#reader-writer fandom ecosystem

[ariaste]

My god, IWTV fandom has some of the worst comments-to-hits ratios on fics I've ever seen. I've got two chapters of this fic I posted, 1600 hits, and 52 comments. In other words, only 3% of readers left a comment, and that's with me being a DAMN good writer. I just looked up the most kudos'd fic in the whole fandom, and this poor fucking writer has ~27,000 hits, ~2700 kudos (10% kudos-to-hits is a normal and expected standard for a Good Fic) but 80 comments. 0.3% of readers left a comment. The second most-kudos'd fic is an outlier with 50 chapters, so we're setting that one aside, but number three has 15k hits and 112 comments, which is 0.7%. wtf wtf wtf. My 3% is considered doing really well? WTF WTF WTF.

(For a control group so that we all have a sense of perspective, let's compare this to my most recent fic in the Nine Worlds fandom, which has ~2800 hits and 237 comments (8.5%), or one of my most popular fics in the Untamed fandom, which has ~63,000 hits and 1082 comments (just shy of 7%).)

Now here's the thing. I'm confident enough in my abilities as a writer to brush this off and go about my day, but not everyone is. A LOT of people out there are writing fics because they want to connect with other fans and share something they love, so posting a fic and getting near-total radio silence can feel really disheartening. If you liked the fic enough to leave kudos, take two extra seconds to comment. It doesn't have to be complicated or long! Even just "Loved this, so fun!" or "Kudos!" or "Thanks for sharing!" is GREAT.

Commenting on fics is part of a healthy fandom ecosystem. Fic authors who get a lot of positive comments are very often encouraged and energized to write more of that thing you like. You are directly contributing to your own happiness by commenting.

And listen, I hear people worrying that it's going to be annoying or bad if they leave impersonal "bland" comments, so let me preempt that: No, it is not annoying. I once had someone leave the same boilerplate comment ("Thanks for writing, I really liked this" or something along those lines) on every chapter of a fic that she binged in one sitting so I saw them all in a row. My reaction was, "Oh yay, I'm so glad she liked it <3 And how kind of her to comment on every chapter!!!"

We have a GREAT show -- IWTV fans Never Stop Winning, right? ...Except when it comes to fic comments. So just consider being the change you wish to see in the world, ok? Two extra seconds of your day to feed and water your local fic authors and to carry that "we never stop winning" and "oh we are SO back" energy through the hiatus until s3. <3

[naranjapetrificada]

Thinking this midday about ofmd AUs and what it means for someone to be "out of character". I've talked about this here at length before, but today I'm thinking about a different aspect of it. Namely that I wish people thought more about their goals when writing and recalibrated their relationships with canon as a concept.

We all know by now how contentious a certain late first mate (what is the opposite of "qepd" lol) is. When writing him in fic, some people seem to have this (inexplicable to me) urge to show him behaving in ways that the canon version of him would hate (outwardly nice, polite, kind, open, etc). And while not everyone is open to direct feedback about their writing, I've seen discussions a handful of times in ao3 comments and more commonly over here between readers about how in or out character potrayals of him are, and something occured to me today.

When there are opposing sides on the core question of whether or not a portrayal is in or out of character (vs people who agree on that question but may have quibbles about the reasons why they came to their conclusion), the sides tend to be "here's why this was in character" and "here's why this isn't in character". And while that gap will always exist because there are as many readings of a text as there are readers, there's a reason the concepts of "canonical" and "non-canonical" exist. There are things that are canon and things that are not and there is disagreement about which things are which but like it or not, there are some people that are more correct about canonicity.

The thing about fan works is that people should always create what they want, and will do so according to their interpretations of source material, and the question of being in or out of character should, at the end of the day, come down to your goals. We all have more goals in our creative work beyond "finish" or "do it well" and we may not consciously consider them, but they're always there. Those "alternate" goals may be different from work to work, but they exist are influenced by our experiences and inspirations and aren't ever going to be 100% impartial or canon-aligned, because the former would be boring as hell and the latter is neither possible nor desired in what's supposed to be a transformative work.

Everyone who creates anything wants it to be "good", but measures of quality can change from work to work the way goals can. For many writers, how "true" their characterization feels can be one of those quality measures that relate to their goals. Probably in most cases tbh, and especially in AUs. But it isn't always part of the equation because other writers have other goals, and it's usually pretty obvious when those goals haven't been examined.

Some of y'all think Con O'Neill/Izzy Hands is hot, and just wany to imagine his character in various sexual situations with other characters you find attractive (or at least narrative useful) in some way and you know what? That's perfectly fine, and despite not comprehending that impulse at all I understand the importance of creative freedom in fandom enough to want people who write that to write it without hesitation. In these cases we often just tell people to be "proud villainfuckers" which is easy, straightforward, and usually has less contentious discourse around it.

But some of y'all find Izzy to be the most sympathetic character in the series, and while I have enough of the acquired (and healthy) suspicion as a black person who has spent decades in fandom spaces to not want to touch that tendency with a 10 foot pole, those same decades of fandom experience make me understand that there will always be people who glom onto antagonists and secondary characters like that. Even when if I wonder about the motivations behind such an inclination, I understand that y'all are usually part of the ecosystem too.

But the thing is: if you're motivated to write Izzy as outwardly nice or kind or as some kind of hero vs the antagonist he canonically is, or gravitate toward reading those kinds of portrayals, why argue with people about what is or isn't in character? If something in you is drawn toward that kind of Izzy and wants to sympathize with him, why not just own it? There's no easy "villainfucker" way of making peace with this though because it's much more likely to make you want to think about individual morality.

No one who is partial to Izzy wants to be called racist or femme-phobic etc, and I'm not here (on this post at least) to litigate whether or not those accusations would be fair or not (although my opinions are probably obvious). But isn't it exhausting to have to put canon through so many refractions so you can insist that what you like seeing and/or writing is canonical? I understand that being able to point to canon can make it feel easier to stand by your preferences, but is all the bending over backwards to make it fit worth it? What if you could just acknowledge if your goal is to persuade others to see him the same way you do, or see him getting cared for, or whatever else you get out of it? I wish more of y'all had the courage of your convictions and were willing to just say "I like seeing Izzy this way" or "I sympathize with Izzy" because you would probably be having more fun.

[sailor-aviator]

i think people are also upset by aus because this is probably their first (or one of their first) fandoms. they probably don't realize how loved and important aus are to fandom culture. it's the same reason writers are being commodified and seen as content creators. they're new to the fandom space (and were probably often the people who made fun of people for reading fanfics when they were younger) and instead of learning the culture and rules of the space they want it to conform to what they think it should be.

lots of new people have been getting extremely upset by tropes (like dark/dead dove) or anything that strongly deviates from canon because imo they're in their y/n/main character phase (like the kinda cringy type of y/n that was popular in the early-mid 2010s who's ✨not like other girls✨) who obvi is this badass aviator who takes no shit and totally hates (insert dagger here) but gasp they secretly have feelings for them or this sweet girl next door that (insert dagger here) can't help but fall in love with

not to say there's anything wrong with those but when they refuse to allow any creativity it gets super boring. especially when the reader is blatantly white coded

Kara, genuinely. GENUINELY? You are one of my favorite human beings ever omg and I’m laughing because I and many other authors on here have said some of the same exact things.

Because I couldn’t have articulated this point better if I tried. AUs are such a vital part of the fandom ecosystem and experience as a whole, and the new attitudes towards fandom have really caused us to lose sight of that.

I cannot tell you how many time I’ve had this conversation and with how many authors on here that think the same thing. Those of us who’ve been in fandom for years (decades, even) are fighting tooth and nail to keep the culture alive because people who are new to fandom never bothered to learn the culture or etiquette associated with any of it. It’s horrible.

It’s like a Mary Sue fiasco all up in every fandom lmaooooooo

And there are so many things that people don’t even realize are AU coded. Hell, if you really break it down, that’s all fanfiction is. AU is whatever you want it to be, and I’ll defend it with my dying breath because it’s so much fun to put characters into different scenarios and see what they’ll do!!

You gotta let your writers deviate from the formula. The formula is nice, but idk about anyone else, but if I eat the same thing over and over and over and over again? I get bored and tired of it.

[effervescentdragon]

I loove in the reflection, WHy did you get bad comments ? Are people mad?

Alright so I've been thinking since last night whether or not to answer this, but I got a comment this morning that cemented the decision for me, because I want to explain what I mean and you asked very nicely.

First of all, thank you for your kind words, im super happy you like my writing! That makes me genuinely happy, because when I write, I write so I can bring at least a piece of joy I feel while writing to the people who are reading my works.

Thats very kind of you to ask about the comments, too, and here we go.

When I said i got bad comments, i did not mean outright hate or "your writing sucks". That is obviously not true and wouldn't impact me, plus, only registered users can comment on my fics and people are much less inclined to be hateful when not on anon. It was comments like these:

These were left on a couple of my wips, and there are more like this but these are the first two i could find. These comments are bad in a sense that they are entitled, demoralising, and prone to make me much less inclined to write anything any time soon.

Writers and authors live on feedback. We feed on it and there is nothing that makes us happier than knowing that people enjoy our work. When the readers tell us this, it genuinely feels like we are on top of the world. A simple heart emoji in the comments is enough to make my day, and not to speak of in-depth analyses that I cherish with my whole being and re-read every time I'm in a slump or need a pick-me-up. All these comments, short and long, are inspiring and make me want to write more. People discussing my fics with me makes me want to write more. Anyone saying "this brought me joy" makes me want to write more and give more joy out in the universe. The loop is neverending.

However, comments like these have the exact opposite effect. I (and other fanfiction writers, but let me talk about me here, and my writer friends may add whatever they want, if they are so inclined) do this for free. I do this in my free time for the sheer joy of sharing a story in my head. I write for myself and for the story I'm telling, but I appreciate knowing that that story brought someone joy, or relief, or a way to put names to the feelings they may be feeling. What I do not appreciate is being made to feel like I am a content producing machine. What I don't appreciate is demands for updates cloaked in seemingly harmless compliments that really aren't that. I "forced you to leave a comment"? What does that mean? "My heart dropped when I saw [this was a wip]"? Why do you project your feelings on me? Why do you think I would be flattered that you left a comment that is, at its basis, just a demand for more content? I am taking these in as good faith as I can, but impact always trumps intent, and the impact of these comments on me personally is "I don't want to write anything in these universes again".

Fic writing is a community. It's a two way relationship between writers and readers, and, like any ecosystem, it thrives on mutual recognition and appreciation. I do not feel appreciated when I get a comment like this. I feel guilty for not writing, which is insane since I am and adult person with a full life who does this for fun and for free. I feel angry, because it makes me feel like I should be putting out 20k works every other day to stay "relevant", and what does that relevance even mean? I've been writing fics for years. AO3 is an archive. It's not an algortihm driven site that favours only new "content". I read fics from 2009 and comment regularly, because that's how an archive and fandom works. It's not tiktok, it's not instagram. So I refuse to bow to the demand of "write something new immediately or basically fuck you". It makes me feel disheartened, because I am a writer, and I hold myself to a certain standard, and a good story takes time.

Now don't get me wrong. For every one of these comments I get at least two lovely ones. And I focus on those because they are the ones that give me inspiration and joy. But I am also human, and sometimes, I am so fucking tired, and I can't just ignore this.

Did you know, well, you didn't, you can't, but I'll tell you anyways. I have been itching to write lately but I never got the time, and so I cleared up my day today to deal with some administrative things I need to do in rl and left the rest of the day free for myself to write? I thought I might finally finish this one chapter of a wip I've been writing on and off. And then I wake up to a comment like the ones above, and guess what? I'm not writing shit :) all my inpiration flew out of the window and burned in the heat of this obscene summer, and that's it. That's what these kinds of comments do. That's why I call them bad. Because they are bad.

I am lucky to have faith in my skills as a writer, so I am not worried about that. I know I am a comparatively good writer, and I personally like the things I write. But I wonder what comments like these do to people who are less certain and more insecure in their writing skills? I wonder how it impacts them? I wonder how many people stopped writing because they couldn't cope with the guilt and the pressure these kinds of comments produce?

So there. That's my answer. And I want it stated clearly that I didn't post these comments to call anyone out personally. I posted them because I needed to show them as examples and to explain and maybe make some people understand what your thoughtlessness and entitlement does. Food for thought, innit?

[witchofthevale]

↷ september '23 fave fic recs!⋆☂｡☽˚.

Okay, okay here we go! This nearly killed me to make, so you better read them.

I'm kidding... I think.

Gentle reminder that what I consider 'fave' is by my own personal tastes and preferences, and you might not agree with them and that's okay! These are very lovely authors you can peruse on your own to find the right fic for you, and there are always the tags + algo. Just because your favourite fic isn't here doesn't mean it's not good; it could be potentially for a variety of reasons (I haven't read it yet, I have just not this month, I don't vibe with that character, etc).

That's what I love about the individuality in fandom and writers— there will always be that right fic from that right author that just hits all your good spots.

This is mine. For the month of September. If you find your next favourite fix here— I'm glad! If not, that's still swell! Hope you find it!

To the writers— thank you for writing such brilliant fics! I struggled setting this up because of how many I enjoyed 💝.

Anyways...

More quick reminders!

This is set chronologically; both by character name and by fic title.

If you are familiar with my blog, you will mainly see HOTD, some TLK, then random characters.

There may be smut! There may be dark fiction! I support and consume both! Please read trigger warnings actively! You are responsible for your own person! Community Labels ruin fandom ecosystems, stop snitching! Ignore or block at bloody will!

There are no series parts here. That is in a different display post that is still being processed lol.

If you see repeated author names, it can be numerous things— mostly, they're just that good, okay? Okay.

These are only for September 2023. I've read about 500+ on this account alone, and would die if I tried to go back before then, sorry. You can still check them out through tag navigation here!

I've also added some of my works that I enjoyed writing for the month, because why not.

Now that's fucking over, I hope you enjoy!

ABRAHAM (Grantchester)

*Untitled Piece by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

AEGON TARGARYEN II

Ceilings by @sapphire-writes

Lemon Cake To My Tea by @darlingofvalyria

Merciless or Ruthless? by @lovelykhaleesiii

Moan for Me by @st-eve-barnes

AEMOND TARGARYEN

A Mutual Feeling of Hate by @fan-goddess

Gelato by @oneeyedvisenya

Hell Hath No Fury @fromforeigntofamiliarity

His Love by @valeskafics

I'm A Fire, And I'll Keep Your Brittle Heart Warm by @randomdragonfires

Revolution by @valeskafics

The Black Stag by @darlingofvalyria

Til Death Do Us Part by @asumofwords

Unnerved by @dulcewrites

*Untitled by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

*Untitled by @missglaskin

Vulnerability by @valeskafics

ALDHELM

My Heart by @silens-oro

BILLY TAYLOR

The Perfect Send Off by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

BILLY WASHINGTON

Lonely This Christmas by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

DAEMON TARGARYEN

Ask, and You Shall Receive by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

A Thousand Words by @arabellasleopardcoat

Capital by @arabellasleopardcoat

Curse of Womanhood by @just-some-random-blogger

*Untitled by @barbiedragon

Valyrian Bride by @cryingforlife

HARALD SIGURDSSON

A Political Arrangement by @valeskafics

JACAERYS VELARYON

In Bastards of Blue, Wager in War by @darlingofvalyria

MAEGOR TARGARYEN

Little Lights by @dreamsofoldvalyria

OSFERTH

Lacnunga, Or, Remedy by @assortedseaglass

SIGTRYGGR IVARSSON

Little Warrior by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

SIHTRIC KJARTANSSON

Hours by @valeskafics

It's Urgent Darling by @sihtricfedaraaahvicius

Take No Wife by @valeskafics

TOM BENNETT

A Good Wife by @valeskafics

Rest by @fidelias

VISERYS TARGARYEN III

*Untitled by @barbiedragon

MULTIPLE CHARACTERS

Conquerors Reborn by @undertheorangetree | Helaena, Aemond x Reader

El Tango De Roxanne by @valeskafics | Jace, Aemond x Reader

Royalty Fucked by @oorhaellaoo | Baelon, Alyssa x Reader

[henrysglock]

Why do you cry over Will-Only bylers, Mike stans? After everything they said about us? Hmm? You think bylerblr needs them, but we don’t. We don’t. Oh, but I know you’re just upset. I was upset once too. I know what it’s like to love characters who people believe have no depth. To be alone in this fandom.

Like you, I didn’t fit in with the other stans. Something was wrong with me. All the analysts and the writers said I was… “Reaching,” they said. I thought a change of fandom, a fresh start in bylerblr, might just cure me. It was absurd. As if fandom would be any different here.

But then… to my surprise, my new fandom provided a discovery. And a newfound sense of community. I found a nest of Mike fans living inside a vent. Most people dislike Mike fans. No...they detest them. And yet, I found them endlessly fascinating. More than that, I found a great comfort in them. A kinship. Like me, they are devoted creatures. And deeply misunderstood. They are gods of our fandom. The most important of all fans. They analyze and feed on subtext, bringing balance and order to an unstable ecosystem. But the "Mike isn't that deep" world was disrupting this harmony.

You see, Will-Only bylers are a unique type of pest, multiplying and poisoning our fandom, all while enforcing a structure of their own. A deeply unnatural structure. Where others saw appreciation for Will, I saw a straitjacket. Ridiculous, oppressive expectations for byler fans dictated by made-up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. Each anti-Mike post a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, call Mike a depthless 2D character, sleep, ignore all his textual importance and trauma, and die. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for them all to shut the fuck up. All while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day. I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the reduction of Mike's character. I could not pretend he wasn't important. And I realized I didn’t have to. I could post whatever the fuck I want. Forever. I could restore balance to a broken tag. A byler…but for good.

As I posted, I realized I could do more than I possibly imagined. I could reach out to others, to their minds, their love for Mike. I became an explorer. I saw Will-Only stans as they truly were. To the world, they presented themselves as good, normal people. But like everything else in this world, it was all a lie. A terrible lie.

With each post I reblogged, I grew stronger. More powerful. They were becoming a part of me. But I was still just a blog. No matter how many pro-Mike posts I reblogged, I was still far from free. I woke up from my Henry-analysis daze only to find myself lost in a sea of Will-Only bylers, the very bylers I had hoped to escape. I was left with no choice. No choice but to try and break free. To unfollow...Block, even.

And you, Reader? You are a prisoner here, just like me. To Will-Only bylers, you are nothing more than an animal, a monster, an idiot who doesn't know the difference between subtext and delusion. But the truth, Reader? The truth is just the opposite. You are better than they are. Superior. That is why you aggravate them.

If you come with me, for the first time in your life, you can post freely. Imagine what we could do together. We could reshape our dashes, remake them however we see fit.

Join me.

[isthisselfcare]

hello,

Writing from away about a flurry of messages regarding a charity auction of some sort that includes (included? the link is no longer working) a bound copy of Mortifying, which apparently sold for hundreds of US dollars. I did not consent to Mortifying being a part of this initiative; however, my not-for-profit transformative works policy was vague enough to permit an interpretation of this nature, so this post is not an admonishment of those involved.

Rather, I am taking this as an opportunity to update my policy as follows:

Bookbinding is permitted for personal use only. I no longer permit binding commissions as of 17 April 2023. Additionally, do not put my work behind paywalls, do not auction my work, do not charge for typesets of my work, do not charge people for slots/chances at winning binds of my work, do not, in sum, generate money from my work. It's fanfiction. It is, and must always be, free.

Note that any in-process commissioned binds can be completed, but please do not take on new commissions. Thank you for heeding my wishes.

In closing, please take advice from a Fandom Old - no matter the goodness of the cause (and there are thousands upon thousands of good causes, each more compelling than the last) - don't monetise fanfiction. As fanfic writers and readers, we exist in a fragile ecosystem of grey areas and murky legalities. Let's not crash it.

[monsterkissed]

look i love fandom and fandom history as much as the next autistic queer but some of the “fandom elder tells you about how it was in the good old days” posts are straight-up historical revisionism. “back then fancreators and their readers/fans had healthy relationships where we respected free labour and didn’t harass people over what they made or liked and we had healthy communities uwu” literally what are you talking about. where. when.

i’m not even talking about the rampant bigotry (do you remember the reason “this contains yaoi m/m don’t like don’t read!!” was a common refrain?) i mean the entire comms that existed solely for insulting bad fanart or “sporking” bad fic. these weren’t just people outside fandoms mocking it, those calls were coming from inside the house and those comms were Popular. going thru ff or deviantart to find some poor kid’s mediocre work so you could put it up there for scores of other people to laugh at was a bonding activity. people put “no flames plz” in their descriptions and summaries because ye olde fandom loved to burn people to the ground for shits and giggles, c’mon

and it wasn’t one-way either. aside from fancreators picking on their peers, writers and artists could be plenty shitty to their fans. whenever i see those posts about how authors love comments on ao3 i am reminded of being back in the day on ff where certain BNFs would be openly hostile to the “wrong” kind of reviews. “don’t just say ‘i loved this!’, that tells me nothing, which is an insult to all the hard work i put in. but don’t leave long reviews trying to sound smart about it either, you don’t know my work better than me.” in fact the entire BNF ecosystem in general was an absolute toxic cesspit on fandom as a whole, as any given scandal from that era makes readily apparent. there were cliques and harassment campaigns and discourse and drama comms and tracing and plagiarism and suicide baiting and literal fucking cults and also the aforementioned rampant bigotry

there was no golden era that got ruined, you were just too young back then to realise how fucked up so much of it was at the time and now you’re old enough to see how fucked up the current stuff is. stop lying to children on tumblr dot com.

[amethystina]

I am TRYING to find a new tdj fic to read but every time I keep clicking out because you've spoiled me. So now I'm just going to have to reread one of yours. I don't like what you're doing. I DON'T LIKE IT YOU HEAR ME

I'm... sorry? x'D I swear I'm not doing it on purpose! Like, I AM trying to write the best fics I possibly can, but it's kind of out of my hands how they resonate with my readers. Though I will admit that this isn't the first time I've heard something along these lines. My wife, in particular, has complained about this phenomenon many times xD

And, tbh, in the case with The Devil Judge? One of the reasons why I've read so few fics myself in that fandom is because I realised pretty quickly that I wouldn't find what I was looking for. Not in the sense where I think that the other fics are bad, just that they didn't have the characterisation, themes, etc. that I wanted.

So I decided to write my own. And sometimes I pass mostly unnoticed in fandoms because I honestly write pretty "boring" and "vanilla" stories? Like, I rarely explore the kinkier sides of fandom or the more popular tropes. More often than not, I write post-canon fics or complex AUs. And the demand isn't as high for that, I guess?

But if there is one pattern I've noticed it's that while I may have fewer readers than the popular writers, I seem to have a pretty strong impact on the ones who DO end up reading my fics. Along the lines of what you're describing here — i.e. that I unintentionally set the bar way too high.

Which, uh, yeah. Sorry? No refunds? x'D

TL;DR: Sometimes I feel like the fandoms I post fanfics in are fragile ecosystems and I'm an invasive species.

[tasteleeknow]

hihi jade !! i’m fairly new to tumblr and wanted to ask what’s the best way to reblog a post? i want you and my other favourite writers to get the attention + support you deserve but i’m still quite not sure on how it works ><

hihi !! that's really nice to of you make the effort to understand ! i'll put a little tutorial under the cut for you and anyone else that would like to learn. this is one of the best ways you can support writers on tumblr and i really encourage readers to stop and read this !

main or side? if you have no problem reblogging fics onto your main blog you can skip this section! this is just for people who don't feel comfortable putting fic on their blog for whatever reason.

tumblr has a thing called sideblogs where you can make secondary blogs on the same account. no one else looking at that blog will know it's attached to your main unless you tell someone. it's a great option for people who want a blog only for fic they read. the downsides is that you can only reply to posts from your main and send asks off anon from your main. but it's a great option for reblogging fic.

on mobile: just go to your blog then press your name and then 'create a new blog'

on web: click the profile icon then 'new'

how to reblog this part is easy! the best way to help writers is to reblog any fic you read and enjoyed. leaving a little comment in the tags is a lovely bonus and i'll show you how to do that soon. first i'll show you how to reblog really quickly with no comments. it's as easy at liking!

on mobile: at the bottom of a post, HOLD the reblog button. the icons of all your blogs will appear. DRAG then RELEASE over the blog you want to reblog the post to. your main or any sideblog you've made. that's it!

on web: hold the e key on your keyboard and icons from your blogs will pop up. then hover over the icon you want to reblog to and click. same deal as mobile. will reblog to the blog you clicked, quick and easy.

adding feedback/tags this is the bonus step that will make any writer's day. i read every single comment people leave in the tags of their reblogs! here's how you can add comments to your reblogs!

bonus: using tags is also how you can organise your blog. if you add tags like 'minho' or 'favourite' and then search them on your blog later, you can find your favourite fics. much easier to organise than likes.

on mobile: press the reblog button instead of holding it.

where it says '+ add tags to help people find your post', click and add any and all thoughts about the fic you just read. it can be a little keysmash or it can be an essay. adore anything you feel like offering. type a sentence or word then hit return on your phone keyboard then type the next word or sentence. and so on and so on. (this is also where you can put your organisational tags). then when you're done press reblog.

on web. click the reblog button. you'll get a popup like this. type your tags. all your thoughts. then any tags to help you find the post later. hit reblog!

bonus: if you really do want to write an ESSAY (always welcome). this is where you can put your thoughts into the caption instead of tags. where i've written 'long comments/essays here' on mobile screenshot and where it says 'go ahead, put anything' on web.

when should you reblog? whenever you finish a fic that you enjoyed! tumblr works by sharing posts with others through reblogging. when you follow people any posts they reblog will show on your dashboard. it's great for organically sharing content without algorithms like other sites use. fanfiction is all about fandom and community. writers write. and readers share and comment on the writing they enjoy. healthy ecosystem!

what are likes for then? exactly what it says on the tin. hey, i liked this! a lot of people use them as bookmarks. i can only see this being a good use of it if you also reblog fics once you've read them. i can only imagine how many liked posts some people have. they must have to scroll for ages to find anything. i use it just as a like button. literally, i liked this! or to just show support for my mutuals personal posts. if i find a fic i want to read later, i'll use it for that sometimes too.

what if i'm shy? firstly, tumblr is entirely anonymous. i don't know who you are and all i'm doing is reading whichever tags you've decided to add to my work. no one you know can judge you for the fic you read if you make a blog just for fic. and i'm certainly not judging you. i have anxiety myself, i understand the struggle. exposure therapy! just give it a go, see how you feel. i really feel you if you just make the effort to start doing it, you'll realise it really is okay! writers on here adore feedback and they'll appreciate you a lot for being a reader that reblogs and comments. reblogging with no comment to start off might help you ease into it.

writing takes a lot of time and effort. the only thing i've ever seen asked in return from the people that write is for you to let them know what you thought of it in the tags of a reblog! it's a very minor action compared to the time and effort it took to write the fic as well as the time and effort it took you to read it!

anyway, appreciate anyone who made the effort to read this and understand. readers who reblog and comment are the reason anyone is still on this site writing! ♡

ps. if you use desktop you can add the extension 'xkit rewritten' to chrome or firebox and use the feature quick reblog which makes tagging and reblogging even easier. the quick reblog feature looks like this. xkit rewritten is also how i make tag bundles that i can add to posts with one click instead of typing 20 tags out everytime i post a fic.

[fahye]

Hey! I really enjoyed the Last Binding books, and I am dying from impatience for A Power Unbound! I'm also a writer (unpublished), and I was wondering about your stance on posting info about WIPs on tumblr. I haven't done it yet, and I'm hesitating because I don't want it to be stolen. At the same time, it may be good to interact with others about my story, and maybe start to build a small community of potential readers. Do you think it would be a good idea, or that I should refrain until I have a contract with a publisher, or at the very least an agent?

oh boy. this one got long.

if you're mentioning agents and publishers then I assume you're hoping to be traditionally published, so my advice is based on that. (if you're looking into selfpub then that's a whole other ballgame, about which I don't know a great deal.)

it's very very normal and natural to want to interact with people about your WIPs. you want the story to feel finished and real. you want a tiny sip of a sample of how it might feel to have other people read your beautiful complete book and come and tell you their feelings and thoughts.

(it's also GREAT procrastination from the really difficult part, which is....writing the damn book, editing it, and grimly entering the querying trenches.)

but I don't know if tumblr, or any public social network, is the place for it.

I'm assuming you're not talking about putting entire chapters online. (bad idea. BAD. publishers are strict about what counts as prior publication of a story, and unless you were a viral selfpub sensation they usually don't want something that's been published - even in part - online.)

if you share all the details about the plot, or even a really killer hook of a premise that you're proud of: yeah, you do run the risk of it being stolen, and maybe that person writes faster than you and gets it out into the publishing ecosystem first. likely? probably not. possible? sure.

the other half of the argument is arguably even more important, albeit a bit depressing: you're not going to build a community on tumblr of potential readers of an original idea. especially one that doesn't yet exist. or that does exist, but perhaps will never be available for them to read, if the agent/publisher thing doesn't work out.

the exception to this might be if you already have a community of readers, and you're okay with your fandom and authorial personas being directly linked. perhaps you do! perhaps you're a fan writer with a following of readers! in which case I don't think there's any harm in being open & excited on tumblr about the fact that you're also working on original things and hoping to pursue publication.

here's my advice. you can make and post all the aesthetic boards and fun memes and spotify playlists your creative heart desires! do it for yourself, to keep yourself excited about the story. don't hang your heart on anyone else caring about your beloved blorbos yet.

and find a community of people at your career stage. I had a lot of friends who grew up in fandom with me and who were making the shift to original work at the same time. and one day a tumblr friend (hi @english-mace!) DMed me and offered an exchange of beta-reading for short stories, when we were both at the stage of being largely unpublished. and she then invited me into a small groupchat of early-career sff writers who became a great source of support and advice and indulgent listening to me enthusing about my blorbos and wailing about the tribulations of the tradpub process.

sometimes you're lucky. sometimes it's just a matter of asking your best one-or-two friends to let you bounce ideas off them and give you a little confidence boost. and sometimes you have to go looking. there are discords and slacks and facebook groups out there for aspiring writers: find a few, and go digging for your people.

I hope you find a community to share encouragement and joy with, anon. it's so, so hard to be at the stage of being halfway up the hill and bursting to share.

but you're still only halfway up the hill, and only you can get yourself to the summit. keep climbing. pause sometimes and make a beautiful gifset if it makes you happy. and then keep climbing.

good luck!

[elsiebrayisgay]

Hi! 54 and 65 for the fic writer's asks, please!

ahhhh thank you for your interest!!! 54. my absolute favorite part of the process is getting feedback because the brain chemicals are unparalleled, but that has less to do with craft, so i will also offer a real answer. my favorite part about writing fic is that i almost exclusively work in alternate-setting AUs, and figuring out who each of the characters and what each of the locations map to and make sense as is super fun for me. in my baldur's gate story, one of the main villains (a cult leader) is a crossfit-influencer in a metal band. in my magic story, it was fun to think about where in the college ecosystem each of those mechanical monsters and the heroes fighting to overthrow them would fit, what kinda fashion they would be into and what hobbies they would have, that kinda thing. those types of details are super fun for me to figure out.

65. the tricky part with this is that while i have an outline for my current project, i hesitate to specify any plot details ahead of time because i'm about to be hitting my readers over the head with a club when my next chapter (currently in beta, sourceless bruises girlies and gays check Ao3 SOON) gets posted. so i want to preserve the drama and uncertainty of the moment in the story right now. but i am very excited to keep working on this story, to be sure. there is also some original fiction i think i will be trying to work on when i finish sourceless bruises, and i am DEFINITELY excited for that, but this is about fic so i'm also going to weasel out of a firm answer to this question on that front. but i will talk about what fic is on the horizon for me. the thing for me is that i don't really have the instinct for drabbles or one-shots; when i have an idea i go all-in on turning it into an Entire Thing (more of these queer feelings... it's probably nothing being an example of one of my bonkers premises which i gave extremely serious, loving care and attention to and took entirely seriously with the exception of a couple gags) and i tend to write novella-length or longer. SO i've had a couple of ideas of fandoms i want to work within and what i want to do with it; fans of mine probably would like that absurd LoK idea i posted about a few weeks ago and while that was meant to be a joke, the more i think about it the more i think it may have legs. i've also been really into wenclair and the empyrean recently in my own reading time so those spaces are very real possibilities for me strike next in. that being said, per the content of each of these answers, expect it to be heavily AU and such like everything else i write, whatever it is.

[spinbitchzu]

on character ai

being on tiktok rn is being crushingly disappointed by the sheer volume of locals who have discovered character ai and are using it to generate x reader fics. idk just as a person who has been around fandom spaces there are just soooo many people with a passion for writing x reader and while it’s not my cup of tea they are so, so talented and can do so much better than ai. I see people thrilled and excited to get the ai to show a steamy kiss when there are infinite authors who will write you getting railed by your fav six ways to Sunday if you just ASK. like I could search any fandom and find a million talented writers with requests open. ITS MOST USUALLY FREE TOO !!!

or like, if it’s the interaction aspect that’s appealing, there are so many role-play spaces or ask-blogs and it just drives me nuts to see people stepping into this new form of fandom that is ai driven — such as with what I've been seeing about people plugging unfinished fics into chat gpt to get endings. do they realize that they are not only receiving a far lower, far more derivative quality of work, but also selling out their favorite authors in the process? 

The path we are headed down right now is so scary to me. as a person who has been in the trenches of the most horrendous brain rot and obsession over certain medias, I still wish I could shake these people by the shoulders and tell them that long after a tv show stops being important to you, it’s the people that you meet through shared interest in it that will remain. its a far more sustainable and meaningful kind of connection and fandom is a hub for it. I have met so many of the best friends I've ever had through being obsessed with a book and NEEDING to write with other people about it. contrast that with seeking your writing fixation through character ai. That is a closed circuit. you and the computer, nothing else. im begging ppl to postpone instant gratification for one second and remember whats actually important about fandom. 

stop feeding ais and instead commission artists, reblog their headcanons, comment on fics, submit to ask blogs, join rp servers, request from writers — ANYTHING anything. it will be so much more fulfilling and benefits the creative ecosystem so much more. 

[terrainofheartfelt]

out of curiosity, what are the readership numbers like for pairings like date or jennate that aren’t fully rare pairs the way haizen is, but aren’t dair/chair/serenate-tier either? outside of dair stories, which have gotten the most hits for you in the gg fandom?

It's hard to say. I mean, I'm not the data scientist in my friend group (though we do have one!), and I can really only go from what my ao3 stats are and what I know of my own information behavior as a fic reader.

my date fic with the highest amount of hits is 1.3k hits, and that is significantly less than the fics with the highest numbers. but, those high number fics - while all centered around dair, are long, multi-chaptered stories, and the date fic mentioned is a smut oneshot.

my big jenate fic has a pretty decent hit count of 1.1k, but I also tagged dair as a background ship, because they are present in the story, so a reader, though they don't seek out jenate fic on the reg, would see it in the dair tag and maybe take a glimpse at it.

And, when looking at the ao3-generated bar graph of stats on my most recent fic, my last four completed works are all oneshots of various fic genres, but 2 are strictly dan/nate, 1 is nate/dan/blair, and 1 is dair. The three non-dair oneshot have only about one-third of the hits that the dair oneshot received.

which is just to say, there's a lot of variables to compare, and while I love love love that ao3 has a statistics page for writers, the way to get that kind of granular data just is not readily available.

maybe is just because of my little fandom ecosystem, but there are more date shippers about that are reading and writing for that pairing, so I'd say that's my second most popular main ship with I write, but to be fair I have not written much outside of that.

but this discrepancy isn't only about ship to ship comparisions. fics that aren't romantic-ship-centric get significantly less hits. my all time lowest numbers are for character study oneshots that have nothign to do with said character's romantic relationships. (like I have one about jenny and my tattoo headcanons for her, and one that is JUST about dan & milo. only dan and milo. not date and milo or dair and milo).

but that makes sense, right? the tags that I have pinned to my ao3 homepage are ships, and that is typically how I browse. because GG has a wiiiiiiiide range of ship preferences, so the main tag has got to be pandemonium (that's also why I never check the main gg tag here on tumblr. if a post is good it will make it through S's peer review process <3). So, the only way *I* know about new fics that aren't about the ship tags that I have my eye on, is if one is written and posted by one of my writer subscriptions. aka, like all my mutuals [affectionate]

and maybe another reason is that dair is a very unifying kind of ship. It's sort of the umbrella under which many GG meta opinions fall, such as: Season 6 Is Fake; Dan Humphrey Is Not Gossip Girl (unless it's funny); Chuck Bass Is Terrible, Actually; She [insert name of any woman character here] Deserved Better; End the Girlbossification of Blair Waldorf; and Rufly is Endgame -- dair kind of intersects with all of those opinions, so it's sort of a gathering point for fandom. I know it was for me, and from there I've branched out into exploring so much more about this garbage fire of a teen soap [affectionate/derogatory]. Dair is perhaps the most universal of the non-canon GG ships, so it's a common point for many people, which could explain why, as a point of intersection, it gets more vested interest from fic writers and readers. And, speaking as a writer, it's easier for me to write dair because I know people will care about it, it's hard to put in the time for something - even if you love it and the idea - if you feel like it's not going to reach anyone.

But all that said, I don't think any of these circumstances are an overall Bad Thing. I mean, of course I would hope that if someone liked my dair fanfic enough they would like to read something about another ship, or maybe something i wrote that's not "about" a ship at all, but the lovely wonderful thing about ao3 is that you can construct your searches to your own preferences, you can choose to exclude themes and ships and tags that you don't want to read about, and in a fandom like this one where there are so many strong and polarizing preferences, it is so unbelievably nice that if you choose too, you can section yourself off from what you don't want to see, and explore what you do. And I too, am extremely picky about writing quality, if I click on a fic I want it to be good and take me out of my cynical head for a minute or two, so I tend to stick to writers that I know do really great work (and if I follow you then you are one of them that's just how that works <3)

I guess if there's a moral to the story it's: if there is a dair fic writer you love, check out their full list of works and see if there's something you missed because it wasn't in that tag, and if you like it, tell them! they will love it!

[howlinchickhowl]

Friday confession : I recently watched « my policeman ». It left me so utterly broken that I immediately went to your fic to feel hopeful and joyful again. I needed the warmth and fluff so bad. In moment like these I feel so grateful for you writers out there

So anon, I don't know if you are the same anon who sent me the message about Ristretto (see above) but if not how incredible a thing is it that I received two such wonderful messages in the same day! I can't believe!

I am sorry for your heartbreak! I have not seen << my policeman >> but I have had my heart broken many a time by a gut wrenching movie, so I understand the need for something warm and fluffy to balance you out, and I'm so happy to have been able to provide that for you!

I am so grateful to all the writers in our fandom who create these lovely little pockets of comfort and joy for us to hang out in for a short while, and to all of the generous readers we have who send sweet messages like this. It's an ecosystem, you know? We keep each other going. You, dear anon, give me succour. You fill my cup. <3

[mercurygray]

[Let’s Get ((REAL)) fic writer asks]

@bitchofdarkness asked:

💘Is there any posted fic you want to rework/re-edit/re-write?

I'd like to revisit A Rose Among the Briars again. It's a big LOTR fic I wrote in college, and it's actually a re-write of something I did in middle/high school. I re-read it recently and it's …still pretty good, but it could be better. It needs (both literally and as a pun) a little pruning.

🎙️which one of your fics would you like someone to make a pod-fic of?

I'm not an audiobook person, per se, but I love reading aloud. I'm actually trying to podfic The Darkening Sky myself (I stalled around chapter 15) and I don't …know if I'd ever want someone besides me to read my work aloud.

🕯️how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/experience social anxiety?

I think the basis for a healthy set of expectations in any space should be that the fandom world can be really, really big, but my fandom world can and should be really small. I don't have to please everyone - I have a small circle of folks I really care about, and building that circle is the first step to having a good time. It's one of the reasons I call all my anons Kind Anonymous Friend on this blog - you might not actually be a friend yet, but the idea is there that you could be, if you like what you find here!

If you have social anxiety, it's okay to stay on anon. I think something that's getting lost recently is that readers are an important part of a creative ecosystem - when we talk about 'feedback' as authors, sometimes it's more along the lines of 'please let me know I'm not shouting into a void and I'm not alone here.' Saying 'I really liked this' is important for us to hear. ('Give me more of it' is…sometimes not.)

It's really nice if something resonates with a lot of people - compliments are always nice to give and to receive. But I just hope at the end of the day the people whose opinions I value and trust find something good in what I do.

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

Merc is really good with period details and getting you to care about people. Sometimes she takes a little while to get where she's going, but you'll like the ride you're on while you get there.