I made a whole spreadsheet for my niche fandom rare pair 80-chapter-long fanfic to help the approximately 20 people who read it avoid spoilers and content they may not want to see. I think I've hit my peak of 'fanfic nerd bullshit nobody asked for'.

So today I got a rather unkind comment on AO3 (one could call it hate), but I believe it to be a bot for several reasons:

Guest account, but username attached

Said username exists but person is unlikely to be reading Tolkien fic (according to their Tumblr and AO3, they are in other fandoms)

Two grammatically correct sentences

Super generic text that could apply to any fic:

"I've seen better fanfiction written by a toddler. Get it together!"

I'm curious, did anyone else get comments like this? Let me know.

And to those who have gotten rude comments and are now worried/upset: Maybe it was just a bot too. Either way: You're awesome for putting your writing out there for others to enjoy and you don't deserve to get rude comments for it. If you want feel free to message me to compare cases and discuss details :)

i need to thank whoever came up with Oh. Oh. for what they've done for the English language.

It's always

"When will fanfic writers update their stories?"

And never

"Does this fanfic writer have adequate enrichment to engage in writing behaviours?"

Fanfiction writers (Scriptor fictus) are intelligent animals who need plenty of enrichment as well as encouragement! If they're stuck in poor conditions (e.g. have studies, work, have to actually write to have something written) then they require the proper enrichment to engage in more healthy behaviours, like writing. Remember, due to poor breeding and socialisation, over half of all fanfic writers suffer from low self confidence and executive dysfunction so take care of them!

Give your fanfic writers proper care. Fanfiction writers are a life long commitment.

Nothing feels more amazing as a fanfic writer than finding the fandom, the pairing, the trope, that reawakens not only your love of writing, but also the joy that comes with just being hopelessly and unapologetically invested in something.

I don’t know if this is a fear that many people have as commenters, but for those who are worried that they shouldn’t leave a comment in their native language because the author might not understand—please do it!!

Getting comments in another language is, for me, a bonus because now I’m copying and pasting it into google translate like a kid opening a mysteriously shaped present on Christmas to find when they open it that it’s exactly what they were hoping for!!

The suspense! 🤩🤩 The payoff! 🤩🤩🤩

But in addition to that, it means so much to me because it shows that something I’ve written has sort of transcended language and reached across world borders and cultures and has found a home with someone! It’s brought them joy, and I might never know that person, but to see that joy expressed in a language I don’t speak—there’s just something special about that.

Me, rereading the same comfort fic for the 372963th time: awwwww 😍

So, I was today years old when I learned that there are people stealing fics from AO3 and selling them on Etsy. Apparently, the only community harmed by this until now is the Harry Potter fandom, but it could be a matter of time for those ill practices to spread.

If my opinion is worth something, please don't support this by buying any. It's horrible as an author when someone copies your stuff, let alone profit from it. I can't even imagine.

To end this post I'd like to say to my fellas out there that if you ever find your story being sold without your permission you can send a message here and I promise I'll try to persuade every follower I have to report it so it gets taken down.

And if there are any other conditions/qualifications (like, you would only read such a fic if it were an author you are already familiar with, or if it was specifically recommended to you), please leave those in the tags! I'm curious to see what people say!

Looking for interview participants

Dear fanfiction writers,

I’ve been an avid fanfiction reader since way back. This year I’ve decided to write my bachelor's thesis about… well… you! I am interested in your perspectives regarding the personal digital legacy you create by writing fics.

I’m looking for a few volunteers who are willing to give me an online interview via Zoom (60 min max). It doesn’t matter what fandom(s) you hail from.

The requirements are: - you are an adult (18+ for legal reasons) and have already written at least a few fanfics - you are not a published author and have not published with any publishing house under your real name besides self-publishing

You will, of course, stay anonymous!

I’m planning to do the interviews between the 20th of Dezember '23 and the 8th of January '24. Your participation would be an enormous help and greatly appreciated. I’m looking forward to talking to you!

If you are interested in participating and/or have any questions, please get in touch (direct message).

Thanks for reading! Reblogging is love!

I have been saving funny fanfic clippings for years! THIS IS MY MOMENT TO SHINE!

I am speechless.

My post about hateful AO3 spam comment bots is barely 2 days old and then I find this in my inbox.

I'm pretty sure this too is a bot, but just in case there's any sort of human being involved in this: I am not interested and do not consent to any of my works being made into NFTs or, while I'm at it, fed into shitty AIs or anything of this sort. If any of you use my works for such purposes, you are doing so against my explicit wishes and without my consent that you need in order for it to be legal. You have been warned.

To my fellow fan creators: Do not respond to such messages. Report, block, delete.

NFTs have been a complete and utter failure, and many people have lost tons of money - a truth that even the most deluded optimistic NFT fans have had to accept. If you need further information on this, I recommend this video by Folding Ideas on YouTube.

at the end of the day, it's me and that one fanfiction i read when i was 14 against the world.

So I got this comment under one of my works:

And it was basically for a request where an anon wanted me to write a reader/self insert whose beauty exceeded Aprhodite's.

I know that all Diety Worshippers/ people who work with dieties aren't like this and I also don't have much knowledge on this concept. HOWEVER; if you engage in something like this, I'm of the mindset that you're typically doing it for YOURSELF. You're doing it for your own health/mental wellbeing, you work/worship with a certain diety because they resonate with you, your dieties energy and influences impact YOU. Much like how Christians shouldn't enforce their beliefs, you shouldn't go midrant on a RoR x Reader post about how "You can never be as pretty as Aprhodite😡😡😡" even though the reader in this scenario IS LITERALLY A GODDESS AS WELL.

Second of all, Aprhodite isn't THE goddess of beauty and love. She is A goddess of beauty and love. You can't exclude other mythologies and pantheons like Hathor and Oshun and etc.

And I am genuinely sorry to any RoR creators who have had to deal with this or comments like this. If this is ignorant or out of line in anyway, let me know or message me about it but, like, this is how I personally feel when someone decides to try and guilt my readers for wanting to read a funny little scenario.

Recently I've realised I have a lot of internalised hypocrisy regarding the "stigma" (for want of a softer word) surrounding fanfiction and fic writers. I'm always quick to defend and validate other writers, assuring them and anyone bothering them that writing fanfiction is just as valid and can be just as challenging as writing original works, but the moment I talk about myself and my own writing, I feel ashamed. I get awkward when people ask me what I write, and Heaven forbid they probe further. I diminish my own accomplishments. I downplay my skills. It was a conversation I had with a friend recently that really made me realise the double-standards I've been holding myself to. I've just had a copy of one of my fics printed for myself (just a single copy, not for distribution) that I took to school to show a few people. This was the conversation.

Friend: "Oh my God, you wrote a book?!"

Me: "Yeah, well, it's just fanfiction."

Friend: "YOU WROTE A F*CKING BOOK!"

And it hit me that she was right. I wrote a f*cking book.

And I let the stupid shame stop me being proud of that.

I’m genuinely curious to see what other people do and if anyone does what I do (go read everything the author wrote for the ship that catches my attention).