Asteria's Notebook

You didn't expect to get to know the character like this. You didn't expect to get so up close. And, mind you, part of you has already been primed to DISLIKE this character. Why wouldn't you? Look what they did! Look what they've done! But this chapter takes you all the way back, to walk beside them, see them unsure and uncertain, and you get curious because, hey, this is different than the character you know. The person they become.

You find yourself wanting to get to know this character more. Watch them moving forwards, making decisions, and then you're concerned for them. You're disappointed in them. You're angry at them -- but shockingly, it's mostly disappointment. Because you, the reader, can see where they could have made different choices, but they, the character, can only see what's ahead of them.

It's the kind of close-look that makes stories interesting. Because you don't want to just get to know the main characters. You want to know everyone else, too, to really bring that world alive.

Ngl I was a little nervous to go so off the path with another character's perspective, but I had a lot of fun with it because it's exactly what I like reading in fiction. Someone who you don't agree with but who makes *sense* in a way that's interesting to dig into.

Look at me.

Look at me right now.

AO3 protects you.

AO3 protects you and your works. 

It protects your works from copyright strikes and DCMA takedowns.

It protects your work from advertisers.

It protects your work from overzealous legal challenges.

It protects your right to post adult content.

AO3 is non-profit and AO3 will never try to use you or your work to make a profit for themselves and AO3 will go to bat for you if someone tries to legally challenge you or your works.

Mastercard has no reason to mess with AO3. Visa doesn't. PayPal doesn't. Stripe doesn't. There's no compensation-for-porn exchange happening. By design. BY DESIGN.

AO3's founders knew that AO3 needed to be set up to protect us from any and all avenues of attack on fanworks. They've managed it quite successfully.

WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW TO SPOT THEM

okay, I thought I should make this post since there has been an influx of scammers plaguing AO3 comments section and people are falling victims to them. so here it is;

WHAT THEY ARE

so far, there are three main types of these scam bots

bots that tell you AO3 is deleting works, and that you should delete the works yourself because your entire account will be affected if your works get deleted by AO3

bots that tell you your works are terrible

bots that tell you they want to draw comic panels from your works

ALL OF THESE ARE SCAM WITH MALICE INTENTIONS

bots that tell you AO3 is deleting works, and that you should delete the works yourself because your entire account will be affected if your works get deleted by AO3 are just trying to get you to delete your works, most certainly because they want to steal and/or use your works to train their AI and, once you delete your works, it becomes extremely difficult, almost impossible for you to claim ownership of your works when the original works have been deleted. AO3 IS NOT DELETING ANY WORKS.

bots that tell you your works are terrible are also just trying to get you to delete your works, most certainly because they want to steal and/or use your works to train their AI and, once you delete your works, it becomes extremely difficult, almost impossible for you to claim ownership of your works when the original works have been deleted. (more examples here and here)

bots that tell you they want to draw comic panels from your works are trying to hack your password, personal data and credit card information (they will say they see potentials in your work and are interested in drawing comic panels from it, and then they will ask you to discuss this with them on discord where you will have to pay/commission them for the “comics” you will never get, but you will get your password hacked, personal data and credit card information breached and stolen instead, do not fall for them).

HOW TO SPOT THEM

what all these 3 types of bots have in common is that;

most of them (keyword, most, not all) are guest users or empty accounts that have just been recently created.

their comments are all the same copied and pasted scripts that they mass leave on lots of authors’ works at random.

they will ask you to contact them outside of ao3 by giving you their discord, or instagram, or other social media handle.

their comments are all vague, in the sense that there will be no mention of any specific characters’ names, no mention of any specific scenes or events from your works (granted, they need to be vague because they are bots, they never actually read your works, and they have to be able to use the same comments on other writers’ works too).

EDIT: I’ve been told they got “smarter” and are now mentioning characters by names and also specific scenes from the story. Most definitely because they ran your fic through AI and let AI write comments for them. So basically, if a comment, from someone you don’t know, ends in something along the lines of “I’d like to draw a comic panel about this”, “can we chat on discord (or anywhere outside of ao3)” or anything that’d require your email or other personal information, always assume that it’s 90% a scam.

report them for spam then delete their comments when/if you get them.

please spread this if you can. us writers gotta look out for each other. stay safe, everybody ♡

EDIT (Dec 10, 2025): NEW TYPE OF BOTS WHO THREATEN PEOPLE WITH LEGAL ACTIONS

EDIT (Dec 15, 2025): BOTS IMPERSONATING LEGIT USERS, WITH REGISTERED ACCOUNTS, BY USING THESE LEGIT USERS’ AO3 NAMES AS THEIR GUEST-USER NAMES IN THEIR GUEST COMMENTS

EDIT (Dec 22, 2025): BOTS PROMOTING THEIR APP/PROGRAM AND ACTING AS AN AD (WHICH I BELIEVE IS AGAINST AO3’S POLICIES) ON COMMENTS SECTION

EDIT (Jan 16, 2026): BOTS TRYING TO PASS FOR GENUINE COMMENTS BUT FAILING AND ACCIDENTALLY MENTIONING NAMES OF RANDOM CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT PRESENT IN THE FICS OR THE FANDOMS

EDIT (Jan 18,2026): BOTS TRYING TO ACCUSE INNOCENT WRITERS OF USING AI, BY COMMENTING ON OTHER WRITERS' WORKS AND TELLING THESE OTHER WRITERS THAT 'THIS WORK BY THIS SPECIFIC WRITER IS AI'

EDIT (Jan 30, 2026): BOTS TRYING TO TRICK YOU INTO DELETING AND DESTROYING ALL THE WORKS IN YOUR COMPUTER/FILES/DRAFTS

EDIT (Jan 31, 2026): BOTS TRYING TO ATTACK YOU FOR THE LACK OF TRANS CHARACTERS IN YOUR FICS (DOESN’T MATTER IF YOUR FIC HAS TRANS CHARACTERS OR NOT)

EDIT (Feb 2, 2026): BOTS TRYING TO ACCUSE YOU OF TERRIBLE THINGS

My dad has posted a fanfiction. My DAD has POSTED A FANFICTION! 

Basically every Star Trek show has a place in my heart in some fashion or other but there really is no avoiding the fact that some of those shows are uhhh a little more rough than others. My dad has for years maintained that Star Trek: Enterprise could have been good if it hadn’t been bad. 

For well over a decade, he has been working on his own total rewrite of the show and after some prompting has reached the point where he’s willing to share it online. His biggest worry is that he won’t have much of an audience out there for an Enterprise rewrite fanfic with a bunch of OCs and changes but I think he’s underestimating the power of fandom. PLEASE HELP PROVE ME RIGHT

The story begins when a strange and imposing alien on the run crash lands an escape pod in an Oklahoma field while being pursued by gelatinous shapeshifters. This is an Earth of the future, but it’s recovering from a war and environmental devastation, has only barely invented faster than light space travel, and has been effectively quarantined and shuttered away by the emotionless and strict Vulcans, who consider humanity to be a baby race in need of protection and guidance. Humans have been, naturally, chomping at the bit to get out into deep space and explore and meet new species, but the general population is still stuck in recovery mode and has a growing fear of unknown aliens after being attacked by a mysterious alien race that never showed their faces. 

None of this, of course, stops the middle aged rancher Julie from taking one look at the Klingon man who just crash landed in her backyard, then at the creatures chasing him, and handing him her rifle along with the words that would define humanity’s future relationship with the galaxy: “I trust you.”

He tosses her gun aside because it is a silly little kid weapon, but it’s the thought that counts.

Now humankind’s dummy of a space program has a real, living, truly unknown alien on its hands and a dream of getting him back home no matter what. They also have a prototype spaceship, a commanding officer with more experience being the Bill Nye of the era than actually leading a space crew, and an overbearing mother in the form of the Vulcan High Council who are getting really suspicious in their reasoning behind why humans can’t venture out and explore strange new worlds. 

If you are willing, please give this fic a shot! It would mean the world to my dad and to me! You don’t have to know diddly squat about Enterprise or even Star Trek as a whole. This is a prequel to the rest of the shows! It sets up everything! I’ve also read it and greatly enjoyed it myself so, I’m not just recommending this for my dad’s sake, but also I am because I’m so proud~~~~

More info about the fic under the read more!