those ao3 “kudos” emails where someone has gone through and read pretty much all of your stories, one after the other: blessings upon you and your household
don’t authors find that weird though? i don’t do that, just because i always figured it might seem stalkery, going story by story through people’s older work (which of course i do ~all the time~ because awesome fic is addictive)
if people are happy to have the kudos, i will totally start leaving them as i read
I mean, I can only speak for myself here, but no, I don’t find it creepy. Someone I’ve never met going through my old instagram selfies and systematically liking them – creepy. Someone I’ve never met obsessively reading my old fics and liking them – my favorite person of the day. Just MHO.
seeing the same person’s name on a string of kudos for your fics because they’ve obviously read through your back catalogue is one of life’s great joys
xcziel, there’s nothing I like more as a writer than someone who is obviously reading everything.
Well, maybe comments. Yes, on old fic too.
I once (back on lj) had someone comment on every single chapter of a fic I wrote in one evening. It was the most thrilling night of my fanfic career. I didn’t feel creepy in the least.
COMMENT. I don’t care how old it is or how many chapters a reader comments on.
The only thing that might possibly be more flattering is the “I stayed up all night because I couldn’t stop reading” comment.
Yes, please.
YES ALL OF THIS
all of this
Reblogging because readers somehow still have this idea that too many comments/kudos are seen as creepy or stalkery. IT’S NOT. Seriously. Every comment, all of the kudos, they’re greatly, GREATLY appreciated. And knowing that someone liked your work enough to click on your name and go through your other fics and liked those too, even the old stuff you’re kind of self-conscious about, is the greatest feeling a writer can have. So if you like a fic, say something/leave kudos, no matter if it’s the first or fifth fanfic you’ve read in one night from that author.
I LOVE when I get an email where it’s the same name, like a dozen or more times because they went through and read like, /everything I ever wrote/ apparently. It makes me so happy! 😀
Multiple kudos and/or lots of comments are the best thing ever
Not at all creepy. It’s like, they are reading, get to the end, said they liked it, and Prove they liked it because they read another and liked that…
And yes, it’s just as fun to see this with old stories. Maybe even more?
The other thing that is super nice? When someone comments and says, hey, I tried to kudos but I had already kudos’d so I’m commenting to kudos again because I do that ALL THE TIME. I either forgot I’d read this lovely thing and want to kudos again, or I’m doing a re-read of something and I *want* to kudos again. When it happens to me it’s seriously lovely – someone enjoying your stuff enough that they re-read.
reblogged so fast I sprained something
I know for me especially that while writing just for yourself is great, nothing drains me more from writing than not seeing kudos or comments. If you notice in my writing at least, I get the most inspiration when I see people leaving likes, comments, even tags when they reblog (because I look and read them all).
Please please please leave comments, like, kudo, reblog, everything! No writer thinks this is stalkerish and is in fact one of the highest praises we can receive through this medium. It lets us know that you like it and you want more!! Without it, it may possibly mean we may not even continue it. I know I get like that with several of my multi chapter stories.
Don’t feel like leaving something on every little thing? My absolute favorite thing is when people leave notes in my inbox telling me about how much they love my characters, my voice behind canons, just the fact that they say how much they enjoy what I’ve done! I have kept every little note I have ever gotten and once I get my set up my new desk space, I’m going to print them all out and hang them on my wall so I can read them every day. I’m not kidding! This thing fuels us writers!! In this world, fanfiction is probably one of lowest forms of writing. We don’t get paid. Our payment comes from your feedback and the excitement that you have to keep reading!
IT IS NEVER STALKERISH!
IT LETS US KNOW YOU LOVE US AS MUCH AS WE LOVE YOU FOR READING!
“I’m going to print them all out and hang them on my wall so I can read them every day” – Oooh, that’s such a great idea, I might just have to do it too! *g*
And as someone who’s left those strings of comments, and has received them:
1. There is nothing better than an author who knows they’re appreciated. They often get motivation from it! (do be sure to say what you liked- and saying you’re looking forward to the next chapter after is okay, but ‘update’ often scares us writers and gets us stressed- we’ve got soft heart, pelase be gentle with us).
2. It’s a great way to meet new people! Most of my fandom friends I met through commenting on their stories, or them commenting on mine!
3. It inspires us! I can’t remember how may times I got ideas for sequels or new fics I got because this one person commented something that made me tilt my head and go: what if? And I’ve seen the same happen to other writers!
I once got a comment that was basically two readers chatting back and forth about the chapter I’d just posted as they read it. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite that delighted with a response to my fics.
Those times when I get a string of kudos or comments from a person who liked one fic and decided to hit up the rest of my works… Don’t think anything can compare to that, for a writer. This person has stumbled across my fic, and has sallied forth to read all of it! Because they liked it so much!
Why in the world would that be creepy. Or stalkerish. Stalk all our writing, dear readers, and come scream at us about it in the comments or on Tumblr. It’s humbling, leads to squealing on our part and is massively inspiring all at once.
Ok, hear me out: Two authors. Ten chapters. One fic.
Two genres.
Each author gets five chapters, interwoven. (choose who starts, the other gets to end)
Each author also gets a seperate, completely opposing genre or trope.
They must respect the fiction of all previously written chapters. However, during their chapter, they must, to the best of their writing ability, wrench the story out of its previous genre or trope and back into theirs.
I just want to read a story that can’t decide if it’s a college AU or a Pacific Rim monster slayer. Half romance, half murder thriller. Half law procedural, half sitcom. Half Harry Potter au, half medical drama.
So, when I was in junior high, back in the Cretaceous Period, 😉 I checked out a book from the library about a junior high girl who is a photographer and whose sister gets cancer and dies. It was a beautifully written book, and I enjoyed angst because I was, you know, a junior high girl. 😉 So I read it over and over and over again. I checked it out from the library dozens of times.
One day, my mother noticed and asked what I was reading, and I started waxing enthusiastic about the book and what happens in it and I was just really happy to share, and she asked me, “Why do you like reading that? Do you want your sister to die?”
I didn’t respond well.
Now that I’m an adult, I understand that my mother primarily read for wish-fulfillment (historical romances, mostly), and that she furthermore believed that this was why everyone else read.
This is not why everyone else reads.
Many people read because they want to know what it would be like to be someone else. Someone of a different gender. Someone who lives in a different place. Someone with different skills. Someone whose life is completely different from theirs. Some of these people are happiest when a character is complicated.
People do this to authors, too, by the way. They assume that authors who write convincingly about rape or child abuse have been raped or abused themselves. This is not necessarily true. Mystery writers are not all homicidal maniacs. I know that will shock some of you. 😉
Stories are important. They teach us about life.
To make a long story short, if you think you can psychoanalyze a fan (or an author) based on their reading (or writing) preferences, you are wrong.
To drag this over to what prompted the rant, a fan telling another fan that they think Snape is a racist and therefore if they like Snape they are also a racist is approximately as valid as insisting that everyone who likes the Harry Potter series wishes both of their parents had been murdered.
catch of breath, choke, gulp, heave, inhale, pant, puff, snort, wheeze, huff, rasp, sharp intake of air, short of breath, struggle for breath, swallow, winded
I have been both a consumer and a producer of fanfiction since I was probably far too young to be doing either, so here are some of my tips on commenting on fics:
Comment. Please. Comments motivate authors to write.
Incoherently rambling is okay. One word comments are okay. Smiley faces are okay. I guarantee getting a notification that someone commented AAAAAAAH 😀 on a fic will make a writer smile.
Really long comments are awesome. You want to talk about your favorite scene? Go for it. You want to talk about how much you like a character? Please. Explain how well you think this writer fits within canon, or is better than canon, or gave you a new headanon.
Talk about how it made you feel.
If you read something a second time, or a third time, or a fifth time, tell them. Writers love to hear that. Tell them when you stay up all night to finish a fic. Tell them that you cried. Tell them that you laughed.
Be careful with critiques. Some authors are cool with them, some aren’t, but regardless, if you have a critique of the story, be gentle, be kind, compliment them too, remember that they wrote this and provided it to you for free, and consider not sending it directly to them.
If you think they got something particularly touchy (sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, etc.) wrong, first check to see if they say they are that thing that you think they got wrong. If they are, don’t say anything. People are allowed to interpret themselves however they want. If they aren’t AND YOU ARE, you can consider gently letting them know, preferably with thanks for attempting representation and maybe a link to a resource that might help them (unless they’re being malicious or have a particularly egregious error, in which case don’t thank them for representing you).
If there is one typo or mistake, let them know. if there are five, don’t. Most writers don’t want to go searching through their story to fix every typo they made at 3 am, but one thing is wrong–particularly if they wrote the wrong name–it’s not that much work to fix. They might not fix it, but you’re not putting much of an extra burden on them by letting them know.
If you read 50k words of a fic and then comment a dissertation on all the reasons you hated it, maybe consider just…stopping reading it, instead. You didn’t pay for it. You are gaining nothing from the cost of time of reading it. Go away. Also I will tell my friends about how ridiculous you are, and we will laugh about you.
Don’t share your life story. 9 times out of 10, we don’t care they you are uncomfortable with the idea of polyamory because your SO cheated on you and you think polyamory is like cheating and you don’t judge anyone else for participating in polyamory but you wouldn’t do it personally, so please, don’t tell us. (Fun fact, that’s a true story.)
“I would love to read more (of this story/of this world/of your works)” is fine (unless they explicitly say they won’t write more). “Have you thought about writing more” is also fine. “Hey, it’s been a while, I love your story and hope you post more” is pretty okay. “You need to write more” is a little iffy. “UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE” is kind of aggressive. “Why haven’t you updated, you terrible person” is way out of line.
Don’t be mean.
Agreed.
Please remember that random fic writers are not your friend. It’s incredibly inappropriate to comment on fics as if they are. “Oh my god you fucking bitch, I hate you!” is not something you say to a stranger. Neither is telling them that you just wanked over their fic. And if the writer tells you not to speak to them like that, respect it, don’t go off about ‘Internet Speak’
Commenting etiquette is important. Don’t like, don’t comment is a pretty darn good rule. Typing in all caps is generally yelling even if the words are kind. sarcasm doesn’t translate. Neither does the hyperbolic hate as love thing Tiger mentioned. Generally, just be kind.
I wrote everyday this year until May and posted at least twice a month. May was really busy with finishing up the school year and my 2year old’s birthday. Instead of beating myself up over failing at my new year’ s resolution, I am going with ‘on average’ as my standard. I posted 4 things in April, so on average I’ve still posted twice a month when my goal was only once a month. Yay positive self-talk. Now I’m going to go write something.
I was tagged by the lovely @saki101, thank you! Five of your favorite or most recent last lines of your fic, and tag five other writers.
The Omega Sutra: Sherlock’s skin bruised purple and gold now, the ichor making a fascinating pattern that John could watch unfold forever, and he promised himself that he would.
The Catherine Wheel: He reached out his fingertips and touched cold glass, and caught a glimpse of the stars, faintly twinkling.
Korengal Calling:
Then the cold sea overtook him, and he was falling down into dark waters where the only point of light was Sherlock Holmes’ eyes.
Full Fathom Five: Lestrade grinned, and loudly sang out in his fine deep voice, a Scottish tune he’d picked up at the pub in Loch Buie: “I know where I’m goin’, and I know who’s goin’ with me, I know who I love, and my dear knows who I’ll marry, Some say that he’s poor, but I say that he’s bonnie,Fairest of them all, is my handsome winsome Johnny.”
John Of The Dead: “We’re going to stay and we’re going to remain together no matter who says what to us alright? So far I’ve been kidnapped, one of your cousins thinks I can walk through walls, another one thinks I’m one of the Little People and another one thinks I’m here to kill everyone because my hands are too small. I really need a drink.”
For the Betterment of Humanity: John was so thorough! Normally this would please Sherlock, but right then it was annoying as hell. Ill or not, he was trying to work out how to seduce the man, not have his charts updated! “There isn’t any swelling! I just don’t feel well.”
The Good Box: They practised living together as a couple. Sherlock and John understood that their old habits had to change if they wanted to maintain a supportive and mutually loving relationship, but at the same time they didn’t want to dramatically change one another. It was against Sherlock’s nature, and far too great a part of John’s but together they learned to compromise.
Murder By Death: John was acutely aware that a man lay next to him. Sherlock was shapeless, long and lean without a hint of softness to him. Well, except for two places, Sherlock’s lips and his arse. John thought about that.
Fuzzy Logic: Donovan and Anderson were particularly annoying. Anderson’s knickers were in a bunch because John’s skills had now outstripped his by a considerable degree and being outshone by a brilliant madman was one thing, but being outshone by a frumpy doctor in a badly made jumper was too much for the over-proud Yarder
Fun! I’m on my iPad, so no hyperlinks for me. You can find these on AO3 under username CWB.
The Johnlock Collection: Sherlock spends weeks preparing his wedding vows. The final version is twenty minutes long and includes a slide show, multiple props, and a flame thrower.
When it’s John’s turn he simply steps forward, takes Sherlock’s hand in his, and says, “Sherlock, my love, deduce this,” then slips the band onto Sherlock’s finger.
I Just Want You For My Own: Sherlock let go.
Taste This: Take special note
as Sherlock passes the test
but surely it’s Watson who’s scored?
Emperor Tales of the Frozen South: Pobeda will bear witness to their lives, and long after they’re gone, emperors will learn the legend and pass down their names. Maybe, he thinks, when he joins Erebus and Selvic and all the others who will have flown before him, he will look down and see the work of their lives on the wings of their descendants, and that one word will resonate and bind them together: aumārire.
John in His Arms: Sherlock pushed the door open and moved to step out. He hesitated, then swiveled back, grabbed John by the back of the neck, and pulled them together. He kissed John, hard and fast, got out of the truck, shut the door, and disappeared into the crowd.
Wow. I never expect to get tagged in things like this, and yet it continues to happen. Thank you!
I’m going to try to keep as little TSB as possible on here, but I have to do at least one, since that’s my bread and butter.
And They Humor His Desires (With Pleasure) “You’re not alone in this, you know… this case,” James remarked and he vaguely felt a very weak nod from Sherlock. “Sherlock, if this person is threatening you… us? We… we take care of it together.” John quietly agreed and added for good measure, “You don’t fight these things alone anymore.” Sherlock smiled in spite of himself before he whispered his genuine agreement. They were right, after all – it wasn’t just him, now. From now on, it would always be ‘they’.
Bit by Bit And that’s when he said it, that feeling that had built within his chest and pressed against his ribs in a way that bordered uncomfortable and brilliant. It slipped from him in a sigh and he was startled by the sound it made in his own voice. “I love you…” And his ears rang bells of celebration as James returned them back to him in a declaration of his own. “I love you, too.”
Deducing a Watson Sherlock followed her down the stairs and to the door, unsure of what to say next, so all he could offer was, “I won’t tell him. That you were here. So don’t worry about that” “He wouldn’t believe you if you did. I’ll tell you what you can do, though. Let yourself get it. Because you’re smart.” Sherlock felt his heart clench and he dropped his eyes before he nodded slowly. Because he did get it – and that’s what hurt.
I Substitute My Own! (also known as ‘Bree tries really hard to fix TFP with a mass of compiled notes’) Sherlock offers a hand to help John to his feet, and John accepts it, smiling at the tiny kiss his partner decides to sneak onto his lips. “Your daughter is on the move. We better hurry to catch up.” “Lead the way.” As they dart off after Rosie, the camera pans back to show the sign for “Rathbone Park” To The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
What Happens When Things Are… “I wouldn’t have expected less,” he dropped his hand as he leaned down and captured Sherlock’s lips in a quick kiss. “I love you, Sherlock.” “I… love you too, John.” “I’ll ignore the pause.” “That’s probably best.”
“I love you, too, John,” Sherlock whispered in his ear when they finally broke apart. After that it was a flurry of activity. The boxes were loaded and they were ready to head off. He took a last look at the place, pleased that something good at least had happened in that house. As he was locking up, Jacky bounded back and leaned in and whispered, “I’m glad you got to tell him.”
Beltainefaerie's Flights of Fancy 