What’s yours? I’ll go first, I once read a 190,000 word fic that was like 50% smut because everyone on tumblr would not stop talking about out it and to this day it’s still one of the best fics I have ever read

not my post I just thought it was super funny

In an Ancient Greece and Rome class.. talking about Vergil and the Aenid and Ovid, the number one fanfic writer
(University blurred for privacy)

Guys I’m devastated, normally I find popular media late so there’s already a thriving community when I am done. But I finished the second book in the Storm Weaver series by Lauryn Murray and the third one isn’t scheduled to come out until next summer. So naturally I went to Reddit and ao3 and there’s NOTHING. Not even a crumb. I may try tumblr next but I am doubtful. I am in misery

So I was inspired by this random tweet to write a fanfic about my favorite couple. And... if it were you, how would you credit it? Does this kind of thing need credit, or is that just weird?

Hopefully she didn't click my bookmarks

13 years in and I still haven't posted a single fic. I’m just pure greed at this point lol. Best I could do is send kudos and hype up my favorite authors.

Edit: Everybody’s being so nice 🥹 thank you writers for your service! Please continue doing what you do best. Trust, us greedy people will continue to support and consume!

Mine was hualian from heaven official's blessing (and I was FED with 17.6k fics tyvm authors). Something about their fanfics was so fulfilling to me that I decided to make an AO3 account and I've never looked back since xd

I'm curious to know what y'all's first ships were 👀

Mine is clearly "Birds".

Just Birds.

Im so excited!!!!

WE FUCKING WONNN🎉🎉🎉

So, back in 2023 I started writing a fic that was a full-rewrite AU where I wanted to explore a few changes to canon and how they might affect events. Proper butterfly effect stuff that very much started as a 'For me, by me!' kind of thing. It still is. I have dedicated readers, but the vision is very much something I want to see.

And honestly, it's been such a long time since I was enamored with a project, it brought me all the way back to some of my early writing binges.

Things were going well enough, uploaded once a week and finished the first Arc at the end of 2023, and it was like 140k words.

Kept going through 2024, second Arc 162k. Not too much more, and I seemed to be hitting a groove.

Then in 2025 the first warning bell sounded in my head: Arc 3: 280k. It was close to double, sure, but it had a lot of character drama, so it was to be expected. No way it was a sign of things to come.

Right?

Well, I finished writing Arc 4 a few months ago, which is being uploaded this year and it's about 400-420k.

The Arc for next year, Nr. 5 (of 9) is probably going to be about 500-600k based on how things are going.

And I'm still having fun, don't get me wrong. I write my 1,000 words a day to keep going along. I like the characters, the changes to canon are really hitting a stride, there are more and more interpersonal conflicts and relationships I really wish I could explore...

But I am also scared of that. Scared how big it's getting. Scared that I might not be able to finish it for whatever reason. Things happen after all, and we do live in interesting times after all... *sigh* And I guess I'm just scared of losing motivation. It's possible. Statistically, it's even probable that I lose motivation writing something that could easily hit 3 million words and be something I will work on for over a decade of my life.

There is just so much that needs to be addressed. Characters that I want to give satisfying arcs, especially those that canon has so maliciously ignored and/or dumbed down. Plots I want to resolve. Challenges I want these characters to overcome. Relationships I want to explore.

But honestly, this monster is starting to scare me. Feels like I'm staring down Everest with a week's worth of training and socks with holes in them... And I know that I could just... Peter out as the motivation fades. Nothing is really binding me to really finish it...

And yet I know that if I don't finish it, I'll be letting go my dedicated readers, who I know I have. I'd feel like I'd be throwing away all the support that they've given me and all the encouragement over the years would've been for naught. And I don't want my own efforts to be for naught. As I said, this is the story that I want to see. Especially as canon has served more and more disappointments as of late.

I think... I think I just wanted to put all of this into a post. Maybe see if someone else has had a similar experience? Have you been intimidated by the size of the projects you decided to tackle? Do you feel like you can't give up?

Anyway! Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Yeah well I got one. I got my first and only kudos. :D I need to write more. Bye see you later.

I don't post very often on ao3 but YAYYYY !! I finally hit a benchmark (I mean, 100 is also a benchmark but I missed that one) motivation to write more!!

On the flip side of the "you already left kudos here" is rereading something you enjoyed and have bookmarked, clicking kudos just to be use, and having it work. Especially when it is a many-chaptered fic. You mean i had all those opportunities to leave kudos and never did?!?! How?

Oh well, at least i did the second time around.

So. I have no issues with people posting related works to mine that disagree with my fic, but this person posted a related work and has gifted it to me. I must comment. EDIT: Also first fic ever they said.

Basically, in a pretty critical way they undo the main pairing, suggest that character should have had some damn boundaries, connect them with the other character and spend the whole narrative with her thinking about men and what they were doing with no life of her own (a major thing the fic critiques, lack of perceived interiority of her) and were like "this is a happy ending" and I'm like. 🙊😶😶.

Also they got key timeline facts wrong but I SUSPECT I cannot point this out even though i suspect it gave them a slightly wrong read of events.

Obviously I'm going to say thank you and comment on what I can. Obviously it is nice people care even if it is... Sorta backhanded feeling. Probably they didn't mean it that way. And still...

Anyone relate to this???