Does anyone have a link to a back-to-basics article about good fanfic practices, like standards of content and chapter length and such (speaking as an old fart who only wrote a couple of shitty one-shots back when lemons were a thing)
Hiya, was wondering if you know if it's possible to sort of save a set of filters on Ao3's search?
Im a picky picky person who knows what they like and I use the filters liberally. But it's a pain to put it in every time I accidentally close my Ao3 tab or I wander into a new fandom. I'm well aware you can favourite a single tag, but I'm talking multiple tags included and excluded.
Thanks for your time and thoughts!
If you want to look up the same filtered tag again and again, the easiest way is to bookmark the results page. The URL has all of the filters in it, so reloading that URL will give you the latest results with all of the filters applied.
sidenote: it's possible to throw an error by applying too many filters just because it hits the max length of URL allowable by the browser
If you want to apply the same filters to lots of different tags, then you might be better off using the Saved Filters Bookmarklet creatied by reisling on AO3.
I'm a HUGE fan of this script https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/8382-ao3-tracking
It allows you to search for something, add all your filters/exclusions you want on it and then save it, and then with one button have it tell you if there are any updates to that filter and how many. Really helps with rare things that get maybe one update a week and you're constantly refreshing them...
I like to use it with https://greasyfork.org/scripts/5835-ao3-kudosed-and-seen-history which puts a red bar on fics I haven't even seen in a search result before.
I use AO3 Savior (https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/3579-ao3-savior) which lets me blacklist or whitelist tags universally across the AO3. So if I never want to read High School AUs, I can block that in the script and it's blocked no matter what tag I'm in. It works on multiple types of tags, and includes wildcard searching.
Hayden has to come over to use Shane’s shower after one of their runs.
“I’m so sorry dude, Arthur shoved a bunch of toys down the toilet and our plumbing is all fucked up, the plumbers are there now but they don’t have an estimated time, can I just shower at yours?”
And Shane, of course, says yes.
While in the shower, Hayden notices a bottle of shampoo specifically for curls. Hmm. Weird. Shane doesn’t have curly hair.
And then there’s a bottle of what Hayden assumes is aftershave on the sink counter, but it’s in Russian so he doesn’t know for sure, smells good tho. 🤷🏻♀️
But he’s curious so he’s gotta ask. “Hey dude, why you got curl shampoo and Russian aftershave in there?”
And Shane chokes on his smoothie, but bounces back quickly.
“I like the way the shampoo smells, and the aftershave is the only one I found that doesn’t irritate my skin.”
Simple. Believable.
And Hayden, the himbo that he is, shrugs and accepts the answer and thanks Shane for the shower and leaves all nonchalant while Shane is having the freak out of his fucking life in his kitchen.
Texting Ilya like “stop leaving your shit here, Hayden saw your shampoo and was asking questions.”
And Ilya, cool as a cucumber, responds “you like to smell my shampoo in shower, gets you hard for me.”
And Shane, well……..
He microdoses Ilya’s pheromones when they’re apart by smelling his shampoo and aftershave and he actually stole them from Ilya last time he was there for that specific reason.
every day I learn bot comments on ao3 are stooping lower and lower
anyway if you get a comment like this, chances are that they are bot and their goal is to do whatever it takes to get you to delete your work, most certainly (from what I’ve heard) it’s because they want to “safely” steal your work, use it to train their ai without you being able to rightfully claim ownership of your work since “there’s no proof that the work was stolen/was posted elsewhere first by you” because the original source has already been deleted.
THEY ARE ALL BOTS. at first it was “ao3 is deleting fics and your entire account will be affected unless you delete the fics yourself” then it was “this work contains contents that are illegal and they have already reported you and your fic to the police” (yes, that’s how desperate these bots are), and now it’s this.
report their comments to ao3 for spam—in this case, specifically, I think you may be able to report them for harassment too—and don’t pay attention to them, most importantly don’t delete your works, don’t feel discouraged by their comments. remember that they are bots and they mass comment something like this on people’s works at random to get people to delete their works. (or even if they’re not bot, they are still pathetic bullies who don’t deserve your time or attention.)
MORE ABOUT BOTS AND SCAMS PLAGUING AO3’S COMMENTS SECTION HERE
Most of your fandom experience is shaped by who you follow. Find a good group of people and stick with them.
Support your favs and a lot of them will become your friends, or at least be friendly back to you.
Just unfollow people who bring unwanted content or negativity onto your dash.
Block people who cause you stress. It’s not worth your time to focus on parts of fandom that don’t make you happy.
Blacklisting words/tags is a tool you are allowed to use as much as you need to.
Don’t feel like you have to pretend to like things that make you uncomfortable in order to fit in. Set healthy boundaries for yourself.
Never tag your hate. Never send hate anons to someone.
Content creators love getting comments, seeing people gush in the tags on reblogs, and getting fans in their inbox. It’s the best way to motivate them to keep making awesome stuff.
If there’s certain content you want to see but it doesn’t exist yet, then make it. Draw the thing, write that fic. If you can’t, then comission an artist or writer, or send someone a prompt if they’re open to it. If you can’t do that either, then write meta or headcanons about it. Put it into the world.
Create what you love. Do it for yourself first and foremost, and if even one other person likes it too, then that’s a bonus.
Reblog the things that you love! Tumblr runs on reblogs, not likes. If you love a writer, artist, GIF-maker, cosplayer, or any other creator, reblogging will help their posts circulate and encourage them to create more.
If there is a ship or trope you don’t want to see, you can use the exclude filter on AO3 searches. If you don’t like it, don’t read it, but also don’t complain about it.
Use tags correctly: “/” means relationship of a romantic and/or sexual nature. “&” means friendship or, like, family bonding. If you mix those up, it gets awkward.
Tag spoilers for new media that just comes out. And spell your spoiler tags correctly. (And if you really want to avoid spoilers, avoid Tumblr until you’ve seen, heard, or read the thing.)
Over the last few months I have been watching & studying #SoA in order to create a timeline for the show. If you'd like to check it out you can access it here:
A/N: This series was born from 2 drabbles I did on request and my brain would not shut up so here we are. ;) Thanks to @daydreaming-belle, for the original ask that kicked this off.
Here we go.....
Across the bar, he catches your eye again. His quick smile turning away melts you every time. Sneaking another look you assess him, so handsome but hasn’t approached a single woman the three times you’ve seen him here. He is bigger than his friends, standing out and that has you crossing your legs to squeeze down on the pulse seeing him again has started. His dimples alone could sway you to break your own rules and approach him instead of waiting.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Jumping to his feet, he smiles wide. “I’m Gill.”
Bravely, you nod giving yourself away, “I know.”
******************************************
Part 1 - "Uncomplicated"
Gill expected one of two reactions when a woman closed in on him. The first was them placing their full attention on his cut, 'bike bunnies' Bishop called them. Or the second, which he hated the most, was the slight, almost imperceptible, shrinking away that they couldn't control once he was fully realized. At 6 feet and 230 lbs, the idea of him being anything but heavy-handed and abrasive was usually beyond their immediate ability to imagine. Add on the fact that he was layered in too many tattoos to count and well, sometimes the outcome wasn't worth the effort.
The woman standing in front of him, however, didn't shrink back at all when he stood up. She beamed a gorgeous smile up at him that had his full attention and the attention of a few of his brothers milling around. Gill had noticed her before but with his brothers crowded around him he hadn't been certain who she was looking at. Tonight his doubts were cleared up when for just a few minutes he sat at their table by himself and her eyes kept landing on him. He was just gearing up to go talk to her when she beat him to it.
Looking up at him, she lost her train of thought. Seeing his size from across the room was very different than standing inches away from it. Compared to her 5'6", 135 lbs he was a wall but she liked that…a lot. His face definitely didn't lose any of its appeal up close. Soft, serious brown eyes, straight nose, strong chin - all man. And maybe it was because she had already seen him laugh or because his dimples popped when he talked, that his cut and neck tattoos were a non-factor before she ever crossed the bar to get to him. Realizing that she was staring, she took a sip of her drink to cool the warmth creeping up her neck.
Gill was thinking that she was prettier up close, much prettier. A heart-shaped face with full lips and wide brown eyes that shined even in the dim light inside the bar. Her hair was cut so that it swished with every move she made, covering and revealing her face over and over again. And he would be lying if he said he didn't notice her shape. Not short, not tall. She had a beauty mark on her modest but distinctly feminine chest that he was trying not to stare at and he was itching to rest his hands on her flared-out hips…she was all woman. But most importantly, Gill could see her interest in him still lighting up her eyes despite Coco and Angel coming by to slap him on the shoulder in silent congratulations. Eyes that never looked away from his face until he asked her name.
"Marisol." In the noise around them, he frowned, automatically leaning forward for her to repeat it. She grinned, leaning into his ear, "Everybody just calls me Mars. It started when I was little, don't ask."
Straightening back up, Gill smiled letting his dimples peek out again to her delight. "Okay," he tossed back, holding up his hands. "I won't."
If you asked her, she would vehemently deny that she had purposely taken a sniff of him when he bent down. The bar's smoke couldn't mask his dark tangy scent, making her want to pull him down again to get another sample. The people bumping her as they squeezed by made her wish they were somewhere else, anywhere else quiet. Her nerves were bad enough from walking over to him in the first place without having to yell out every sentence over the music and chatter around them. Tugging his hoodie's sleeve to bring him closer, she suggested they go out to the patio for a minute and he nodded his agreement. She turned toward the exit, surprised to feel his hand settle on the small of her back, quietly protective, keeping them connected while they steered their way through the crush of bodies to the doors.
Once outside, they found a piece of unoccupied wall to lean against. It was easier to breathe in the welcoming clear air of the outdoors and they looked each other over in the softer lighting. Looking out at the crowded, tiny dance floor and multicolored lights strung across the patio, he swung his gaze back to her, "I've never been out here before."
Shaking her head, she gave the area a quick look, too. "Me either. At least it's a little quieter. I didn't want to keep yelling at you."
Gill was struck by her voice. It was sexy as hell. It wasn't low in pitch but it had a feminine huskiness to it. Sugar and spice, he thought. Before they could settle into any kind of conversation, a few of her friends appeared waving her down over Gill's shoulder. Only one approached openly eyeing him with interest and Marisol dropped her head. Oh lord. Out of their group, the last one she wanted to see coming was her sister, Yasmin. Marisol loved her to death and sober she was the wild center of fun in her life but with more than two drinks in her, she had no filter and no fear.
Gill didn't have time to register the look that crossed Marisol's face before with a delighted grin, Yasmin was sidled up next to her. She looped her arm in Marisol's, including Gill in her apology, "Sorry to distuuurb you all…but we gotta go. Nala is bitchin' about her shoes that we told her not to wear and you know how she gets."
Marisol's eyes flicked toward Gill and back to her sister, "Okay…I'll be right there."
Looking back and forth between Marisol and the small tattooed mountain she was talking to, a grin spread wide on her lips. "Okay, Mars! Okaaaay! See you in a minute then. Don't make me come lookin' for you."
Marisol found everywhere to look but at Gill. "Oh my god, will you go!?"
"Whaaat?!" Yasmin sucked her teeth at little sister's embarrassment, grinning even wider, "Don't be mad at me 'cause I see yo ass…". Pointing her long fingernail at Marisol, she then flipped it at Gill and finished, "tryin' to see his ass."
Marisol's eyes went wide, nudging her shoulder none to lightly, "Gooooo!"
"I'm going! I'm going!" While shuffling away and waggling her fingers at a now low chuckling Gill, Yasmin sang out, "Byyyye frieeeeend!"
Watching her disappear through the doors, Marisol braved looking at Gill, her tone apologetic, "I guess I better-".
A hard hit to her back cut her off and sent Marisol directly into Gill's chest, spilling her drink on him. He helped her stand upright and shook his sleeve off the best he could. The guilty party girl apologized repeatedly to them both, but once she registered the totality of Gill and his intense frown, she cleared out leaving Gill to be able to check on Marisol. "You okay?"
Watching him shake off his arm she was mortified, "I am. Shit! I'm so sorry!"
"Don't worry about it."
"But I-,"
"Hey," he squeezed her shoulder softly, hoping that she wasn't going to be scared away by the mishap. "…it's nothing."
Marisol noticed for the first time just how smooth his voice was. It wasn't at all the rasp or grit you'd assume it would be by looking at him. It was calming, the kind of voice you could just listen to for a while but she didn't have the time. Knowing she had to catch up with her people before they came back looking for her, she took a bold step. "Look, give it to me so I can wash it. It's the least I can do."
"Come on. It ain't that serious." Gill's closed-lipped smile dipped his dimples and Marisol tried to ignore the tingles that had returned.
"I want to." Gathering her confidence back up, her smile matched his, slightly teasing. "Besides you can get it back when you pick me up."
A bit of his frown came back, "When I-?".
"Mmm hmm," Marisol nodded with a touch of wickedness in her eyes that caught Gill off guard. "When you pick me up…to take me out-".
She raised her eyebrows waiting for him to catch on. The broadness of his smile gave her all the reassurance she needed to know that she made the right move. Her laugh, careless and musical, drifted up into the night air as light and pretty as the star-filled sky, making his decision for him.
Gill chuckled, shaking his head and rubbing his beard. This one he liked…he liked her a lot. Peeling out of his cut, he handed it to her to be able to take off his hoodie, "Hold this."
0.o.0.o.0
Pulling up, Marisol spotted Gill waiting for her by the sidewalk outside the bar and grille where they agreed to meet. Seeing him perched on his bike with his legs planted wide in blue plaid and leather had her heart rate speeding up and her hands clammy. It had only been three days since they met but she had spent the entire ride over trying to prepare herself to see him again and still managed to be a fluttery mess. Try as she might to be cool about it, she had thought about him every day and his 'Hey what's up' texts had her grinning like an idiot every time. Gilberto 'Gilly' Lopez was under her skin and she was thoroughly smitten.
Gill had talked to Marisol briefly just once since the night her sister and her friends cut their time short, but their chat was good. He could tell that she was at ease with him and it made him want to see her again more than he was ready to admit to himself. He didn't intend on telling any of his brothers where he was heading to that night but he let it slip to Coco, who had been up his ass about 'the girl he disappeared with' every time his phone went off. The likelihood of a few of them showing up just to give him a hard time was pretty high and that made him more nervous than meeting up with Marisol ever could.
Watching her exit the small parking lot across the street had Gill wiping his hands on his pants. Marisol's jeans were clinging to her curves and her dark green top dipped so low in the front that even at a distance he knew it would be a distraction for the rest of the night. Keeping her word, she was carrying his hoodie and once on the sidewalk, she gave him a little wave with its sleeve.
"Hey," Gill's smile was warm and Marisol was instantly comfortable. Flashing a quick radiant smile she forgot all decorum, kissing his cheek in greeting. His brief look of surprise was so adorable she figured it was worth her initial embarrassment for having done it.
"Hey to you," she laughed, quickly wiping her lip color from his face. She let her eyes travel up the street while she batted down her new wave of nerves from being in his personal space. Remembering to hand over his hoodie she held it out. "Here you go. Freshly laundered and returning to the owner."
Taking it, Gill chuckled at the memory of how she ended up with it. "Thanks. Ready to go in?"
Marisol's nod came with another easy smile that widened as he held the door for her and once again placed his hand on her back to walk through. Once settled at their table, she peppered him with questions about himself between drinks and rounds of foosball when she could make herself stop staring at his mouth and hands and dimples…and the rose tattoo in the center of his throat, wondering what it tasted like. Keep your panties on, Mars!…she sternly told herself. She was doing a good job of behaving until he stood up to take a call and did a full-body stretch. Watching his chest widen and his arms extend to their full wingspan, she clenched her fists to keep from melting out of her chair onto the floor.
No kids? No ex-wives? Ex-military? The club. She had a million questions about the MC but didn't feel like she should ask them just yet. Besides, what she liked the most about him so far was that he was a whole person separate from the club. Like her, he had lived and experienced things well beyond the small town around them. She was intrigued and impressed, he seemed to clearly know who he was, but did he know what he wanted?
Loosened up, Gill asked her questions about herself, fighting the lean toward suspicion that was ingrained in him from his military days and reinforced by the club. Marisol Annette Paulo had been passed around between her mother and other family members in the US and Mexico until she was 11 and then taken in by her father to live permanently with his family. At 26 years old, she had long since shaken off her rocky start of bouncing between households and countries, fully adjusted to her stable family life. The woman that had called her away at the bar was her older half-sister, Yasmin, who she proudly explained was her best friend. She also had another sister and two brothers from her father. Her life now consisted of helping her siblings to take care of her fraternal grandmother outside of Santo Padre, three dogs and doing the books for a few small farms and her father's nursery near Highland, Ca.
No kids? No crazy ex's? No recent heartbreak? Gill felt himself relaxing more as she talked. She was animated and open. There was a joy in her, a lightness that contradicted her early years. He wasn't sure where it came from, but he wanted to find out. He snuck extra glances at her whenever he could. Her lips were a deep reddish purple that he was trying not to stare at and her brown eyes glinted green flakes that he didn't notice the night they met. Because they chose to sit in the outdoor patio area for more privacy and a quieter atmosphere, Marisol ended up putting on his hoodie for extra warmth. Bundled up in it with her hands tucked in the sleeves up to her fingernails, she was beautiful.
She was so easy to talk to Gill lost all track of time. Their pauses in conversation didn't require filling, being quiet together wasn't a mood changer. It wasn't until their server came by for the fourth time to check on them that they got up to leave. She kept his hoodie on until they reached her car and when she started to take it off Gill stopped her. Half joking, half serious he said, "No, keep it on. Looks good on you."
"Yeah?" She did a half turn and posed to cover her embarrassment at not knowing how to take the compliment.
"I'll get it from you next time."
Marisol stopped her little performance and bit back the grin that threatened to bloom on her face. Next time? If this were another man she would have seen it as a slick approach but on Gill it didn't come off that way. It felt organic, honest. He could have said it with arrogance, annoyingly cocksure that she wanted to see him again because she clearly did, but there was a hint of a question mark at the end of his sentence and in his eyes. The sweetness of it was deeply affecting and the low throb she had been trying to ignore all night, turned up several notches, choking the life out of her ability to play hard to get.
"G? Do me a favor."
Somehow her abbreviated version of his name felt right to him. He raised his eyebrows slightly, waiting.
"C'mere."
Not quite certain if this was going where he wanted it to or if he just had some crumbs on his shirt, he took a half step closer to her. She took his hand pulling lightly, her voice coaxing him and eyes playful, "Cloooserrr."
Bringing him nearly toe-to-toe with her, she let her lips curl up on the edges and drew his arm around her, putting his hand firmly on her back. Smiling along with her, Gill relaxed adding his other hand to her back, feeling free to hold her the way he had wanted to all night. She slid her hands up and over his shoulders, voicing her approval. "Even better."
Smoothing down the front of his cut, she used it to tug him down. Inches from his lips she paused, the wait left his breathing shallow. The lips he had been staring at all night parted and he fought the screaming urge to dive in. Her breathy giggle lit up his insides before she asked, "Do you even know how cute you are?"
It’s your friendly neighbor fanfic author here. In the light of this apparent new trend of people feeding unfinished fics to AI to get an “ending,” and some people even talking about “blanket permissions,” let me just say this:
I EXPLICITLY FORBID ANYONE TO FEED MY FICS TO AI. DUDE, THAT IS ABOUT THE LEAST RESPECTFUL THING YOU CAN DO. IF YOU DO IT, SHALL YOU BE EXCOMMUNICATED FROM YOUR FANDOM AND WALK ON LEGOS BAREFOOT TILL THE END OF DAYS.
That is my anti-permission.
Thank you for your attention.
QueenMadds @queenmaddsauthor - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
