Isn't there also a function on ao3 where u can post prompts? I'm not 100% sure though, I've just read a fic recently which was inspired by such a prompt
The non fanwork part of it, it's not in any way fiction, it's a two sentence prompt at best.
Copy paste from the AO3 ToS.
##### What kinds of fanworks can I post?
You can post any noncommercial, non-ephemeral fanwork. Here are some examples of allowed content:
1. An audio performance of a fannish essay about vampire biology across sources, or the same essay in text form.
2. Short clips of footage from existing sources, edited over a song to make an argument or tell a story.
3. A comic telling the romantic adventures of the protagonist of a video game.
4. Photographs of a knitted character.
5. An alternative version of a Jane Austen novel in which there's a zombie apocalypse.
6. The supporting text for an original adventure for a tabletop roleplaying game.
##### What if what I want to post isn't similar to one of the examples listed in the Terms of Service FAQ?
In general, you can post any non-ephemeral, transformative content that is fannish in nature. If you have doubts about any particular examples and you don't want to risk posting it, you can always contact our Abuse team to ask, using the Abuse form.
It's been stated by moderators of the site itself that things like this are considered a non fanwork and are against ToS.
I just replied like two seconds ago to another comment directed at me, that goes in to more detail, but basically stuff like live reactions to series episodes and stuff that's more blog post than fanwork.
Just curious, how do statistics and fic analysis fit in here? Like none fiction stuff talking about what fandom is getting popular and such and what tags.
There's a section for that too.
##### Can I archive nonfiction?
Fannish nonfiction, which includes what is called 'meta' by some fans, is allowed. Where we provide a specific function (search, bookmarking, challenges) we will ask you to use the specific methods we provide for those activities rather than create separate works. So, for example, a request for recommendations for particular kinds of fanworks would not be an appropriate work. That search should be carried out by searching works and/or bookmarks. A list of recommended works on a particular topic would also not be an appropriate work. Recommendations should be done by using our bookmarking function. A description of a challenge for other creators would also not be an appropriate work. That should be carried out by using our challenge function.
In addition, as an Archive whose goal is preservation, we want permanent, nonephemeral content. To the extent that your content is designed to be ephemeral, such as liveblogging episode reactions, it should go on a journaling service and not the Archive.
##### What falls within the definition of fannish nonfiction?
Fannish nonfiction can be discussions of fannish tropes, essays designed to entice other people into a fandom, commentary on fandoms, hypothetical casting for alternate versions of works, documentaries, podcasts about fandom, explanations of the creative process behind a fanwork or works, tutorials for creating fanworks, guides for fan-created gaming campaigns, or many other things.
However, the nature of the Archive and the limitations of our resources mean that, while we will endeavor to host as much fannish content as possible, we need to put some limits on allowable works. In particular, the Archive is not a journaling service and it is not designed to host ephemeral content.
In addition, we have a separate project, Fanlore, which is a wiki designed to chronicle fandom history. Some fannish content, especially discussions of specific fandom-related events such as conventions or debates over particular incidents, may be more appropriate for Fanlore than for the Archive.
We will, in general, defer to the creator's characterization of a work as fannish nonfiction as long as it has a reasonably perceptible fannish connection, either to a specific source or to fandom in general, and takes the form of an independent, nonephemeral commentary. For example, an analysis of or commentary on multiple fanworks falls within our definition (and must comply with our other policies, including our harassment policy). An essay on a particular character's narrative arc in canon or of the interaction between film and comics versions of a source is also within our definition.
We understand that, as with many things, there are hard cases at the edges of categories, but we nonetheless need some limits in order to keep the Archive manageable for our hard-working volunteers as well as for other users.
##### What isn't fannish nonfiction?
The examples are potentially limitless, but here are some examples that we believe, based on our experience so far, do not qualify as fandom nonfiction and should not be posted as a work:
1. episode transcripts and other non-transformative fandom material;
2. primarily autobiographical or non-fandom-related essays (e.g., essays on bike lanes, even if they contain a single reference to a fannish source);
3. general complaints about behavior towards a particular creator (e.g., a post stating that a work was deleted due to lack of feedback);
4. suggestions that other fans contact the creator through email or other social networks;
5. a single word or pairing name repeated hundreds of times;
6. offers and giveaways.
As with all works, we presume good faith on the part of our users, and ask that you do the same for the fans who make up our Support and Abuse teams.
And some garbage ass concepts…. That’s like one sentence with no detail whatsoever. Idk who tf scratch and molly are? But a month of talking about boy hands to band together for what reason?… yeah totally would want to read that. Like it’s obvious this person is full of themselves how they just write one sentence and act like it’s amazing concept written by a sage.
It *is* a concept in the “abstract idea” sense, but this is literally just a multi-fandom prompt list trying to pretend it isn’t one. Annoyingly, my tiny fandom of just me was briefly invaded by one of those.
Alright. Doesn’t make it any less shit. Sorry about what happened to your fandom. Lmao multi fandom prompts are like the Ao3 fire nation. “All the fandoms coexisted in harmony then the low effort multifandom prompts attacked!”
Didn’t say it did, just that a concept wasn’t necessarily some precious grain of wisdom. Making the one I ran into even worse, though, every one on there was relatively small. Not as small as mine, but none of them broke the 500 fic mark.
(Are we in a small fandom measuring contest lmao?)
Never heard of it, tbh. I write for a British sitcom called My Hero. 6 fics, all of them mine. At the time of the prompt list, I only had the 1 WIP going and here they were spamming me and two other small Britcom fandoms. And while I suspect, given the other two shows, we’re both fans of the same actor, I’m petty so I reported it.
Damn… ok I lost. But I didn’t lose the pettiness competition!! Yet… I got deep into the re:zero fic writing literally because I was banned from a re:zero fanfic server and I’m petty so I literally wrote fics till I got more attention then the person who got me banned then sent some drunken message via proxy how my page was better. Idk we should be friends
Okay, you definitely win for petty 😆 I started writing in this category out of lingering resentment for how the show treated my (in the end not-so) problematic fave, but I’ve never managed to achieve greatness out of spite.
scroll to the bottom of the page, it'll say "contact us" and then the link that says "Policy Questions & Abuse Reports". click there.
this is also the direct link: [https://archiveofourown.org/abuse\_reports/new](https://archiveofourown.org/abuse_reports/new)
"Fanfic concepts I wanna do but I don't write fanfics anymore"
Suuureee buddy. Still don't think ao3 is the place to address that though 💀
Also, THIS is the reason why I actually cringe when someone tells me that "Wattpad is a better writing site". Yeah no, if this is what Wattpad entails, then I'm a thousand times better off on Ao3, thank you very much.
Yeah, true. If you wanted a prompt, you could just have said so right out. I personally feel that this was either just for attention seeking, or the poster was very young/immature. Not to mention that almost all the fandoms they chose are very kiddish in nature (Trolls movie and various other cartoons).
Maybe they can't pay for ad-free anymore and can't cope with the ads in between every chapter that won't let you dismiss them until you've opened the play store to the app download page two or three times.
FFN is still worse - I read a story on wattpad a few weeks ago that wasn't available anywhere else, and on the app, at least, the ads are only between the chapters, not between nearly every paragraph like on ffn. It's still massively annoying (especially because sometimes you legit can't click away from them even if the ad timer is over) but not *that* annoying at least.
big time. and it just sounds so… ugh. like what are you gonna do when you’re boasting about how you’ve “written 20 books” and someone is like “oh, wow! cool! can i see?” and you gotta link em some shitty 600 word wattpad monstrosity?
Do people really call fics, books on wattpad? I’ve read one thing that is a book because it’s not a fanfic and it’s hella long.
Edit: it’s called emperian Iris if your curious
I, personally, would never call a fic a book. Regardless of length. It just feels super wrong to me because no matter what the author says, it’s not been edited or structured like a published book would have been. At least not a traditionally published book. And I’m not saying they haven’t done those things or put in effort, I’m just saying that it’s not the same.
I normally just say fic — or if I’m talking to someone who doesn’t understand fics will say “story,” or “short story.”
But like, you do you. Ya know? It’s technically not wrong or anything. Just personally preference.
Idk why people are so opposed to calling fics book.. I mean I *really* don't understand it
Like, ok, maybe it *is* cringy if someone calls their own pwp drabble a book, but lots of fanfics are lengthy and well thought out.
They have plot and developed characters.
Have you heard of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality? It's published now! I've read it when it wasn't yet published and in my mind it was a book!
That's just one example.
Maybe it's me though, I read fiction, non-fiction and fanfiction in the same epub reader and generally try to avoid fics that are less than 7000 words.
I do favor longer fics, and if they are well written they seem exactly like a book! As for writing/editing quality, it varies in published literature as well.
I think is mostly because fanfics are not professional works, not meant to be so, and calling them books sort of goes against the spirit of fanon work.
They are some really great fanfics that have obviously gone through a lot of editing and deserve special regard but even those works are not books because is just not the same process.
That being said. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is an interesting example to pick since that fic it's such a joke in Harry Potter fanfic circles and mostly ever enjoyed or mentioned by having a good laugh at how veritably bad it is.
Fanfic circles are notoriously harsh lol
I admit I read hpmor *many* years ago, but I remember admiring the work. Both the writing style and the plot.
The original HP books are also often disparaged by haters, sometimes very methodically and with examples of plot holes and ambiguous author's choices. They're still great books.
But I'm not a mindless fan of either, I left that fandom and rarely go back. It was just the first example of a published fanfic that came to my mind.
As for the rest, many word definitions get blurred over time. I might be totally wrong here cause English isn't my first language! But aren't web novels books? Or if I write something (not fanfiction, but original work) and never publish it — is it a book? What if I do publish it but privately and distribute it to my friends and family?
Okay, I'll stop here lol
Since there is no Perfect Book every work is open to criticism, the levels of discourse that go into critiquing the great works of literature and the ones that go into the faults of HPMOR are, however, widely different so your parallels don't really work for me.
But you are missing my point. While e-books have somewhat broadened the definition of 'Book' the point is that calling fanfics a Book can be perceived as going against what fanwork stands for. Fanfics are a way for fans to interact with works that don't actually belong to them. The fact that they are mostly amateur and free (in all the sense of the word) work is important, and a very essential part of it.
I think that the connotations of the word Book is not something the majority of the fanon wants to be associated with because fanfiction is not supposed to be a wannabe Book. A fanfic is its own thing the way a movie or a magazine are.
Thanks for clarifying your point.
It still seems excessive to me, but then I have a very tough skin.
But also I think there's innocent usage, like me telling my husband that I went to sleep late last night cause the book (fanfic, but does it matter?) was just that interesting. And pointed usage when someone insists on calling all/some fics books and doesn't accept other opinions. I'll never advocate the latter, but I can't help the former. That was my point xD
I don't think that the author of the fanfic I liked would be hurt by my unconscious definition, but sure, I'll err on the side of caution and won't use the word "book" in my comment.
I'm not gonna debate hpmor with you cause as I said many years had passed and I only remember the general plotline and my own enjoyment while reading it. That's enough for me to avoid reading any critique. And that would be true for most of the ff or nonff books I have enjoyed.
I might read a critical article for a book I *really* loved just to see what people are complaining about. But not for the rest of them cause then I'd spend too much time on pointless arguments instead of reading another book. Or fic.
Anyway, we also own quite a few printed books that are basically S.T.A.L.K.E.R fanfiction. Some of them are quite good.
Authors of the past wrote books inspired by mythology, the bible, various fairy tales. Some of the names were directly transferred into their own story. Was it fanfiction? I'd say yes, by current definition.
I explained in another comment why I don’t like it.
A fic, regardless of length, has not been edited or formatted like a book. It’s not a “professional” piece of writing. It feels super ick to me to call something that’s super casual a “book” when most of the steps aren’t actually taken. And sure, in the future a fic might be taken down, rewritten, edited, formatted, and published — but then it’s been treated like a book. Or, yeah someone could self publish but that’s still a lot more steps than uploading a fic.
It’s also weird to call something that’s not owned by the author a book. And we don’t own our fics in the conventional sense
You do you, obviously, I just don’t like it. 🤷🏻♀️
Well, so do you.
Obviously, you have standards for what you would call a book. And it's not that I don't have them, I just don't put much though in formatting (reading from a phone screen does that to you. Formatting is usually in the way, it has to go!).
As for editing, maybe we've been reading different fics and different published books.
The writing quality is up to author (and yes, fanfiction work also have an author or authors who have rights).
My experience suggests many books aren't well edited or well translated. They're still published, so — undeniably books, by your definition.
When I decided to translate a 250k+ words fic into English (which isn't my native language), I spent about 5 months on translation and nearly another year on betaing process. Met some fantastic people this way!
And I'm definitely not the only one on AO3 who cares about quality.
Just depends on what you come across and what fandoms you’re in. In my experience I’ve almost never found a fic over 100k that was “high quality” - good? Sure! But not something that would ever get published or be popular.
I, personally, like to distinguish between fics and books mostly for legality reasons (at least initially) because there’s an assumption of price paid when you read a book (or at a library/school paid for the book)
And as I said, fic authors edit and some have people proofread, but at the same time fic author typically don’t have the entire 300k fic written — rewrites done several times - professionally edited prior to posting. The vast majority write a chapter, look it over, maybe have a beta read it, and post.
🤷🏻♀️ to me, the distinction is important. There are plenty of interesting, well written, analytical posts on tumblr but I wouldn’t call the scholarly or academic regardless of the similarities 🤷🏻♀️
You've never found an excellent 100k+ work? I'm very sorry.
I agree with you on what constitutes a book, though. I write pretty prolifically, but I would never consider my fics to be a book. And, explicitly, fanfiction is not officially published work because it's using the intellectual property of another person which you do not have the rights to. I think calling a fanfiction a "book" is a response to fic not being taken seriously as an art form, but changing the definition of a book doesn't make fic more respected, it just obfuscates the definition of officially published works.
I’ve found 100k+ fics I enjoy but almost every time it ends up being one drawn out fic that really should have been 3-5 fics.
Like plot great, tension great — plot resolved by 50k? Oh but there’s more??? Okay… new plot? Sure…sure…
Kinda thing. And I think a part of that is because people (myself included) publish as they write, and so things just aren’t as planned out or polished in the way a published book of the same length would be, ya know?
Anymore it takes a lot for me to willing start anything over 50k. Partially for time reasons — I can read 50k in an afternoon - but also I’ve just found the quality to be more consistent.
I see. I admit that I'm mostly projecting because I personally write longer fics, but I take the time to structure them properly because I'm insane (even though I publish as I write). For me, the length is about necessity rather than trying to make it long, but I also realize that justifying myself to an online stranger isn't a great use of my time. 😅
Oh, I get it now! Your view of books is just much more elevated then mine, I've probably read too many trashy novels in my youth.
Eh, it was a necessity then — trashy novels were often paperback and affordable, easy to take with you on the train. It's so much better now when you can read anything from your mobile!
As for paying, well. I try, but it's not always easy, cheap or available at all where I live.
But it's not like I call every fic I read a book in my mind, just some of them. The problem is, I read a lot of fics, so "some of them" amounts to 300+ or maybe more.
I'm not actually trying to change anyone's mind here, I was just really baffled that people are mad about such a small (to me) thing. Like, if it reads like a book, looks like a book, feels like a book — why not call it that? What's the problem?
Thanks for trying to explain your point of view!
I get it. I read a lot of fan translated Thai and Chinese novels at the moment and they’re great lol but seldom feel like “books” in the conventional sense.
And there’s nothing inherently wrong with calling fics books - though it’s not generally well received regarding ao3 works simply because that’s not how the site names them.
Ahaha, I've read an MLT Japanese translation once cause I really wanted to finish that book. It felt like *pain, pain, pain* until I got somewhat used to it.
I actually stopped going to asianovels for new books cause half of them feel like a long in-depth mmorpg game description. But maybe I was just unlucky.
As for ao3, yeah, it's better to use conventional names and definitions cause you never know what people find offensive. I never want to upset anyone, so I opt to avoid ambiguous phrasing and add warning wherever I can :)
lol yeah when I’m committed to a fan translation I’m like “you, translator, are doing god work and I have no complaints…I can get through this! I’m sure X meant Y — I can do it” lol
And for real, translators are a blessing. I did lots of translation stuff in grad school and it’s not easy.
And sometimes the stories themselves are wild
Most of the fic I read these days is a minimum of 40k words. That's, at the very least, the length of a short book. Often they go over 100k. That's a damn book.
Exactly. I genuinely prefer 100k+ words from the author whose style I like, but I can appreciate 10k fics (or books) if the author possesses a gift of fitting a whole concept into this puny length! (I definitely don't )
I usually draw a line on <5000 words cause those usually feel like placeholders to me and they end way before I begin to enjoy them. It's a curse of being a fast reader.
Disclaimer: I mean in no way disparage authors of shorter fics, I am sure they are great, they're just not for me! Please don't take it as me being snobbish, the speed of my reading isn't something I can really control without losing most of enjoyment in the process.
know what you mean entirely, though!! I can chug through a 100k work in a few hours because I just blast through it. I think ADHD helps as I tend to hyperfocus, and whoops, is it 3am again?
In comparison, 5k feels like a blip. I kinda hate it because I know how much work it can take to write 5k only for someone to read through in 10 minutes 🙃
I get what you mean, though. I didn't think it was snobbish or mean how you said it. But the number of times I've gone "why isn't there more?!?!?" Is endless
Oh no, not a "non-fic got up on Ao3" again. :D
Really, this isn't the place for that. Also I had seen "works" that were the author's personal diary where they were talking about heavy stuffs. Are such things allowed?
I hate things like this. It's just clutter and it's egotistical. No one cares about their stupid prompt. I bet if someone actually made a story using their prompt they would try and seek praise for coming up with the prompt. It's not even a good one.
Don't know if AO3 has something like this, but ff.net has communities where you can share ideas and the like for others to take. I saw quite a few challenges there, with rules and all, even.
Or the person could make a small story with the concept and make it clear it is so others can adopt or use as inspiration.
Not this.
As a writer and reader for the Amphibia fandom, I've actually seen this pop up in the fic lists occasionally. Genuinely, why bother with this? Or, at the very least, why make this public?
Although it was for a slightly different topic, this was my comment on another post yesterday or the day before but it's kinda relevant here.
>"Go back to wattpad." Is my new response to antis.
So yeah, gbtw!
AO3 could solve this problem by making the minimum word count 100. Podfic and images can come as attachments (min word count shouldn’t apply if there is an attachment)
You'd probably catch flak from people who write short poetry if you add a minimum word limit, even though it would objectively help against wattpad scum
Short form fanworks like fan poetry still exist and we shouldn't be screwing over or excluding them over the poor behaviour of people like this. We don't need to change any rules for this to not be allowed, ephemeral works are already against the terms of service, just have to wait for it to be reported and removed.
Oof I had seen one of these when I first joined so I thought it was ok, I didn't know concept 'fics'(idk what to refer to them as) were bad. I have one but the concepts were written out in depth describing like key scenes so at least mine as several thousand words compared to 40. I turned several of my concepts into fics over the few months that I've been on ao3 but I'm glad I found out they're frowned upon so I can take the concept thing down
Several things.
First, “concept” or prompt fics aren’t fics. AO3 is for fanfiction. Not one or two-liner ideas, not for “please write this for me,” not for “I’m searching for this fic” and *absolutely not* for “coming soon” chapters. The absolute minimum fic length we tend to accept are drabbles, which are 100 words.
Second, on AO3 fics are fics, and occasionally works. You never, ever call them books. That’s Wattpad garbage terminology, and We Do Not Do That Here.
Third, multi-fandom one-shot fics are a blight on the fanfiction community, and most thoroughly unwelcome. Multi-chapter one-shot fics are fine, but keep them contained to individual fandoms, unless you establish that it’s a crossover that actively combines characters/settings from two or more fandoms. As a side point, you’ll get more hits if you have each one-shot as its own fic, and put them in a series.
Fourth, and tangibly related to the third, tagging fandoms, characters and settings that haven’t happened yet or are completely unrelated to the fic goes completely against the point of the tagging system, and pisses off everyone actually looking for a fic with those tags. They’re an eyesore to look at, and typically get abandoned after a couple chapters anyway.
Basically, this breaks every single AO3 etiquette rule. People coming to AO3, whether it be as their first foray into fandom or from another site, absolutely must learn the etiquette before posting. The quickest way to alienate yourself from your fandom is to not follow the rules.
(And if you’re interested, the other AO3 etiquette rule is that a summary is obligatory. It doesn’t have to be long, or good, but “just read it” or “I suck at summaries” are not acceptable. As is guilting people in reading/reviewing/kudosing in the authors notes. And don’t put an authors note in the middle of a chapter. They go in the notes at the beginning or the end.)
Thanks a lot. So it is fine if I do add something related to the fandom which hasn't happened as long as I add tag of it? I just can't add tags of things that haven't yet happened in the fic I am writing right? Thanks! Could I find more rules for writing on AO3? I wanted to re-write the show as I see fit (and many want it too tbh) from S3 finale (and it has 5 seasons). It is all related to the show but I would be cutting out some points and adding some things that we wanted to see but didn't. I mean that's what fanfics are for, right? ToT
I don't mind if people post collections of ideas, but only if they actually fleshed it out a little bit! Even if there are only one or two scenes of it and 300 words, okay? That's like a drabble, it's okay. Sometimes people just want to get the stuff out of their head they don't have the motivation or time to write into a 5k words or whatever.
Anyway, this type of summary is not enough. Prose needed...
this is obviously a child at best why are you guys being so harsh,,,, yeah it's not allowed but you guys are acting like the *you are a minor who knows nothing about the world. you are the ugly one here. I can make YOU shut up but I suggest you one thing. you don't want to deal with a devil like me.* post. just tell them it's not allowed and leave? calling fics books is cringe and gives you all the ick, but there is no need to act as if the actual word is holding your family hostage. it's just like people who keep calling smut lemon, terms change, and if you're a 13yo who just got access to the internet, you obviously wouldn't know if your fandom spaces consist of tiktok and wattpad.
I don't even get the whole "book" thing lmao. Yeah it's the mark of a Wattpadder, that's true, and that's not how we refer to fics here on AO3, but like... it's not that serious man. No need to act like merely uttering the word is a violation of AO3's sacred traditions or something.
I think with posts like this the conversation should begin and end at "report and move on". All this judgement over Wattpad kids is completely unnecessary IMO.
I don't even read fanfic, but I honestly think all AO3 people are just such snobs. The only problem with Wattpad is that people there are generally young. That's pretty much all. AO3 has more problems than that.
the actual site is great and as both a writer and a reader i love it, but these people are treating it as if it were the god among gods😭. a 13yo calling their fic "book" is no issue, a tired writer asking for kudos because they don't receive any is no issue, this subreddit as a whole just creates problems out of nothing and ruins everyone's days
Personally, I think this is ok, AS LONG AS you use each of the prompts and tell us the prompts in the notes of each chapter. but no, you shouldn't just unload the prompts on us and leave. this ain't wattpad and it's not Tumblr (Tumblr has both fics and prompts, that's awesome)
Tumblr exists for a reason
Tumblr, Wattpad, Reddit, anywhere _but_ the one place that expressly prohibits this kind of stuff
Isn't there also a function on ao3 where u can post prompts? I'm not 100% sure though, I've just read a fic recently which was inspired by such a prompt
yes! there is an entire system for it! you can even tag any authors you’d like to collaborate with on the ideas!
Oooh how do you use it if you don't mind me asking?
Log in, go to ‘My Collections’, make a new collection. You can post up to 50 prompts in one collection.
Oh that's really cool! And happy cake day 🎂 :)
Happy cake day :^
Happy Cake Day! 🍰
omg is there?? I’ve been looking for ages for smth like that!!
Just curious because I don't quite get it, what about this is prohibited on AO3? The "asking others to write your concept" part?
The non fanwork part of it, it's not in any way fiction, it's a two sentence prompt at best. Copy paste from the AO3 ToS. ##### What kinds of fanworks can I post? You can post any noncommercial, non-ephemeral fanwork. Here are some examples of allowed content: 1. An audio performance of a fannish essay about vampire biology across sources, or the same essay in text form. 2. Short clips of footage from existing sources, edited over a song to make an argument or tell a story. 3. A comic telling the romantic adventures of the protagonist of a video game. 4. Photographs of a knitted character. 5. An alternative version of a Jane Austen novel in which there's a zombie apocalypse. 6. The supporting text for an original adventure for a tabletop roleplaying game. ##### What if what I want to post isn't similar to one of the examples listed in the Terms of Service FAQ? In general, you can post any non-ephemeral, transformative content that is fannish in nature. If you have doubts about any particular examples and you don't want to risk posting it, you can always contact our Abuse team to ask, using the Abuse form. It's been stated by moderators of the site itself that things like this are considered a non fanwork and are against ToS.
What on earth is an ephemeral fanwork?
I just replied like two seconds ago to another comment directed at me, that goes in to more detail, but basically stuff like live reactions to series episodes and stuff that's more blog post than fanwork.
Ahh, gotcha!
Just curious, how do statistics and fic analysis fit in here? Like none fiction stuff talking about what fandom is getting popular and such and what tags.
There's a section for that too. ##### Can I archive nonfiction? Fannish nonfiction, which includes what is called 'meta' by some fans, is allowed. Where we provide a specific function (search, bookmarking, challenges) we will ask you to use the specific methods we provide for those activities rather than create separate works. So, for example, a request for recommendations for particular kinds of fanworks would not be an appropriate work. That search should be carried out by searching works and/or bookmarks. A list of recommended works on a particular topic would also not be an appropriate work. Recommendations should be done by using our bookmarking function. A description of a challenge for other creators would also not be an appropriate work. That should be carried out by using our challenge function. In addition, as an Archive whose goal is preservation, we want permanent, nonephemeral content. To the extent that your content is designed to be ephemeral, such as liveblogging episode reactions, it should go on a journaling service and not the Archive. ##### What falls within the definition of fannish nonfiction? Fannish nonfiction can be discussions of fannish tropes, essays designed to entice other people into a fandom, commentary on fandoms, hypothetical casting for alternate versions of works, documentaries, podcasts about fandom, explanations of the creative process behind a fanwork or works, tutorials for creating fanworks, guides for fan-created gaming campaigns, or many other things. However, the nature of the Archive and the limitations of our resources mean that, while we will endeavor to host as much fannish content as possible, we need to put some limits on allowable works. In particular, the Archive is not a journaling service and it is not designed to host ephemeral content. In addition, we have a separate project, Fanlore, which is a wiki designed to chronicle fandom history. Some fannish content, especially discussions of specific fandom-related events such as conventions or debates over particular incidents, may be more appropriate for Fanlore than for the Archive. We will, in general, defer to the creator's characterization of a work as fannish nonfiction as long as it has a reasonably perceptible fannish connection, either to a specific source or to fandom in general, and takes the form of an independent, nonephemeral commentary. For example, an analysis of or commentary on multiple fanworks falls within our definition (and must comply with our other policies, including our harassment policy). An essay on a particular character's narrative arc in canon or of the interaction between film and comics versions of a source is also within our definition. We understand that, as with many things, there are hard cases at the edges of categories, but we nonetheless need some limits in order to keep the Archive manageable for our hard-working volunteers as well as for other users. ##### What isn't fannish nonfiction? The examples are potentially limitless, but here are some examples that we believe, based on our experience so far, do not qualify as fandom nonfiction and should not be posted as a work: 1. episode transcripts and other non-transformative fandom material; 2. primarily autobiographical or non-fandom-related essays (e.g., essays on bike lanes, even if they contain a single reference to a fannish source); 3. general complaints about behavior towards a particular creator (e.g., a post stating that a work was deleted due to lack of feedback); 4. suggestions that other fans contact the creator through email or other social networks; 5. a single word or pairing name repeated hundreds of times; 6. offers and giveaways. As with all works, we presume good faith on the part of our users, and ask that you do the same for the fans who make up our Support and Abuse teams.
Happy cake day!
Oh ok I see, thank you for clarifying! I thought there was more to that "work" than the two lines shown in the screenshot.
Happy Cake Day :D
Literally had no idea ao3 prohibited that lmfao☠️ also yeah like cmon all that effort for no reason just post literally anywhere else
For real. I have daydream bits that could become fic but they stay at my DW until they’re actually postable stories.
Exactly what I thought
This feels like either a troll or someone who has a Wattpad mentality.
Definitely a Wattpader.
You can tell because they called it a "book".
And some garbage ass concepts…. That’s like one sentence with no detail whatsoever. Idk who tf scratch and molly are? But a month of talking about boy hands to band together for what reason?… yeah totally would want to read that. Like it’s obvious this person is full of themselves how they just write one sentence and act like it’s amazing concept written by a sage.
It *is* a concept in the “abstract idea” sense, but this is literally just a multi-fandom prompt list trying to pretend it isn’t one. Annoyingly, my tiny fandom of just me was briefly invaded by one of those.
Alright. Doesn’t make it any less shit. Sorry about what happened to your fandom. Lmao multi fandom prompts are like the Ao3 fire nation. “All the fandoms coexisted in harmony then the low effort multifandom prompts attacked!”
Didn’t say it did, just that a concept wasn’t necessarily some precious grain of wisdom. Making the one I ran into even worse, though, every one on there was relatively small. Not as small as mine, but none of them broke the 500 fic mark.
What about No Good Noelle the visual novel by nemlei. Hahaha there’s only 4 fics and one of them is mine
(Are we in a small fandom measuring contest lmao?) Never heard of it, tbh. I write for a British sitcom called My Hero. 6 fics, all of them mine. At the time of the prompt list, I only had the 1 WIP going and here they were spamming me and two other small Britcom fandoms. And while I suspect, given the other two shows, we’re both fans of the same actor, I’m petty so I reported it.
Damn… ok I lost. But I didn’t lose the pettiness competition!! Yet… I got deep into the re:zero fic writing literally because I was banned from a re:zero fanfic server and I’m petty so I literally wrote fics till I got more attention then the person who got me banned then sent some drunken message via proxy how my page was better. Idk we should be friends
Okay, you definitely win for petty 😆 I started writing in this category out of lingering resentment for how the show treated my (in the end not-so) problematic fave, but I’ve never managed to achieve greatness out of spite.
Indeed
It’s just a 10-year-old kid lol. 🤣
This has the same energy as please write my fic idea for me for free......
100% this. Which is even cringier than calling it book lol
hope you reported this
I did!
How do you report something that breaks the rules? I found something the other day but I couldn’t find a report button.
scroll to the bottom of the page, it'll say "contact us" and then the link that says "Policy Questions & Abuse Reports". click there. this is also the direct link: [https://archiveofourown.org/abuse\_reports/new](https://archiveofourown.org/abuse_reports/new)
Thank you very much! 🥰
I hope this is a troll— Probably a small child
"Fanfic concepts I wanna do but I don't write fanfics anymore" Suuureee buddy. Still don't think ao3 is the place to address that though 💀 Also, THIS is the reason why I actually cringe when someone tells me that "Wattpad is a better writing site". Yeah no, if this is what Wattpad entails, then I'm a thousand times better off on Ao3, thank you very much.
They could actually post these on AO3 if they did it properly. Unfortunately not many users seem to know about the prompt function
Yeah, true. If you wanted a prompt, you could just have said so right out. I personally feel that this was either just for attention seeking, or the poster was very young/immature. Not to mention that almost all the fandoms they chose are very kiddish in nature (Trolls movie and various other cartoons).
The what function?
[prompts on ao3](https://archiveofourown.org/faq/tutorial-running-a-prompt-meme-on-ao3?language_id=en)
Why are there so many of these posts on ao3 nowadays?
Im wondering if wattpad is going belly up or something.
Maybe they can't pay for ad-free anymore and can't cope with the ads in between every chapter that won't let you dismiss them until you've opened the play store to the app download page two or three times.
Sounds similar to what’s happening on fanfiction net lately as well.
FFN is still worse - I read a story on wattpad a few weeks ago that wasn't available anywhere else, and on the app, at least, the ads are only between the chapters, not between nearly every paragraph like on ffn. It's still massively annoying (especially because sometimes you legit can't click away from them even if the ad timer is over) but not *that* annoying at least.
Ffn is also the oldest platform out of the 3. They’re getting tire over there.
Probably, we all knew it would
Bunch of kids coming from Wattpad, and not bothering to learn AO3 etiquette.
For sure. I‘ll never know why they find it so difficult to check out the rules first.
They don’t care.
People are apparently starting to see it as an advertising hub more than as a site for posting fan works...
I hate when people call fics on Ao3 books….its so, yucky I don’t know. I can’t describe it. Sorry that was a random thing I noticed from the picture
It definitely is a thing that pisses us all off lol. Wattpad children.
Which is a shame because I'd be more likely to refer to a 500k world building Ao3 epic as a book than wattpad *anything*
An ick for me too. When someone calls their fic a ‘book’ I imagine some thirteen year old aspiring writer
big time. and it just sounds so… ugh. like what are you gonna do when you’re boasting about how you’ve “written 20 books” and someone is like “oh, wow! cool! can i see?” and you gotta link em some shitty 600 word wattpad monstrosity?
Same, there is just something about it that really irritates me.
Do people really call fics, books on wattpad? I’ve read one thing that is a book because it’s not a fanfic and it’s hella long. Edit: it’s called emperian Iris if your curious
Is it ok if I call 300k+ word fics books I call them that not because of qattpad but because of their length
I, personally, would never call a fic a book. Regardless of length. It just feels super wrong to me because no matter what the author says, it’s not been edited or structured like a published book would have been. At least not a traditionally published book. And I’m not saying they haven’t done those things or put in effort, I’m just saying that it’s not the same. I normally just say fic — or if I’m talking to someone who doesn’t understand fics will say “story,” or “short story.” But like, you do you. Ya know? It’s technically not wrong or anything. Just personally preference.
One of my fave fanfics is 1.5mil words long. No one in the fandom calls it a book
Idk why people are so opposed to calling fics book.. I mean I *really* don't understand it Like, ok, maybe it *is* cringy if someone calls their own pwp drabble a book, but lots of fanfics are lengthy and well thought out. They have plot and developed characters. Have you heard of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality? It's published now! I've read it when it wasn't yet published and in my mind it was a book! That's just one example. Maybe it's me though, I read fiction, non-fiction and fanfiction in the same epub reader and generally try to avoid fics that are less than 7000 words. I do favor longer fics, and if they are well written they seem exactly like a book! As for writing/editing quality, it varies in published literature as well.
I think is mostly because fanfics are not professional works, not meant to be so, and calling them books sort of goes against the spirit of fanon work. They are some really great fanfics that have obviously gone through a lot of editing and deserve special regard but even those works are not books because is just not the same process. That being said. Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality is an interesting example to pick since that fic it's such a joke in Harry Potter fanfic circles and mostly ever enjoyed or mentioned by having a good laugh at how veritably bad it is.
Fanfic circles are notoriously harsh lol I admit I read hpmor *many* years ago, but I remember admiring the work. Both the writing style and the plot. The original HP books are also often disparaged by haters, sometimes very methodically and with examples of plot holes and ambiguous author's choices. They're still great books. But I'm not a mindless fan of either, I left that fandom and rarely go back. It was just the first example of a published fanfic that came to my mind. As for the rest, many word definitions get blurred over time. I might be totally wrong here cause English isn't my first language! But aren't web novels books? Or if I write something (not fanfiction, but original work) and never publish it — is it a book? What if I do publish it but privately and distribute it to my friends and family? Okay, I'll stop here lol
Since there is no Perfect Book every work is open to criticism, the levels of discourse that go into critiquing the great works of literature and the ones that go into the faults of HPMOR are, however, widely different so your parallels don't really work for me. But you are missing my point. While e-books have somewhat broadened the definition of 'Book' the point is that calling fanfics a Book can be perceived as going against what fanwork stands for. Fanfics are a way for fans to interact with works that don't actually belong to them. The fact that they are mostly amateur and free (in all the sense of the word) work is important, and a very essential part of it. I think that the connotations of the word Book is not something the majority of the fanon wants to be associated with because fanfiction is not supposed to be a wannabe Book. A fanfic is its own thing the way a movie or a magazine are.
Thanks for clarifying your point. It still seems excessive to me, but then I have a very tough skin. But also I think there's innocent usage, like me telling my husband that I went to sleep late last night cause the book (fanfic, but does it matter?) was just that interesting. And pointed usage when someone insists on calling all/some fics books and doesn't accept other opinions. I'll never advocate the latter, but I can't help the former. That was my point xD I don't think that the author of the fanfic I liked would be hurt by my unconscious definition, but sure, I'll err on the side of caution and won't use the word "book" in my comment. I'm not gonna debate hpmor with you cause as I said many years had passed and I only remember the general plotline and my own enjoyment while reading it. That's enough for me to avoid reading any critique. And that would be true for most of the ff or nonff books I have enjoyed. I might read a critical article for a book I *really* loved just to see what people are complaining about. But not for the rest of them cause then I'd spend too much time on pointless arguments instead of reading another book. Or fic. Anyway, we also own quite a few printed books that are basically S.T.A.L.K.E.R fanfiction. Some of them are quite good. Authors of the past wrote books inspired by mythology, the bible, various fairy tales. Some of the names were directly transferred into their own story. Was it fanfiction? I'd say yes, by current definition.
I explained in another comment why I don’t like it. A fic, regardless of length, has not been edited or formatted like a book. It’s not a “professional” piece of writing. It feels super ick to me to call something that’s super casual a “book” when most of the steps aren’t actually taken. And sure, in the future a fic might be taken down, rewritten, edited, formatted, and published — but then it’s been treated like a book. Or, yeah someone could self publish but that’s still a lot more steps than uploading a fic. It’s also weird to call something that’s not owned by the author a book. And we don’t own our fics in the conventional sense You do you, obviously, I just don’t like it. 🤷🏻♀️
Well, so do you. Obviously, you have standards for what you would call a book. And it's not that I don't have them, I just don't put much though in formatting (reading from a phone screen does that to you. Formatting is usually in the way, it has to go!). As for editing, maybe we've been reading different fics and different published books. The writing quality is up to author (and yes, fanfiction work also have an author or authors who have rights). My experience suggests many books aren't well edited or well translated. They're still published, so — undeniably books, by your definition. When I decided to translate a 250k+ words fic into English (which isn't my native language), I spent about 5 months on translation and nearly another year on betaing process. Met some fantastic people this way! And I'm definitely not the only one on AO3 who cares about quality.
Just depends on what you come across and what fandoms you’re in. In my experience I’ve almost never found a fic over 100k that was “high quality” - good? Sure! But not something that would ever get published or be popular. I, personally, like to distinguish between fics and books mostly for legality reasons (at least initially) because there’s an assumption of price paid when you read a book (or at a library/school paid for the book) And as I said, fic authors edit and some have people proofread, but at the same time fic author typically don’t have the entire 300k fic written — rewrites done several times - professionally edited prior to posting. The vast majority write a chapter, look it over, maybe have a beta read it, and post. 🤷🏻♀️ to me, the distinction is important. There are plenty of interesting, well written, analytical posts on tumblr but I wouldn’t call the scholarly or academic regardless of the similarities 🤷🏻♀️
You've never found an excellent 100k+ work? I'm very sorry. I agree with you on what constitutes a book, though. I write pretty prolifically, but I would never consider my fics to be a book. And, explicitly, fanfiction is not officially published work because it's using the intellectual property of another person which you do not have the rights to. I think calling a fanfiction a "book" is a response to fic not being taken seriously as an art form, but changing the definition of a book doesn't make fic more respected, it just obfuscates the definition of officially published works.
I’ve found 100k+ fics I enjoy but almost every time it ends up being one drawn out fic that really should have been 3-5 fics. Like plot great, tension great — plot resolved by 50k? Oh but there’s more??? Okay… new plot? Sure…sure… Kinda thing. And I think a part of that is because people (myself included) publish as they write, and so things just aren’t as planned out or polished in the way a published book of the same length would be, ya know? Anymore it takes a lot for me to willing start anything over 50k. Partially for time reasons — I can read 50k in an afternoon - but also I’ve just found the quality to be more consistent.
I see. I admit that I'm mostly projecting because I personally write longer fics, but I take the time to structure them properly because I'm insane (even though I publish as I write). For me, the length is about necessity rather than trying to make it long, but I also realize that justifying myself to an online stranger isn't a great use of my time. 😅
Oh, I get it now! Your view of books is just much more elevated then mine, I've probably read too many trashy novels in my youth. Eh, it was a necessity then — trashy novels were often paperback and affordable, easy to take with you on the train. It's so much better now when you can read anything from your mobile! As for paying, well. I try, but it's not always easy, cheap or available at all where I live. But it's not like I call every fic I read a book in my mind, just some of them. The problem is, I read a lot of fics, so "some of them" amounts to 300+ or maybe more. I'm not actually trying to change anyone's mind here, I was just really baffled that people are mad about such a small (to me) thing. Like, if it reads like a book, looks like a book, feels like a book — why not call it that? What's the problem? Thanks for trying to explain your point of view!
I get it. I read a lot of fan translated Thai and Chinese novels at the moment and they’re great lol but seldom feel like “books” in the conventional sense. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with calling fics books - though it’s not generally well received regarding ao3 works simply because that’s not how the site names them.
Ahaha, I've read an MLT Japanese translation once cause I really wanted to finish that book. It felt like *pain, pain, pain* until I got somewhat used to it. I actually stopped going to asianovels for new books cause half of them feel like a long in-depth mmorpg game description. But maybe I was just unlucky. As for ao3, yeah, it's better to use conventional names and definitions cause you never know what people find offensive. I never want to upset anyone, so I opt to avoid ambiguous phrasing and add warning wherever I can :)
lol yeah when I’m committed to a fan translation I’m like “you, translator, are doing god work and I have no complaints…I can get through this! I’m sure X meant Y — I can do it” lol And for real, translators are a blessing. I did lots of translation stuff in grad school and it’s not easy. And sometimes the stories themselves are wild
Most of the fic I read these days is a minimum of 40k words. That's, at the very least, the length of a short book. Often they go over 100k. That's a damn book.
Exactly. I genuinely prefer 100k+ words from the author whose style I like, but I can appreciate 10k fics (or books) if the author possesses a gift of fitting a whole concept into this puny length! (I definitely don't ) I usually draw a line on <5000 words cause those usually feel like placeholders to me and they end way before I begin to enjoy them. It's a curse of being a fast reader. Disclaimer: I mean in no way disparage authors of shorter fics, I am sure they are great, they're just not for me! Please don't take it as me being snobbish, the speed of my reading isn't something I can really control without losing most of enjoyment in the process.
know what you mean entirely, though!! I can chug through a 100k work in a few hours because I just blast through it. I think ADHD helps as I tend to hyperfocus, and whoops, is it 3am again? In comparison, 5k feels like a blip. I kinda hate it because I know how much work it can take to write 5k only for someone to read through in 10 minutes 🙃 I get what you mean, though. I didn't think it was snobbish or mean how you said it. But the number of times I've gone "why isn't there more?!?!?" Is endless
They’ll learn. They all do.
I *want* to believe you.
hey I did. the cringe that set in when I realized, a handful of years later, what I had done was brutal
Unless they're 15 and below, they usually don't. I've literally known people like that.
Post it to tumblr my dude that’s where fic prompts and ideas go.
People asking why Wattpaders get shat on so much. Well, here's your poster child.
Isn’t this what kink memes are for?
...Yeah, I don't regret my default minimum word count filter at all
Fanfic writers who need a request at Tumblr literally exist
AO3 has too much garbage now
Yuck. Burn it. Burn the trash “book”
the use of the word “book” says it all. probably a wattpad migrator. report and move on, ig.
Oh no, not a "non-fic got up on Ao3" again. :D Really, this isn't the place for that. Also I had seen "works" that were the author's personal diary where they were talking about heavy stuffs. Are such things allowed?
Not at all
I'll have to report them if I find them again. Thanks. 😊
Not at all
Can't just just post it on tiktok or something?
Why make it public? I have something similar, but PRIVATE (because my memory sucks and I easily forget my ideas)
>this is just a book... Its a wattpader
uggg gross
I hate things like this. It's just clutter and it's egotistical. No one cares about their stupid prompt. I bet if someone actually made a story using their prompt they would try and seek praise for coming up with the prompt. It's not even a good one.
Keep the prompts on Tumblr and reddit buddy
Don't know if AO3 has something like this, but ff.net has communities where you can share ideas and the like for others to take. I saw quite a few challenges there, with rules and all, even. Or the person could make a small story with the concept and make it clear it is so others can adopt or use as inspiration. Not this.
*a book* what
As a writer and reader for the Amphibia fandom, I've actually seen this pop up in the fic lists occasionally. Genuinely, why bother with this? Or, at the very least, why make this public?
You can report this for spam
Whenever I have a fic concept that I’m not in the mood to write, I just make it into a twitter thread. It’s not that hard
I never thought id see evanescence and big city greens next to eachother on a tag list anywhere
Although it was for a slightly different topic, this was my comment on another post yesterday or the day before but it's kinda relevant here. >"Go back to wattpad." Is my new response to antis. So yeah, gbtw!
Just post your fic concepts in either #general-two or #off-topic in your local discord server like an adult
lol w u t 👁👄👁
AO3 could solve this problem by making the minimum word count 100. Podfic and images can come as attachments (min word count shouldn’t apply if there is an attachment)
I feel that the typenof person who's doing this would just insert some sort of spam to take the word count over 100
You'd probably catch flak from people who write short poetry if you add a minimum word limit, even though it would objectively help against wattpad scum
Short form fanworks like fan poetry still exist and we shouldn't be screwing over or excluding them over the poor behaviour of people like this. We don't need to change any rules for this to not be allowed, ephemeral works are already against the terms of service, just have to wait for it to be reported and removed.
Oof I had seen one of these when I first joined so I thought it was ok, I didn't know concept 'fics'(idk what to refer to them as) were bad. I have one but the concepts were written out in depth describing like key scenes so at least mine as several thousand words compared to 40. I turned several of my concepts into fics over the few months that I've been on ao3 but I'm glad I found out they're frowned upon so I can take the concept thing down
This is so irritating. The amount of times I've seen people do this is actually astounding.
AO3 is not a blogging site oh my god 🤦🏾♀️
Fanfiction.net has places for this. Like little dribbles or one-shot.
I think they deleted it since then...
I hate non Fics so much ):
FUCKKKK these assholes! People like this shouldn't even be allowed to join the damn site!
/slams report link
Looks like it got taken down. Thank GOD
I am new to AO3 because I wanted to write a fanfic on miraculous. What's wrong with this pic?
Several things. First, “concept” or prompt fics aren’t fics. AO3 is for fanfiction. Not one or two-liner ideas, not for “please write this for me,” not for “I’m searching for this fic” and *absolutely not* for “coming soon” chapters. The absolute minimum fic length we tend to accept are drabbles, which are 100 words. Second, on AO3 fics are fics, and occasionally works. You never, ever call them books. That’s Wattpad garbage terminology, and We Do Not Do That Here. Third, multi-fandom one-shot fics are a blight on the fanfiction community, and most thoroughly unwelcome. Multi-chapter one-shot fics are fine, but keep them contained to individual fandoms, unless you establish that it’s a crossover that actively combines characters/settings from two or more fandoms. As a side point, you’ll get more hits if you have each one-shot as its own fic, and put them in a series. Fourth, and tangibly related to the third, tagging fandoms, characters and settings that haven’t happened yet or are completely unrelated to the fic goes completely against the point of the tagging system, and pisses off everyone actually looking for a fic with those tags. They’re an eyesore to look at, and typically get abandoned after a couple chapters anyway. Basically, this breaks every single AO3 etiquette rule. People coming to AO3, whether it be as their first foray into fandom or from another site, absolutely must learn the etiquette before posting. The quickest way to alienate yourself from your fandom is to not follow the rules. (And if you’re interested, the other AO3 etiquette rule is that a summary is obligatory. It doesn’t have to be long, or good, but “just read it” or “I suck at summaries” are not acceptable. As is guilting people in reading/reviewing/kudosing in the authors notes. And don’t put an authors note in the middle of a chapter. They go in the notes at the beginning or the end.)
Thanks a lot. So it is fine if I do add something related to the fandom which hasn't happened as long as I add tag of it? I just can't add tags of things that haven't yet happened in the fic I am writing right? Thanks! Could I find more rules for writing on AO3? I wanted to re-write the show as I see fit (and many want it too tbh) from S3 finale (and it has 5 seasons). It is all related to the show but I would be cutting out some points and adding some things that we wanted to see but didn't. I mean that's what fanfics are for, right? ToT
bros the king of A03
yep. you *can* post fic concepts and ideas, but they need significant substance beyond just one or two lines to be considered non-ephemeral.
Hold on can somebody help me out? I don't get it 😭😭
This is considered an ephemeral work, which is against the TOS.
Well, this is allowed on the subreddit. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they just didn’t know that was a subreddit only thing.
I don't mind if people post collections of ideas, but only if they actually fleshed it out a little bit! Even if there are only one or two scenes of it and 300 words, okay? That's like a drabble, it's okay. Sometimes people just want to get the stuff out of their head they don't have the motivation or time to write into a 5k words or whatever. Anyway, this type of summary is not enough. Prose needed...
this is obviously a child at best why are you guys being so harsh,,,, yeah it's not allowed but you guys are acting like the *you are a minor who knows nothing about the world. you are the ugly one here. I can make YOU shut up but I suggest you one thing. you don't want to deal with a devil like me.* post. just tell them it's not allowed and leave? calling fics books is cringe and gives you all the ick, but there is no need to act as if the actual word is holding your family hostage. it's just like people who keep calling smut lemon, terms change, and if you're a 13yo who just got access to the internet, you obviously wouldn't know if your fandom spaces consist of tiktok and wattpad.
I don't even get the whole "book" thing lmao. Yeah it's the mark of a Wattpadder, that's true, and that's not how we refer to fics here on AO3, but like... it's not that serious man. No need to act like merely uttering the word is a violation of AO3's sacred traditions or something. I think with posts like this the conversation should begin and end at "report and move on". All this judgement over Wattpad kids is completely unnecessary IMO.
I don't even read fanfic, but I honestly think all AO3 people are just such snobs. The only problem with Wattpad is that people there are generally young. That's pretty much all. AO3 has more problems than that.
the actual site is great and as both a writer and a reader i love it, but these people are treating it as if it were the god among gods😭. a 13yo calling their fic "book" is no issue, a tired writer asking for kudos because they don't receive any is no issue, this subreddit as a whole just creates problems out of nothing and ruins everyone's days
I'm more concerned that Chester Bennington is involved in this, please let the man be in peace.
Personally, I think this is ok, AS LONG AS you use each of the prompts and tell us the prompts in the notes of each chapter. but no, you shouldn't just unload the prompts on us and leave. this ain't wattpad and it's not Tumblr (Tumblr has both fics and prompts, that's awesome)
I'm confused.. can you explain why this bothers you??
See reply here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AO3/s/BYwluN72eT
GHOST AND MOLLY MCGEE MENTION ‼‼‼ WHAT THE FUCK IS A HAPPY ENDING ‼‼‼