All the One Direction fics I read and enjoyed in January 2024. You can listen to my podcast to hear me talk about each of these fics as well as an overview of what was posted on ao3 including the fics on this month’s fic roundup which you can find here! Please let the writers know if you liked the fics by leaving kudos and comments! Happy reading!

Fanfictional Podcast #58 |  ko-fi | fic recs

- Louis/Harry -

❄️ and i would search the night sky to find you by devilinmybrain / @thedevilinmybrain

(E, 56k, omegaverse) Harry Styles is a high class, well-bred Omega attending Bosworth Academy - a prestigious boarding school looking over the small town on Kinsey. He has his whole life already planned for him, learning his place as the potential mate for an important Alpha, practicing his home making skills, and be obedient above all else.

❄️ You're Not My Type (still I fall) by Imogenlee / @imogenleewriter

(M, 38k, omegaverse) This is just a bit of rain; it'll blow over. Then Harry will just... well, alright, he isn't entirely sure what to do when the rain stops because he'll still be stuck and lost. 

❄️ I Really Like Your Styles: The Baking Advent-ure by @homosociallyyours

(T, 35k, coffee shop) Louis isn't much for frills, and the coffee shop he co-owns with his best friend Liam is evidence of that. Yes, it's got a decent sized, well-kept industrial kitchen, but Louis insists that people come to coffee shops for coffee, not mediocre pastry and plastic wrapped cookies. 

❄️ Until the Pearls Get Lost by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(M, 25k, omegaverse) With rumours swirling around about the reason for the rejected bond, Harry gives in to Liam’s pleas. He hasn’t the slightest idea how that decision will shape the rest of his life.

❄️ Something To Remember by @parmahamlarrie

(T, 25k, soulmate au) Will a trip to Maui’s most exclusive and private resort bring these two soulmates together, or will their bodies be constant reminders of what they missed out on?

❄️ Rolling Stone UK Awards AU (series) by INnenaHeart / @thechavier

(M, 15k, canon divergence) Harry started walking away from him and he felt like he was missing the moment, if he let him go like this he would lose on something. Something great. Something beautiful.

❄️ Sex Drunk Suckerpunch by thinlines / @thinlinez

(E, 7k, sugar baby) Sugar Baby Louis did what any sugar baby should avoid doing but (clichely) end up doing anyways, that is, failing for his sugar mama.

❄️ Harmony by @nouies

(E, 6k, omegaverse) When they get stuck together in an elevator, Harry scents Louis after nothing else works to bring him out of his panicked state.

❄️ Saving Sweet Creature by The_Halcyonic_Lachesist / @chai-hat-tea

(G, 6k, mermaid) Louis lives a life he wouldn’t change anything for, with Cliff by his side. What happens when he meets a mermaid who quite likely hates him?

❄️ powerless (and i don't care) by localopa / @voulezloux

(E, 4k, daddy kink) everyone on tour calls each other daddy, don’t ask why. and louis is so used to calling everyone “daddy” that, when he finally comes home, naturally he calls harry that.

❄️ Tuca Tuca (ILikeYouILikeYouILikeYou) by @persephoneflouwers

(E, 4k, canon) The San Francisco getaway AU, where Harry is needy and Louis has a flight to LA in a few hours.

❄️ Stuck in Midnight Traffic by LetTheMusicMoveYou / @letthemusicmoveyou28

(M, 3k, Christmas) the one where two broken people meet in an empty tube car on Christmas Eve. Can they find a way to heal each other?

❄️ Just Hold On by @silverstuff50

(M, 3k, security guard) “Harry, I’m fine.” Louis says soothingly. “I know I’m safe because you and Joni are there. As long as I can feel you holding me I know I’ll be ok.”

❄️ tuck a knife with my heart up my sleeve by padfootyoudog / @louisisworthit

(G, 2k, royal au) Doncaster loses the war, and Louis is the prize.

❄️ Mistletoe Kiss by @neondiamond

(G, 1k, roommates) A little bit of mistletoe is just the thing Louis needed to let his roommate Harry know he’s got quite the crush on him.

❄️ Oh Christmas Three by @tommokat

(M, 1k, omegaverse) A birthday surprise goes awry. Louis doesn’t understand. Harry blames the oven.

❄️ Always You by @enchantedlandcoffee

(G, 1k, exes) Louis calls his ex on Valentine's Day.

- Rare Pairs -

❄️ like a moth into a flame by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

(T, 5k, Zayn/Louis) A student writes Zayn a sex poem. The only logical conclusion is for Louis and Zayn to fake date.

❄️ Fine Line by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13

(G, 1k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) Telling his family was always going to be a big deal, but doing it alone was a sacrifice he could make. He never thought they’d fall about laughing.

❄️ to wake up by your side is all I wanna do by @beardyboyzx

(G, 1k, Zayn/Niall) Sometimes, Niall still thinks about the way Zayn’s laugh sounds when they watch TV and Niall makes up fake answers for whatever quiz show they’re watching.

there’s an asshole on this site copy-and-pasting my friend’s daryl x reader series and claiming it as their own.

i won’t name names (purely out of respect for my friend, who is a well-known and very talented writer here, tho i do know who they are), but i just wanna say that it’s really disappointing and fucked up to do that. shows absolutely no respect for people who share their writing and creativity without asking anything in return. i know she works super hard on that series and honestly seeing that being done to her (not for the first time btw, it’s been done to her before) is just so frustrating and saddening.

this person also edited her work, meaning that they were essentially saying “oh i don’t wanna write my own shit but i’m gonna copy and paste this amazing writer’s work and then go back and edit a few things because IM a better writer and surely MY edit will be better”… except their edit was dogshit and only made the original beautiful writing mediocre. if you’re gonna be an asshole at least be a skilled asshole.

anyway, if you ever see my work being posted by a different blog, it’s not me, and i didn’t approve it unless it’s a different language version (i have approved some people to translate some of my stuff into spanish and portuguese, that’s fine with me).

the post has since been deleted but it doesn’t change the fact that someone really isn’t talented/hardworking enough to come up with their own fanfiction. very saddening, pathetic behavior. my friend was very nice to this person but i’m not gonna be so nice because you mess with her and you mess with me 😤

tagged by coolest awesomest guy ever @wereoz thank youuuuu <3 havent done one of these before but i love talking about my self forever

last song: mediocrity rules by le tigre (from the desk of mr lady is a great album. go listen to it)

currently watching: finally got around to watching the good place it’s been so so so good so far i love dysfunctional groups of morally corrupt people in inescapable scenarios (iasip and succession enjoyer) so i’m having a lot of fun with it :) also been rewatching my beautiful wife severance and my other slightly worse beautiful wife nbc hannibal. i watch tv shows in normal ways like a normal guy

currently reading: william shakespeare’s othello for my lit class (it’s dense. first year of sixth form so haven’t grasped shakespearean era language yet and i keep having to look things up it’s rough i’m sorry william) + wolf in white van by john darnielle (john is my #1 writerguy his stuff’s always fun to read. so sure i’m biased but wolf in white van’s been super fun so far and in terms of themes and such it really reminds me of tsn especially in its handling of time. so been enjoying it!) + the accidental billionaires by ben mezrich (autism is a real thing. bought her on a second hand books site for 3 bucks and its actually been a really fun read it’s written entirely like a novel so reading it post-social network it just feels like a deeply canon compliant piece of fanfiction. tsn nation get a copy it’s a good time) + they can’t kill us until they kill us by hanif abdurraqib (doesn’t really count because i’ve kind of been skipping around but his prose is absolutely wonderful he’s one of my favourite writers ever :) his essay fall out boy forever is an absolute joy. go read it it’s brilliant he’s brilliant)

current favourites: jacob geller video essays + saying ‘beautiful world that we live in’ in conversation + clothes with so so much unnecessary metal attached to them + writing analytical essays + the power of the human spirit + hats + bright clear days + leafy greens (especially pea shoots. i love pea shoots forever) + annotating books + slogan t shirts + playing and having fun + wearing the same outfit every day + cds + free admission at art galleries + publicly admitting to having a blog + fuckener’s tsn fanfiction + the sound of my wallet chain when i walk + trent reznor and atticus ross soundtracks + the new fall out boy music video + the busy beaver button museum + tunnel vision jewellery + winning ebay auctions + most importantly my beautiful girlfriend the social network 2010 dir. fincher and its accompanying content <3

tagging @viixeon @endingofdramamines @hereticpridemp3 @jokeryuri @scoobydooisgay and any of my other lovely nicey mutuals who see this (u may not know that we’re mutuals because this is a sideblog but you’re all like brothers to me. kisses <3)

oh yeah! condal is following in the same footsteps as D&D with his own fanfic but with HOTD it seems even more mediocre, poorly made costumes, characters that change their personality with each episode, only 3 or 4 actors know how to act, a plot that looks more like a fanfic that doesn't even come close to 1% of what's in the book, why adapt something if you're going to make your own fanfic out of it? HOTD is the new mediocre version of the final seasons of GOT, anyone who thinks that this series will be HBO's big thing now is very deluded

with HOTD it seems even more mediocre

That’s because he jumped in head first with plans to make this a fanfic, at least D&D had the decency to at least try and stick to George’s books at the beginning.

poorly made costumes

I’ll have to disagree there, imo House of the Dragon’s costuming is 100x better.

characters that change their personality with each episode

That’s the show’s biggest issue, the characters are an inconsistent mess because Ryan is torn between his fanfiction and having to stick to George’s basic storyline.

He’s so desperate for certain characters to be “likeable” that he ends up ruining the show.

only 3 or 4 actors know how to act

It’s more only a few are allowed to act, there’s a difference.

The problem I’ve found is, mainly with the actors playing female characters, they’re not allowed to show range, only be in a constant state of either sobbing or about to start sobbing.

Olivia can’t showcase any emotion other than wailing tears, even when Alicent’s angry or assertive she still needs to look like she’s on the verge of a breakdown. There’s no range, I’ve seen her in other shows (loved her in Bate’s Motel) she has what it takes but they won’t let her give it her all.

Eve is another one, Rhaenys just stands around glaring at people whilst waiting for Corlys to tell her what to do. Rhaenys’ big moment where she came out of the dragon pit was emotionless, the writers have given me no reason to root for her before she killed a hundred people so why would I after?

Emma has been given absolutely nothing to work with, they’ve done their best (which is why they got a Golden Globe nomination) but that’s only thanks to them putting emotion into a poorly written script.

Same goes for the kids in Team Black, they have nothing to work with because the writers shelved them to be nothing more than background props. The only reason I’m so invested in Jace, Baela, Rhaena and Joffrey is because of the books. HotD has given me no reason why I should care for any of them.

a plot that looks more like a fanfic that doesn't even come close to 1% of what's in the book, why adapt something if you're going to make your own fanfic out of it?

Because he doesn’t respect George or the audience, Ryan is an insufferable man who bastardised one of the most pivotal moments in Westerosi history because he thinks he can do better than George RR Martin.

anyone who thinks that this series will be HBO's big thing now is very deluded

Which goes back to my original point, they need to rethink the direction this show is going in because the current trajectory isn’t working.

I knew House of the Dragon was going to flop the minute I found out they made drastic changes to books.

how i learned to love outlining

For the last year or so, I’ve been compiling ideas for stories and then outlining them, mostly because I genuinely love the planning stage of the writing process, but also because if 2023 taught me anything about writing, it’s that I can finish a project if I know where it’s going—if I can point myself in a meaningful direction. If I have a realistic and attainable goal.

I spent years of my life writing aimlessly. I wrote every silly idea that came to mind, no matter how stupid it was and with no regard to whether or not I was bothering to tell a story anyone would want to read. I had plenty of fun concepts but the actual works themselves were largely mediocre—unmemorable, as someone once told me—or, in the cases of a few, embarrassingly bad. Terrible, even.

In 2004 I started writing a longfic for ToS. I had no direction. No plan. I didn’t write anything down for where the story should go next. What the fuck were character arcs? I sat at my computer and I typed words. I put them out into the world: chapter by godawful chapter.

I’m not saying this to be self-deprecating; it’s just the truth. I was not a talented writer in 2002 when I started posting online. I was self-taught. I didn’t write a real paper until I was 26, the first year I attended a college English course. In 1999, I was 13 years old. We were all given an assignment to write a short story with a title that began with the word “Almost.” I hated school. Rather, I hated the social landscape of it, and I was miserable that year. I didn’t take this assignment seriously. I thought, I’ll just make some absolutely stupid shit up, who cares. My story was called “Almost Mowed Over” and it was about a blade of grass named Bob who watched in horror as his friends were murdered while he was, for reasons unknown, spared. I remember very little about the story other than that, and the fact that this got me nominated to write for Power of the Pen for reasons that still confuse me. I went with a few others to compete that autumn and, when I got my stories back, I was more or less told they were shit.

It felt bad, but a few years later I started posting fanfiction anyway. Why? It looked fun. I felt inspired.

So I wrote.

A lot.

I got attention, my stories got traction, and I even finished the first three longfics I ever started. They were shit, too, but I had fun, and through one of them, I met my now-husband—on April 22, 2003. We were married on April 22nd, 2017. Strange how fanfiction can bring people together. Strange, that he felt compelled to not only read my shitty fanfic, but then to email me about it afterward—something he had never done before, and hasn’t done since. I’ve known him for more years of my life than I haven’t known him, all thanks to some shit I typed up off the top of my head without a plan.

 And it was the success (or at least, overwhelmingly positive and kind response) of those first fanfics that propelled me into other fandoms.

So there I was in 2004, writing a longfic for Tales of Symphonia. Those of you who knew me back then might remember the story in question. I’m not proud of it. Actually, I’m embarrassed by it. I deleted it in 2016 and I’ve no regrets about deleting that or the 600 other stories I had online at the time. I’m certain that story was a stepping stone to greater things (it was Baby’s First Foray into darker fiction, after all), and for that reason alone I can’t bring myself to be ashamed of it, but…it was shit.

Drama for the sake of drama, no end goal, the worst summary imaginable. I had no idea what I was doing. But people read it anyway. I stopped writing that story early into 2005, and when I deleted it, it was sitting there abandoned at 8 chapters, 32k words, 138 reviews.

I wrote a lot of other ToS fics back then; they were all shit. Some were unhinged nonsense. But for some reason that ‘fic has staying power.

Probably because I’m embarrassed by it. I guess it always just feels kind of bad to know that even though you tried your best on something, it still somehow turned out poorly.

And I’m sure there’s a lot to say, too, about the fact that I honestly didn’t learn from this experience. I went on to start a bunch of other longfics over the years and, unsurprisingly, finished absolutely zero of them (though some went on longer than others).

And the truly insane thing here is that out of nowhere, very suddenly in 2023, after years of barely writing (and even then mostly just re-writing old stories): I had some kind of…epiphany?

One night I dreamed that a baby was more or less dumped on Raine Sage’s doorstep. The dream was pretty detailed up to a point very shortly before I woke up. I told one friend about it and then another. I let it marinate. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, which is weird, because my experience with ADHD is that far too often things just slip through the cracks never to be considered again. But this dream—that idea, the concept—stayed with me.

And then one day I thought, well, I’ll just…outline it. It can’t hurt anything. It won’t be a huge waste of time even if I never use it. It could be fun to try to puzzle out a real story. Real character arcs.

I’d never finished an outline for anything in my entire life.

-

So let’s go back a few years.

In 2011, I began doing more serious RP. I RP’d as Regal, actually, in a ToS RP I did with a friend of mine. It was my first introduction to multi-para RP. My previous experience had been pseudo AIM RPs and the Dressing Room RPs on Livejournal. They were fun, but this was on a completely different level; it felt like cooperative writing, like cowriting a real story with someone else. I was immediately taken in by it, by the process. I grew obsessed waiting for responses. My eyes were always on my email. The two of us stayed up far too late typing responses back and forth to one another. It was a great time.

When that fizzled out after a couple hundred thousand words (probably due to lack of overall planning and the expectation that we should match one another’s reply lengths) I coerced I MEAN LOVINGLY SUGGESTED to a different friend of mine, someone I’d known much longer, that we should try doing RPs together. There was no expectation of either of us matching the other’s reply length, and my favorite response ever from her was just a character saying, “No.”

We wrote a million+ words together over the course of a few years, and it was all for the Fire Emblem fandoms. It was addictive and fun. If you’ve never participated in RP, or you aren’t really a writer yourself, I think it’s hard to really understand the appeal of what looks to be a glorified group project. After all, in RP you’re giving away 50% of your control over the story. But with a good partner who vibes with your writing style and characterization, and with the (get this!) addition of Communication, it never really feels that way.

In 2014 I started doing RP on Tumblr. I can’t even begin to tell you how many character blogs I had.

I hopped around RPing characters from a bunch of different fandoms, and in 2017 I stopped RPing on Tumblr (because it fucking sucked) and instead roped the bestie into RPing with me. We shrugged off the mantle of multi-para blah blah email bullshit and instead RP’d like lazy slobs. This is not an exaggeration for the sake of humor. Dialogue tags? No thank you. Asides? Yes. Retconning? Sometimes you get halfway through a story and want to change a detail from the beginning! Proper capitalization? Absolutely not. Screaming/crying/emoting/posting gifs in the middle of RPs when someone’s reply just hit right? Yep! Doing the same exact storyline with a different combination of blorbos? Oh, definitely.

We continued to do this until mid-2023 with startling regularity. We’d have at least 3 RPs going at once most of the time. We kept having to make more discord channels to start new RPs in.

And you’d think the years I was busy RPing sloppy-style instead of writing fanfiction would mean that I was getting rusty at the craft, but really, it helped me cut out all of the fucking bullshit with regards to the process of writing.

Like, what matters in a story is that a story is being told. I want to hit THIS point and THIS point and finally THIS point. I want to cover THESE THEMES. THIS is where I want my characters to end up. As writers it’s so easy to get lost in the detail sauce…to the point where the story and themes, and sometimes even character arcs, just get buried beneath the rubble of intricate details.

And while multi-para RP definitely taught me a lot (particularly about the importance of discussion and communication with a writing partner), I think it’s the sort of environment where it’s really easy to let yourself get lost in that stuff. The typical expectation is that you reply to your partner with a response of equal-ish length, even if the story being told doesn’t require it. This forces you into the head of your character more to try to suck out the details, but in my experience what this tends to do is just…bog down the story, and therefore the RP. Responses start to feel like a chore instead of like a fun activity you’re doing with a friend. And yes, it is, 100% just writing words to fill some kind of arbitrary word count. Nobody has five paragraphs of thoughts to cycle through between every sentence of dialogue they speak, and writing that way can be exhausting.

This is just my personal opinion, of course, but what I personally get enjoyment out of is seeing stories come together, seeing character arcs tie up and end on satisfying notes. And the expectation of having to write five paragraphs when all my character needs to do is say “No” is just…not it for me.

Writing the way my bestie and I do helps us fly through stories so that we end up with a completed story relatively quickly…and can then fill in those details—the ones I used to get lost in, which led to me never finishing anything. Better yet, when the structure is solid, it’s much easier to sprinkle those details into the story in a way that manages to also feel very meaningful.

Again, don’t get me wrong: I love multi-para RP. And RP in general. I think it’s fun and engaging, and if you can find the right partner it’s a wonderful hobby. Hell, I’m RPing as Regal again with the same partner I had in 2011. I’m having a great time. We’re communicating. We’re not stressing too much about matching RP lengths. We’re past the 200,000 word mark. We know where the story is going.

-

So in 2023, I had that dream—the doorstep baby dream—and I decided after a few weeks of it lingering at the back of my mind that I would try to outline it. Again, I’d never outlined anything in my life. This was a safe option to work on, because, at the time, I thought, “I probably won’t even finish this.”

A few hours later, and…it was finished. I then thought, all right. Now I guess I outline by chapter? It didn’t have to mean anything. I probably wouldn’t finish it anyway.

But I did. And when I say these chapter outlines were short I mean that. I didn’t want to get bogged down by details. I asked myself what was important to cover in each chapter and only wrote that down. The details would follow. Multi-para RP taught me how to fill space.

Here’s an example for you. Chapter 2’s outline was:

If you read the story, you know the outline seems completely at odds with the actual events of the chapter. I did not ‘outline’ any of those specifics.

I started writing. The story got away from both outlines. I reined things in again and restructured the story to make room for the changes by adding two more chapters to it.

I finished the story.

I started writing a new one, and then I outlined it. Weird tactic, but it worked. I finished it.

And I have spent the last year just. Coming up with ideas and then outlining them. I haven’t written more because in the throes of hyperfixation I completely and utterly destroy my health (and I have never operated much outside of that), so I’ve been avoiding sinking into it despite the allure of having more completed stories.

But maybe I should practice doing that anyway—writing like a normal person instead of a crazed lunatic.

But we’ll see.

I don’t know. I just wanted to talk about writing…and while I started this intending to talk about all the stories I’ve been outlining, I ended up just kind of walking you (if anyone actually read this far!) down the path I took to learning how to write the way I write now.

And the very weird path I took to learning to love outlining.

Fix Your Writer’s Block (without using AI)

I’ve been posting a lot of AI hate here lately (almost like...it’s becoming my brand....) and one of the things that gets my goat is the propaganda belief that AI can help writers who are struggling with a story in some way, shape or form come up with the next line or fix their plot or what have you. This advice is misguided at best and destructive at worst.* 

Still, complaining about something without actionable advice for how to fix it is not really my vibe. So for those of you thinking: “But I really need help!/But what am I supposed to do if I get writer’s block?” I have good news for you: Writers have been tackling writer’s block since...probably the invention of storytelling. There are ways to get around it if you are stuck! 

So, here’s a non-exhaustive list of tips and tricks to deal with your writer’s block, no computers necessary:

Put down something mediocre and come back to edit it later. It’s easy to get caught up searching for the “perfect” word or sentence, and waste a lot of time staring at a blinking cursor. But that’s not what a draft is for! Your goal is to get as much of the story out of your head and onto the page as possible; you can always edit it later, once you’ve had some time to think. (Though you might find that when you come back, the “mediocre” bit is actually better than you thought!)

Use a placeholder and continue writing. This is another tactic meant to keep you writing when it’s a small block, instead of falling down a research rabbit hole for an afternoon or otherwise being distracted. If I need to name a minor character who appears for two lines, I will often just ID them by their function in the story and circle back to it. Eg: “Officer <<COP>> took their statements very professionally and gave them his card.” When I edit, the all-caps and the brackets are a big reminder that, wait, I need to name this guy!

This tactic also works for research! If you need to know if bees have teeth or who said a cool quote, don’t spend an hour researching that when you should be writing! That is a problem for editing!

This goes triple for fanfiction writing, especially for a fandom with a lot of convoluted canon. I write a lot of Star Wars stuff and I like to reference “canon” planets and events in my fics; but if I try to research those references while I’m writing, my writing session becomes an endless Wookiepedia Delve. I just put “<<ICE PLANET HERE>>” or “<<CHECK SPELLING>>” as reminders.

I also cheat sometimes and write “<<end scene>>” if I’m not sure how to end a scene.

Take a break. Get up, stretch your muscles, and go do something else for 20-30 minutes. This tactic is perfect for when you realize you don’t know where a scene is going, or you’re stopping and starting a lot with your work. I recommend either light physical exercise or light household chores - something that engages your body without engaging your mind too much, so your subconscious can continue working on the problem.

This is also a great way of sneaking in self-care while writing. Hydrate yourself, go to the restroom, eat if you haven’t eaten yet. This kind of physical stuff has a huge impact on your mood and brain function; your writer’s block might be a symptom of your body needing something!

Go back to the drawing board. I have a bad habit of never outlining before I start writing - I know what the first three scenes are going to be, so I don’t need an outline! Then, about halfway through the story, I realize I have very little if any idea of what happens later. Taking a step back and typing out a quick outline (simple bullet points, like “Conan calls his sister for advice”) helps me keep on focus for the rest of the story, even if I decide to go off-outline.

Rubber-duck the problem. This tactic is for when you notice a larger problem with your work - you realize there’s a plothole, or you’ve written yourself into a corner, or you know how your story ends but you have no idea how to get to there from where you are now. “Rubber-duck debugging” is a programming technique where you explain a problem you’re having with a computer to an inanimate object (such as a rubber duck). Simply explaining a problem can often be enough to help you realize what went wrong.

No rubber duck is required! You can try this technique on dogs, mugs of tea, or family members who don’t know what you’re talking about but who make listening noises at the right time.

Finally, seek help from other writers. There are loads of ways to do this and all that you need is a community of fellow writers - or even just one writing friend! - to reap the benefits. Plus, it works on just about every kind of problem you can imagine having. Asking for help can look like:

Posting a question in a Discord server or other large group chat (eg: “Which of these two sentences sound better?” or “Do you guys have tips for writing betrayal?”)

Bringing your work to a writer’s workshop of some kind (I did a lot of this in high school/college and highly recommend joining a group where constructive criticism is offered, even for just a few months! Not only do you get feedback on your work, but learning to give other people feedback vastly improves your editing skills)

Discussing your problem with a writer friend

Finding a beta-reader (either a friend or otherwise)

*Besides the fact that you are feeding your work to a program that can and will keep it forever and might easily recreate parts of it later without your permission or knowledge, and besides the fact that most AI-generated “writing” isn’t actually that entertaining or good on a technical level so the value of whatever output you get is not actually that high, the best way to learn how to do anything is to practice doing the thing. If you turn to an AI every time you hit a stumbling block in your creative process, you are going to continue hitting stumbling blocks and your skill will not improve long-term.

no one is saying that if you write fanfiction you are, inherently, a worse writer than anyone who’s ever been professionally published. we all know that being a skilled writer isn’t necessarily a requirement to be published, and we all know that fanfiction writers can be incredibilty talented. when people say that a lot of booktok books popular, recently published genre fiction is “written like fanfiction” in order to criticize it, we don’t mean that fanfiction is bad; we mean that the way one writes fanfiction doesn’t translate well to original fiction. therefore, when an author started writing in fandom, but didn’t really alter the way they write when they made the jump to original fiction, it really fucking shows in their work.

more below. warning: LONG.

in fanfiction, you don’t have to give a lot of introduction (or really, any introduction) to the characters, the setting, the lore, et cetera. it can be assumed that anyone reading your fic is reading it because they not only already know everything about the world, but they also already care. the author doesn’t really need to do any legwork in this area. in the event that you make changes from canon that need to be explained, in the world of fanfiction you can simply give an exposition dump in the summary or the author’s note, and no one will bat an eye.

you obviously can’t do this in original fiction. the reader does not already know and care about your characters / setting. you need to weave the information necessary for understanding the book into the book itself, and you need to give reason to care about the characters in the book itself, otherwise the reader will walk away from your book confused and dissatisfied. and unlike in fanfiction, you cannot simply give an exposition dump and tell the reader exactly how things work in a little aside before the book begins.

you can’t simply hop from fanfiction to original fiction without changing anything about your approach to writing and expect things to go well. if you want to make that leap, you have to actively work to refine your craft into something publishable.

but aside from those fundamentals about fanfic vs original fic, i also feel pretty confident in saying that the majority of fanfiction is just pretty mid. not to say that fanfiction writers never produce genuinely good writing, but in general a lot of fanfiction is just mediocre. and that’s okay! 

fanfiction doesn’t have to have the most beautiful prose you’ve ever read for you to find value in it, and it shows a deep level of insecurity when people feel that fanfiction has to be revolutionary and life changing and so on and so forth to justify their enjoyment of it. i’m a pretentious asshole with an all-encompassing need to be seen as cultured and intellectual, and there are many things that i like that are just okay. you don't see me out here trying to convice people that sherlock gnomes is a cinematic masterpiece (although it is /j).

unlike original fiction, fanfiction is not and never can be a job. everyone who writes fanfiction writes fanfiction as a hobby. so it isn’t really a big deal if they’re just okay. i paint as a hobby, and (for me) painting will never be a career, so it doesn’t matter if i only ever paint the same small collection of subjects or if my skill level stays the same, because i do it for fucking fun. similarly, it doesn’t really matter if a fanfiction author only ever writes permutations of the same basic plot or if their writing doesn’t improve over the years, because it’s just a sillyhappy little activity they do in their spare time.

but that isn’t really okay in original fiction? i mean, like i already said, publication is not an inherent marker of quality and there are plenty of authors who just churn out what is essentially the same book over and over again and gain insane amounts of clout and money from them, but in general, in original fiction, you need to be able to write different stories in order for readers to remain interested in your work. for all the popularity that authors like colleen hoover, sarah j. maas, ali hazelwood, and their ilk have, the fact that most of their body of work is the same story in different skins doesn’t exactly scream creativity and skill. people who actually engage with what they're reading are going to notice when an author really only writes one thing.

and an author who writes for a living is going to want to improve their craft, even in small ways. obviously perfectionism is unhealthy, but there’s a certain joy in being able to pull off something in your art that you weren’t able to pull off before, and to keep writing engaging and unique stories you need to keep improving and expanding your horizons.

just overall, obviously you don’t really have to be talented to get published haha, but if you want to actually be good at writing original fiction, the way you approach writing it needs to be different than the way you approach writing fanfiction. that’s why it’s so obvious when an author started with fanfiction but didn’t change anything about their approach when they began to write original fiction (or if they straight up used their fanfiction itself). that’s why “it’s written like fanfiction” is an insult to a published work; it’s because what makes good fanfiction isn’t necessarily what makes good original fiction.

and fanfiction can 100% be used as a tool to improve your writing, but when you’re looking to write original works, fanfiction can only take you so far. you eventually have to hone your craft writing actual original pieces instead of fanfiction.

I will straight up never mock a young writer (or any writer actually) for a Mary Sue self-insert fic bro. Like for the love of god being a pre-teen/teenager is fucking hard enough. Can we not let their escapism slide under the radar? I appreciate a well-written fic as much as the next guy, but I also love the idea of fic as a way of coping with your mediocre and sometimes bad life.

I had a dogshit period in my life where my dad was arrested and my mom was going through a major depressive episode. I cannot articulate to you how much I wanted out of that situation but I was 12. What the fuck could I even do? I spent my days writing self-insert fanfiction where my favourite characters would tell me I was loved, tell me they’d take care of me, and tell me how they’d never let anything bad happen to me ever again. I used to write these day in day out on my iPod touch and post them on wattpad where a bunch of other kids like me would read it. I used to get comments telling me how much they loved my story and how much they loved my stupid Mary Sue self-insert. They’d tell me how much they identified with the character. I found a community of people who felt the same way as me without directly saying what was going on. All the while, I got to live vicariously through this Mary Sue who was going on adventures, falling in love and having a functional family.

I obviously can’t speak for everyone, but I like to think that that’s the majority of people who write Mary Sue self inserts. There’s a lot to be said for how writing fic can help younger folks find a voice they don’t think they have. Hell, sometimes when I really wanna heal, I still write that kind of fic because fuck I’m sick and tired of living through major historical events. Just let me be a really cool version of myself while I kiss my favourite characters. I’ll never post them because I try and preserve what little dignity I have left but I still write it so I can read it when I’m sad

Hey, about your imposter syndrome post.

As I see it, it really doesn’t matter how bad you think you are on fandom spaces, there are no consequences for being a good or bad fic writer. Just do your thing and best case scenario people will like what you wrote, worst case, people will not. Literally doesn’t matter at all, people (including you) are just having fun, if it’s not fun anymore, and it’s causing you stress, maybe looking into other hobbies can be a healthy alternative, but there is no reason why it should not be fun.

Save the imposter syndrome to your workplace or college where it can be weaponized by your mediocre male peers as the capitalist God intended lmao

hey anon!

i absolutely agree with you! fandom is something that should absolutely be fun! writing fanfiction is something that, if it’s a hobby you partake in, should be fun! i’m well aware that in the scheme of things that this is all just for fun, that fandom is for fun and fanfic isn’t all that serious. and as i said in the tags of my original post- fandom is fun for me. i get great enjoyment from blogging about my silly little shows and talking about the characters i love. but sometimes, and i think some fellow creators here will agree with me, as much as you love and enjoy doing something, putting things out there for others to see can make you feel a little anxious. can make you feel like an imposter when you see so many great works of art and fic out there- or when you see big fandom discussions and discourse that aren’t all that fun. i don’t think that means i should quit, or stop or find a new hobby- and that’s on me if my original post i made it sound that bad, like i haven’t been feeling awesome but, as i said, im still enjoying fandom. because i do agree that sometimes taking a break from fandom is for the best. it’s all for fun and yes, untimely fandom and fanfic is something you should do for yourself first.

my biggest issue is that i let my anxiety and insecurities get the best of me sometimes. even with things that are just for fun, because writing is something i care about and i get in my head. it’s my favourite hobby and sometimes when you care about something, no matter if there are any consequences or not for writing anything good like with fanfiction as you said, you’ll get nervous or anxious, because you’re still sharing something you made. worked on and put time into. and it’s easy to sometimes compare yourself to others, even in a more easy-going, fandom space, and feel a bit down on yourself. we are our own worst critics sometimes.

but thank you anon really, i didn’t mean to go off on a rant because i really do agree with you- i do. it’s good sometimes to remind ourselves to not take ourselves so seriously, especially with fandom when you can get caught up in things so easily, but it’s also a mindset that you have to grow into. work at. to just chuck your anxiety and insecurities out the door, even when logically you know they’re silly, but sometimes it’s not that easy. and that’s just brains for you. i wish i could just say fuck it like you suggested, and i hope one day i will. for now, i will, as i said, work on it and just try to remind myself to take it easy and chill.

and honestly? id rather my imposter syndrome be towards my writing ability and fics, cause ill be damned if i ever let some mediocre man make me feel that way lol

My Thoughts On The Act II Ending

AKA Why art cannot thrive under capitalism

I’ve been a major fan of Daiya No Ace/ Ace of Diamond since 2014, and I will forever be grateful that Terajima has created all of these wonderful characters who I love and cherish very much! This series will always be one of my favorites regardless of whether Terajima continues it in the future or not. Despite being such a long series filled with hundreds of characters, Daiya consistently has excellent writing, and is one of the few stories where I’ve found myself caring about almost all the characters (including the side characters) because they are all written uniquely and realistically. Also, it’s one of the few stories where I’ve legit read everything rather than simply skipping some chapters. But, this is all exactly why the current ending has left me feeling disappointed. So many plot threads have been left hanging, which includes the major ones that many fans have been pointing out: Eijun’s injury and the lack of summer Koshien. But, the biggest one for me is the current relationship limbo between Eijun and Miyuki. Regardless of whether you ship it or not, their relationship is the core of the series. Terajima himself stated that Daiya started because of Eijun meeting Miyuki rather than Eijun’s moving fastball or anything else. With that in mind, it feels incredibly unsatisfying for the story to end with so much left unsaid and so much miscommunication between the two. They both admire and believe in each other (and it consistently baffles me how many fans somehow miss this fact) but they still have no idea. The thing is, I’m sure Terajima is aware of all this. Besides being an excellent writer, he has stated in recent posts that he stopped not because he felt like the story had reached a conclusion but because he felt drained.  For 16 years, he has had to consistently churn out chapter after chapter of this series. Combined with how some fans constantly bash on his writing choices, it’s not surprising that he would lose the mental health necessary to continue. And, it just reminds me how messed up our current world is. We all live in societies that teach us that everything NEEDS to have a price. That people won’t do anything if there’s no money involved. This, however, is completely untrue since people worked together for thousands of years before monetary systems were invented. If humans didn’t naturally care about others and about doing things on their own, we wouldn’t be here in the first place because civilizations wouldn’t have developed. Not to mention the sheer amount of fanart, fanfiction, and other free things people create and do simply because they are passionate about something. Most of the best pieces of art were created because the person cared about it rather than because they needed money to survive, which is why swansongs of shows, movies, and games tend to save franchises more than a consistent slog of mediocre titles in order to meet a paycheck.  In the end, our current world has brainwashed people into thinking that art is something that has to be CONSUMED. That works of art are created for consumers to purchase, which leads to constant mainstream nonsense that’s made to please everyone and thus doesn’t truly connect or mean anything to anyone (examples of this is the large amount of spaghetti westerns back in the day and the superhero movies that are releasing now). Art should be created so that the artist can express their thoughts, feelings, and stories. This means that if you like that piece of art, that’s great, but that’s not the point. When I encounter a work of art that I don’t like, I’m still glad that it exists because the art will likely connect with someone else. Similarly to how I absolutely love certain shows, movies, and games that others hate, the things I hate are likely loved by someone else, and that’s how it should be. So, when people bash on works of art (like how fans have complained about Terajima’s work) it just demonstrates to me that they see his work as something that is meant to be made specifically for them to consume rather than something Terajima has made for himself. And this thought process is further exasperated by him being forced to create consistently all the time just to ensure that he can continue to survive in this world. If we lived in a world where people could create art without having to worry about making a living or catering to consumer expectations, the art would be richer and more complete. Instead we live in a world where artists are constantly burnt out and left with unfinished pieces that could’ve been so much more.  TLDR: I hope that Terajima will continue Daiya one day so that the loose threads could be resolved, but I understand that the immense pressure and mental strain of creating art in our current societies is impossibly unfair. I’m glad we have what we have, and I hope he gets some nice needed rest.

Multiple people have brought this up before and I'm here to talk about it again. Let's have a community vote on what adjective should replace mediocre in your bio because... it's getting ridiculous. Really. In 2 months you've written more than 50,000 words of tlou fanfiction and it's all so good. It's time. Just accept it mess. I think you should claim the title of #1 writer for tess servopoulos on tumblr.com. But if you're that committed to self-deprecation, at least do "above average" or "OKAY." 

I like mediocre it keeps your expectations low and if you think I’m shit, it’s your own fault cause I warned you. If you think I’m pretty good, then you’re pleasantly surprised

I’m thinking about the ali hazelwood bullshit from last night again and it is. soooooo. fucking irritating. to see a bunch of people be like ‘booktwt is so judgemental and mean :(’ acting like this is just a misogynistic pile on, simpering and acting like people don’t know what they’re talking about and that it’s totally fine for this woman to not have a basic grasp on storytelling and has to rely on tropes to hold her up.

like fucking obviously she is not the reason that publishing houses fucking suck and just publish anything. but it is infuriating. to see this woman just fumble her way into being a best selling author. when I know there are writers that can run laps around this bitch and can’t even get their fucking foot through the door. her fucking agent just fell into her lap because she liked her fucking FANFICTION. and meanwhile I have to hear stories from authors of color about rejection after rejection, how their drafts have to be fucking PERFECT just to get LOOKED AT. like the amount of privilege to be able to say shit like this. and act like it’s just....perfectly fine as a published writer. incredible.

stoppppp making so many excuses for this white mediocrity.

Oh my absolute goodness! That chapter of TAP was amazing. It was so heart wrenching yet so very very beautiful and sweet. Your work always blows me away love.

I didn’t tell you this, but on my Instagram account I do a think called faithie’s fic corner where I share all my absolute favorite and yours was this weeks fic. My friend said she could see the love I have for your work on my face. That I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face and I looked almost in love, which isn’t wrong at all.

I adore TAP and Snap Shot so much that I can’t even put it into words. I haven’t been able to read your Ikaris one yet, but as soon as I do I’m sure I’ll fall head over heels in love with it as well. I’m sure I’ll want to added it to my reblog page immediately after the first chapter like I did this one.

Like today I was reading the TAP chapter while at my sisters house and she looked over at me. She flat out said “why are you grinning so big at your phone 🤨” and I was like “you just wouldn’t understand! Unless you read this it’s so amazing! 😩” and she just goes “I don’t read fan fiction… I read real books…” and I said “Well it’s your lose then…”

It’s safe to say you have reawakened something in me for writing. Before I found your page my writing was slowly just becoming lackluster, but now… I have a new passion for it and I’m not quite sure how you did it, but thank you.

It’s definitely definitely safe to say your my one of my top five inspiration pages. Like you have no idea how much I appreciate good stories like yours. So much detail, but not to much detail. You have like an amazing writing style and I love it so much.

Like I just wanna send you all my requests from now on because I think you’d knock them out of the park every time. I’m not naming names or anything, but I sent some to someone else who writes for Richard and it wasn’t nearly as good as anything I’ve seen form you.

Anyway I’ll stop blubbering now, but I just wanted you to know that you 1. Inspire me so much and 2. When ever you need someone to throw ideas at or just need someone to give an option on something I’m here for you whenever just message me. Also I wish so badly I could put into words just how much I love this, but I don’t think I ever could.

It’s heart wrenching, but mysterious and simply just so very sweet at certain points. I just can’t get over it. I’ll willingly praise your work anytime you need pick me ups because your work just has a certain  je ne sais quoi about it, but I can’t put my finger on exactly why.

Love Faithie 💙🧡

My dear, dear Faithie,

First, I'm at a loss that someone with take the time out of their day to say something like this! I don't think I deserve words like this because I don't see myself as talented or as amazing as you put me to be. No, it's not humility speaking (heaven knows I'm not that humble) but it's more of disbelief that someone would actually like what I put out. I think I'm mediocre at most, striving to be different and original in a place where originality thrives. But thank you so much for thinking me different with the other people and liking what it is that I put out. It means the world to me! <3

Fanfiction gets a lot of flak for existing. A lot of literary snobs would turn their noses up to fanfiction and fanfic writers, but they fail to realize that a lot of the known classics are also fanfic. Take, for example, Dante's Divine Comedy. It's a self-insert of the Bible and when pointed out, it stumps a lot of people, with most denying that fact. Fanfic is not inherently bad; people just find not so good fanfics and deem the rest equally not as good. So, let your sister be if she thinks fanfic is below her to read. It would be her loss because there are a lot of "unpublished" works that are greater than published books.

As for being an inspiration, I'm surprised I've become that but I am very flattered to think of me as such. I literally have no idea how I've done it but I hope I continue to inspire you. Keep writing, luv, because one only gets better with practice, no one gets worse at it. If you need any help or any advice or just another pair of eyes to see what you've made, just drop me a message.

Thank you, thank you, Faithie. You are a superstar!

Top five movie/show reboots or remakes that were clearly worse than the original?

Ooo this is an interesting one. I don’t know about top 5 but these are just a few that come to mind atm:

- Cruella. I think it’s a bad adaptation of 101 Dalmatians but that’s because it’s barely an adaptation. It’s more like au fanfiction where the characters are ooc but the author tries to pull a clever twist at the end connecting it to canon and it just does not work. But I had a pretty good time with it and Emma Stone slays

- Dora and the Lost City of Gold (an obscure one, I know HAHA). It was just very decent and felt like a Nickelodeon original movie that somehow made it to theatres (which I guess it is). I’ve only seen it once but I remember it being fun in that head-empty way

- The Amazing Spider-Man. I love Andrew’s spidey, I really do, but his spider-man movies are pretty bad and his acting and chemistry with Emma Stone really holds up the films. But he does hold them up well. I love scenes and moments from tasm (like the scene where Peter helps the boy in the car) but it’s a huge mess of hanging threads and mediocre villains. But even if I’m a firm believer that there’s an over-saturation of superhero films, I really hope he gets to complete his trilogy with a set of good writers because he deserves it

- Solo a Star Wars story. I know there’s a substantial amount of people who had a good time with this one and I’m one of them. I thought it was a fun little space adventure with fun little characters. Nowhere as good as the original but, fun

- idk, one of the home alone movies following kids other than Kevin but not the newest one on Disney plus because I didn’t see it and heard it was bad

What's frustrating about JJ Abrams saying the Star Wars sequel trilogy should have had a plan, aside from it being incredibly obvious to literally everybody else, is that I'm sure there are plenty of unemployed writers out there who like... would've had a plan. I've read fanfiction that was planned out better than those movies. Rian Johnson had a plan when he wrote TLJ. (I understand that not everyone was a fan of it, but he basically laid out what the third movie should look like on a silver platter for JJ Abrams, who then... chose to ignore its existence entirely even thought he couldn't come up with anything more creative than rehashing a scene from 1977 to please the fanboys.) It's frustrating because I'm sure there are countless writers who are women, people of color, LGBT folks, and at every intersection of those identities who would have had a better plan, yet it was all left to JJ Abrams to fuck up a billion dollar franchise just because he was... there? I guess?

Anyway I love going to the movies and I'll watch anything remotely entertaining, but I've very much had enough of these billion dollar franchises in general. They will ultimately never create good stories because the creators are just trying to make the most money possible, and having a broad appeal isn't what makes a story good.

Good stories are creative and original and meaningful. Why are we pretending that the stories they're putting on screen for these franchises aren't mostly half-assed self-insert fanfiction written by mediocre white men that have a broad appeal because they don't require you to think critically? Like. That's all it is. JJ Abrams isn't a genius. He's just a person who thought "hey maybe if I put all these old characters and references in this movie it will appease these fans screaming at me on Twitter" which is a shitty way to make a movie and ironically, the polar opposite of what made Star Wars popular in the first place.

(And I understand that all movies intend to make money. That's not the problem. The problem is the underlying assumption that a complex, creative, original story wouldn't make more money than the crap they're putting out there, which is just... not true at all.)

What does the 'Anne Rice fans you're free now' post mean exactly? I keep having to look up who she is, can you maybe explain a bit?

TL;DR version: she was a (US) southern gothic/horror/vampire novel writer who wrote Interview With A Vampire, among other things — if you’ve ever heard of a vampire named Lestat, that’s her most well-known character. She was also notoriously batshit insane about people writing fanfiction/making fanart/etc. of her characters and tried to sue/doxx/otherwise harass people throughout the early late 90’s/early 2000’s over it. Ever wonder why AO3 keeps lawyers on retainer? Or why a lot of people — especially the mid-20’s+ crowd — that post something will put a disclaimer at the top of every chapter? She’s a huge part of that reason.

For the rest, I’m mostly just going to copypaste what I said in the comments of that other post of mine because it’s basically what you’re asking — there’s actually way more valid reasons to dislike her that go far beyond the whole ‘wah! she hates fanfiction!’ thing you keep seeing:

I personally don’t even give that much of a shit about the fanfiction part to be honest — like yeah I think it’s funny she got That Mad™ over it, but ultimately if she wanted to hate fan content and be a salty bitch about it, that was her right. Plenty of authors do that. As long as she left it be (save for like the off person trying to monetize their fanfiction of her characters), I get it.

I do, however, care that she was a massive fucking cunt who casually advocated for doxxing “in the right conditions” (i.e. anything from fanfiction to bad Amazon book reviews of her books that upset her delicate sensibilities at a given point in time), but would immediately cry “gangster bullies!” (literally!) and be ready throw money (or her lawyers; her fanbase) at someone at the drop of a hat when they’d dare criticize any of her fuckery or do anything that she considered a slight against her or her brand.

She was the textbook definition of the southern genteel white Christian woman with too much money and too narrow a worldview to give anything other than a surface-deep brownie points take on half the shit she talked about. But boy oh boy she just had to make her opinions known. Like.

‘Who cares if your address and phone number get leaked online?’ says the woman worth $60 million (US) dollars and living in a gated mansion, that’s probably never had a serious stalking problem in her life.

‘You’re bullies forming a lynch mob against this woman because she wrote a controversial book!’ says the white Christian female author in defense of another white Christian female author who wrote a novel about a romance involving a captured Jewish woman that “looks like a gentile” falling in love with a Nazi officer at a concentration camp to (frequently Jewish) dissenters.

Possibly even more tastelessly than those two examples, she used the exact same “lynch mob” wording in her argument in defense of Paula Deen — another white, southern woman turned celebrity chef who got famous by making southern/soul food style recipes that she stole from her black chef at her restaurant — for Paula not being “slender, young, clever, and politically correct enough” (her exact words) to get away with making the breathtakingly* racist comments that she did in a court deposition for a racial discrimination lawsuit brought against her.

Basically Anne Rice objectively sucked shit as person, even if you were a fan of her books. Good fucking riddance; can’t wait for all the fanfiction lovingly written in her memory about Lestat getting his back blown out.

Also if you’re curious Interview with a Vampire is incredibly mediocre and you shouldn’t waste your time the end.

*If you’re wondering about the context of those “not pc enough” comments: When Paula Deen was sued for racial discrimination in her restaurant, she denied it. But in her deposition she admitted to “expressing her hope that her brother (the restaurant co-owner) would experience a genuine Southern plantation wedding reminiscent of an antebellum or postbellum era when black people waited on white people”, “living in a household where jokes involving the hard r are told to her ‘constantly’”, and, when asked if she had ever used the the hard r herself, said “Yes, of course.” Paula actually won the lawsuit, but her comments going public effectively destroyed her entire career — as they should. And Anne Rice co-signed that. As in, she thought that Paula had a right to say them without losing everything and being ridiculed.