HighlyWastedBlueJeans

finally completed this! Steve's reflection

please consider supporting me on Patr30n

Alright so if you're active on AO3, you've probably heard about the bot problem. It's been going on for years but it's gotten way worse lately, so here's a breakdown of what's happening and how to protect yourself.

What Are AO3 Bots?

Basically spam accounts that leave comments on fics. They're automated and they've been plaguing the site since like 2021, but they keep getting more sophisticated.

Types of Bots You Might See:

Praise Bots - These leave super generic compliments that could apply to literally any fic. Stuff like "This is pure genius, I'm in awe of your world-building" or "This deserves all recognition." The dead giveaway is when someone praises your "heartwarming" fic when everyone literally died and the earth shattered around them lmao.

Hateful/Cruel Bots - These are the really fucked up ones. They scrape REAL AO3 usernames and attach them to horrible, cruel comments. So innocent people get their names attached to hateful shit they never said. If you see a mean comment, check if the username is clickable - if it's not linked to an actual profile, it's a bot.

Kudos Bots - Some authors have woken up to like 30-60 fake kudos dumped on their fics all at once, with no corresponding increase in hit counts. This completely destroys the metric system especially in smaller fandoms.

AI Accusation Bots - These accuse authors of using ChatGPT or other AI tools, sometimes on fics that are literally older than the AI programs they're being accused of using. Some link to "AI detection tools" which are likely just trying to get you to feed more fics into AI training databases.

Misinformation Bots - A newer type that showed up in May 2025 claiming AO3 was removing works to "conserve server space" and telling authors to delete their own work or risk being banned. Complete bullshit - AO3 has never done this and never will.

Mary Sue Bots - Accuse your OCs of being Mary Sues, even when your fic only has canon characters and no self-inserts at all.

Art Commission Scam Bots - Leave praise then offer to make comic/art commissions of your fic. They get you off-site to Discord or Instagram, take your payment, then either send AI-generated garbage or ghost you completely.

How Do They Work?

The bots comment as unregistered guests and scrape real AO3 usernames to attach to their comments. The username shows up but isn't clickable and has no actual profile associated with it (unless you search for that name directly, which makes it look legit at first).

The newer ones are getting smarter too - they scrape your fic's tags and use them to make the generic praise seem more personalized. So if you tagged "angst" they'll specifically mention emotions and tension.

How To Spot Them:

Username isn't clickable/has no profile

Generic praise that could apply to any fic

Comments that make zero sense for what actually happened in your story

Multiple comments hitting your fics really fast (like 7 comments timestamped over 9 hours)

Sudden spike in kudos with no matching increase in hits

Anyone trying to get you off-site for commissions or services

The Emotional Impact:

This shit genuinely hurts authors. Some don't realize they're bots at first and think the hate comments or AI accusations are real criticism of their writing. There's also concerns from neurodivergent and ESL authors who worry their real comments will be mistaken for bots because their writing style might seem stilted.

And if your username gets stolen? You might have to track down authors and explain that hateful comment wasn't actually you.

What You Can Do:

As an author:

Delete bot comments as soon as you spot them

If it gets bad, lock your comments to registered users only (Settings → Privacy → "Only show your work to registered users")

Report the comments if you can

As a reader/commenter:

Don't panic if your username got stolen - reach out to the author and explain it wasn't you

Keep leaving real comments! Authors need to know there are real people who love their work

Maybe make your comments a bit more specific/personal so authors know you're real

Everyone:

Spread awareness so people know what to look for

Don't feed fics into "AI detection tools" that bots link to

Why Are They Doing This?

Honestly? Probably to keep AI brands in the "fandom news" cycle and create controversy. Some are straight-up scams. Either way, they suck.

Stay safe out there and keep supporting your favorite authors with real comments. We need that genuine engagement now more than ever. 💜

He makes it so clear that he is doing this for all of them, and he never stops reaching out. When he finds out they're in danger, he literally runs god knows how far or how long to find them. He never resents Max for pulling away and he doesn't try to bring the potential drama with his friends into the Upside Down.

Very excited to be participating in the @steddiebbang this year with @hereforanepilogue and @highlywastedbluejeans! This will be my first time writing Steddie in an AU instead of canon-divergence and I'm absolutely loving it so far. Details about the fic under the cut with the story to come in the fall!

50 Questions ⚜ Backstory ⚜ Character-driven Story

Basics: How to Write a Character ⚜ A Story-Worthy Hero

Basics: Character-Building ⚜ Character Creation

Types of Characters: Key Characters ⚜ Literary Characters ⚜ Flat & Round Characters ⚜ Morally Grey ⚜ Narrators ⚜ Allegorical Characters ⚜ Archetypes ⚜ Stereotypical Characters

Worksheets: Backstory ⚜ Character ⚜ Kill your Characters ⚜ Antagonist; Villain; Fighting ⚜ Change; Adding Action; Conflict ⚜ Character Sketch & Bible ⚜ Protagonist & Antagonist ⚜ Name; Quirks; Flaws; Motivation ⚜ "Interviewing" your Characters ⚜ "Well-Rounded" Character

Personality Traits

5 Personality Traits (OCEAN) ⚜ 16 Personality Traits (16PF)

600+ Personality Traits ⚜ 170 Quirks

East vs. West Personalities ⚜ Trait Theories

Tips/Editing

Character Issues ⚜ Character Tropes for Inspiration

"Strong" Characters ⚜ Unlikable to Likable

Tips from Rick Riordan

Writing Notes

Binge ED ⚜ Hate ⚜ Love ⚜ Identifying Character Descriptions

Childhood Bilingualism ⚜ Children's Dialogue ⚜ On Children

Culture ⚜ Culture: Two Views ⚜ Culture Shock

Dangerousness ⚜ Flaws ⚜ Fantasy Creatures

Emotional Intelligence ⚜ Genius (Giftedness)

Emotions (1) (2) ⚜ Anger ⚜ Fear ⚜ Happiness ⚜ Sadness

Emotional Universals ⚜ External & Internal Journey

Goals & Motivations ⚜ Grammar Development ⚜ Habits

Facial Expressions ⚜ Jargon ⚜ Swearing & Taboo Expressions

Happy/Excited Body Language ⚜ Laughter & Humor

Health ⚜ Frameworks of Health ⚜ Memory

Mutism ⚜ Shyness ⚜ Parenting Styles ⚜ Generations

Psychological Reactions to Unfair Behavior

Rhetoric ⚜ The Rhetorical Triangle ⚜ Logical Fallacies

Thinking ⚜ Thinking Styles ⚜ Thought Distortions

Uncommon Words: Body ⚜ Emotions

Villains ⚜ Voice & Accent

They are eight and seven years old in the backseat of his truck after Hopper caught them separately doing shit they’re not supposed to do. His plan was to drive around a bit, scare them, and then send them on their way but neither are taking it seriously.

Steve, at least, is sticking to his words and hasn’t spoken since he requested a lawyer. Eddie, on the other hand, hasn’t shut up.

Hopper said he was talking them to jail and Eddie’s response was to point out that they weren’t committing crimes. They were committing miss-de-meters and second, “The police station’s that way. You’re drivin’ to Uncle Wayne’s.”

Hopper feels like a glorified taxi driver at this point. He makes one last attempt to instill a little fear of god into these future felons by saying, “You’re going to get grounded by your parents and you’ll deserve it.”

There’s a beat of silence before Steve pipes up, “What’s grounded?”

“It’s when your parents bury you in the backyard,” Eddie supplies helpfully.

“Oh…” Steve says and then loudly announces, “Mr. Hopper, I can’t be grounded. We have a pool.”

“That’s okay,” Eddie cuts in before Hopper can steer this conversation in the right direction.

like first of all hawkins is such a small town that before the mall if you didn't want to go to the arcade or just get drunk in a field then driving really fast was probably ur only other option for entertainment.

in terms of plot/character though:

just imagine Steve at 15 or younger learning to drive by himself bc his parents weren't there to take him places and there was no one to teach him. Imagine him being so good at it bc he has no kind of warning in his head from his parents teaching him, or anyone who would know if he scratched the car or hurt himself.

imagine getting his nickname from being undefeated at his racing - that's why when Billy arrived he was 'usurped'. Even though Billy is arguably attractive you can't get that popular in like a week and Billy is known to be reckless especially at driving, so it makes so much more sense.

imagine when Billy says he's finally seeing King Steve is because of how reckless and uncaring about his own safety Steve used to be bc of how noone would care if he showed up home injured.

imagine Steve relying on his instincts from driving around all the streets again and again to be able to drive his car with all the kids back to the Byers' safely with his concussion and vision screwed because no matter how shit he might feel he would still be better at driving than a 13 year old.

imagine him driving the toddfather into Billy's car in s3 despite how cars like that are not built for it and knowing exactly how to do it. imagine him knowing the exact make and model he was destroying and how unsafe it was and doing it anyway, unthinkingly, because his friends were in danger.

imagine eddie ceding the rv to him in s4 bc of course the drug dealer knew exactly where teens who could sell to hung out and had seen him in action. imagine Steve knowing exactly how fast he could go in a trailer without breaking down without thinking.

imagine throughout all of this giving the kids rides at the most legal speed ever bc he just cares way too much, taking only the safest shortcuts, and then one day they see him driving when he's alone and realise that he is NOT a safe driver at all he's just protective of them specifically. imagine him being able to drive as fast as he wants with eddie or robin in the car bc neither of them care.

imagine hopper knowing the entire time and giving the most violent shovel talk ever the first time he had el in his car before he realised that Steve would rather die than endanger any of the kids and realising that Steve being safe around himself is the problem.

finally, imagine Steve driving slower the more he spends time with ppl who care bc he finally has ppl who would notice if he fucked up and crashed, imagine him driving safely bc of the kids until he starts doing it for himself too. imagine him finally starting to care about his own safety bc of his found family and just- ughgggggghhhhhh he makes me ill

Listen, Eddie is a Dramatic Bitch™, so when he comes back craving blood, his mind immediately draws the barely-there parallels, and regardless of what Dustin and the rest say, he insists on regular checks to make sure he’s not succumbing to Vecna’s freaky mind powers, all while bemoaning that it’s only a matter of time before he’s zombie-fied Vecna style.

"That's it! I'm divorcing you, and I'm taking everything!"

It's usually only said when they're playing monopoly. Steve would respond with:

"Fine! But I'm keeping your last name and the kids!"

"I never wanted them in the first place!" Robin shrieked.

"What a rude thing for our dad to say," Dustin said.

“Yeah, it really all worked out great,” he says, “Because then I got to take pretty boy on the honeymoon.”

and they don’t get paid for it they just do it because they’re having fun and they want to share their joy with you