radfems, "gender criticals", ace/arophobes DNI. mostly fairy tail/other anime blog now (find me on AO3 & FFnet with the same name). anyone who's against any of the "Big 4" Fairy Tail ships or fraxus/mirafraxus won't like me prob. also blog about general fandom stuff in occasional bursts. I reblog spoilers occasionally, but do my best to tag it, so be sure to filter those for manga/anime/media which interests you if you want to follow :) fair(y, lol) warning that i roast the things i love like a wild boar. see pinned for my writing!
[There's a chance I follow you if you follow me, but it'd be under my main username: @underestimated-heroine]
pfp is some of Mashima's official art of Lucy Heartfilia.
***How to find any post on Tumblr via tags (requires desktop, handy to have in the Fairy Tail fandom imo)***
***Incomplete, informal FT fanfic rec list, and here's another***
***If you make Fairy Tail fan art, here's a reminder that you can tag ft-reboost to get your art more reblogs (they want you to!)***
-i block art reposters and anyone who reblogs them too often to be a mistake. period.
-This blog is firmly anti-censorship and anti-harassment. This includes being against anyone who throws around words like "romanticize" and "normalize" or "don't like don't read EXCEPT [ship type/sex-related thing you've decided doesn't count as fiction]." I am also defending the oodles of stuff I personally wouldn't read with this statement. (My own words & more on this, non-graphic cw/tw for basically all the depraved content this discussion entails.)
*tbc I don't like to make DNI's Like This, but due to some personal life experiences, a harassment campaign I went through once upon a time over a (not even sexual) fic I wrote, and some troubling trends and language I now see in this fandom, I feel the need to be clear and also show some solidarity with darkfic writers and enjoyers.
MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY OF THIS THOUGH.
My Writing
*have never opened up my inbox for fic recs. might someday, if anyone's even really interested, but not right now*
-(Mis)Communication: Gajevy week prompt I wrote f o r e v e r ago, it feels like! AO3 Rating M. Basically Levy misses Gajeel on a girls vacation with Lucy, Juvia, and Cana & tries to sext him. shenanigans ensue.
-Chasing Tails: scrungled-ass Next Gen fic. AO3 Rating E. Premise is that the NaLu child, Nashi, wound up on an iteration of Our Earth as a child then forgot her family, Fairy Tail, and Earth Land by the time she was 17. Then Natsu finally finds her. Lots of the original beloved FT characters are missing in the beginning and there's a mystery as to why that is. Believe it or not, this fic is supposed to be more humor than anything, at least to my heart. Updates are going slow right now but I'm getting better chapter by chapter, and I'm determined to finish.
-Ice and Igni: feral baby mammoth next gen fic based on the Stone Age Omake, which fascinates me. AO3 Rating M. premise is Greige & Nasha "discovering each other" sort of like Natsu and Lucy did, with the necessary premise feature that the male and female tribes were separated long ago under mysterious circumstances (why do i love doing this?)
-Reminiscing on the Hard Road: a Gruvia one-shot where I basically give one version of events that might have led to Juvia and Gray getting together through memories. Couple-angsty, breakup & makeup fic with a happy ending.
-Series I did for Nalu Week 2024 (AO3 Link). Day 1: Cuddling/Nightmare - "Princes to Dragons" (Link for on here). [This is still coming out 😬]
There are others, but i don't feel they're worth mentioning. if you're intensely curious you can find them on ffnet. all fairy tail, for now.
Thanks for reading! or, A Fanfic Author's Guide To Keeping The Conversation Going
I'm going to start off with a fair amount of introduction here, but this guide is mostly aimed at other writers, who are presumably not put off by long block of texts.
Why write this guide? Mostly because no one else has (that I've seen) (yet.) I've seen no end of guides to writing, and a fair amount on the topic 'how to leave a comment,' but I have yet to see one aimed at replying to reader comments.
Why should we take advice from you? Well, I've been a fanfic author in fan spaces for twentysomethingplus years, and through that time I've seen pretty much every configuration of positive and negative interactions between fans, fan authors, and fan readers that you can imagine. Mostly through trial and error in that time I've worked out my own system of when and how to respond to readers in a way that will make them feel welcomed and encourage them to come back. You can try my methods, or you can develop your own, whatever suits you! But if you've been looking for ways to deepen that connection, and find yourself at a loss, maybe these suggestions will help you.
Why bother to reply to reader comments at all? Because we fanfic authors are (with some exceptions) of the opinion that we're here for community and conversation! A fanfic by itself stands alone; a reader, commenting, has started a conversation. That puts the ball back in our court if we want to keep that conversation going and foster those warm social connections!
Also, it's been my twentysomethingplus years of experience that if you reply to comments, people comment more.
OK, well, I've either convinced you or I haven't. So let's get into some broad principles.
Principle 1: Don't be afraid of repeating yourself.
I've seen this comment repeated a few times: "I feel stupid saying the same thing over and over again, but I don't know what else to say!" Don't worry about that! You are replying to each reader as an individual; they aren't actually part of a hive mind. Very few readers are going to read the entire comment section, and the ones who do are usually dedicated fans who are not here to criticize you! If you get twenty comments that are all some variation on "great story," then don't hesitate to reply twenty times with "glad you liked it!"
(Personally, I have "Thanks for reading!" hotkeyed.)
Along the same line, you can repeat longer responses between commenters if it's relevant -- if more than one reader has asked a similar question, feel free to copy-paste your response from an earlier comment thread rather than typing it all out again. Nobody is plagiarism-checking here.
Principle 2: Match the specificity of the reader's comment.
If all a reader has to say is "great chapter" or "more kudos" or a line of emojis, then a simple thank you is all that's required. If they have more to say, then maybe you have more to say in reply. If they comment on a character's behavior, you can give your own thoughts on blorbo's behavior. If they liked some passage particularly, you can say that you are proud of that passage. If they wail and cry over a sad part, you can offer tissues; if they post a string of LOL's, you can crack another joke. If they went into a mini-essay about blorbo's motivation and how this ties into the canon, then you are being given a blank check to gush about the same! And if they ask a question, then it's probably a good idea to answer it -- even if the answer is "you know what, I didn't even think about that" or "you'll find out later. :)"
(Personally, my stance is that suspense is only for the sake of the reader's enjoyment; if a reader asks a question that would be a spoiler for a later development, I will assume they don't care about suspense and usually answer them truthfully. Your own personal philosophy may vary.)
You gotta manage your own time and spoons but in my opinion, even short comments are worth replying to. It is still an indication that someone engaged with your story and wanted to reach out.
Principle 3: Stay positive.
This is just a principle I keep for as many fannish interactions as possible, really, but the comment sections of your fanfic are not a good place to get into arguments. If a comment is positive, match it with positivity. If a comment mixes positive comments with some kind of cold takes or bummers, you can reply to the positive parts and just ignore the rest. And if a comment is downright nasty, don't get drawn in; it's your AO3-given right as an author to delete or freeze it and go on with your life.
Principle 4: So long as you both want to be here, you can both be here.
I definitely know I've seen, and lived, variations on 'I let the comments pile up unanswered and now it's been months! I'd be mortified to respond to them now!' I won't say it's never ever too late to reply, but I will say that as long as you the writer and they the reader are both active in the same fandom, it's still appropriate to reply. That may be days, weeks, even months after the comment was left. Maybe not years. Case by case.
Also, if it's a chaptered fic, the best time to reply to the comments on the last chapter is right before you post a new chapter -- what better time to remind readers that your story exists? :)
Principle 5: Remember the regulars.
If the same readers regularly comment on chapters or on multiple stories, remember their names and icons and try to get to know them! A regular reader has made an investment in you; it's worth making an investment in them. With regulars, you get the privilege of being a little more informal with them -- you can let down the customer-service level of positivity and vent a few complaints about how much of a fight this chapter gave you, or crack off-color jokes, or the like.
Regulars who leave only very brief comments are still worth cultivating. The more you reply, the more likely it is that they will return and, over time, they may open up to more interaction. I had one regular who commented with a single emoji on every single chapter over the course of several stories and then, on the second to last chapter of my last fic in the fandom, left a long comment about how much my work meant to them.
----
Some specific tips or scripts you can use under the cut, if you want to fluff out your library:
Generic replies that can almost never go wrong:
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for commenting!
I'm glad you liked it!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I had fun writing this/I worked hard writing this, so I'm glad… (etc.)
(If a reader says they laughed) Glad to hear I could make you smile / Glad to hear I could brighten your day!
(If a reader says they cried/screamed/had some other emotional reaction) That was what I was going for, so I'm glad to hear it worked!
(If a reader comments on voice or characterization) Glad to hear you thought it sounded like them!
(If a reader says they are re-reading) Nice to hear it holds up!
(If a reader has left short comments on multiple chapters in a row) It's been really nice to see your progress!
And some tips for being diplomatic if a reader says something you don't agree with:
That's not how I see it, but it's an interesting thought...
I didn't end up going in that direction/ I have other ideas for where this is going, but it's fun to think about...
In the spirit of encouraging people to comment on fanfics while also making it easier to do so, I feel obliged to share a browser extension for ao3 that has quite literally revolutionized the comment game for me.
I present to you: the floating ao3 comment box!
From what I've seen, a big problem for many people is that once you reach the comments at the bottom of a fic, your memory of it miraculously disappears. Anything you wanted to say is stuck ten paragraphs ago, and you barely remember what you thought while reading. This fixes that!
I'll give a little explanation on the features and how it works, but if you want to skip all that, here's the link.
Edit: Yes, this also works on mobile!
The extension is visible as a small blue box in the upper left corner.
(Side note: The green colouring is not from the extension, that's me.)
If you click on it, you open a comment box window at the bottom of your screen but not at the bottom of the fic. I opened my own fic for demonstrative purposes.
The website also gives explanations on how exactly it functions, but I'll summarize regardless.
insert selection -> if you highlight a sentence in the fic it will be added in italics to the comment box
add to comment box -> once you're done writing your comment, you click this button and the entire thing will automatically copied to the ao3 comment box
delete -> self explanatory
on mulitchapter fics, you will be given the option to either add the comment to just the current chapter or the entire fic
The best part? You can simply close the window the same way you opened it and your progress will automatically be saved. So you can open it, comment on a paragraph, and then close it and keep reading without having the box in your face.
Comments are what keep writers going, and as both a writer and a reader, I think it's such an easy way of showing support and enthusiasm.
i’m so serious when i say nalu is the goofiest ship in fairy tail and also the one that makes me lose my mind the most. like look at them. look at these screenshots. they are so chronically unserious it’s actually romantic. why are they always matching each other’s chaotic energy??? like they weren’t just meant for each other, they were engineered in a lab to be the two most ridiculous people in the guild and then fall in love about it. the synchronized screaming. the dramatic hand-holding like someone just proposed. the way natsu sparkles while lucy looks five seconds away from homicide. they are so stupid. they are SO STUPID. and yet so in sync it makes my brain short-circuit.
they’re soulmates in the most obnoxious way possible. not in a soft “we complete each other” kind of way but in a “we got kicked out of a restaurant for sword fighting with breadsticks” way. and they’d be laughing the whole time. they match each other’s every step, every tone, every over-the-top facial expression like they’re one shared creature split into two hot idiots. i love them so much it physically pains me. like this isn’t even about romance anymore. this is about divine comedy. this is about two people being so chaotic together that the universe just gave up and said “fine. fine. you win. be together forever.” and they will. they will be so annoying and dramatic and in love until the end of time. and i’ll be right there cheering them on
Y'all NEED to get over it with the "Lisanna slander" in fanfiction. It happened because she's a natural love rival in Fairy Tail because of her and Natsu's shared history, and even if YOU find them tedious, a lot of people like love triangles. If you don't want to read them, I recommend doing what I do and simply not reading them. There are SO many fics where she's not characterized that way and no, "Lisanna hate" is not a "problem" unique to this fandom. It happens in literally every fandom and people get hysterical about it and the rest of us who know how to click the back button have to suffer posts and yet more loud "why does the fanfic I don't like exist? It shouldn't exist!" type opinions
Hi! I’m currently working on a Fairy Tail visual novel / fanfiction focused on Crime Sorcière During the disappearance of Fairy Tail on Tenrou.
The story mainly follows Jellal, Ultear and Meredy, and explores how the guild was truly created, how they lived during that period, their relationships, missions, regrets, and everything happening behind the scenes while Fairy Tail was gone.
I’m trying to make the story feel as faithful and realistic to the manga as possible, while expanding the parts we never got to fully see!
So I'm calling on the fans of Jellal/Crime Sorcière to help me in the comments! I’d really love to hear your thoughts, headcanons, theories, or ideas that could fit the project. Even small details or character interactions help a lot!
After 2 weeks I’m finally back at it again o(TヘTo) I missed these 2. I’ve been chipping away at this at every little chance I got. To make up for lost time I’ll post 2 pages this week <3
