don’t dream it, be it

me: great! time to post to ao3-

ao3 summary box: *exists*

me: 

ao3 summary box:

me:

ao3 summary box: 

Who: Main character(s)

Why: Character goal or desire (stated)

Why: Character need (implied)

When: Inciting Incident

What: Means (that achieves the goal/need)

Where: Place A >> Place B

How: The Plan

Obstacle(s): antagonist or challenge

For example:

Who: Bilbo Baggins, a respectable hobbit of Hobbiton

Why: Treasure, wealth (stated)

Why: Adventure, self-respect (implied)

When: After supper

What: Quest

Where: Hobbiton >> The Lonely Mountain

How: A company of dwarves, a wizard, and an ancient map and key

Main antagonist(s): a dragon

Thus, in less than 100 words:

Bilbo Baggins is a respectable hobbit in Hobbiton, never making any trouble or having any adventures. But when a wizard and a company of dwarves invite themselves to dinner, Bilbo finds himself joining their quest from the shires of Hobbiton to the legendary Lonely Mountain, the home of a long lost treasure, and quite, possibly, a dragon.  

~~~~

Had to share this here because you're right and you should say it. It's incredible how many people came out of the woodwork as soon as AO3 was down and suddenly had no compunctions at all about screaming how much they love and need fanfic--on the AO3 twitter. Is it so much harder to do in the comment section?

At this point I don't care anymore if people call me entitled or think I'm out of line. If fanfic is so meaningful to you that you cannot go half an hour without, let alone 24h, then you can get over yourself long enough to write a fucking comment. No excuses.

"writing comments is hard and scary" yeah well GUESS WHAT so is writing fanfics. fandom as a community is dying, because it is instead treated as a COMMODITY, a CONSUMER PRODUCT. We're not asking for much. We're asking for a CONNECTION. We don't want to sell, we want to share.

Worried about leaving a "bad" comment?

There are only two ways to leave a comment that will make the recipient of said comment ☹️😒😟 instead of 🥰🫠😁.

🚫 Don't do these things: 🚫

1. Criticize when critique has not been requested. Remember that the people who write fanfiction, record podfics, and draw fanart are people. How would you feel if you spent a lot of time and energy creating a free entertainment experience for others to enjoy, and someone came in and just told you how it sucked?

2. Place an order. This ain't Burger King. I am not a robot. I am not a trained seal. I worked hard on this story (which, once again, I have provided for your enjoyment at no cost to you). Do not come here and say, "Thank you, next." There is a big, big difference between a comment that says, "I loved x, y, and z about this story, and I would love to read more!" and one that says nothing but, "I want a sequel :(," "why haven't you updated?" or—my personal favorite—one that is nothing but an order for a completely different story unrelated to the one you have just read.

Just don't do those two things, and you can't go wrong.

"We don't want to sell, we want to share."

- C&P a line you enjoyed and then mash the keyboard after it.

- leave an emoji

- say "i loved this!" Or "I'm enjoying this" or "thank you for writing this!"

you enjoyed and then mash the

keyboard after it.