Reblog this to give a mf a hug

We all seem to need one rn.

I’ve seen five different authors take down, or prepare to take down, their posted works on Ao3 this week.  At the same time, I’ve seen several people wishing there was more new content to read.  I’ve also seen countless posts by authors begging for people to leave comments and kudos. 

People tell me I am a big name fan in my chosen fandom.  I don’t quite get that but for the purposes of this post, let’s roll with it.  On my latest one shot, less than 18% of the people who read it bothered to hit the kudos button.  Sure, okay, maybe that one sort of sucked.  Let’s look at the one shot posted before that - less than 16% left kudos.  Before that - 10%, and then 16%.  I’m not even going to get into the comments.  Let’s just say the numbers drop a lot.  I’m just looking at one shots here so we don’t have to worry about multiple hits from multiple chapters, people reading previous chapters over, etc.  And if I am a BNF, that means other people are getting significantly less kudos and comments.

Fandom is withering away because it feels like people don’t care about the works that are posted.  Why should I go to the trouble of posting my stories if no one reads them, and of the people who do read them, less than a fifth like them?  Even if you are not a huge fan of the story, if it kept your attention long enough for you to get to the bottom, go ahead and mash that kudos button.  It’s a drop of encouragement in a big desert. 

TL;DR: Passively devouring content is killing fandom.

^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^

Fandom is kept alive by readers, watchers, lookers, commenters, and supporters.  And the FiKi fandom has some MAGNIFICENT ones…but a lot more who click, consume, and say nothing.

Otherwise, artists and writers are throwing into a vacuum. And it’s the artists and writers who get blamed when there’s not new content?

This applies to so many fandoms. It makes me so sad to see that even on LJ comms, there are far more people reading things than there are commenting on and liking them.  I co-mod one of the oldest sites in a particular fandom, and I know it’s still active because of the sign-ups for our challenges, but it’s so disheartening when people post and nobody says anything.  How does that encourage new writers, if the first thing they post gets no response? I cheerlead our comm on Twitter, where a lot of the members hang out, and still nothing.  It makes me feel like people are eventually going to just stop, and then I shall be sad, because if nobody’s posting and nobody’s reading, there’s little point in my writing and drawing either.  I don’t know why fandom is getting so heavily skewed towards passive consumption, but I wish I could do something - anything - to fix it.  I miss the kind of comment threads that used to lead directly to more fic and art.  

And there’s the answer, random fan demanding more fic but not actually doing anything to encourage it.  If you want us to create stuff, let us know we’re not shouting into the void.  Engage with us.  Discuss plot points with us.  We create for ourselves - but we post for you.

Creators love kudos, comments, and feedback.  Take a few moments and give it to them.  It means so much.

I think people dl'ding fic to their kindles (which, yay!) is a part of this, too. They enjoy it,they re-read it, but they don’t go back to AO3 to leave a kudos or comment. Perhaps folks could make a point that after they’ve read X number of stories, they pull out their Kindles/eReaders and go back to the AO3 and leave something for the fics they enjoyed? (Note: this is what I do about once a month.)

I get my AMVs from http://www.animemusicvideos.org/.  And they do something interesting that I never really understood before I started posting on AO3.  Every X number of videos you download, the site stops you and won’t let you download or view any more until you’ve left some ratings for the ones you’ve already downloaded.  It might not be more than a star rating, and a few words, but it forces you to stop and go, oh, these people worked for hours, for DAYS on this 3 minutes of video footage.  Least I can do is add a few words, and click a star rating.

And just some numbers from my side.

I have a one shot that has 173K hits, and 4.6K kudos.  That’s about 2.4%  For every hundred people that read that fic, less than three bothered to click the kudos button on the way out.  Even assuming that we’ve got some major rereads in there, that’s a depressing statistic.  Most days I just ignore the hit and kudos count, because if I look at it, I’ll lose my marbles, but I can’t imagine being a new author, being a kid who’s trying hard to be brave and write a thing, only to not know if those other 97 out of a 100 just noped out, or hated it, or what.  

Especially if they only have a few works.  Especially if they’re new.  Especially if they’re trying to break into a new fandom.  Especially if they seem to be struggling.  Take a moment and write them a few kind words.  Give them a reason to believe the effort was worthwhile.

You’ll be rewarded for it. 8)

Found these tips on my computer.

For the readers that don’t know what to write. Last added thing gives you some ideas.

This may sound mean, but...

If you send me an ask containing links to Good Omens fan fiction you think I should read, I'll delete it. Do it again and I'll (regretfully) block you. This is a general blanket sort of thing -- I don't want to read it, legally I can't read it, no I won't make it into the next series, and, no matter how pure your motives, it's crossing a line.

A reminder for the kiddies who are way too young to remember the Anne Rice days... and for the adults definitely old enough to know better but too dense to Get It Through Their Heads Without It Being Oft Repeated And Said With Profanity.

Do Not Send Authors/Artists/Etc Your Fanfics. Ever. It opens them *and you* up to loads of potential legal issues, and is just... weird.

It crosses lots of just weird personal and also LOADS of legal boundaries, and it is *not* something you should do. Even if the author in question (in this case, Neil) supports the right of fans to participate in creation of derivative fan works, that is not an invitation to send them to him. He legally cannot read them. Period.

Seriously, y'all, knock it the hell off.

Also - do y'all wanna revisit the Anne Rice days where fan-authors got cease and desist letters and threats of being sued? Because I'm old enough to remember those days and don't want to go back to worrying about that nightmare.

For a primer on that drama... here's some reading material:

Some of you don't remember

Me: only remembers the aftermath.

My autistic brother created a new family Christmas tradition

Cute, right?

Well, for whatever reason only known to my brother, he decided that he wanted to put Barry in different rooms of our house and it usually scares the shit out of whomever happens upon Barry; usually the person who finds him is the person that my brother wanted to scare.

So far, Barry has been found

On our dining room table

On my dad's side of my parents' bed

In my parents' closet

Outside their bedroom door (at 5 in the morning and scared my mother shitless)

Near the kitchen door

Near my fucking bed

At the bottom of my sister's stairwell

In our bathroom

And down the hallway

This has gone on for 9 days and it doesn't seem to show signs of stopping. Most of the time we know who gets Barry because it's always followed with a very loud "FUCKING BARRY!!!!!"

My brother is the funniest fucking person I know.

Update:

He found his way into my sister's room.

And my brother is cackling maniacally downstairs.

Holy fuck this doll is creepy

Another update:

The soft glow of the Christmas tree seems to quell his bloodlust

vote to replace the evil surveillance Elf on the Shelf with Barry the Chrismoose

Broke: Elf on the Shelf Woke: Moose on the Loose

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

WHAT THE FUCK IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE WHY DID SOMEONE REBLOG THIS

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

A historical moment

Locking your mentally ill wife in the uppermost room of your house, and then hiding her existence so you can attempt to marry your young governess? And you’re gaslighting the household whenever your wife breaks out to start fires in themiddle of the night? Talk about problem attic. :/

I [34 M] am somebody who inherited a lot of wealth from my parents, which allows me to support my ex’s daughter [10 F, from France and not my daughter]. To deal with the challenges of remote learning, I hired a tutor [19 F] to live in our home and teach her while I’m traveling for work. The tutor seemed a bit boring at first, but the more I got to know her, the more I liked her. We eventually really hit it off and got together after I broke up with my ex - now we’re engaged.

There’s just one problem: we were about to be married when my ex-wife’s brother [38 M] showed up and revealed that I’ve kept my bipolar and/or depressed wife [37 F] locked in a small padded room in my attic for the past 15 years. (Inlaws know all your skeletons. Ugh.) He then called me a bigamist in front of my girlfriend, embarrassing me and her!

Now my gf wants to break off our engagement...all because of a little spousal attic confinement! I tried to compromise - I even said that marriage wasn’t a huge deal and she could still be my mistress, but she won’t hear me out. We’re so in love, I don’t see what the big deal is...AITA here???

Tl;dr: AITA for trying to convince my 16yr younger fiancée to become my mistress after she discovered I kept my depressed wife trapped in a padded attic room for 15 years?