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@dbarn
Howdy
I write Zootopia fanfiction.
My userpage on AO3 is: donutbarn - Works | Archive of Our Own
I also have a website at donutbarn.org, although it's mostly just links to my fics on AO3.
Occasionally, I may post here rambling about whatever zips through my mind. Musings on writing, roadblocks I've encountered, maybe just a heads-up that I've published something new.
things in fic I'm used to people kind of faking their way through writing about:
the city of los angeles
the city of new york
sex
how drinking alcohol works
how getting high works
how a child of any age speaks
how nuclear physics work
how [my job] works
how debilitating being shot in the shoulder is
how hypothermia works
things I have never before seen someone fake their way through writing about, until today:
what french toast is
read through the notes on this one trust me
Here's some of the notes, starting with the things multiple people brought up:
SHRIMP COCKTAIL:
banahbanah: #flashback to that one fic where Peter Parker frets about drinking shrimp cocktail because of the alcohol
generaldeliciousness: adding: what a prawn/shrimp cocktail is
#why is your character turning it down because they're under 21 #do you think prawn cocktail is a cocktail #this lives in my brain rent-free constantly #the rest of the fic was so normal #and good enough that i'll still re-read it #but bro
And then many, MANY, people wondering if this was actually authour mistake, since Peter really would do this!
POMEGRANATES:
zhajhassa: #haha where's that post that was like someone describing someone eating a pomegranate but they ate it like an apple
thornhands: #once someone wrote persephone biting into a whole Pomegranate #had to stop and stare at a wall for a minute
sungsingsanguine: I once saw someone very confidently write about a character eating slices of pomegranate.
FRUIT TREES:
zagreuses-toast: #given a very endearing glimpse into a writers blindspots by seeing them describe someone sitting under a ''pineapple tree''
salatrash: I remember something about picking watermelons... OF A FUCKING TREE
baander: #cranberry trees
DOUGH/BATTER:
maycelium: #I'm a chef so I'm really used to people not accurately describing how to cook food #But I was surprisingly flabbergasted when someone was writing making a cake and was kneading it. Which uh #Not necessary for cake. It was interesting for sure but just bizarre
livebloggingmydescentintomadness: #the one that drove me nuts was when a character set aside a batch of PASTA DOUGH 'to rise' #pasta doesn't have yeast!! #it does need to REST but it will never RISE #you do not want an airy crumb on your noodles
lovesodeepandwideandwell: #THE ONE WHERE THEY MADE COOKIES BY LADLING BATTER INTO A TRAY
Some other topics:
On one hand, these make me laugh, but on the other hand, now I'm terrified to learn what I've faked my way through and am completely unaware I've gotten horribly wrong
Is there like a non creepy way to ask an AO3 writer if they have a tumblr one could follow? I left a comment on all fics of an author a while ago and had some cool discussion about their works in the comments with them and I would love to see more of their thoughts.
I think what you said here works!
I also don't think it's creepy to find someone interesting and follow them elsewhere. Back when I first started posting on AO3, it was pretty common for authors in my fandom to have the same username on both AO3 and their tumblr, so I wouldn't even have to ask. I'd just search them out here and then follow them.
I'm old and not super active on AO3 at the moment, so I don't know if that's still true though.
Reply to a comment in the chain or on a new fic if they've posted one, and say something like:
"I really enjoy these cool discussions we have in your comments. Do you have a tumblr I could follow? I'd love to see more of your thoughts."
Also, if you haven't already, check out their author profile page. They might have it linked there! I know I do.
(and when I think of it, I link it in my author's notes, but that doesn't happen all that often lol)
Authors - would you find this creepy? Is there a better way to ask?
Readers - how do you go about asking to find an author outside of AO3?
Author’s notes also often include links to Tumblr, if their profile page doesn’t.
If AO3 has nothing, and you’re uncomfortable asking directly, you can also look up one of their fic with a distinct name here. Often, authours will include links to AO3 on Tumblr, even if they don’t include links to Tumblr on AO3. I’ve also looked up their AO3 name and found other people talking about them and mentioning their Tumblr pseudonym. Sometimes, with people who change names frequently, I’ve had to find someone talking about how great they are and then look for the reblogs to find who thanks them. Because that name will be the most recent version.
(I run a rec blog, and sometimes the submitter’s comment is so nice that I really want the authour to be able to see it. So I put in a bit of extra effort!)
If they’re openly promoting their fic here, they’ll be fine with you sending them an ask or message thanking them for their writing. You can also reblog some of their fic and tell people how great they are. Authors LOVE that!
Or, you can just ask. We’re usually anonymous here, so even people who are uncomfortable creating a link between their Twitter/bluesky/whatever and their AO3 are often okay with sharing their Tumblr. Some will say no, and might offer a reason, like previous harassment, or the fact that they don’t do fandom stuff here, but I think very few would find the request creepy!
If anyone hunted me down from AO3 expecting I'd share insights about my writing process or my intention with any fics... I'm very sorry.
locked the fuck out. distractionmaxxing
I feel like people on this site could do with a change of phrasing cuz I see so many fandom posts saying "this would be better if-" when what they really mean is "I would like this better if-"
Most people don't bother to differentiate between "this is bad because" and "I don't like this because". And there is a difference.
you get a comment on tumblr. it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a DM. it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a message on instagram. its a bot trying to scam you. you're an author and you get an email telling you how much they loved your book and want to showcase it at their bookclub. it's a bot trying to scam you (and it uses bad AI to pretend it knows your story). you get a comment on ao3 saying how much they love your fic - and they made you fanart!! it's a bot trying to scam you. you get a hate comment on ao3 which insults your writing or calls you a monster for writing something "problematic". it's a bot. but at least that one isn't trying to scam you.
there's just something really cruel and insidious about this wave of scams going after creatives. You get an email and think someone genuinely loved what you made but - no. It's another scam. It's someone trying to trick you into sending them money. On AO3, it might literally just be a bot someone made specifically to be a hateful little shit.
putting the stuff you've made out there for everyone to see is hard and scary and we're all just bumping around looking for a bit of appreciation and love and connection and these bastards are using that to try to rob us. I hate it.
Im going go get into the sea and stay there
So to be 100% clear:
tumblr just added an update that requires you to verify your age in order to view "mature content". I'm not sure how they do the verification (haven't yet checked), but given recent similar updates from things like Discord, it most likely involves sending them a photo of either your face or your ID.
In addition, over the past few months, and also years in the long-term, tumblr has been incorrectly marking things as mature content. These include:
Notifications about missing persons and requests for help
Posts about youth liberation
Posts about sex education
Posts about how the mature content is poorly implemented
Posts about being trans, more specifically about trans women and transmisogyny by both tumblr and users on tumblr
Non-sexual selfies by trans women/transfems
Trans womens'/transefems' ENTIRE BLOGS even if the blog contains no sexual content
Reblogs made by various blogs, mostly trans women, which add no additional content but somehow are marked as containing mature content, when the original post is not
Posts talking about racism and antiblackness both on and off tumblr
Posts by black people, especially black trans people, that are non-sexual
And likely many more I haven't seen
In essence, this update has mandated that a majority of users must either a) submit their personal information to tumblr, a website whose moderation has been EXTREMELY biased against marginalised people and who I would not trust with my ID, or b) be excluded from absolutely all conversations tumblr decides are "mature content", whether they are actually sexual in nature or not. Furthermore, anyone not over 18 will also not be allowed to take part in these conversations, or even see them, or interact with many trans women or people of colour on this site, as tumblr decides.
This update is complete bullshit designed to censor and exclude marginalised people, poorly hidden under a guise of "protecting teenagers from sexual content", and they know it.
Not that this matters to anyone else, but I want to be very clear: if I suddenly have to supply my ID to keep using Tumblr the way I have, I will delete my account. Not as a form of protest, but simply because I refuse to deal with this form of enshittification and fuckery.
I keep making posts about short fics, and I'm going to continue doing so because on every short fic post I make, I get people who love short fics but I also get authors who feel guilty because they don't write "full fics" or "complete stories"
Short fics are complete. Short fics are full stories. There are more tales in the world than just novels. There are more ways of sharing your idea than creating an entire world to go along with it.
You can tell a complete story in 100 words. You can call a fic complete and full and fleshed out, even without all of the context or history or world building in your brain.
Your readers have imaginations, just like you do. Have faith that they'll be able to fill in any blanks on their own. Trust that they'll enjoy what you put out, even if it's short.
Stop measuring yourself with a ruler that doesn't even matter. If you want to write a long fic, that's wonderful. I wish you well.
But if you don't want to write novels, please stop apologizing for that. You have nothing to feel bad about. Be proud that you can capture a moment or a feeling or an idea in just a few words. Not everyone can do that.
100% agree
We wrote flash fiction in our short story club today. It was a blast. Each one was a full, complete story.
None of them were over 500 words, and the lowest was 286. We could've gone even shorter with different parameters or if we'd tried. You can accomplish a lot in 100 words.
It's ok to write short stuff. I gravitate to short stories for fanfiction because that's what I have time for. Novels are exhausting and not everyone gels well with the writing process for them. That's ok. Different people write differently, and you'll have different lengths you like for different things! It's great!
I don't seem to have the memory capacity/attention span to either read or write long fics, so short stories are definitely my groove. That seems to have changed further recently, partially by choice, so that I don't think I've written anything longer than 1500 words for close to two years now.
In the span of about 24 hours, Judy went from:
"yeah, he really is the source of my discomfort"
To....
"I'm definitely going to eat his face off later."
*thinks up an idea for a silly quick piece* okay haha let's whip something up real quick
*idea gets more complicated*
*idea gets more complicated*
*idea gets more complicated*
*idea gets more complicated*
oh no
not my circus not my monkeys but thanks to my mutuals i know some of the lore
damn i wish u guys could read this fic i haven't written and this fic i haven't finished writing and this fic i'm putting off outlining and this fic i outlined but haven't started and this fic i'll never write and this other fic i haven't written and this fic that exists only in vague impressions in my head that fall apart every time i try to commit them to the page and th
i was thinking this morning about how i categorize fanfic authors that i enjoy like AKC breeds and decided to share my rubric with you:
the specialist: this author has a favorite kink or trope and has written 80% of the content in that tag. you know exactly what you’re getting. they have A Brand™️. no matter what other traits they display, dedicated rare pair authors belong here.
the chocolate box: essentially the exact opposite. this author will try anything once. they have 80+ works in the fandom with no discernible pattern. the shortest one is 268 words and the longest is well over 100k. this breed of author may or may not be related to:
the renaissance fan: they’ve written three things in your fandom: your favorite fic, your notp, and a bizarre crossover with a show you’ve never heard of. you hit “expand fandoms list” on their author page and have to scroll down twice to reach the bottom. whenever you curse the fact that you can’t legally commission fic writers, this is the author you’re thinking about.
the horn dog: they’re here for one thing and one thing only. if someone’s dick is not in another character’s mouth within 500 words, they apologize for it in the author’s notes. they have one (1) g-rated fic.
the rookie: this writer is usually young, new to fandom, or just got a beta-reader for the first time. their fics are a little all over the place, quality-wise, but you’re excited whenever their name pops up because their unique voice gets stronger every time. you feel a personal investment in their development, like you’re an old man reading the local high school sports page and saying “this kid’s the one to watch.”
the live streamer: the most prolific author in the fandom. their works are all over the front page when you sort by kudos. you have no idea how they generate this much work, and have seriously wondered if they have access to an extra-dimensional time portal. their stories are usually un-beta’d and the characterization varies wildly, but their best works are inspired and you’ve read them 30 times.
the cryptid: this one comes out of nowhere every two years, drops the best fanfic you’ve ever read, and disappears. fifteen months after you left a three paragraph comment about how they changed your life, you get a message in your inbox that just says “thanks.”
the novelist: we talk about “filing off the serial numbers” when someone reworks their most popular story to pitch it as an original novel; this author somehow does the reverse. their fics are excellent, usually long-reaching multi-chapter AUs that have almost nothing to do with the on-screen characters except their names. i’d like to extend my personal thanks to this breed of author because it’s the closest i get to reading an actual book.
the reunion tour: this author wrote some of the most popular works in the fandom, but either moved on to k-pop or burned out when canon took a turn for the worse. they put out one new thing a year, often an old draft that’s been haunting them from under the floorboards. their last six author’s notes all say they never thought they’d write this pairing again and “this will probably be the last time.”
who did i miss?
I'm not sure which (if any) of these categories I'd fall into. But this is a fun concept.
A silly joke popped into my head from nowhere, and I decided to find a vaguely appropriate TMBG song and write a scene based around it. New addition to They Might Be WildeHopps: "What the Cat Dragged In" (another song from the new album The World Is to Dig)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/72313836/chapters/220521916
me when im busy: I need to write I need to write I need to write I need to write I need to write I need to write
as soon as im free:
They Might Be Giants released a new album, so of course I had to write a fic using one of the new song titles. Click to read "Character Flaw", inspired by a song from The World Is To Dig.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/72313836/chapters/219706671
