Fanfiction Thread

>>2396321
It's Xena and Gabrielle.

>>2396462
neat.

>>2396462
Huh. I would not have guessed that, but now it makes perfect sense.

>>2396462
How did you figure that out?

>>2396546
Thought "woman, black hair, fantasy armor, not Wonder Woman, doesn't look like Game of Thrones; woman, blonde, short hair, lesbian subtext" and the only thing that came to mind was Xena.

Actually now that I look at the image some more, the black haired chick's outfit does look a shitton like some armor I've seen xena in before.

Are you nee-san serious? I barely even watched Xena as a kid, but her look/design is fairly well known. Especially considering the nature of this board.

>>2396546
How do you NOT know?

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>>2396651
Seriously, this

>>2396631
I didn't know until earlier this year. Never seen Xena though

>>2396651
I was being sarcastic.
I like to assume everyone here has watched all of Xena. That's the way things should be.

>>2396720
I've never seen a full episode of Xena. And not even a handful of snippets.

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>>2396825
I'll pretend I didn't read that.

>tfw joxer was your favorite character

>>2396949
Joxer was a mighty fine man.
His death was probably the saddest thing in the entire show.

>>2396825
Go watch 6x18 "When Fates Collide" and report back, anon

>>2397153
Rewatching that, I though it must be one of the gayest episodes.
Then I watched the next episode and remembered just how gay everything is in the later seasons.
The next one's the one with the virgin sacrifice offering herself to Xena and being shy about Xena & Gabrielle's relationship, then Gabrielle being super excited about seeing Sappho, and the love poem.

>>2397153
>>2397421
I stopped watching it after the first episode of the second season.

It's pretty funny to see that in the past, characters got a new 'love interest' every couple of episodes if the previous ones didn't stick around for long. And now they are not that often.

Readers who are not virgin: can you tell when a smut scene was written by a virgin?

>>2398297
>Readers who are not virgin

I'm sorry, but I think you'll have to go somewhere else to get an answer to this question.

>>2398297
Yes. Does it matter? No.
It's like watching Star Wars and going 'space doesn't work like that'. It's nitpicking.

Very cute Hidamari fic. Yuno is too pure for this world.
http://archiveofourown.org/works/11743041

>your favourite fic finally stops updating
I TRIED SO HARD
AND GOT SO FAR

>>2399110
Do you know if it won't be touched again? Did the author officially announced it?

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>>2399110
You are not alone

>>2398297
Do you think you can tell if the people replying to you are virgins?

>>2398415
What utter bullshit. You can't tell, except if the smut is flawed to the point of being anatomically incorrect, which anyone could see, not just a non-virgin. Anything you think you can detect that tells you whether the writer is a virgin is either all in your head or explained by any number of other factors.

How can you possibly claim to know that (for example) some smut you read with implausible tribbing wasn't written by a lesbian who fucks on the regular but either hasn't done much tribadism or is just idealizing it for the purposes of the smut?

>>2399110
I have seen fics come back from a 1 year and more hiatus
It's rare though
Don't give up now

>>2399531
Plenty of fics resurrect within a year. I've, however, only witnessed 1 that was revived after 2 years and 1 after 6 years. It felt like a miracle.

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>>2399110
I've had that happen with three fics so far, all of them Naruto stories... Is Nardo just cursed?

So this is for you authors, do you enjoy or appreciate proper critique and criticism to your works, or just the usual 'I like this, keep going?'. I've taken it upon myself to offer proper editorial reviews to those stories I like (As an ex-editor of actual published fiction) although I'm not sure fanfic authors appreciate honest deconstruction of their works and pointing out the flaws.

>>2399630
I would've loved actual critique when I posted some shit to ff and ao3... I've stopped writing, because I didn't know what I was doing and it felt like I went nowhere (story wise).
But, for years, I still have the desire to write. I'm going to start up again, just no idea how.

Plus tumblresque excuses, but this isn't a blog.

>>2399630
>do you enjoy or appreciate proper critique and criticism to your works
Definitely.

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>>2399630
I appreciate it. Proper critique hurts, but it's better than silence or compliments that don't even mention what was good, let alone why. Whenever people don't point out the flaws in my writing I jump to the conclusion that my work is full of basic errors and beyond redemption. I know my writing is flawed and the flaws I know of I can correct or live with, but the ones I can't spot keep me awake at night.

>>2399630
I love getting proper critiques. Anons in the lit thread have pointed out mistakes that I would've never noticed. I always keep those critiques in mind when I review my writing, and I believe my writing has improved because of it. Generic comments like "I like this" are like candy; it feels good, but does nothing to make you a better writer. A critical review might not taste the best going down, but taking it to heart has definitely helped me improve.

>>2399110
>fic stops updating again
>hell_hath_no_fury_like_a_sister_scornd.cmd
>check the authors blog to see what's his flicking excuse this time
>spine so flicked he can barely stand and walk, has to lay down most of the time
>doctors say he needs an operations, but since it's the spine it's complicated and very risky with not great odds
>his one last chance before that is an ex-marines chiropractor and therapy promises to be painful
>also, sister's bf (black) totalled his ded mums car
Uh, yeah. On second thought angry space lesbian zombie clone rampage chronicles don't seem all that important anymore. Dat perspective, gal.

>>2399707
You don't need a spine to type. Just tell him to use dictation software.

>>2399630
I've become seriously numb to "I like this, keep going" and all synonyms. There are two types of constructive criticism however. One is the kind that comes off as haughty and belittling and basically tries to be as technical as possible for no reason other to showcase the breadth of vocabulary. The other kind is the good one that comes with "you could do this better by doing X"

>>2399859
I actually hesitate to give concrete 'do this, not that' suggestions, even when I think the cure is easy and obvious. Especially in unsolicited public reviews. It's not my story, it's not my place to impose my voice on it.

>>2399875
You realize that if the author knew how to do this "so easy and obvious" thing, then it would not be an issue in the fic. Therefore what seems easy and obvious to you might not be obvious at all to the author, so you basically expect them to play a game of mystery.

>>2399945
I don't think that was anon's issue.

>>2399945
Typos and brainfarts are one thing; I'll mark them out with extreme prejudice and specifity. But what do I do if I think that, say, there's stilted dialogue? I can point out exactly which ones I think are awkward, and usually fixing it isn't a complicated process (read it aloud and tweak it until it stops sounding awkward), but that's still not concrete 'do this, not that' advice, which might be, say, 'ins 'that' here, replace this proper name with a pronoun, split into two sentences here'. And this sort of technical, passage-and-lower level of problem is the *easier* sort to offer advice for; I can tell you that your pacing's too slow and getting bogged down in details, but I feel like I'm overstepping the mark if I tell you exactly what I'd be deleting and what I'd be snappifying.

Maybe I'm paranoid about this and over-thinking it. I don't mind close attention that comes with ready-baked suggestions (which I may or may not take) in my own writing. But, yeah, I do feel like editors have a duty to not let their voice drown out the author's.

>>2399630
When I see there is a new review I get really excited. When I open it and it just says "Great story" or "Keep writing! So good!" I feel a little sad. When I open one that is a few paragraphs long (even if they have a few negative things to say) I am always really happy. That proves that my writing is good enough to engage the reader enough for them to actually have things to say about it, not just that I did some fanservicey shit that they want to see more of so they say "keep going" and leave it at that.
I always get mostly positive reviews, with the exception of one rather controversial decision I made in one of my stories. I could not help taking the hate as a compliment, though, because I could tell I shocked my readers enough to warranted an emotional response, which is exactly what I was shooting for.

>>2399630
Proper critique is absolutely invaluable, it's great to see. What's also great is when somebody who might not be confident in expressing critique says "I liked it" but then goes on to explain what they liked and why, and maybe what they didn't like and why, as a reader. It's a step up from the empty "keep going" and shows somebody really gives a shit.

>>2400047
I'm a reader and I don't know jack shit about literature, so I can't give any helpful/detailed review

>>2400174
But you can at least tell the author what you liked and didn't like, for example if you enjoyed a certain character's dialogue or found a plot twist to be too unbelievable. That's better than literally nothing, which is what 99% of people leave.

>>2399502
diff anon, but it's possible for an author to get things so blatantly wrong you're left with two options: they're either a virgin or a man.

but it's not like the internet makes it easy to track down realistic, descriptive lesbian porn for research purposes.

and it's not a problem limited to sex. there are some areas of knowledge that are harder to come by than others based on second-hand information. descriptions of drinking and drugs can end up pretty goofy. i can also generally tell when an author has never picked up a gun in their life, but that's easier to learn about from google.

i'm not saying you absolutely have to have an experience to be able to write about it tho.

>>2399714
kek

>>2398297
Yes. I can also mostly tell when lesbian porn is written by a man because I've been having lesbian sex for years. It's not all visuals. Certain sensations, smells and sex practices are so off sometimes it ruins the immersion for me.

It's the same reason why lesbians don't watch 3D lesbian porn. It's staight women who barely like touching each other and who can't finger, eat pussy or scissor for shit.

Quick obvious pointers for yuri or femslash authors who haven't had lesbian sex or are virgins.
>Lesbians don't have long nails, they hurt when sticking them in your vag that way
>write dialogue that doesn't sound like they're having hetero sex
>Vaginas don't smell like roses or flowers.
>it's really hard to cum from tribbing/scissoring

>>2399630
>implying you can find any flaws in my work

I'm pretty much perfect.

>>2400303
>it's really hard to cum from tribbing/scissoring
This is really the only thing you listed that actually stands out in lesbian smut, whether it's written by a man or a woman. Maybe you're confusing the third one with the metaphorical references to pussy as some kind of flower (by bad writers, but not necessarily virgins); it has nothing to do with smell.

>It's the same reason why lesbians don't watch 3D lesbian porn. It's staight women who barely like touching each other and who can't finger, eat pussy or scissor for shit.
You're looking in the wrong places. Watching standard plastic American pornos is the absolute dregs no matter what "genre" it is. Branch out.

>>2400303
>it's really hard to cum from tribbing/scissoring

What if they start scissoring after they did other stuff and are almost there?

>>2400303
Eh, it's smut, not realistic. Thankfully. Funny how realistic depiction of sex are so boner killing.

>>2400330
There's a difference between actually being titillating, unbelievable, and then clinical.

>>2400330
This is why I always go way over the top when I write sex scenes, with lots of gushing and toe-clenching, like a raunchy doujin. I'm a virgin and I've never kissed anyone or saw anyone naked in an intimate situation. I get nervous when I'm alone with people I just don't get aroused by the human form, so I don't really see the point. People look the same as dogs and pigs to me, just like animals. I just like to write about magical girls getting it on, and I don't want to stop until I sleep with someone, which is about as likely as fusion technology becoming commonplace.

>>2399630
>So this is for you authors, do you enjoy or appreciate proper critique and criticism to your works
Absolutely, so long as it's not written harshly - criticism is one thing, but ripping something apart is another. My favorite reviews tend to have both criticism and praise, like a "you can improve on X/Y, but I really liked Z"

In fact, I tend to kind of dislike a "i like this, keep going" thing.

Is girls shooting more girl cum since it's been so long since they came just a baseless porno idea?

>>2401332
Fucking what?

>>2401332
Yes.

>>2401338
Fine I'll take it out.

>>2401332
>girl cum

You mean urine.

>>2401397
This is why cutting sexual education in schools is bad if you are not trolling. Women, but not all women, have an analogous prostate that is fully capable of producing distinct chemically identifiable female cum. And has been proven to be capable of stimulating to the point of "ejaculating noticeably".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skene%27s_gland

While all ejaculate can contain trace amounts of urine due to the human reproductive system sharing space with the waste disposal system, urine is not ejaculate and ejaculate is not urine. It's proteins not a waste byproduct.

>>2401402
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skene%27s_gland
>it has been postulated that

Do you understand the meaning of the word "postulated"? But go ahead and keep deluding yourself into thinking that the piss you drink from your gf's cunt is "girl cum."

>>2401407
Did you read anything other than what you could use as a "gotcha"?

>Female ejaculate, which may emerge during sexual activity for some women, especially during female orgasm, has a composition somewhat similar to the fluid generated in males by the prostate gland,[6][7] containing biochemical markers of sexual function like human urinary protein 1[8] and the enzyme PDE5, whereas women without the gland had lower concentrations of these proteins.[9] When examined with electron microscopy, both glands show similar secretory structures,[2] and both act similarly in terms of PSA and prostatic acid phosphatase studies.[3][10][11][12] Because they are increasingly perceived as merely different versions of the same gland, some researchers are moving away from the term Skene's gland and are referring to it instead as the female prostate.[3][13]

Ain't no one claiming that porn style fountains of gushing water is cum. That's not realistic for normal humans, thus why everyone above said no that does not happen. The average glands are just too small to produce more than a few milliliters. We're talking a tablespoon or two worth that can "squirt out" during release.

Female ejaculate is a real substance that can be collected in a test tube, can be chemically tested to determine its composition, and its distinct production ducts required to make it can be found in enough women to judge it as more than just a rare mutation. The arguments "postulating" come in for whether or not they are responsible for large jets of "release", and again the answer to that is no.

>come to the fanfiction thread
>get a biology lesson
Only on /u/

Why does anyone care about female ejaculation? Aren't vaginal fluids good enough?

>>2400303
Same thing with fujoshi writing their gay slash fics while you are a gay man. You pick up the scent in every paragraph they are just winging it or copying it from other fics. Really makes the anatomical parts of the writing seem unimmeserive.

Curious. Are men any good at writing yuri? Is it all just horndog stuff or do they do the cool psychological stuff that chicks write?

>>2401597
>Are men any good at writing yuri?
The ones who are don't draw attention to themselves. And to be fair, on literotica I've ran into a lot of lesbian stuff that reads like it was written by a teenage dude, only to discover that the author at the very least claims to be a woman in her 40s or 50s and has never written anything but lesbian content.

>>2401602
What would you recommend as stories with accurate and well written lesbian sex? They say learn by aping the best.

>>2401664
Look up a pairing you like on AO3, search for explicit fics and sort by kudos. You'll find great fics in every reasonably popular fandom.

So what's with soulmate AUs? Where and when did they start popping up? Two fandoms that I read have had them suddenly when prior to it I didn't even know it was a thing.

>>2402173
In what manner? More fantastical or the whole "soulmate's first Y will be on your X?"

>>2402177
The ones I've read have been pretty specific. You have some kind of identifier that will let you know when you've found your soulmate such as a magic watch that counts down until you meet them or a "tattoo" that reads whatever your first words to them are. Apparently these are popular and not just random ideas according to the author?

>>2402180
writing prompt blogs is most likely the origin. Given the nature of prompts, they could seamlessly apply to fandom ships. The actual method might be changed by the author but the foundation of the prompt is the same "physical indication of finding your soulmate"

>>2402180
fanfic prompt stuff spreads like an STD. If one fandom gets it, pretty much every other popular one gets it.

>>2402173
What fandoms? And do you have some good examples?

>>2401597
99% of the early yuri fan fiction movement were from male writers.

What are you smoking?

>>2402245
Not sure if I could say "good" but I remember first finding out about it from a Hibike story on AO3. I think this is the one.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/5868019
The other is a K-On one that's currently being written and updated on FF.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12285163/1/Tick-Tock

>>2402180
I've seen this a lot in Once Upon a Time fics. The tattoos specifically seem to be very popular. Like, you are born with or develop a sort of tattoo, and your soulmate has a matching tattoo. I've read at least three different OUaT fics from different authors with these magic soulmate tats.

The 2009 film TiMER has a similar thing going on, where you are born with a timer in your arm that tells you how long it will be until you meet your soulmate. I'd say it's a pretty common theme.

>>2402251
I don't read yuri fanfics so I wouldn't know (do like yuri though). I respect any type of homo-erotic shipping and anyone that does it; just want to learn the history.

>>2401443
I literally once ended up giving a friend of mine a biology lesson after reading a fic she'd wrote and realising she was wearing an incorrectly sized bra 24/7 due to the way she wrote something in the story.

Do you think if two women have butt plugs in them that they would still be comfortable scissoring?

>>2402405
Yes, I don't see why not.

>>2402405
probably about as comfortable as scissoring ever gets (which ranges from 'awkward but kind of fun' to 'uh, let's do something else')

>>2402405
Depends on the size of the plug.

>>2402173

Oh Christ those things are cancer

As are coffee shop and high school AUs

>>2402173
I'm not sure when they came about, but they are certainly everywhere. You have sift through them to find less generic fics.

>>2403012
I know they're bad - deep in my heart, I know they are - but I love coffee shop AUs.

I also used to be into HS ones, but I got over that years ago/

>Coffee shop AUs
Do they visit the Rabbit House or what?

>men write /u/
>it's all in-universe, in character, and has compelling storylines that mesh with the media's story

>women write /u/
>it's a coffee shop AU or a school AU with alpha/beta dynamics or soulmates laziness or "magical tattoo that somehow you get at birth that guides you to your partner so I don't have to set up a decent story and expend real effort"

It's kind of sad, desu. Look at the great, old stories out of something like Buffy or Kim Possible and compare it to garbage like The 100 or Frozen. Women, please put some fucking effort into this shit.

>>2403128
how can you tell what genders write fics in the first place?

>>2403141
It's most apparent with the way they describe stuff. Like clothes, environments, etc. Men tend to provide shorter descriptions, while women's are generally longer and they stick an emotion some times to the descriptions. Of course that doesn't mean it's 100% sure, but generally for authors that are average or just slightly above it's telling.

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>>2403141
>>2403186
One thing I've found is that in general no male author will write a scene where the pair goes shopping, while female authors always include it.

>>2403128
I think you mean:
>adults writing /u/
Vs
>teens writing /u/

>>2403128
>teenager boy writes /u/
>shitty grammar, it's porn without plot, full of typos, he typed with only one hand, everyone is out of character

>>2403186
>>2403189
I can find several exceptions to these just in the Lucky Star fics, I wouldn't treat these as rules.

>>2399502
Bitter virgin detected.

>>2403286
That's why I said it isn't 100% indicative. Never stated them as 'this is absolutely what it is' either, just happens more often than not.

>author writes fantastic characters, nice romance and good smut
>gets every sickness known to man, familiar problems out the wazoo and his/her job boss is a tyrant so updates are rarer than a golden unicorn with two heads
Every single time.

>>2403012
>Oh Christ those things are cancer
>As are coffee shop and high school AUs
You are like a little baby
Watch this
>O M E G A V E R S E

>>2403448
Just looked it up.

I swear if I didn't drop out of college due I would be writing papers psycho-analyzing the shit out of this.

>>2403456
>She didn't know of omega-verse
Welcome to Hell, nee-san. Enjoy your stay. You can still psychoanalyze. I'm sure it'll be fun to read.

>>2403413
It's a rule of the universe that the worst things happen to the best people. It just seems to happen even more in fanfiction because there are so few really great writers.

>>2403541
I kinda like werewolves, but the omegaverse thing is awful. Besides the futa (which is the worst part), I hate the alpha/omega thing, that's not how wolves work.

>>2403186
So you never asked for theor gender and just assume juvenile romance shit is written by girls while serious shit is by guys? Go choke on a bag of dick.

All of the action, phiolosophical, existential crisis, political, psychological, and especially PWP fics I've read in Mai Hime, Nanoha, KnM had been written by confirmed female authors, as they were the most famous authors in the fandom as well.

Compare that to shitty porn and self-inserts written by little boys and basement neckbeards. Just take a look at the Neptunia, Touhou, Frozen fandom. There were an autistic guys in the Frozen fandom who wrote the kind of cheap romantic AU you complained about "female" author. Shit is so cringe.

>>2403560
>Compare that to shitty porn and self-inserts written by little boys and basement neckbeards. Just take a look at the Neptunia

This. I'm glad I don't like Neptunia anymore, the fics were utter shit self insert crap

>>2403548
>>2403555
>>2403561
>armchair dropout psychology
Fuck off if you can't even do leg work. ABO shouldn't be discussed here at all.

>>2403562
NEPPU!!

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>>2403565

Looks like it's time for that good ol' report and sage

>>2403560
Where did I say 'juvenile romance shit' is written by girls and 'serious shit' is written by guys? I just described what are my experiences with authors, and yes, I knew most of their genders because they mentioned it in passing when referring to themselves.

Don't pull me in a 'discussion' when you want to rant about things you like/dislike and then be an obnoxious fuck about it.

>>2403563
What did she write? I'm curious now.

>>2403665
An attempt to psychoanalize the Omegaverse as women wanting to be dominated.

>>2403562
God that makes me sad. I really love the Neptunia characters and I wish there was more good fanfiction for them.

>>2403675
Oh.
I would've gone with girls subconsciously wanting to usurp usurp the position of their mothers by asserting dominance over other girls.

That was a lark, don't get me b&, moddesses.

>>2403681
This.

>>2403695
I hear there's a number of stories featuring mother-daughter femdom. Can't remember exactly where ("Literotica"? Something like that).
Not fanfiction, though.

What roles should male characters play in fanfics?

>>2403700
Whatever role the story requires them to.

>>2403701
Which, hopefully, isn't a caricature characterless villain.

>>2403700
Something like Doom Guy.

>>2403700
The first response is obviously the best response, but I'll expand on what that anon said. They should play the role most akin to their role in the source material, barring being in a relationship with the girl(s) the fic is actually about.

As an example, if you were writing a Kim Possible fanfic you'd pretty much have to include Ron if the fic goes on for any length of time unless you can come up with a good excuse as to why he's not around (and no, killing him off is not a good excuse). So in this case he should act as the understanding and supportive best friend and too be extra secure about his non-interference it is typical (though not required) to pair him off with a side character that does not interfere with whatever pairing you want to run Kim through. So typically for Kim Possible, it means pairing him off with Yori.

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>blocks the futa and futanari tags
>someone tags their shit as "girl penis" instead

>>2404182
Then block that too.

It's not hard.

>>2404183
I will, but I hope people don't invent a new tag that means the same thing

>>2404184
girl penis is an old tag that is mostly from the western stuff focused fanfic types. Futa came for the weebs.

Neither are all that new.

The only Nep fanfic I still read is that one controversial one that shan't be named.

>>2405839
Can't be more controversial than the Noire or Idol games.

>>2402173
Soulmate AUs are the G rated Alpha/Omega AUs: They're everywhere, in every fandom, and some fandoms just have a shit ton of them.

>>2402293
Probably because soulmate tattoos are actually cannon in OUaT, though not quite like that. Regina knows Robin is her soulmate because he's got a lion tattoo, so I can see the appeal in expanding it.

>>2403700
Depends on whether or not they get in the way of a ship. If you need to break up a cannon pair to write a story, it's fine to either quietly pretend they were never dating in the first place, or have them decide it didn't work out and put the man on a bus. If they're not cannon together, just write the man as normal.

>>2405897
I never got the appeal of a soulmate au. Isn't it kind of boring when the characters know that they're going to get together? At least for regular fics, there's the dramatic irony that while the characters don't know, the audience knows.

>>2405978
It just replaces the question of "will they" with "when/how will they"

>>2405899
Don't forget subversion. Quite a few fics that make mention of Emma having a Lyon (flower) tat when they broached the topic.

I want to get back into writing fanfiction but I'm always stuck between making a huge sprawling story which inevitably gets snarled up in its own complexity, or short little things which don't really satisfy. Anybody else suffer from this?

>>2406320
I'd suggest outlining your stories and writing at least part of a rough draft before getting started publishing it.

How many times can I use the construction "verbed adjectively" before it gets annoying?

>>2406396
Using a more precise verb is better whenever possible, but adjectives aren't satan itself.

>>2406396
if it's "kissed passionately" throw it out the window immediately and try again.

>>2406396
If you're asking the question, you're probably using it too much.

Some people will tell you to never, ever use adverbs because it's telling and not showing, but I'm not one of them -- but maybe bear in mind that you *can* replace some adverbs like that.

Reading it out loud is the litmus test of annoyingness/clangingness. If it sounds okay when you do that, readers won't complain.

>>2406396
Ideally, avoid whenever possible, but no more than 1 every 5 paragraphs.

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>>2406396
The proscription against using too many adverbs is greatly misunderstood. It's not using too many that's a problem - it's how you use them.

Adverbs become irritating when they add nothing to the verb, and by extension to the sentence, when they reinforce something which is already clear from the action or dialogue, and merely intensify the verb rather than change it. Adverbs are fine when they modify the verb so much that the sentence would have a different meaning without the adverb.

I once read a book in which two characters were having an argument, and a line of dialogue attribution read "she said snippily." This was just bad writing, because her tone of voice and intention were already clear from the line of dialogue and the context. Bad adverb.

A good adverb adds something to the verb or sentence which is otherwise absent. For example: "smiled sadly" - sadly completely changes the meaning of smiled. I can't think of any more complex examples of this right now because it's very dependent on context, but hopefully you get the idea.

The other pitfall with adverbs is making them up. If you use adverbs then make sure they're words you (or the POV character) might actually use to describe concrete things - slowly, carefully, grudgingly, widely - not made up adverbs to reinforce how a particular action is done.

Another example. Say you want to write that a character "walked slowly and carefully". In this case I'd strip the adverbs and replace it with "inched" or "edged" or "crept" depending on the situation, because we know what those things are. Now imagine you want to write the same character slowly and carefully opening a box. There's no specific verb I can think of for slowly and carefully opening a box, it's too specific, so use the adverbs because they add something which would otherwise be absent.

Context is key.

>>2406494
I always imagine walking slowly and carefully to be someone hungover, for whatever reason

>>2406320
This >>2406326
I was out of the game for almost 2 years before I sat down and did this. At the very least, have a set plan for the beginning/middle/end and some important scenes.

>>2403700
Any role the plot demands, aside from fucking someone in the main couple.

>>2403012

French/Russian Revolution AU's.

>>2407500
>Russian Revolution AUs
Really, that's a thing?

>>2404182

> Blocked "futa*", "girlpenis", "g!penis", "ladypenis", "hermaphrodite", "pre-op trans"

> shit is tagged as "girlpenis!Character"

>>2407519

Yeah. It's a subtype of Royalty AU.

For example: http://archiveofourown.org/works/8140660

>>2407519
Romanticized history is a hell of a drug.

>>2407533
>Royalty
>during the French Revolution
Geez, you might as well just call the thing "Beheading AU"

>>2407519
Yep, communists continue to ruin everything, and fanfiction is one of those things

>>2407519
>Really, that's a thing?
Sadly, yes, because apparently execution quotas, famine, mass murder of civilians and disastrous civil war are extremely romantic if you're a communist
[Angry Ukrainian Sounds]

>>2407500
>Russian Revolution AU

Do the people writing these actually know anything about the 1917 revolutions?

>>2407562
Of course not

>>2403012

There is literally unironically nothing wrong with Coffee AUs

Female Naruto / Female Harry Potter

Why do people do this

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>When you read a fic that hit all the right buttons but can't find it anymore despite searching for all the oddly specific shit that happened in it.

Maybe it was on some unindexed blog or something but its always going to bother me.

>>2407618
I assume beause rule 63

>>2407591
There is nothing inherently wrong with most any setting, but that doesn't make them inherently good. When the same setting, same details, and same relationship notes get hit over and over again, everywhere, it gets old. It commits the mortal entertainment sin of being boring.

Can it be done well and interesting? Sure. Absolutely. But the level of skill, and fresh ingenuity, required to make it more than just the same old tired tale wearing different name tags is substantially higher. Once you read a great fic like that the bar for more also only gets even higher from there.

How many fics can be summarized as:
>Barista and regular customer hit it off, bumble some adorable dating, drama comes in that makes a stumble in the relationship, eventually gets resolved and they row as people and as a couple, live happily ever after.

Or
>Two homeless women that love good but cheap brew independently hear about a great new shop, hit it off over cups of basic black roast with dreams of cappuccinos at the same table, bumble adorable attempts at day jobs but help push the other on so they can save enough to live the dream, reach their goal but realize that they actually love each other's company sharing any kind of drink more than they love the artisan brew, live happily ever after.

I would bet far more A than B.

tfw there will never be a Dykes in Cars Getting Coffee AU fic

>>2407630
I think some fic I liked got deleted

>>2407652
Also, as a concept it's basically distilled big-city hipster trash. I can't imagine any other reason why so many people would think a barista romance of all things could be cute or interesting. At least the stereotypical boss/employee setting implies some measure of career success to aspire towards.

But really though, the big issue is these AUs are so restrictive because they're so narrow in their focus. Like, why on earth would you not pick a more interesting or romantic place even if originality wasn't something that bothered you? Coffee shops are just McDonalds but without trashy vibes.

>>2408078
>At least the stereotypical boss/employee setting implies some measure of career success to aspire towards.
>to aspire towards
M8 what?

>>2408081
Given that these AUs are generally entirely uninterested in the financial status of its characters, there's really no reason at all to use such a stereotypical poor person place of employment. Now, if they did wish to explore the struggle of lower-class city life as something more than window-dressing, I'd be game.

>>2408092
So you missed the AUs original point entirely. Makes sense now. They were meet cutes that became formulaic.

Honestly the best Coffee Shop AU I ever read was one of the first ones ever written. It wasn't just about the fact that a customer walked into the shop and fell in love with the barista, but was also about the struggle of finding ones' identity when ones been told all their life what to do. It's a very good fic where the fact that it's a coffee shop AU is set in the background, and the real story is about breaking free from what you thought you were to become who you want to be.

Since that was my first exposure to the genre, I always held a soft spot for it despite most coffee shop AUs being rather boring works that fetishize the setting rather than doing much interesting with it.

>>2407561
I don't think it's if you're a communist, I think it's just if you're really sheltered and completely ignorant of the real impact of historic atrocities on actual people.

>>2407547
how do they though? i dont get it

>Start writing one night
>On a roll, everything is coming out the way you want and the prose is just what you were aiming for
>Have to go to sleep for work in the morning
>Go back the fic the next day
>The idea isn't coming so strong anymore, you can't express yourself the way you want and the writing suffers for it
Literally the worst

>>2409071
I know the feels. Trying to grind it out when you are no longer feeling inspired is the worst feeling, like trying to run through mud. I try to remember which sections I need to go back over and try to rework, but I'm usually so pressed for time that I just leave it and soldier on.

>This 12-fandom crossover

Mother of God

>>2409820
Those giant crossovers have to be one of my least favorite fanfic styles. They're absolute clusterfucks.

>>2409820
Dare I ask?

>>2409822
One of the fandoms in the tags is "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". I don't think anything else has to be said.

>>2409837
Sounds like autism hot pot.

>>2409820
It's like going to a potlatch and throwing literally everything there into a stew

>>2409820
I never understood this, why? It makes no sense
Also, why do people put a bunch of one shots from different fandoms all into the same fanfic?

>>2409820
There's this massive crossover with a lot of magical girl franchises and some other stuff. That one has to have yuri, right?

>>2409820
These actually can be interesting if you actually know what to do with the fandoms. But if you're just putting them together because you like x, x and x along with x without any rhyme or reason then you are just brewing a giant shitfest.

>>2409820
At least it's not MC/F!SI Omegaverse
Unless it's also that, in which case the author MUST be found and killed

>>2409877
I think not, the thing was tagged as T and "gen" (no f/f or anything else).

>>2409881
What does gen even means

>>2409937
"general" I believe. I guess it's for fics that aren't shippy

>>2409821
>>2409820

I don't even bother reading them, no matter how highly they're rated.

Two fandoms crossing over can be fun, seeing the author mix and match the rules two very different universes are bound by. Three can work if they're similar universes. Any more than three though is just a mess.

>>2409947
>aren't shippy
Think of them more as actual plot episodes for a tv series that's divided between romance and say intrigue. Also something about trying to have it be either another movie/book/episode that could easily be slipped into the actual series.

>>2402173
It's entirely a personal thing, but I can't stand Soulmate AU's, or the general idea used (as it has been in a recent LWA fic, though that one isn't a soulmate AU other than having soulmate magic).

There's something about the idea that feels very contrived, and in a way I think it's almost "childish" in its "simplicity". I can't describe it fully, but I really don't like them.

>>2410937
It's more a simple way to say to the anxious people 'they will get together at some point'.

>>2410949
But isn't that the point of reading stories/fics in the first place? To see how things end up in that author's specific way? To be unsure until it finally happens and then you feel great (or it doesn't happen and you feel terrible)?

The author might as well just post a paragraph summary saying "they were soul mates. it was magic. bad things happened. they got together
.

>>2410955
I'm not saying I like it. Just one possible way for people to like it.

For me, personally, I prefer the couple to get together at the end and with not too much 'bad things happening' because at that point it's not worth it. I'm not that much of a masochist to want to feel absolutely terrible for characters that aren't real, plus, I read stories so I don't feel like I want to die, but I understand that some people want to suffer while reading something like that.

It entirely depends on what the person's preferences are. I'm neutral about soulmate au's. If it's a good written one where the plot doesn't revolve around them being soulmates and it's just an icing on the cake so to speak, I won't mind it, but if every couple paragraphs it's mentioning how soulmates are dope and people look at you weird for not having one, then I'm dropping it.

>>2403124
Person A is a barista. Person B is a regular.

Regular meets Barista, they chat each other up and fall in love. I guess some people are into that but whenever I go for coffee I only say at most 10 words with them- my order. Then I wander or read their free 'read and wait' materials like newspapers or books while I wait for my coffee.

>>2410971
Think of how many romances you missed out on so far.

>>2410964
I really enjoy couples who begin the story already together, and have to go through things either together or alone, before it ends. Or, related, where both parties know they're in love but for whatever reasons aren't together (said reasons are generally what the story is about).. Couples who get together at the end, after struggling (with feelings, with each other, with life, etc.) are fine so long as the struggle isn't "Lifetime Movie Drama" tier.

>I'm not that much of a masochist to want to feel absolutely terrible for characters that aren't real, plus, I read stories so I don't feel like I want to die, but I understand that some people want to suffer while reading something like that.
It's not so much about suffering as it is about feeling more than just fluffy. I'm big on "there can't be good without bad". Terrible angst is boring and annoying, but a struggle, or a low point, are important in an ending that actually feels like it means anything/achieves anything.

>but if every couple paragraphs it's mentioning how soulmates are dope and people look at you weird for not having one, then I'm dropping it.
That's always definitely annoying, but so is the opposite: where being soulmates grants special powers and abilities and advantages for the couple and it's just oh-so-great that these two characters are soulmates now and probably won't ever fight again. or that other characters are fawning over the connection, etc.

>>2410973
Maybe, maybe not. If I had acted as a fanfiction character I would be holding up the line.

>>2410981
You'd be doing the world a favor, if it was a Starbucks.

>>2410981
You will never have a person behind you in line shout, "Just fuck her already!" while you are chatting up the barista.

>>2408078
>Like, why on earth would you not pick a more interesting or romantic place even if originality wasn't something that bothered you? Coffee shops are just McDonalds but without trashy vibes.

>French romanticize cafe's in their first-half-of-the-20th-century-writing
>American authors pick up on this, also have coffee shops that are important to lit. movements/romantic idealism
>Gets picked up by pop culture, then seen in movies/tv/etc.
>Young authors/young fic authors see this, want to live like their favorite authors, or what they think their favorite authors do
>They do
>They also write about it, romanticizing the idea themselves and pushing the idea even further into pop culture
It's simple. Even knowing this, I love coffee shop AUs. I feel for the "romanticized cafes" meme years ago.and still enjoy sitting in cafes and reading/writing

... I've never been to a cafe...

>>2411002
Do you live in bumfuck middle of nowhere?

>>2411004
Yes, I do.

Why not a bar instead of a coffee shop?

>>2411012
Why not a library instead of a bar?

All these ridiculously high standards for FANFICTION in this thread. Yuri is not going to flourish with stories if people like you don't like any of it.

>>2411017
I'm glad you're aware enough to realize people are fooling themselves. Have you also picked up on the fact that it began as people have some slight gripes about it but not using it as a deal breaker? Wouldn't surprise me if most everyone here has lower standards then they post about.

>>2411014
Less romantic.

>>2411038
Are you saying a bar's romantic? Are you equating bar to a tavern? Be honest now.

>>2411040
>Are you saying a bar's romantic?
That I am.
Imagine a place with soft lighting, soft jazz music playing in the background where you can meet the most varied of people, such as catgirls, sexbots, hitmen, hackers, etc. That's a bar.
Compare to the rowdy place that gets destroyed every other week that only NPCs and adventurers go to. That's a tavern.

Which would you choose to seduce your kittens in?

>>2411049
>That's a bar.
That's more like a lounge. A tavern is a pub.
Not a place where kittens would be less likely to be. The noise, lights, rowdiness of drunks would run them into the shadows.

>>2411017
>All these ridiculously high standards for FANFICTION in this thread.
This whole thing is a recursive problem if you act as if fanfiction should never be thought of as having the potential to be high quality, or that it shouldn't aspire to that. As both a fic reader and a fic author I try to read good work.and offer helpful criticism in others, and I try to make what I write the quality of what I want to read.

If everyone thought that, "oh, it's fanfiction, there's no reason it should be/can be good", then it won't be. Why is this okay? Look at fanart. Even if the majority of it is really bad/amateur (like fanfiction) it's not seen in the same light because there are those who want, or make, quality works.

>>2411017
So you want people to pretend to like shit stories so we get more shit stories?

>>2411086
There's a difference between high standards and having some standards.

>>2411017
I mean sure but it's at the point where I don't find ANY fics I enjoy any more, because the fandoms aren't for me, the settings and story-beats are always as repetitive as can be, the writing is barely ever even serviceable beyond managing to actually avoid easy spelling/grammar mistakes. When there's nothing for me anyway I'm gonna complain, it's not like things could get worse. I've found I believe 4 fics I liked enough to read through and not drop early or halfway in the past year, and three of those I genuinely thought were pretty shit. They just happened to hit on a pairing/scenario that appealed to me so I sat through it anyway. I'm not even complaining about those three really, but that's still 4 fics in 365 days. And yes, I'm often looking through f/f on Ao3 or checking out fandoms that catch my fancy.

>>2411049
Someone's been playing the Cyberpunk Bartending Game, VA-11 HALL-A, available on Steam for a mere $14.99!

>>2411017
I think this is fine. I like how these threads have very high standards for writing. As a writer it pushes me to work harder.

>>2411120
>playing the Cyberpunk Bartending Game, VA-11 HALL-A
First time I hear of this.

>>2410937
>There's something about the idea that feels very contrived, and in a way I think it's almost "childish" in its "simplicity". I can't describe it fully, but I really don't like them
My beef is that it basically removes the entire "why do they like each other and want to be together?" element from the story, by answering it straight out the gate with "because it says so right here on their arm" which is incredibly lame

>>2411167
Absolutely agreed, I should have mentioned it as well. It almost feels lazy, as if the author could think of a good enough set up or reason for the characters to get together and so they throw on the veneer of a Soulmate AU and leave it at that.

>>2411170
Is there a fic that subverts that and has someone end up with someone other than whoever the system has declares is their soulmate? Because that sounds much more interesting.

>>2411167
>>2411170
>>2411193
You girls know, if you pursued the fics you want to bad talk for actual ammo you'd find ones that use the concept and the couple aren't soulmates or just done up in a way where it isn't so goddamn blatant, or if they do get together at the start they actual go through the motions and fall in love with their gf instead of the idea. I know that's too hard for you girls though so I guess this'll be me talking to the void since she's so nice.

>>2411197
Just like everything out there, I'm sure there are "good" Soulmate AUs. Understandable. But the very concept bothers me. Even if it's boiled down to the essence of "character A and character B are destined to be soulmates" - a summary of the concept that doesn't include "to be together" or "be happy together" or "get together easily" etc, I still don't like the concept. It's just not my cup of tea.

>>2411193
I'd imagine such a story would end in revolt. Readers don't like ambiguity when it comes to who ends up with who.

>>2411193
That sounds like a bestselling YA novel with a film trilogy in production

>>2411200
K, I'm sure you would in some other form since the concept is romance itself.

>>2411280
>Dystopian near-future setting.
>World's overlords have massive eugenics shit going on for peak genes to spread among the general populace to keep healthcare costs down, and create specialty individuals for specific jobs.
>Two girls branded at birth to be taken by specific men as soon as they are 18 fall in love.
>Despise the system and plan to escape from the big mega city setting together.
>One of the two designated men actually joined an underground resistance movement and pledges to help them escape as he hates the system as well. The other becomes an antagonist trying to stop them pushing the plot forward until the two girls escape on a hijacked junkyard motorcycle out into the sunset. Live happily ever after helping other people escape.

No one said it has to be ambiguous who would end with who.

>>2411292
And then they create a dyke colony, right?

>>2411294
A promised land whispered among the oppressed people of the undercity built out in the vast junk wastes. A place where all people are free to love who they want to love in peace among the rusting corpses of old giant steel goliaths forever at rest after being discarded.

until the sequel hits and the two are forced to train a squad of battle sisters willing to step up and save the colony from an army of contracted mercenary corp robots.

>>2411292
>>2411301
DAMN this is a good idea. If you write a fic with this setting, I'd read it.

>>2411287
>K, I'm sure you would in some other form since the concept is romance itself.
The concept is romantic, and I'll give you that. In a way I can see the appeal. But the concept of Soulmate AUs isn't romance in and of itself. It's a spiritual thing, or a destiny thing. That's what separates Soulmate AUs from something like a star-crossed lovers thing, or a meet cute kind of romance, or something else.

>>2411311
So many idea's so little time, and stuck on something that's been waiting for a chapter update for months now. The stress from being unable to make the first half of it personally acceptable is horrible.

If I decide to get to it I could post, but it probably won't be soon. Like every other idea relegated to the folder...

>>2411292
That sounds like dystopian yuri Koi to Uso

>>2411410
Never heard of it, but from a quick google I can see it. Basing a story around what amounts to arranged marriages is bound to hit notes with something that's come before.

Suppose setting it out of school and instead in a dystopian working society, making the conflict producing "system" entirely a clinical breeding program of cold logic uncaring for individual "happiness" so long as the end result continues to produce a "proven in world" functioning populace control however unethical and tyrannical it may be (If the system in that manga solely exists just to promote child births by figuring out which couples would be subjectively "happiest", how fucking bad is the algorithm when everyone in the focused character group fully disagrees with it and is actually happier with other people to my understanding? Who let this algorithm decide anything if it can be openly demonstrated it has failed its prime objective so spectacularly!? sorry straying off.), making the story focus a fight to fulfill feelings not the proving to another to have feelings, action elements, paramilitary sub plot(s), and of course the yuri would differentiate it sufficiently. At least in theory and rambling.

If someone's bored, I would appreciate some critique.
>>2411658

>>2411429
I think the system in Koi to Uso takes into account their genetics more than their personalities, but yeah, your idea and the manga are only vaguely similar.
Still would like to see some more, I'm a sucker for dystopias and all things cyberpunk

How often do you find yourself writing something without any intention of posting it but just because you like to get ideas out on paper or just like to write as a hobby? I feel like that's mostly what I've been doing for the past few years now even though I have stories I could probably be finishing.

>>2411771
It's a very interesting setting and I do want to explore it with some stuff as it is with my otp, and I have been plunking down (when I shouldn't be) a little.
Something about a tomboy redhead mechanic dreaming of easy days with a specific hydroponic farmer's daughter in the outer city district they live in. But this is so far turning into something technically original (at least in terms of details) and that is way outside my usual ship shenanigans. Holy shit so many OC's to make. Names are hard. Margaret and Lily sounds off and I just don't know why. Maybe it's a cliche thing.

Still no promises, especially on quality, but it's in the folder of many many ideas.

I'm surprised at the volume of FF pairings that permeates Worm fanfiction.

>>2412299
Worm? The shit game, or the good game? Be more specific.

>>2412302
It's a million and a half word long story about people with superpowers.

>>2412302

PTSD Superheroes the webnovel.

>>2412156
That's all I've been doing these days, actually. I think I have a shitton of different stories now just floating around in a few large Word documents. I still have fanfics to finish too, but I just get a lot more freedom when writing original stuff...oh well.

>>2412156
I do this all the time. Whenever I think of an idea, I like to write an outline of it so at least I can get it out of my thought locker. But meanwhile, I have a half-dozen stories that are just sitting around unfinished. If I actually buckled down and started writing, I could probably finish one or two, but when I try to pick up where I left off, I just want to go write something new and start storyboarding something else entirely.

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Fic has excellent characterization, great grammar (I think), decent plot, but never updates

>>2412299
What are the most popular pairings and where can I find them? I need to read something massive anon.

>>2404182
That's kind of intolerant for 2017 anon.

>>2413853

Okay but I have to warn you there's themes of bullying, mind control and body horror everywhere because of whom is used. You can find it all on Archive of Our Own - http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Worm%20-%20Wildbow/works and Questionable Questing -
https://forum.questionablequesting.com/

Main pairings are Taylor/Amy, Amy/Victoria, Taylor/Lisa and Taylor/Any of her Bullies, but some crackships are popular enough because of their own fics, like Amy and her harem of bodyhorror sex slaves (Panacea Quest by Wyldcard4), Madison/Sundancer (Atonement by Cerulean), Sophia/Emma side pairings (Various fics I can't really recall correctly) And a few Sophia Missy stories as well.

>>2413853
>massive
That's an understatement.
The thing is longer than the entire Harry Potter series combined and you could still toss in any one of the Lord of the Rings books.
It's more than twice as long as Dissonance.

Good luck.

>>2412217
Sis, I feel ya on the names things, I've named so many characters Sarah and Elizabeth that I have lost count already.

So anyone know of any fics where the pairing have to do that school health class thing where a pair of kids have to take care of a fake kid?

Preferably with a pairing that initially is at odds with one another?

>>2414482
No, but now I'm curious too.

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>>2412217
I've loved tomboy redhead mechanics ever since I played Harvest Moon and married Ann on the SNES. Too bad that game had a male MC.
I have a lot of trouble creating names for OCs, too. I've gotten so frustrated that I've lifted names from random people in the newspaper before.

>>2414494
I mean it seems like a pretty easy plot to do, and prime material for fun and shipping goodness.

Not like there are a dearth of shows to have introduced the concept to potential fanfic writers.

>>2414482
Not that I know of, but the concept sounds neat. I never had to do that in my health class, but I did get felt up once by my female teacher because my pulse apparently cannot be felt on any part of my body. She was really cute and fit, too.

The great debate.

FF.net or Ao3?

>>2414571
ffnet only has it's age going for it. Otherwise it (at least in theory, less so in practice) doesn't allow adult fics and has a terrible search system. Also it has at least one band of self-appointed faggots who try to pretend they're mods.

>>2414571
FFnet is good to find older stuff, AO3 is better, better search system and we can block more specific tags like futa.

Also AO3 has download option, it is neat

>>2414571
I'm an old person who is just attached to ff.net now so all my fics are still on there, but I have to admit that ao3 beats it in every way.

>>2414240
Never liked Amy. Taylor/Lisa is my jam. Got any reccs?

>>2414571
AO3 all the way, it's just easier and better to use.
But you're looking for fics from some old fandoms (like Evangelion for example) you have no choice but to use FF.net

>>2414571
AO3 is better in every way.

>>2414577
>self-appointed faggots who try to pretend they're mods.
What the heck? Elaborate please.

>>2414571
No tags VS terrible, mangled and abused tags, the age-old question
I'm an oldfag so I prefer FF.net, entirely because most of the things I like are also old, and therefore not popular on A03.
Plus AO3 has entirely too much slash in shit that shouldn't have slash (mostly RPF) for me to be comfortable with

>>2415147
There's some group of people who mass report your fic if it catches their attention and it has something in it that breaks the rules. They have been around for ages but the f/f "community" only started being vocal about them when the Frozen fic A Date with the Drum Major got removed from FF.net and that group was blamed. But uhhh, the author took the fic down herself because it was pretty much just her life with character names replaced and people she knew found the fic and put the pieces together. Or something to that effect.

On the FF.net vs ao3 argument, I'd honestly say FF.net. I have lots of issues with both websites, but on ao3 getting any type of exposure is impossible unless you hang out on tumblr all day and just spam about your fic. Because of that sorting by words/hits/kudos is pointless. That and I feel ao3 is built more for smut and short fics, which aren't really my thing.

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>>2414631
>Taylor/Lisa

>Headaches: Taylor is currently ruling the roost, as the de-facto leader of Brockton Bay after Coil's unfortunate death. Too bad no-one told her about all the horrible paperwork. Ending every day in pain because interpreting legalese for eights hours isn't good for your brain isn't fun. Lisa can sympathize. Unfortunately, Taylor really-really likes Lisa, so... (NSFW)
https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/mr-johns-storybook.720/
Also in this thread is Tiger and her Kitten, a great Sophia/Taylor series.

>Taylor Hebert - Lesbian Dominatrix
https://forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/the-masked-writers-collection.1749/
Each chapter of this is focusing on a different character. Also in this thread is 'Reconciliation Through Pony Training', my favorite Emma/Taylor series.

>>2415295
Most of the fics I've seen those people reporting were dogshit, so I just find it hilarious. I will be butthurt if they taget a fic I like though

>>2415336
Yeah. I'm sure there are exceptions, but for the most part they just report song fics, script fics and 180k smut fics. Every time I've heard of them attempting to remove a popular story ends with nothing happening unless the author gets spooked and decides to censor themselves like idiots. The group is the bogeyman that was used to try and convince everyone to post all of their fics on ao3.

>>2415429
I just don't get song fics. Why do they exist? What's the point of adding chessy lyrics between some lines or paragraphs?

>>2414571
>FF.net or Ao3?

I started out publishing on FFN, now I use both. I like AO3's tagging function and that it doesn't arbitrarily break/censor text formatting the way FFN does, but a presence on FFN is basically mandatory if you want to reach a sizeable audience.

>>2415467
It's like an AMV, but WRITTEN.

>>2414571
>littlemexicangirlshruggingabouttacos.jpg
I don't think there has to be an "or". Both sites have their strengths and weaknesses.

>>2415645
>Tfw i knew this girl who wrote assassins creed songfics
Kiiinda embarrassing

>>2415671
>i knew this girl
Just admit you were that girl.

>>2415677
i would if i was, my only fanfic is a Persona 4 fic that never got updated

>>2415678
At least you made something. Everytime I write something I feel so embarassed (even though I'm the only one reading it) that I delete it all

>>2415680
I've always been pretty dumb and kind of a att whore even tho I'm shy as fuck, when I started writing I would go to my friend's and show it to them (for the praise probably), think about it, I still do that...

>>2408078
Well, in my small university town of 100k with 20k of those being students, baristas and barmaids tend to be pretty interesting people who you meet regularly if you've got a routine commute. And they tend to change every few months so one ends up meeting many of them over the years.

For example there used to be a cool girl girl who wanted to become an underwater welder and go to work at the Norwegian oilrigs. I liked her. No forced politeness, very down-to-earth and dat dry-wit. I hope she made it. Also, she hated facebook from the beginning. Good instincts.

Like, it doesn't seem much, but I would have never met nor come to know of any them if it weren't for an ex-gf who made me addicted on a certain type of coffee. And all this for the small price of a smile and a minute of chatting each day. Also, the feel of being greeted with 'you look like shit, hold on imma gonna sneak you a double' goes a lot towarda filling the void in my stone-cold and withered confirmed-bachelorette heart. I can totally see why people would want to romanticize and build upon and share this in their writings.

>>2416627
>small
>100k
Nee-san, you don't know small.

>>2416814
Hey, just yesterday an american newspaper called a town half the size of mine in the neighbouring county a village. And that town recieved its rights literally half a millennium before the US declared their PMS.

>>2416627
I live in a town of 20,000 and used to live in a 'village' of 166 before that.
That is small.

>>2408092
>>2408078
>>2407652
You are basically a college freshman suddenly thinking you got it all figured out. Stop doing that.

>>2417272
Multiple anons, anon. I'm not saying anything other than it has been played out and most people don't differentiate enough to make it interesting.

>>2417272
The irony of posting that defending the most college freshman setting of all.

So, what's That Thing in fanfiction that you know enough about IRL that fanfic authors annoy you by always getting wrong?

>>2417496
Thankfully I'm into cars. So that almost never comes up in any relevant way.
Made me wonder if I could come up with a story revolving about racing or somesuch, but I find I wouldn't be able to tell anything interesting. It's so much of an in-the-moment thing.

>>2417496
Coffee.

Every coffeeshop AU has people making sugary syrupy concoctions despite working at hipster coffee shops. No one ever debates the merits of Chemex vs Hario v60, or their preferred grind settings, or host cuppings, or talks about home roasting. There's never any lively debate about what blends people like to make out of beans, and no one ever asks for recommendations on what coffee they would like if they like medium roast Guatemalans. No one talks about local roasters either, or experiments with different ways of brewing coffee.

>>2417496
Space. Unfortunately no yuri fic has ever included it.

>>2417496
I'm a drunk, and unsurprisingly, considering the demographics involved, there's a whole damn lot of writers who really don't know a thing about booze, drinking or being drunk, but include it in their stories anyhow.

>>2417666
You could probably blame that on how media normalizes being drunk/drinking, Lilith. They really push the idea that the best way to unwind/bond is over drinking a terrible amount of alcohol and this is mostly pushed to everyone. Pre-teen and above, so it seeping into fanfiction is kind of par for the course. Of course, when it comes to fics, its also a case of "I need a girl A to make a bad decision but how?" It's quick and dirty, and just really terrible because they're using it as more of a plot action than actually drinking.

>>2417683
Adults in real life also think you MUST drink alcohol when you meet with your friends, and they mock people who don't drink. It is pathetic

>>2417689
Er that hasn't been my experience drinking with adults. By the time you're 25, no one gives a shit. Not about what you drink, nor about anything in general, really.

>>2417496
AU which really turns out to be retelling the original story with characters switched around.

AU once meant 'how would the story turn out if X happened' but every AU fic I've seen recommended is 'how can we make sure Y happens regardless of the changes we've made to this universe.'

Using Harry Potter fics as an example, at some point there will always be a troll in the dungeon, sabotaged broom incident and a chamber of secrets opened no matter how drastic the changes.

Now I understand that the average 15-18 year old girl who writes fanfiction probably doesn't have the time nor the mastery of the craft to come up with completely new chapters and stories but I wish they would at least try instead of being a slave to canon and repeating what's already written. Once upon a time I saw fanficcers who did try to be original.

When I read an AU I want to read about the consequences of a single change not how everything largely stays the same.

The other thing I hate is AU which don't need to happen for example a University AU if the canon characters are 15-18. Why not just write a 1-3 year future fic when they are likely to be in University?

>>2417694
>my experience
Good, that's good, but I think in >>2417689's case those people would be more like club goers or just fuckheads in general that think you need to act a certain way to be an adult. It's different for everyone but there is definitely an underlining thing in media about how alcoholism/large and consistent alcohol consumption is a "normal" adult thing. Either way the way it's portrayed leads to it being used by those that are uninformed of complexities.

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>>2417546
I would love to read a yuri story about racing. Cute girls finding rivals and friends on the track or on the streets.

>>2417979
>[yuribeat intensifies]

>>2417979
Second that, competitions of any sort can allow for all kinds of cool conflicts and drama, but I've never seen a fic like this

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>>2417979

>>2417979
Just rerun the whole fast and furious series plot, but with two girls instead, it'd be great

>>2418745
I could not handle that much dumb.

>>2417979
combine this with the long-standing request for lesbian robots and write about gay cars?

>>2418745
That would be utterly retarded, and I'm all for it

>>2418745
>Tokyo Drift but /u/
Sign me the fuck up

>>2418745
>ambiguously brown musclegirl who likes muscle cars
>cute California blonde cop who loves jap tuner cars
Sign me the fuck up

>>2418910
Does the brown girl still sound like a retard whenever she opens her mouth?
>Hey yo, are you gonna trib or not?

Are there any pointers for people who are interested in giving yuri fics a try? Like a list of exceptional ones? The only time I read fanfiction was several years ago for a show I liked and that taught me there can be very impressive fanfics but that those gems are hard to find underneath all the bad ones.

>>2418974
Finding the hidden gems is part of the fanfiction lifestyle. Gotta dig through the trash to get the gold.

>>2418974
depends heavily on your preferences and what source material you're willing to read fics of.

>>2418983
I am very open minded but I don't like a focus on sex / eroticism or promiscuity. Protag het is a big no. I guess my ideal fic would be about a large yet full world, adventure fantasy. Or alternatively something about competition, sports, trying to be the best. In general I like strong and competent protagonists, very long fics and I like my romance slow and cute.

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Most good fics are those longfics who never update

>>2418932
Of course
You act like it could possibly be any other way

>>2418785
Lesbian robots as in a robot who was programmed to like girls or lesbian robot pilots?

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>series has mostly female characters
>fic writer turns them into guys and writes yaoi
For what purpose?

>>2420743
For the same reason the reverse happens. They like their personalities and want them to be what the author likes. In this case, yaoi.

>>2420744
I don't like to turn male characters into female and make yuri, it's just weird.

>>2420746
Obviously it doesn't apply to every single person.

Somebody gonna make a new thread?

>>2414577
Age is a pretty big thing though, especially for older shows. Ao3 has 32k Glee fics, while FF.net has over103k. If there was actually a way to sort though the shitty fics, FF.net would be great.

>>2417666
I don't even drink and this still pisses me off. Like they think having too much beer will suddenly turn off all your filters and make you blurt out that your hidden crush has the most beautiful eyes and how much you want to kiss her, instead of just kid of becoming incoherent.

>>2423057
It does make you turn off your filters though. I've said my share of embarrassing stuff when drunk. Slurring your words tend to happen only if you're completely wasted, and I've had friends talk coherently before throwing up and blacking out too.

>>2423057
It actually kinda does do that, it's about the only part of it that most writers get right

>>2417699
I have the exact opposite gripe: Writers deciding some tiny change is a For Want of a Nail moment, and everything spirals out until the characters and setting are completely different.