#and reading and commenting on ao3

[bardofavon]

not to be controversial bc I know this is like…not in line with shifting opinions on fanfic comment culture but if there’s a glaring typo in my work I will NOT be offended by pointing it out. if ao3 fucks up the formatting…I will also not be offended by having this pointed out…

‘looking forward to the next update’ and ‘I hope you update soon!’ are different vibes than a demand, and should be read in good faith because a reader is finding their way to tell you how much they love it. I will not be mad at this.

‘I don’t usually like this ship but this fic made me feel something’ is also incredibly high praise. I’m not going to get mad at this.

even ‘I love this fic but I’m curious about why you made [x] choice’ is just another way a reader is engaging in and putting thought into your work.

I just feel like a lot of authors take any comment that’s not perfectly articulated glowing praise in the exact manner they’re hoping to receive it in bad faith.

fic engagement has been dropping across the board over the last several years, and yes it’s frustrating but it isn’t as though I can’t see how it happens. comment anxiety can be a real thing. the last thing anyone wants to do is offend an author they love, and that means sometimes people default to silence.

idk where I’m going with this I guess aside from saying unless a comment is outright attacking me I’m never going to get mad at it, and I think a lot of authors should feel the same way. ESPECIALLY TYPOS PLZ GOD POINT OUT MY TYPOS.

#ao3 #archive of our own #fanfiction #tbh even if I got a comment that said ‘I hate you I’m going to kill your family’ on chapter 75 it still means they read 75 chapters first…. #it just makes me sad to see so many writers shouting into the void #and also see ppl complain openly about the specific types of comments they receive #posting screenshots on Reddit like ‘should I be mad at this’ CALM DOWN #sigh

[tadfools]

You guys are commenting on the fics you read right? You’re at least leaving kudos on the Astarion smut and the pairs that have less than 20 fics for them too? You’re bookmarking stories you really like that are still being updated and ones that haven’t been touched in over a year right?

You know that even the smallest interactions are like cocaine to fic writers right? You understand how important a string of emoji hearts left behind on chapter at three am is right?? Right????

You’re treating AO3 like a community and not a content factory….right?

#this isnt bg3 specific btw im seeing a lot of fandoms rotting cause of this #ao3 #archive of our own #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 #PLEASE YOU GUYS INTERACT WITH THE THINGS YOU READ #you’re not being weird or annoying!!! it doesn’t matter how old the fic is!!! #you can just say ‘I love this’ or ‘it’s three am and I haven’t slept yet cause I was reading this’ #you can copy and paste a paragraph you like and add ‘!!!!!!’ after it #theories in the comments! mention when you think you’ve found foreshadowing!!! #if there’s a part where you have to physically put your phone down and smile off into the distantce? TELL THE AUTHOR #you can leave comments every chapter too!!! ITS NOT ANNOYING

[frownyalfred]

want your favorite author to update but don’t want to be too pushy in their comment section?

here’s 5 things you can do to encourage them:

Reblog their fic link on tumblr (bonus if it’s with tags)

Bookmark the fic with a note about what you’re excited about/love in the fic

Recommend the fic to your friends or local discord channel

Draw art or create other media for the fic (as indicated by the author’s comfort level)

Leave them a comment when re-reading about the parts of the chapter/story that stood out to you the second time

#this isn’t about me #this is just what I think a lot of authors would appreciate #more than the ‘update soon!!!’ comments #fic #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #archive of our own #writing things #writing #reading things #reading #tips and tricks

[hadrianblackwaters]

If Tumblr gets shut down we should take this party to the comment sections of Warrior Cats books on www.barnesandnobles.com

#specific ass reference to one of my fav internet things that i did not myself participate in #i have never read #warrior cats #but barnes and nobles cannot ban us all #alternatively we start posting in the comment section of those is tumblr down check it websites :) #the way everyone does when ao3 is down haha

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

posting this with absolutely no context

#am i a cryptid now? i log on like once in a blue moon to post cringe and then leave again #ace attorney #apollo justice #tikki #random stuff #my stuff #ooookay okay okay okay. anyone reading the tags can have a LITTLE context‚ as a treat #so. sitting on my ao3 currently is an unfinished fic with exactly this premise #i want to finish it so bad. it haunts me every day. people leave such nice comments and everything #but i just have no motivation. trust me i've tried #i thought that perhaps drawing it might finally kick my brain back into gear #i'm so sorry readers i'm sorry i WILL finish it i promise it's not abandoned #it was so much fuuuuun #tikki are you seeing this. cringefail author who keeps playing video games instead of writing lmao #anyway goodbye friends i am gone again. logging off once more

[ao3commentoftheday]

very pink ao3 theme

I was going for vibe-y and monochromatic and I went super hard on the latter. If this looks like a thing you'd want (or want to edit), you can find the code here.

Credit to @ao3skin for the code that I modified to change the menu colours and adjust the tags. I literally could not do that without copy/pasting your stuff first 💗

Editing to add: I included the hex codes for the colours in an end note, so if you like the idea but want a different colour, there ya go

#the gradients ended up on the comments instead of the background #I wanted a relatively simple reading experience #even if it is VERY pink #site skins #ao3

[lokorum]

so....................i've read unraveled the other day.................... and then ive re-read it.........and now im in the middle of re-reading it again????

honestly cant promise that im not gonna keep coming back to it until someone would steal my phone and then i'll just log in from the pc lets be real here (¬‿¬ ) but!!! what i wanted to say is that its just such a good fic?? so well written? it has all the right words in just the right order and i can and will argue till late night that it healed part of myself that i had no idea existed. these descriptions of hugs??? gonna stay with me untill the very end  (*_ _)人  

and drawing something is the least i can do to show just how much your work means, @2btheanswertothequestion  (/▿＼ )

"unraveled" became my spiderverse canon since the moment ive finished chapter one and it will stay this way!!! thank you so so much for all the long hours and all the hard work you clearly had put into it!! you're amazing!! ♡

#hobie brown #punkflower #miles x hobie #hobie spiderverse #spider punk #spiderverse fanart #spiderverse #across the spiderverse #atsv fanart #atsv #gosh i wish i knew english better just to get a liiiiittle bit closer to a proper description of how cool this fic is #and how happy and cozy it made me feel #im not leaving comments on ao3 bc well i cant write shit #but i hope its okay and not creepy that i made fanart??? #i could keep nervouslybuzzing here #or i could go #FINISH READING IT FOR THE THIRD TIME LFDKJGLKDFJG

[writeouswriter]

People sorting ao3 solely by stats and only clicking on fics with a certain amount of kudos or comments, you will not survive the winter, nor the summer, nor at all, *brings out knife,* run

#ao3 #fanfiction #because if everyone thinks like that then so many fics that might be great get buried and fall into the void #someone has to read it with no hits or kudos #not to mention sometimes people just have wildly different tastes so you don't know unless you look at it yourself #i put a bunch of exclusion filters and then go by summary and tags and open all the ones that sound interesting to me #if they're bad well easy enough to move on #but lotta good ones hidden in there with not a comment in sight and i must change that #knife tw #? #tw knife mention

[destiel-wings]

AO3 easy trick: sometimes when I want to leave a comment on a fic but I dont know what to say specifically I'll just paste my favorite line(s)/little paragraph and then write something like "I loved this so much/this fic is amazing" or even just a string of hearts.

writers love knowing what lines stuck the most and this way you don't need to elaborate too much of your own

#ao3 #fanfic #you may think it's nothing but telling writers what lines/parts of the story resonated the most with you is really the best thing you can do #ao3 comments #fanfiction #fanfic readers #ao3 writers #fanfic reading

[doodlewizardry]

Have you ever wanted to find your old Ao3 comments? Easily keep track of which (and how many) fics you've commented on? Rediscover a fic that you left a time capsule of a gushing essay on?

Well, you can! And it's simple! (* Note: it only works for comments written after you turn this on.)

Go to your Preferences:

There's a checkbox labelled "Turn off copies of your own comments". This is selected by default. If you deselect it (and save your preferences) then you receive an email for every comment you leave.

But I don't want to get my inbox flooded by Ao3!

Understandable! Luckily, most email clients allow you to set up rules for incoming mail depending on their sender and contents. For instance (using Gmail), I've made it so that these emails skip the inbox, are marked as read, and moved to a label I call my "Comment Collection".

The result? A complete, organised and fully-searchable repository of any comments you leave from this point onwards! Search by fic name, author, date, that one sentence you vividly remember leaving!

I've set up other rules, too, like starring emails that are replies to my comments - I'm always excited to receive them!

I love this system, and I think it's motivated me to leave more comments. I hope that others find it useful too. Happy commenting!

Original preferences trick from this Reddit thread. Tagging @justleaveacommentfest, which motivated me to write this post!

#archive of our own #ao3 #fanfiction #fanfic #reference #comment comment comment guys! short or long! it's fun for you AND the authors! #i only set this up like three months ago and it's already paying off #for my older reading history i only have the comments that authors have replied to #also i wrote out this post like three times pressed CTRL-Z or something and nuked the entire thing. whoops that's why you use drafts #just leave a comment fest #// tikposting

[nanstar200]

Hi!! I’m back!! Ive been kinda obsessed w the DCA’s so I may or may not have a camera roll full of arts stored for later!

Brain rot thanks to @/shirajellyfish 💕

PLUS @eebie ‘s CREATURE!!

Also I was wondering if I should make a separate blog for specifically dca stuff? Or just post it all here? Not sure, but if you guys care that I post dca stuff here lmk!!

(ALSO HERES THE LINK TO @shirajellyfish ‘s AMAZING DCA FIC!!!! freaking amazing i can’t stop thinking about it UAGH ⬇️⬇️⬇️)

#art #my art #nuttdoodles #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #fnaf dca #five nights at freddys security breach #fivenightsatfreddysfanart #fnaf fanart #sundrop fnaf #sundrop #moondrop fnaf #moondrop #anyyywaayyyssss #Riley is from the super duper amazing fanfic by shiracheshire on ao3!!! #ALSO I FINISHED IT AND IVE JUST BEEN PROCESSSING IT FOR WEEKS NOW #GOD IT WAS SO GOOD #GO READ IT RN #GOGOGOGO #ASK ME FOR THE LINK IF U WANT ILL ALSO POST IT IN THE COMMENTS

[frownyalfred]

I think authors underestimate how many people reread their works/chapters.

That’s why, when I’m rereading WIPs or old works, I always leave a comment. Just a little hey, I’m rereading this and it is still great goes so far, actually

#go leave a comment the next time you reread #sometimes authors don’t realize those hit counts are from repeat readers #fic #fic things #reading things #ao3 #fanfic #fanfiction #archive of our own #author things #how to get an author to update 101

[spideypoolsupremacy]

(Asking as someone who can't stop cringing at my attempts of smut and will probably never write it)

Also kissing doesn't count as smut. You can argue about it BUT IT'S NOT

Also ALSO I know the answer might depend on the fandom u are reading so let's just answer in general alrighty

Reblog for larger sample size blah blah blah (but like really plz)

#ao3 #fanfiction #writing #tumblr polls #feel free to add your opinions in the comments i wanna know #cuz i saw recently someone saying that they feel disapointed if the fic doesn't have smut in the end of a slowburn #and it got me thinkin #because I usually cling onto different things in fics and i do read smut but i never search for it #but now that im trying to write myself im curious how important it is to other people #like I've read some AMAZING fics with no smut in them #and also some amazing ones WITH smut in them #so i dunno

[ao3usermelancholyhues]

𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞

steve harrington/eddie munson for @steddiemicrofic's january prompt: hole, 404 words. ft. flirting, sexual innuendo | T rating read on ao3

“That’s just perfect.” 

Steve stares at his rapidly flattening tire, and the culprit just behind the car. He loosens his tie, irritated. 

It’s not that Steve can’t change a tire—he doesn’t have a spare. 

Robin’s house is a couple of streets over. Sighing, he begins the walk there to call his mechanic.

“No answer,” Steve announces dejectedly as he walks back into Robin’s livingroom and flops down in her armchair, huffing.

The dramatics are a little much, but Robin bites her tongue. No need to kick the man while he’s down (not a rule she always conforms to). 

“I know a guy who could help,” she says instead. “My cousin’s friend.”

Steve perks up. “Is he good?”

Robin bites her tongue again, this time fighting a grin. “Oh, he’s somethin’.” 

Thirty minutes later, there’s a mechanic named Eddie in her livingroom. Steve supposes he looks exactly as expected—grey coveralls, arm tattoos, hands stained but washed (Steve knows, he shook one, with the hand that wasn’t clutching a cup of tea). 

However, Eddie also has long hair tied in a loose bun, and the warmest smile. It lights up his eyes and Steve barely knows where to look. 

Robin’s in the kitchen doorway, both hands on her own tea mug. 

“So. Popped a tire?” asks Eddie. “How’d that happen?”

“Hole.” 

Steve flushes when he hears Robin snort. 

Eddie’s grinning from ear-to-ear. “Hole?”

“P-pothole,” Steve clarifies quickly. “I went over a… a big pothole.” 

Eddie contemplates that, tongue between his teeth and looking Steve up and down, before he says, “Yeah, it’s amazing what a hole can do to you.” 

Steve splutters into his tea. It goes up his nose a little, kind of fucking hurts. Robin barely keeps a lid on her laughter, knowing Steve won’t thank her for it. 

“Eddie, you’re gonna kill him. Quit flirting.” 

“Sorry! Right. Where’s the car?”

He keeps his comments to himself throughout the tire change, even though he really wants to wind up the cute guy in the nice suit with the nice car.

Steve pays him there and then, cash plus tip, but Eddie rejects the tip. 

“Keep that. Since I almost killed you back at the house.” 

Steve blushes. “You caught me off-guard.” 

Eddie can’t resist. “I tell it like it is! Gotta know your way around a hole or you might blow, big boy.” 

There’s no tea this time, but Steve still manages to choke. 

#steddie #steve x eddie #steddie fic #steddie microfic #steddiemicrofic #i absolutely give up w the line break thing #anyway i wasn't planning to do this but i did it anyway!!! #happy first steddie to me #read it/comment/whatever on ao3 tho pls pls #fic

[princessasmosprincess]

Life is too short to not interact with your favorite fanfic authors.

#i seriously cherish every comment i get #i like talking about my work as much as you like reading it possibly more #and i'm always up to answer questions #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #archive of our own

[starchaserdreams]

A god-tier reader just left FOUR comments on my fanfic, one for each chapter they read. It absolutely made my day.

I heard this called "spam commenting" and I am here to say that it is NOT, it is goated behavior, legend status for all time.

#archive of our own #ao3 #fanfiction #fanfic #marauders #marauders era #dead gay wizards #jegulus #starchaser #comments #kudos #readers #reading #writing #just writer things