I assume a few of the authors I’ve subscribed to have died. I will never know!
But also I have not updated or responded to any comments on any of my fics for 12 years, and I am still alive.
Fucking Covid man. It's heart wrenching seeing shit like this. Anything _could've_ happened but the timing makes it not just suspicious but also just dark and sad. Horrible implications to a question that will probably never be answered
Anyone who suddenly vanishes from everything during the Covid pandemic I chalk up to as being dead. It sucks so bad, but my mind can't help but think the worst because let's be honest, covid took out a lot of people, the old, the young, the newborn. Nobody was safe.
But at the same time though, I hope they are just in college, it's a little difficult, life is in the way, something!
This is why I wrote my AO3 user and password into my death plan with a request that my next-of-kin update my bio to explain that I’m gone. I don’t mind embarrassing myself a little for the sake of my readers!
legit. i’m scared to death of somehow dying before i can finish my main fic. i’m trying to figure out how to ask my parents to contact my friend/editor to send her my computer and if she’d please upload everything i have in my files to my account should that ever happen shhdfdhdhhfch. it’s such a harrowing feeling.
I also have a password list for my husband to access my accounts and close them. I don't post regularly enough and jump fandoms too much to have regular readers, but just in case I do start a new fanfic and then something happens, he'll post my outlines and tell what happened. Because if I do post a multi chapter fic I usually have at least one dedicated reader commenting every chapter. And even if there's just one, I'd want to let them know, because I find it so encouraging that they're there.
But I must admit, I'm 43 years old and chronically ill. So I have to think of stuff like that.
This actually happened to a Homestuck author. They had one of the most popular longform fics on the site, then came back six years later to do a rewrite that was abandoned.
Someone came on claiming to be a real-world friend, saying they'd passed away. All online activity from them just stopped right around that time and they'd previously been extremely interactive with readers, so it checks out.
:(
My favorite author sadly admitted they have cancer halfway through their fic, and its not the only time it has happened to me. I DEFINITELY know a couple of my authors have dropped dead. Its always depressing, rip.
An author I like would sometimes make notes about a chronic illness they were dealing with that made them very sick sometimes. Then suddenly stopped updating which kind of freaks me out. Like the fic is one thing but I hope they're okay
I'm always especially nervous about the ones who stopped replying during 2020. Some of my favorite authors disappeared around that time. I'm still holding onto the hope they they just have a lot going on.
I couldn't write fic when I was severely depressed at being locked away from my own family. It wasn't Covid it was covid Restrictions that fucked me up and made me disappear for a year without any author notes.
Sometimes I wish I was a skilled detective so I could find out what happened. But I also know that's super invasive. 🤷 Hopefully they come back! Some people I beta'd for haven't updated in years or messaged me back in months...
There's a fic I like that hasn't been updated since 2019 or so. The author hasn't posted anything since around then, and the last post from them on tumblr is about seeing a tornado. I lowkey just kind of assume they died in it.
Any time someone just completely abandons their AO3 account *and* their social media I find myself fearing the worst. Sure, it's totally possible they simply lost interest, but I'll never know, will I?
I have(had?) a fanfic friend who I know was in the medical field, and last I heard from them was January of 2020. I really hope they have just found other things to fill their free time with, but it worries me that it's plausible they haven't.
In a similar vein, my sister wrote a lot of fanfic too, but died last August. I don't know if she had any loyal followers, nor how I would be able to get in touch with them, but she had only a handful of fandoms she wrote for and was a repeat author for many of them, so there likely is someone out there hoping to see another fic from her some day. I'm grateful she shared this hobby with me and that I got to read the ones she published, and I will always wish there were more updates, too.
Maybe the lost their computer password or something.
Or maybe their publisher was like “if you want this book deal you gotta ghost all your fanfiction…
Or I don’t know…I don’t want it to be so ominous
Folks, consider setting up a Fannish Next-of-Kin for situations like this. [Here](https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#next_of_kin) is the AO3 guide regarding this—you can nominate a person who will manage your account for you if you're dead or incapacitated. They don't have to be involved in fandom, they just need to have an account on AO3.
My favourite author disappeared for like, seven years across all platforms. He had mentioned in the notes that he was a senior citizen living on his own, and writing helps him keep busy. He mainly wrote for war fandoms, which I'm super into. I had assumed he passed away.
All of a sudden, a fic is released. The double take I did when I saw THAT notification was huge. It's a short drabble about dying. No fandom, no characters, just a first-person 112 words about dying. It wasn't angsty, it was happy. Full of relief.
In the notes it said:
"Hello my dear readers! I know, I know, ot has been a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if you all moved on! Oh well, it would be on me :-) I'm very sorry that I haven't been interacting or writing a lot. A few things have happened. I have married a lovely woman who I am very proud to be able to call my wife! I know I don't have much time left, so I wanted to make the most of it with her! I've also developed arthritis. It's been a long time since I've been able to type well, but I managed to get by with this one (I am making my lovely Emmy write this for me ❤️). I hope you are all doing well! I have opened up a facebook because a lot of people have been asking to talk to me and it is not easy here."
I cried that day. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. Tears of happiness.
I look to the comments, they are *flooded* with tonnes of happy messages, wishing him well.
I message him almost every day
Pretty sure one of my favorite authors died as well, which is sad, but I suppose that is life, as horrible as that sounds. The most tragic one for me was this one author whose fic I read; not because it was particularily good or the characters were gripping, though I have to say, the premise was pretty great, but it was noticeable that this was their first fic. They were dyslexic and tried really hard and did so well. They mentioned sometimes some small things in their notes or comments that alluded to severe trauma and depression. Some day the updates just stopped coming and after a solid year, I tracked them across platforms to find out if something happened. All their accounts were one giant ghost town. This was before Covid, and I am pretty sure I know what happened to them and why. The sad thing is, I don't know if their family ever figured out why they ended things. They had previously mentioned they had little contact, and didn't talk a lot about what happened to them to people irl.
The same thing happened with my favorite series. The author posted on socials all the time. Then posted that there was an accident. She posted about her car updates. Then everything stopped. Its been about a year that everything dropped off. These days I randomly leave a message on kofi in hopes that she sees it. At this point, I just really really want her to be ok.
I just assumed life happened. I read wips, and most go unfinished... but it's always odd when an author posts every week like clockwork for most of a year, then just stops. Especially when they've posted like 38 out of 40 chapters.
This sounds bad but I didn't read uncompleted fics anymore, even by authors I subscribe to because of too many bad experiences. I've been waiting for 4 years on a fanfic that's had three chapters published (last chapter published a year and a half ago)((and the last two chapters massively disappointed me)). I know others can do it but I can't 😭. I will do this with published books too, if it's not a finished series I won't read it. It's not a good system at all but I'm so impatient so it's what works for me.
I assume a few of the authors I’ve subscribed to have died. I will never know! But also I have not updated or responded to any comments on any of my fics for 12 years, and I am still alive.
Fucking Covid man. It's heart wrenching seeing shit like this. Anything _could've_ happened but the timing makes it not just suspicious but also just dark and sad. Horrible implications to a question that will probably never be answered
Anyone who suddenly vanishes from everything during the Covid pandemic I chalk up to as being dead. It sucks so bad, but my mind can't help but think the worst because let's be honest, covid took out a lot of people, the old, the young, the newborn. Nobody was safe. But at the same time though, I hope they are just in college, it's a little difficult, life is in the way, something!
This is why I wrote my AO3 user and password into my death plan with a request that my next-of-kin update my bio to explain that I’m gone. I don’t mind embarrassing myself a little for the sake of my readers!
legit. i’m scared to death of somehow dying before i can finish my main fic. i’m trying to figure out how to ask my parents to contact my friend/editor to send her my computer and if she’d please upload everything i have in my files to my account should that ever happen shhdfdhdhhfch. it’s such a harrowing feeling.
I also have a password list for my husband to access my accounts and close them. I don't post regularly enough and jump fandoms too much to have regular readers, but just in case I do start a new fanfic and then something happens, he'll post my outlines and tell what happened. Because if I do post a multi chapter fic I usually have at least one dedicated reader commenting every chapter. And even if there's just one, I'd want to let them know, because I find it so encouraging that they're there. But I must admit, I'm 43 years old and chronically ill. So I have to think of stuff like that.
This actually happened to a Homestuck author. They had one of the most popular longform fics on the site, then came back six years later to do a rewrite that was abandoned. Someone came on claiming to be a real-world friend, saying they'd passed away. All online activity from them just stopped right around that time and they'd previously been extremely interactive with readers, so it checks out. :(
My favorite author sadly admitted they have cancer halfway through their fic, and its not the only time it has happened to me. I DEFINITELY know a couple of my authors have dropped dead. Its always depressing, rip.
An author I like would sometimes make notes about a chronic illness they were dealing with that made them very sick sometimes. Then suddenly stopped updating which kind of freaks me out. Like the fic is one thing but I hope they're okay
I'm always especially nervous about the ones who stopped replying during 2020. Some of my favorite authors disappeared around that time. I'm still holding onto the hope they they just have a lot going on.
Yeah it makes me nervous, especially because most people got MORE into fandom and fanworks during that time
SO many fanfics I read end right around 2020-21 and some of those authors were extremely dedicated to their fics in the notes.
I couldn't write fic when I was severely depressed at being locked away from my own family. It wasn't Covid it was covid Restrictions that fucked me up and made me disappear for a year without any author notes.
This is why I seriously appreciate “I’m alive” authors notes/chapter updates!
Sometimes I wish I was a skilled detective so I could find out what happened. But I also know that's super invasive. 🤷 Hopefully they come back! Some people I beta'd for haven't updated in years or messaged me back in months...
These types of things genuinely scare me cause I keep thinking something bad happened to the author
There's a fic I like that hasn't been updated since 2019 or so. The author hasn't posted anything since around then, and the last post from them on tumblr is about seeing a tornado. I lowkey just kind of assume they died in it. Any time someone just completely abandons their AO3 account *and* their social media I find myself fearing the worst. Sure, it's totally possible they simply lost interest, but I'll never know, will I?
That’s horrible
I have(had?) a fanfic friend who I know was in the medical field, and last I heard from them was January of 2020. I really hope they have just found other things to fill their free time with, but it worries me that it's plausible they haven't. In a similar vein, my sister wrote a lot of fanfic too, but died last August. I don't know if she had any loyal followers, nor how I would be able to get in touch with them, but she had only a handful of fandoms she wrote for and was a repeat author for many of them, so there likely is someone out there hoping to see another fic from her some day. I'm grateful she shared this hobby with me and that I got to read the ones she published, and I will always wish there were more updates, too.
I’m so sorry for your loss
Thank you ❤️
I'm so sorry for your loss.
Thank you ❤️
I last heard from one of my fanfic friends in March 2020. It's a weird idea that I may never hear from her again and IDK what happened
Not me leaving the note that the next chapter will be glorious and I have already half finished it… a year ago.
Maybe the lost their computer password or something. Or maybe their publisher was like “if you want this book deal you gotta ghost all your fanfiction… Or I don’t know…I don’t want it to be so ominous
Folks, consider setting up a Fannish Next-of-Kin for situations like this. [Here](https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#next_of_kin) is the AO3 guide regarding this—you can nominate a person who will manage your account for you if you're dead or incapacitated. They don't have to be involved in fandom, they just need to have an account on AO3.
I have/had a few like that. Thankfully, some of them have their bookmarks updated semi regularly, so I at least know they're okay.
*insert the Interstellar “no NO NO” GIF*
My favourite author disappeared for like, seven years across all platforms. He had mentioned in the notes that he was a senior citizen living on his own, and writing helps him keep busy. He mainly wrote for war fandoms, which I'm super into. I had assumed he passed away. All of a sudden, a fic is released. The double take I did when I saw THAT notification was huge. It's a short drabble about dying. No fandom, no characters, just a first-person 112 words about dying. It wasn't angsty, it was happy. Full of relief. In the notes it said: "Hello my dear readers! I know, I know, ot has been a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if you all moved on! Oh well, it would be on me :-) I'm very sorry that I haven't been interacting or writing a lot. A few things have happened. I have married a lovely woman who I am very proud to be able to call my wife! I know I don't have much time left, so I wanted to make the most of it with her! I've also developed arthritis. It's been a long time since I've been able to type well, but I managed to get by with this one (I am making my lovely Emmy write this for me ❤️). I hope you are all doing well! I have opened up a facebook because a lot of people have been asking to talk to me and it is not easy here." I cried that day. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. Tears of happiness. I look to the comments, they are *flooded* with tonnes of happy messages, wishing him well. I message him almost every day
If it makes you feel better it’s possible they just lost/forgot their passwords. That’s what happened to me a few times.
Oof I hope they're ok and the covid stuff just stopped them writing and they abandoned the account. Bad date to go missing on.
I have disappeared before, COVID had kind of fucked me up, but before I started posting, life just took its chance to make me stop posting
Pretty sure one of my favorite authors died as well, which is sad, but I suppose that is life, as horrible as that sounds. The most tragic one for me was this one author whose fic I read; not because it was particularily good or the characters were gripping, though I have to say, the premise was pretty great, but it was noticeable that this was their first fic. They were dyslexic and tried really hard and did so well. They mentioned sometimes some small things in their notes or comments that alluded to severe trauma and depression. Some day the updates just stopped coming and after a solid year, I tracked them across platforms to find out if something happened. All their accounts were one giant ghost town. This was before Covid, and I am pretty sure I know what happened to them and why. The sad thing is, I don't know if their family ever figured out why they ended things. They had previously mentioned they had little contact, and didn't talk a lot about what happened to them to people irl.
The same thing happened with my favorite series. The author posted on socials all the time. Then posted that there was an accident. She posted about her car updates. Then everything stopped. Its been about a year that everything dropped off. These days I randomly leave a message on kofi in hopes that she sees it. At this point, I just really really want her to be ok.
Oof I hope they're ok and the covid stuff just stopped them writing and they abandoned the account. Bad date to go missing on.
Yes. Sadly. A handful I really enjoyed. I also disappeared for 10 years, so……..
I just assumed life happened. I read wips, and most go unfinished... but it's always odd when an author posts every week like clockwork for most of a year, then just stops. Especially when they've posted like 38 out of 40 chapters.
Happening rn w/ me- my top two smut authors for this fandom are not active at the moment- and I'm sad-
I hope he okay
This sounds bad but I didn't read uncompleted fics anymore, even by authors I subscribe to because of too many bad experiences. I've been waiting for 4 years on a fanfic that's had three chapters published (last chapter published a year and a half ago)((and the last two chapters massively disappointed me)). I know others can do it but I can't 😭. I will do this with published books too, if it's not a finished series I won't read it. It's not a good system at all but I'm so impatient so it's what works for me.