fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3152 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3152 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Biolabs (Ragnarok Online)]

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05. http://i.imgur.com/Y2CLL5n.gif
[moving gif - that Hulk/Black Widow porn one]

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[Dresden Codak]

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07. [SPOILERS for Borderlands 2]
[WARNING for abuse and stuff]

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08. [WARNING for death/suicide]

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09. [WARNING for suicide]

[Final Fantasy X]

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10. [WARNING for rape]

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11. [WARNING for rape]

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12. [WARNING for underage/sexual assault, transphobia]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #450.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So, this happened:
http://breathingbarduil.tumblr.com/post/127172628231/august-21st-fanfiction-writers-appreciation-day

(Warning, her blog sings.)

And here's her response to the "ungrateful" comment:
http://breathingbarduil.tumblr.com/post/127144973184/just-ranting-about-some-tags-and-reactions-on-my

I'm sort of on the fence. OTOH, it's great to promote commenting and other forms of appreciation for fanfic writers. She's reblogged some other posts to this end that were more tasteful - just bringing awareness to the fact that writers still like to get comments on old fic, etc. But OTOH, she seems very entitled. This will only add appreciation to BNFs (herself included) and what about all the rest of the days?

Thoughts?

I can't follow your link but there's nothing entitled about wanting more feedback on your work. "Entitled" seems to be one of the buzzy callout words these days and it's annoying AF.

(da)
There's a big difference between wanting feedback and (using their own example) saying 50 comments and 300 Kudos are not enough and how dare other people to not show their appreciation too!1!!!

Wait, 50 comments and 300 kudos aren't enough? I'm happy if I have 10 kudos and/or one comment on a fic.

OP
Yeah, she's gotten called out on that. She keeps saying that she picked a popular fic for the example (I don't know why). It really feels like she is utterly clueless about how small the feedback really is for small fandoms/pairings/etc. Which makes me side-eye this day because it's not going to help authors like you - it's just going to give the BNFs more praise.

Yes, because 4k hits and that may mean 700 readers (their own numbers, again) so that means there's 400 that were so ungrateful they didn't even leave kudos!

That's ridiculous. Hits have nothing to do with how many people actually read. Someone may have clicked and then backbuttoned. Also sometimes I read things many times. And also you can't give kudos for the same fic more than once, so if there are multiple chapters of course there will be more hits than Kudos.

To be fair, at least they didn't assume all hits are from readers, but their ~~imaginary~~ estimated number of readers is still baseless and doesn't take into account all the factors you mentioned (and others, like not having time to read the full story/chapter and coming back another day, which means another hit from the same reader, etc.).

There may be invisible readers that never even send kudos, sure, but if I were them I would focus on all the response they do get instead.

And those who don't kudos are likely more than made up for by those of us who don't have accounts and can't ever remember if we kudosed the last time so we do it again.

OP

See, I agree with your sentiment. Most of the posts she's reblogged come across as more informative - "We always love comments - don't be scared!" "There's nothing wrong with writers wanting feedback." etc.

And initially this one seemed fine. But, now that I've looked at a bunch of her comments on the subject and the fact that she's a BNF who gets tons of traffic and recs and the fact that she said it was ungrateful to read something you like and not respond in some manner - it's starting to feel a little entitled to me.

I could be convinced I'm wrong though. I've never really thought of anyone as entitled before.

I'm very tired of tumblr's self-congratulatory "FIC WRITERS ARE SOOO IMPORTANT". It's the one "tumblr culture" thing I can't stand. Especially because the same people who whine about their fics getting no comments aren't exactly generous with them themselves.
I like writing and reading fic, but the flailing SO MUCH BETTER THAN ACTUAL BOOKS, SO PROGRESSIVE, ETC is fucking annoying.

I've always considered myself a someone who argues a lot for fanfiction. But it's less "better than anyone else" and more "just as legit a hobby as anything else, not inherently creepy and obsessive or a sign of mental issues, not wasting your talents" and all that.

Tbh this does sound kinda self congratulatory and excessive. Also the "you're morally obliged to gimme comments" things is guilt trippy and ew.

I think it's pretty obvious most of us love comments (and kudos) even in old fics, but those campaigns always leave me with a bad aftertaste because the people who start them are always people who have readers that comment frequently, yet they're more concerned about the people who may be reading without commenting.

Yeah, I saw that a couple of days ago. I kind of like the idea of the day itself, one day where you make an effort to comment on things you liked, it seems like a nice idea. But the post itself did rub me the wrong way. I think it was just that a couple of lines in it (If I didn’t get feedback I’d wonder what’s the point in keeping on writing.) reminded me a bit of the old 'hold writing hostage for reviews' author notes on FF, and the whole numbers thing seemed odd (hits do not work like that). It does come across as a bit demanding.

I didn't click the link (I hate when blogs play music), but I feel like it won't change much. If people want to comment, they'll probably comment; if they comment today (maybe even out of some sense of obligation, if this has been heavily promoted) that doesn't mean they'll keep commenting. If they don't enjoy doing it, it won't last.

Certainly I am all for people commenting more (I need to as well, tbh; I've been trying but still not doing it nearly as much as I should), and I definitely think authors deserve it, but in the end if people don't feel like it they won't.

Pointing out that authors enjoy comments on old fic, I see nothing wrong with that, but...the point still stands.

If she's already a BNF, gets plenty of attention and isn't specifically going, "Hey, lots of people in fandom don't get the recognition they deserve, maybe show them some love as well?" then I don't see the point.

It does seem entitled because these are the same writers who whine if comments don't say what they want. I don't mean criticism either, they get super angry if someone says "Can't wait for the next update".

[ SECRET POST #3152 ]

Fanfiction Appreciation Day

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