part of a complete breakfast

sideblog || fandom musings, reblogs, and spazzing || 18+

[beggars-opera]

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)

[fraddit]

Sorry in advance if this is too many links, lol.  These are pretty much all about posting to Ao3…

Tagging:

HOW I TAG ON AO3 - A BEGINNER’S GUIDE

AO3 tags 101

What’s the #1 thing you wish everyone knew about tagging?

a reference guide all about tags and warnings on AO3

How to: Tag and Summarise your Fic

Formatting:

ao3 posting script google doc

formatting fic for text-to-speech compatibility and accessibility 

A helpful How to guide for embedding images on AO3

General and misc:

The ao3 faq for posting to the site

Fanfiction resources

things I wish I’d known when I started writing fic on ao3

tips for posting fic on tumblr

psa: don’t mention commissions/patreon on AO3

[clockworkspider]

I mean I think people should curate their own fandom experience and whatnot and it’s perfectly fair to just avoid things one is uncomfortable with…

That being said. From personal experience? Immunizing myself to all my discomforts by browsing through pixiv and kink memes with raised eyebrows while searching for things I am interested in back when tagging was non-existent has really made my fandom experience much more pleasant nowadays.

I have preferences, for sure. But I have no fear. I have no cringe. The filthiest, grossest fanwork holds no powers over me. I am a god.

Like honestly dl;dr and block on sight is respectable and all but I genuinely think everyone could just benefit from purposefully exposing yourself to your nOTP and non-triggering squicks sometimes? (And obviously don’t go bother the creators for it.) If only so that it makes it easier/safer to search for content you like without living in fear of accidentally glimpsing something you hate and having that ruin your day.

[clockworkspider]

Training oneself to be comfortable with mild discomfort is a highly under-rated skill in this day and age

[toxicshipsincorporated]

I think its interesting that “desensitized” is a dirty word now. Like…when I did my therapy, being desensitized was the GOAL. It was the fucking dream.

But also, desensitization essentially gives you the agency to say, “okay so that felt bad, now I can either put it away, really explore and understand what that discomfort is trying to tell me, or discard it.” Idk…some of yall are so fucking distressed all the time and you call it “being normal” or “being a decent human being” but…it isn’t normal to be distressed all the time. It isn’t decent to be distressed all the time. And like…I have disords and chemical shit going on in my brain but if you don’t have all that….I think you need to look at your distress and ask why it is actually enduring and who benefits from you being distressed (lessons from a pre-bush era american).

[farenmaddox]

real, genuine question

When you, a reader, leave comments on a fic, do you expect the author to reply? If “expect” is perhaps the wrong word… do you enjoy it when they do? Am I going overboard by replying to everybody who comments on my stuff and making them all uncomfortable?

I have been out of fandom for a minute and don’t know the current etiquette.

… surely it’s not just that I’m overthinking this. Surely not. I have never in my life.

[farenmaddox]

Can’t believe I finally had a post breach containment after I’ve been flying under the radar on this dang site for like… 10 years.

I truly appreciate seeing all the responses to this and having so many people taking the time to share their thoughts. What is really exciting is how much everyone seems to agree with one another. For those of you who are also fic authors and are overwhelmed by the number of responses but curious to know what everyone said:

readers generally do not expect replies back to their comments, but they love to get them and hope for them

readers truly do understand how much time and effort the author puts into the work itself and know that the author might not always have time/energy/spoons to reply to everyone (even more so in big/popular fandoms where an author is getting a lot of comments)

readers who leave a long, thorough comment are more often expecting/hoping for an author reply than readers who just want to leave a short and encouraging comment

subpoint: when the same readers are acting as authors, they tend to treat comments in the same way and are putting their money where their mouth is, by trying to leave replies on those comments which invite conversation

readers often, but not always, check how much engagement the author has with other comments before deciding how much energy to spend on their own comments

readers consider the back-and-forth between reader and author in the comment space to be an integral part of fandom community building

This is the one. This is it for me. Fandom culture has been going through it since the collapse of LiveJournal. I actually wrote like a huge essay just now and then deleted it, because it’s too much to get into on this post. But knowing that people are still out there who are wanting to engage and are seeking avenues of engagement is so, so important, because authors (and artists, and other creatives) are encouraged and inspired to keep going by this community-building aspect, and it’s what leads to more creatives getting started and new things that keep a fandom alive.

In short, I am definitely going to continue to reply to all the lovely comments I get on my work because I love talking to people who love what I love about why we love it.

[leviosally]

Yes. 💯☝️👆

[colubrina]

[lynati]

I don’t think there’s an applause gif big enough to properly convey my reaction to this. Also, I love that if anyone tries to say that you’re just “another hack fic writer with no ideas of her own who is jealous of the “real” writers out there”, they could quite literally be crushed under your catalog of award-winning original writing as a response. They can’t dismiss your stance on this topic the way they do to so many unpublished / fanfic writers because you’ve already met all of the standards that they insist someone has before they’ll accept their opinion as worth listening to.

[seananmcguire]

Right?

“Well, fanfic authors never win awards, so–” “WOULD YOU LIKE TO HOLD MY HUGO.” “That’s basically, it’s, you know, the People’s Choice, so–” “LOOK AT MY NEBULA.” “That’s a science fiction award, it doesn’t really–” “LOOK I’VE WON THE ALEX.” “…” “IT’S GIVEN BY THE SAME PEOPLE WHO GIVE THE NEWBURY.” “…” “I’M THE FIRST PERSON TO WIN IT TWICE IN A ROW.” “…well you wrote porn.” “GOSH I SURE DID.”

[dduane]

More attention to this, please. :) From yet another of the I Wrote Fanfic First And I Decline To Feel Shame About It brigade.

(And I also wrote for My Little Pony, which means I may have inadvertently contributed something to Seanan’s state of being. [Which I will file under the “Quiet Unholy Glee” heading.])

:)))

[sin-a-crunch]

2023... do people still do resolutions?

Every year I want to get writing done and every year no words get written.  Between my job, adulting, my relationships, and various other hobbies, I just can’t seem to find the time or energy to break through my anxiety and imposter syndrome to put words on to a page. 

But still.  Writing calls to me.

So maybe my goal isn’t going to be “write X words” or even “write X amount of days”.  Maybe my goal is just... write down my ideas tags.  During my commute home, write down whatever idea I had floating in my head -- just the keywords/tags -- before putting on music and zoning out.  Two to five unrelated words. 

I can do that. 

Probably.

[eddiemunsonsmiddlefingers]

I keep seeing fic with words censored in the body of the fic like so: c*nt, f*gg*t, q-slur (seriously, come on), r*pe, *nc*st. I even saw a fic where someone was described as “sitting next to his unalived body” which was so absurd it made me laugh.

I’ve seen this trend in tags as well, which would be ACTIVELY FUCKING DANGEROUS if AO3 tag wranglers weren’t literal, actual angels who make sure that “rape” and “r*pe” (and all such transpositions) are treated like the same tag.

AO3 isn’t TikTok. Tag accurately and completely for your fic themes so people can search AND filter. Use the correct words in your fic content so people who use blacklist extensions can actually benefit from the tools that protect them.

If you don’t feel comfortable using a word without censoring it, then don’t use that word at all. Maybe consider why you’re even writing something that contains that theme.

Sincerely,

An actual real life rape and incest survivor who has actual fucking PTSD and really doesn’t want to have to stop reading fic for my ship because people think a god damn asterisk is going to somehow save people like me from being triggered.

[oldwizardboots]

I feel like maybe people newer to fandom don’t realize that putting asterisks in words like that is not to avoid triggering someone. Alternate words and alternate spellings are for tricking the algorithm from censoring/blocking your content from distribution (like on tiktok, not showing your video to anyone if you use the word “dead”, so you use the word “unalive”).

Tumblr and AO3 both don’t have that issue - your posts will still be seen if you use the full version of those words. And, as OP stated above, people rely on you using those words so that their blacklisted words/phrases work and they can actually avoid the things that trigger them.

The internet is vast and ever-changing and rules vary from site to site - this is good information for newer AO3/tumblr users!

[quecksilvereyes]

im obsessed with stories that have a fixed ending before they even start. stories with narrators who are crying as they tell it because there is only one way this can end.

there is only one way this can go.

stories where the characters might know how it all ends and beg the audience to change it, knowing they can't. stories where the characters are unaware, but given the people they are and the situations they're in- well, what else are they supposed to do?

stories that are loops. that start with everyone dying and getting back up again to do it one more time.

because this time, maybe, it will be different.

the narrator cries.

[byjillianmaria]

What if I dropped everything to fast draft a messed up fairy tale novella, huh

What then

[byjillianmaria]

listen

[byjillianmaria]

"ok but is this gonna have the on-brand jillian maria sapphic mcs?" you ask

what do you take me for

[avelera]

If posting fic online has taught me anything, it’s that I have no idea how the reader will react to anything. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Not the faintest clue.

Fics that I think I scribbled off just to get them out there get the kindest, most rapturous feedback. Fics I slaved over, agonized over, bled my soul into get a couple tepid replies. Fics I thought were me revealing the darkness and weird kink that lives in my brain, scared to even post it for fear of judgement, get, “Aaaw that’s so sweet!” replies. Baffling.

My conclusion? You just never know. You really just can’t know. When I did a workshop with 20 other writers I would try to guess what their critique of my story would be and I was right maybe 1 in 20 times. Only one other writer would have the same critique for my story that I had. And it wasn’t even always the same person.

The encouraging part about this is, if self recrimination, the fear that you know what people won’t like about your story, is holding you back, just say fuck it! You’re almost certainly wrong! All you can do is make it the best story you can for the energy you have. And yeah, sometimes that means scribbling it out in an evening and kicking it out to the void of the internet before you can change your mind or worry about editing it more than once because then you’ll never post it.

It’s all chaos, man. You don’t get to decide what the audience thinks. All you can do is create it and put it out there for them to decide.

[rage-against-the-dying-of-light]

For those of you watching the death spiral of Twitter in real time THIS IS WHY us fandom olds always defend AO3 and it’s donation drives.

Twitter is an incalculable loss for artistic expression, news, and so many other facets I can’t even begin to count.

This sort of loss of information is impossible with AO3 and how it’s set-up. Obviously an AO3 style model isn’t sustainable for every site bc the moment images get involved the server costs skyrocket exponentially, but now more than ever the theory applies.

AO3 is an archive of our own, donators have direct say via vote about what happens to the site, you help shape it.

As long as AO3 has donation drives and doesn’t rely on advertisers it will remain around as a foremost place of art and freedom of expression. What happened to Twitter can’t happen to AO3 as it currently exists. And that is why we fight tooth and nail to protect AO3 from corporate interests and out of touch billionaires like Musk.

I hate that Twitter is dying and that anyone has to experience it, but please learn from this experience!

[copperbadge]

TIL that the English word “Lord” in the sense of the head of an estate comes from an Old English word of Germanic origins, hlāfweard, later hlāford, later lord. 

Normally I wouldn’t remark on my romps through etymology, but “hlafweard” is a compound of hlaf, or loaf, and weard, which means guardian (see also Ward or Warden, etc). Meaning that when you call someone a lord you are calling him an esteemed keeper of the bread. 

HEY THERE BREADBOX PETER WIMSEY. LOAF GUARD PALPATINE. BREAD CLIP VETINARI. 

Lady also derives from hlaf, but in this case hlafdige or bread kneader. She makes the bread, he monitors it. Women have to do all the work as usual. 

Now, the reason I was looking this up was that I wanted to develop a gender-neutral analogue to lord/lady; there are analogues already out there naturally, but the Shivadh must be different and anyway I didn’t like the ones I’d seen suggested online. 

Given that the origins of Lord and Lady aren’t all that strongly gendered anyway (they’re about what the person does, not what their gender is), I decided that if a woman is a bread-kneader and a man is a bread-guarder, a nonbinary person should be A BREAD EATER, which would be Hlafetan.  

Thus I present to you the gender-neutral analogue to Lord or Lady: Ledan.  

[kosmo-mckogane]

rereading my own writing is just a constant fluctuation between "damn, girl, you wrote this? (affectionate)" and "damn, girl, you wrote this? (derogatory)"

[aurevoirblog-deactivated2023082]

I am also “damn, girl, you wrote this? (forgetful)”

[tlbodine]

Pro Tip: The Way You End a Sentence Matters

Here is a quick and dirty writing tip that will strengthen your writing.

In English, the word at the end of a sentence carries more weight or emphasis than the rest of the sentence. You can use that to your advantage in modifying tone.

Consider:

In the end, what you said didn't matter.

It didn't matter what you said in the end.

In the end, it didn't matter what you said.

Do you pick up the subtle differences in meaning between these three sentences?

The first one feels a little angry, doesn't it? And the third one feels a little softer? There's a gulf of meaning between "what you said didn't matter" (it's not important!) and "it didn't matter what you said" (the end result would've never changed).

Let's try it again:

When her mother died, she couldn't even cry.

She couldn't even cry when her mother died.

That first example seems to kind of side with her, right? Whereas the second example seems to hold a little bit of judgment or accusation? The first phrase kind of seems to suggest that she was so sad she couldn't cry, whereas the second kind of seems to suggest that she's not sad and that's the problem.

The effect is super subtle and very hard to put into words, but you'll feel it when you're reading something. Changing up the order of your sentences to shift the focus can have a huge effect on tone even when the exact same words are used.

In linguistics, this is referred to as "end focus," and it's a nightmare for ESL students because it's so subtle and hard to explain. But a lot goes into it, and it's a tool worth keeping in your pocket if you're a creative writer or someone otherwise trying to create a specific effect with your words :)

[charlataninred]

Love how tumblr has its own folk stories. Yeah the God of Arepo we’ve all heard the story and we all still cry about it. Yeah that one about the woman locked up for centuries finally getting free. That one about the witch who would marry anyone who could get her house key from her cat and it’s revealed she IS the cat after the narrator befriends the cat.

[baejax-the-great]

One reason I think it’s important that tumblr understands that AO3 emails spark dopamine and not serotonin other than the fact that I’m a neuroscientist who is very tired is because dopamine is part of the reward system.

I honestly think that emails from AO3 affect the reward system very similarly to gambling. When you get a sudden, random reward (AKA a comment on your fic), it feels great, and you want that again. But as the gambler writer, you have very little control over when the rewards come in or how many. There are games fandoms where you might have a higher chance of getting a response, or tropes, pairings, etc, but in the end, the reward is up to fickle fate (or possibly fantastic marketing on your part if you know how).

Randomly received rewards are incredibly addicting.

Similarly, not receiving a reward when you think you should get one feels very, very bad.

People who are more satisfied in their lives are less susceptible to the highs and lows of gambling and other addictive behaviors. If you are finding your relationship with you AO3 stats page or AO3 emails is unhealthy, it might be worth it to 1. turn off email notifications (so the randomness of the reward is removed) 2. Pick a time each week to check for comments (now it’s on a schedule) and 3. See if there are ways to improve your life elsewhere so that your mental health does not fluctuate with the whims of strangers sending you comments.

It’s not a moral failing to like attention. I have no judgment for people who get into a negative cycle with these things. This is for your mental health. Writing can be so rewarding for so many reasons, and I really just want to see other people find the joy in it.

[baejax-the-great]

This post has been going around again, and the question you should ask yourself is not, “am I addicted to emails/comments/AO3?” But “does posting fic put me in a bad mood? Do I get anxious waiting for emails? Is my relationship with AO3 causing me mental pain?”

The problem isn’t whether you are “addicted,” the problem is whether you are experiencing painful emotions in response to a hobby that should be fun. That’s what needs evaluation.

[olderthannetfic]

A New History of Fandom Purges

On November 24th, 2018, I posted a list of major deletions of sites or of content on sites that stripped fandom of its history. A bunch of pro-shipper blogs had just been deleted, and people were nervous. I suppose I was thinking “All this has happened before…”

On December 3rd, 2018, Tumblr’s Department of Irony announced the NSFW ban. Thanks for providing this salutary lesson to The Youth and a billion reblogs to me, I guess.

Today, we have AO3 for writing. Audio, images, and video are in as much danger as ever, yet fans attack AO3 every donation drive. For those of you who forget our past…

HERE IS WHAT HISTORY HAS TAUGHT US!

1992 - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro forces a zine to be destroyed

1995 - Viacom/Paramount goes after fansites

1995 - Anne Rice gets IWTV fic deleted everywhere

1997 - Fox and Lucasfilm go after fansites

1998 - AOL goes after X-Files fansites

2000 - Warner Brothers goes after Harry Potter fansites

2000 - Anne Rice anne rices again

2001 - Tripod Massacre

2001 - Anne Rice goes after IWTV fic on FFN

2001 - The Bronze shut down as Buffy changes networks

2002 - FFN bans porn

2002 - FFN bans RPF

2003 - Gryffindor Tower implodes

2004 - FFN bans script format

2005 - FFN bans CYOA, Readerfic, 2nd person, Songfic

2005 - Sheezyart bans adult content; y!gallery founded

2005 - Viacom/Paramount goes after fansites again

2006 - Sakura Lemon Archive suddenly closes

2007 - Strikethrough, Boldthrough on Livejournal

2007 - Youtube institutes Content ID, deleting many fanvids

2008 - Slash Cotillion closes, taking much historical m/m with it

2009 - GeoCities shuts down, taking old fannish websites

2009 - Greatestjournal shuts down; RPGs deleted

2009 - Marvel gets scans_daily deleted

2009 - imeem, major vidding hub, closes suddenly

2010 - FFN forums purged for inactivity

2010 - DeviantArt purges adult fanfic

2010 - Literate Union goes after Twilight fandom on FFN

2011 - Delicious destroyed by Yahoo’s incompetence

2011 - China arrests women for writing m/m; destroys danmei.org

2012 - major FFN crackdown on porn

2012 - Megaupload deleted for piracy; also destroys vids, podfic

2013 - Max-Dan-Wiz.com purged of fan-generated content

2014 - Quizilla shuts down

2014 - China purges m/m story websites; arrests female authors

2014 - Blip.tv deletes vids

2014 - Viddler deletes vids

2015 - Journalfen’s servers become fully robust, deleting Fandom Wank

2016 - y!Gallery deleted

2016 - Elfwood goes offline

2016 - Audiofic Archive corrupted; major blow to podfic

2017 - Chinese author jailed after being ratted out over fandom drama

2017 - Parents get queer Warrior Cats fic purged from Wattpad

2018 - Tumblr deletes pro-shipper blogs

2018 - Tumblr announces NSFW ban

2018 - Wattpad deletes accounts/fics without warning

2019 - China purges weibo of m/m; more women jailed

This is only a small taste of the many times that:

Fannish moderators got bored, ran out of money, or had a falling out, deleting a site/list/forum along the way.

Sites got bought out and closed for being unprofitable.

Fandom got hit as governments targeted piracy or political dissidents.

Fans grudge reported each other.

Official forums got deleted when the canon finished.

It’s not always malicious. It’s not always about us. But we lose every time.

Some of these purges hit everyone. Many of them hit m/m content specifically or female gaze-y material in general. This is why antis are dead wrong. This is why anti-fujoshi policies end up being anti-m/m policies. This is why we need clear labeling, not content restrictions.

This is why we need AO3.

And it’s why we need a solution for audio, visuals, and video too.

[funnytwittertweets]

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Honestly you don’t even have to change the genre much. Guy probably went through quite the ordeal because of all the people trying to get to Indy.

Day 1: “Professor Jones, hate to bother you but there’s an assassin trying to kill me, do you have...yes I see it...*gunshots* just to make sure, is there any paperwork I can file or should I just call the police?”

Day 85: “Oh fucking try me, I have 84 papers to grade because that lazy asshole went off to fucking Burma in the middle of fucking finals week, if you don’t leave right the fuck now I will awaken that ancient artifact in the corner and turn your intestines into fucking snakes.”

[marzipanandminutiae]

also, don’t forget: the movies are set in the 1930s-50s

so please imagine this 20-year-old girl who’s had to practically fight god to convince everyone that, no, she would NOT be happier with a degree in home economics and yes, she DOES want to be an archaeologist. she’s had to deal with male grad students trying to steal her research and constant patronizing questions about whether she can really handle the dirt and insects out in the field. even Indy, who stands up for her when the department leadership tries to pull Some Bullshit, sometimes treats her like a glorified secretary just out of habit

when the bad guys show up, they are therefore faced with a young woman who exists in a permanent state of simmering rage. she has a sensible wool skirt and practical oxfords and a baseball bat and you can fuck right off if you’re trying to pull this nonsense right after one of her professors just called her “sweetie” for the dozenth time

[kitzatara]

Okay idk if the timing and logistics match up at all but i just have a fever thought that his TA is none other than Mrs Evelyn O’Connell. Just think about it.

Jones: Are you sure you’re up for this position?

Evie: Dr Jones I assure you that despite being a woman I-

Jones: No no it’s not that, it’s just that there’s a lot of… weird artifacts that come through my door

Evie: Oh, well I actually have some experience with weird

Jones: and sometimes it can get dangerous…

Evie *smiling*: I can handle that as well

(Later in the school year, during a shoot out)

Jones: You weren’t kidding! *gunshots*

Evie pulling out a grenade and chucks it: These ruffians aren’t half as bad Imhotep, and he was nothing compared to midterms *explosion*

[mrevaunit42]

Evie: Oh dear they seem to have brought more friends. Pass me my bag Professor Jones if you’d please. 

Jones: Sure Evie *hands her the bag* 

Evie: *pulls out an old fashion pistol with a large bell* 

Jones: I don’t think that’s going to be enough. 

Evie: Oh it’s not. I’m phoning my husband *fires a flare through the window* 

Jones: I doubt stiff upper lip gent is going to help us right now Evie. 

Evie: I whole heartedly agree Professor Jones.

*A moment later Rick crashes the car through the wall and pulls out a tommy gun. He screams at the top of his lungs as he rushes the bad guys* 

Evie: Luckily my husband is American.

[ri-writing]

This continued to get better and better as I went.