I Might Write

Logic: Characters, just like real people, are mallable. There is typically very little that's so truly, heinously out of character that you absolutely cannot make it work under any circumstance. In addition, most fans are also willing to accept characterization stretches if it makes the fic work. Yeah, we all know the villain and the hero wouldn't cuddle for warmth in canon. But if they did do that, how would they do it?

What counts is often not so much 'would the character do this?' and more 'if the character did do this, how would they do it?' If you get 'how' part right, your readers will probably be willing to buy the rest, because it will still feel like their favourite character. But if it doesn't feel like the character anymore, why are they even reading the fic?

have you never heard someone speak with the gravel in their voice when they get angry? Because that’s what a growl is.

Have you never heard someone sharply whisper something through the thin space of their teeth? Or when your mother sharply told you to stop it in public as a kid when you were acting up/being too loud? Because that’s what a hiss is.

Have you never heard a man get so blackout angry that their voice BOOMS through the house? Because that’s what a roar is.

Have you never seen someone bare their teeth while talking to accentuate their frustration or anger while speaking with a vicious tone? Because that’s what snarling is.

It's the same with softer sounds. A purr is that low, gravelly mmmmm noise of pleasure, or words warm and smooth as melted chocolate. When someone chirps, it's bright and happy and quick, the syllables a little clipped in excitement. Panting is not tongue lolling like a dog; it's a heaving chest and words that are half-breath.

genuinely. copy the link to the fic or series, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page:

click on policy questions & abuse reports which takes you to this page:

if you scroll down, youll be able to report the fic right there but you can also check for yourself that its against ToS

all you need to do is explain that theyre deliberately mistagging things which is just not a thing on ao3 because its an archive.

by posting your fic there, ao3, has the right to manually recategorise tags. its in the ToS:

you cant deliberately mistag stuff on ao3; it is an archive. you cant tag for reach, and this is likely gonna get pat tag wranglers because they deal mostly with form not content of tags and if theyre tagging for reach, its gonna be the more popular tags.

so report the fuck out of them for it. most likely, their fic will just have tags adjusted and their account will be fine.

and if they keep doing it and get suspended for it, its their own damn fault.

Some notes on the Impala for writers:

1. The Impala an automatic transmission. PRNDL is on the steering wheel. No stick/manual shift, sorry! Also no power steering.

2. The engine mentioned in the show (when Dean travels back in time) is a 327 small block (known as the “Mighty Mouse”) which was one of the factory standard engines for a 1967 Impala. Hero 1 (the car used for beauty shots) has a 502 big block. These are both V8 engines. V8 engines, for those who haven’t driven one, are very loud and like to go. The car will start moving forward when you remove your foot from the brake. It’s a little intimidating but fun af. I usually write Dean as upgrading to the 502 in season 2 when he rebuilds the Impala, but as they use a variety of cars (and I think all but Hero have 350s, anyway) for different shots, you could ignore the 502, swap the 327 out at another point in the series, or even say Dean dropped in a 350 for a while. All could be “canon” to either show-used cars or the show’s script.

3. The Impala has factory air (meaning it came standard with the car from the factory and was not added later). It’s obviously not as good as contemporary a/c but there’s no reason to assume John (a mechanic) and then Dean wouldn’t keep it functioning. Two circular vents on the dash, one narrow one over the radio. Hero has factory air; some of the other cars used in shooting have fake air vents to match with Hero. 

4. The gas cap is under the license plate. You functionally refuel through the butthole. If you’re used to driving more contemporary vehicles, it’s probably going to make you giggle a little bit the first time you have to gas up. I apologized to my car (a ‘68) the first time. 

5. The seats are vinyl, not leather. Easier to clean, lucky for them! The Impala is the midgrade car, w/ the Caprice as the luxury, the Belaire as the lower end personal use car, and Biscayne as the economy (used for fleet cars like taxis and police cars). This means same body, wildly variable amenities: different door panels, seat material (fabric or vinyl, but never leather as standard), trim, etc. Several of the “Impalas” used in filming are rebuilt Caprices, as are many fan-built tribute cars! 

6. Baby is a four-door hardtop (aka “non post” or “no post” car) vs the sedan (“post car”). The biggest difference is when you roll down the front and back seat windows in a hardtop, you have two unbroken open spaces, one on each side, and in the sedan, you have a divider between front and back windows.  Hardtop only has trim on the window edges, with no post. Roll the windows down, and nothing remains. 

 The sedan has trim  on the “post” breaking the window spaces into four separate windows. Roll the windows down, the trim is still visible. YOu can see how the window trim is thicker all the way around.

7. The Impalas used on the show have two different types of interior door locks, the ones that look like a big chrome nail and the anti-theft lock with no cap. Both are canon, so you can have someone break in with a coat hanger or not if you’d prefer. Hero has the nail-style locks. 

8. The exterior paint color used on the Impala is called Tuxedo Black. It’s still available from classic car shops, so yes, Dean is very well using Tuxedo Black when he rebuilds the car in seaosn 2. 

9. Those cool corner lights are unique to the ‘67. 

10. The back seats have almost no space under them. The bench rests directly on the rise from the floorpan. If something goes missing, it’s under the front seats, not the back ones! 

11. The trunk is huge. Like “hold 6+ people” huge. The weapon box is a separate piece built and installed into the trunk, giving the apperance of a small space, but trust me. Huge. 

12. Speaking of huge, the Impala is over 17 feet long and 6 feet wide. Are you very, very good at parallel parking? I am not. Is Dean very, very good at parallel parking? Possibly, but he’d probably look for a parking spot he could drive or back straight into.

13. This is the dashboard of the Impala. The vinyl covered, padded bit is the dashpad. Remember, this car doesn’t have airbags. Better to whack your head on padding than nothing. The guages and such are all part of the instrument cluster. Two two round things and one long thin thing are the factory ac vents. 

14. Does the Impala have seat belts? Yes! In 1967, lap-only seat belts were standard in Impalas. Dean and Sam may very well be using seat belts that buckle across their laps. One hopes.

They look like this. Standard model is NOT retractable. 

Found on twitter, going to adopt this now

I think a lot of writers don’t give themselves credit for how many of their ufos have actually been frogged, ie that particular project has been abandoned, but the concept, characters, or setting has been taken and reused on a new project.

ufo (unfinished object) = on hiatus

frogging (ripping out work) = reworking the original inspiration (e.g. full rewrites, transplanting ocs)

(one might argue that in a sense, canon is frogged and reworked into fanfic)

tinking (un-knitting part of a project) = editing

mending = updating old works (e.g. for grammar)

Hi folks, I know some of you like to use Goodreads to track all your reading and don’t want to distinguish between books and fanfiction.

I am, however, begging you not to do this. It is extremely jarring and disconcerting to be a fic author and find your works somewhere in the wild where you did not personally put them. Fics are not books, are not published in the same way as books, and exist in a precarious legal space.

if you are a fic author and you find your fic on Goodreads, you can get it removed!

Here’s how:

First, you gotta go to Goodreads support Contact Us page. Fill out the form as follows:

What can we help you with? - Book records: adding or editing

What device were you using? - this answer doesn’t matter

Are you reaching out as a publisher, author, neither, or both? - Author

What does your inquiry relate to? fanfiction recorded as book

In the main body of the question, include the link(s) to the Goodreads record(s) for your fic(s)

Hit submit!

Someone should contact you pretty fast; I got a reply within a couple hours, even though it was a Sunday afternoon. They wanted me to confirm that it was a fanfic and asked me to provide proof of authorship which was kinda weird to answer but I was like “uhhh my tumblr is the same handle as my ao3 does that count?” and that seemed to go over just fine.

Once they say they’ve deleted the records it should no longer be searchable although for whatever reason the direct links apparently still work. That’s Amazon for ya I guess.

This user is anti-censorship

This user believes in “don’t like, don’t read”

This user believes in “ship and let ship”

Hi folks, I know some of you like to use Goodreads to track all your reading and don’t want to distinguish between books and fanfiction.

I am, however, begging you not to do this. It is extremely jarring and disconcerting to be a fic author and find your works somewhere in the wild where you did not personally put them. Fics are not books, are not published in the same way as books, and exist in a precarious legal space.

if you are a fic author and you find your fic on Goodreads, you can get it removed!

Here’s how:

First, you gotta go to Goodreads support Contact Us page. Fill out the form as follows:

What can we help you with? - Book records: adding or editing

What device were you using? - this answer doesn’t matter

Are you reaching out as a publisher, author, neither, or both? - Author

What does your inquiry relate to? fanfiction recorded as book

In the main body of the question, include the link(s) to the Goodreads record(s) for your fic(s)

Hit submit!

Someone should contact you pretty fast; I got a reply within a couple hours, even though it was a Sunday afternoon. They wanted me to confirm that it was a fanfic and asked me to provide proof of authorship which was kinda weird to answer but I was like “uhhh my tumblr is the same handle as my ao3 does that count?” and that seemed to go over just fine.

Once they say they’ve deleted the records it should no longer be searchable although for whatever reason the direct links apparently still work. That’s Amazon for ya I guess.

There's such recency bias in fandom. As an author you post something, get a few reactions, and then it goes off into the bin. As a reader you check the tags, see what's new, and move on. But a lot of old stuff is really good. It's just sitting there, gathering dust, waiting for someone to take a peek.

So go on. Treat yourself.