Anybody else got that Evergiven sized writers block
Summary: Stag Party in Margate! Baz and Simon deal with some of the more realistic parts of sex, Dev’s acting weird, and Baz experiments with fashion.
Does anyone else spend way too much time combing through the original books to ensure that every small detail fits into canon if I’m writing canon-compliant fics. Or am I just an autistic perfectionist and my love research papers has bled into my fanfic writing.
One (1) person said this would be interesting so here's a post about what AO3 authors can see about their works and what they get notified for.
What authors get notified for:
comment on a fic
EDIT on a comment (some of u edit like 16 times and it is very sweet. I get an email every time)
Response to a comment
Request to join a collection (note: don't do this. collection owners have a lot of power over fic and should only be used for specific reasons and not to create a collection of fic you enjoy. that's what bookmark collections are for)
Gift
Related work notification
Daily kudos email. The daily kudos email shows all the kudos of the previous day in an order that makes sense to the ao3 database and not to human eyes.
The only bit of this that is clickable is the title of the fic. I can click into the profile of a nice user if I navigate to the fic and then go to the bottom where the kudos are displayed.
Things authors do not get notified for:
subscription to a fic or author
ending a subscription
deleting a comment
creating a bookmark
a fic view (if you visit a fic twenty times, no one knows that but your isp and your browser history and you)
Now here's what authors can see about their fic under the cut because more screenshots
The first thing an author can see is something everyone can see, and that's who left a public bookmark
If you click on the number next to bookmarks you can see this. And each username is clickable to see the other things they have bookmarked or written (side note, this is the best way to find other fic to read)
The author can also see the note a reader leaves on a public bookmark.
Please note that authors don't get a notification for this and I don't look at them (screenshot proving me a liar) so you aren't guaranteed to be seen by the author. If you like that last nice user want the author to know it stuck with them, you gotta leave a comment.
But there are also private bookmarks! And private bookmarks are, as the name sounds like, private. However. On the statistics page for each fic the author gets a little more information.
Here is the statistics page:
This can be selected to by year and the numbers will change EXCEPT user subscriptions. User subscriptions shows the current state of subscriptions. And since authors don't get a notification of number go up or down, they won't know when it's changed unless they are tracking it. Additionally there is no way to see who has subscribed. So you can subscribe to whoever you like or unsubscribe at any time and that is between you, the ao3 database, your ISP tracking your history, and your email client. But the author doesn't know. You are released from any social obligation to stay subscribed or any embarrassment you might have. Go forth.
See? Here is 2024 and it has the same number of users.
Also fun fact, the word count shows fic FINISHED in that year. I wrote a 90k fic that straddled 2024 and 2025 and the full word count for that is tracked on the 2025 page.
anyway back to info.
I can scroll down on this and get a bit more information on each fic.
Here I can see the number of people who have subscribed to a fic - but not who they are. I can also see the TOTAL NUMBER of bookmarks including private bookmarks.
Compare contrast:
The public listing shows 47 bookmarks, the statistics page listing shows 127. On average, most fics have about half of their bookmarks private.
I can't see who made those extra bookmarks, just that they exist.
Also on the statistics page the comments are shown as the number of threads instead of the total number. I always reply to comments so the thread count is a more accurate reflection of how many people left a comment.
So to sum up, what authors can see if they investigate:
username on a public bookmark and any note left
the total number of bookmarks
the total number of subscriptions to themselves right now
the number of subscriptions on a fic
hits
What is it?? A plane?? A bird?? No, it's my homemade Simon Snow trilogy poster
If y'all like my work pleaaaseee follow me on instagram and tiktok, get me out of the flop era 😭
I think the reason why Baz is still very pale is bc he’s canonically only 1/8 Egyptian and bc he’s a vampire and lives in England, he doesn’t get very much sun, hence the lack of melanin. When he goes to America in Wayward Son it says that his skin gets darker.
As someone who’s also 1/8 brown… I’m not biracial or a POC. I’m white. I look white. I have dark hair and dark eyes and I tan, but I am pretty pale bc I don’t spend much time outside (and I live in a place with a much higher UV index than England). I was also much more tan when I was little and got paler as I got older, which could explain why Baz’s skin was darker as a child.
But yeah I’m sorry to break it to y’all. I think it’s cool to have AU Baz as a POC but it’s just not canon :/
I know baz is supposed to be like pale cause vampire and stuff (actually idk if that's the reason but whatever( BUT. I used to have a huuuuge hyperfixation over vampires when I was younger and let me tell you. His melanin wouldn't have gotten sucked out. In this essay, I will be ignoring the canon and doing what I like. Infact, I was doodling little baz a while ago and
Hear ye hear ye my child
Idk. I just can't get behind the paleness
no matter your gender it’s gay to be attracted to me I don’t make the rules
Having intrusive thoughts about hurting others despite it being very upsetting?
Being ashamed of having those thoughts because no one understands and will shun you?
Having compulsions (drinking blood) you hide from others that only temporarily quells those thoughts?
Hating yourself for these thoughts and thinking it makes you evil?
Isolating yourself from others so they don’t find out that you’re a monster?
Ultimately those thoughts do not making you a monster because you are not your thoughts, and it doesn’t mean you actually want to act on them?
2025.04.23 - 2024.05.01
A collection of the WIP fics that have posted in the last week.
Beautiful Roaring Scream [E, 1/6] by @rimeswithpurple / RimesWithPurple
A Change Would Do You Good* [T, 3/?] by Dumb_Bitch_Writes
Distance* [T, 4/?] by CRML
Do you miss us? [T, 10/11] by Magicaleigh
fin de siècle. [T, 6/7] by @ninemagicks / NineMagicks
For That Stolen Heart [T, 15/?] by Loserlovely
Hapless Supernova [M, 9/?] by BBirdy, @theearlgreymage / EarlGreyMage
In Sickness and In Baz [NR, 4/10] by TaylorSims
Picket Fence Is Sharp As Knives [E, 8/?] by @prettygoododds / PrettyGoodOdds
Right Where You Left Me [M, 5/?] by @waywardlesbian / waywardlesbian
Rising at Dawn [T, 5/?] by iamwheretheseasleeps
The Salisbury Boy [E, 8/20] by @alleycat0306 / alleycat0306
They Get Married. [E, 4/12 ] by @colddeadqueer / colddeadqueer
*Multiple chapters posted this week.
Carry on Through the Ages fics.
they/them • 22 • 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ • 18+kinda like if baz was a punk transmasc lesbianFollow me on AO3!
53 posts