#do I leave kudos but no comments?

[slurps-fandom-soup]

My rule of thumb for myself when interacting with anything online, whether streamers or creators, is something that my mother drilled into my head: If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

It is so easy to uplift other people, make them smile. It is equally easy to be horrible. But I would rather spend the energy I have making the people on the other side of the screen smile. It costs me nothing to hold my tongue and leave the criticism unvoiced.

"Waa why aren't fandoms fun anymore" because you keep policing people's headcanons, make fun of cosplayers,make fun of selfshipers, make fun of beginner artists and just make fun of people for having fun 😐

[wanderingcas]

people are really looking at stats to determine if a fic is worth reading? no wonder fics that never got popular at the first drop never had a chance 💀

[moonsun2010]

Made an animatic summarising the entire book as a tribute to Dracula Daily and @re-dracula ! English subtitles provided, with translation by me and @ignitingthesky.

if you like this, do check out my kofi! there's a free pack of every single frame

[mihai-florescu]

♡Dating Tenshouin Eichi headcanons (Eichi x female reader)♡

He leaves you for Wataru

[quinloki]

You know, fair. Fair. But the :) is just rude.

[mostlyihyperfixate]

My current goal is to read every single (tagged) WrightWorth fanfiction on Archive of Our Own in backwards chronological order (barring things that I can tell by the tags I'm personally not interested in at all, but that's a pretty limited list so far).

I am pleased to say that out of 416 pages, I have finally got to page 400!

[botflys]

My 2024 AO3 Reading Wrapped! (insp)

Most-read Fics

My Husband's Lunch by loquaciousEscapist (@yoongjeez)

The Guilt Never Really Left, You Know by neuro_psyche (@neuro-psyche)

We, So Much Older by LemonadeGarden

Love was the Law by ruinthatboy

like a tall child by notspring

Most-read Writers

loquaciousEscapist (@yoongjeez)

Maximum_Quinn (@aahsokaatano)

foerchen (@foerchen)

callmefairyofthesea (@callmefairyofthesea)

smashthatlikebutton

Special mentions

How to Proceed by philosophersandfools (@philosophersandfools)

Fortuna by gummycube (@gummycube)

apple cider blues by merils (@mamawasatesttube)

To fic writers, whether you are specifically mentioned here or not, thank you so much for writing and being part of my 2024! ♥️

[steddielations]

if I disappear for a month after this just know I'm having some nice long alone time with just me and the sub Eddie week ao3 collection

[phoenixyfriend]

Unrelated to anything: being blocked on AO3 hurts way more than being blocked on Tumblr

[ghostoffuturespast]

Honestly, getting real tired carrying and supporting other folks around here when most of them aren't returning the favor...

[waitineedaname]

the experience of writing fic for svsss has been absolutely insane so far. I posted a fic less than 24 hours ago and it already has twenty comments. I have been in so many fandoms where you have to BEG to get comments, where you'd be lucky to get more than ten comments and the ratio between hits and kudos/comments/bookmarks was vast, but so far the scum villain fandom has been super responsive! The hits/kudos/comments/bookmarks ratios have been super tight, even on my fics which have all been oneshots under 10k!

And it's not just me! I regularly see fanart for svsss fics, which was a rare sight in a lot of other fandoms I've been in. People reblog minifics that get posts to tumblr and leave tags and replies on them. I've written for a lot of fandoms in my time, and this a shocking amount of fic engagement compared to many other fandoms I've been in!!

I can't help but wonder if it's because of the nature of scum villain itself? Other people have talked about how the story uniquely appeals to writers, and it ultimately is about the relationship between a writer and reader, especially in a fan space. I can't help but wonder if the combination of this being a fandom with a high density of writers and it being a story about engaging with writing encourages a fandom culture that is super engaged with fanfiction!

[shelli-gator]

Begging people who read fanfics to leave comments. Especially in the small communities like ours. Fanfics don't have the same support that art does, where it can be reblogged and commented and shared. The only validation we get is from comments, more so than kudos honestly. Because then we feel the engagement, and it feels worth it.

Lots of love and effort goes into writing. So even just a "Loved it!" Or "Can't wait for the next chapter!" changes everything for us. And sure, you can tell the artist directly, we love it when you do. But comments on our works are like scrapbooks. I go back to comments I love to read them over again to get that warm and fuzzy feeling. A hit of dopamine to keep me writing.

Do writers a solid. Tell them you liked it. And thank you to everyone who does. Yes, write for yourselves, but no one is immune to validation, and so we do it for you! Especially in communities like this, where there aren't many stories to go around to keep the fixation fed.

[bluegarners]

i wish i had less respect for myself and less shame for being perceived bc then you guys would see me write the most ridiculous shit ever full of errors and publish it and still expect praise

[direwombat]

listen. i'm always happy whenever someone leaves a comment because they enjoy my writing. whether it's a quick "love it!" or a longer dissection of whatever they've read, it warms my heart that they took the time out of their day, however brief, to let me know that they liked my work. i don't consider myself entitled to receive comments for posting my work, which makes every single one i get a gift!

but comments like these (particularly ones that come from profiles that haven't posted fic and are aggregates of bookmarks*) really do leave a bad taste in my mouth:

so, let me spell some things out for anyone who may be unaware:

I don't write for you.

I write for myself.

I am writing fic for free in the little spare time i have.

You are not entitled to my (or anyone else's) work

i haven't posted fic to ao3 since literally january of this year. i also wish i were posting fic more frequently, trust me. the only thing worse than writing is not writing. but asking "where's the rest????" and "part 2????" only activates my spite response to not post. you'll get updates to fics when you get updates. writing fanfiction is a hobby for me. i do it for fun. but i also take my craft (writing) very seriously. i want to write a good, compelling story and i take great care in the writing process. it's laborious to begin with, and on top of that, i am a meticulous planner. it takes me much longer to write a fic than it does for you to read it -- yes, even for the short ones and smutfics!

it's the famous "pick two: high quality, cheap, and fast", and unfortunately for all of us, if you want my "not bad"-writing and have it also remain free, then you're gonna have to be patient.

*i'm not saying that this is an incorrect way to use ao3. if you're using ao3 as a place to keep track of the fics you like, that's a valid way to use the site, and not what i'm mad about. it's the entitlement.

[constantvariations]

K so, Semblances are connected to Aura which is a manifestation of the soul yeah?

In Before the Dawn, the father of the villains confirms that one of twin's semblance was active in the womb throughout a good portion of the pregnancy

Meaning, in Remnant, fetuses have souls. Wonder how legal abortions are

Edit: just remembered Pyrrha had to unlock Jaune's Aura in V1, so does that mean someone cracked open a fetus's Aura inside the womb? Was Gillian strong enough as a cluster of cells to unlock it herself?? Wtf is this origin story???

[holopossums]

While I do think there is a small problem with people not engaging with or sharing creative work/fan work on here (or other sites that don't run on algorithm like AO3), I don't think the answer is to be ridiculous about it either.

A much better way to address it is leading by example: reblog/share and add positive comments yourself! People will catch on that it's cool, that it's okay and they have nothing to be anxious about, and start doing it too.

Wagging fingers or complaining tends to do very little. Thankfully, people emulating those they admire is a powerful thing. You can simply model behavior you want to see and some people may start catching on.

But it won't get any better if you don't do your part too. So don't worry so much about others. Focus on what you're doing and how you engage with creative works and fandom. Be a positive force yourself and the rest will follow.