#reader writer interaction

This happened a while back, but I forgot to post it. I have a hundred subscribers on Ao3.

I want to thank the academy, my family, my beta @elaborateruses, my friend's cats, and everyone who has contributed to any of those stats up there for getting me this far!!

But seriously, this is incredible and I can't believe it's happening and I love you all in a parasocial way and THANK YOU.

This message made me feel so heartfelt! Thank you so much for your words and your encouragment, for taking the time to reach out and bare your heart. It is wonderful to share your journey through the magic of the written word. Your love is wholeheartdly received and cherished. This kind of message is what a writer's heart lives for. Thank you, anon, and wherever you are may you be very blessed.

Sincerely,

Looking at 2 million words on a document for a niche ship whose four-year age difference is apparently too 'problematic' for the present-day moral police and barely get any interaction (if not bashing), sometimes I ask myself: "what the hell am I putting in so much effort for?"

And then I get a reader reaching out randomly to tell me that my effort brought some light into their life and I'm like.

Thank you for your message of appreciation. A writer thrives on knowing they are being read and that their words resonate in the souls of his/her readers. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have made my writer's soul smile. Wishing you all the best. 😊🙏🏻🌹❤️

Okay.

Who did this? I need to know whose face to gently cup and remind to take sleep/food/bathroom breaks in their marathon reading session while also making dolphin noises in an attempt to express the level of my gratitude. ;_;

For the record, this is why kudos still count. I learn SO MUCH from this and what I've learned is incredibly flattering and actually made me tear up when I got it.

So don't worry if you never leave a comment for me. You kinda did, actually! Any feedback at all ever tells a story, even if it isn't literally telling a verbal story (another example: when I suddenly have a flurry of kudos on a specific fic, that tells me someone linked it or recced it and that is ALSO immensely high praise and deeply meaningful).

Plus love to my lurkers, I have a baffling amount of hits and I am so grateful to the story you're telling me there, too (which I know because I have been told that some of those hits are rereads, which is some of the highest praise you can give a writer and HOLY SHIT I have given you a piece of my infinite gratitude/soul)!

Comments are wonderful, but they're far from the only way to show an author you care. I used to be a "you should comment! Authors thrive on feedback!" person, and I don't really disagree so much as I think it's better for me to focus on what I already have.

Which really is pretty clear. 😳🥺💜

Whoever you are, Guest, thank you. You made this writer very, very happy.

just wanted to pop in and say I’m sorry I’ve been sooo inactive on your fics

I honestly think I’m an entire year behind at this point :( which saddens me greatly cause every time I get a new notif about you updating something or a WIP I can’t read it because I’m so far behind and also because I just don’t have time to read

anyway I hope you’re okay <3 I’m excited to catch up with your stuff as soon as I have a mome🤞🏽sending you all the good vibes always :)

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OMG NO DON'T WORRY IT'S OKAY

How are you supposed to read fic when you don't have time to read, clone yourself? I hope it's okay that I'm publishing this because I've gotten the sentiment before from other people and I just REALLY want to emphasize that I never want anyone to feel obligated or guilt themselves for being "behind". This is not a class, you're not being graded, and that's the whole point of an archive— so it's there when you have time and desire!

(If it helps, though, you absolutely do not have to read it in posting order for it to make sense. I'm not sure it makes sense no matter what order it's read in, as I have thoroughly lost control of the plot and it has too many branches to keep track of. 😂 You won't be missing much if you decide you only have time to read one thing!

I'm also on a bit of a multichapter hiatus anyway due to uncontrolled hyperfixation cough Ruby cough. Who knows? Maybe by the time you have time, I'll have wrangled some of the plot back under control!

...But I wouldn't count on it.)

By "unread", I mean "I read them, but left them marked unread because I was totally definitely going to reply to all of them eventually I swear". That has obviously not worked out so well. 😅

So I gave up and marked them all as read, so that the number would stop nagging at me and making me feel horribly guilty whenever I looked at my dashboard.

I may still respond to some of them! I reread them all the time! But I'm not going to stress myself out about it anymore, because having so many old comments was making it hard to reply to the new ones. I need a clean slate.

If I don't respond to a comment: it's (probably) not because I missed it, I just go through periods where I don't know what to say when people are lovely and kind and I'm still not super great at task management. I'm working on it, though! I always want to reply; it's just that the desire doesn't always translate into action.

Consider this your response if I missed you. Thank you, so much. You have all blown me away with your encouragement and enthusiasm. Your words feed my soul and keep my chin up during dark times. I couldn't do this without you, and I am so, so grateful to absolutely everyone who's interacted with this AU. (Including the lurkers!)