#fic bookmarks

[saladscream]

Okay, so I'm not one to complain about comments, because to be honest, my fics have been blessed with very lovely feedback overall.

And I've been writing for long enough to be fully aware that you can't please everyone. Obviously. To each their own. I write for myself mostly.

Tbh, I don't get why people would go to the trouble of posting negative comments on a fic (I would certainly not bother), but it happens. Part of life. There are unpleasant people everywhere. ::shrugs::

But here... Someone read one of my fics, didn't drop any kudos or comments (which again, is perfectly okay) but actually bookmarked the fic and went on a weird rant about how gross the plot was (though apparently written in a heartwarming way 🤨) - in the public bookmark.

And I'm like... okay.

Why though? Why hang on to a story you don't like?! Why bookmark something you didn't enjoy?!

I guess they felt safe doing it because they wrote in Chinese characters? But yeah, no, sorry, bitch. DeepL is my friend. Even allowing for some loss of nuance in translation, my plot is gross/disgusting (but heartwarming?) and you clearly didn't enjoy the fic (hence the no kudos), so why are you hanging on to it in your bloody bookmarks?!

Is this something people do? Bookmark things they don't like?!

I mean, seriously people. The pettiness is abysmal. 🤦‍♀️

Anyway. Moving on. 🙄

[theawkwardterrier]

On the heels of realizing that the bookmarks numbers on my stats page are very different from those on my profile or the fics themselves:

Do you keep your AO3 bookmarks private? Tell me why or why not in the tags/comments!

Yes, all my bookmarks are private

No, all my bookmarks are public

I keep some public and some private

I never bookmark anything

I don't have an AO3 account/just want to see results

Voting ended onMay 16, 2023

[dghdafeedbackfest]

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

Hey there Dirktectives, can you believe that we collectively recced more than 150 fics during the Feedback Fest!? Many heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated -- we did this together <3

[lajulie24]

For the fanfic questions; 5 and 9 :D

5. You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it? 

My flippant answer would be to say that there’s a bath involved, but I’ve actually only written two fics in which there is a bath, so that’s not true.

Real answer is: It’s probably Han/Leia, Luke/Wedge, or both. There is a good dose of banter between some of the characters (flirty or possibly angry). It’s probably titled with lyrics from a song, and it might have taken inspiration from lyrics from a particular song (not necessarily songfic, more reminiscent of the lyrics than literally using the lyrics). There is UST, and in rare occasions, there is UST that gets resolved. Often there are Rogues who are there to cause shenanigans or occasionally to be sweet. If Wedge is in it, he and Leia are friends who flirt. There’s usually a blend of silliness and earnestness to it as well.

9. What do your fic bookmarks say about you? 

That I probably should bookmark more things, since I haven’t bookmarked even a fraction of the things I go back and read regularly. Most of the things I have bookmarked are longer fics with complex plot arcs and characterizations, although every so often I bookmark something that I just thought was cute and enjoy rereading. For some reason I tend not to bookmark full-on smut, although I certainly reread it.

Thank you for the ask!

Fanfiction asks!

[meganmazing]

how do people remember anything about a fic if they don’t leave rambling, paragraph-long comments in their bookmarks?

[juniper-and-lamplight]

Hey look, I finally finished organizing my fanfic bookmarks! 

These bookmarks cover more than a decade of fic reading across MANY fandoms and ships, but they all link to fics that I have read, enjoyed, and wanted to share. Currently, my tagging is fairly basic, but it’s a work in progress. I'll be adding new bookmarks as I read more fic, and will keep working to make the tags more useful and searchable for other fic readers--i.e. YOU. I hope it’s helpful! 

Extra-geeky notes on my bookmarking system below…

This is by no means representative of ALL my fic reading or my TBR list. (This Pinboard has 500+ bookmarks; my private Pinboard has 2000+.) I've done my best to weed out old/dead links, but please holler if something’s not working.

I use Pinboard because it's easy, uncluttered, and more stable than an ad-supported platform. That said, Pinboard's boolean searching could be better: you can use + instead of AND if you want to search for a combination of tags, but you can't do a NOT search. Siiiigh. If you can recommend a bookmarking site that rivals Pinboard's usability and allows for better searching, please let me know!

Some notes on my tags:

If I've tagged it podfic, that means I've actually listened to the podfic and enjoyed it.

I'm working on better tags for tropes and identities, but it might take a while.

Character tags only cover primary protagonists (typically a main pairing), though I might tag a supporting character if they seem particularly relevant. Similarly, pairing tags typically only cover main pairings, even if side pairings are present in the story. 

"Parenting" if used if the protagonists have a child or children who are relevant to the plot, while "kidfic" is used only when a child is a narrator or protagonist.

Updated 7/31/17: For lack of a clearer fandom term, I've used "genderbend" to indicate fics in which characters' biosex and/or gender differs from their canonical sex and/or gender. Additionally, I've used "trans character" to indicate fics featuring characters who are (or are assumed to be) cis in canon but are written as trans in the fic (YMMV about if you consider this AU).

With only a few exceptions, I don't tag bookmarks by sexual activities or kinks. Ain't nothing wrong with reading for those things, but it's not a useful organizational system for me.

While I will often take cues from author's tags, I don't replicate their warnings. I haven't bookmarked many fics that involve typical triggers (noncon, gore, abuse, etc.), but there are a few in there that include some difficult stuff; stay vigilant and discerning as you click through, friends!

Originally posted 2/25/2017

[juniper-and-lamplight]

Updating my fic bookmarks and closing the eleventy billion tabs on my phone is one of the few activities in this benighted world that still gives me a satisfying sense of control. 

Which is to say, I’ve added a few fics to my bookmarks :)