Yet Another AO3 Bot Situation - Please Spread The Word!

Yet another AO3 bot situation - please spread the word!

Hi, it's me again, the person who wrote that viral post about fanfiction plagiarism! Today I'm here to warn you about abuse perpetrated by bots who have stolen AO3 usernames.

There's currently an epidemic of bots going around leaving (apparently random) horrible, hateful comments on people's fics. This isn't the first time bots have invaded AO3, but the big problem with this wave is that they're using real AO3 usernames to do it.

I learned about this when another writer contacted me after receiving the following comment on their story:

a screenshot of an AO3 comment left by a guest with the username AVAAntares. The comment reads, 'This fanfic is proof that not everyone should be allowed to write. It's that bad.'

Now, while that is my username, I DEFINITELY did not leave this comment (and anyone who would leave something like that on a fic should be slapped! What an awful thing to post). This fic is in a completely unrelated fandom that I have never participated in, nor has that author participated in any of my fandoms, so the probability of it being some intentional fandom drama thing to make me look bad is also low.

The writer whose fic the comment was left on enlisted the aid of some friends and tracked down other guest comments with unrelated usernames attached, which is pretty strong evidence that they are being left by bots at random.

The TL;DR: If you receive a cruel comment from a (Guest) with an actual AO3 username attached, it's most likely from a bot. Please do not lash out at or dogpile the AO3 user who owns that name, and who in all likelihood has no idea that their name has been hijacked for evil.

If finding this kind of comment on a fic, even left by a bot, is likely to upset you, I would recommend changing your comment settings so that only users who are logged in can leave comments. To do this, edit your story settings, and under "Privacy," select the radio button that says "Only registered users can comment," as shown below.

A screenshot of AO3 Privacy settings. The button next to 'Only registered users can comment' has been selected.

Please spread the word to other AO3 users! And if you see mean guest comments on other fics, maybe let the author know that it's probably from a bot and not a real person who thinks their writing is bad.

More Posts from Littlemissfix-itfic and Others

1 year ago

this blog stands with palestine and if you don’t you can get the fuck out. what israel is doing is genocide and i will not tolerate anyone who supports it.

1 year ago

Except I missed most of it 😭

Plain black text in segoe UI font reading "Veteran of The great Tumblr Boop war of 2024" in front of a shiny golden five-pointed star

hastily slapped this together in a few seconds

1 year ago
Watchergate: 4/19-4/22

Watchergate: 4/19-4/22

6 months ago

No one:

Tumblr users on April Fools Day and Halloween:

No One:
1 year ago

Like I understand what it’s trying to say and what it’s portraying, but where I struggle with phrases like “he growled” or “his eyes darkened” is picturing it in my head. Like I understand in context what it means, and I can even get a general idea of what it should look like, but I have a hard time like identifying it irl, ig? Like I can’t think of an instance when I heard a man growl in real life, but I do realize that the author doesn’t literally mean he’s growling like a dog. Not can I picture a familiar face with their eyes darkened. I do understand that the writer doesn’t intend for me to imagine the character’s eyes literally darkening in color (I don’t think??) but that it is intended to express an intensity (and usually heady desire) in the character’s expression.

I’m so sorry but in the nicest way possible do yall actually read books or just read words??? Cause I’ve been seeing that trend of people not understanding how “snarled” and “eyes darkened” and “eyes softened” etc. was used in a book and like…

Genuinely, do yall just not have imagination?? Or not understand figurative language??? Also eyes do literally darken and soften have you not lived a life??? How do you read with no imagination? Is this how you get through so many books in one month - you simply don’t take the time the understand the words as they are read?

4 months ago

I have so many thoughts. Maybe we’ll finally have a fic that leaves the drafts 👀👀

pretty girl reader who’s actually the sweetest person ever; unfortunately, no matter how kind you are, you’re still a flat broke college student with a heart bigger than your wallet. when your roommate keeps telling you to “use your face card to get us out of this shithole”, you tell her you can’t! she’s suggesting that you go on dating apps and plug your venmo so random men will send you money because they think you’re hot. you (unfortunately for her) have morals, so you think that’s the wrong thing to do. when the after school center you volunteer at doesn’t have enough funding to sponsor gifts for the kids, you finally give in and make the dating profile. you’re clear that the money is only to buy children’s gifts + you’re even willing to prove it by sending receipts of all the items you’ve bought with what you’re calling “donations”

enter in character. rich, hot character who’s focused on work but his best friend makes him a profile. he’s curious to see how his friend set it up and after getting the login info, he finds himself scrolling on the app, bored out of his mind. before he deletes it for good, deeming the app and the five minutes he spent on it a terrible waste of time, he lands on your profile. you’re beautiful, yes, but you’re… collecting money to buy gifts?

intrigued, he messages you. you message him back. you’re earnest and enthusiastic and even through a screen, he can tell: you’re a good person. you’re a genuine person. he doesn’t meet many people like that nowadays. so even after christmas is over and you’ve bought all the gifts, he still finds himself reaching out to you. you have a bright, overly optimistic perspective on everything, and he finds it endearing. he finds everything about you endearing.

just !!! him basically begging you to let him be your sugar daddy (without him ever explicitly using that phrase😭) man who wants to provide x oblivious reader who wouldn’t even take his money without at least doing something in return for him

1 year ago

Baby pls. Like what size ring you wear? What type of designs do you like? What’s our wedding date?

“Is it okay if I draw fanart of your fanfic?👉🏼👈🏼”

My brother in Christ we shall have a spring wedding

1 year ago

There has been a recent (significant) spike in my area of anti-trans activity, and I’m not sure if that is specific to my area or if it is a trend in the world at large, but either way, that is unacceptable and I want to reiterate that bigotry of any kind is not acceptable, tolerated, or welcome on this page.

real homies respect trans people!

snapshot of a group of people, some black and some white, standing behind a waist high cardboard protest sign at the corner of a quad (id'd in the comments by some as a Nebraska municipal building). the sign reads in pink, blue and white letters: respect my trans homies, below in black letters it reads, or I'm gonna identify as a fucking problem
  • chaotictimemachineblaze
    chaotictimemachineblaze liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • coffee-stars
    coffee-stars reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • alanharha-rivergirl
    alanharha-rivergirl liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • clandestine-arch
    clandestine-arch reblogged this · 2 weeks ago
  • unicornbeck
    unicornbeck reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • unicornbeck
    unicornbeck liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • captin-owl
    captin-owl reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • captin-owl
    captin-owl liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • pan-diasaster
    pan-diasaster liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • sallygodessjackson
    sallygodessjackson reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • sallygodessjackson
    sallygodessjackson liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • carosbee
    carosbee reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • carosbee
    carosbee liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • mmountainsound
    mmountainsound reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • mmavverickk
    mmavverickk reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • crazytechpersonzreal
    crazytechpersonzreal liked this · 3 weeks ago
  • chroniclerenigma
    chroniclerenigma reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • jacks-the-flower
    jacks-the-flower liked this · 4 weeks ago
  • twostepsfrombakerstreet
    twostepsfrombakerstreet liked this · 4 weeks ago
  • cassofart
    cassofart liked this · 4 weeks ago
  • apebbleinurpathhh
    apebbleinurpathhh liked this · 1 month ago
  • bobadaiseternal-blog
    bobadaiseternal-blog liked this · 1 month ago
  • yoshiyoshyosh
    yoshiyoshyosh liked this · 1 month ago
  • kking13
    kking13 liked this · 1 month ago
  • re-bon-bon-san
    re-bon-bon-san liked this · 1 month ago
  • leblogreblog
    leblogreblog reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • curiously-lazy
    curiously-lazy liked this · 1 month ago
  • the-chickenshit-oddity
    the-chickenshit-oddity reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • rectorredux
    rectorredux liked this · 1 month ago
  • oxalisvulcanicola
    oxalisvulcanicola reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • mochiovo
    mochiovo liked this · 1 month ago
  • enchantingcoffeefan
    enchantingcoffeefan liked this · 1 month ago
  • coolqu3tz4l
    coolqu3tz4l liked this · 1 month ago
  • lowandlonesomelow
    lowandlonesomelow liked this · 1 month ago
  • trappedinstockholm
    trappedinstockholm liked this · 1 month ago
  • nilous-biggest-fan
    nilous-biggest-fan reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • piigeonss
    piigeonss reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • piigeonss
    piigeonss liked this · 1 month ago
  • maeve-the-potato
    maeve-the-potato reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • maeve-the-potato
    maeve-the-potato liked this · 1 month ago
  • fucknuggetmaguire
    fucknuggetmaguire reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • vivixian
    vivixian liked this · 1 month ago
  • thesilvercowcreamer
    thesilvercowcreamer liked this · 1 month ago
  • pulanop
    pulanop liked this · 1 month ago
  • almond-vivi
    almond-vivi liked this · 1 month ago
  • shu-sa-reta
    shu-sa-reta liked this · 1 month ago
  • skysthelimit57
    skysthelimit57 liked this · 1 month ago
  • mishmash-webster
    mishmash-webster reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • mishmash-webster
    mishmash-webster liked this · 1 month ago
  • breadstick-tendencies
    breadstick-tendencies reblogged this · 1 month ago
littlemissfix-itfic - Little Miss Fix-it
Little Miss Fix-it

Howdy, love! I’m Alex!This is a fanfic blog, I fear. No tolerance of hate of any kind! She/Her // 19 // Bi Asks are open! <3

145 posts

Explore Tumblr Blog
Search Through Tumblr Tags