Many Ships, one Fleet. Some are out sailing the waters of the Fan Fiction Seas, some exploring Canon Cove. Some are in drydock, waiting for their fandoms to be active again, some are mothballed, old and outdated, never to be seen again. And some…some are a Ghost Fleet, rumored to exist but very rarely seen.
characters hugging each other after one or both of them have been through hell
character cradling their significant other’s face while they kiss
character says something hurtful. later on in the movie they are in a similar situation and say something kind instead.
self sacrifice
griefstricken women (who under normal circumstances wouldn’t hurt a fly) lashing out and striking the person responsible for the loss of their loved one
ugly crying
characters struggling to talk because they’re about to cry
characters reuniting with someone whom they thought were dead
It blows my mind that anyone dislikes AO3. I feel so incredibly lucky to have this massive library of fanfiction, featuring every ship I’ve ever wanted (down to the rarest and crackiest of pairs), and the most sophisticated search and filtering system we’ve literally ever had. And it’s both free and free of ads? And it’s backed by an entire organization dedicated to protecting and preserving fandom? I doubt I’ve ever gone more than a single day without visiting the site since that first time in 2012, so I’ve always seen the fundraising campaigns as a good thing: a way to say thank you for the immeasurable gift AO3 has been.
It never even occurred to me that anyone might feel differently about AO3 until I joined Tumblr. I know I’m a little late for the most recent round of drama, but I wanted to put together a list like this for a while now, and this weekend I finally had the time.
You’ll find meta about why AO3 was started and how it’s run, about the archive’s history and what it was like before the site existed; and, of course, there’s meta about why it’s so crucial that AO3 is inclusive of all kinds of works. If that’s something of interest to you, check out my past rec list on darkfic. Or, try my fanfic appreciation list instead!
Enjoy, and, as always, be sure to let the original posters know you appreciated their work by liking and reblogging. ❤️
Fandom – AO3 History & Positivity
AO3 is for all kinds of fanficby @olderthannetfic, And other fanworks, for that matter, but let’s talk about fic: When AO3 was proposed, it was in response to Strikethrough and other similar events. Livejournal deleted a lot of accounts without bothering to distinguish between actual pedophiles, survivor support groups, and 100% consensual fantasy fandom activities being done by adults with other adults (most of which involved RP accounts for 16-year-old Harry Potter characters anyway). (Mirror Link)
ao3 fundraiser thoughtsby @porcupine-girl, @elfwreck, et al, […] AO3 exists so writers have a place to put their fanfic. A place that won’t spam their readers with ads, won’t cave to the interests of “save the children from the perverts” groups, won’t ban fic and art creators for getting DMCA takedown notices from authors who are offended that someone else has ideas about their characters. (Mirror Link)
AO3 through the yearsby @naryrising, One odd complaint I’ve seen is that “AO3 hasn’t changed”. First, if something is well designed and working, it shouldn’t need to change constantly (does anyone actually like it when Tumblr makes random changes to things? no.)Second, even at a cosmetic level, it’s just… not true? Not unless you haven’t been around very long. (Mirror Link)
Are the AO3 antis actually a threat to our beloved archive?by @astrolat, Short answer: no. Long answer: As far as I could tell (I do have a well-curated dash), the discussion was roughly 1% sincere antis, 4% wankers, and 95% people talking at length about why the antis were wrong or liking those responses. The posts boosted the drive if anything (and made me personally verklempt to read all the lovely posts talking about how much the AO3 has made people happy. :’) (Mirror Link)
Concerning those AO3 postsby @kattahj, Concerning those AO3 posts, you could ask, “Katta, almost all of your stuff is teen rated. You’re basically a gen girl at heart. None of it is wank material and very little is even disturbing. Why do you care what happens to those gross fics?” And the answer would be: BECAUSE almost all my stuff is teen rated, and I’m basically a gen girl at heart, and I STILL had trouble with archives before AO3. (Mirror Link)
I don’t understand how anyone can take AO3 for grantedby @fanfichasruinedmylife, Back in the early 00s, I used to maintain a site called Farscape Fan Fiction Links. It was an offshoot of something I’d started on the Farscape Bulletin Board called “The Church of Fanfiction Appreciation” where I’d begun trying to collect links to Farscape fanfic sites for other people to use. (Mirror Link)
Just saw some AO3 discourse on my dashby @jellybeanforest-a-go-go, Just saw some AO3 discourse on my dash, mostly due to the donation drive, but a lot of people are upset over the fact that AO3 doesn’t moderate content or that people write certain things at all. Yet, many of these anti-AO3 people post in AO3 themselves, and I’ve looked at their archive, and what do they post? A lot of rated-E explicit slash (mostly M/M and some F/F). Which was one of the first things cleansed from FF.net and LJ back when authors had their fics erased without warning because think of the children. (Mirror Link)
just wait until all the ao3 antis find out about librariesby @dsudis, et al, […] This is also why most libraries celebrate Banned Books Week by eagerly higlighting works which people have ATTEMPTED to force to be removed from libraries–including work like Lolita, which is read by many as a titillating pedophile love affair. Librarians are not celebrating Lolita. They are celebrating the principle that they will not be stopped from collecting materials of interest and making them available to readers. (Mirror Link)
an observationby @cupidsbower, […] The current backlash against the OTW I’m seeing all over my dash is completely unsurprising, because we’re at that point in the organisation’s life. There are now fans who weren’t in fandom yet when we made the OTW and AO3, and who have no idea what fandom used to be like. (Mirror Link)
On the AO3 All These Years Laterby @fairestcat, @cesperanza, @olderthannetfic, @astrolat, et al, The tenth anniversary of the OTW and all the AO3 discussion going around this week inspired me to go look at astolat’s original post about creating an An Archive Of Our Own, and found my comment on it. […] Eleven years and rather a lot of volunteer-hours later, I stand by every single word. (Mirror Link)
You know what I don’t get? When fanfic authors apologize for long chapters. It’s like? You gave me bonus content, for free, and you’re sorry about it? Bruh. I have already named my firstborn after you. Dude.
You know what else I don’t get? When they apologize for short updates. It’s like: look at these new words I gave you! Sorry I didn’t give you even more free words. Bro, that’s at least two words that I did not have yesterday. For free. Dude. Thank you.
And another thing: when people drop out of nowhere with a surprise update and then apologize for it taking a while. Like, dude, I wasn’t expecting anything, and you gave me words. I thought this fic was abandoned, but wait: there’s more. You just popped in and reminded me that this is a Good Fic that I should probably reread. You made my goshdarn day.
Basically fanfic writers are under no obligation to publish anything so when they do update it’s always a net positive because the story is longer now, and I have something to read, so thank you so much to everyone who writes fic at whatever pace or quantity they want.
I think the thing is—especially with long fics—people want to see it build a little before they jump on the bandwagon. They want to see the rise of the story and also see that it will be updated regularly.
Once they see that stuff happening, readers will get on board. Some of my long fics honestly didn’t get much in the way of feedback until ten or more chapters in.
As a reader, I can say that I’ve gotten really excited about fics before that sort of came to nothing when the authors stopped posting fairly early on. It’s an emotional investment with no payoff and it kinda hurts. So I, and I think a lot of readers, tend to be more cautious starting out reading long fics.
It’s really up to you if you can tough out that starting-up phase, but if you do, I feel certain that you’ll start to get more and more response as you go on. It’s just getting past that initial trust-barrier with readers. They want to get excited about your fic, but they’ve been burned so many times before.
If you write it, they will come. Keep writing, anon.
–Mod M
def agree! with the caveat that people express interest because it’s easy – a like, a reblog, an ask – but reading is a commitment, so you’ll only ever get a small portion of the people who express interest actually follow through. this is why i’ve stopped asking if people will be interested in xyz because the interest received never matches the interest shown.
that said, here are some ways to build an audience with a WIP:
write as much of the fic as you can before you start posting. like get to the point where you are ready to burst if you don’t start posting.
keep a consistent posting schedule that is beyond manageable for you and won’t stress you out.
get a beta; make sure your writing is up to snuff.
make a fic playlist and rebloggable aesthetic/photoset.
play ask games, engage your readers.
reply to your comments so your readers know you appreciate their engagement, which in turn encourages more engagement.
keep in mind that most readers want to wait until a fic is finished and then binge it, so when you’re done posting, you’ll get a surge of traffic from the people who are waiting for it to be finished. be prepared for that surge, make sure at the end of the fic you encourage your readers to reblog your fic post, so more people will read it.
i get that the point of writing a WIP is to feel like you’re part of something, but it takes a long time to build that trust with readers. the more engaged your readers are, the more abandoned WIPs tend to hurt. once your audience trusts that you’re a writer who follows through, who posts consistently (not necessarily quickly), and who appreciates engagement and feedback, then you’ll have a steady and dedicated audience.
it really, really takes some work not only to build an audience in fandom but assure that audience you respect and appreciate their time and attention, as well as ensure that you are an author who is worth that time and attention. fic is free and near-infinite; sometimes it takes a lot to stand out.
Yes to all the above. As a reader, I’ve been burned by longfics in the past, where I’ve started reading, but the author abandoned it before the story really went anywhere, or it started with a really cool premise but the author ditched it & took the story in a different direction that I found way less interesting (obviously it’s the writer’s prerogative here, but I’d be lying if I said I’d never been disappointed in how a story has gone). It can be hard to judge in the first few chapters how things are gonna go & whether it’s a story you’re into, & people like to wait & see.
I’m actually in this postion at the moment, posting a long & much-stressed-over fic. The first few chapters got relatively few comments, & those were mostly ‘Seems cool – looking forward to more!’ cautious responses (not slamming those people though – just knowing anyone was reading & enjoying it was awesome enough & I squeed over every one!). But after the first few chapters, as I introduced more characters & revealed more of the story, I started getting more comments, with people discussing aspects of the story itself, like character portrayals, lines they liked, & speculation on where things might go next based on what had happened so far.
Keep going, Anon! Your readers will appreciate it & tell you so.
The Last Good Bar 
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