#fanfic etiquette

[rweoutofthewoods]

fanfic/fandom ettiquite guide

Okay, I've seen some things recently that make me think there is some need to make a master post of some general fandom and fic ettiquite just because some people may not know and I think there's a huge wave of fanfic becoming more mainstream especially on apps like tiktok.

If you don't like it, don't engage with it!! I think this above all, is the golden rule of fandom. The internet is made for you to be able to mute, hide, and censor things you don't like. DO THAT! don't make a career off of hating things. This goes along with the three laws of fandom, which u should check out FIRST OF ALL.

DON'T GATEKEEP!! If you're posting about a fic, art, ANYTHING link it, credit it! Don't post a tiktok about a fic and then refuse to give the name. Not only are you failing to credit the creators of this content, but you're taking away from the fact that fandom is a COMMUNITY where content is meant for everyone.

Ao3 is an archive. You're going to see things you might not like or even find offensive or uncomfortable. But fanfic is not meant to be censored. Ao3 is made to be unfiltered, people can post anything and everything. Posting fics on other sites simply to shame their content not only brings MORE attention to it, but it's pointless. If you want a website that is censored go to wattpad. And of course, if you don't like it DON'T READ. You can filter your tags and warnings on ao3 so it won't show you that content.

Along those lines LEARN HOW TO USE AO3. There is no algorithm, it is not tiktok. You don't need to censor words in your tags. Your fics are not magically getting pushed out to people. Make sure you're using "person 1/person 2" for romantic relationships and "person 1 & person 2" for non-romantic relationships. Make sure things like non-con and underage are tagged under the warnings. AND AS A READER, know how to filter ships and tags to find the content you want. You can filter by kudos, certain tags, exclude certain relationships or characters etc. USE IT.

Do not create placeholder fics or other "non fics" on ao3. This is against their terms of service. You can (and probably will) be reported, this annoys people endlessly. We don't want to find a fic and open it to see "I haven't written this yet, sorry!" JUST SAVE A DRAFT OR DO IT IN A DOCUMENT? this seems like way to rack up hits, and it comes across as disingenuous, I don't see a real valid reason to make placeholders.

HOW TO WRITE AN ACCEPTABLE COMMENT: long is not important. A simple "loved this!" will make an author happy. DO NOT say any variation of "update pls?" regardless of how nice you think it is. Authors update when they can.I'm not the only author I've seen unhappy with this. JUST WAIT, either it will be updated or it won't, and either way you will live. If you have nothing nice to say about a fic?? MOVE ON. Don't leave a hate comment.

Do not rate or publicly shit on fanfic! A lot of authors know many people, and the chances of that author seeing whatever you're saying about their work is very high. If you don't like it, click off and read something else. If it's still living rent-free in your mind, that sounds like fan behavior to me. And there is no standard fics are supposed to meet, don't rate them.

Don't cross-post fics. Don't put fics on other sites, don't put translation on other sites. DON'T DO ANYTHING with a fic without checking with the author first. On that note, also don't post fics on GoodReads etc. unless an author explicitly says it's okay.

IF YOU DO NOT MARK YOUR BOOKMARKS AS PRIVATE AUTHORS CAN SEE THEM!! If you're going to say anything that isn't positive, you better mark that as private or better yet, move on. Don't say anything on a public bookmark you wouldn't want the author to read.

YOU CANNOT PROFIT OFF OF FANFIC, don't sell bound fics! Don't bind fics if the intention is to sell them. You're potentially creating a lawsuit for the authors of these fics and putting the existence of fanfic in danger. I've seen multiple authors debating taking fics down because of binding issues, just don't do it. AND IF YOU'RE BUYING BOUND FICS YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM. it's selfish and I wish bad karma upon you.

You wouldn't think I'd have to say this but don't plagiarize or use AI to create fics/art etc. firstly making ai write something IS a form of plagiarism. bUT ALSO just write your own content. If you can't, then writing fics etc. is just not for you. No shame about it!

DON'T ASK AUTHORS TO BETA FOR YOU!! You wouldn't believe how many people have asked me to beta their fics for them, I AM NOT A BETA. I HAVE a beta because my proofreading skills are shit. If someone wants to beta they will offer, or go find a blog or somewhere where people are looking to beta. Like @needabeta You can even make a post asking around for a beta, but don't go bug your favorite authors to proofread your fics.

Really just don't harass authors. Of course, don't be afraid to send nice dms, asks, or comments if their inbox is open, but don't spam them especially if they don't reply. Respect boundaries! Don't send nasty anons, everyone knows this is a sign of jealousy and obsession. You're only succeeding in making yourself look bad. Ask yourself why is this author living rent-free in your mind, hm??

If you don't like a ship, stay away from the content geared towards that ship. There's no reason for you to be in people's inbox harassing them over a ship. It's never that deep. If you truly hate it so much, go consume the content for ships you DO like.

Stay grounded. This goes to both fic authors and readers alike. Hits and popularity are not the mark of a good fic. Getting a lot of hits doesn't mean it's good and NOT getting many doesn't mean it's bad. I'm tired of seeing tiktoks asking "so what's the next big fic?" WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE A "BIG FIC"? go look through the ao3 tag and find something you like to read, it doesn't have to be what everyone else is reading.

Headcanons are not law. People can think whatever they want about the characters. If you disagree with someone's hc, just move on... and just because a headcanon is popular, doesn't mean everyone has to abide by it. Be creative!

Don't treat artists and authors like celebs! We're all in this together! We're all losers who like the same characters and ships. Of course, compliment and be kind to all creators because we put a lot of time and effort into creating fan content for you all, but don't worship anyone. Don't treat them weirdly or make a post like "omg x followed me!" that's a bit weird. If you want to be excited, dm your friends and giggle together, but acting like authors and artists etc. are celebs only creates the room for people to stop seeing them as normal people and start acting rude or entitled. And many people are uncomfortable with it!!

TLDR; stop creating so much negativity in fandom spaces. At least in MY fandom it's just constantly shitting on ships, fics, art. It's hate anons, antis, and constant fighting about every headcanon. I'M TIRED OF IT! Learn to filter out content you don't want to see, and move on with your life instead of spreading more negativity.

If you have anything you think I should add shoot me a comment or an ask and I will add it! I'm sure I didn't get everything :) this mostly applies to my own experience being in the hp/marauders fandom for a good 10+ years, and I'm sure it varies slightly from fandom to fandom.

[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.

[papasbaseball]

If I ever catch anyone fic binding Ghost B.C. works and selling them on Etsy I will be immediately deleting my fics from ao3 and here.

It's bad enough that you make our writers get on their knees begging for the bare minimum of commenting and reblogging, and harass writers who you don't like their work, but to put them at legal risk and profit off of them would be a new all time low.

Do not follow the trend of other fandoms.

[perfect-snaccccccc]

urgh people are being mean about fics again. can’t we all just be nice to eachother. can’t we all just eat a cake of rainbows and sunshine’s and be happy? y’all feeling the need to tell the whole internet ur negative opinions about stuff is getting super tiring :(

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

For @justleaveacommentfest (starting in a few days' time) I made my own bingo card! I did a bingo thing last December with this fic hunt but decided to make my own for fun and not at all procrastination.

Feel free to use/share. I'm going to try to get a full bingo each day for the comment fest. Plain text under the cut and a few resources for leaving comments!

Plain text:

Fanfic Reader Bingo

B1 - Angst I1 - Fluff N1 - Crack fic G1 - Major Character Death O1 - Gen fic B2 - Under 50 kudos I2 - No comments until now N2 - <100 works for the ship G2 - WIP updated <1 week ago O2 - WIP updated >6+ months ago B3 - New to you fandom I3 - New to you ship N3 - Free space G3 - New to you author O3 - New to you trope B4 - Time travel I4 - Femslash N4 - Canon compliant G4 - Original character-centric O4 - Person of color main character B5 - Author's first work I5 - Under 1,000 words N5 - Neurodivergent main character G5 - Over 100,000 words O5 - Written for a fest or challenge

Helpful comment starters

Fanfiction commenting guide

How to praise authors and influence fics

How to use AO3 tag search

[tippenfunkaport]

I have no idea how to say this without sounding… pretentious? arrogant? but nothing makes me more annoyed than when people comment on my fics like they think they are giving me writing advice or craft feedback. Because, first of all, I did not ask for your opinion and it’s just plain rude to give unsolicited criticism.

Secondly, I know how to write, pal. Like… literally. For pay, teach classes on it, the whole shebang.

But the whole fun of fanfic for me is not having to care about doing it right and just writing whatever I want in the way I haven’t been able to do since I was 10 years old and writing in a glittery notebook on long car rides. As sad as it sounds, knowing how to write properly takes lot of the fun out of it and I cannot tell you how enjoyable it is to let myself write the whole padded, self indulgent version of the scene in my head with no fat trimmed, no darlings killed, no effort to map out the needs & wants, no worry about if I can sell this or if I nailed the market. I can just throw whatever nonsense down on the page I feel like because the only demographic I have to please is me.

Which is not to say that I deliberately write badly! Sometimes I like showing off. But most times I just want to make the blorbos hang out and phone it in. I'm obviously not putting the effort into a fanfic I'm posting for fun like I would a paid gig and nothing kills the fun of it like someone dissecting and evaluating it like I'm still at work.

Trying my hardest or not, I’m writing the way I choose for ME and sharing it for FREE and even if I was a brand new writer who had no idea what I was doing, I assure you that when fanfic writers say they want comments, they are not looking for feedback or critique, they are just looking for a thank you for their time and to know what parts you liked about it.

That’s it.

[catrasredemption-moved]

you know what, this also seems like a good time to post this

[tozettastone]

AO3 is so easy to use and people still read fanfiction on the archive like they are utterly helpless, doomed to passively accept that awful fics they don't even like are being fed to them.

If you don't like to read works in progress, instead of complaining that a work in progress hasn't been updated, filter on complete works only. There's a checkbox right there that could fix all your problems.

If you don't like violence against animals, instead of complaining that violence against animals is super different to regular violence in your own personal estimation, filter out the graphic violence and cntw archive warnings. If you get graphic violence in your search results, you can ask that the fic be recategorised, and even if the writer doesn't listen to you the volunteers in the abuse team will.

If you want something specific, instead of commenting that you didn't read the tags and didn't read the summary and you feel surprised that the fic wasn't what you expected, do a tag search and find what tags relate to terms you want. Then use them to find fics!

If you want something that has a list of trigger warnings in the notes, search for the correct string using the notes operator in the search within results field. (Literally go to search within results and write the following: notes: "trigger warning")

Just stop writing to me that I have "forced," you to do anything in the comments. I wrote this fic, sure, but you chose this fic. You clicked on this with your eyes open. This fic is OUR gross fic reading experience, comrade.

[imharnaannesta]

I recently noticed that the hits to kudos ratios on podfics are very different than the hits to kudos ratios on text fics. Including the text fic the podfic is based on. I’m really curious about what that says about how we consume and engage with audio vs text fics.

[writinginthesecrettrees]

honestly the WORST fucking thing is when a fic does a bait-and-switch.

When it pretends it's gonna be wincest or sastiel, but that's really just the physical and it's all about how emotionally it's really destiel.

Like.

My dude.

Please just TAG IT AS SUCH. Go ahead and throw the physical pairing on, but please please PLEASE add that it's mostly about unrequited destiel.

(i have also seen this bait-and-switch in RPF, where it pretended it was gonna be a j2 fic but was really about how in love Jensen and Misha were and LET ME TELL YOU the author did NOT appreciate commenters telling them "uh, you might want to add a tag onto this")

[ffcrazy15]

Y'know...

I'm kinda getting just...burnt out, man. I don't know what it is, but the fanfic community these last few years has just been really difficult to engage with. There are a lot of reasons, but I think among the biggest is this: (warning: long vent incoming):

So. I've been writing fanfic for...gosh, fourteen years now. And back in the day, we had our fair share of problems, I won't lie. Now I came in after the major flame wars of the '00s, but still, there were the shipping wars and the shit-stirrers and the people who took other people having a different opinion on their faves WAY too personally.

But! There were rules of engagement. People might not have always followed them, but back then you could say to someone, "hey, you're not behaving in the way we all agree people should behave in this space. You're being a jerk." And people would either lose their shit at you and you'd block them, or they'd apologize and not do the rude thing moving forward.

This went especially for new writers/readers. They'd make a mistake, people would inform them, and they wouldn't make the mistake again moving forward. That was how we built a health community back then.

*Now: a disclaimer. I know not all new fans are like this, and to those of you who do listen when people inform you of the etiquette of fandom spaces, I want to give a sincere thank-you. The following does not apply to you.

However, and not to be an old woman yelling at the kids to get off her lawn, but:

I see people trying, politely, to tell newcomers the basic rules of engagement for how to interact in fandom. "Don't complain about things that are clearly marked in the summary or tags." "Do not get into dumb shipping wars. Ship and let ship." "Don't leave harsh or unasked-for concrit." "Don't demand updates in the comments."

And instead of saying "Oh wow, sorry, I didn't know about that, I'll do better next time"—I see some new folks responding with things like "Well this just makes me NEVER want to comment/engage/participate!"

And writers are so scared of not getting ANY engagement in this landscape of already dwindling comments and reblogs—or worse, ruining things for other writers—that they immediately capitulate and say oh, we're sorry, we shouldn't have told you you were being rude, please don't stop commenting on fics, we were in the wrong.

And I'm here to say: No. Enough! It is our job as the older citizens of this space to set the expectations for community behavior. If the new arrivals get mildly embarrassed for being politely informed (key words there) that they've committed a faux pas, then that's okay! It's a growing experience. Learning how to be polite in new social settings isn't traumatizing them or causing them emotional harm. They will survive the couple seconds of embarrassment, and then they will go on to be kinder and more conscientious citizens of the digital landscape.

Now, if you're a newcomer who is intimidated by people telling you the rules of etiquette in fandom spaces:

Look. I get it. I was new to fandom once, and I know that that can be intimidating! But sometimes there are going to be situations where you will be new to a social setting and have to awkwardly feel things out, and you will make mistakes and be corrected by others. That's just part of life. Thankfully, fandom is a space where folks have really tried to cultivate clear rules of engagement and want to hand it on to new people! There are guides on the "ao3 etiquette" tag of how to leave polite comments and interact in fandom, and there are lots of people who will help you learn the ropes if you ask them nicely.

I promise you, you have the ability to learn the rules of social etiquette in this online space. You will be able to emotionally withstand the minor embarrassment; all of us have before you, and you will too. And if you are not able to emotionally handle someone politely taking you aside and informing you that you're making some social mistakes and how to fix them, then you are not mature enough to participate in fandom spaces.

Now, for folks who've read this far and would like some quick tips on fandom etiquette, here they are. Remember, none of this advice is meant as a criticism, and if you've done some of these things without knowing better, then that's okay, we all make mistakes! This is simply to help us all have a good time in this space and build each other up as readers and writers!

"Don't like, don't read." — The most important rule of fandom. If you come across a fanfic that has something in the summary or the tags that you don't like, then do not click on that fic. If you do choose to read it anyway, you have no right to blame the author for your reading something you didn't enjoy.

"Dead Dove: Do Not Eat." — A more extreme version of "Don't like, don't read," this means that there is content in the fic that most people would find disgusting, frightening or morally objectionable. Do not read that story if you do not want to read that sort of content.

"Ship and let ship." — Other people will like different ships or romantic pairings of characters than you do. Their doing so is not an insult to you or to the characters in question. If you do not want to engage with stories/fanart/etc. of that ship, then do not read those fics, and block those tags here on Tumblr. Do not go onto other people's fics/art/etc. and tell them that they are wrong for liking that ship (This includes if you find the ship morally objectionable; see "DL:DR" and "DD:DNE" above.)

Tagging – If you are a writer, make sure to tag your story appropriately. This includes the romantic ships (indicated with a slash, / ) and the friendship ships (indicated with an & or the word "and"). It also includes things like graphic depictions of violence, non-consensual or dubiously consensual sexual content, characters who are under the age of eighteen engaging in sexual situations, and major character death. It also includes "Dead Dove: Do Not Eat" (see above), which you should include as a tag if you have content in your fic that the majority of people would find disgusting, frightening or morally objectionable.

Rating – Make sure to rate your story appropriately. If there is explicit sexual content or graphic violence in your story, it should be rated as "mature" or "explicit." Do not label it as "teen" or "general" (or K, K+ or T on FF.net). If there is any sexual content or more-than-cartoon-violence in your story, it should not be rated as "general" (or K or K+).

Bookmarking — Be aware that unless you set the bookmark to "private," the author can read any comments or tags you leave on the bookmark.

Commenting — Almost all writers love comments, and many writers depend on comments for their motivation to continue a story. Leaving comments is both a great way to show a writer that you enjoy their story, as well as provide the writer with motivation to keep writing! A comment can be as elaborate as you like and list every detail you loved about the story, or as simple as "this was good, I really liked it!" Either of those is fine. Keyboard smashes are also fine, as are emojis if you're too shy to write a full comment.

Commenting on Older Stories — Is absolutely fine, and in fact highly appreciated!

Demanding an Update — Do not, however, demand that a writer update quickly or ask them when the next chapter will be. Writers are doing this for free, and demanding an update is considered impolite at best and guilt-tripping at worst. (Examples: saying "This is really good, excited for more!" is fine, since this does not put a timed expectation on the writer. Saying "This is really good, when is the next update!" is considered mildly impolite, and simply writing "Update" is considered highly rude. It is seen as demanding another free gift right after you've received one.)

Concrit/Constructive Criticism — Different writers' mileage will vary on how much they like constructive criticism, so best practice is to check their author's notes, summary, or author page to see if they say they are okay with concrit. If they do not say so, then default to assuming they don't want concrit.

If you do provide constructive criticism, make sure to include at least two compliments as well (preferably more). State the criticism politely and briefly.

Also, be aware that an author might disagree with your advice and choose not to take it. This is not a slight against you personally, and you should not treat it as such.

Do not offer criticism that is not meant to be constructive or help the author grow in their writing skills.

Do not offer "constructive criticism" about you disliking things the author has clearly tagged or noted in the summary. That is not constructive criticism, that is just flaming. (See "DL:DR" above.)

And finally: Never Ascribe to Maliciousness What Can Be Attributed To Ignorance. — If someone is rude to you, remember that they might be new to the space and not be aware of the rules of etiquette. Politely inform them that they've screwed up, and assume that everyone is well-intentioned until they prove otherwise.

And there you have it! By following the above advice, you can help to build up a thriving fan culture of happy writers and happy readers. Remember, we're all here to enjoy our favorite works together and create fan content for them, so let's all work together to create a pleasant digital space for one another. :)

[aurora-nova-fic]

Readers pointing out errors in your fic. Please discuss.

Are you okay with it, provided the comments are phrased kindly? I tend to be. I really appreciated the time someone pointed out to me that I missed the first part of a line when I copied a chapter into AO3, for instance. On the other hand, I never say anything in my comments when I'm reading because I don't want to offend anyone.

I read a lot of DS9 fics set in seasons 4 on which refer to "Commander Sisko." This really takes me out of a fic, and I tend to assume that it's a me problem and I don't comment because I know from experience that a bad comment can be devastating and I don't want to inflict that on anyone. (Please note this is not prompted by anyone in particular, it's a common example I'm using to ask a broader question.)

Of course there's a lot of variance here - people ignoring canon just because they want to (which is perfectly fine!), and jerks who pick silly little nits over typos and such, are very different than someone gently pointing out that the character's name is spelled Garak, not Garek.

What do you think?

[vodkassassin]

If you are new to my fics, you need to at least know this:

Do not leave comments asking for updates, asking when it will be updated, or asking if it’s discontinued because it’s been (gasp) more than a month since it last updated oh noooo

If you do leave a comment looking like the ones above; I will be replying. And I will be curt. Perhaps even, by some’s standards, rude.

But know that it’s only because you were rude first. That comment you made, that’s rude.

Because the story that you’re reading and leaving that comment on is not something you have any right to critique or make demands regarding. The author writing it has a life, a job outside of it. The story is not providing them income, and you are not paying to read it. It’s free, a privilege given to you.

I have known fellow authors that have taken the entire story down forever because they kept getting badgered and nagged by readers that posted comments that only asked for the next update, never even saying what they liked about the story or their writing or anything.

As an author, I can tell you this; it is exhausting, it’s annoying, it’s draining. It makes us not want to write anymore.

It is fucking insulting, and we hate it.

Don���t be the reason that nobody else will ever get to read the fic at all ;D That is so selfish of you : )

Have some manners, maybe? Your parents were supposed to teach you those, maybe ask them.

[fkevin073]

I feel the need to repeat this bc I saw some mutuals earlier dealing with shit comments: ao3 is not goodreads. fanfic etiquette is completely different from regular media etiquette. you can hate a movie or book or tv show all you want. that's your right! you don't have to like it, and no one can force you to. but fanfic is a hobby. most people are just doing this for fun or as an escape from their everyday lives. you don't need "constructive criticism" on a hobby. if this were a writing class or something, then yeah, be constructive, but I'm really tired of people using that "oh stop being sensitive I'm just giving constructive criticism" line when really all they're doing is being rude.

anyhow. it's 2023 - let's stop being jerks, yes?

[blackplaaague]

Not to be controversial or anything, but just because you have the power to write literally whatever you want doesn't always mean you should post it publicly for the entire internet to see, untagged.

Tagging is an absolute must. Even if it's just a quick "this contains some heavy content, don't read it if you're not in a good headspace for that!" It's the decent thing to do, if you're writing sensitive stuff.

Plus, there are some stories that just... are better off staying personal, or only shared with a few friends. I've written tons of self-indulgent venting stories and never publicly posted them. And when I do post what could be more-triggering content for some people, I always remember to tag responsibly. It's just a nice thing to do. It proves you're mature, and understand that you're working with heavy topics, not just throwing stuff around like it's My Immortal.

Responsible tagging is the bare minimum as a horror/gore/whump/angst author. And if people point out that you missed a tag, don't rant about boring snowflakes ruining your fun, just take one minute to add whatever you missed. I've done that before. It's so much easier to open "edit fic" and add a content warning than to get yourself into a tizzy because of one piece of semi-negative feedback.

Tag your stuff, please.

[elcieford]

posted on IG by dani.reads.things / @holygnocchi

See also 10 Copyright Cases Every Fan Fiction Writer Should Know About