okay we always joke about peter accidentally calling tony dad but imagine that after a long day of working in the lab peter says ‘i’m hungry’ and without missing a beat tony goes ‘hi hungry i’m dad‘ and they both. just. freeze
excerpt from the lesbian almanac compiled by the national museum & archive of lesbian and gay history, 1996
you know what really changed a lot of shit for me as far as how I interact with other creators?
I made a new year’s resolution and decided that if i like something enough to give kudos on AO3 or like it on tumblr, that I like it enough to write at least a short lil comment on the fic. Even if it’s just “I really like this!” or “can’t wait to see where this goes! good job!” or “ahrwdiagfrjga’agrfa i love” or “i couldn’t sleep but this was fluffy enough to relax me!” or “WHY WOULD YOU HURT ME THIS WAY”
like sometimes I write a long, detailed comment about a fic I’m particularly impressed with, but if I like it, I comment it. If I bookmark it, I tell them I saved it to reread it. If I loved it, I gush over their skill. even if I didn’t LOVE the fic but I can tell that they’re either just starting out or that english isn’t their first language, I leave a comment about what they did well. it doesn’t even have to be personal or specific, just taking a second out of my day to thank a creator for doing what they do.
You know what that’s done? I get messages from creators saying how much their comment made my day. I get messages from creators that inform me when the next chapter is up if I forgot to subscribe. I sometimes even get people who are like “omg I’m a huge fan of your work do you have a prompt you’d like me to write?” and I get someone who wants to write me a fic. And even if none of those things happen, I at least know that they know I liked their fic.
I’ve seen really good fics where I’m the only commentor but there’s 200 bookmarks. And that’s disheartening, especially when I look and that person has no other fics up. Like you know that person is putting a lot of stock into whether or not anyone liked their shit and whether they should continue writing.
I’ve had people tell me they weren’t planning second chapters but they decided to write one because they got some comments. I’ve had people offer to write me prompts because they appreciated my comments so much. It truly motivates people who are writing free content for you just because they enjoy writing it and they assume you enjoy reading it, but if they think no one likes it, then sometimes they stop posting.
I’ve had people (not the writer; I’d do it if it were the writer) ask me “hey can you put your comments in the tags instead of on the fic/art but I never do that because then there’s a chance they won’t see it.
I challenge everyone who reads this to do the same: if you enjoy a fic enough to reblog it or bookmark/subscribe on AO3—any part of a fic, the characterization, the plot, the descriptions; even if you just say “this was really good!”—WRITE A COMMENT. take 5 seconds to do it. You never know when that author was making a last-ditch “if this gets no notes I’m not a good enough writer to post my stuff” or “I should stop writing; no one cares about my work.”
Take a month and try to write a comment or two every time you spend a night in reading fanfic on AO3. I promise you’ll get at least a few messages that are happy and grateful, and you might even be the difference in whether a young writer decides to continue writing. If you expect a WIP to be continued, the price is comments and reblogs. Just try it for a month and you’ll never go back. Your faves might even reach out and start talking to you and you’ll make friends.
THIS! I really feel like adding to this because this is SO important!
And it’s also the same for artists! Like I have a bunch of friends who are artists and one of them stopped posting their work because they only got likes, not even reblogs let alone comments!
SO I decided to NEVER reblog art without writing at least one nice thing in the tags! Because ALL the artists read them! And since I started doing that I got SO many messages from artists that were so happy to read my rambling! And the ones of you who follow me know that most of the time it’s just garbled screaming in my tags AHAHAHA :D
But it’s so lovely if an artist is like: Hey! I alsways see you in my notes! Thanks for the support! :D
And it LITERALLY only takes five seconds more to write something like “THIS IS CUTE” in the tags and it makes someones DAY :D
SO: If you like something, take the time to write just a LITTLE comment! Because not only does it make creators happy, they will also show how much they appreciate it and MAN if that doesn’t put a smile to YOUR face as well I don’t know what to tell you anymore :D
YES! a like to an artist or writer doesn’t read as “I enjoyed this piece but it doesn’t fit with my blog theme,” it reads as “they gave me a pity like and they hated it.”
That’s why I reblog. fucking everything. and I only like the fics I really want to go read again.
commenting is a great way to have sempai notice you as well because anyone who comments on my fics I check out their blog and if they write fics or make art, I try to return the favor and reblog and comment on their stuff, too!
I’m a 23 year old professional novelist. I don’t give a shit whether people like or dislike my fics because I write them for stress relief and because I enjoy them. Of course I fill requests because I’m grateful people follow me and flattered that they trust me to write an idea they like, but overall I write for me first and foremost, since my day job is writing shit I don’t care about.
But begining artists and often even established artists stake a lot of their self worth in comments and reblogs, and while I’m not condoning that or saying it’s healthy, it happens.
ALSO the only thing for me that’s better than getting a really nice comment on my fic is getting a reply to a comment I made from a person who says that my comment made their day.
Likes = “this was okay”
Reblogs = exposure, i liked this enough to want my friends to see it
comments, particularly ones that tag friends = godsends
idk i just see a lot of writers making these posts about how readers should comment more and while that’s true, writers are not exempt from that!
