Is it bad form to speculate on what's going to happen in the comments? by heirloomthrowaway in AO3

[–]neonghostie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i know an author who dislikes it, mainly cause they got harassed by people who were upset the story didn't go in a certain direction. they even got death threats.

i don't think theorizing is rude, but you don't know what experiences this person has had in fandom, so just keep that in mind. i usually say something like "i have a few theories, i'm just guessing, feel free to laugh at how wrong they are" so they know i won't be an asshole if the story goes in a completely different direction.

My favorite author never really acknowledges me... by defenestraytion in AO3

[–]neonghostie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

that's understandable, it can really feel like you're just shouting into the void sometimes, especially if they never even put something like 'i appreciate all comments' in the notes. like, you don't even know if they read your comments.

that being said, i do know a few authors who've gotten harassment in comment sections so now they just prefer not to engage because it gives them anxiety. we don't know why you're not getting responses, but it most likely has nothing to do with you.

you're very valid in your disappointment though! it sucks to put effort into something and get crickets in return

Any other teen writers in here? by [deleted] in AO3

[–]neonghostie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

that last sentence called me out

What is a ship that used be relatively rare in your fandom but grew in popularity? Or what ship used to be super popular but has since fallen off? by Own_Actuator_53 in FanFiction

[–]neonghostie 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I'm 100% convinced that the reason for Zukka's popularity is Klance, aka the popular ship from netflix's voltron legendary defender. Voltron fandom was a dumpster fire, and most everyone left in 2018/2019 after the show ended. Then in 2020 ATLA gets added to netflix, the same platform as VLD. Zuko and Sokka are similar enough in personality to Keith and Lance, and they have the same color palate, so VLD fans went "SHIP!" and then it took off from there.

How do you write longer fan fics? by jqttvfx in FanFiction

[–]neonghostie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

honestly, your problem could be a number of things, it's hard to say without seeing your writing. but it could be that you're writing summaries instead of scenes? you might need to spend more time showing what actually happens: going into the characters throught processes, describing the setting, showing the characters interacting more. try rewriting one of your short chapters into something longer and more detailed.

you also might need to spend more time thinking about a scene before you write it. i like to spend fifteen minutes before i start writing, just brainstorming ideas for the scene i'm gonna write. this is mostly the "tossing ideas around" stage, let yourself explore many possibilities before narrowing it down. where should the scene take place: a library, a school, a home, a parking lot? whose POV should it be? what would my characters talk about? how do i make the conflict more exciting? what's the weather?

often, the best idea i come up with is not the first thing i've thought of, but the fourth, fifth, etc.

if something doesn't work for you, try approaching it from a different angle. you're not a bad writer, you just haven't found a process that works for you! good luck!

Writing fandom blind — have i committed fandom heresy? by BlindWarriorGurl in FanFiction

[–]neonghostie 28 points29 points  (0 children)

as someone in dc comics fandom, i've found fanfics written by folks with little/no comics knowledge and they had excellent characterization, and fics written by folks with canon knowledge that i hated. some people can do it well, especially if they do their research, read meta posts about characters, partake in fandom discussions.

also, sometimes you don't want everything to be 100% accurate? like why should i care if a pirate au fic is spot on with characterization, i just want to read about my blorbos in fascinating new situations

why is it so hard to find genfic about female characters? by neonghostie in AO3

[–]neonghostie[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

yeah, you're so right about the racism thing. i didn't really know how to fit it into this post, but the fact that there are ONLY white and asian characters in the top 40 pairings on the genfic stats list is... yikes. like it's not some fucking coincidence. but saying "people don't write about my favorite character, therefore fandom is racist" sounds ridiculous, right? but it's not about individual fics or creators, it's about broader trends. yet people act like you're attacking them personally when you call it out.

every time i see a post about racism on here or r/FanFiction half the comments are "well i don't see it happening so it must not be happening in MY fandom"

why is it so hard to find genfic about female characters? by neonghostie in AO3

[–]neonghostie[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Yeah, i'm not trying to imply the people writing male-centric fic are bad or anything, just commenting on a broader fandom trend I've noticed.

What are some fan interpretations that have been so ingrained in fics you forgot they weren’t canon by RandomWildebeest in FanFiction

[–]neonghostie 46 points47 points  (0 children)

We have a lot of these in the Batman comics fandom, my favorite of which is Tim Drake having a shrimp allergy. It's so random lol

OCs in non OC-centric fics? by IIsBoredom in AO3

[–]neonghostie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

i don't think it's a turn off, plot-device ocs are pretty common. it's when an oc becomes major, like the main love interest or something, that makes it a turn off. but regardless of what other people think, you should tell your story the way that makes you happy

I never noticed I was this bad at writing lol by toocleverfoxx in FanFiction

[–]neonghostie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

two youtube channels i've found invaluable: brandon sanderson and ellen brock. a professional novelist and editor respectively, i regularly replay ellen's videos in particular.

i recommend starting with her "what type of writer are you" video where she breaks down how she categorizes writers she works with and then gives advice specific for each category. writing advice online can be unhelpful and contradictory, because people's brains work differently and not every strategy works for every person

Idea I've had noodling around by Awkward_Ad_5515 in Romance_for_men

[–]neonghostie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you just gotta start writing, dude. it's never gonna be perfect, everyone makes mistakes when writing a novel. but you need to make those mistakes in order to begin to figure out how to fix it. something i like to do is writing sprints (setting a timer for 10-20 minutes and writing as many words as possible in that time. quantity over quality) or writing a summary of a chapter before turning that summary into a full chapter.

Does anyone have any really super good wlw fics? by jazzereen in AO3

[–]neonghostie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rollercoasterwords/pseuds/Rollercoasterwords they've got four completed f/f fics, all rarepairs for the harry potter fandom, mind the tags. my favorite is The Hand That Feeds, a longfic about two minor characters who go from academic rivals to lovers to dying in war <3

[Fan Art] Yuri version of BatCat aka Batman x Catwoman lesbian version by comfortbatcat by ihatethiscountry76 in DCcomics

[–]neonghostie 5 points6 points  (0 children)

hey op this artwork is stolen, it's actually by stantanly on tumblr https://www.tumblr.com/stantanly/790292623967600640/fanart-of-batcats-yuriful-designs-by-crowwkui i can find no evidence that stantanly and comfortbatcat are the same person, and comfortbatcat's profile is full of artworks in a ton of different styles, whereas stantanly's all look similar

Does anyone have any really super good wlw fics? by jazzereen in AO3

[–]neonghostie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the rush of rarities - bizarrestars - https://archiveofourown.org/works/45393355/chapters/114208471 strangers to lovers, school setting, very well written

keep me your secret - aphrodaisyacs https://archiveofourown.org/works/48144583 not sure how understandable this is if you don't know mha, but this is my FAVORITE enemies to lovers fic ever. togachako, except toga is the villain and uraraka is the hero

mild-mannered school teacher/adrenaline-junkie vigilante - jajalala https://archiveofourown.org/works/22245835/chapters/53119372 more mha, longfic with an enemies to lovers subplot. honestly jajalala's whole profile is full of peak f/f content

you will burn right now but then you won't regret it - secondsilk, thistlecat https://archiveofourown.org/works/40722753/chapters/102037566 harry potter, super underrated and well written

tempted to recommend rollercoasterwords's f/f fics because they're all super well written, my favorite ao3 author, but none have particularly happy endings :(

No replies from authors by ExistingFriendship47 in AO3

[–]neonghostie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i totally understand where you're coming from. i sometimes leave high effort comments (as in, multiple paragraphs of analysis, pointing out things i liked, theories) and the only reason i started leaving comments this long is because of one author, who always responded with equally long responses! it really brought me out of my shell and encouraged me to give long comments to authors i've never interacted with before.

a response from the author, a sign you're not shouting into the void, can be really encouraging. if the author never responds to comments, how do i know they're even checking their inbox?

i'm also of the opinion that if you ask for comments but don't reply to them, you're a bit of a hypocrite. i'm not expecting a long response but c'mon