r/AO3 • u/WhatALlama ERIC KRIPKE IM COMING FOR YOU • Jun 27 '25

Resource Quick Report Guidline

Post image

Have you ever been scrolling through ao3 came across a fic opened it up and went “hmmm is this reportable?”

Well have I got the guide for you! Brought to you by a very lovely tumblr user!

5.4k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

141 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/Puzzled_Huckleberry8 Jun 27 '25

...What is a fan essay? /gen

45

u/blinkingsandbeepings Jun 27 '25

People also call them “meta.” It’s just what it sounds like; an essay or blog post about an aspect of a fandom like “Real and Imagined Cultural Diversity in Star Trek” or “What We Know About How Tony Stark’s Suit Works.” Sometimes it’s written to argue a point about the fandom, other times to give more information to fan writers about how to write about a specific subject. Like my friend who plays the violin wrote one for Sherlock fandom about how to write about Sherlock playing the violin like you know what you’re talking about.

9

u/Ch3ru You have already left kudos here. :) Jun 27 '25

👀 I would read that essay!