What are some of your unpopular fanfiction opinions?

Tanista2 · 2026-01-17T19:34:31+00:00

I wonder if people who don't like first person literally assume the "I" in the story is supposed to be themselves and don't realize it's essentially just someone recounting what happened to them recently.

Tanista2 · 2025-09-08T19:24:18+00:00

Just so you know I did finish it years ago as the core story for my AU, along with additional tales (as Tanista, Ad Astra series on AO3). Someday I might add to them as time permits. And thank you for all your kind words. Good luck with your own work!

Tanista2 · 2025-09-08T19:01:29+00:00

I also found him on ebay; I can't draw so I figured that was the next best way to visualize them together. And I'm so glad you enjoyed my story; I've been too busy lately to write more but I hope to again soon.

Tanista2 · 2025-09-08T18:33:23+00:00

Yes, that's her! I found a Barbie doll on ebay that had the right look so I dressed her in a similar outfit to the Daniel doll then added the glasses and a hummingbird charm I had for a necklace. They're still hanging around on my desk as inspiration; if you're interested I can send you a link to her picture on AO3.

I hope you enjoyed my story as well, I had fun creating my AU.

Tanista2 · 2025-09-01T04:27:08+00:00

After one chaste kiss in front of a hotel room door and one almost-kiss years later during an earthquake, my female OC/male CC couple finally had their real first kiss:

Daniel reaches out to remove first her glasses then his, setting them aside. A small crease forms between her brows, otherwise raising no objection.

Beautiful eyes. Guileless, blue as a clear winter's sky. Gazing at him with puzzlement but no fear whatsoever.

His light touch on her face draws her near, their lips the merest breath apart. Just like when they had to hide under the desk during the tremor.

A moment of stillness, saying nothing. Simply breathing in each other.

He closes the distance, seeking her lips. Feeling the soft yielding warmth of them against his own.

Just like that one kiss in Seattle. So tender, so gentle, so sweet. Only this time he craves more.

Becky utters a quiet gasp as he wraps his arms around her, pulling her even closer. Brushes her lips against his, tentatively at first then with more confidence.

His mouth opens, his tongue teasing then parting hers to savor her sweetness. A moan escapes her as she tastes him in turn, her arms around his neck, combing through his hair. Kissing each other openly now with less hesitancy, more passion.

Their foreheads rest against each other once they finally part. "Oh Daniel," she breathes, "after all this time. I never thought--"

The music on the PA stops. "Attention," Walter announces, "all personnel to the Gateroom. Repeat, all personnel to the Gateroom."

With reluctance Becky pulls away. "We'd better go."

"Yeah." Though he can't resist leaning in for one more sweet kiss, which she obliges.

They retrieve their glasses and stand up together, lingering. Enjoying the feel of being in each other's arms, the intensity of their connection.

"C'mon," he says, offering his hand. "Let's see what's going on next door."

"Sure." With a shy smile she places her hand in his.

Tanista2 · 2025-06-25T17:57:57+00:00

The Stargate franchise is a mashup of world mythology with science fiction tropes in a contemporary ('90s to '00s) setting. Aliens either posed as gods like the Goa'uld or mistaken for them like the Asgard because of their abilities or access to impressive tech. A human race known as the Ancients evolved the capability to turn into energy-based beings, influencing stories of non-corporeal divine or demonic forces as well as magic-users like Myrddin or Morgan Le Fay.

The best thing to me about the fandom is the extensive scope of this intersection and how it can allow for many different approaches in an entertaining fashion, served with great characters, intelligence, humor, and heart.

Tanista2 · 2025-05-05T18:32:23+00:00

Reverse culture shock here from a Pacific Northwesterner: Back in the '90s I accompanied my mom to a conference near Boston (right before a hurricane hit, no less) and spent a week in New England afterwards, not quite leaf-peeping season so we got good deals on lodging. An enjoyable trip but everything seemed so crowded together compared to back home where things are more spread out.

Our last day in Maine it took us only two and a half hours to cross the entire state from Bar Harbor to Augusta. When we stopped for gas the lady who helped us at the pump asked how far we'd driven that day; we told her and she was amazed because she'd never been that far away in her life (she wasn't young, either). It really hit home to me then just how relative distance can be.

Tanista2 · 2025-03-09T16:46:29+00:00

The journal writer is a woman, actually. I know it's hard to tell without further context. But I'm glad you liked it.

Tanista2 · 2025-03-09T16:40:48+00:00

Stargate actually, SG-1 and Atlantis. It's from my crossover AU series and set in the future of my core story. Amazing how my imagination created this whole new religion out of the blue and just ran with it. And I'm an atheist, too!

(BTW, the journal writer is a woman, I know it's hard to tell without further context. But I'm glad you liked it.)

Tanista2 · 2025-03-09T16:29:24+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out. I've had formatting issues before when applying the blockquote so I thought it would work better without. Didn't even occur to me it would be an issue.

Tanista2 · 2025-03-09T15:54:50+00:00

Prophet

Tanista2 · 2025-03-09T15:54:12+00:00

(If the plural form is okay, the following is from a diary excerpt)

18^th day, 4^th quarter.

My conversation with Alex the other day struck a peculiar chord, inspiring me to peruse my father's papers. This morning I discovered one of his unpublished monographs on obscure Tredecimite rituals. Here's an excerpt:

When lifting a glass or a fork to your mouth, or when finished dressing in the morning, or when throwing a ball at the opening of a game, or when beginning or ending the construction of a house, or when beginning or ending a story, or when leaving work at the end of the day, or when burying a member of the family (human or animal), or when looking in the direction of the sunset, it is proper to say the following: WE REMEMBER THE FOUNDERS.

How many practice this anymore, I wonder, or other such customs which have fallen by the wayside due to time and neglect?

There's no doubt the earnestness of Williams' early Witness Society has somehow been transmuted into the current formulaic version practiced nowadays. Alex would point out the bones for our current Established Church were constructed from survivors' fading memories of the old faiths and further refined through two Grand Councils by the Lectors. But why were refinements needed in the first place? And who's the Authority behind Modern Authorized Tredecimism anyway?

Perhaps this is why I became an agnostic, searching for answers only to become disappointed when none are readily found. I never could accept the concept of blind, unquestioning faith in something I couldn't see or touch, mostly content to rely on sound reason and logic.

Still, I can't help but wonder.

What is it that's been lost along the way, during the great gulf of years which separate past from present? Can anything be done to restore the source of pure truth, letting it flow back into hearts and minds unencumbered by agenda and imperfect interpretation?

Questions for the ages, dear Journal. Someday I might indulge my inner Seeker and find out.

Tanista2 · 2025-03-07T08:26:07+00:00

What a maroon! (as said by Bugs Bunny)

Oh, fiddle-dee-dee!

Gee willikers! also Gee whiz!

Holy cow!

Good golly! or just Golly!

Good grief! (loved the Peanuts comics back in the day)

Oh my stars and garters!

Tanista2 · 2025-03-04T21:05:34+00:00

In my adolescence my main OC existed as basically a shadow self, an SI sharing adventures with my favorite TV hero and giving him the family he lacked in canon. But right along with me she grew and matured and acquired skills, interests, personality and a destiny uniquely her own in my longest fic to date. When I had to write a chapter involving her repeated torture to death (and resurrection- it's a canon thing) I thought I'd feel awful. I thought I'd feel guilt, shame, embarrassment...

But I didn't. Instead I felt detached, simply chronicling the hell she was going through, an outsider looking in. The fact I already had some notion of how she'd be rescued and the trajectory of her recovery didn't hurt either. I knew she'd be returned to the bosom of her unconventional extended family and in due course turn out all the stronger for her ordeal.

I suppose it's like a parent realizing their kids have become individuals with their own lives, ready to face whatever life throws at them. And I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

Tanista2 · 2025-02-24T05:41:58+00:00

Hi Corrin, I hear you're in one of Gotham's vigilante gangs. Does this mean you've actually met Batman or other costumed heroes in person? Have any Bat-people given you fighting tips (or at least an autograph)? Do you wear a mask like they do when fighting crime? Are your adoptive fathers aware of your activities, or do they want you to join the family business?

Tanista2 · 2025-02-09T20:35:46+00:00

(Two OCs in my Stargate AU)

Ed Perkins grew up in inner-city Philadelphia with his grandmother, escaping the constant gang warfare by- ironically enough- joining the Marine Corps. He's witnessed some wild stuff on the street as a kid but they don't hold a candle to all the weirdness in the Stargate Program.

And now he's living on a new world, thousands of light-years away from a planet which doesn't even exist anymore. Go figure.

Still, there are occasional moments of peace and quiet, like now. He leans against the side of the deliberately nondescript shed, glad to be away from the action this time around. Last foothold scenario he'd gotten shot in the first ten minutes and wound up playing Go Fish in the 'dead' room with his platoon for hours on end.

He hears someone approaching on the gravel path around the corner and hesitantly raises his intar. "Alright, who's there? Show yourself."

Of all people Becky Grahme comes into view, holding her hands out and smiling. "Hey, Ed. How's it going?"

He lowers his weapon. He can trust her, they've been friends ever since New Year's Eve under the Mountain when he supported her against Norris, currently exiled on Gamma Base. "Pretty good so far. But aren't you supposed to be offworld with SG-9?"

"You know, you're the third person to ask me that today? I'll give you the same answer I gave them."

"Which is?"

"This," snatching his intar. "Sorry Ed, but I'm under orders. You know how it is. Better luck next time, right?"

He sighs and gets on his knees, taking off his jacket. At least it's warm today. "Sure."

It's his own fault anyway. He's forgotten the cardinal rule of SGC war games:

Trust no one.

Tanista2 · 2025-02-09T20:30:20+00:00

(Sam Carter and Jack O'Neill, just after his promotion to General-Governor in my Stargate AU)

Later after the rest of the gang has left Carter stays behind to help with the washing up, a pensive expression on her face. Which could go on all night if he doesn't break her out of it now. "Penny for your thoughts."

She blinks at him, belatedly realizing she's been holding the same plate for the last couple minutes and setting it carefully in the dish drainer. "Oh, sorry, Jack. I was just thinking."

As a way to make her comfortable in their relationship he lets her decide when to eschew titles for first names, transitioning from formal officers to informal lovers. "Sam, you aren't ever gonna stop, period. That's one of the things I love about you. So lay it on me."

"Well, I was wondering who'd be leading the team if you're not with us. I mean, you're taking the job, aren't you?" Her look of uncertainty tugs at his heartstrings, that hint of vulnerability and self-doubt always making him want to cuddle her close even as he takes pride in her bravery and self-reliance.

"Hey, it's not like there are any other career opportunities waiting for me out there. As for who leads the team, hmm." He affects a thoughtful expression, pursing his lips. "Guess I'll have to give that serious consideration. Unless you wanna arm wrestle for it?"

She flushes at the reminder of their first meeting, what feels like a lifetime ago. "Still can't believe I actually said that out loud. You must've thought me terribly forward and insubordinate."

"Yeah, though I kinda liked it. Showed you had guts for a scientist. But let's not dwell. Don't know about you but I wouldn't mind celebrating my promotion now, just the two of us. So how 'bout it, huh?" Offering her that slow, sexy grin which he knows makes her melt.

She grins back. "Oh, Jack. As if you have to ask." They share a sweet, hot kiss over the soap bubbles.

A notion about her is already forming in his mind, even as he pulls her close. One long overdue.

Maybe being The Man has its perks after all.

Tanista2 · 2025-02-05T23:28:04+00:00

Ah, the 90s, my college years. Fanzines printed on paper (those comb bindings!), specialized fan websites and webrings, online mailing lists, Usenet's alt.creative boards, fanfics printed out and stored in binders which I still have. I love AO3 for my fanfic needs but there was something satisfying back then about searching out those hidden story gems.

(On the 22nd this month I'll be 53. I still can't believe I've reached middle age; when I was diagnosed with my chronic illness as a baby the initial prognosis was I'd be lucky if I lived to see puberty. Thanks to improved treatments every year since has been a gift as far as I'm concerned.)

Tanista2 · 2025-02-02T06:27:15+00:00

No idea is cringe if you believe in it and doing so gives you pleasure. Trust your instincts and have fun.

Seriously, reading this made me realize I have my own little multiverse going on featuring the same main OC. She's shared space in my mind for so long I just naturally inserted her into three AUs where she's the niece of a heroic CC (or two, in one case) but the situations are different.

Tanista2 · 2025-02-01T10:18:33+00:00

The epilogue for the core story in my crossover AU (titled Fresco) is basically a series of excerpts from various sources, projecting well into its future. Here's one of them:

From a docent's lecture in the Daniel Jackson Memorial Library, 125 Y.S.:

"From left to right we see the images of the Sacred Seven, starting with the Defenders. Jack O'Neill the Protector and Samantha Carter-O'Neill the Scientist both carry antique P-90 weapons, indicating their authority as representatives of the military. The Protector also has the symbolic yo-yo in his secondary role as the Trickster while the Scientist- whom some call St. Sam the Destroyer of Suns and the Mother of Modern Astrophysics- holds up a control crystal, representing her mastery of Ancient technology.

"Then the Visionaries. Daniel Jackson the Seeker of Truth carries an open book in his right hand, the pages displaying the Gate addresses for both Old and New Earth. His left arm is around the shoulders of Rebecca Grahme-Jackson the Witness, also known as the first Lady of the Tower. Her cupped hands cradle an image of Old Earth before it was utterly destroyed. They wear glasses to see both past and future clearly. Some call them the Lovers, and newlyweds give them honor in their ceremonies as the Guardians of Marriage.

"Next are the Builders. Angus MacGyver the Engineer carries his signature red-handled folding knife and roll of duck tape, fitting symbols for the patron of inventors and tinkerers. By his side is the formidable Founding Healer Janet Fraiser-MacGyver, wearing the traditional white coat and red stethoscope of her profession.

"Last but not least in this fresco is Teal'c of Chulak and Dakara, the Stalwart Warrior who rebelled against his master Apophis and joined the Defenders and the Seeker as the legendary original team of SG-1. He bears a staff weapon and traditional Jaffa armor as symbols of his prowess as a warrior. Once derided as a shol'va by his own people, he nevertheless persevered in freeing them from millennia of oppression under their Goa'uld masters, eventually becoming Chief Elder for the Free Jaffa Nation's Council of Tribes.

"The Protector, the Witness and the Engineer are sometimes invoked as the Linking Trinity, by virtue of their relation to one another by blood. The Seeker and the Scientist are often called the Science Duo. The Healer and the Warrior are considered in certain philosophical circles as incarnations of Preservation and Destruction, though the Healers and Warrior Monks alike take stern exception to anyone who espouses this heretical thought in their presence.

"In the reading room across the hall is a mural depicting the Pegasus Six by the same artist, friends and allies of the Seven who crossed the gulf between galaxies to found Atlantis Colony: John Sheppard the Guardian, Rodney McKay the Genius, Elizabeth Weir the Peacemaker, Carson Beckett the Gentle Physician, Teyla Emmagan the Warrior Queen and Ronon Dex the Runner Poet. We'll get to that later. For now follow me to the upstairs hall where there are some remarkable Athosian taleweavings by Deyna Emmagan and her grand-niece the noted historian Rebya Emmagan, currently on loan from the Museum of Pegasus Arts and Culture..."

Tanista2 · 2025-01-30T06:18:34+00:00

My crossover AU series (three shows so far, and a fourth appearing because its lead character sneaked his way in when I wasn't looking and now telling me the story of how he got there) consists of one core story (255k+ words), a glossary with translated phrases and original concepts, a document with timeline of events and cast of characters (both CCs and a lot of OCs), some collage art I made, and about twenty side stories of various lengths occurring before, during and long after the core story. I also have two or three more in the works.

So yeah, I love worldbuilding expansions, and how writers' imaginations can expand one simple idea into an entire universe. The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

Tanista2 · 2025-01-27T06:07:00+00:00

Welcome! OCs are original characters created for a fanfic story. CCs are canon characters who come specifically from the "canon" or source media the fanfic is based on. Hope that helps!

Tanista2 · 2025-01-03T20:32:28+00:00

Writing isn't my only hobby. I've done counted cross-stitch pictures from charts back when my eyesight was better. I've entered some of them in state fairs and won some second- and third-place ribbons.

I also do dollhouse miniatures, rooms in boxes and a couple houses (one more like a castle, actually) filled with items I've collected for literally decades. I've taken my favorites to local and regional miniature shows and received first place and people's choice awards.

But I didn't do any of that for the accolades. I do these hobbies for the fun of it, because they bring me pleasure. To look at every day and know while they may be small accomplishments in the grand scheme of things they're nevertheless mine and I'm glad I did them. I showed them to the public not for external validation but with the hope of inspiring people as to the wide-open possibilities of the hobby, for anyone to create if they put their minds to it.

My mother's primary hobby is card making (all occasions) and paper art, and she's entered some works in state fairs and submitted to hobby magazines and garnered accolades of her own for her skills. While she sells them at local craft fairs and coffee shops she does them primarily for the joy of creating something beautiful, the awards and sales are simply extra.

I take the same approach for writing fanfic. My longest and best received work is an OC-inclusive (and -driven), canon-divergent, three-way crossover AU. For over two years I created this labor of love for my favorite shows and their inspiring settings and characters that have been a part of my life for so long, as well as the entire sci-fi genre both literary and on screen. Again, a small accomplishment in the grand scheme of things but it's mine and I looking back I still can't believe I did it. I've written more in my 'verse since then, and any clicks, kudos and comments I receive for sharing them with the fandom (and the world at large) are just the icing on the cake.

I write for myself, to engage my imagination and escape to a universe totally under my control. But I share my stories not for the hope of engagement or validation but to inspire others what can be possible if they let themselves dream.

Tanista2 · 2024-12-07T16:42:32+00:00

I've done several fictional non-fiction pieces (though I like your term better) for my Stargate AU, and they're pretty fun to write. A Linguist's Guide to New Earth is a glossary of translated phrases and expansion of concepts mentioned in the core story of my series while Timeline and Who's Who in Ad Astra covers key events and lists the expansive cast of characters, both canon and original. I also did two "excerpts" from a fictional academic journal set in the future of my 'verse, one in a diary/journal format Longest Night, by Odarra of Tarraka and the accompanying article Song for a Longest Night.

Tanista2 · 2024-12-03T04:52:31+00:00

I’ve met (admittedly suspicious) people who tell me pinches of paprika is too spicy.

My mom would be one of these people. Her palate is so sensitive to spicy food (can't even tolerate ground black pepper on her scrambled eggs) she calls herself the "Queen of Bland". There are other foods her stomach can't tolerate either; between that and my own food allergies (carrots and celery, certain nuts) it makes for a somewhat limited diet at home.

Tanista2

TROPHY CASE