TV FanFiction Thread

[ESS]

I'm still writing, but I'm so depressed with not getting any new readers. I'm starting to think it's me is why I'm not getting any not mention my writing sucks and I think that's the other reason. It's like why even bother writing anymore...Rare pairs are so difficult and so frustating I wish I never got into any of them because it's not worth it ugh....😭 Either no one is reading or they are and just not saying anything. I guess I'll never be used to this..*sigh* blocking out the trolls and idiots/flamers and you don't have many people left...

Edited December 15, 2023 by ESS

[Annber03]

It is also the holidays, and there's work and exam stuff keeping people busy, too. Like I've said before, readership/comments are down across the board, no matter how popular or rare the pairings are. It's just a thing, for a whole host of reasons, and this time of year doesn't help matters in that regard. 

[ESS]

21 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

It is also the holidays, and there's work and exam stuff keeping people busy, too. Like I've said before, readership/comments are down across the board, no matter how popular or rare the pairings are. It's just a thing, for a whole host of reasons, and this time of year doesn't help matters in that regard. 

Yeah that too unfortunately, but I'm talking about in general, but yeah I should have put that into my post that definitely doesn't help me or my depression...At least I didn't post anything so there's that. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by ESS

[BlackberryJam]

Writing for a couple the fandom hates requires a pretty thick skin.

I barely watched SOA, but I remember the really bad act committed by one of your pair, @ESS. And now that the show is over, there is no redemption arc coming. That really sucks for you. I don't think there is a way for you to pull people into interest about the pair. There are just too many other shows out there, too much new content, for new viewers to become interested. The original viewers have moved on. If you're going to keep at the story, I think you're going to have to accept that your audience isn't going to become larger or more invested. However, that doesn't mean you should quit. Maybe move your personal goalposts to make it a "win" just to finish the story, no matter who reads it. Is it something you can then turn into original fic?

As I mentioned, I am a Jaime and Brienne fan from Game of Thrones. The fic community is still somewhat active and AO3 hit 10k fics this year, which means about 500 new ones from last year. 

My frustration is there is a movement towards certain kinks and sexual preferences that just don't work for me. I am all for inclusivity/exploration/creating spaces. I think there should be room for all kinks. However, it seems like 70% of the new fics make at least some allusion to pegging. I just don't get it. I've read/seen all the canon more than once and I just don't get how fans are insisting Jaime is begging to be pegged. 

Maybe it's some fandom "in" joke that I just don't get. It's to the point where I pull up a new fic and Ctrl-F for the word "peg" to see if it comes up. If it does, I'm out. I hate feeling that way, but it's like the pegging kink has taken over. 

[JustHereForFood]

7 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

My frustration is there is a movement towards certain kinks and sexual preferences that just don't work for me. I am all for inclusivity/exploration/creating spaces. I think there should be room for all kinks. However, it seems like 70% of the new fics make at least some allusion to pegging. I just don't get it. I've read/seen all the canon more than once and I just don't get how fans are insisting Jaime is begging to be pegged. 

Maybe it's some fandom "in" joke that I just don't get. It's to the point where I pull up a new fic and Ctrl-F for the word "peg" to see if it comes up. If it does, I'm out. I hate feeling that way, but it's like the pegging kink has taken over. 

Shouldn't it be tagged on AO3 so that you could just put the tag into "exclude" category?

[BlackberryJam]

4 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Shouldn't it be tagged on AO3 so that you could just put the tag into "exclude" category?

You’d think that, right? But no. 

[ESS]

13 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Writing for a couple the fandom hates requires a pretty thick skin.

I barely watched SOA, but I remember the really bad act committed by one of your pair, @ESS. And now that the show is over, there is no redemption arc coming. That really sucks for you. I don't think there is a way for you to pull people into interest about the pair. There are just too many other shows out there, too much new content, for new viewers to become interested. The original viewers have moved on. If you're going to keep at the story, I think you're going to have to accept that your audience isn't going to become larger or more invested. However, that doesn't mean you should quit. Maybe move your personal goalposts to make it a "win" just to finish the story, no matter who reads it. Is it something you can then turn into original fic?

First of all I don't have thick skin wish I did especially for fanfiction (I'm trying, but I guess it's still hard for me) and secondly I understand the show is over and has been for quite some time now, but I got into it very late (2018 which was like 5 years after it was off the air) But honestly even though the show is now over and nothing's going to come of it I've seen a lot of new fans coming into it, but of course not for my two favorites sadly. I just don't get the hate for the woman character because the act itself committed by her wasn't premeditated (It was even confirmed by the actress herself it wasn't) and it a mistake, but yet the majority of the fandom still hates the character anyway and I just don't get it and never will (and don't get the hated for the other man character just because he got with the woman character and if you want to get techical everyone on that show did horrible, heinous things, but yet this woman charactet gets basically all of the hate I mean in terms of hate on the another level and that's what I have a major problem with. not hate in general because I get that, but I don't think I've ever actually out and out hated a character though) and unfortunately and sadly the fandom takes the hate to another level in terms of the woman character, but that's another story.

As for my pairing I get what your saying, but it's still not something I want to accept because I have a hard time doing so and because I mainly go for rare pairs and this is one I went for (though I promised myself I wouldn't, it didn't work). I think I'm gonna finish it because I started it, it's just frustrating even though I know going for rare pairs it's apart of the territory of people not being invested in them/not getting many readers and so forth, but I don't have to like it and I don't I hate it and to answer your question no I wouldn't be able to turn the story into an original fic because I'm not into the OC thing never have been and honestly the only time I ever done anything with them/use(d) them is if they are really needed or to keep the story moving along in terms of the plot that's it, but thank you for the suggestion. On another note I've tried posting links to the story everywhere I can think of, but it really hasn't helped much. I'm gonna try and develope a a thicker skin with my pairing, but I don't know if it'll be accomplished much. 

Edited December 28, 2023 by ESS

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, ESS said:

I just don't get the hate for the woman character because the act itself committed by her wasn't premeditated (It was even confirmed by the actress herself it wasn't) and it a mistake, but yet the majority of the fandom still hates the character anyway and I just don't get it and never will (and don't get the hated for the other man character just because he got with the woman character and if you want to get techical everyone on that show did horrible, heinous things, but yet this woman charactet gets basically all of the hate I mean in terms of hate on the another level and that's what I have a major problem with. not hate in general because I get that, but I don't think I've ever actually out and out hated a character though) and unfortunately and sadly the fandom takes the hate to another level in terms of the woman character, but that's another story.

Unfortunately, that's common in fandoms in general. Male characters can do virtually anything they want and there's always someone who'll leap to their defense. A woman does something awful, or dares to stand up for herself, or whatever, hoo, boy, the amount of people who'll hate on her and call her a "bitch" or "whiny" or whatever. I dealt with this A LOT in the "Criminal Minds" fandom and it really soured me on a lot of the  fandom discussion about the show in general.

I hear people complain all the time about how they just can't find enough interesting characters who are women on TV, and while, on the one hand, I certainly don't disagree that there are a lot of writers who still seem to have a really hard time writing women, on the other hand, with all the TV shows (or movies, or books) out nowadays, I just find it really hard to believe it's still THAT hard to find well-written, interesting women in fiction. Sometimes I feel like it's less that there's not enough interesting women in fiction and more that people hold female characters to a MUCH different, more unrealistic standard than they do the male characters. 

But yeah, that's a whole other topic unto itself. I agree with the above - I certainly don't mean or want to be a downer when talking about how difficult it is to get attention/reviews/support in fandoms nowadays, just noting that unfortunately, that's just how it seems to be now. Fandom culture has changed, the way people interact and engage online has changed, it's much harder to find places to have proper, detailed conversations about fandoms/characters/ships/etc. nowadays, everything is supported by likes and retweets and reblogs instead of actual comments. I don't know what all one can do to try and get engagement that is in the form of discussions/comments and the like - I don't think it's entirely impossible, I've been fortunate to have some good conversations in my current fandom, so there are some opportunities out there. 

But yeah. It is tough, for sure. 

6 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Shouldn't it be tagged on AO3 so that you could just put the tag into "exclude" category?

Yeah, that'd be great, but some people either do not know how to tag, or purposefully do not tag certain things as a way to try and trick more readers into reading their fics, or things of that sort. 

AO3's tagging system can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on who's using it and how. 

[ESS]

50 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Unfortunately, that's common in fandoms in general. Male characters can do virtually anything they want and there's always someone who'll leap to their defense. A woman does something awful, or dares to stand up for herself, or whatever, hoo, boy, the amount of people who'll hate on her and call her a "bitch" or "whiny" or whatever. I dealt with this A LOT in the "Criminal Minds" fandom and it really soured me on a lot of the  fandom discussion about the show in general.

I hear people complain all the time about how they just can't find enough interesting characters who are women on TV, and while, on the one hand, I certainly don't disagree that there are a lot of writers who still seem to have a really hard time writing women, on the other hand, with all the TV shows (or movies, or books) out nowadays, I just find it really hard to believe it's still THAT hard to find well-written, interesting women in fiction. Sometimes I feel like it's less that there's not enough interesting women in fiction and more that people hold female characters to a MUCH different, more unrealistic standard than they do the male characters. 

Yeah well this woman is - or was an interesting character in my honest opinion, but unfortunately the show wasn't about her specifically(she was actually written as a background character at first and so was the man she later becomes involved with, but that changed a bit for both of them then eventually they both went back to be basically background characters in the end) so that's also another issue on top of everything with them that I hate(d) and I love(d) her more than I did the main character the show was based/focused around and honestly I admit more than the show itself and of course later on I got into the man character for which the woman character was dating and so on. It definitely gets to me when this character is called a bitch I can't even tell you how uncomfortable it makes me I can't stand it and I think it's ridiculous and not fair at all. 

 

50 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I agree with the above - I certainly don't mean or want to be a downer when talking about how difficult it is to get attention/reviews/support in fandoms nowadays, just noting that unfortunately, that's just how it seems to be now. Fandom culture has changed, the way people interact and engage online has changed, it's much harder to find places to have proper, detailed conversations about fandoms/characters/ships/etc. nowadays, everything is supported by likes and retweets and reblogs instead of actual comments. I don't know what all one can do to try and get engagement that is in the form of discussions/comments and the like - I don't think it's entirely impossible, I've been fortunate to have some good conversations in my current fandom, so there are some opportunities out there. 

But yeah. It is tough, for sure. 

This! I think is why I'm having so much trouble is because I grew up at a time when social media wasn't a thing and now it is and I hate it pretty much. That said I know it's the way of the world now, but I can't stand change I've never have been able to deal with it well nor accept it and I think that's my other issue and why I'm having such a hard time with all this. I'm trying, but it's not easy to accept. 

Edited December 28, 2023 by ESS

[Annber03]

3 minutes ago, ESS said:

Yeah well this woman is - or was an interesting character in my honest opinion, but unfortunately the show wasn't about her specifically(she was actually written as a background character at first and so was the man she later becomes involved with, but that change a bit for both of them then eventually they both went back to be basically background characters in the end) so that's also another issue and I love(d) her more than I did the main character the show was based around and honestly I admit more than the show itself and of course later on I got into the man character for which the woman character was dating and so on. It definitely gets to me when this character is called a bitch I can't even tell you how uncomfortable it makes me I can't stand it and I think it's ridiculous and not fair at all. 

Ahhhhhhhh, so she's a woman and also a supporting character. Yep. That'll do it, all right. Though at the same time it also makes the fact she is so hated in some corners all the more odd, given she is more of a background character, so it's not like she'll have as much impact on the storyline as a main character would. Is the guy she's dating one that has a lot of fans? 'Cause people can get especially picky if their favorite character is dating someone they don't like or think is "good enough" for them (again, I point to the "Criminal Minds" fandom, as I saw a LOT of this in there. Notably in regards to Reid and Hotch). 

The bar really is so low for things women can do that make them a "bitch" in someone's eyes. It's pretty depressing, really :(. 

Quote

I think why I'm having so much trouble with this is because I grew up where social media wasn't a thing and now I hate social media pretty much. I know it's the way of the world now, but I can't stand change I never have been great with accepting it and I think that's my other issue I have and why I'm having such a hard time with all this. I'm trying, but it's not easy to accept. 

I totally get and sympathize with this, yeah. I'm not much for social media, either (I have a Facebook account that I haven't been on in YEARS, largely because I've forgotten about it/don't really have anything interesting to post on there/tend to be more of a private person in general), and I don't like how it seems like every single aspect of one's life needs to revolve around it, either. I grew up in a time when you got lectured on internet safety and being careful about what information you put out there and nowadays people are sharing every last little detail of their lives online and the change is just so jarring to me. 

But yeah, it seems like that's the main way to get any attention of any kind nowadays, be it about your personal life or just your fic/favorite characters and whatnot. At the same time, a lot of social media companies have certainly been doing a lot to annoy and drive away people who used them (looking at you, Twitter - er, I mean, X), so I dunno, maybe the day will come when there's a shift in that regard, too? 

[ESS]

6 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Ahhhhhhhh, so she's a woman and also a supporting character. Yep. That'll do it, all right. Though at the same time it also makes the fact she is so hated in some corners all the more odd, given she is more of a background character, so it's not like she'll have as much impact on the storyline as a main character would. Is the guy she's dating one that has a lot of fans? 'Cause people can get especially picky if their favorite character is dating someone they don't like or think is "good enough" for them (again, I point to the "Criminal Minds" fandom, as I saw a LOT of this in there. Notably in regards to Reid and Hotch). 

The bar really is so low for things women can do that make them a "bitch" in someone's eyes. It's pretty depressing, really :(. 

I totally get and sympathize with this, yeah. I'm not much for social media, either (I have a Facebook account that I haven't been on in YEARS, largely because I've forgotten about it/don't really have anything interesting to post on there/tend to be more of a private person in general), and I don't like how it seems like every single aspect of one's life needs to revolve around it, either. I grew up in a time when you got lectured on internet safety and being careful about what information you put out there and nowadays people are sharing every last little detail of their lives online and the change is just so jarring to me. 

But yeah, it seems like that's the main way to get any attention of any kind nowadays, be it about your personal life or just your fic/favorite characters and whatnot. At the same time, a lot of social media companies have certainly been doing a lot to annoy and drive away people who used them (looking at you, Twitter - er, I mean, X), so I dunno, maybe the day will come when there's a shift in that regard, too? 

To answer your question about the man - no he doesn't have alot of fans either, but he came into the show later on so that's also another issue the point is and was so many issues stacked against this couple it's not even funny(not in term of them being toxic or anything because they weren't at all although at one time the writing for the couple was trying to become a bit toxic, but thank god it didn't work because I would have hated that especially since the couple wasn't toxic to begin with plus I hate toxic couples) it makes me wonder why they were even put together in the first place and just the way I guess people didn't latch onto them? and not many even did that either and they weren't a main couple, but all of this isn't fair at all in my opinion just because they were later on couple doesn't mean they had to be treated the way they did by everyone including writers and treated like dirt in canon as well by...everyone, it's not right; see the man is hated by association as I've said before because he dated this woman..and of course she's hated by the majority. To answer your other question - yes correct she and the man were both main characters and background characters honestly although more than the woman than the man only because he like I said came into the show later on and it's really ironic although the woman wasn't exactly the main focus a lot of the times, she did have a few storylines in the first few seasons and was a intigual and vital part of the show.

As for the "bitch" comments for women in the fandom it's not right, but to my understanding it's how a lot of these fans "show" respect the character(the woman), but to me that's not what I'd call having respect for a character especially a woman who called herself in canon, but it certainly didn't seem like she was calling herself that in a respectful way at all, but even if she didn't do that I still wouldn't be calling her that because that word is first and foremost a dergoatory name in my honest opinion and I just can't do it and I don't understand that logic and never will. I guess the point is it's a double standred between men and women in the fandoms and I hate that, it's so not cool with me at all and in fact it's ridiculous and horrible! The only time I've used(or seen it at least in general before I learned about all this "respect" stuff was associating it with it being a horrible name for a woman an that's how I've always took it) the b word is when I'm speaking in a non respectful tone..I've never heard it used any other way, but that..so again it's just a weird logic to me. (I'm talking about in general here) but this woman character is called every name in the book including "bitch" and the fandom says she deserved everything she got and so on...but I saw her differently there's that..I saw her the way the man she becomes involved with saw her..which was very a damaged woman although he doesn't say this in so many words, but it's what I'd like to believe he meant. 

6 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I totally get and sympathize with this, yeah. I'm not much for social media, either (I have a Facebook account that I haven't been on in YEARS, largely because I've forgotten about it/don't really have anything interesting to post on there/tend to be more of a private person in general), and I don't like how it seems like every single aspect of one's life needs to revolve around it, either. I grew up in a time when you got lectured on internet safety and being careful about what information you put out there and nowadays people are sharing every last little detail of their lives online and the change is just so jarring to me. 

But yeah, it seems like that's the main way to get any attention of any kind nowadays, be it about your personal life or just your fic/favorite characters and whatnot. At the same time, a lot of social media companies have certainly been doing a lot to annoy and drive away people who used them (looking at you, Twitter - er, I mean, X), so I dunno, maybe the day will come when there's a shift in that regard, too? 

As for the social media same here..I have social media only because of basically family on it who don't really live close to where I'm and maybe a few celebrites I love I follow a few friends, but I don't post on them at all very much and if I didn't have any family on them I'd be off I'm sure and I can't call Twitter X and honestly I'm done with Twitter anyway it's ruined for me now and as for instagram...don't post on it much either and same I'm pretty private myself. 

Edited December 28, 2023 by ESS

[JustHereForFood]

8 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

You’d think that, right? But no. 

That's a bummer. That is what those walls of tags are for, dammit. Personally, I don't use filters much, apart from characters or specific tags like spoilers for individual episodes, but I usually look over the tags to see if there something I don't like. As for the thing you mentioned, I can sort of see the appeal. (Not that I would ever read Jaime/Brienne fic, I liked them as friends and wasn't a fan of what they did to them in the last season.) Fanfiction is a great place to write/read about stuff one usually doesn't find in mainstream fiction. Not just gay pairings, but all sort of other relationships, like asexual relationships, poly relationships, well-written BDSM, all sorts of consensual kinks, etc. plus characters talking about consent, their boundaries and preferences. There's plenty of vanilla heterosexual couples in canon, so it makes sense that people might not be that interested in writing that when they can literally write anything they want without interference from editors or worrying about having enough readers to generate profit. I wish people producing original content would take notice and be more open to do the same, because there's obviously an audience.

But yeah, people, please tag everything properly. It saves everyone a lot of time and frustration. 

[BlackberryJam]

@ESS @Annber03SoA was very problematic when it came to the female characters. I actually remember one scene where all the men decided they needed a new income stream so they voted to get into the porn industry, and essentially make money off women's backs, and the women were happy with that. That's when I noped out of the show. 

The big problem gaining support for your rarepair is that the woman actually killed the female main character/male main character's love interest. I mean, that's hard to come back from. 

It's bothersome when people don't see the ship in the same way, and the fic gets no traction or interest. I just don't think with this particular couple that it's going to change, no matter how great your fic is. 

Rarepair shipping is lonely.

@JustHereForFoodPretty much every GoT ship was problematic. Maybe Renly/Loras were okay? But Renly died early in S1. I get that J/B didn't work for everyone, and yeah, Jaime shoved that kid out a window in the pilot, but the acting chemistry just sold it. S3 Jaime and Brienne is, for me, one of the best road trips in fiction. It's got bathtubs, swords, fainting, confessions, a villain with a lisp, mud, amputations and fights with a bear.

There is a great J/B fic where both are trans. It's incredibly well done.

The tagging issue is always there though, isn't it? Should everything be tagged even if it spoils the story? Or tag nothing and just issue a general warning? I am of the opinion that kinks should be tagged. I once stumbled upon an untagged lactation kink fic. I can't unread that. 

I think it's easier for writers to take existing characters and make them trans/bi/gay/pan/asexual, etc. Writing is hard. It's even harder when you're stepping in complicated waters. This isn't the spot for it, so I'm just linking to a post I made in Books. That author has another book with a lesbian lead. 

[ESS]

42 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

@ESS @Annber03SoA was very problematic when it came to the female characters. I actually remember one scene where all the men decided they needed a new income stream so they voted to get into the porn industry, and essentially make money off women's backs, and the women were happy with that. That's when I noped out of the show. 

The big problem gaining support for your rarepair is that the woman actually killed the female main character/male main character's love interest. I mean, that's hard to come back from. 

It's bothersome when people don't see the ship in the same way, and the fic gets no traction or interest. I just don't think with this particular couple that it's going to change, no matter how great your fic is. 

Rarepair shipping is lonely.

Yes I know I saw the show all the way through and 

Spoiler

yes she killed the other woman

, but like I said in my previous post it wasn't premediated, but yet she still gets all the hate for that one act and I don't think it's fair or right because she didn't mean to do what she did, she had remorse. Honestly

Spoiler

the woman she killed deserved it

 because of what she did and I can't stand the woman she

Spoiler

killed

anyways and I couldn't even really stand the main character either, but that's just me.

My story has gotten some interest, but not how I'd like to be(Yeah I know it's probably not going to change, but I don't like it) and some of the readers aren't for my ship either especially the one reader who has stayed with the story since the beginning which is odd and really bothers me honestly because they ship one of the main couples that I hate. 

We agree there...rare pairing is very lonely for sure...and I also agree yes it was very horrible to the women characters especially the woman character I love suffered too much and I hate(d) it

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by ESS

[partofme]

I’ve been so desperate for new fics about the couple I ship that I broke down and asked AI to write some for me.(I think what made me do it was I received an email notification from ff.net that there was a new fic and couldn’t find it and realized it was because an author I follow had written a fic for another show).  It’s been interesting.   The AI fics aren’t great, some are okay, but they’re pretty generic and feel like they could have been written for any couple.   It’s weird because the AI knows what both of their jobs are and what city they live in and that they were friends for a long time before they became a couple, but other things it’s gotten wrong like it got his accent wrong in one story and got her eye color wrong in one story and said she had dark hair in another (she’s blonde).   Also one time to my prompt it said that while it could write my story it was against the show’s canon to write them as a couple ( they became a couple in the show’s seventh season and remained a couple when the show ended).  It seems to have a general awareness of the show but has no idea of the storylines and when I asked about things that happened in specific episodes it was clear it didn’t know what I was talking about.  

Edited December 28, 2023 by partofme

[BlackberryJam]

8 minutes ago, partofme said:

I’ve been so desperate for new fics about the couple I ship that I broke down and asked AI to write some for me.(I think what made me do it was I received an email notification from ff.net that there was a new fic and couldn’t find it and realized it was because an author I follow had written a fic for another show).  It’s been interesting.   The AI fics aren’t great, some are okay, but they’re pretty generic and feel like they could have been written for any couple.   It’s weird because the AI knows what both of their jobs are and what city they live in and that they were friends for a long time before they became a couple, but other things it’s gotten wrong like it got his accent wrong in one story and got her eye color wrong in one story and said she had dark hair in another (she’s blonde).   Also one time to my prompt it said that while it could write my story it was against the show’s canon to write them as a couple ( they became a couple in the show’s seventh season and remained a couple when the show ended).  It seems to have a general awareness of the show but has no idea of the storylines and when I asked about things that happened in specific episodes it was clear it didn’t know what I was talking about.  

I think your first sentence, if turned into a tweet, is likely to go viral in the fanfic community :)

[ESS]

17 minutes ago, partofme said:

I’ve been so desperate for new fics about the couple I ship that I broke down and asked AI to write some for me.(I think what made me do it was I received an email notification from ff.net that there was a new fic and couldn’t find it and realized it was because an author I follow had written a fic for another show).  It’s been interesting.   The AI fics aren’t great, some are okay, but they’re pretty generic and feel like they could have been written for any couple.   It’s weird because the AI knows what both of their jobs are and what city they live in and that they were friends for a long time before they became a couple, but other things it’s gotten wrong like it got his accent wrong in one story and got her eye color wrong in one story and said she had dark hair in another (she’s blonde).   Also one time to my prompt it said that while it could write my story it was against the show’s canon to write them as a couple ( they became a couple in the show’s seventh season and remained a couple when the show ended).  It seems to have a general awareness of the show but has no idea of the storylines and when I asked about things that happened in specific episodes it was clear it didn’t know what I was talking about.  

That’s an interesting take on a fanfic can I ask what the app or link is for this Al fanfic thing? 

[partofme]

Just now, ESS said:

That’s an interesting take on a fanfic can I ask what the app or link is for this Al fanfic thing? 

I was using ChatGPT

[ESS]

6 minutes ago, partofme said:

I was using ChatGPT

Thank you! Hopefully I can find it in Apple Store 

edit: I found it although there’s a few different ones. 

Edited December 28, 2023 by ESS

[partofme]

2 minutes ago, ESS said:

Thank you! Hopefully I can find it in Apple Store 

I’m not sure if you need to download an app, maybe I’m old but I went directly to the website.  

[ESS]

Just now, partofme said:

I’m not sure if you need to download an app, maybe I’m old but I went directly to the website.  

I edited my original post and I found it and downloaded it though as I said there’s different ones you can use I guess? 

[Mabinogia]

2 hours ago, partofme said:

I’ve been so desperate for new fics about the couple I ship that I broke down and asked AI to write some for me.

That is actually how I first got into fanfic. The couple I liked wasn't cannon on the show so I just wrote it myself. I got lucky in that back then there was a pretty strong interest in the pairing and I had quite a following. Sadly, I've not been able to get that into a pairing since. I also no longer like the show so not going back to write more fic there. 

I do miss it, and I get @ESS's frustration at not having that engagement. One of the best things about writing my fics was the back and forth with my readers. I would often incorporate ideas they came up with into the fics and it was a lot of fun, but in the end I was writing for me, and as long as I held onto that, it didn't matter if anyone was reading or what anyone else thought. I've always enjoyed storytelling so for me having "fans" was just icing on the cake, but without them, the cake is still pretty yummy. 

If only I could find a show I like enough, but that is frustrating enough for me to want to rewrite it. lol

 

[partofme]

1 hour ago, Mabinogia said:

That is actually how I first got into fanfic. The couple I liked wasn't cannon on the show so I just wrote it myself. I got lucky in that back then there was a pretty strong interest in the pairing and I had quite a following. Sadly, I've not been able to get that into a pairing since. I also no longer like the show so not going back to write more fic there. 

I do miss it, and I get @ESS's frustration at not having that engagement. One of the best things about writing my fics was the back and forth with my readers. I would often incorporate ideas they came up with into the fics and it was a lot of fun, but in the end I was writing for me, and as long as I held onto that, it didn't matter if anyone was reading or what anyone else thought. I've always enjoyed storytelling so for me having "fans" was just icing on the cake, but without them, the cake is still pretty yummy. 

If only I could find a show I like enough, but that is frustrating enough for me to want to rewrite it. lol

 

What show/pairing did you write about previously?   And what types of shows do you like to watch?

My problem is I want to read the fic but I don’t want to write it myself.   I don’t think I’m a strong writer.   I wrote 9 stories for Friends (Chandler/Monica) back around 2004-2005 but I don’t think my writing is very good, some of my one offs were okay but anything more ambitious that I attempted I abandoned.   

The pair I’m currently obsessed with are from a show that ended in 2015 but I only discovered it in 2020.   They have a decent amount of stories on ff.net and at one point there were several strong writers but most have since stopped writing.    There’s really only one writer who updates maybe once a month.    There was another who was still updating a few stories, she was always busy with work earlier this year which kept her from updating more frequently, no idea what happened to her but she hasn’t updated since June so I’m not too hopeful.  And I don’t think I can even attempt to write this one myself, they’re from a British show so the cultural differences intimidate me on top of my not liking my writing.  

[Mabinogia]

20 minutes ago, partofme said:

What show/pairing did you write about previously?   And what types of shows do you like to watch?

I wrote House fanfic for years. My pairing was House/Cuddy because my specialty is banter (and admittedly my stuff got pretty raunchy lol, but I mostly loved the banter and the sexual tension stuff).

I also rewrote the ending of Sherlock because the cannon ending was TERRIBLE! Again, what I liked most was writing the dialog and banter between Sherlock and Mycroft, and Sherlock and Watson (this was not a shippy fanfic, nor was it a published one, though I shared it with my friends who also hated the way the show ended). 

I am working, still, on my epic Remember WENN fanfic but I might never finish it. It's more complex than my usual stuff, being a historic show, set in late 30s, and I'm going with a WWII spy theme for it. Even if I never write it, I am enjoying the research. 

These days I mostly enjoy ensemble comedies, Ghosts (mostly US but also UK), The Good Place, Parks and Rec, B99, thing is, I just think those are all perfectly written so there is nothing I can improve upon.

I do love Lockwood & Co. (I will never forgive Netflix for ending that one). Actually, if I can come up with a good storyline I might do a fanfic for that as I love the characters, their banter and the whole concept of child ghost hunters. 

I don't know if I'm different, if television is different or something else. Being Queen Houddy was an amazing time in my life. I LOVED everything about it, and yet I've not really been able to capture that feeling again. There are certainly shows I love far more than House, far more than I loved House at that time. There are pairings I love more, writing I love more, shows I love more, but there was just something about that pairing at that time in my life that just clicked. When you find that, it's magical. 

I do think "fan" engagement had something to do with it. (I put fan in parenthesis because it feels funny saying I had fans.) Knowing that, if I didn't post something almost daily (and I was posting daily, and writing more than one fic at a time across different genres, erotica, humor, drama), I was going to disappoint people pushed me more than writing for myself does because, when doing it for myself, I don't technically have to write it down. Full disclosure, most of these characters are acting out stories in my head almost all the time. It's probably why I never get anything done. lol

I think fanfic as a genre of writing has changed. It used to be about fans who were passionate about a show/characters/pairings wanted to take those characters to fun new places. Now it's mostly about getting views/likes/subscribers or becoming the next EL James. Social Media moving from being a place to connect with people with similar interests to a way to make a living has changed a lot of entertainment. 

 

[partofme]

11 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

wrote House fanfic for years. My pairing was House/Cuddy because my specialty is banter (and admittedly my stuff got pretty

I used to ship House/Cuddy.    The show writers really did a terrible job with them.  

[Mabinogia]

24 minutes ago, partofme said:

I used to ship House/Cuddy.    The show writers really did a terrible job with them.  

It is impressive how badly they botched it. House and Cuddy had a decent backstory to play off of, a past might have been, the actors had great chemistry, they had the somewhat forbidden boss-employee dynamic. I played a lot with that dynamic, how Cuddy was House's boss, but he had a sort of hold over her, so there was so much push-pull there. Why the writers couldn't get it right is beyond me!

[Annber03]

On 12/28/2023 at 12:00 AM, ESS said:

As for the "bitch" comments for women in the fandom it's not right, but to my understanding it's how a lot of these fans "show" respect the character(the woman), but to me that's not what I'd call having respect for a character especially a woman who called herself in canon, but it certainly didn't seem like she was calling herself that in a respectful way at all, but even if she didn't do that I still wouldn't be calling her that because that word is first and foremost a dergoatory name in my honest opinion and I just can't do it and I don't understand that logic and never will. I guess the point is it's a double standred between men and women in the fandoms and I hate that, it's so not cool with me at all and in fact it's ridiculous and horrible! The only time I've used(or seen it at least in general before I learned about all this "respect" stuff was associating it with it being a horrible name for a woman an that's how I've always took it) the b word is when I'm speaking in a non respectful tone..I've never heard it used any other way, but that..so again it's just a weird logic to me. (I'm talking about in general here) but this woman character is called every name in the book including "bitch" and the fandom says she deserved everything she got and so on...but I saw her differently there's that..I saw her the way the man she becomes involved with saw her..which was very a damaged woman although he doesn't say this in so many words, but it's what I'd like to believe he meant. 

Yeah, there are women who have reclaimed that word, so to speak, to try and use it as a more empowering thing. Like, "Yeah, I am a bitch, what of it?" It's a common thing for a lot of minority groups as well, LGBTQ+ people and black people and so on have also taken to reclaiming words that were once used as slurs against them. 

Which, if that's one's way of being able to sort out their issues relating to those words and whatnot, fine, everyone's got their methods that help them. I can see where that can be an empowering gesture, or feel like one. 

But yeah, for my part, that's not a word I tend to throw around in my everyday life, either, and I also agree that the way it's still used in a lot of fandom circles in regards to women is...messy, to say the very least. 

As for your description of the character who came into the show late and wound up dating the woman that the fandom hates, wow, yeah, it's just every typical fandom dislike rolled into one, it seems, with these two. A woman that a lot of fans can't stand, a character who came into the show late and is thus potentially messing up the dynamic that was there with the original characters, they're background but not background, and then on top of all of that, the guy winds up dating the woman the fans don't like, which either brings him down a peg in people's eyes or adds to their reasons not to like him. 

Just. Yeah. You couldn't ask for a more controversial setup for a pairing if you TRIED. 

And regarding the judgment of people's actions on that show, I mean, again, I've only ever seen, like, one or two episodes of it, but from what I recall of the show, both from that and what I've heard about it, hasn't pretty much everyone on there done something incredibly awful and shitty at some point? I don't quite get how people can be cool with one character's violent behavior while condemning another's. Unless, again, one character is a man and the other is a woman. 

14 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

@ESS @Annber03SoA was very problematic when it came to the female characters. I actually remember one scene where all the men decided they needed a new income stream so they voted to get into the porn industry, and essentially make money off women's backs, and the women were happy with that. That's when I noped out of the show. 

Wow. 

You know that thing people talk about where they see a scene in a story and are like, "...a man totally wrote this, didn't he?" That's how I felt reading that. 

Quote

The tagging issue is always there though, isn't it? Should everything be tagged even if it spoils the story? Or tag nothing and just issue a general warning? I am of the opinion that kinks should be tagged. I once stumbled upon an untagged lactation kink fic. I can't unread that. 

There's also the issue of tagging too much versus tagging too little, and it seems like authors can't win either way, because if they don't tag everything, then they'll get readers screaming about why they didn't tag this or that ('cause apparently just clicking the back button and finding another fic isn't an option, I guess?), but if they do tag everything, then they get people complaining, "Why did you tag this when it's only a brief mention?" (this is especially an issue with pairings). 

And then there's the dreaded "wall o'tags", where you look at them and it takes up half the page and you're like, "...do I even need to read the fic now, the tags pretty much told the story." 

I'm pretty lucky in that my fics are uneventful enough to where I don't need to stress about tags the way others do. But I do know that it can be a big issue in some fandsms especially, for sure. I do agree that it helps to have kinks and things of that sort tagged, though. Not only because it helps people avoid coming across a kink that they're not into, but it's also good advertising for those who DO like those things. 

Regarding rare pairs, I've had a few of those as well, and have written a bit here and there for them, but only brief little one-shot things, I never did a full on multi-chapter story with them (but I've also yet to do that with any popular pairings I like, too). I do want to change that with my current fandom, though - I've been on a writing tear for it this year and there's a lot of canon and non-canon pairings, both popular and rare pair, that I'd love to write for and have fic ideas for, including multi-chapter stuff. So we'll see how that goes. 

Personally, I love rare pair writers. Even when I do love the popular and/or canon pairings, I'm always glad when a fandom has some lesser-known and written about pairings in the mix. I like having some variety in things to read, and new potential pairings to explore. That moment when an author writes a fic that has me going, "...okay, well, you've convinced me, now I ship this.", that is the BEST. I LOVE it when authors can do that. 

So yeah, tough and lonely though it clearly can be to be a rare pair writer, I do applaud and salute all of you who write those kinds of pairings. Fandom needs people like you. 

6 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I think fanfic as a genre of writing has changed. It used to be about fans who were passionate about a show/characters/pairings wanted to take those characters to fun new places. Now it's mostly about getting views/likes/subscribers or becoming the next EL James. Social Media moving from being a place to connect with people with similar interests to a way to make a living has changed a lot of entertainment. 

And even for those who are still engaged with the canon itself, I mean...it's hard to keep a fandom active when everything's on, like, fifty streaming services now and shows only last a season or two and don't get the chance to really get off the ground and develop the characters or a fandom around them. Or people will be obsessed over the new shiny series and then in a few months' time there's another one they get into and they all migrate there. Add in the super long wait between seasons of things now and people struggle to keep talking and theorizing about everything because the momentum can't sustain itself for that long. 

It's just not nearly as easy to build a stable, long-lasting fandom community anymore even when you want to do so. 

[ESS]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

Yeah, there are women who have reclaimed that word, so to speak, to try and use it as a more empowering thing. Like, "Yeah, I am a bitch, what of it?" It's a common thing for a lot of minority groups as well, LGBTQ+ people and black people and so on have also taken to reclaiming words that were once used as slurs against them. 

Which, if that's one's way of being able to sort out their issues relating to those words and whatnot, fine, everyone's got their methods that help them. I can see where that can be an empowering gesture, or feel like one. 

But yeah, for my part, that's not a word I tend to throw around in my everyday life, either, and I also agree that the way it's still used in a lot of fandom circles in regards to women is...messy, to say the very least. 

As for your description of the character who came into the show late and wound up dating the woman that the fandom hates, wow, yeah, it's just every typical fandom dislike rolled into one, it seems, with these two. A woman that a lot of fans can't stand, a character who came into the show late and is thus potentially messing up the dynamic that was there with the original characters, they're background but not background, and then on top of all of that, the guy winds up dating the woman the fans don't like, which either brings him down a peg in people's eyes or adds to their reasons not to like him. 

Just. Yeah. You couldn't ask for a more controversial setup for a pairing if you TRIED. 

And regarding the judgment of people's actions on that show, I mean, again, I've only ever seen, like, one or two episodes of it, but from what I recall of the show, both from that and what I've heard about it, hasn't pretty much everyone on there done something incredibly awful and shitty at some point? I don't quite get how people can be cool with one character's violent behavior while condemning another's. Unless, again, one character is a man and the other is a woman. 

Yes I'm noticing that about the word now I don't think you should be throwing that word around as empowerment, but that's just my opinion it makes me feel very uncomfortable when people the word like that, but I don't bash the people who use it as an empowering gesture because it's not my style, but I don't like it either as I've said before you know.

Yes my couple they are definitely a controvensial rare pair for sure as much as I hate saying that noty to mention labeling them that way.

To answer your question yes everyone on that show did horrible things(I even mentioned this in my previous posts I guess you missed it, but that's okay), but yet this woman is one the fandom just throws under a bus so to speak with everything and even things she didn't do or wasn't there at the time I've never seen hate like this before in a fandom and I've seen a lot of hate, but not to this degree like I said that's what I have a problem with. Hating a character fine as much as I hate saying that it's their choice, but to go to this level is another story and I really hate it.

Edited December 29, 2023 by ESS

[ESS]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

Regarding rare pairs, I've had a few of those as well, and have written a bit here and there for them, but only brief little one-shot things, I never did a full on multi-chapter story with them (but I've also yet to do that with any popular pairings I like, too). I do want to change that with my current fandom, though - I've been on a writing tear for it this year and there's a lot of canon and non-canon pairings, both popular and rare pair, that I'd love to write for and have fic ideas for, including multi-chapter stuff. So we'll see how that goes. 

Personally, I love rare pair writers. Even when I do love the popular and/or canon pairings, I'm always glad when a fandom has some lesser-known and written about pairings in the mix. I like having some variety in things to read, and new potential pairings to explore. That moment when an author writes a fic that has me going, "...okay, well, you've convinced me, now I ship this.", that is the BEST. I LOVE it when authors can do that. 

So yeah, tough and lonely though it clearly can be to be a rare pair writer, I do applaud and salute all of you who write those kinds of pairings. Fandom needs people like you. 

Thank you for saying about rare pairs because as you know I mainly go/write for these types of couples/pairings and I don't know why, but I do, but at the same time it's definitely a lonely place to be. I know I shouldn't be frustrated, but I can't help it. I don't have many popular canon couples/pairings either that love/ship. I've always been different in that reguard. I feel a bit better with someone saying they love rare pairs. 

My story on my couple is the first multi chaptered (well now second because I've started a new one) I've written for them especially on FFN where there isn't any multi chaptered stories on these two there at all(one shots/drabbles only) it's really sad if you ask me and there's definitely not any new stories on either site again very sad and frustrating for me. 

Edited December 29, 2023 by ESS

[JustHereForFood]

I have started writing my first fanfic some time ago. After 16 years of reading fanfiction (yes, I remember it exactly 😉), I've finally had an idea that refused to leave me and that I haven't seen written by anyone else yet, so I figured I'd give it a go. It's supposed to be multi-chapter, so I don't know when (or if) I finish it and I decided to only post it once it's all written so that I don't stress myself over it. But it's so much fun to try something new! The last few months have been rather difficult and I found out that interacting with people about my favorite fandoms, either here or via fanfiction and stuff like that currently helps me relax better than watching/reading new things. I think it's probably about the feeling of community around shared interests vs. watching something on my own. There has been a lot of negativity in some online places I used to visit, mostly about news and politics but even some fandom stuff, so it's nice to have some spaces left (like here ❤️) where people are nice and supportive. And it's more rewarding to try to create something positive for me and hopefully for others, than waste energy and time arguing pointlessly on the internet.

[ESS]

1 hour ago, JustHereForFood said:

I have started writing my first fanfic some time ago. After 16 years of reading fanfiction (yes, I remember it exactly 😉), I've finally had an idea that refused to leave me and that I haven't seen written by anyone else yet, so I figured I'd give it a go. It's supposed to be multi-chapter, so I don't know when (or if) I finish it and I decided to only post it once it's all written so that I don't stress myself over it. But it's so much fun to try something new! The last few months have been rather difficult and I found out that interacting with people about my favorite fandoms, either here or via fanfiction and stuff like that currently helps me relax better than watching/reading new things. I think it's probably about the feeling of community around shared interests vs. watching something on my own. There has been a lot of negativity in some online places I used to visit, mostly about news and politics but even some fandom stuff, so it's nice to have some spaces left (like here ❤️) where people are nice and supportive. And it's more rewarding to try to create something positive for me and hopefully for others, than waste energy and time arguing pointlessly on the internet.

Congrats on your fic and I hope you are able to finish it and enjoy writing it as well. Wish I had people I could talk about my stories with, but I really don’t sadly. (And I mean ones I can talk to on a daily basis)

Edited December 29, 2023 by ESS

[Annber03]

14 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

I have started writing my first fanfic some time ago. After 16 years of reading fanfiction (yes, I remember it exactly 😉), I've finally had an idea that refused to leave me and that I haven't seen written by anyone else yet, so I figured I'd give it a go. It's supposed to be multi-chapter, so I don't know when (or if) I finish it and I decided to only post it once it's all written so that I don't stress myself over it. But it's so much fun to try something new! The last few months have been rather difficult and I found out that interacting with people about my favorite fandoms, either here or via fanfiction and stuff like that currently helps me relax better than watching/reading new things. I think it's probably about the feeling of community around shared interests vs. watching something on my own. There has been a lot of negativity in some online places I used to visit, mostly about news and politics but even some fandom stuff, so it's nice to have some spaces left (like here ❤️) where people are nice and supportive. And it's more rewarding to try to create something positive for me and hopefully for others, than waste energy and time arguing pointlessly on the internet.

Woo! Glad you're getting to have some fun with this story and are dipping your toes into the fanfic world :D. I hope all goes well with that and it's the start of a fun time for you in fandom in general.

What fandom is this for, and what's the story about, if I may ask? 

[JustHereForFood]

4 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Woo! Glad you're getting to have some fun with this story and are dipping your toes into the fanfic world :D. I hope all goes well with that and it's the start of a fun time for you in fandom in general.

What fandom is this for, and what's the story about, if I may ask? 

Thank you. It's for the Good Omens fandom which is very active. (I am not kidding, there are currently over 64K fanfics and when I browse through the updated fics and check the dates, there are usually about 100 new or updated fics per day and it has been like that since season 2 was released in July.) So, on one hand there is a lot of potential that people will read my fic, but at the same time it can sort of get lost among the rest (but I have to finish it first before worrying about that, lol). I am writing a post-season 2 story, which is funny because I still prefer reading pre-season 2 (there is a lot of very good stuff, so I have quite a lot of authors bookmarked that I still need to catch up on). I actually avoided the early season 2 fics, because due to how it ended (with a quite shocking cliffhanger/set up for season 3), there were initially a lot of fics that just tried to "fix" the ending - I completely understand the motivation behind that, but it didn't make for a compelling story IMO. But there have since been some very good post-season 2 stories and I expect there will be more now, because we finally got a confirmation that we will get a 3rd season, but it will still probably take 3 or 4 years. There was a 4 year wait between seasons 1 and 2, hence the huge number of fanfics.

[Mabinogia]

20 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

But it's so much fun to try something new! The last few months have been rather difficult and I found out that interacting with people about my favorite fandoms, either here or via fanfiction and stuff like that currently helps me relax better than watching/reading new things. I think it's probably about the feeling of community around shared interests vs. watching something on my own.

This is what Fanfic, and fandom in general, should be about. It's what it was when I started. A group of strangers from all over the world coming together to discuss a common interest. Fanfic should be fun, fun to write, fun to read and fun to discuss. When it stopped being fun (for House, as the shipping wars between House/Cuddy and House/Cameron could get pretty nasty) I left the forum, though I didn't give up writing, I loved writing them and only stopped when I didn't love it anymore and had moved on. 

 

On 12/29/2023 at 1:50 AM, Annber03 said:

And even for those who are still engaged with the canon itself, I mean...it's hard to keep a fandom active when everything's on, like, fifty streaming services now and shows only last a season or two and don't get the chance to really get off the ground and develop the characters or a fandom around them. Or people will be obsessed over the new shiny series and then in a few months' time there's another one they get into and they all migrate there. Add in the super long wait between seasons of things now and people struggle to keep talking and theorizing about everything because the momentum can't sustain itself for that long. 

It's just not nearly as easy to build a stable, long-lasting fandom community anymore even when you want to do so. 

Yeah, the "binge model" has been brutal for fandoms. I weep for the collective attention span. Lockwood & Co was one of the best new shows Netflix put out, great acting, great story, beautifully filmed, but it didn't "break out" with instant Squid Games level of viewers and was cancelled. (yes, I will die on this hill!) It is a shame because it could have gone on for years, unlike your flash in the pan Squid Games type bemouth. The days of building a strong, dedicated fandom slowly are gone. Now fandoms are more like locusts, latching on to the latest "hit" devouring it quickly and moving on to the next. 

Warning: I'm about to sound real old now...

I pity this generation of fanfic writers because, the collective Fanbase has so much being thrown at them so fast, and most of it doesn't last long, and now everyone watches at different times (some binge, some watch ep by ep, some as soon as the show drops, some wait) that it is hard to build up that community. 

[Annber03]

7 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Thank you. It's for the Good Omens fandom which is very active. (I am not kidding, there are currently over 64K fanfics and when I browse through the updated fics and check the dates, there are usually about 100 new or updated fics per day and it has been like that since season 2 was released in July.) So, on one hand there is a lot of potential that people will read my fic, but at the same time it can sort of get lost among the rest (but I have to finish it first before worrying about that, lol). I am writing a post-season 2 story, which is funny because I still prefer reading pre-season 2 (there is a lot of very good stuff, so I have quite a lot of authors bookmarked that I still need to catch up on). I actually avoided the early season 2 fics, because due to how it ended (with a quite shocking cliffhanger/set up for season 3), there were initially a lot of fics that just tried to "fix" the ending - I completely understand the motivation behind that, but it didn't make for a compelling story IMO. But there have since been some very good post-season 2 stories and I expect there will be more now, because we finally got a confirmation that we will get a 3rd season, but it will still probably take 3 or 4 years. There was a 4 year wait between seasons 1 and 2, hence the huge number of fanfics.

Ahhhhhhhh, of course, yeah, I've heard a lot about that fandom and its explosion in popularity with the show and everything :D. There's quite a few fans of that show in my current fandom as well, so I've learned a bit about the show and characters/ships through them as a result :). I've never read the book or seen the series, but I may have to remedy that at some point, all the talk about both have me so curious.

And ha, yes, I've also heard about the ending being very dramatic...and I'm with yo on the "compelling story" element. I dunno, maybe I'm weird, but I like endings or storylines like that from time to time, the kind that leave everything in a precarious place for the characters or have them at odds with each other or whatnot. I like the tension that can come from that and seeing how these characters who are normally so close will overcome these obstacles and work out and resolve those problems, or how it will change and affect their dynamic going forward. I think it makes for a lot of fun and intriguing places to go in fanfic. I love happy endings and my favorite characters banding together and being close and all that good stuff, too, of course, but yeah, sometimes you need that tension in a story, and there can be some really interesting things one can do with that setup.

I've never really been the sort to do "fix it" fics. I don't think about storylines in that way. If I take a story in a different direction, it's not a "fix it" scenario so much as just imagining another route things could've gone. It's not always the case, but so often ,it seems like the whole "fix it" attitude among fans comes with this implication that they know better or that they're writing the story the way it SHOULD have gone and there's something about that attitude that just kind of rubs me the wrong way, an arrogance that I don't care for. And they also often seem to overlook the limitations and issues that professional writers have to deal with when writing storylines that fanfic writers don't have to worry about as well. It's totally fine to disagree with and not like the way a storyline went, and I'm not saying professional writers can't mess things up or turn out something genuinely crappy, they definitely can. But not liking how a storyline turned out doesn't automatically make it "bad", and sometimes being upset with a storyline is the entire point. 

Anywho, got off track there, but yeah, I'm glad you're getting into a fandom that's so active and so passionate, and that there's so much fic to read and so many people to interact with. I hope you have fun with your story - if you ever wish to share a link to it here at any point for others to read, feel free!

[Cloud9Shopper]

Nice to see this thread has been active again recently! 

I just finished my first ever 100,000-word fic last week. It’s in the ER fandom. If the fic were a book, it would be 245 pages! I am also trying to get up some other oneshots before I get into my projects for 2024.

Here is the fic if anyone is interested. It’s angst but has moments of hopefulness sprinkled throughout as well:

Even on My Weakest Days

[JustHereForFood]

23 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

This is what Fanfic, and fandom in general, should be about. It's what it was when I started. A group of strangers from all over the world coming together to discuss a common interest. Fanfic should be fun, fun to write, fun to read and fun to discuss. When it stopped being fun (for House, as the shipping wars between House/Cuddy and House/Cameron could get pretty nasty) I left the forum, though I didn't give up writing, I loved writing them and only stopped when I didn't love it anymore and had moved on. 

 

Yeah, the "binge model" has been brutal for fandoms. I weep for the collective attention span. Lockwood & Co was one of the best new shows Netflix put out, great acting, great story, beautifully filmed, but it didn't "break out" with instant Squid Games level of viewers and was cancelled. (yes, I will die on this hill!) It is a shame because it could have gone on for years, unlike your flash in the pan Squid Games type bemouth. The days of building a strong, dedicated fandom slowly are gone. Now fandoms are more like locusts, latching on to the latest "hit" devouring it quickly and moving on to the next. 

Warning: I'm about to sound real old now...

I pity this generation of fanfic writers because, the collective Fanbase has so much being thrown at them so fast, and most of it doesn't last long, and now everyone watches at different times (some binge, some watch ep by ep, some as soon as the show drops, some wait) that it is hard to build up that community. 

I might be lucky with my favorite fandoms, because yes, I've certainly noticed what you describe in some fandoms, but some of the others are still pretty strong IMO, particularly for sci-fi and fantasy genres and most of the shows I'm obsessed with fall in that category. I certainly prefer the kind of discussion that happens on forums where you can have separate threads for every topic, over the "social media model" where people seem to talk over each other. And many forums for individual shows have disappeared over time or people have stopped posting in them, even for shows that are still ongoing. Which is why I'm grateful for this site where all of the shows are together and we even have the Everything Else TV section for general discussion. But I have occasionally been able to find some new places where interesting discussions still occur when I was desperate to read more, even though it sometimes takes time. I even ventured into Tumblr for the first time, which was certainly interesting experience 😄. There are also some good discussions in youtube comment sections, if you're lucky and someone is doing some interesting analysis for your favorite shows. (Although some fandoms sadly attract a lot of those anti-woke assholes that spam the videos with their toxicity, so it can be very hit-and-miss.) 

 

17 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Ahhhhhhhh, of course, yeah, I've heard a lot about that fandom and its explosion in popularity with the show and everything :D. There's quite a few fans of that show in my current fandom as well, so I've learned a bit about the show and characters/ships through them as a result :). I've never read the book or seen the series, but I may have to remedy that at some point, all the talk about both have me so curious.

And ha, yes, I've also heard about the ending being very dramatic...and I'm with yo on the "compelling story" element. I dunno, maybe I'm weird, but I like endings or storylines like that from time to time, the kind that leave everything in a precarious place for the characters or have them at odds with each other or whatnot. I like the tension that can come from that and seeing how these characters who are normally so close will overcome these obstacles and work out and resolve those problems, or how it will change and affect their dynamic going forward. I think it makes for a lot of fun and intriguing places to go in fanfic. I love happy endings and my favorite characters banding together and being close and all that good stuff, too, of course, but yeah, sometimes you need that tension in a story, and there can be some really interesting things one can do with that setup.

I've never really been the sort to do "fix it" fics. I don't think about storylines in that way. If I take a story in a different direction, it's not a "fix it" scenario so much as just imagining another route things could've gone. It's not always the case, but so often ,it seems like the whole "fix it" attitude among fans comes with this implication that they know better or that they're writing the story the way it SHOULD have gone and there's something about that attitude that just kind of rubs me the wrong way, an arrogance that I don't care for. And they also often seem to overlook the limitations and issues that professional writers have to deal with when writing storylines that fanfic writers don't have to worry about as well. It's totally fine to disagree with and not like the way a storyline went, and I'm not saying professional writers can't mess things up or turn out something genuinely crappy, they definitely can. But not liking how a storyline turned out doesn't automatically make it "bad", and sometimes being upset with a storyline is the entire point. 

Anywho, got off track there, but yeah, I'm glad you're getting into a fandom that's so active and so passionate, and that there's so much fic to read and so many people to interact with. I hope you have fun with your story - if you ever wish to share a link to it here at any point for others to read, feel free!

Ha, I love it when people are aware of what is happening in shows they don't watch through their association with other fandoms. It's how I've knows the basics about Supernatural for example even though I've never seen a single episode, just because the fandom was connected to Sherlock and Doctor Who. I gained at least enough information to be sure that I'm better off not watching it, even if others were recommending it and I think it payed off when people started to drop out after some time and explaining their frustrations with the show.

I completely agree with everything you say about "fix it" fics. I don't usually think about fixing the story, I just like to read fics that don't deviate much from canon and use existing events and relationships to build up on them and take the story further. In this case, I think that most writers were still in the "denial stage" when they wrote them, as I could see that many of them were written within a few days after the new season was released. Which means people probably binge-watched all of the episodes and immediately started writing. Personally, I was wary to even write longer comments immediately after watching, I usually need to sit with the story for a few days to be sure what I even think, especially if the ending is as emotional as this one. Once I calmed down, I realized I loved the ending, my only problem (and I think this was true for many other fans based on what I've seen) was that for a long time we weren't sure we will get another season and it would have been a sad ending if that was all we got. Basically, it was a great way to end the penultimate season, but would be a terrible ending for the whole series. Once we got the confirmation of the 3rd season, I think the whole fandom calmed down and is now patiently waiting. Or, you know, patiently waiting while reading and writing tons of fanfiction and analysing every single scene over and over 😉.

 

[Mabinogia]

47 minutes ago, JustHereForFood said:

Once I calmed down, I realized I loved the ending, my only problem (and I think this was true for many other fans based on what I've seen) was that for a long time we weren't sure we will get another season and it would have been a sad ending if that was all we got. Basically, it was a great way to end the penultimate season, but would be a terrible ending for the whole series.

I felt the same. I felt like I knew the creators didn't intend their story to end that way, this was just the second act conflict, but I have had unfinished stories get cancelled on me so was holding my breath waiting for the renewal announcement. 

That said, the season 2 ending is absolutely perfect for a fanfic writer. It leaves so many possible directions one could go. I would love to try my hand at a Good Omens fanfic, but I just don't know that I can do the characters justice. Coincidentally, I am almost done with my third re-read of the book. Maybe after that I'll try something. 

[Annber03]

7 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

Ha, I love it when people are aware of what is happening in shows they don't watch through their association with other fandoms. It's how I've knows the basics about Supernatural for example even though I've never seen a single episode, just because the fandom was connected to Sherlock and Doctor Who. I gained at least enough information to be sure that I'm better off not watching it, even if others were recommending it and I think it payed off when people started to drop out after some time and explaining their frustrations with the show.

LOL, oh, god, yes, same about "Supernatural" :D. I've only ever seen, like, one episode of that show, but yeah, I still feel like I know so much about it simply because of the way it's bled over into my fandoms, too (you'd be amazed at how much "Supernatural"/"Criminal Minds" crossover fic there is out there, for instance :p. Same goes for the Marvel/DC stuff, not a genre I follow, I haven't seen those movies, and yet I still feel like I know so much about a lot of the characters within and some of the big dramas surrounding them. The joys of spending time in multi-fandom spaces, you learn a LOT that way :D. 

Quote

I completely agree with everything you say about "fix it" fics. I don't usually think about fixing the story, I just like to read fics that don't deviate much from canon and use existing events and relationships to build up on them and take the story further. In this case, I think that most writers were still in the "denial stage" when they wrote them, as I could see that many of them were written within a few days after the new season was released. Which means people probably binge-watched all of the episodes and immediately started writing. Personally, I was wary to even write longer comments immediately after watching, I usually need to sit with the story for a few days to be sure what I even think, especially if the ending is as emotional as this one. Once I calmed down, I realized I loved the ending, my only problem (and I think this was true for many other fans based on what I've seen) was that for a long time we weren't sure we will get another season and it would have been a sad ending if that was all we got. Basically, it was a great way to end the penultimate season, but would be a terrible ending for the whole series. Once we got the confirmation of the 3rd season, I think the whole fandom calmed down and is now patiently waiting. Or, you know, patiently waiting while reading and writing tons of fanfiction and analysing every single scene over and over 😉.

That's an excellent point, too, yes, that people's immediate emotions after an episode can affect the way they see a plotline or write about it. Absolutely. And in some ways, that can provide for some good fic as well, because the emotions are raw and the reaction is so strong that the story just kind of comes out, and it can be a very exciting experience, both for the writer and the reader.

But yeah, on the other hand, sometimes it is best to just give it a few days to process everything, too, and look at the storyline in the context of everything else going on. I also take your point about the difference between a certain kind of ending that works for the season versus one that would work as a series finale, indeed, that's absolutely a factor, too. 

I am glad that your show will be getting another season, though, so yeah, hopefully that puts fans a little more at ease and they can move on to more speculative fic about what might happen next season :D. That's always a fun type of fic to write, too, though those are also the ones that are most in danger of being very different from how the canon itself actually plays out, so...:p. 

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

I am glad that your show will be getting another season, though, so yeah, hopefully that puts fans a little more at ease and they can move on to more speculative fic about what might happen next season :D. That's always a fun type of fic to write, too, though those are also the ones that are most in danger of being very different from how the canon itself actually plays out, so...:p. 

I actually had one occasion where I wrote a speculative fic between seasons and one of the "scene's" I wrote actually did happen on the show. It wasn't anything major but it felt so awesome that I thought the way the show writers did. As a writer I found it very affirming. Probably never happened again, but at least I'll always have that moment. lol

[Annber03]

Hahaha, that's fantastic :D. And also a bit spooky, to know you were that accurate with your guess :p.

But yeah, while I don't need canon to confirm my speculations to enjoy it, it is cool when it does confirm some of that stuff. It's nice to know you're not completely misreading the storyline or the characters or something :p. 

[JustHereForFood]

13 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I actually had one occasion where I wrote a speculative fic between seasons and one of the "scene's" I wrote actually did happen on the show. It wasn't anything major but it felt so awesome that I thought the way the show writers did. As a writer I found it very affirming. Probably never happened again, but at least I'll always have that moment. lol

That's awesome! I have read one GO fanfic between seasons 1 and 2 that was about 

Spoiler

Aziraphale wanting to make Crowley angel again

which I would not have expected to become so relevant - I immediately remembered it after season 2 and had to write a comment to the writer about it.

[ESS]

Well I just posted up a new one shot for my OTC Gemma/Nero which is my very first one for them. 💓 I'm trying my best to get over the fact that this couple will never get a lot of reception or recongition, but it's not easy at all. I'm still stuggling everyday. 

Edited January 2 by ESS

[Annber03]

Good luck! I hope it does get some notice and some readership :). And never hurts to keep searching around for a fandom space that might be open to your pairing as well, I'd like to think there's got to be somewhere online where you could find likeminded fans to talk about these two with. 

[ESS]

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Good luck! I hope it does get some notice and some readership :). And never hurts to keep searching around for a fandom space that might be open to your pairing as well, I'd like to think there's got to be somewhere online where you could find likeminded fans to talk about these two with. 

Thanks! But there isn't anywhere I can think of trust me - I've tried it all all ready. and I've tried posting up at least one story everywhere I can think of tumblr, YouTube, FB SOA groups (although I'm NOT in those anymore because mainly I can't handle the Gemma hate in them although I just stay away from them in general as well because of other reasons I'm not going to get into on here) I have a few friends I talk to about them who seem to love them, but reading fanfiction some do and some just lurk with that. I've evem tried the SOA reditt although again with the Gemma hate I just didn't want to post my story there - honestly I'm afraid to post my Gemma/Nero stories in anything SOA in general related because of the hate for Gemma. 

Edited January 3 by ESS

[Annber03]

Yeah, and with Reddit, most subreddits there generally don't tend to be good spaces for fanfic in general. Not unless the subreddit is specifically dedicated to that topic (I know there's one somewhere for "Harry Potter" fanfic, and then there's the Fanfiction subreddit, but that's multi-fandom. 

Have you tried Discord? Are there any spaces like that that might be up your alley? I'm in one of those kinds of spaces for my current fandom and we've got a nice little group there for discussion about the show and the characters/pairings and share fic and whatnot. 

If there isn't a Discord for your ship, maybe you could start one and invite the few people you talk with who do like the pairing, and maybe they might know some other people they can reach out to and invite in to join the fun, too.

[ESS]

2 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Yeah, and with Reddit, most subreddits there generally don't tend to be good spaces for fanfic in general. Not unless the subreddit is specifically dedicated to that topic (I know there's one somewhere for "Harry Potter" fanfic, and then there's the Fanfiction subreddit, but that's multi-fandom. 

Have you tried Discord? Are there any spaces like that that might be up your alley? I'm in one of those kinds of spaces for my current fandom and we've got a nice little group there for discussion about the show and the characters/pairings and share fic and whatnot. 

If there isn't a Discord for your ship, maybe you could start one and invite the few people you talk with who do like the pairing, and maybe they might know some other people they can reach out to and invite in to join the fun, too.

Yes I've tried Discord as well nothing there for SOA in general including fanfiction or even any servers for it I checked all ready and yes I've tried making a server for Gemma/Nero at one point there and didn't work at all so again like I said there's really nothing - you name it I've tried it. And honestly it seems the only fanfiction anyone in the SOA fandom (not counting the few I know who truly ship Gemma/Nero together) reads (if they even do that is) is of the popular couples which were/are Jax/Tara (main couple and most popular) and Gemma/Clay (main secondary couple) and personally speaking these two couples I hate(d) and cannot stand as they are and were both toxic as hell among other things that's/are wrong with them. 😭 😠 🙄 So sadly I'm out of luck with my couple literally. 

Edited January 3 by ESS

[ESS]

Well I took a shot and posted my fanfics for Gemma/Nero over on the tumblr blog I have for them so we’ll see what happens, but I’m not optimistic all that much. (I had a few posted over there for quite awhile, but deleted them out of frustration so I’m trying again) 😭❤️🤞😭

[ESS]

I’ve done & posted up a series of one shot stories on Gemma/Nero I got some hits, but not many comments unfortunately. I also posted the links onto my tumblr blog I made for them no bites yet, but I’m gonna try and not be so frustrated about that and wait patiently. 

[ESS]

I just wrote the last of my one shots for Gemro (Gemma/Nero) for now..I might write more later. I think my writing sucks, but whatever I'm the only one writing for these two so I carry on alone as much as I can and sometimes you have to take what you can get especially for rare pairs, but it's so hard and frustrating as hell doing it by yourself all the time especially when you don't want it that way like me and it's even worse because you can't do anything about it or change it. I also updated chapter 2 on my one Gemro story which is newer. 

Edited January 14 by ESS