so yeah! definitely ask me about angel too if you have anything to ask!

#thank you so much for 100 followers #it genuinely means so much to me #hazbin hotel fandom #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel headcanon #hazbin hotel fanfiction #alastor hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin lucifer #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin alastor #lucifer morningstar #lucifer magne #lucifer hazbin hotel #radioapple #alastor the radio demon

59 notes · View notes

goodtoyous · 10 months

Text

The Trouble With Tagging

Tagging in fandom is useful, but ultimately detrimental because of how people are using it.

When I shop online for shoes, tagging is what lets me filter my view to white sneakers in size 7.5. But there are other attributes I look for in shoes. Maybe I want shoes with widely-spaced holes so they aren’t too tight when I lace them. Maybe I want to buy soles that aren’t too thick because I think that makes them clunky. And there will be other people who have these preferences too, so that must mean they’re useful classifications to have!

So it should be in a company’s best interest to provide me a way to find white sneakers in size 7.5 with widely-spaced holes, thinner soles, and whatever else I want in my shoes. Because otherwise it’s just a waste of time for me to buy something and return it later when I don’t like it, right?

No. Absolutely not.

I can’t ask for all the shoes that aren’t red to be tagged as #Not Red. I can’t ask for all shoes to be tagged #Loose Around the Ankles, when that isn’t a universal metric. The best way for me to find the shoes I want, and maybe this is still somehow controversial but I can’t imagine how, is to go into the store MYSELF and either try on shoes until I find ones I like, or ask a salesperson to help me.

Yet, somehow, people fail to see how this applies to tagging.

Back in the days of cable television, when a show was about to start, you’d see a rating and a content warning. ‘Viewer discretion is advised’, and maybe a few more words on what kind of content to expect: crude language, sexual situations, or graphic violence. We still use variations of those ratings and contents warnings on AO3 today, and they are very useful, standardized indicators.

Writers would use these indicators, and it was understood certain ratings would contain adult topics. There was nuance there, and room for interpretation, and responsibility on the reader’s side for monitoring their own content consumption.

In fandom, we coined our own terms to help enforce the idea that fanfiction was a free space for everyone to write what they wanted. ‘Don’t like; don’t read’ (DL;DR) is a common term that has perhaps become less common over the years, and has lost some of the meaning it used to have.

DL;DR does not mean ‘we, the writers, will warn for every topic that this work will include so you can avoid it’. What it meant was, if you read a story and came across something you didn’t like, you would stop reading. It did not have to be something triggering, it could just be something you didn’t like. You would hit the back button and that was the end of it.

Using tags became a way to include additional information on a story so that people could avoid certain topics more easily. So that back button didn’t need to be hit quite as often. Nowadays, I feel as though people have begun to see it as a requirement.

People will preach about wanting to avoid content they don't want, but you have always been able to do that from the very beginning. You always have the option to close the tab, to stop reading.

‘I wouldn’t have read this if I had known ___’ is a complaint most writers are not unfamiliar with. Readers complain about having wasted their time on stories that were ‘disappointing’, ‘problematic’, or ‘misleading’, simply because there is an aspect of a story they disagree with.

If a story doesn’t have ‘Unhappy Ending’ slapped on it, readers hold the author responsible for their emotional response. If one topic isn’t tagged, the author is somehow at fault for being ignorant, insensitive, or irresponsible.

It is grossly misleading to approach this by assuming authors are acting incorrectly, or possess malicious intent for not including a tag. Simplifying fiction by categorizing it into tags is exactly what that is, simplifying it. Maybe it isn’t tagged because it's a spoiler. Maybe the author didn't think it was an important aspect of the story. Maybe they just forgot!

If an author is mistagging and misrepresenting their work, that is a different story that is subject to different nuances. But it is not a requirement, unspoken or otherwise, to include a tag, because this isn’t how reading works! There is a reason why 'Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings' exists, and that is because tags are for an author to classify their own work how they see fit. It is their choice!

People have been trained by social media into not curating their own content; they let algorithms and FYPs do it for them, and when they see something they don't like, they blame it on the person who posted it.

"How dare anyone encroach on this public space with something I don't want to see!"

So I ask you this: does an author’s opinions and desires on how their work is presented not matter? Are authors shackled to public opinion irregardless of what they believe is most important about their own creation? Should creative control be fully relinquished because people who had nothing to do with a work's creative process believe they know better?

If your answer to that last question isn’t a firm, resounding NO, then you are admitting you feel more entitled to a creator’s work than the actual creator.

Society has evolved to no longer value art for being art, but value art only if it is able to conform to various labels for commodified consumption. Yet there is no faster way to kill true art than to try and cram it into a billion tiny little boxes.

Fiction is subjective. Tastes are subjective. Tagging is useful, but it isn’t everything. Take responsibility for the content you consume. Stop asking people to pick out your shoes for you, and go try some on for yourself.

#ao3 #writing #meta #fanfiction #fiction

166 notes · View notes

sanfangirl-cynicalromantic · 7 months

Text

11 People's Hiccstrid Preferences You Want to Get to Know Better

Last Hiccstrid Fic You Read: Reconciliation by @heathenvampires

Favorite Hiccstrid au (Modern, High School, Spy, College, Hogwarts, etc) and favorite fic in that genre: I love modern aus the most (as they included high school and college and spies and the like) but it's too hard to choose one favorite. 😅 I guess I would go with @harrypanther's Behind the Mask, @katergator84's Walls We Build, and @triumphantfury's Wrapped in Red although it was painful to choose that over Upside of Heartbreak

Latest Hiccstrid Bookmark on AO3: Gravity by @weepynymph

Last 3 Hiccstrid Authors You've Read: @hiilikedragons or CuriosityRedux, @heathenvampires (HeathenVampires), and

Favorite Hiccstrid Trope (i.e. friends-to-lovers, idiots-to-lovers, rivals-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, strangers-to-lovers, love-at-first-sight, angst . . . the list goes on): uhhh, I love all of these, but I guess I'll go with slowburn, because I like to torture myself? One amazing slowburn-on-high-heat Hiccstrid fics that had me screaming at them to kiss from chapter one was @whathappenedtomyweekend's It's Just A Spark I'm so worried I'm going to read another fic and then go oh shit this one's my new favorite but oh well

Song That Makes You Think of Hiccstrid: 2step by Ed Sheeran. IDK I just think it kinda perfectly protrays how much Hiccup appreciates Astrid's ability to help him out of his dark holes

Favorite Canonverse Fic: Okay so Here's Hoping isn't exactly canonverse but the extraordinary @hiilikedragons apparently has a better grasp on Hiccstrid and their kids than Dreamworks so it's practically canon in my mind

Favorite Canon-Divergence Fic: Persephone by @thatsnicebutimmarried (I don't think I'll ever try to not mention that wonderful genius)

Hiccstrid Fic That Deserves More Recognition (don't they all): The Lady Knight I'm kidding I swear Hiccup in a Flash I'm sorry but I am so obsessed with this fic and it's unfinished but so good and worth it. Also Thor Help Her. I believe I've mentioned this fic before but I don't have any of you messaging me about the steamy hot tension so I'll keep recommending it. One fic that blows my mind each time I read is Do Flight Simmers Dream of Inflight Emergencies? and I guess I'll stop there but there are so many more

Favorite Hiccstrid Series: if not in this world, then in the next by @impracticable-dreamer literally this is a priceless gem and I can never forget it

tagging: @ryupioupiou @triumphantfury @katergator84 @mialicassi @sorushing @per4mancecheck @limesandcoconuts @hiccstridshipper19 @athingofvikings @shipmistress9 and @bi-bi-want-dragon but feel free to participate even if you aren’t tagged!

(yes this is pretty much an excuse to gush over some of my favorite hiccstrid content and endeavor to get more recommendations)

#Hiccstrid #fic rec #asks #HTTYD fandom #Hiccstrid aus #HTTYD #Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III #Astrid Hofferson #HTTYD fanfiction #Hiccstrid fandom

103 notes · View notes

thebibliosphere · 2 years

Note

What do you mean by: Dead Dove do not eat? Isn’t that meaning anything and everything goes therefore no trigger warnings of any kind? I am confused. Dx

You have trigger warnings for your works, but yet there is a dead dove there as well?

I is confuzzled.

So sometimes fic writers tag “dead dove: do not eat” to mean “I’m not tagging this; read at your own risk.” This is not the (original) purpose of that tag, as “the author chose not to use tags” is right there built into ao3, and is implied to be a free for all where anything might go.

Others, myself included, use the dead dove tag to point out that the thing is clearly labeled and you need to pay attention to the provided tags because if you open it up and are still shocked to find the clearly labeled content inside, that's on you.

It’s basically a “heed the tags and don’t start going off in the comments when this clearly messy fic about [sugar daddies] deals in-depth with problematic content.”

Laughably I keep getting told Sugar Vladdy the most wholesome problematic thing people have read. I think perhaps because, yeah, everythings a mess (including the characters) but it’s also not glorifying the mess but instead focuses on how even messy people with stigmatized problems deserve to get better, and they deserve to find love and community during the process of healing and not just after they reach a sanitized standard of “better” that’s deemed socially acceptable. And also some people are just really into the idea of benevolent sugar daddies paying off their tuition. Both are good!

Anyway, yeah. dead dove; don’t eat. (Translation: read the warning tags!)

1K notes · View notes

apollosgiftofprophecy · 6 months

Text

THE COMPLETE COPOLLO MASTERLIST

Desperately looking for fics to satisfy your obsession with the RRverse's most dumpsterfire of a ship? Look no further than this post :3

I have Copollo fics ranging from Ao3, FF.net, and here on tumblr! Each fic will be linked, and if the author has a tumblr (that I know of - if you know their tumblr let me know!), they will be tagged.

Also, before we begin, I would just like to say that when I say every Copollo fic I can find is on this list, I mean all of them. This includes fics that are canon compliant, crack, aus, and those with darker tones. If that isn't your thing, all you have to do is avoid clicking on said fics. They're all organzied very nicely if I do say so myself. Nothing more to it :3

Look below the cut for the list! If you have any fics that slipped between my grabby fingers let me know so I can add them! :3

Roman Empire Era

A Cruel Occasion by @seductivegrapethrowing

Grapes and Blood (written in German) by Buttons_Buttons (Rated G)

Fairness by mothmansaysgayrights (Rated G)

The Death of Emperor Commodus by LusiaLovegood (Rated G)

Long Life to You by kitatyourservice (Rated G)

Death's Embrace by me (Rated G)

When the Day Met the Night by me (Rated G)

When Everything's Wrong, You Make It Right by me (Rated G)

Call Me Commodus / Today I'll Be Your Ruler / I'll Also Die Here by kitatyourservice (Rated G)

Of Broken Promises by @money-and-dandellions (Rated G)

Rewrite The Stars by me (Rated G)

Keeping Warm by @soleil-in-retrograde (I reread the Copollo part of this over and over :3) (Rated T)

vow by @daisy-mooon (Rated T)

my teeth will only cut your lips, my dear by localcryptidlivinlife (Rated T)

Always Told You Not To Love Me (Now Look What You Made Me Do) by anxious_tofu (Rated E)

ghost of mine (you're taking up all my time) by anxious_tofu (Mainly perpollo, but I read it for the Copollo :3) (Rated E)

Trials of Apollo

Canon Compliant

As Far As I'm Concerned, You're Just Another Picture To Burn by @thatdamseries

A Pity by kitatyourservice (Rated G)

Song of Apollo by @tsarinatorment (For the Copollo crumb within :3) (Rated T)

Fractures of the Mind (Heart) by me :3 (Rated T)

The Devil Within (His Mind) also by me (Rated T)

Chapter 5 of some ToApril drabbles because my head is as empty as Meg's by orphan_account (Rated T)

Divinity, Fire, and Former Lovers by @seapinecone (Rated T)

Aus

All's Fair in Love & War by me (Rated G)

It's Be Okay by Apollo4612 (Rated Fiction T)

@daisy-mooon

Taunt (Rated G)

Outnumbered (Rated T)

Blindfold (Rated T)

Spark (Rated M)

Triumvirate Wins Au by bacchis

to eros, in secrecy

den of the lion (Rated E)

there are a couple more fics in this series if you're interested but only the two above have brief Copollo moments (i will admit this au lives rent-free in my brain)

AUs

Winds of Ruin by me (Rated G)

Coward by @nyaningthroughlife (Rated T)

Moonrise by me

Crack (when i say every fic, I mean every fic)

It's a Fun Time in Commodupolis! by Anonymous (Rated M)

Dark

Nothing Like The Sun by Cola_bubblegum

Day & Night by Lif61 (UltimateFandomTrash) (Rated E)

TAG LIST: @moodyseal @plastikstarz @hazardous-lightdas12 @worlds-oldest-teenager here it is! :3

#copollo #masterpost #the trials of apollo #toa #trials of apollo #apollodus #apollo x commodus #apollo #commodus #pjo apollo #toa apollo #pjo commodus #toa commodus #toa fanfiction

100 notes · View notes

callivich · 1 year

Text

The Gallavich fandom on tumblr is great - full of lovely, creative people who are friendly and welcoming. So if you’re new to tumblr or Gallavich or coming back after some time away, don’t be shy, get involved! (I think I’ve got all the current blogs that share work and/or run events but if I’ve missed anyone, please let me know!!)

@gallavichthings - for all things Gallavich, as well as events and writer interviews

@gallavichfanficlibrary - the place for finding a fic or getting recommendations

@gallavichfanartgallery - all the fanart you could want in one place

@ao3feed-gallavich - never miss a Gallavich fic on ao3 with this automated feed

@gallacrafts - a monthly Gallavich themed craft event

@galladrabbles - a weekly Gallavich themed drabble challenge

@shamelesscreatorsnetwork - events, tips and ideas for digital/visual creators

@shamelessbigbang - running the Shameless Big Bang event for fic and art

@mayo-in-the-morning - a Gallavich fanfic podcast

@gallavichprompts - send your Gallavich prompts and get creative inspiration (including a list of authors & artists who take prompts)

@spicygallavichcollab - collaborative event for writers and artists who want to create smut

@bottomiangallagher - bottom!Ian fanfic and fanart recommendations

@gallavich-headcanon Gallavich headcanon questions and meta discussion

@gallvichnanowrimo - a Gallavich themed blog for NaNoWrimo but inspiring posts for anytime of year

@slim-jims-in-this-shit-hole - @gallawitchxx’s spicy and smutty fanfic and fanart recs

@dailymikhailo - your daily dose of Mickey

@iangallaghersdaily - your daily dose of Ian

@usergallaghers - your daily dose of Shameless

@lil-domestic-bitches - a spicy aesthetic Gallavich blog

@gallavichcoloringbook - a place to download Gallavich art to colour

@gallavich-podfic - a place for Gallavich pod fics

@its-a-queer-thing - is running a Gallavich tropes event

@gallavichficfinds - Gallavich fanfic recs and a place to find fics

Every Gallavich Kiss list by @brain-matter

@francesroserecs - a Gallavich fanfic rec blog

@f-f-podcast - South Side Rules - A Shameless Podcast

@gallavichmeta - a place for discussion, meta, and analysis of Ian, Mickey and their relationship

@thegallavault - a fully fan-made, totally free collection of beloved Ian x Mickey fics in e-reader (.epub) format, complete with a custom cover that features fan art made by one of the many talented artists in the Gallavich fandom

@gallavich-fic-club - A community of fic readers and writers, as well as some brilliant fan artists, who love to connect about all of our favorite stories. We run a weekly fic discussion, and otherwise spend our days chatting about all things Gallavich!

Updated 26th April 2024

Mini Moodboard Story Challenges by @whatthebodygraspsnot - Gallavich picture prompts. What do you get when you put all the pieces together?

~~~

Tags to track: #gallavich #iangallagher #mickeymilkovich #ianxmickey #gallavichfanfic #gallavichfanart

Don’t forget: likes are great but reblogs are the best. Reblogs help share work, likes don’t do that. Please don’t steal and repost gifs, reblog gifs you like or use the gif search function (bottom left hand corner of a post) to include gifs you like in a post. Feel free to write comments in the tags or reply to posts, that’s a great way to show love and also engage with people. There’s lots of people who are happy to chat on here, so feel free to pop into their inbox and say hi 🙂

And feel free to make a #gallavichintro post to introduce yourself! And check out the lurker’s guide to the tumblr Gallavich fandom.

(p.s. I don’t know if it needs to be said but most people on here, like myself, are adults and only want to interact with other adults so please respect that if you are under 18)

#gallavich #mickey milkovich #ian gallagher #ian x mickey #gallavichfandom #masterlist #guide to Gallavich fandom

469 notes · View notes

shavynel · 8 months

Text

Writing comments for fanfic

tl;dr -- Write one thing you liked about the fic (a phrase or moment) and how you reacted or made you feel! Also, keep it fun! Make no demands of fic authors who write out of love and Owe Us Nothing.

It took me a while to figure out how to write comments. I went through an evolution. There's lots of stuff on how to write stories, probably even giving crit and feedback, but commenting? Not nearly as much. So here's my not so short ramble on writing comments for fic. Includes my Ways of commenting and Tenets of commenting.

Examples here will be T-rated (by AO3 standards) and most are taken from or newly written with specific fics in mind. They are, ahem, almost all Genshin Impact.

Commenting is, I believe, a personal thing. I've been told I have a bit of an enthusiastic presence, so what feels true to you may vary. I also like to write words (can you tell?). And smash keyboards.

Leaving comments is, in fact, effort! But it's also a skill that can be learned and honed. And honestly, I think my fic experience is improved by it. I don't always leave a comment. But, I don't know... that random internet person authored a Whole Thing. For Free (likely). And I just get to read it?? Yeah, I'm going to leave a little appreciation. Just a little snack in return for this fulfilling meal you have fed me.

I also find writing a comment is also a way for me to just bask in a fic a little bit longer, linger in that feeling of oh, wow, this was so good, and I don't want to leave yet. (And then sometimes there's a response, and then I get a bonus dose of nostalgia!)

Ways of commenting

These are roughly ordered by amount of effort required. I would say the comments I leave are a mash up of these, really. There aren't actual hard lines between them.

1. An extra kudos.

Kudos are nice. Knowing the kudos button isn't enough is one layer deeper! Comments like

"Thanks for writing!" "<3" "i mash kudos button but no more kudos come out what's wronnnnggg????" "yay an update!" "this is so good"

Level of effort: slightly more than a kudos.

Honestly, copy-pasteable. Personally, I would always write these out. Somehow, to me, as a commenter, feels more real if I tippy tappy the letters myself even if Author can't tell. It's a nice way to let an author know you're coming back chapter after chapter when we can only kudos once on a fic. I like to leave a little something more, but I still often start or end with this.

2. Fic reaction.

Sometimes a fic just leaves me a certain way. Invoked a particular mood or visceral reaction. So, I let the author know!

"Awww, my heart is warm!" "Jaw on ground. WTF!" "Literal chills." "My eyes are wet. How did that happen?" "This fic is pure comfort." "AHHHHHHHHHHH!" "Heart on floor, smashed." "WHOLESOME!" "This has left me completely feral and ready to punch something."

Level of effort: you need some emotional intelligence or other awareness of you reactions.

As a starting point, was the fic -- wholesome, sweet, chaotic (in a good way), funny, heartwrenching, sad, delightful, shocking, calm, peaceful, I just want a hug now, terrifying, creepy, comedic?

How do you then turn this into a comment? "This was so ___!!"

Honestly, my crutch here is to just keyboard smash. What does it mean? Your guess as good as mine. I'm speechless, and I cannot words properly, but please participate in these Feels I'm having.

3. One detail I like. (My default comment style)

This one covers a lot of scope. If I read to the end of the fic, there's probably something I liked. Maybe

a turn of phrase. "Diluc drinking grape juice like a man chained to an interrogation table. sfjfskkdz" "Bedsheets twisted up like cooked spinach is SO accurate." "Itto-to is such a cute mashup name!" "We have years ahead of us. That was just one day in the past. The feeeeeelllssss" ":) as punctuation" "Barbatos and Nobles as a bookstore. Sdjjsfjdw I love it"

a particular character moment, action, interaction, or dialogue. quote or paraphrase it! "Diluc kicking Childe into the water was hilarious." "Childe is such an adrenaline junkie. I can't believe he would lean out the window while he was driving." "I'm so proud of Zhongli for actually admitting his feelings!"

some specific moment you emotionally reacted to. I've only recently trained myself out of stoic facing through fic. I mean, it's a useful skill, don't get me wrong (especially in public), but it's less useful when it's just me by myself. I now laugh at 3am reading fic, and my life is brighter for it. Comedy fic writers, you are my fave. "Can't get over when Diluc walks in on Kaeya and Childe. AHHHHH!" "Qiqi drying Childe's hair was so sweet!"

Level of effort: you have to actually remember something you liked or reacted to.

The number of movies I watch and number of times someone asks how's my week, and I just stare blankly because I know it was good but don't know anything else? High. So yeah, this isn't trivial.

I've gotten to the point where usually while reading I notice a moment of "wow I love this!" I don't go looking for them (because I want to stay in fic headspace not comment material hunting headspace), and I don't spend much effort trying to remember. If I forget, that's fine. Not like I'm not writing a book review for a grade or anything.

Just, what's a moment you just got to call out? (And bonus, what's your reaction?) Authors out there seem to like to make us feel things. Show them we're just dangling from their puppet strings!

I usually leave comments like this. Just popcorn style, as many things as I remember, whatever comes up as I recall it. I'm aware that sometimes I end up basically quoting a fic back to its author completely out of order interspersed with commentary or keyboard smashes. I'm occasionally embarrassed by how much I'm smashing into their comments, but the reception seems overall positive.

4. Between the lines and spin off thoughts.

Sometimes fic make me think. I mean, canon makes me think, and then people go and make fanworks off of that, so of course I'm bound to run into fic that makes me think. Sometimes the things I notice or think about aren't directly in the text, but implied or spin out thoughts. An interpretation, a mini analysis, or a reflection. Like,

a new thought or take on a character. "Aro-ace Venti! I like this take!" "Please don't break Klee. She's just trying her best to hold all the adults together. Oh no. You've already broken Klee. T_T" "I bet Jean is the only person who could have kicked Diluc's ass, and he really needed it." "Kaeya what are you doooinggg?? Why is he like this???" (An extra note, it's cool to disagree with a character, but not the author. Character did that makes you want to scream? Go for it. Author wrote the character in a way you disagree with? Don't comment. Leave the fic if it bothers you that much.)

noticing foreshadowing or a detail that isn't fully explained / only alluded to. "Is that Scara working at Scarabucks???" "Wait, something about what Venti said makes me think this isn't just a modern day AU ..." "Did that count as a geo construct for the purposes of the contract?"

some sentence or moment somewhere that just hits you in the brain. This one I don't actually know if author's like. On the one hand, I can imagine it being flattering. On the other, maybe it's too personal? I'll usually center these on the characters, kind of like character analysis. "Diluc sharing his anxiety with Kaeya, and that being what made Kaeya look at his own anxiety... really hits. Like, I don't even think Diluc could have said something sooner without Kaeya running, which says so much about how Diluc loves Kaeya. And the fact Kaeya can see this as a mirror of what he's doing and learns something from it. Just. Oof. Wow." "The conversation between Zhongli and Childe is just so real. Like Zhongli is trying so hard but his ass just can't understand Childe just wants him to tell them things and his not telling things is Not Helping even though he just wants to protect the boy!"

Level of effort: some amount of analytical thinking, reflection, or willingness to share when you get sucker punched by words.

This one I absolutely never go looking for, so I don't leave many such comments. When it does come up, it usually smacks me in the face, and I let it (roll with the hit and into the comments). On occasion I am wailing in the comment box when the revelation (like having broken Klee) just dawns on me. Am I Feelings Processing in comment boxes? Uuuhhhhhh, no comment. (Don't mind the lack of delivery on the pun.)

I'd like to think authors appreciate when we reflect back to them we get their interpretation, but I can also imagine it might be a little too much for authors if we get too personal. In which case, sorry. Your work is great! Please take it as my intention to flatter you since you've touched my heart or brain or soul with your words.

5. Craft appreciation.

This one, *head scratches* yeah, I don't often end up here. But sometimes it's not one moment, but something about all the moments, something underlying, or something in the way it was all put together. If I do end up here and write a general statement, I like to point to specific bits that made me think that (which is where I lean back on One Detail I Like). Actually, yeah, usually I use this as flavor to One Detail I Like, but I think it's sufficiently different to pull out separately. It's a writerly meta layer. What falls here?

dialogue. "Your dialogue is so good. I can hear it in in the VA's voice." "I love the contrast between how Zhongli talks and Childe talks."

imagery. "Can't get over the imagery of Childe releasing dandelion scenes. Such a kid!" "Childe sleeping with Tranquil Statlight is just so peaceful."

characterization. "The little nuggets you give characters like Rosaria doing community service at the church for Crimes just gives me life." "I love the way you write Childe. He's so aggressive!"

setting, world building (more for AUs but wow there are some authors good at expanding on canon lore). "Your world building is so cool. Like the abyssal graffiti on the walls?? HNNG!"

writing style. "Your style is very dreamy. <3" "This is genuinely so heartwarming, and yet at the same time what is this underlying feeling of something is wrong????" "I feel like people appreciate the art of comedic one liners but you've got angst one liners. AND THEY SLAY."

pacing, timing. "This fic reads like a high speed express train. It just never stops or slows down!!" "What is this cRaFT! Like. Para 1, comedic. Para 2, thoughtful. Para 3, WHY DO MY HEARTSTRINGS HURT."

use of language. "Using he for POV character and they for the other is LINGUISTICALLY MIND BLOWING." (Please, I want this to catch on more. I do absolutely respect people's pronouns. These fictional characters (and people who have pronoun flexibility)? She and they instead of she and she?? THE CLARITY WE COULD HAVE??!? I'm incredibly greedy for it.)

premise. "Pierro Dad gives me so much life." "The Bachelor but it's Diluc?? Let's go!!"

plot twist, or cliff hanger. "The reveal!!! *screaming*" "I can't believe you would do me like this." (No, I can't in good conscience leave a specific example and give a fic away. Yes, I am thinking of specific fics still.)

Level of effort: be able to map details you like to writer's craft.

Let's not pretend we're here to do crit. Even if we're using writerly words, we are not here to do crit. Well, I am not because I don't believe the comments box is the right time or place for it, but I am happy to lay on the praise and point out the things that worked for me.

Usually, I think it's harder to look across a fic and be like, yeah, the dialogue hit, or this writing style or pacing really does it for me. It's more nebulous. And sometimes it kicks you out of fic reading headspace and into a writerly meta land to notice, so I don't, and I just let the fic wash over me. And if something here strikes me, I will offer my praises. Again, I think it helps to think of this more as an additional kind of One Detail I Like.

Tenets of commenting (and a little of reading)

Okay, so those were some do's, but I also have don't's. These are my boundaries that I keep. Maybe yours are different. I suspect most of these stem from the place, Author did this for free and Owes Me Nothing, so that's the one real tenet. I keep these in mind so that I can keep fic a nice, fun, safe place for me (and hopefully the authors too).

1. I will never ask for updates. I never expect a next chapter.

I've seen enough content creators stressed out and burnt out about putting something out over and over again. I feel for them. That sucks. They probably just started doing it for fun, and now ... The demand and expectation they continue to perform for free? Yeah, it's not going to come from me.

Once upon a time, because of this and a desire to have complete stories, I wouldn't read incomplete fics. I now am The Biggest Fan of incomplete fics. Yes, hang me off the side of a cliff. I will scream at you. And if you don't haul me back up? Well, fine. I'll live. Some other author's got my back. Probably. There's still so much to love between world building, characterization, good moments, jokes -- and you sometimes get the experience of seeing familiar faces screaming at the fic with you update after update. It's precious. It's fleeting. I could go on, but maybe a different day. Back to commenting!

Flip side, as an author, I will say the desire for more is, in one case, why I plan to continue a fic from years ago. I was very firm at the time I would not be extending the one shot, but I guess time changes things, and the fact people were like, I would read more story contributes to that.

So this one is very much a personal tenet. There's some line between I love this so much I want it to continue, and expecting there to be more. Where is it? I don't know. So I just stay away. Surely Author will get I want more if I just say how much I love everything and have commented on their latest chapter. Rather than leave snacks that taste like burn out to some authors, I will focus on other flavors of comments!

2. I will not say what I dislike.

Not my ship? I probably won't read. Not my preferred ship dynamic? Tropes I don't like? Characterization not hitting it for me? Paragraph formatting not doing it for me? I just x out of there, find something I do like. People be writing things for free! Let them have their fun!

If I did read it, snd I stayed, something else must have grabbed my attention. I'll focus on that. Writing style not quite doing it for me but I love the details added to the world? "Wow, the world you flesh out is so complex." No mention about how much of a drag it is to read, because hey, I still read it, and I had reason to not put it down!

3. I will not give corrections.

Authors (and maybe a beta) have put in tremendous effort and time, and to be like, "you missed a typo" or "actually, the canon lore says X" often detracts from the beauty of the shared fic experience. I interpret random grammar and misspeaks and typos in daily conversation and texts all the time. Surely I know enough to employ this skill. And if I figured it out, other readers probably will figure it out too. If I can't, I usually assume the author was too big brain for me and skip merrily along to the next sentence. (And if it's too much for me to handle, I click out.)

Yeah I get it! I get the urge to want to be helpful and contribute to other people's experience! I know that feel! Because, well, I learned this one from experience. I tried once. Watched an author wilt a little when what I wanted was to be helpful. Yeeeaaah, not doing that again.

So, I suspect this often comes off as a little entitled that just by that bit of you say something and kinda underlyingly expect the author to do something about it, and again, Author Owes Me Nothing! Even if the author is asking for a beta, I'd reach out first and make sure they are now in a headspace to be expecting beta thoughts from me.

Wrapping it up

I love fic, the world is rich with it, and I am full of love for authors and their craft. It fills my heart with joy to know I can return a little smile to someone who has let me hop on their ride for free.

It does take effort. Writing comments, turns out, is writing. Writing is a skill, therefore writing comments is a skill. And writing takes practice to improve, so, guess what, writing comments takes practice to improve. Who would've thunk. (Not me, I assure you.)

I've wanted to write this for me for a while, capture what I've learned because I noticed my ability to write comments change over time. Then recently, I was rec'd a fic and told to definitely leave a comment because the author deserves it and I write good comments. Dispatched because I write good comments! Now my commenter feathers are fluffed up, and so I have actually written this. But I definitely didn't start out the comment writer I am today, so I wanted to share that, surprisingly there is a progression path! (Maybe this is only surprising to me.)

I do find commenting adds to my fic reading experience. And I love reading other people's comments. Sometimes other people notice things I didn't or have very cool interpretations, and that is an extra wow right there. (And look at all these other people who like the thing I like!)

And if I leave a comment, sometimes I get a reply! Author noticed my little comment! Extra dose of happy for everyone!

And sometimes, sometimes, (and again I would never expect it, but it is a gift much like fic itself is) an author will write back full of their notes and what they were thinking about writing those moments, and I treasure that so, so much. It's both a delight because of the usual Author saw my effort commenting and I get an extra behind the scenes! The craft behind the craft! (Now how do authors leave good replies? That is still a mystery to me.)

Sometimes I write a lot and then it goes into a black hole, and that's sad. Hmm. I'm pretty sure this is what authors feel when we don't leave comments. Hmm. Guess it's time to write more comments! (Sometimes, like fic updates, replies show up months later, and that's honestly <3)

So, let's go leave some comments and show those authors love and tell them how much they delighted us! Or ... how they smashed our hearts into the ground with angst/no comfort because sometimes that's just what one wants to read.

#fanfiction #ao3 #fic commenting #fandom #fandom meta #a few too many genshin references #shavynel scribbles

91 notes · View notes

antianakin · 3 months

Note

Is there a specific pro Jedi tag on AO3 that can be used to filter out anti and criticals? Cause I keep searching for Luke and Leia time travel fics where they save the galaxy and give Palpatine a headache (saving Anakin is potentially a bonus to those other two), but the vast majority are Jedi critical at LEAST.

... Speaking of, do you know any good time travel Luke and Leia fics where they save the galaxy, give Palps a headache (and maybe save Anakin cause Luke kept asking and Leia just decided to help on behalf of her own sanity)?

The main tag I was able to find seems to be "Jedi Appreciation" which includes things like "Jedi Order Respected", "Jedi Culture Respected," "Jedi Culture Appreciated", "Jedi Positive", "Jedi Order Positive", "Pro Jedi", and "Pro Jedi Order". I also found tags more specifically related to the Council, like "Jedi Council Appreciation" and "Good Jedi Council." I'm a TAD suspicious of the second one since the wording of it seems to lean more towards having adjusted the Jedi Council in order to BE "good" as opposed to recognizing they're ALREADY good, but it's potentially worth a look through to see (I found one that claimed to have some Yoda bashing and another saying "they are not the assholes in this story", as just two examples of why this particular tag might be suspect).

There's also the more basic "Jedi Culture & Customs" tag which is likely more of a mixed bag and doesn't necessarily promise POSITIVITY about the Jedi, just that it's EXPLORING Jedi culture and customs, so, you know, take it with a grain of salt.

Some other tags I found just in a basic search: "Jedi as Found Family", "Love Doesn't Equal Attachment", "Clone Troopers and Jedi as Found Family", and "Protective Jedi."

I will also say that it is critical for you as a reader NOT to blindly trust any of these tags. People can and do tag their fics with "Jedi Positive" or "Jedi Appreciation" and then it ends up with plotlines where the Jedi change their culture so that members can marry or they go the grey Jedi route where they realize they should be using both light and dark to find balance or whatever. As I mentioned above, too, it can sometimes mean they just rewrite the Jedi to be closer to what the WRITER thinks the Jedi should be and is now "positive" or it's being positive about the Order at the expense of specific Jedi like Yoda or Mace who are still bashed and vilified. Keep an eye out for other tags on the fic that might reveal more anti or critical elements and just be aware when reading the fic that there is no tag that is guaranteed to filter out EVERYTHING you don't want to read and be ready to hit that back button.

I don't tend to read a lot of time travel fics just in general and the ONLY fic I have read that involves Luke/Leia time traveling is there was a spring of storms by blackkat where Leia's grief in the moment of Alderaan's destruction causes her to reach out in the Force instinctively and propel her, Bail, and Luke back to shortly after the start of the Clone War. It's only 2 chapters in, however, so the story has barely started and I cannot guarantee anything about saving Anakin. With these two chapters, though, I can say that it is absolutely pro Jedi and probably not very Anakin positive. I personally really love this set-up and while it's remained unfinished for quite a while, the author has said in the past that if the fic is still up on AO3 then it's not abandoned, so I am still hoping for the day they come back to this one because it looks INCREDIBLE.

If anyone else has some pro Jedi recommendations for Luke/Leia time travel fics, feel free to let us know!

EDIT: The reason I had to search for tags is because I have never personally used them for myself to LOOK for fics. I usually have a ship or a dynamic that I get invested in and start looking for, find some authors I really like, and then go through all of their fics and bookmarks because if an author WRITES fic that's Pro Jedi, chances are they READ fic that's Pro Jedi too. And then you just rinse and repeat from there. Sometimes there'll be a tag like "X character needs a hug" or something I go through if I notice it pops up enough. I primarily use tags like the ones above as more of a screener when I'm looking through someone's bookmarks or a general ship tag search. I start by looking at the summary to try to figure out the actual premise of the fic and then once I decide I might be interested, I give the tags a scan to see if anything comes up that gives a better idea of what is in the fic that'll make me more interested or immediately back out. Like I said, many a fic has had "pro Jedi" or "Jedi positive" tags and still ended up in what I would consider to be closer to "Jedi critical" these days. A better guarantee for me is knowing that someone bookmarked this fic that has written fic I personally find to be pro Jedi, so that's the method I use.

#star wars #luke skywalker #leia organa #fic #fic rec #jedi #pro jedi #pro jedi order #jedi order respected #jedi order appreciation

32 notes · View notes

writingquestionsanswered · 1 year

Note

Do you have anything related to publishing, especially places to publish? Maybe a site like ao3 but for original content?

Thank you so much! I hope this isn't a fool question!

Guide: A Quick Rundown on Publishing

The Four Types of Publishing

Online Publishing is when you publish your story on a blog, web site, social media site, or fiction sharing site. My post 12 Sites for Sharing Original Fiction is a little out of date, but it covers the still active options for publishing your story online. Also, don't discount AO3 for original fiction as its original fiction tag is growing. PROS: free; good way to build platform. CONS: no income.

Traditional Publishing is when a publishing house acquires and publishes your manuscript. The "Big Five" publishers (and many others) do not accept unsolicited manuscripts, so you need to find ones that do or seek representation by a literary agent. The publisher (including author services like editing, formatting, cover, production, distribution, and promotion) and agent cost you nothing upfront/out-of-pocket. They will get paid out of the proceeds from your book once it's on sale. Some publishers pay an advance on royalties upon acquisition of your book, though these are increasingly low or nonexistent for debut authors these days. Then, you will periodically (every six months, usually) receive a royalties check with the percent of sales your publisher agreed to pay you. PROS: no upfront fees; all the author services are taken care of for you; you have a publishing team and plenty of guidance; income! CONS: querying can be a long and stressful rejection-filled process; landing an agent doesn't guarantee you'll get a publisher; you're working with a team so you're not the only one making decisions about your book; it generally takes a year to publication after manuscript is acquired; there's no guarantee your book will make a lot of money once it's on sale.

Self-Publishing/Indie Publishing is when you publish your novel yourself on a platform like Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble Press, Draft2Digital, IngramSpark, Kobo, etc. Since these platforms deal with e-books and Print On Demand, you don't pay for the cost of production. You do need to self-arrange and potentially pay for editing, formatting, cover, and promotion. I say "potentially" because it's possible to do your own editing, formatting, and cover, but it's best to hire professionals when you can afford to. Once your book is live, you will periodically receive whatever percent of royalties the platform pays. PROS: you are in control of everything from author services to publishing timeline; there's some flexibility in how much you pay for author services; typically higher royalties than traditionally published authors receive. CONS: paying out-of-pocket for author services; no advance; no guarantee book will sell or sell well enough to cover what you put into it.

Subsidy Publishing is when you pay a publishing press to publish your novel for you, which includes author services like editing, cover design, formatting, distribution, and promotion. Many subsidy presses publish via existing e-book and Print On Demand services like KDP and IngramSpark. Since they're a third-party between you and these services, and since their author services are in-house, publishing via a subsidy press is a lot more expensive than arranging and paying for these services directly. However, for people who can afford it, this is often the best route to publication with some caveats. And I want to say here: since subsidy publishing was the first type of self-publishing, it's often frowned upon and seen as illegitimate, even being called "vanity presses" by some (I've been guilty of this myself.) But it's important to note that for people with disabilities and other circumstances that make self-publishing challenging or impossible, this might be the best way for them to publish. The caveat is there's a lot of predatory practice in the subsidy press industry, so if you choose to go that route, do your research (look for online "Watch Dog" lists calling out predatory businesses) and make sure your bases are covered. PROS: everything is handled for you. CONS: extremely expensive and cost-prohibitive for many; risk of predatory practice; no guarantee you'll make back what you put in.

Additional Notes on Publishing

No Publishing Route is Better or Worse - Every writer chooses the route they think will work best for them. Some succeed on their chosen route, some fail and try a different route, some use one route for one book and a different route for the next book. No route is superior to any other. No type of publishing produces categorically better or worse books than any other. All types of publishing produce lots of good and lots of bad books.

Being Traditionally Published Doesn't Validate You As a Writer - Traditional publishing is run by gatekeepers whose number one interest is in making money. They make publishing choices primarily based on trends and industry data, meaning that a bad book that's on trend will make more money before people realize it's terrible than a really good book that isn't trendy enough to turn heads. That means a lot of really good books are passed up in favor of not-so-great books. Being traditionally published doesn't mean your book is good. Failing to be traditionally published doesn't mean your book is bad. Sometimes it's the luck of the draw. Validation comes from readers who enjoy and even love your work, whether you find them through your web site, fiction sharing sites, self-published books, or traditionally published books.

There's Room For EVERYONE in Publishing - People still love to read. They love to read on a rainy day. They love to read by the beach or pool. They love to read on the bus. They love to read while on the treadmill. They love to read on long drives. Goodreads logged 320 million books pledged to be read in the 2022 reading challenge. And people love to read EVERYTHING! Whatever you want to write, I guarantee there's an audience for it. You just have to do the work of finding it. So, FFS, let's stop turning up our noses at certain genres, categories, tropes, and publishing routes. Bragging about what you won't read or won't write doesn't make people sound intelligent, it makes them sound like snobs. And we just don't need that sh*t anymore. We can be supportive of other writers and other authors and other readers without losing anything ourselves.

So... whether you choose to publish fan-fiction or original fiction on AO3, or YA through a Big Five publisher, or self-publish a romance, or subsidy publish a memoir, or e-mail an original short story to your best friend... YOU ARE VALID, YOU ARE A WRITER, YOU ARE AN AUTHOR.

You know where to find me if you need tips and advice. ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I've been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I've learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

Learn more about WQA

Visit my Master List of Top Posts

Go to ko-fi.com/wqa to buy me coffee or see my commissions

#writeblr #writing community #writers of tumblr #writing tips #writing help #writing advice #wqaadvice

310 notes · View notes

dstrt1xn · 20 days

Text

ATTENTION, ALL FANFIC AUTHORS!!!

Hi! I have a passion project of making AO3 fics accessible for others like me, who may have disability issues that make it hard for us to read on there. I make no money from this project. I don't sell anything. I don't steal anything. I merely typeset fics into an epub format and then upload them to a publicly accessible Google Drive folder for fans to download with covers I make myself, in a reflowable enough format to be customised on most ereaders to be as accessible as possible. I always include links that lead people back to the original fic to leave likes and comments of their own. I reiterate: I MAKE NO MONEY FROM THIS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM. It's my own time and my labour.

I would like permission to typeset your works in this manner!

The fandoms I am currently open to doing this for are:

The Riordanverse

The Marauders

The Magnus Archives/Protocol

Hazbin Hotel

If interested, reblog with links to your fics and wait for my follow. I am hoping to hear back from as many of you as possible! You can, however, NOT present me with a fic you did not write yourself without the original author's express permission.

DISCLAIMER: I reserve the right to deny anyone their typeset if the fic centres on themes/pairings I don't agree with. I will not tolerate hate.

For an example of the above, feel free to check my pinned post for MsKingBean89's All The Young Dudes typesets."

#the magnus archives #the marauders #the magnus protocol #hazbin hotel #fanfiction #typesetting #epub #riordanverse

26 notes · View notes

iamstartraveller776 · 21 days

Note

Feel free to ignore, but you mentioned that the fandom landscape has changed drastically from twenty years ago, and I’m curious what that means for you. I’ve seen lots of posts on the topic, but am interested in your experience if you want to share.

I absolutely can share!

Twenty years ago, I found fandom through bulletin boards or message boards (depending on what you called them). Trekbbs was my first one, and it's still standing. High speed internet was relatively new, and it was easy to keep up with "threads." Whenever you logged in, it would take you to where you left off with any given thread so you could catch up. (Discord does this...kinda, but Discord moves at warp speed where BBS's moved at impulse power.) It was easier to stay connected, to get to know people. Also, the boards were (and are) heavily moderated. Trolls were banned, and folks who got too heated under the collar were usually temporarily banned until tempers cooled. So it was generally a safe environment.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that the vast majority of the boards were grown-up only. That's not to say that minors didn't sneak through, but they were on their best behavior lest they get found out and kicked off the board.

And from the boards, we learned where to find fanfic. Back then, even though FFN existed, fic was primarily archived on private sites. There were no such thing as likes and kudos back then. It was fandom etiquette (at least for my corner of the Trek fandom) to leave a comment/review if you read a fic (and be nice about it!). It was the era of Kink Tomato (your kink is not my kink and that's okay) and don't like don't read and simply fun. We had challenges, did round robins—where someone would write a chapter of a fic, then another author would write the next, and so forth.

Even when I made the switch to posting more on FFN, it was pretty normal to send a message to someone to thank them for favorite-ing your story even if they didn't comment. And often they would message back, telling you what they enjoyed. I have some friendships born from this! It was normal. Writers weren't called "needy" and "self-absorbed" for hoping for more interaction with their readers. We were all in this together.

I also did yahoo groups for a time, and had a fantastic time with my friends in an email chain.

LiveJournal was kind of the peak of fandom, IMO. I think it was the first "public" website, rather than something privately owned, where we could build communities (private or public) as well as have our own pages (private or public). Some of the best fandom events happened on that site. But LiveJournal ended up imploding. (Cyber attacks then the new owners started wiping out entire communities without warning for violating the new terms of service. It was horrible.)

So we all moved to Tumblr. (And we were slowly moving to AO3. Some also moved to the site formerly called Twitter.)

Tumblr was pretty awesome back then. Because fandom people took the same community with them when they came. We didn't have replies back then, but dagnabit we screenshot tags or reblogged comments and posted them with replies. It was easier to follow tags and even some fandoms created blogs that were archives for fics. (Myself included.) The downside was, and continues to be, lack of moderation. Not that I think fandom should be gatekept, but it isn't as easy-going when you do have to worry about putting up with trolls as a rule rather than the exception.

Alas, life happened and I had to step away for a few years. When I came back...it's so much quieter. Significantly less interaction. Less comments on fics. There's just...less connection in general. People tend to flit in and out of fandom more often. And on top of that, there is the odd movement that fanworks shouldn't contain anything that would make a reader/viewer uncomfortable or is unrelatable to the general masses. As a fanworks creator, there have been times I felt more like a monkey dancing for a demanding audience rather than a squee-ing fan sharing things with fellow sqee-ing fans. I seriously questioned for a long time whether I would bother anymore.

(This also doesn't mention how streaming and binge-watching series rather than weekly releases have affected fandom. It's different when you get one episode a week for an entire season of 20-24 episodes than when a streamer releases the entire 8-10 episode series at once.)

A part of this is me, too. I don't have nearly as much time to invest in fandom as I used to. I can't be too critical of the changes in fandom, but it is different.

And so I hang onto a few of the friends I've found (like you!) and continue to find here and there. I write whatever I want and delete rude comments. I always reply to the others. And I keep plugging on!

Thank you for asking! And thank you for being part of what I love about being on Tumblr even after all these changes! (Sorry I got a bit verbose!)

#star replies #about me #fandom #curator on ao3 #fandom old

24 notes · View notes

lockwood-ot3 · 10 months

Text

Lockwood & Co Fic Recs: cot3

Lucy/Lockwood/George fanfic recs! By no means comprehensive.

Last updated 7/8/23

I Found A Fox, Caught By Dogs by @twelfthbite Some of the best tension in a scene between L/L/G I have read. My goodness. light kink & D/s tone Literally Everything by TheMalapert but especially her L&Co Bodega Series which includes "Ghosts made them do it" Literally Everything by chahakyn / @shizuoi see my Author Spotlight for extended summaries!

Better than Before Series by @lemonsharks Stunning tension between cot3, then progresses further into the relationship. features the amazing line: "George, I," Lockwood said, then hesitated. "I like the way you look at me, too." Sweet Somethings Series by justice_for_skull (hyper_fix) Insanely hot series including free use & cockwarming. So hot, and soft at the same time.

Sink or Swim by @waiting-for-my-hogwarts-letter Mermaid AU! Freedivers Lockwood and George; local mermaid Lucy

Someone Throw A Lifeline (I Don't Wanna Drown) by @waiting-for-my-hogwarts-letter pre-cot3. Anthony Lockwood hates storms.

Interpolation (A Line We Drew In the Array) by @iantalks Great pacing, and ballet.

Honey honey honey (series) by @fromjannah Pre/developing Lucy/Lockwood/George

aftershocks by @aberfaeth Fantastic magic system theory concept, well-executed

Chivalry Fell on Its Sword by alphabetsoup4u cute get together fic

Kiss It Better by @wolfjawswriter Cute, with fun banter.

whiskers on kittens by 11pmbed great pacing, Locklye --> ot3 progression with fantastic confession from Lockwood

at last, peter rabbit made his way home by 11pmbed drunk!Lockwood & spot-on dynamics between the three of them

Tea for Three by IceAngels sweet ot3 w/ plenty of tea & an observant Portland Row neighbor

Could Never Want For More When I'm Here by @dont-offend-the-bees like a warm hug. fantastic ot3 dynamics!

Gunshots Are More Powerful Than Sheer Stubbornness by @between-two-fandoms such great Lockwood POV, showcasing how & why it's hard for him to be vulnerable. so sweet thunderbolt through my body by @sa-heelies amazing view of George thru Lockwood's perspective and it feels good to be known, so well by @paladinbaby Lucy & George, then George & Lockwood. it takes Lucy & lockwood a minute but they get it together pieces of you and me (and us) by @grasslandgirl bright and dark and beautiful

you should never know how easy you are to need by @grasslandgirl Lockwood develops Hanahaki. Death by heartbreak, and all. Dreadfully boring.

Dressed in Black (head to toe) by cherriepixie27 the Lockwood Dress Fic

Domino Effect by cherriepixie27 insanely hot Maysturbation fic - chain reaction of overhearing each other

chase the echoes from the rafters by @sanvitheartificer Three scenes of Lucy, Lockwood, and George loving each other on purpose.

Turning Saints into the Sea (Series) by @alphacrone “Georgie.” Lucy tilted her head up to look at him. “Do you love him?”

i'd blind myself to see it by @hazelnutchai Includes kissing (for science!) and then kissing (not for science)

Sundress Season by Lindzm1318 getting together Pride!fic with Lucy doing face paints, queer Kipps & Kat, (well, queer everyone) and Lucy irresistible in a sundress, of course. The Night Started Like Any Other by @siapom pre/developing cot3 featuring George in a too-small towel

Blinding Lights by @kennysbirthday Lockwood gets a migraine, and George knows how to help. Lucy follows his lead. featuring great banter

you only live forever in the lights you make by @thethinkingcloth two years after she was ghost-locked, Norrie wakes up. book spoilers! found family goodness, and not just for our cot3 The Care & Keeping of AJ Lockwood by FionaDunn featuring Dom!George with some smokin' hot dirty talk!

hug all your friends and let them know by @beautifulmakkaris Contrary to popular opinion, Lucy realises she’s in love with both boys on the same day.

Please also check out my cot3 fanfiction on Ao3 (Rainshadow07)

Updated 7.8.23

#lockwood ot3 #lockwood & co #lucy carlyle #lockwood and co #lucy/lockwood/george #george karim #cot3 #anthony lockwood #poly cot3 #lockwood fanfic #lockwood fic rec #lockwood and co fanfiction #georgewood #locklyle #save lockwood and co #georcy

114 notes · View notes