[ SECRET POST #4915 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4915 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 62 secrets from Secret Submission Post #704.
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/xLxxLSM.png

[esteefee]

Use emojis. 😻 Seriously, I recently added an emoji key to the bottom of my latest fic so people who have comment anxiety can just leave me emojis, and it worked great. People have a lot of fun with them.

[(Anonymous)]

Sounds interesting, could you give an example?

No need to link fics or anything, just interested in the key

[esteefee]

it's an SGA fic, so inside jokes a bit:

Comment with an emoji! Here's the key:
😻 = my cat loved it
🤣 = the sex was funny
🤗 = i wanted to squish these two nerds together
🍻 = beers on the pier!

[silverr]

That's adorable! And a creative way to be accommodating to folks with comment anxiety.

Do you change the emojis up for each fandom/fic?

[(Anonymous)]

I'm also curious about the emoji key?

[esteefee]

it's an SGA fic, so inside jokes a bit:

Comment with an emoji! Here's the key:
😻 = my cat loved it
🤣 = the sex was funny
🤗 = i wanted to squish these two nerds together
🍻 = beers on the pier!

[(Anonymous)]

Aww, that's cute. Thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

This is a great idea! Been reading a great fic that doesn't update often and there was a new chapter yesterday. I didn't know what to say so I didn't leave a comment but I'll leave some emojis!

[esteefee]

yeah, I find it fun. :)

OP of comment

[(Anonymous)]

Huh, I've actually seen this a few times before in comments.
To be completely honest, I never knew that all those smilies could actually mean much other than their typed counterparts. This is actually a really good system to encourage comments I think. I know I used to add various typed faces to properly express how I felt about the fics I read as a means to filter them by emotion throughout my bookmarks.

It almost reminds me of the Long Live Feedback Comment Project. Part of which, you'd end/mention the word 'whisper' in your comment to let the author know not to respond to your comment.
I know the comment schematic found some popularity, but the same way I'd worry that the author would assume that I signed the comment with 'Whisper' as a title and not a request, I'd fear that my appreciation wouldn't be as broadly understood if I used emojis to express myself.

Bahh- Regardless, I think my anxiety could find an excuse for anything... I'll definitely try emojis though when I'm at a loss for words, even if they don't have the same key, it's a very great way to say something when all other words seem to fail me;;

<3

Re: OP of comment

[esteefee]

I'm sorry the anxiety is hitting you so hard, but you are a worthy commenter, OP, and it's good of you to try so hard to comment despite your anxiety. 🤗

[tabaqui]

You can literally put 'my anxiety is making it hard to comment, but I still love this fic so much!' and your author will be happy to know it.

It's fine if you can't craft huge, intricate feedback every time. It's totally fine if you only kudo. It's totally fine if you just say 'i love this!' or 'this made me happy-cry!' or whatever.

Totally. Fine. For reals and for true.
*hugs*

[esteefee]

For true. Fandom is supposed to be *fun*.

[tabaqui]

Yup!

[silverr]

Seconded hard.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes. This. All of this :).

OP of comment

[(Anonymous)]

<333

I know, I know- I think I just forget that sometimes. I really think that a large portion of my bailing out is just my own version self-sabotage. If that makes any sense at all? Sometimes I want to kinda leave a disclaimer at the bottom of my comments saying that 'this user may stop responding at any time'. But part of me fears that as a defeat in itself, that I won't finish/keep reviewing simply because I've stated as such... I mean, I know it doesn't make much sense, but I'm not sure how else I can explain it.
I think most of my issue comes from the fact that I get so excited about the fic I'm reading that I just don't think about it. My anxiety'll strike when I least expect it, be it when the author themselves act so kindly as to appreciate my comment in the first place, (even despite me living for these moments at times) the fic reaching its climax, or even my own love for the fic overshadowing any words I could say to properly explain how much their words affected me.

-hugs- <33

You raise a lot of good points. Even if it makes me vulnerable, I'll definitely try out the disclaimer about my anxiety. Even if it somehow psychosomatically affects me in some way or another, the biggest importance to me is honestly that the author knows that I appreciate them. And honestly, that's good enough for me.

Re: OP of comment

[tabaqui]

*hugs back*

Like another Anon said below - unless you really *know* the author, a lot won't notice one way or the other if you comment on the first three chapters but not the last two, you know? And that's not an 'the author doesn't notice you, mere peon!!' kind of thing, just the usual 'brain full' kind of thing.

Myself, I have a terrible memory and it takes a *lot* of repetition of a name for it to stick.

Maybe you could, as you read, make notes in a .doc or something. Paste in little bits of the fic you really like, and what you like about it, things like that. A sort of stockpile for later, so you could go back and pick out things here and there to comment with.

Good luck, OP! Remember - we authors will love anything we get, so don't be skeered of us!

[(Anonymous)]

idk about other authors but I literally never keep track of who comments or kudos various fics or how often. I appreciate every acknowledgment of a reader and respond when it warrants, but I ain't keeping score or agonizing over whether or not azuredragon420 has read my most recent post. and frankly if there IS an author out there who's keeping track and would actually get mad because azuredragon420 hasn't appeared to place a kudo or comment today is not the kind of author I'd want to support.

relax, op. unless you're actually friends with the person and you two intimately know each other's usernames, chances are better than zero that the author wouldn't know your username from a hole in the ground and hasn't noticed if you didn't comment yet. and if you ARE friends, then you have a much more open ground to mention things like anxiety or whatever. otherwise just live your life and give it a kudo for now.

[silverr]

^^^ all of this.

[(Anonymous)]

I think a lot of authors do notice it. At least authors who don't get 50 comments on every new chapter. I certainly notice it. I'm not getting mad if someone doesn't comment (and I never notice who gave kudos, it's just comments for me) but if someone hasn't been around for a few chapters, I notice and I wonder why they stopped reading. Of course the main reason that comes to mind is they don't like the fic anymore, which makes me feel bad.

OP of the secret comment

[(Anonymous)]

First off, I just want to apologize just in case it could have been me who jumped ship, when all I wanted to do was sail, on your fic.

If you don't mind me asking, would it be incredibly awkward for a commenter to come back a notable time later (months, like seven-eleven of them, if we're counting...) after replying to the authors comment that they were so excited to get reading again after coming back from vacation (which was true at the very least).
Ugh, it's just that as soon as I get involved with something I end up being overwhelmed. I don't even know.

OP of comment

[(Anonymous)]

I get what you mean, honestly I hope that's true for all my comments, but at the same time I'm majorly talking about my sudden sign off when it comes to multichaptered fics, especially when the author themselves go out of their way to thank me for my comment.

Like one of my biggest holdups has to be reading a very old, very long fic. I alway review anonymously but despite all that, despite my comments not being very long winded as is my best. Rather than replying to my reviews (on A03 even) they were so appreciative that they made a special authors note in a later chapter because, even by their own words, they knew I read their notes and they wanted to make sure I saw their gratitude...
I lay my heart out for every comment I give, and even recently I made a fool out of myself by somehow interpreting a certain character as being blind when they obviously weren't, the author and I exchanged a few comments over the first few chapters before I felt my anxiety coming on strong. I went back to an old method of commenting I used to do which was essentially split-view the chapter and a note pad to write down all my thoughts; I would type everything that came to mind as I was reading in order not to forget even a single second of what was written... It... ended up being... 2,368 words, and 13,109 characters... (I don't even know, I mean the longest fic I've ever written was about the same word count somehow...)
Had it been within the limit I would have bit the bullet and submitted the reply, but even then I think that would be worse than the blind assumption...

Ugh- I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have a history of being commended on my comments. Even by people who aren't even the authors, and as much as I know what you say is true, it still hurts my heart to think that anyone could (and imo very rightfully) would come to the conclusion that something they wrote turned me off from reading entirely when really I just have such a hard time finishing anything, and even then I just don't have the words...

[(Anonymous)]

I get anxious about leaving comments too, especially on multi-chapter fics where I just post either a heart or a "Love this, keep going!", but that gets stale on every chapter, so I tend to just comment on the first chapter and the last one.