#draft archive

[frownyalfred]

things you might not know about ao3 but seem obvious in hindsight:

ao3 = archive of our own (three o’s)

the logo is “ao3” stylized

orphan_account isn’t one author but rather the name all accounts are given once they’re orphaned

bookmarks are public by default

once given, kudos can’t be taken back

drafts get automatically deleted quickly so use a different drafting platform to avoid that

you need an ao3 account to view locked fics and it doesn’t take long to apply & get one

ao3’s archive software is open source and free to use

you can change the way the site looks on your phone/computer

ao3 is run entirely on donations

no really, read why here

[charlotte-fleming]

Martin: This statement is important!

Jon: Did you look into the statement giver's fate?

Martin: I did look into the statement giver's fate

Jon: Only stupid people look into statement givers' fates. You are stupid.

Tim: I looked into the statement giver's fate

Jon: You are a whore

Tim: This vexes me

Carlos Vittery: I am being haunted by a spider

Martin: That's bad

Carlos Vittery: Also I have arachnophobia

Sasha: You need to be researched. Also, I have not spoken in a while

Jon: No, research will lie to us. He needs to be disbelieved.

Martin: I forbid this!

Jon: Don't care. More disbelief.

Carlos Vittery: I died

Jon: This is unrelated to the spider

Elias: I too am in this episode

[sweetmapple]

Least traumatizing performance review

[0rchidm4ntis]

local [̴̛̱͕͉̈̂̋̔͆̀̐̽̾̓͂̀͘͝R̷̢̨͎̖̲̥̭̲̘͉̈́͂̀́͐͑̚E̴̡̧̯̘̖͚̯̰̟̬͕̎D̶̡̳̥̫͔͙̲̳͔̬̖͍̥̐̈͒̓̇̊͋̆̐̈́͛́A̷̛̛̛̫̥̗̞̘̰̗̻̯̲̣̝͇͈͉͆̀̐͛͑̔̃̋̒̚͘͜Ç̴̧̧̩͚̭̭̺̮̲̼̜̔͌̎͒ͅT̴̨̧̞͓̪̙̥̠̫̭̼̠͈́̈́̔͗̒͘͜Ę̷͔̤͛̐͋͐͜͝ͅD̸̨͎̲̤̬̹̻͓̟̮̝̟̘̔̎̌̾̿̾̾͂̈̕͜͠ͅ]̸̛̛̛̻͓̣̀͑̽̓̓͒̈̔̀̂̌̀̀ drops by your place to say hello!! ☺️

[motparadis]

taxonomy

who but a narc pseudo-savior wants to punch a broken kid? she spent the better part of twenty years distant like the morning moon eyes closed and shadow boxing the likeness that she made of me an effigy to burn, to spurn, to turn away

[piirakka-akka]

It's so interesting how Michael Shelley (the human) was so trusting, caring and so honest, but that lead to him being deceived, tricked and lied to and made him become the living embodiment of lies, delusion and confusion.

I think that's why the Distortion chose Helen over him. Michael still had that small human part of him that was the exact opposite of the Distortion.

Michael the Distortion doesn't want to be Michael because of how the nature of Michael Shelley and Michael the Distortion contradict; one is honest and trusting and deceived while the other one lies, deceives and confuses, and this robs the Distortion of its purpose. The only reason Michael even became the Distortion is that he had the map to help him.

Michael the Distortion wants desperately to be understood, for someone to know the injustice of what happened to poor Michael, and so he lets Jon take his statement and know the honest and bare truth.

Michael got "distracted" with the feelings of Michael Shelley, leading to the door to the Distortion being locked for him and Helen becoming the Distortion.

Leaving Michael once again discarded and disposed of, for simply being too honest and human. Ironic how the first time he's discarded is when he opens the door, and the second time is when the door does not open for him anymore.

[occudo]

What an elegant witch now with more of this AU on ao3

[nervous-young-man]

i love the whole "surely being found dead completely encased in web after being haunted by a spider is completely normal and natural" thing Jon tries bc to me it's the first like evidence that he does believe in it all he's just lying to make himself feel better.

[momspren]

It's such delicious irony that Gavilar really thought he was That Bitch™, but ended up with a whole family of Main Characters, and he's just a little footnote in their epic stories.

[djservo]

✗✗✗

[taravangians-storming-balls]

5th ideal is when you combine with all of your squires into a giant mech windrunner

[frownyalfred]

What exactly is ao3 bookmark etiquette? because apparently this is something that has escaped my knowledge. I don’t really write on ao3 much, and like the only times I have I’ve been bullied away by my comment section so.. what am I missing here?

I mean, I personally hate the word "etiquette" in these kinds of situations. It implies that not being an asshole is optional or a courtesy as opposed to the base expectation when interacting with content.

There's a pretty longstanding argument brewing between authors and readers on ao3 as to what should be put in public bookmarks on a fic. Readers argue that they should be able to put anything they want in those bookmarks, including reviews of the fic, ratings, negative comments, etc because they are "a reader's space." Authors argue that, since the bookmarks are attached to their fics and cannot be removed, negative commentary or unsolicited criticisms shouldn't be placed in public bookmarks, only private.

These two groups aren't monoliths, there's obviously some crossover. But largely your opinion is shaped by how you primarily use ao3. This is crystallized in discussions over on r/ao3 which is overall a reader-biased space. Folks there will bend over backwards there to tell you that readers can and should put anything they want in public bookmarks and if you have a problem with that, you're just an ungrateful author.

This is what I call the "bean soup" problem. Some folks use their bookmarks as a record of every fic they've read and want their opinions saved/marked on each fic. They often want to share these reviews with fellow readers who also use their bookmarks as a reading list. They believe that having their honest, critical, opinion centered in the bookmark is more important than being kind to the author or even considerate of their work.

The thing is, it's usually pretty taboo to review/criticize authors (of books, etc) to their faces. Perfectly fine on a site like Goodreads, but leaving a crappy bookmark on a fic is like slipping your handwritten review into a copy of a book the author uses personally. It's just shitty, no matter how you spin it. And you're forced to carry that bookmark around with you everywhere. Anyone who opens the bookmarks can see your rant about how the author sucks and you only give this fic a 6/10 yada yada.

[highly-invested]

DID YOU KNOW?

The Alethi safehand was actually a typical artist hack for Brandon to not have to write both hands

Follow for more fun facts

[casakhelone]

WIP "Messmer & Rellana"

Here, and here alone, were moon and fire ever together.

A piece I started last year based on "Lamia" by John William Waterhouse. I imagined them finding solace in Shaman Village.

[mintytea-exe]

thinking about how funny it would be for the archival staff to meet the OIAR staff

Melanie: you could just quit your weird, creepy, unexplainable job?

Teddy: yeah? 🙃

Melanie and Eric Delano: 😐

[deerspherestudios]

I finally got a chance to sit down and play Astronought and it was such a delight! Atom was very cute and silly but also just the right amount of sinister to give the game a fun flair of horror. Even though there is only one ending I still found myself going back to pick all the dialogue options so I could see everything the game had to offer and I’m very glad I did. I wasn’t expecting the reaction when you stay with the AI instead of going for a walk but it was soooooo cool!

I kind of have to gush about the back and forth when the player is in the escape pod and Atom is on the other side of the glass. The tension is DELICIOUS. The fear, the hope, the desperation. And then, finally, the realization that there was never even a chance to escape. Meanwhile, while the player character is grappling with having to accept that they have absolutely no power or control in the situation, Atom is effectively drawing hearts with your names in them on the glass.❤️❤️❤️

I can tell you put just as much thought and love into this project while you were working on it as you do with all your work. And, this might be a long shot, but if you ever felt like going back to add more endings I know myself and many like-minded individuals would be delighted to see it.

AaaAAAA thank you for the kind words ;;v;;!! I really wanted to give some variety so you can get more reactions out of Atom, despite the game being short and having only one ending. And waa knowing that scene delivered the tension I wanted means a lot!!

For now, I can't promise different endings or expansions to Astronought; I'm quite happy with it having an inevitable ending where you're stuck with it no matter what. Atom would never allow you to get a bad ending, and you can't exactly fight a whole ship of worms without taking yourself out too.

Maybe someday if inspiration strikes!