TV FanFiction Thread

[ESS]

I’ve been working on my story somewhat. I’m hoping I can get some more done today. 

[ESS]

I hope everyone's writing is going okay...

[ESS]

Well I've finished chapter 23 of my Gemma/Nero story now onto 24. Of course I'll have to still edit it more and I also have to think of a chapter title, but that's about it. I already have in mind what how I want it to be, but thinking of summed it up is the hard part.. I'm sure though I'll think of something..at least I hope so. 

[Ceindreadh]

I finally got a title for my Mac/Flack slash fic.  I went with 'Pushing boundaries' and it's posted to fanfiction.net as Cein and Archiveofourown and SquidgeWorld.org as Ceindreadh.

 

Now I just need to get started on the next one!

[ESS]

Well I still haven't figured out a title for chapter 23 yet...ugh...

[ESS]

I finally figured out a chapter title for chapter 23 of my story so I'm happy about that now I'm gonna see how much of chapter 24 I can get written. 

[ESS]

Well chapter 24 isn't going as well as I'd like to it to, I'm kind of stuck, but I'm still trying the write on it more.

How is everyone else's writing going today? 

[BlackberryJam]

So, I mostly read Jaime/Brienne from Game of Thrones. So, some asshole has taken to targeting a couple of writers, posting things like, "You should acknowledge how bad you are," and "I thought you'd finally stopped writing, but I see you're back. So disappointing."

It's pretty vile stuff, to the point the asshole is sending the writer anon messages on Tumblr.

Of course that person is an asshole, and there is no explaining why people aren't like that. I'm not here to rehash that rant.

My issue is that I'm not sure how to counteract that behavior and support the writer. The Jaime and Brienne fandom has piled on the compliments and support, but I feel like I don't know what to say. Should I lash out in response to the nasty comments? Will ripping that asshole make the writer feel better or exacerbate the problem? Because that's what I want to do. I want to write an entire diatribe to that asshole about manners, decency and the like. I want to not just mount a defense, but go on the attack. But I know this writer would never ask that of someone, mostly because she's feeling so fragile. 

[ElleryAnne]

8 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

So, I mostly read Jaime/Brienne from Game of Thrones. So, some asshole has taken to targeting a couple of writers, posting things like, "You should acknowledge how bad you are," and "I thought you'd finally stopped writing, but I see you're back. So disappointing."

It's pretty vile stuff, to the point the asshole is sending the writer anon messages on Tumblr.

Of course that person is an asshole, and there is no explaining why people aren't like that. I'm not here to rehash that rant.

My issue is that I'm not sure how to counteract that behavior and support the writer. The Jaime and Brienne fandom has piled on the compliments and support, but I feel like I don't know what to say. Should I lash out in response to the nasty comments? Will ripping that asshole make the writer feel better or exacerbate the problem? Because that's what I want to do. I want to write an entire diatribe to that asshole about manners, decency and the like. I want to not just mount a defense, but go on the attack. But I know this writer would never ask that of someone, mostly because she's feeling so fragile. 

I would think sleazball anons are just hoping for people to engage with them, so I'd ignore him. But if you leave a really nice comment for the fic writer complimenting the fic, you could also remind her that loser asshats aren't her target audience anyway, so she doesn't have to worry about pleasing them.

[ESS]

17 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

So, I mostly read Jaime/Brienne from Game of Thrones. So, some asshole has taken to targeting a couple of writers, posting things like, "You should acknowledge how bad you are," and "I thought you'd finally stopped writing, but I see you're back. So disappointing."

It's pretty vile stuff, to the point the asshole is sending the writer anon messages on Tumblr.

Of course that person is an asshole, and there is no explaining why people aren't like that. I'm not here to rehash that rant.

My issue is that I'm not sure how to counteract that behavior and support the writer. The Jaime and Brienne fandom has piled on the compliments and support, but I feel like I don't know what to say. Should I lash out in response to the nasty comments? Will ripping that asshole make the writer feel better or exacerbate the problem? Because that's what I want to do. I want to write an entire diatribe to that asshole about manners, decency and the like. I want to not just mount a defense, but go on the attack. But I know this writer would never ask that of someone, mostly because she's feeling so fragile. 

Ooh this a tough situation because I've been there before and lashed out at haters before, but I don't know if it was the smartest thing to do, but I felt so angry at the time that I couldn't help, but respond back. 

Now as for the Games Of Thrones I don't watch that show so I don't know the pairing, but I have stuck up for a writer before and it wasn't even my place to do so, but on the other hand I basically got dragged into it through no fault of my own so I did lash out and it felt great at the time. 

I think you should try and say something, but it might not really help at all as I said it's a tough situation really. 

Yes definitely write a nice comment to the writer as well. 

Edited March 2, 2022 by ESS

[BlackberryJam]

6 minutes ago, ESS said:

Ooh this a tough situation because I've been there before and lashed out at haters before, but I don't know if it was the smartest thing to do, but I felt so angry at the time that I couldn't help, but respond back. 

Now as for the Games Of Thrones I don't watch that show so I don't know the pairing, but I have stuck up for a writer before and it wasn't even my place to do so, but on the other hand I basically got dragged into it through no fault of my own so I did lash out and it felt great at the time. 

I think you should try and say something, but it might not really help at all as I said it's a tough situation really. 

Yes definitely write a nice comment to the writer as well. 

Right, right?? Getting dragged into it. I am secure in myself and don't mind taking a few hits, but at the same time, I'm sure in the past I've, privately with fandom friends, negatively critiqued writing I didn't like. I don't post critique in comments, but part of developing a fandom family is sharing common likes and dislikes about headcanons, writing styles, writing subjects, etc.

For example, I am a fan of Jaime and Brienne. Not Jaime, Brienne and a third random character thrown in for purposes of threesome smut. I'm not anti-threesome smut, but I'm anti-threesome for the Jaime and Brienne pairing.

I also don't agree with the headcanons that either of these two characters is bi or trans. I respect that representation is important and that's why people write fic. I'm fine with it. I just don't read it. And I'm not going to engage in a debate with someone who says that these characters being bi or trans is canon. (GRRM wasn't subtle about his gay characters, not even a little.) 

But, "getting dragged into it" sometimes means getting pulled into a debate that I don't want to have. Yet, I'm not into taking the cowardly position of not standing up for this writer being attacked because I'm afraid of taking some blowback. 

Fandom is supposed to be fun. I hate it when it gets complicated.

[ESS]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

Right, right?? Getting dragged into it. I am secure in myself and don't mind taking a few hits, but at the same time, I'm sure in the past I've, privately with fandom friends, negatively critiqued writing I didn't like. I don't post critique in comments, but part of developing a fandom family is sharing common likes and dislikes about headcanons, writing styles, writing subjects, etc.

For example, I am a fan of Jaime and Brienne. Not Jaime, Brienne and a third random character thrown in for purposes of threesome smut. I'm not anti-threesome smut, but I'm anti-threesome for the Jaime and Brienne pairing.

I also don't agree with the headcanons that either of these two characters is bi or trans. I respect that representation is important and that's why people write fic. I'm fine with it. I just don't read it. And I'm not going to engage in a debate with someone who says that these characters being bi or trans is canon. (GRRM wasn't subtle about his gay characters, not even a little.) 

But, "getting dragged into it" sometimes means getting pulled into a debate that I don't want to have. Yet, I'm not into taking the cowardly position of not standing up for this writer being attacked because I'm afraid of taking some blowback. 

Fandom is supposed to be fun. I hate it when it gets complicated.

Yeah I get all of that!! That first statement you made I tend to do that myself with my fandom friends too which isn't many of course.

Yeah I don't like certain what's the word.. tropes I guess it is either, but of course I don't say to someone you shouldn't write that you know, I also can't stand toxic pairings/couples, but again I don't tell people not to ship or write for them, but it is very annoying and frustrating though for me when I see fanfiction on those ones especially with the pairings/ships that I hate and then where my couple(s) barely gets anything written on them in the fanfiction world that's why I hate that trope because I usually ship the unpopular couples/pairings. It's even worse if they treated horrible in canon in the first place so that doesn't help either and that's exactly what happened with my couple I love Gemma/Nero. 

I don't agree with some headcanons either, but again I try and not pay attention to that and really it's none of my business either because for me I ship and love who I want to for my couples/ships and I'm pretty open minded and I get about representation and I'm all for it and like you said it's definitely important for sure, but yeah I totally get you. 

Yes Again I agree fandoms are supposed to be fun, but a lot of times it just goes too far with people and I don't understand that you should be able to ship and love who you want too without people bashing it just because, people see things differently and that's okay, but why bring people down for? that's not cool and not nice at all it's a horrible feeling. It made me stop writing for quite a while when I got some hateful and nasty comments thrown my way. 

Edited March 2, 2022 by ESS

[Annber03]

6 hours ago, ElleryAnne said:

I would think sleazball anons are just hoping for people to engage with them, so I'd ignore him. But if you leave a really nice comment for the fic writer complimenting the fic, you could also remind her that loser asshats aren't her target audience anyway, so she doesn't have to worry about pleasing them.

This. Don't give those trolls any further attention. Just give the author some positive reviews. 

Also, if possible, let the author know of ways to try and block/delete those anon comments that exist out there, and if they're getting to the point of threatening, then suggest sending reports to any administrators who might be able to help. 

[ESS]

Hey everyone - 

how is your writing going?

[JustHereForFood]

On 3/2/2022 at 5:21 PM, BlackberryJam said:

My issue is that I'm not sure how to counteract that behavior and support the writer. The Jaime and Brienne fandom has piled on the compliments and support, but I feel like I don't know what to say. Should I lash out in response to the nasty comments? Will ripping that asshole make the writer feel better or exacerbate the problem? Because that's what I want to do. I want to write an entire diatribe to that asshole about manners, decency and the like. I want to not just mount a defense, but go on the attack. But I know this writer would never ask that of someone, mostly because she's feeling so fragile. 

Hard to find the right way to tackle it without understanding the whole picture. As someone who was bullied in the past, I can say that it feels good to have someone else defend you, not just say encouraging stuff like "pay no attention to haters", but to really take your side and rip the offensive person a new one. But in online space, this can sometimes come off as virtue signaling, especially on social media and unnecessarily escalate the situation, so it's hard to find the right middle ground.

[wallflower75]

Me when I stumbled onto this: hey, a fanfic thread!  Yay!

On 3/2/2022 at 12:27 PM, BlackberryJam said:

Fandom is supposed to be fun. I hate it when it gets complicated.

Amen to this.  @BlackberryJam, I also happen to be a Jaime/Brienne shipper as well as a fanfic writer, and from what I understand, what happened at the first of the year wasn't the first time there's been skirmishing within the community.  It's a shame, because you're right--fandom should be fun.  We're a fandom because of our shared love for these two characters and their story, right?  Why does all this nonsense have to interfere with that?  Can't we all have fun and enjoy stories about our favorite characters doing whatever we feel like having them do, whether it's figuring out how they're going to survive their encounter with Lady Stoneheart or putting them in a modern setting where they're rival professors?

And as for that troll, who wanted to authors to believe there were a ton of people who thought they sucked when in reality it was just one dumbass who gave themselves away with their commenting during the most recent fic exchange--if you don't feel comfortable telling the troll off, or you're concerned about potential blowback, then it's perfectly all right to leave supportive comments to the author without acknowledging the troll.  There are plenty of us who have no problem doing it.  I've been a part of various fandoms longer than that troll's probably been alive, and I have zero f--ks to give.  They want to come at me?  Bring it on.

Edited March 6, 2022 by wallflower75

[ESS]

I hate the feeling of being unmotivated and stuck on a chapter at the same time...ugh 😢

[Cloud9Shopper]

I’ve been MIA for a while because of school, but I have a few weeks off so I’m getting back into it. 

I attempted the February Ficlet Challenge, which is writing about 28 pairings in 28 days, but I ended up repeating some of the pairings LOL. (Which you could do too, I suppose.) And then I got burned out from putting out such a high volume of stories, even short ones. So I took a break for a while but I do want to finish, even if I just finish for me.

I have written a few stories for The Resident fandom and am working on a multi-chapter for the main ship, Conrad and Nic, right now.

I’ve been writing for almost a year. It seems crazy that I got back into it by writing about a character who wasn’t even in 10% of all ER episodes and now I’ve done a gift exchange, tried challenges, and experimented in a few different fandoms. 

[wallflower75]

19 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I’ve been MIA for a while because of school, but I have a few weeks off so I’m getting back into it. 

I attempted the February Ficlet Challenge, which is writing about 28 pairings in 28 days, but I ended up repeating some of the pairings LOL. (Which you could do too, I suppose.) And then I got burned out from putting out such a high volume of stories, even short ones. So I took a break for a while but I do want to finish, even if I just finish for me.

28 pairings in 28 days??  Wow!!

[Cloud9Shopper]

21 minutes ago, wallflower75 said:

28 pairings in 28 days??  Wow!!

Haha yeah I ended up finding that the prompts really only fit some of the pairings I had in mind, so that went out the window for me pretty quick. 

 

[Laina]

I write in tons of fandoms and am in the process of trying to finish a ton of 100 drabble challenge series. I also have a handful of personal series that I write that aren't part of any challenge. I've been cranking out a lot of writing the last week or so, but took a break from writing today.

[Cloud9Shopper]

57 minutes ago, Laina said:

I write in tons of fandoms and am in the process of trying to finish a ton of 100 drabble challenge series. I also have a handful of personal series that I write that aren't part of any challenge. I've been cranking out a lot of writing the last week or so, but took a break from writing today.

Awesome! What fandoms do you write in?

Last month I celebrated the first anniversary of publishing my first fanfic. It was in the ER fandom and I’m proud of it but I want to rewrite it someday and clean up some of those “first story” growing pains. 

I have written a few stories for Domaystic right now. It’s a Tumblr event of fluffy domestic prompts, although I took one and threw some light angst and emotional convos into it. ;) 

[Laina]

100+ fandoms so far and counting.  >>Fandoms<<

Right now I'm mainly focused on trying to finish my Holding On series (75/100), and my Life's Ups and Downs series (33/100).

Congrats on the anniversary of your first fanfic. I don't have my first one as it was written so long ago (October 1999), and the only copy was posted to a board that crashed. (Along with all the rest of my fics from 1999 to 2004.) I've only found 1 fic from 2005, a few from 2006, and then the years from 2007 and on, I've got all of those fics.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Nice! I checked out your fandoms list and it looks like we’ve both written a decent amount for SVU. (I have 14 SVU stories.) 

I have three series open. I didn’t quite finish the February Ficlet Challenge (still want to write one more prompt and then I will probably surrender haha). I just started the Domaystic series/event I mentioned above. Then I have a pretty niche series, The Coburn Family,  which is exclusively ER fics about the supporting character of Janet Coburn. It’s an odd choice on the surface, I realize that, but we only ever got very small hints of her backstory and I thought she had potential to be a nice well-rounded character. So I decided to do some stories about what I imagine her personal life to be. Not sure how far that one will go. 
 

[Laina]

Thanks. As for SVU, I started binge-watching the show Sept. 11th, 2020. I'm currently on season 21 episode 12.  I started writing fics for SVU in Dec. 2020.  I'm still really liking the show. Love Olivia, Fin, and Rollisi as a couple and as separate characters.

In your Feb Ficlet challenge, I see you have ER, The Resident, New Amsterdam and Gilmore Girls. They're all shows on my "watch list" to eventually watch and write for. I've seen a few random eps of Gilmore Girls, but it's been years.

I have a "watch list" of shows that I plan to eventually try and watch and see if I like them. ER's on my list, but it'll be a while before I get to it. 15 seasons is a lot and I have to make sure I can still stream it on HBO Max, before I start writing for it.

Also, I just realized that I'm already subbed to you on A03. Cool. Now I can go back and check out some of your fics.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Laina
Edited minor errors.

[Cloud9Shopper]

31 minutes ago, Laina said:

Thanks. As for SVU, I started binge-watching the show Sept. 11th, 2020. I'm currently on season 21 episode 12.  I started writing fics for SVU in Dec. 2020.  I'm still really liking the show. Love Olivia, Fin, and Rollisi as a couple and as separate characters.

In your Feb Ficlet challenge, I see you have ER, The Resident, New Amsterdam and Gilmore Girls. They're all shows on my "watch list" to eventually watch and write for. I've seen a few random eps of Gilmore Girls, but it's been years.

I have a "watch list" of shows that I plan to eventually try and watch and see if I like them. ER's on my list, but it'll be a while before I get to it. 15 seasons is a lot and I have to make sure I can still stream it on HBO Max, before I start writing for it.

Also, I just realized that I'm already subbed to you on A03. Cool. Now I can go back and check out some of your fics.

Thank you for your support! If you’re reading anything I wrote for ER, the stories about Janet are definitely easiest to read fandom blind because she was only in 26 episodes, so references to canon events are pretty limited (laugh but some people watching a show that ended over 10 years ago lose it if they see “spoilers”) and her daughter was never on the show. I wrote her as an original character. That said, if you don’t mind fandom blind reading, just pick whatever appeals to you and ignore me. :)

I don’t enjoy SVU as much these days. It’s mostly a habit for me at this point but I love Liv and Elliot’s dynamic and how much Rollisi care about each other. 

[Annber03]

3 hours ago, Laina said:

100+ fandoms so far and counting.  >>Fandoms<<

Ooh, I see a few fandoms in your list that I've also written for and read in :D. May have to set aside some time to check out some of those fics! 

Adding to the congrats on your fic anniversary, @Cloud9Shopper :)! 

I've got a short little one-shot fic for the "Ghosts" fandom that is mostly done. It's supposed to be much cooler this weekend, so I think this is a good time to spend time finishing it up and getting it posted :). Gives me a little more time to come up with a potential title, too :p. 

And now "United States of Al" has finished its run, I may need to plot out a few continuation fics for that fandom. 

[Laina]

@Cloud9Shopper, You're welcome. Thanks for the info. I may give some of those a read. I can't say when, though. But it's on my list to try. So far this year I've only read a handful of fics. I've mainly been focused on writing. (I'm trying to reach 1,000 completed fics.)

BTW, I only write drabbles and one-shots. I've written two chapter stories and a third one I gave up trying to complete. So, now I stick to quick and easy plots.

As for SVU, I saw some articles recently where people were like 'what the hell were they thinking?' That Liv did something crazy. I didn't actually read the articles but saw the titles, and avoided it, cause spoilers. I only look for certain spoilers, wasn't looking for that. I also enjoyed E/O, and love Rollisi. I need more Rollisi scenes.

@Annber03, Cool, thanks. Also, feel free to link me to your profile. I'll try to check out some of your fics soon, as well. Good luck on your "Ghosts" fic, and your "United States of Al" fics.

[JustHereForFood]

16 hours ago, Laina said:

100+ fandoms so far and counting.  >>Fandoms<<

Wow, that's some range! 👍

[Annber03]

10 hours ago, Laina said:

@Annber03, Cool, thanks. Also, feel free to link me to your profile. I'll try to check out some of your fics soon, as well. Good luck on your "Ghosts" fic, and your "United States of Al" fics.

Thanks :)! Here's the link to my AO3 profile for you: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annber03 Hope you find some stuff you like there :)!

[wallflower75]

100 Fandoms...I am total AWE of that!  I've written for like, three.

[Laina]

On 5/20/2022 at 1:13 PM, JustHereForFood said:

Wow, that's some range! 👍

Thanks so much! I think so, too.

On 5/20/2022 at 7:16 PM, wallflower75 said:

100 Fandoms...I am total AWE of that!  I've written for like, three.

I'd have plenty more if I had written on a regular basis between 1999 and 2004 before I lost those fics. I watch/try a lot of TV shows, both oldies and current ones, looking for great fandoms to write for.

For example: A handful of the oldie shows I watched within the last year or two, in entirety for the first time:

• APB (2016)
• Beyond (2017)
• The Chicago Code (2011)
• Family Matters (1989)
• Half & Half (2002)
• The Night Shift (2014)
• NYC 22 (2012)
• One on One (2001)
• Ransom (2017)
• Rookie Blue (2010)
• Sister, Sister (1994)

Update: Update from my post on May 19th. I've written in 116 fandoms so far. Only 115 fandoms show in my Fandoms List, because I'm waiting for a fandom/tag to be filtered/usable.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Laina

[BlackberryJam]

Does anyone have thoughts about Self-Insert fic? Apparently it’s very popular in some fanfiction circles, but I …hate it. Is it just me? Am I missing how wonderful SI fic is?

[Laina]

I don't care for it. I don't like SI, reader fics, any of that. I'm only just somewhat enjoying a few random OC's in some of my writing, after writing fanfiction for years.

[BlackberryJam]

1 minute ago, Laina said:

I don't care for it. I don't like SI, reader fics, any of that. I'm only just somewhat enjoying a few random OC's in some of my writing, after writing fanfiction for years.

I generally despise OCs and character x reader fics. I was checking out a ASoIaF fanfiction sub on reddit and it seems to be all SI works. And some really bad writing, while at the same time focused on dragging romance and female authors.

I backed out…

[Laina]

I've only ever written.. maybe, 2 OC's? One is the son of a fantasy couple in a Glee series of mine. And any others, I simply don't remember. Must not have liked or used them very much, lol.

So, something started happening about two years ago that drives me bananas. I get readers who come across some of my works or series that are complete and once they read it all, they start messaging me and asking for more. While I'm glad they enjoyed the story(ies), if they're marked complete, then I most likely won't be adding more.

Not unless I get a really good idea to continue. Man, this is my pet peeve.  Some people just won't stop begging or harassing.

I used to get weekly PM's (Private Message's) from this member when I posted on FFN. They would constantly message me and ask me to write fics for them about different fandoms I wasn't in and didn't know anything about. When I'd get annoyed about that, they'd pick a fandom that I know, and that they like, and then start harassing me to write about that fandom and a couple we both like. I wish there was a way to block people on FFN.

Edited May 29, 2022 by Laina

[Cloud9Shopper]

I only have one regular original character (Caitlyn, the daughter of Janet from the series I mentioned above). I do use OCs in minor supporting roles, such as making up the name of a colleague for a character or a friend or family member not seen in canon, but I don’t develop them as their own characters unless they will be a significant part of a story of chapter. Otherwise they’re known as “so and so’s friend from college” or “an OB nurse”. (I write in a few medical drama fandoms haha.) Caitlyn is really the only one who is fleshed out and has her own personality and talents because she’s a big part of Janet’s life and story.

I have no interest in character x reader. Don’t see the appeal but they remind me of choose your own adventure stories so I can see how they have an audience.

I see people subscribe to my oneshots and other completed fics, and I have heard it’s a different way of bookmarking, but I still find it odd haha. 

[Annber03]

I don't read self-insert fic, either. I've no issue with people writing it in and of itself, as I think that's a phase that most, if not all, writers go through at some point and I can see why people would find it fun to write about themselves having fun with their favorite characters.

But it always seemed odd to me to share it, simply because self-insert fic is so particularly personal and it's basically you living out your specific fantasies that most other readers won't be able to relate to or identify with, at least not quite in the same way. I wrote self-insert fic when I was younger, too, but I never posted it 'cause I never thought anyone else other than me would give a shit about me writing out my adventures/romantic interactions with my favorite characters :p. The stuff I'd imagine doing with them is going to be different from what other people might fantasize about doing with them. It just feels like it'd have a very limited audience/appeal. Same with character/reader fic - either the reader character has to be so vague to where it's basically a blank space, which makes it hard to invest in what's going on, or they have to have some description to lure people in, which a) limits the amount of readers who would be able to identify with the reader, and b) seems to defeat the purpose of the whole concept of "character/reader" fic, and has me feeling like they might as well just go ahead and make a full on OC at that point. 

I have enjoyed some fics with  OCs, though. I don't often read ones where OCs are the main focus, 'cause I'm into fanfic for the canon characters first and foremost, but I have come across some really good ones that did find ways to incorporate OCs into the story, and the OCs were very well-crafted and believable characters in their own right and fit into the world well. And some fandoms do seem to have a lot more room and opportunity for OCs than others, so that factors into how open I am to reading them, too. 

[BlackberryJam]

There seems to be such a hard gender divide in the ASoIaF fanfiction world. Male SI fics based on battle strategy are valued higher than canon compliant non-SI fics written by women. It’s frustrating.

[JustHereForFood]

On 5/29/2022 at 3:56 AM, BlackberryJam said:

Does anyone have thoughts about Self-Insert fic? Apparently it’s very popular in some fanfiction circles, but I …hate it. Is it just me? Am I missing how wonderful SI fic is?

Well, I used to have some fantasies about me entering a fictional world, especially with some setting like Harry Potter, that basically went like a long fanfiction, only I never wrote it down and it was all just for me. I mean, I never wrote down any fanfiction, only made those stories up in my head, but with other fanfiction I can see potentially writing and posting it if I had talent for writing, but definitely not self-insert. As others have said, that is just too personal and nobody would be interested in it anyway, since I usually envisioned myself just hanging out with my favorite characters, not doing anything worth writing about. I only did the interesting stuff in my completely original stories that were not tied to any existing franchise, but that would be original work in first peson narration, not fanfiction. And still, nobody would probably want to read that 😄.

[Mabinogia]

32 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

Well, I used to have some fantasies about me entering a fictional world, especially with some setting like Harry Potter, that basically went like a long fanfiction, only I never wrote it down and it was all just for me. I mean, I never wrote down any fanfiction, only made those stories up in my head

This is me as well. Honestly, the majority of my time by myself I've got some random self insert fanfic going on in my head. It's the "curse" of having a very vivid imagination, but it is not generally something I think anyone else would want to read about. IDK, to me it's a bit like posting your journal online.

I don't mind original character unless it's a romance because typically when a writer makes up an OC to hook up with the main character from a show it's just another version of self insert, only it's usually the self you want to be rather than the self you are. I do those too, but again, not for others to read and mostly just in my head. 

Part of not posting is that I have very strange taste and can't imagine anyone else would want to read the weirdness that happens in my head. 

I haven't written fanfic in a long time. I would like to get back to it, but my brain has been pinging all over the place so much that IDK that I could write anything that would be true enough to the source material.

[wallflower75]

On 5/28/2022 at 9:06 PM, BlackberryJam said:

I generally despise OCs and character x reader fics. I was checking out a ASoIaF fanfiction sub on reddit and it seems to be all SI works. And some really bad writing, while at the same time focused on dragging romance and female authors.

I backed out…

Ugh, sounds like you found The Citadel.  My condolences.  I generally avoid that place like the plague.  They're so far up their own butts that it's ridiculous.

I don't get self-inserts and character x reader fics--to me, it's weird.  As for OCs, I've written a couple of them, but they were supporting characters and not the central focus of the fic.

Edited May 30, 2022 by wallflower75

[ESS]

I too don't like self insert stories either and as @Annber03 said I don't mind others reading them or writing them. I also don't particularly love OC fics either - again I don't judge nor mind others writing them and I think some are fun. The only time I ever use OC's is if they are absolutely needed or for a plot device in like just to move a storyline/scene along, but as for doing a full on OC character(s) like for stories no I can't do it and won't mainly because I don't think I could do them justice and I don't have that kind of imagination as others seem to do. As for reading OC's yes I have and will sometimes, but I'm definitely not obsessed with them at all by any means and self inserts no I've definitely never read any and I don't plan on it anytime soon. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by ESS

[BlackberryJam]

@wallflower75 Yes it was The Citadel. I checked out a couple of their "Highly recommended" stories and they were...not good. I couldn't even get into the plots because the first sentence of one used the same word/word version 4 times. The sentence itself was over 40 words. It was a grammatical mess. I put that sentence into a Word doc and it was all double blue line. I don't know how the writer, or any of the readers, didn't notice it.

Which brings me to this: good writers have good betas. A good beta supports and encourages a writer while also giving that grammar review, pointing out issues with sentences, pacing, flow and consistency in characterization. 

OCs tend to be all-knowing self inserts, which annoy the crap out of me.

My chosen fandom (Jaime and Brienne/Game of Thrones/ASoIaF) is doing a fic exchange right now. So I'm sharing my thoughts on that. A good prompt for an exchange should inspire the writer. I've seen prompts that are "Book canon only, must include BAMF Stannis Baratheon, and Cersei having a love interest other than Jaime, but not Robert. There should be a hurt/comfort sex scene or an angry sex scene. The smut should happen after a sword fight. No Lady Stoneheart. Also, please have a scene of Oberyn flirting with Brienne while Jaime watches."

Clearly the prompter has something specific in mind, but that's way too specific to inspire someone. I've got my annoyed face on. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I recently hit 1000 overall kudos received on my fics! I’ve been writing for a little over a year now. Wish I got that many comments LOL. But I’m glad people are enjoying what I write at least. 

[JustHereForFood]

8 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

My chosen fandom (Jaime and Brienne/Game of Thrones/ASoIaF) is doing a fic exchange right now. So I'm sharing my thoughts on that. A good prompt for an exchange should inspire the writer. I've seen prompts that are "Book canon only, must include BAMF Stannis Baratheon, and Cersei having a love interest other than Jaime, but not Robert. There should be a hurt/comfort sex scene or an angry sex scene. The smut should happen after a sword fight. No Lady Stoneheart. Also, please have a scene of Oberyn flirting with Brienne while Jaime watches."

Clearly the prompter has something specific in mind, but that's way too specific to inspire someone. I've got my annoyed face on. 

I'm not a huge fan of prompts in general, but yeah that sounds a bit too restricting, especially regarding timeline. If I remember correctly, there would be litle time when Brienne and Oberyn could have interacted, especially in books where she and Jamie arrived to Kings Landing post Purple wedding. I'm almost tempted to think of something that would fit in those requirements 😄.

I remember ages ago when I was reading Harry Potter fanfiction on one website, they would have regular challenges, but it has turned into a kind of amusing game, when people would come up with more and more ridiculous requirements. I get that the challenge is in trying to fit it all together in a way that still makes sense, but by then I guess the story that those writers would want to write gets lost somewhere.

[Annber03]

9 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

My chosen fandom (Jaime and Brienne/Game of Thrones/ASoIaF) is doing a fic exchange right now. So I'm sharing my thoughts on that. A good prompt for an exchange should inspire the writer. I've seen prompts that are "Book canon only, must include BAMF Stannis Baratheon, and Cersei having a love interest other than Jaime, but not Robert. There should be a hurt/comfort sex scene or an angry sex scene. The smut should happen after a sword fight. No Lady Stoneheart. Also, please have a scene of Oberyn flirting with Brienne while Jaime watches."

Clearly the prompter has something specific in mind, but that's way too specific to inspire someone. I've got my annoyed face on. 

Yeah, I definitely think some people tend to confuse a prompt to mean, "I want this very specific kind of fic, but I can't/don't want to write it, so I'll ask someone to write it for me." Same thing happens with the topic of co-writers - I lurk on the Writers Anonymous forum on FF.net and a lot of people will come in asking for a co-writer, but you read between the lines and it reads less like wanting an actual collaborative effort and more like they come up with the idea, and the other person writes it down for them. 

Writing a type of fic for someone can be fun, if it's part of some fic exchange, for instance, or you want to gift a friend with a fic about a character/pairing/trope/etc. that you know they'd like, or things of that sort. 

But yeah, somebody asking complete strangers to write a fic for them just 'cause is a much harder sell. For one thing, it'll be tough to find someone who'll want to write it - people are busy working on their own fics, they may not have time to write one for someone else, especially someone they may barely know, if at all. For another, even if somebody does take up such a request, there's no guarantee that they'll write the fic exactly the way the person making the request envisions it in their mind. The writer may include all the main things they were asked to include, sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean the story is going to read exactly how the reader imagined or wanted it to. 

[BlackberryJam]

15 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

I'm not a huge fan of prompts in general, but yeah that sounds a bit too restricting, especially regarding timeline. If I remember correctly, there would be litle time when Brienne and Oberyn could have interacted, especially in books where she and Jamie arrived to Kings Landing post Purple wedding. I'm almost tempted to think of something that would fit in those requirements 😄.

I remember ages ago when I was reading Harry Potter fanfiction on one website, they would have regular challenges, but it has turned into a kind of amusing game, when people would come up with more and more ridiculous requirements. I get that the challenge is in trying to fit it all together in a way that still makes sense, but by then I guess the story that those writers would want to write gets lost somewhere.

I have to admit that I made up that prompt because I didn't want to out the bad prompter, or out myself. But if you can write it, DO!

For exchanges and the like, I'm a big fan of three word prompts. I think that's enough to inspire the writer. Or even three words and your favorite AU/Canon period is good.

I was never in the HP fandom. I'm a little too old for it and not that big a fan of the work. That does sound like too much work though...

[Cloud9Shopper]

I don’t know how many people here interact with their fandoms (not just on AO3 but through other spaces like Reddit, Discord, Tumblr, or anything else I missed), but I’m really struggling because I feel like I don’t fit in with one of my fandoms and it bums me out even though it shouldn’t matter. I had high hopes when I came that I could make friends to discuss the show and fic writing with but it feels like I came “too late” in a way. A lot of people are already in cliques and groups, and it does not help that I don’t like the popular character and ship**. Even though people are mostly nice to me save one or two people, I don’t feel like I belong. It just makes me feel bad even though everyone has been surface level nice except for that one person. It definitely feels like if you don’t prefer the right things or write the write things or repeat the popular opinions that you’re on the outs.

I honestly think I’ll stay in the fandom until I have written all my fic ideas and bounce quietly, whenever that might be. 

**The fandom is ER and the character is Abby, with the ship being Abby and Luka. I don’t want to derail the thread with character and ship discussion but some fans of one or both have been very hostile to me (and others who don’t like the character) at times. Like really defensive if the ship and character are criticized, or they tell you you only understand the show on a surface level or just didn’t pay attention to the story. Very weird aggression. I was literally told in one space to get therapy because of my dislike of Abby… 

Edited June 10, 2022 by Cloud9Shopper

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I don’t know how many people here interact with their fandoms (not just on AO3 but through other spaces like Reddit, Discord, Tumblr, or anything else I missed), but I’m really struggling because I feel like I don’t fit in with one of my fandoms and it bums me out even though it shouldn’t matter

I'm sorry you're having that experience. When I was writing fanfic back in the day, one of my favorite things was the interaction with others in the fandom. That said, I was in the House fandom and was hardcore House/Cuddy and that fandom could get VERY toxic with the shipping wars between House/Cuddy and House/Cameron factions. 

It got so that I had to block a lot of people to keep the negativity out of my life. It's just fanfiction, it's not worth it. 

2 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I was literally told in one space to get therapy because of my dislike of Abby… 

Ok, that's just sad. I never understand lashing out at someone personally over something as inconsequential as a TV show. While I enjoy a little "shipping wars" back and forth, once I see people taking it too seriously I'm out of there. It's entertainment. It's meant to be fun. 

I eventually left the forums when it started getting toxic. it was like the Hunger Games up in there. Sadly, I also stopped writing. I'm trying to get back into it, but I'm struggling to find the right characters. There was something about House and Cuddy that just came so naturally to me that I haven't been able to recapture.