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“how to recognize AI in fanfic” — hey so this is another not-gentle reminder that AI stole from us. it’s using OUR words and OUR sentences and OUR styles.

writing “long” paragraphs is not a sign of AI — it’s a common narrative choice many writers make both in fanfiction and in traditionally published novels, and AI stole it from us.

using an em dash is not a sign of AI. it’s a stylistic sentence choice that’s been an option in place of commas and semicolons for a very long time, and AI stole it from us.

long sentence structures are not a sign of AI, but are yet another stylistic choice writers often make to create a cadence and tone that mimics the flow of poetry, and AI stole it from us.

“YA narrative breaks”? i don’t even know what the fuck this means, but i can guarantee that AI stole it from us.

italics are once again a stylistic choice that many writers love to use to create emphasis, and it’s a more stylistically acceptable and traditional form of emphasis than bold or underline text. oh, and just to be extra clear: AI STOLE IT FROM US.

stop creating fandom witch hunts over AI when you know fuck all about what it means to sit and write a story, and to spend hours fiddling with sentence structure and dialogue to get the exact right tone. writers will stop writing out of fear that their work “sounds like AI” — IT DOESNT! AI STOLE FROM US! AI SOUNDS LIKE US! — and after a while, all that will be available on AO3 is shitty AI-generated fanfiction.

because yeah, people are going to continue to use AI to write fanfiction whether you “call them out” or not. but making a laughable thread on X that uses asinine criteria is not going to fix that problem. it will just push the real writers out because people will accuse them of using AI when they haven’t, and they will (rightfully) stop writing for spaces that attack them.

anyway. fuck ai.

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Are AI generated fics even allowed on ao3?

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They are for the simple reason that there's no surefire way to tell if something is AI-generated.

It's better to allow them than to waste huge amounts of volunteer time on the thankless task of trying to guess and risking deleting something made by an actual human. Allowing them also means that at least some people openly tag their AI stuff, so you can avoid it. Banning would just make them not label.

That doesn't mean AO3 approves. It just means this is the logistical reality.

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You can also backdate the work on AO3 to (roughly) when you originally wrote it. That way, you don't make it seem like now-you wrote it but past-you, and past-you wrote it differently than now-you would. It's a bit of distance from it without letting readers know you don't like the ending anymore

I'm editing an old fanfic that I want to publish, but I found out I actually don't like the ending, but it's a very extensive rewrite. What can I do about it?

If this is a fic that you like or care about, then delete the old ending and write a new one. Don't try to work with what you have, just lop it off and start fresh from wherever the last part is that you still vibe with.

If this is a fic that you're just publishing because you don't want to have it hanging around in a drafts folder anymore and you might as well just post it, then post it as is. Just because you no longer like the ending doesn't mean that others will agree with your assessment.

You can add on an author's note that you've changed your mind about the ending, if you feel self-conscious about it. You could even include the alternate ending as a note or an epilogue chapter if you want.

These are the two options I'd choose between if I were in your shoes, but I know that my writing decisions aren't always what you might call 'normal' 🤣 so I'll open it up to the blog and see how they'd handle the situation

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I keep seeing the take that authors on AO3 need to stop deleting their fics and instead to orphan them without any explanation of the consequences of orphaning a fic and as an author I really need to say something to this.

Stop telling people to just orphan their fics.

Orphaning a fic means giving up any and all ownership over it. No way to claim it back, edit it or delete it. Yes it's an archive but an author should still have the right to delete their work if they feel like they don't want it to be up anymore.

Readers always scream for authors to orphan their fics instead of deleting because they feel like they have a right to the fanworks that is shared with them for free. If it's so important to you to not lose a fic, download it. Also comment and encourage the authors, instead of telling them to give up all ownership to their work.

To authors, if you think about deleting your fics, there are other options you should employ first. If you don't want it connected to your name, put it into an anonymous collection. As long as it's in there, noone can see you wrote it, you still can edit ot or delete it and moderate comments on it. You can even move it to anther account, just create another one, add it as co author and then take your main account off. Then you can still edit it from your second account but it's no longer connected to your account.

If you don't want it to show anymore put it in a unrevealed collection, that way, the fic won't show up but it's still there, you can still see it, read comments and make it public again.

If you feel the urge to delete your fic, try one of these options first and see how you feel about it after a while, you can still delete or orphan afterwards, but this hopefully makes your decision easier.

Only orphan a fic if you're 100% sure. This is permanent, there is no way back from that, AO3 support will NOT help you if you did it on accident or change your mind. Don't listen to people telling you to just orphan it, make very sure, this is what you want.

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"why do you write?" because it’s the only way to silence the characters pacing around my brain like victorian ghosts with unresolved issues that prevent them from moving on.

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Fanfiction writers, I need you!

If you are a fanfiction writer and like to fill forms, hi :)

I am writing my master thesis about the commercialization of fanfiction, and I'd love to know your opinion on this topic. If you have a few minutes to spare, I would greatly appreciate your help!

1) Fill the form

2) Share around! 🤗

Thank you, and take care 🧚‍♀️

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few things more humbling than the realization that you really do write the same fic(s) over and over again

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few things more humbling than the realization that you really do write the same fic(s) over and over again

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baby i’ve got half finished wips you couldn’t even imagine

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i made this version of that popular cake meme as a love letter to my favourite artists, writers, editors etc who keep making content about my favourite characters/ship

ermm

I LOVE YALL!!!!!!!!

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You can and should write fanfiction that isn't perfect. You can and should write whatever fanfiction you want. You can and should write fanfiction that brings you joy even if it's silly or goofy or weird.

Except for me. My fanfic has to be perfect and read like a novel and ruin at least one person's sleep schedule.

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If AO3 introduced a dislike button, I would stop posting there. Even the possibility of just getting one single dislike vote on any of my fic makes me want to not write fic anymore

"i want a dislike button on ao3" so you want less fanfic. even if you don't think you want less fanfic you want less fanfic. because when people start getting dislikes on their fanfic they will want to write less fanfic. hope this helps <3

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Having to write a difficult chapter is just me repeatedly going "urghrgh... they should invent a fic that writes itse-- *remembers AI* they should not invent a fic that writes itself"

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Me to my draft: You are a oneshot.

The draft: Wrong. I am the pilot chapter of a multichapter fic that you do not have the bandwidth to take on, but will haunt your every waking thought anyway.

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having adhd and being a creator is like being on a timer. oh sorry you have this art idea? well you have approximately 12 hours to start it and 6 hours to finish the task or else you will lose interest and inevitably move on. oh you have an idea for a one-shot? well you’d better finish it in a day unless you want to banish it to your wips forever. ding dong bitch

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kinda fucked up that you actually have to write in order to finish a chapter and can’t just, idk, let it sit and do its own thing

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worlds slowest fanfic author tries really really hard