[ SECRET POST #4544 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4544 ⌋

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

01.



__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.










Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 38 secrets from Secret Submission Post #651.
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.

Comments

[fscom]

06. https://i.imgur.com/8aC2ZYh.png

[(Anonymous)]

I totally agree!

[(Anonymous)]

... and yet, I can assure you that, as an author, even keysmash comments are welcome and appreciated.

[(Anonymous)]

this is what i don't get: what makes a keysmash comment, or an "I liked this!", preferable to a kudos? Or even difference from a kudos in any substantial way?

[rosehiptea]

I think it's because they take more time and show more enthusiasm. But as an author I think leaving a kudos and no comment is absolutely fine if that's what the reader wants to do. (When I read I almost always leave a comment, but that's what I want to do.)

That said I've never seen a positive comment that I thought "sounded stupid" and I don't think readers should be concerned about that at all.

[(Anonymous)]

DA

The difference is getting an unexpected and extremely rare email with the subject line "[AO3} Comment on..." and feeling a rush of excitement and joy that someone liked your story so much that leaving kudos wasn't enough. They couldn't stop there. They simply had to scroll down and type some squee or another in a box below. Amazing. Who does that? Almost no one does that. It's a rare gift and a treat.

[(Anonymous)]

You might not feel there's a difference, and that's fine. Personally, I appreciate that someone went through the effort to leave a comment, even brief one. Not many people do these days.

[(Anonymous)]

keysmash comment gives you an actual sense of a reader's emotional reaction, whereas the kudos button is....literally a button. it just feels more perfunctory. and sure, you can say "it's not perfunctory, I kudos stuff because I really love it!

But there's no way on the author's end to tell that apart from someone who just kudos everything they don't hate.

"LSDkngsdgn I CAN't WORDS, but I ;iked this a lot, sob [funny reaction gif of either beaming or sobbing in glass case of emotion or just elmo freaking out]" actually feels like a person came up to tell me they had an emotional reaction, whereas kudos feels like, idk, like someone polled a game show audience and some people hit the green light. there's no individuality or context or connection.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate kudos, and I'm not the most consistent at giving comments either, I know it's hard sometimes. But there's literally no difference to me between an email that says "five people left kudos on X" and "twenty-five people left kudos on X", it's still just a bunch of vaguely positive greenlights. It doesn't make me happy, it just makes me go, "oh yeah that sure was a fic I wrote." whereas any comment is treasured because someone took the time to TELL ME how they feel.

[malurette]

Gods I would love getting "this story good" on my bits of fic!!

[(Anonymous)]

Tbf if I got a comment saying 'this story good' I would honestly be thrilled.

[(Anonymous)]

Same. Commenting in general makes me nervous because I'm always afraid that either I'm saying too much (paragraphs worth of commentary) or not saying enough ("I liked this.")

[(Anonymous)]

If it makes you feel any better, I don't know of any non-asshole writers who complain about long comments. Every fic writer I know would be over the friggin' moon if they got a novel-length commentary of positive from a reader, because they know for damn sure that reader is a Fan.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh my gosh, nothing makes me happier than when a comment is literal paragraphs. Like, that's the JACKPOT!

I had someone go through and just go on and on about one of my long fics and like... their thoughts on the individual chapters, favorite bits, things they thought would become thematic or happen in the future based on foreshadowing, and like...

It was FANTASTIC. I was on a high all day and I STILL go back to that comment and read it when I need to be cheered up.


However, I still do absolutely flail and grin over comments that say 'this story good' or 'ALSKJL:SDF:DLF:S?? !!!', like...

A kudos is nice, and if someone is REALLY at a loss for words and doesn't want to just write 'I liked this', a kudos certainly isn't meaningless to me. But I love comments. And incoherent ones can show a lot of love.

[(Anonymous)]

If I can't think of anything specific to say (which is rare) I just say something like, "I really enjoyed your fic and I'm looking forward to reading more of your work!"

Done.

[(Anonymous)]

If only I can comment “I like this story” on everything. Too bad this is basically a kudos in comment form so there’s no point and people might judge me.

If only I can write :) or thumbs up emojis without being judged.

[(Anonymous)]

...this makes no sense whatsoever.

[(Anonymous)]

"I loved this!" and "excessive happy emojis" are going to make lots of writers happy.

But if you feel self-conscious about leaving comments that you feel are generic, I recommend investing in some dramatic/uncommon reaction gifs. You don't need to be great at expressing yourself to post one, and they'll definitely give a writer a smile and a sense of your individual feelings.

[sparklywalls]

As someone who doesn't publish fic very often...I have to say a "great *thumbs up*" comment would make my day as much as someone who writes paragraphs of feedback. I just like knowing that someone, somewhere enjoyed what I wrote. Bookmarks or Kudos alone are wonderful obviously but the fact that you took time to comment shows another level of this because you knew I'd read it. If that makes sense?

[(Anonymous)]

One of my favorite comments on a fic EVER was only one word:

"Whoa."

Kudos are fine, but you don't need to be perfect about leaving comments for them to mean so much more to many authors.

[venusundae]

i totally get this. i feel like i can never articulate myself well in comments and i feel silly. but as a writer i know what it's like to get kinda giddy over even brief comments like "aw cute" or "that was hot" so i try to jot something down for authors when i liked something enough to finish it. and a good ole c+p quoting your fav part and saying "loved this line" is a good one when you're feeling rly at a loss for words i find!

[tabaqui]

Trust me, anon, NONE of us are thinking that. We ADORE your comments, no matter how short or 'stupid' you may think they are.

[(Anonymous)]

Big same for me. I always end up sounding like I'm either an idiot, sarcastic, or that english is like my third language... (usually all three if I'm being honest)
I've actually offended an author once because they thought I was being sarcastic. It was totally on me, but damn, I was so mortified.

Don't stress too much over it.

[(Anonymous)]

As a writer, I'm happy with kudos. Short comment are great, too. Long comments are awesome. Basically, I'm good if you're reading my fic and you like it.

Anyway, if you want to leave a comment but are worried about what to write, "I liked this!" is good. Also, any one word compliment works, if you mean it - awesome, lovely, cute, sweet, great, etc. A thumbs up emoji, a smiley, a heart, whatever. Comment with a happy/amazed gif you like or a meme. Find a movie quote that works, "FOUR for you Glen Coco! You go, Glen Coco!" Most writers will appreciate your positive feedback in whatever form (there are a few who are entitled asses, but don't worry about them, if they say you're doing it wrong, then it's easy enough not to do it at all for them).

[litalex]

As both a fanfic writer and reader, I can definitely say that even "this story good" would have made me happy for a long time. As much as I do appreciate kudos, please don't be nervous and do leave comments?

[(Anonymous)]

Honestly, the comments I get that tell me "I wish I could have kudos'ed this more than once" are the highest tier comments to me.