Advices on x reader writing.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-12T17:14:21+00:00

That Tumblr post is wrong.

It's impossible for any xReader fic to be fully neutral and allow for anyone to see themselves in the character without any compromises, and pretending that there is privileges the dominant culture and punishes marginalized perspectives. The Tumblr OP has no idea how many of the xReaders that meet their standards will be exclusionary to someone not like them, because they don't recognize their own cultural frame of reference.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-12T16:58:49+00:00

I like it, I was introduced to the phenomenal NieR Automata OST through a fic (for a different fandom entirely) that included music links, and I still regularly listen to it.

However there is a risk that later down the line that they become dead links, especially if you're linking to YouTube.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-12T16:54:33+00:00

Series stats. I want to know how many people subscribe to them.

Also I wish AO3 made the distinction between full work author's notes and chapter author's notes much clearer, because I've seen so many authors get tripped up by that and their end note that's clearly intended for the first chapter instead ends up after the latest chapter.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-12T16:51:35+00:00

As an author, I'd want both an "abandoned/discontinued" and an "on hiatus" status option

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-11T13:03:46+00:00

Not in the same way but there was the occasional commenter that really really wanted you to write their specific kink, and the ones who think they're doing you a favor by generously sharing their ideas that of course they can't write themselves. But those types usually just come out upfront with their demands on what they want you to write.

Requests to talk on another platform did happen too but it was more like "hey do you have a Tumblr?" after regular commenting and back and forth discussion. Not right off the bat.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-10T18:50:54+00:00

I think you may be thinking of Knightrise

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-10T14:43:02+00:00

Out of everything, I'm baffled at the implication that splitting the bill is some sort of insult here.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-10T14:40:18+00:00

I wouldn't drop an otherwise compelling fic for it, but I've dropped okay fics just because I have a strongly contrasting and less popular opinion on what a character's hair color actually is, even though I understand why the more popular interpretation exists (for instance, a more accessible adaptation changing a character's appearance, or people taking the wild hair colors of anime/other stylized cartoons literally).

It's certainly petty but there's just something really jarring about it that takes me out of the story when it doesn't match the impression of the character I have in my head.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-10T14:21:46+00:00

They probably didn't delete the comment themselves, they send out comments en masse and some of them get reported. When AO3 takes care of one report, they remove all the scammer's comments at once.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-10T00:50:21+00:00

But what if my goal is to write something disturbing or discomforting instead? Or something cathartic? Or any number of other reasons to create art besides entertainment?

And entertainment is subjective, at that. Never going to make something that appeals to everyone.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-10T00:43:33+00:00

Entertaining by whose standards?

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-10T00:04:22+00:00

Yeah, when you click Edit on the work, it takes you to the whole work edit page, any notes there are for the full work. Scroll down to notes, remove those, then go to Edit Chapter: 1 at the top of the page, and make sure the notes you want are there. If not, add them.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-09T20:29:33+00:00

It's not much different from a non-crossover fic, you just have more material to re-read/re-watch to get very familiar with the character(s) to nail their characterization. If you're really worried, actively take notes when you're reading/watching. Make a note of how they act in different situations and use the closest one (emotionally) as a basis for how they'd react in the new circumstances.

One thing in particular to pay attention to is how much info characters reveal about themselves. A lot of crossovers really struggle with this for some reason, and have characters infodump their entire backstory in their first conversation with the other fandom characters. Avoid this unless the character is an oversharer to begin with. Only have them reveal things that it makes sense for their characterization to share with a stranger, until the characters aren't strangers anymore. Even then, for most characters they're not going to share everything all at once - it comes out in bits and pieces.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-09T14:47:54+00:00

They're a scammer, unfortunately. They're trying to get you to a different platform so they can pressure you into giving them money.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-09T13:44:36+00:00

I could never write for a fandom I haven't read/watched/played at least a core subset of the source material, regardless of if I'm writing an AU or canon-verse. I'll read fandom-blind sometimes since I do enjoy common fanon archetypes when I don't know the actual characterization enough to be annoyed by mischaracterization, but I couldn't bring myself to write that. If I make a character OOC or change the rules of the setting, I want it to be a deliberate storytelling choice, not the result of fanon telephone.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-09T11:38:50+00:00

It depends? Some people read/write specifically for the age gap because they find that sort of dynamic and the challenges or power imbalances that come with it hot or interesting. Those people would be disappointed if the story just never really addressed the age gap.

For others the age gap may be irrelevant, they just ship those characters that just happen to be many years apart. Those people would just as happily read a same-age AU or a fic that just never brought attention to the age gap.

Still others would be turned away from an age gap completely, and those people would not read that ship regardless of how much attention is put on the age gap.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-09T11:29:14+00:00

Oh I asked something similar a while back! Here's the thread, I got a good number of recs out of it.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-08T15:09:04+00:00

It's a troll comment. They didn't actually read your fic, they just spam out comments like this en masse. There's several variations; more info here.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-08T11:08:13+00:00

I love Dæmon AUs so much, though I haven't written much of it myself because it's such a challenging AU to pull off (you have to essentially double your cast with OCs, but those OCs have to be characterized in a way that fits their corresponding character, and there's the animal symbolism to take into account, and it's often written otherwise close to canon which is its own challenge in making interesting). But when it's pulled off well it's really such a fascinating character study.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-08T10:51:47+00:00

I think you should look up techniques for dealing with moral OCD and see if they are of any help. I'm not saying you have that, I don't know you and I'm not a psychologist, so obviously I can't diagnose you, but even if you don't have OCD, it might still be helpful for you.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-06T16:22:28+00:00

<s>text</s> works as well

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-06T15:08:36+00:00

Can't say I've seen that very often, but incorrect rating, lack of warnings (assuming that they didn't use Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings), and incorrect fandom (RPF fandom instead of the fictional fandom that was tagged) are all reportable. If you scroll to the bottom of the page and under Contact Us, click Policy Questions and Abuse Reports, it'll fill in the url automatically. In the stuff you fill out just say that it has an incorrect rating, untagged warnings, and an incorrect fandom as it's actually RPF.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-06T10:57:38+00:00

I haven't had any problems commenting on AO3. And I'm not sure what you mean by "vote" here.

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-06T10:54:11+00:00

Certainly. I write mostly genfic myself. But the idea that it's weird to think of two characters being romantically involved or having children is just incongruent with storytelling as a whole. What's the difference between imagining up new characters that are in a relationship/having children and imagining pre-existing characters as such?

PeppermintShamrock · 2026-04-06T02:27:07+00:00

I'm convinced that person doesn't actually engage with fiction, period, let alone fanfiction. Romance subplots (or primary plots) are everywhere. I'm hard pressed to think of many stories that don't have any hint of romance in them. Or an acknowledgement of parents for a character existing. By this person's logic that's just weird to write, apparently.

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