fan stuff and ... stuff

I'm Marie, born in 1998, I live in Germany and I'm a queer-ace, non binary person :* also, I'm spending all my time in fandoms

[azaablue]

the best fanfiction you've ever read was written by a woman in her 40s before she made dinner for her kids. it was written by a teenager after school when they should've been studying for a history test. and a barista came up with the idea while they cleaned the espresso machine and busser fact-checked it on their break and the post-doc edited between writing grant proposals and the nurse apologized for typos in the notes after a long shift and behind every drabble and one-shot and multi-chapter fic there is a person with a wonderful and interesting and chaotic life and it is such a privilege that we get to be apart of it because they decided to do this thing we all share, for fun.

[marshmellowtea]

he's beautiful i literally need to put him under extreme psychological stress. i need to put him in extreme physical pain. i need him curling up in someone's arms for the feelings of safety and comfort he hasn't received in ages

[anxietyproblem]

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

things some people, especially people who are new to ao3 or fandom/fanfic space as a whole, seem to not understand:

archive of our own is an archive. not a social media.

archive of our own was built with the stance that there would be no censorship, because other platforms already had censorship where some things that were taboo were reported/removed. ao3 was built with the purpose that all of these works, that were not allowed on other platforms, would be allowed on ao3.

the archive will house anything that’s considered fanworks. so no, you cannot report this fic because it portrays in explicit details taboo topics about xyz, you cannot report that fic because it romanticizes and glorifies xyz. ao3 will not remove any of those fics, because whether or not you like it, those fics do not go against ao3’s terms of service.

“but these things are not allowed on other platforms” that’s precisely why ao3 was created, to house and give a platform to these things that were censored/banned/removed from other platforms.

if you have a problem with this, you can use other platforms to post and read fanfics

but you should also know that ao3 by far has the best tagging system, meaning you won’t get anything like what ao3 provides on other platforms, meaning it may be a pain in the ass for you to find a fic with the prompts and pairing you’re looking for, meaning you may still get jump scared by things that are triggering to you half way through your reading of what you thought was an innocent fic. because other platforms don’t have tagging systems, where you can find and avoid any character/pairing/tag as you please, like ao3.

[innocentb3an-deactivated2025111]

i think it's quite harmful to share the mindset that basically anything goes on ao3. yes, tags and filtering are super helpful to avoid your dislikes, but because of how many "taboo topics" are written, it's more challenging to find what i want when i have to scroll past abuse, mental health glorification, etc. i think authors need to really take some time to self evaluate and really come to terms with what they're writiinf and if it's that important to be written.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

actually, authors can write whatever they want because they write for themselves. not. for. you.

we don't have to cater to your personal liking or comfort because we fucking write whatever the hell we want for ourselves. we are our main audience and priorities. and we already tag our warnings, it's your job to avoid them.

also if you actually filter out tags about topics you don't like, you won't have to scroll past most of the things you don't like, because every fic that's tagged as such just won't show up on your screen at all

[the-bar-sinister]

Ah yes, and here we have tumblr user "innocent bean" telling AO3 to abandon the mission they were created for, and fan authors to shut up and conform all of their fic to what "innocent bean" wants to read.

[perfectmanisperfect]

i know it’s october cause i woke up this morning to like 7 ao3 emails all for whumptober

[go-whump-in-the-night]

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

MAY YOU NEVER LOSE YOUR HYPERFIXATION

[ellipsus-writes]

We know many of you have seen NaNoWriMo's recent statements on generative AI...

Well, we have too—and that's why we've made the decision to retract our sponsorship of NaNo.

Your support and belief in human creativity, transparency and collaboration mean everything to us, and we're committed to staying true to that. Thank you all! 💙

You can read our full statement here.

The Ellipsus team xo

[exhuastedpigeon]

Bobby Nash might be dead on ABC, but he’s alive and well on AO3.

[adonischildsupportcase]

[nightshine72]

I need you to understand that when I say "comments are appreciated!" I mean that I will reply to every one of them. I mean that an email with an ao3 notification has a higher priority than a message from my mother. I mean that I will have entire discussions in the comment section if you're up for it. Message me on tumblr and I will have the same discussions on an even more unhinged level. I will dissect entire personalities and ships and fictional political structures and worldbuilding with you. I will become your new best friend. You already ARE my new best friend. At the last battle, I would raise Anduril and say "For my ao3 readers" while a single tears rolls down my cheek, and dive into the fray. I would upload from beyond the grave if someone asked about the next chapter

[gooseberryfox]

YOU!! YES, YOU!! GO WRITE THAT FANFIC YOU THINK NOBODY BUT YOU WILL READ!!

[knebellindemann]

[m-j98]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

After the three of them got their patient to the hospital, Nancy disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Tommy and TK to fix up the ambulance. “She hates me!” the younger paramedic groaned. Tommy shot him an encouraging smile. “She doesn’t hate you. Her partner died, TK. Nancy just needs to get used to you. This takes some time, especially after everything that happened.”

“I know, but – I’m trying to do everything right but nothing works!”

“It’s not your fault. But I wanted to talk to her anyway. She’s not treating you fairly, this can’t keep up. She needs to pull herself together, at least a little bit.”

TK looked horrified. “Please, don’t! I want to handle this on my own.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow but nodded regardless. “Fine. But don’t put it off forever, you hear me?”

---

TK and Nancy still don't get along very well. After something bad happens on a call, and the only person who can be there for her is her new partner, Nancy might have to admit that he's not as bad as she makes him out to be.

@911bingo

[roughwaterwriting]

Write one sentence. Let it lead to another. It comes in waves. 

[gabrielislovegabrielislife]

Me checking on one of my beloved ao3 fics that hasn't been updated since 2017

[thescriptorium]

no way ppl are using ai to write ao3. what happened to being a tortured writer. what happened to blood on the page. what happened to the ao3 curse. people used to get run over, have their houses burned down, break their entire spines and they still put in the work to finish a chapter. fuck you, using ai. y’all are weak