[ SECRET POST #3405 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3405 ⌋

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

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.














Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 065 secrets from Secret Submission Post #487.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - random picture of a dog ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

03. http://i.imgur.com/6Juy1mR.png

[blitzwing]

Maybe share it someplace you can disable comments on it. DA is the only places that comes to mind off the top of my head, but there's probably others. Or put "It's already complete, I will not be writing further for this idea" or something, in the author's notes.

It's a shame people are bugging you over it.

[(Anonymous)]

I had to start some fics with mildly snarky comments like that about the pairing. I didn't write the fandom darling and almost everything I posted would come with at least one comment that said something backhanded like, "I really like this, but it would be better if it was A/B instead of A/C."

[philstar22]

I'm the same sort of writer, really. My one multi-chapter fic thing is a collection of one-shots. Most people seem fine with this, mostly because I mainly write smut. But I do get the occasional reviewer who really wants "what comes next" and won't take no for an answer. It bugs me, but at the same time I tell myself that at least they enjoyed it enough to want more.

[(Anonymous)]

Readers are terribly entitled nowadays. I've stopped posting my fic, too.

[(Anonymous)]

Readers have always been entitled. No one remembers years ago the "suggestions" of how the plot should go, which ships should the author write, and so on?

[wldcatsprstr_14]

This is part of why I stopped writing several years ago. And I STILL get comments on fics that I wrote where people ask me when the next chapter is coming. Like...I wrote that FIVE YEARS AGO. It's done. Accept it.

[insanenoodlyguy]

The proper response is to write a very short follow up (dedicated to that person) where characters break up, die, are horrifiically ravished, or break up when one ravishes the other to death.

[kallanda_lee]

I like this

[lb_lee]

Hey, if it worked for the writer of the Princess Bride, it can work for you!

[ninety6tears]

I'm not even going to insult you by suggesting you're accidentally marking your stories incomplete because I've come across far too many readers who are too stupid to pay attention to the story being complete or 1/1; it was an annoyingly prevalent thing on ff.net, as if people just weren't aware of the concept of one-shots or the idea that an author isn't always going to keep milling out chapters for popularity's sake. They don't even seem to realize what an insult it is, like that authors put some thought into the completion of a plot or mood? Hello?

[(Anonymous)]

I do think part of that could have been stories that were posted before the In-Progress / Complete radio buttons were added.

[(Anonymous)]

This may sound stupid to you, but I consider my follows to be my To Be Read Again But Not Favorited list. People who have thousands of stories on their "Favourites" don't make sense to me. Favourite sort of loses meaning when it's one of thousands. But following, sure. It doesn't mean I expect it to be updated; I just want to read it again, but not enough to favourite. Just like I think the people who favourite everything are using their favourites list like it's for kudos. Favourite because you can't kudo. Just throwing that out there...

[(Anonymous)]

On one hand, I get it.
Being asked for more chapters when the story is marked completed (or getting complains about the length when the summary says it's a drabble) is annoying.

On the other hand, I get why readers feel like that sometimes.
I swear I keep seeing vignettes that have pretty interesting ideas, but they go nowhere. What's the point at all of that?

[(Anonymous)]

As a writer, if I get an idea that feels like a vignette, that's all it is. I know the difference between "this feels like it's the climax of something more" and "this just feels like a scene I want to write". And when I try to build around the latter, it always turns out worse, or completely changes the scene I originally wanted to write.

I would honestly rather read an interesting one-off than watch someone try to build around something that is a really interesting idea but pays off badly. And I'd rather trust my instincts on what *I* can write and leave an interesting idea as a one-off, rather than trip and fall flat on my face.

[(Anonymous)]

I get this a lot too. I have a currently popular one-off that like half of my section of the fandom is begging for a part 2 and I'm like "fam, I love you and I'm flattered and I love that you love this but I have no idea what happens next. I had a weird scene in mind and that's all you get."

Most of the time I can brush off "is there more?" comments, because most of the time people get that it's a one-off (particularly if it's a prompt, but sometimes I get prompted for a second part, which is a different story) but it's harder when 90% of the feedback is "I love it and I need to see more". :/

[tabaqui]

Aw, don't not post your fic, anon! It makes you happy and it obviously makes your readers happy. Just put a note at the top saying 'there will *not* be any ore of this' or whatever, and just...fail to reply in any way whatsoever to whomever is bugging you. If they bug you more than once, block 'em.

They don't get to nag you into giving up something you enjoy.

[nanslice]

Man, I feel you completely. I wrote a little slice of life "this character is slowly going mad and might take this other character with him" piece and posted it on AO3 and this one comment read something to the affect of "you realize you're leaving everyone hanging, right? Character A, Character B, and the audience?" All I could think was "bruh, character A and character B aren't real and you're the only person who's had a problem with this so far so...fuck off."

It was so condescending. :\

[(Anonymous)]

OP, I totally agree that you get to write what you want, and if people keep pushing for more, you have every right to be annoyed.

I do wonder if "abbreviated" ficlets are more of a thing these days, though? Over the last 2-3 years I've seen a big increase (in my fandom) of ficlets that are really nothing more than a single scene where nothing much happens, e.g. juggernaut pairing cuddles, The End. The ones I'm thinking of don't even have a plot (which, of course, isn't a function of length).

Clearly people enjoy both writing and reading these, so that's all fine. I'm just a little puzzled why this trend arose all of a sudden. It seems to me to be part of a general more trend towards shorter fics (The Shortening?), where what people now call a longfic (over 1,000 words) might once have been called a shortfic. Still, I'm loath to generalize too much based only on the 'doms I've been in.

I get this all the time, OP

[esteefee]

I get this all the time because I write slightly off-canon AUs, OP. I've just dropped 30K on them, and they get immersed in the new 'verse and then instead of actually commenting on my story they write, "But what happens to Y next? What if he blah-blah-blahs? Can he doo-wah-diddy or will he fleeble-deeble-doo?" I mean, the story's over, but they want it to continue because they like the 'verse.

I always respond, "Sound like you have a pretty good sequel idea of your own there; please feel free to write it yourself. All my 'verses are open to remix/reuse."

Or if they just say "Are you going to write more?" I say, "If you want more, please feel free to write it. I'm finished with this 'verse."

That shuts those kinds of comments down in the thread in a satisfying way. I mean, they want to read more but do they want to write it? No. Not a single one has ever taken me up on it. I've had other podficcers, writers, and artists approach me, but never these grabby commenters.

[(Anonymous)]

I feel very lucky that I haven't run into this in my writing. A few "please turn this into more" but nothing more than that...

[(Anonymous)]

Do people really bother you that much over adding more to one-shots? All I write are one-shots and I might get someone here or there asking for more, but never anyone entitled to getting more or anything like that. Why is it so hard for you to just tell them 'no' nicely?

[(Anonymous)]

Oh please don't stop posting. I'd much rather have a well done short fic that a rambling wip that might not go anywhere. There's room for both, but I think some people associate the second strongly with fanfic. Maybe the fandoms you're writing in have a lot so readers are more likely to assume that. I know when I started reading fic I read a lot of those, I just have less time now and I'd rather read the "neat idea".

[(Anonymous)]

I got this response once or twice, but just to make sure that people know that the story is a one-shot, I will end the story with THE END (or FINIS depending on how pretentious I'm feeling at the moment).

[(Anonymous)]

oh man, that sucks but please don't let it stop you from posting your stuff! I've run into people like a few times, but I find replying to them with something like "I have no plans to continue this story, but I'm glad you liked it so much!" generally leaves it at that. And honestly, if they missed or chose to ignore the Complete/One-Shot tags, that's not your fault.