Do not leave criticism in fanfic comments. Even if it’s constructive. Even if you’re “just being honest.” This is not traditional publishing, and you should not treat fic in the same way you treat traditionally published works. AO3 comments are not Amazon reviews.
If you want to offer the author criticism, please follow the steps below:
Contact the author to see if they even want your criticism (their vision and intention might be different than yours; this isn’t for-profit publishing, so there’s a chance the author has no desire to make their fic anything than what THEY want it to be. Moreover, unless you’re some kind of literary genius, it’s possible that they might not give a fuck about your opinion)
If they do, provide it in a private forum so that they have the opportunity to accept or reject your criticism outside the public grounds of AO3 comments (what I mean is: CRITICISM IN COMMENTS IS FUCKING HUMILIATING)
Do not be offended if they don’t accept your criticism
Thank them for their time and for listening to you speak your peace
Some additional notes:
Do not leave negative criticism/hate/wank on a WIP (or, see above: ever). Some people are enjoying the story and negativity might (will) make the author fall out of love with what they’re writing such that they don’t want to finish it. Also, you owe it to the author, who is writing FOR FREE, to hear them out to the end of their story in case they end up fixing what you were criticising.
Do not leave a comment telling the author why you stopped reading the fic. The author isn’t going to fix it and it’s just going to make them sad and feel shitty. Seriously, these types of comments are everywhere and they help NO ONE.
If you read something in a fic you don’t like, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST STOP READING IT. Please don’t let yourself believe that the way you see fic is the way fic ought to be. Everyone likes different things. It’s okay to exit silently. It’s the polite thing to do.
Do not point out OOC. Ever. Period. End of story. Interpretation is the entire point of fanfic. If you don’t like someone’s interpretation, DO NOT READ IT. You’re not the IC Police.
Avoid backhanded compliments. Please don’t start a comment with, “To be honest I hated this at first, but…” or anything similar. If there is an insult in your comment that is turned positive somehow, it is still an insult, and it is still hurtful.
Please please please, I am begging you, readers of fanfic, to take into consideration that fanfic authors are not celebrities, even if you think they’re super popular and amazing writers and you get hearts in your eyes when they acknowledge you. If you cut them, they will bleed. If you talk to them, they will listen. If you tell them they suck, they will believe you.
Be kind to fanfic authors. They do what they do because they love to do it. Don’t take that away from them by leaving tactless or rude comments.
It’s the time of the year again when this post from 2015 needs a reblog.
uh hey reminder we need one more congressman to overturn the FCC’s decision to repeal net neutrality using the CRA so call ur congress and email them to help keep net neutrality (please) and overturn the decision (please) we got 60 days before it’s final. (January 7 when posted this)
This blog did not and will not send requests for bitcoin donations.
There seems to be a virus or some sort of malware going around causing blogs to “send out” chat messages to blogs that they follow asking for help with the purchase of certain items through donations of seemingly small amounts using bitcoin and adds a link to the message.
The message goes as following (at least the first message I got went like this): “Hi there buddy. I need help, I’m trying to buy a laptop and I can’t afford it. I’m about 0.36$ short, and I’d really appreciate if you could help me and transfer some money to me via bitcoin using this *link*.”
The small details in the message seems to have a few variations with the greeting, amount and purchased item showing up in different variations from formal to friendly, from 0.016 to 2$ and from a phone case to a laptop among others.
The blogs that are affected send out the messages to blogs that they follow for a long time mostly, so you are most likely to receive the message from a long time, active follower whose name you might recognize or a mutual etc. The blogs that are affected are not spam bots but actual active followers who follow the recipient for months or years and most likely the blogger who “sent” the message is unaware of the message being sent.
DO NOT OPEN THE LINK.
Opening up the link will cause the virus to spread even more and infect your computer/mobile with any sort of malware.
If you have received a message of that sort from this blog please know that it was not sent by me or within my control and ignore/delete the message without clicking the link.
today is Nov. 15. the FCC, under chairman Ajit Pai, will not listen to the public despite millions of comments in support of net neutrality. They are going to try their hardest to kill net neutrality, which in turn will kill the internet, which in turn will help eradicate democracy. it won’t just affect Americans, it has the potential to affect the entire internet, something we ALL use daily. you can bet your ass other countries will see america doing this, and use it as an excuse to do it in their own countries.
this is what buying a plan without net neutrality looks like there:
you have to pay MORE for features you’re already guaranteed to have under net neutrality. and in america, you already know how expensive everything is.
democrats AND republicans both want net neutrality. advocacy groups in touch with congress have said that if your members of congress receive calls from you, they are more encouraged and more likely to take action to stop Pai’s plan to gut net neutrality. after Nov. 22, it will be MUCH HARDER to convince your member of congress.
hey guys, please reblog this version and don’t forget to call!!! if you are nervous about calling, you can use resistbot to send faxes to your reps and thestance appto pre-record your message so you won’t have to speak to anyone. (available in both google play and app store)
Who’s Pam? Doesn’t matter. Pam will make three billion dollars.
i would pay to see this
are you fucking kidding me I WANT this movie
I want to see this cheerful lady walking through fire and being badass and sweet
and most of all I want her to save the day with the normal shit she’s toting in that bag.
I NEED this.
‘Let me get this straight. You’re saying our Xanderian captor is in pain from a swollen… thing, and is going to eject us from the airlock? Well why didn’t you say so? Here, hun, I think I got some Aleve in here. You just take that.’
*Alien collapses frothing*
Everyone stares at her in awe. ‘How did you know that naproxen is fatal to Xanderians?’
‘Honestly, you people never have children? I hear EVERYTHING.’
or
‘Oh dear, you need something to bridge to gap between circuits and stop the shortage? I know I got a safety pin, just wait.’
*Ship jumps to warp ahead of pursuit*
Like, seriously, I want her to fucking MacGyver whatever is needed to resolve the plot issues, using Clorets gum, her Kindle, a Starbucks receipt (tall caramel macchiato) and a handful of change and lint.
Because we got so many ‘ordinary’ guy heroes that go on to be extraordinary, and let’s be real – in an actual Holllywood movie Pam would scarcely rate a speaking part. I want a female hero who is a hero without needing a goddamned makeover and just needed the right circumstances to shine. I am up to my goddamn neck with ordinary dude heroes. I’m sick of them. I know everything about them already.
It’s a term from ye olde fanfiction.net days back when I was like 11 or something – it means that it’s a topic that is something that just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It’s not that you hate it or it’s triggering, it’s just something that you’d rather stay away from.
You could use it interchangeably with “that freaks me out”, but that has a more negative connotation. It’s more of just of saying “I’m not a fan of this for me personally, but you do you!”
Time's Vengeance 