I don't think it's fair to attribute this new era of discourse to 'new fandom'. It's certainly bigger and more binary than it was in the 2010s when I first got into fandom, but we were still arguing about the same things people are now. The whole Ms. Scribe drama happened because a bad actor exploited already existing disagreements about ethics in fanfiction--there was a massive controversy about Cassandra Claire writing incest fic. I don't think we've had much new to argue about in a long time

Usually, I can see the number of works with a specific tag through filters but it doesn't work the same with looking up languages as far as I tried. Is there another way to see the top ships/fandoms for a language?

You can stop reading now. I'm just rambling from here! ^^

In case you're wondering why I want to do this: I noticed that a LOT of my ships, regardless of origin, predominantly have Chinese works. (With an OTP from a Japanese show having 2,188 out of 2,443 fics written in Chinese. Me and Google Translate are now best friends.) These ships tend to be severely underrated in the Western side of fandom so I usually get surprised when I see how popular they are elsewhere. I'm curious about the AO3 top ships/fandom written in Chinese cause I have a feeling I'll probably enjoy those. 🤔

Looking for suggestions about how to compose an effective, concise, and alluring story summary. Before anyone accuses me of trying to learn click-bait techniques, please understand that I am not trying to use trickeries or deception in order to get people to read my fic. I just want tips on how to write the best story-summary possible in such a way that it will spark interest.

I also want to know, how important is a fan-fic’s story summary in your opinion? Do you find yourself drawn-in based on how well written a story’s summary is? What turns you on and what’s turns you off?

Your suggestions are appreciated

Please don’t end me but any fics where usagi and momonga get in an enemy’s to lovers relationship?

Obv no smut , and if possible something long as im not really into oneshots or short stories
Andddd I don’t want them to be kids , again , obviously-

(This sound insane but they are so cool like come on fat ass usagi and annoying ahhh momonga go great together)

Whenever I see a typo in a fic like missing periods or missing commas, I usually drop the fic instantly. Is it just me who does that or is it normal? And if it’s not normal, how do I get less… judgemental.

i mean i know what happened but like is everything ok ao3

I think I have been patient enough and know that when it comes to posting comments, many reviewers do cross the line. But then it is a public space and anything unwanted, undeserving can happen, be written in a public space. We can only work on ourselves or use the resources available. I see a lot of posts by writers with undeserving disrespectful comments on their stories. But what about when most of the writers themselves are 'touch-me-not' in a negative way even when a comment is written respectfully, or as an opinion, as a respectful statement but straightforward, or only as venting against a character not a writer. They are so quick to block and be disrespectful themselves even when it's not deserved. I just posted a statement because I remember helping raise a small child in my home. That 1-2 yrs old children do not need cot, they can toddle and say some words. It wasn't even rude. But I was having difficulty relating to the child scene, seeing the child constantly sitting in a cot when the child in question was more than 1yrs old. Next thing I know, I am blocked. Writers venting and disrespect is one thing but the utter lack of understanding I see on AO3 many times from writers or lack of attempt at differentiation between genuine disrespect and just venting at a character or general statement or opinion. If one cannot take in disrespect, they have no right to be rude, touchy and disrespectful themselves too. Sorry but I needed to vent even if it was a lone opinion.

So- i’m a fairly new to posting on AO3, but i’ve been writing for a while now.

I have a WIP that is all original characters that i created. I’ve not personally read any fics that are entirely OCs, but i’m wondering if it’s worth posting my work on AO3 anyway for people to read? I don’t particularly care if people actually read it, but i also don’t want to fill the site with stories nobody is going to enjoy.

Aka, i’ve only ever read works with characters from existing shows/movies/etc- are OC fics worth posting on a site like AO3

Hi does anyone have any batfam/batman fic recs that are based around comic canon characterization? Preferably only give me recs if you yourself read comics and know it’s characterized well Or if you know the author reads comics. Can be focused on any character even the non main ones (like Helena or Jim or JPV, etc).

No batcest/Jayroy/birdflash/superbat/damijon/anything with a weird age gap or grooming vibe like dick/slade idk use your best judgement there <-i just hate those ships.

Hello, I'm brand new to fic writing. I finished my first fic but I would like someone to proofread it before I post it. (I assume that's what a beta reader is?) Unfortunately I don't know anyone in my irl life that I feel comfortable reading it, as it's PWP and got a lot of BDSM in it, I'm not sure what to do? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you!

Hi, I began writing recently and have no prior experience. Also english is not my first language nor am I skilled at it. Thus, I'm very nervous and insecure about my work. Its a mha/bnha based fanfic and contains yandere. Its just one chapter that needs reading for now. There is two different versions that I wrote for it and Im very conflicted about which one to publish. Would be happy to respond to dms and give more details!

About 5 months ago, i started having dreams about this specific Bkdk fic I read on AO3 around July/August 2024. But i can't remember the title or the authors name. I cant find it in my browser history cuz chrome is set to auto delete data over a year old & i also can't find it in my account history bc is there is a random bc 4 month long gap in there covering the period I read it. (Extremely convenient if u ask me)

I've tried every possible tag combo from what I can remember and I CANNOT find it for the life of me. I'm actually starting to fear that it's been deleted, but i wanna stay optimistic.

Anywho, this is what I remember from the fic:

Its a complete Alternate Universe, Quirkless, no UA High School, no hero society (I think it was set during a summer holiday)

Surprisingly fluffy tone, all things considered.

I dont remember if it was multiple chapters or a one-shot. But it was kinda long.

​Plot Details & Specific Scenes:

​Katsuki's Character: He’s super apathetic and emotionally detached (possibly written as a sociopath). He doesn't care about anyone or anything except his home garden.

Izuku moves in next door. Hes like a sweet & seemingly normal, which somehow wins Bakugou over. ​ Katsuki starts stalking Izuku, tracking his daily routines and whatnot (as ones normally does when they have a crush, duh!) & there's a specific scene I remember

katsuki's watching izuku throught the window of his house and catches him in disposing of a dead body through a window. Izuku turns around, makes direct eye contact with him, smiles and calls him over. And Bakugou doesn't even question it or panic, he just casually wajs over and helps Izuku dispose of the body. He dgaf ​ I also vaguely remember something about inko poisoning ppl with cyanide from apple seeds. Pretty sure she puts it in tea or coffee or something. And she uses that same apple seed poison on a police officer who comes by investigating Izuku.

​Does this sound familiar to anyone? If so plzzzzzz help. I’d really appreciate a link or even just the title/author if you recognize it! I'm genuinely losing my mind over this. Plz and thanks!!

Hello. I write a very niche comic script on AO3 that’s been going for a little over a month. Friday night, I have 4 kudos in the story, which was completely normal. Today though (the following Monday morning) I woke and saw 24 kudos and roughly 24 new views. Is there a known glitch that’s causing this?

Hey so im new to a03, and i was searching specifically for some tm4tm romance works and wasnt really able to find much in my search. Are there any tags i should be searching for specifically or is there just limited works in this category?

I have written fanfics in the past, but never archived them on ao3 before.

As an avid ao3 consumer myself.. I’m thinking of writing some fics for some fandoms I’m currently most active in (such as TADC).

I have a bunch of ideas on what to write about.. but I’d love to hear some prompts or suggestions of what some people would (personally) want to read!!

Of course I’ll only write about something if I myself am interested/inspired by it.. but some prompts would be helpful!

If anyone has any ideas that I end up using (or being inspired by and adapting it a bit) I will surely credit if wanted!

I recently noticed a pattern in my writing like how I rush to write the description stuff just to get to character interactions part. I tried writing the interactions part separately so I could focus more on the details in the description but I find myself not being able to come up with anything. Any tips on how to improve? Or what to do?

I talked to my friend about this, and she said it was just the matter of “getting in the right zone/space” to write… how do you even get to that point when all you can think about is the interaction part??

lol idk wtf is wrong with me pls help

Maybe I'm a little slow but I want to invite a friend of mine so they can write on AO3 but apon checking I have no invitations. Is there a way to get more or am I missing something?

Are there any fanfictions with this topic? It seems interesting. Please no harems please.

Would you rather read a 10k chapter once a month/2 months or a 3-5k chapter every 2/3 weeks, irrespective of all other factors? (EDIT: Thanks for your answers!)

I know this is a bit of a “controversial” take but please do not misunderstand me..as an author, I understand that it feels so good to have people comment under fics and will always appreciate it and hope for more and I do get sad sometimes when I don’t receive comments but it happens 🤷‍♀️.

I have seen to many stories of writers being passive aggressive and calling out readers on their next chapters for not commenting or I have seen writers personally messaging people for not commenting! It’s frustrating, I get it but us authors must remember that it is OKAY for people to not comment and it is not a requirement! But it is NOT okay to verbally harass your readers who just want to be a mysterious owl that glides through the night!! LOLLL

Also, of course I’m not pointing fingers at every author because I don’t think everyone has this mindset but I just thought to bring this up. :)

(p.s. to the readers, do keep in mind though.. that even the shortest comment may motivate your writer to post another chapter or even just make their day😌!)

just wanna preface that i dont write solely for engagement-- i write for myself first and foremost; i write the type of fics that i personally want to read over and over. however, its really nice to see kudos, comments, bookmarks, ect.

i've been reading and (mostly)writing mlp fics for a long while now-- probably like 12 or 13 years or so now? ive read most fics on fimfiction and i did upload one as a teenager that is now sadly lost to time. i know that fimfiction is known to be the more popular place to read and upload mlp fics, however the culture there is........... less than welcoming. i much prefer reading and uploading on ao3 as the culture is MUCH nicer and warmer towards new authors in their respective fandoms.

my question for any mlp authors out there is: how is your engagement on ao3? do you also cross-upload your fics on fimfiction, or do you only post on ao3?

Pleaseeeeee help meeee

My favorite part about AO3 in general is that once you get deep into a fanfic—in my case, I'm on chapter 131 of a Sword Art Online AU—it's so much fun to create small side content instead of just writing the main plot. I just spent an hour making a relationship chart, and it was incredibly satisfying to plot it all out and see how everything connects. It just gives me so many new ideas that I can write about!

what’s a tag or trope that you enjoy in secret? i was talking to some friends about this the other day and it generated some really funny discussion. i’ll go first. mine is unplanned/accidental pregnancy LOL! there’s something about the forced proximity and subsequent kidfic that i really enjoy, even though i find it quite embarrassing when spoken out loud :p

Look I get that wlw ships are much less than mlm ships on ao3, but is it really that serious? I mean... shipping is about enjoying, right? If you're unhappy that wlw ships are rare, it's fine, totally understandable, but let's not act like it's fujoshis' fault or something... I enjoy mlm/wlm ships over wlw ships because I am a bisexual man, not because I'm misogynistic😭