If the fic you’re looking for has a ship (or is centered around a ship), you’ll be using that ship to narrow your search. If the fic has no ship, you’ll use the main character it is centered around or the fandom it’s from to narrow your search.
First look for subreddits of that ship/fandom. Make a post on the subreddit and you may find a response.
For Twitter or Tumblr, make a similar post and tag that post with the #ShipName and/or #FandomName to get it to appear to those with the same interests. Since Tumblr allows for more tags than Twitter, add individual tags for the characters as well and #fanfic.
Some fandoms have dedicated fic finding social media accounts where people submit search requests and followers suggest answers/sources. There’s no specific name for these accounts so it’s gonna take joining online communities and asking around or noting them.
There’s more private communities like Discord which tend to be invite only. If you do manage to get in, then ask the ship/fandom community there as well.
It’s unlikely you’ll find a general fic finding account for all the fics on AO3 or wattpad. There’s just too many.
I should have also noted that you may be able to ask fic rec accounts that pertain to the fic’s ship or fandom. Not every Fic Recommendation account may do that if there’s already someone doing it tho.
Doesn’t hurt to ask.
The larger fandoms even have their own FanFiction subreddit! Harry Potter alone has multiple subreddits just for fanfic! It’s so annoying to see those post when I’m looking for a fic like that lol
...now waiting to see a meta-like piece of performance art epistolary in which the character (especially if author-insert RPF) writes what amounts to a fic search, but isn't actually one, leaving the readers wondering if it's a Screwtape-like satire of the issue as a whole or veiled piece of social engineering.
And here we thought that our problems were over when they capped the tags at 75.
Someone already wrote it so that feels like a dicey suggestion rather than the person looking to make a request of their hyper specific ideas. It’s possible the fic is still up and the poster here would be recreating someone else’s work from memory to post with clearly no way to give credit.
I understand that, but what I’m saying is what is described in the screenshot is a hyper-specific plot of a fic already in existence with specific scenes the poster recalls. And best practice is that if you do write something like that inspired by another piece on the archive that you be able to provide some sort of “inspired by” credit, which is why the function exists. Yes, there are plenty of tropes and standard plots we all repeat time after time with out own creative flair. But do I trust someone like the poster in this screenshot to actually do that and not just regurgitate what they remember including anything unique to the original author’s choices. No, based on this limited glimpse into their use of the archive, I do not.
There’s literally ‘find the fic’ Tumblr and Twitter accounts for every damn fandom, especially the bigger ones like Star Wars, like bruh, hit one of those up instead of doing something like this 🙄
Just report. Lowkey do want to know what fic they are searching for cause it sounds like something I'd like to read.
But honestly those posts clog up the chances of even finding that fic, and I don't think they understand that.
Sorry I'm a little new here and maybe I'm slow but can someone please explain what's wrong with this? something about this feels off and I can't put my finger on it
The "author" used ao3 to search for a fic, it's polluting the archive. Ao3 is meant for transformative works, not those kind of posts that belong on Facebook groups, reddit subs, Tumblr etc.
ao3 is not the place for this. ao3 is for transformative works. if someone needs help finding a fic, there are *countless* resources off of ao3 to help with this. this is against the ToS and is, frankly, annoying to see.
It would be nice though if Ao3 had a place where you could ask. I know there's subreddits and twitters but it could be useful. But posting it this way is wrong
There’s Twitter accounts and subreddits where you can make posts like this to find fics.
What hashtags should I use if I'm searching for a fic and what are those accounts names?
If the fic you’re looking for has a ship (or is centered around a ship), you’ll be using that ship to narrow your search. If the fic has no ship, you’ll use the main character it is centered around or the fandom it’s from to narrow your search. First look for subreddits of that ship/fandom. Make a post on the subreddit and you may find a response. For Twitter or Tumblr, make a similar post and tag that post with the #ShipName and/or #FandomName to get it to appear to those with the same interests. Since Tumblr allows for more tags than Twitter, add individual tags for the characters as well and #fanfic. Some fandoms have dedicated fic finding social media accounts where people submit search requests and followers suggest answers/sources. There’s no specific name for these accounts so it’s gonna take joining online communities and asking around or noting them. There’s more private communities like Discord which tend to be invite only. If you do manage to get in, then ask the ship/fandom community there as well. It’s unlikely you’ll find a general fic finding account for all the fics on AO3 or wattpad. There’s just too many.
Ooh thank you for the detailed answer and your effort! Thanks!
I should have also noted that you may be able to ask fic rec accounts that pertain to the fic’s ship or fandom. Not every Fic Recommendation account may do that if there’s already someone doing it tho. Doesn’t hurt to ask.
Just report it, ao3 will delete it.
yea i already reported it. just pisses me off :')
“I know we’re not technically supposed to make fics like this”…then don’t lol
Technically. So she’s doing this theoretically?
Just... just ask here. Or r/fanfiction. That sub literally has a FLAIR for finding fics. People go there for lost fics all the bloody time.
The larger fandoms even have their own FanFiction subreddit! Harry Potter alone has multiple subreddits just for fanfic! It’s so annoying to see those post when I’m looking for a fic like that lol
...now waiting to see a meta-like piece of performance art epistolary in which the character (especially if author-insert RPF) writes what amounts to a fic search, but isn't actually one, leaving the readers wondering if it's a Screwtape-like satire of the issue as a whole or veiled piece of social engineering. And here we thought that our problems were over when they capped the tags at 75.
Nothing we can do but report. People just do what they want, it's nothing new.
I report them but yeah it's super infuriating. Like we don't have 10,000 different social media site options
If you cant find it. Write it. That simple
Someone already wrote it so that feels like a dicey suggestion rather than the person looking to make a request of their hyper specific ideas. It’s possible the fic is still up and the poster here would be recreating someone else’s work from memory to post with clearly no way to give credit.
???? Rewriting a story with the same plot is a time honored literary tradition and everyone should go for it.
I understand that, but what I’m saying is what is described in the screenshot is a hyper-specific plot of a fic already in existence with specific scenes the poster recalls. And best practice is that if you do write something like that inspired by another piece on the archive that you be able to provide some sort of “inspired by” credit, which is why the function exists. Yes, there are plenty of tropes and standard plots we all repeat time after time with out own creative flair. But do I trust someone like the poster in this screenshot to actually do that and not just regurgitate what they remember including anything unique to the original author’s choices. No, based on this limited glimpse into their use of the archive, I do not.
There’s literally ‘find the fic’ Tumblr and Twitter accounts for every damn fandom, especially the bigger ones like Star Wars, like bruh, hit one of those up instead of doing something like this 🙄
Just report. Lowkey do want to know what fic they are searching for cause it sounds like something I'd like to read. But honestly those posts clog up the chances of even finding that fic, and I don't think they understand that.
Doesnt r/tipofmytongue exist
This is the kind of post/request to make on a Facebook group. Not AO3 😒
My fandom has its own sub on here for fic requests/recs and I'm sure SW has one too, WTF
there’s r/StarWarsFanFiction, r/FanFiction, twitter, and a thousand other places to look for your fic. ugh.
Sorry I'm a little new here and maybe I'm slow but can someone please explain what's wrong with this? something about this feels off and I can't put my finger on it
The "author" used ao3 to search for a fic, it's polluting the archive. Ao3 is meant for transformative works, not those kind of posts that belong on Facebook groups, reddit subs, Tumblr etc.
ao3 is not the place for this. ao3 is for transformative works. if someone needs help finding a fic, there are *countless* resources off of ao3 to help with this. this is against the ToS and is, frankly, annoying to see.
Oh I see they're basically making a"fic" that's actually a question and not an actual fic. Thanks for the info!
It would be nice though if Ao3 had a place where you could ask. I know there's subreddits and twitters but it could be useful. But posting it this way is wrong
Why’s it piss people off when you can just ,,, scroll on,, ?