#comments on fics

I like to comment on works that have all likes and zero reblog and zero comments bc i know how empty it must feel to have no one telling you what made the fic likeable. Cause why is everyone liking it but not saying anything.

And then I'll have a smile on my face when the author likes my comment :)

I've only gotten one ever on a fic years ago, and that alone is the reason I still try to share my writing in social media and I'm making an effort to be present. It made my day, my week, my month, and even if it happened years ago I still remember it so fondly it's enough to quiet down the part of me who tells me I shouldn't share my writing at all. I don't remember the exact words, but I know they were written with enthusiasm and care, and that is enough for me; the fact that my work could have made someone feel so nice, to the point they wanted to share that with me is more than I could have ever hoped for.

Oh Em, thanks so much for your asks, darling! Hope you're having a nice last day of the year!

3) favorite line/scene you wrote this year I have two, I can't pick.

"My scream wants to leave my body to shatter against your skin, to mar you, to marry you, to make you mine."

"And he feels a whole continent unravel inside his rib cages, like a blossoming flower bud so massive that it takes all the space inside his body and vibrates in the air around them."

21) most memorable comment/review

TW: HIV Thank you for asking this, Em. Actually, it was a comment on Dragons Don't Know Paradise (the fic that made us start talking!), my 25 days of Drarry 2020 muggle AU advent fic, a plot in which one of the characters is learning how to live with HIV. On the 1st of December 2021, World AIDS Day, I got the most amazing comment I've ever received in my life, from a reader who had been living with HIV for 12 years. I'll share an anonymised snipped of it here:

"this story has given me all the tears and mental therapy I never thought I needed, and I feel like wounds I never noticed I had, have been both reopened and healed. I can't begin to describe how grateful I am for the way you used the characters I love in such a brilliantly original way to shine a light on a fight I've been fighting for over a decade, and for how you've made me feel more whole than I've felt in as long."

I cried really hard and thought how amazing it is that my words reached someone who needed to hear my message of love and hope. Made me think of how wonderful it is to be able to share my stories for free in such a broad transformative archive as AO3.

I would like to end this ask saying that stories are powerful enough to create bonds, to give birth to love and sharedness and hope. It's often fun, but it can be so much more sometimes. Writing fanfic has been the only constant thing in my life for the last 17 years, and it is such a pleasure and a delight to share my stories with all my friends and readers. I read every single comment, even though sometimes I don't have the time or energy to reply. And I am SO GRATEFUL to everyone who dedicates a bit of their time to send me a few words, because these words are what keeps me going. This sharedness and connection is what keeps me hopeful. I LOVE my readers so much, I don't have enough words to describe the feeling. THANK YOU! This year was so rough, so raw and painful for me. But every single comment made me feel warm and seen and valid. Made me remember that we are NEVER alone.

Absolutely. A comment on a fic can be as simple or complex as the reader wants it to be. I’ve received the gamut from ‘Good’ to long detailed paragraphs and everything in between. I love them all.

Also adding that Chapter 5 of Guardian was posted yesterday (finally something worked on AO3) which means they were checking bc I've seen both of them comment before 😍😍😍

Also they are also reading my other fics this makes my day 😍😍😍😍😍😍

Here's the links to the Tumblr posts containing the fic bc I got a reply box open and I'm on my phone and I'm not willing to lose the opportunity to actually reply to the comments so...

Guardian masterlist (that very first link is to the fic. The others are Tumblr posts about it including postings of chapters)