I am nerdy trash

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

Picture yourself in highschool (I know, hear me out) you've hand written a story and give the copy to your friends to read. They read it silently and hand it back with no feedback (comments), not even a smile (kudos).

Then you overhear them talking about it at lunch excitedly and animatedly. When you try to join the conversation they look at you confused. Why do you need to be a part of the conversation? You already wrote the story.

You might be relieved that they actually liked the story after all, but hurt that they never thought to tell you. You might be even more hurt to hear that they purposely choose to talk when you weren't there, because they didn't want you there.

The issue is not people talking about the story other places. (There are some fanfics I gush about irl) It's about excluding authors who are sharing their works because they want to share them with you.

The comments section of AO3 or incoherent tags on Tumblr are the only guaranteed way to include the author. So, leave comments.

Most authors understand if you are anxious or unsure what to say. A key smash or a <3 go a long way. Comment on fics you read over and over again. (I love getting comments like "extra kudos" or "reading this again!")

Mamma Mia here we go again 🩷

Even if he refuses to admit it, Vox loves Valentino so damn much and Valentino loves him just as much. Just look at them— look at the way they constantly link arms!

Don't forget Vox's sparks and Valentino's smoke making a heart, or the way Vox reacts to Valentino says that he's obsessed with him !!!

Take notice of how Velvette stays out of their way so they can get as close to each other as they want! Velvette is the #1 staticmoth shipper for sure. Thank you Velvette we all say in unison!

AMSHDJ sorry

happy pride to all freaks💜🤍💚 genderqueer val from ur local genderqueer. he means the world to me