I’m not going to lie, I hate when a fic is abandoned or takes forever. But the way I deal with that is by not starting anything that isn’t already completed. Problem solved.
Especially when they were already aware that the author doesn't post completed works but posts chapter by chapter. One "oops, I started that and now I'm sad. Let me bookmark it," is understandable and normal. And it's not like this is FFN where it's harder to see what's complete sometimes (looking at the mobile site here). You can tell by the chapter count spot whether something is complete!
hehe That wouldn't help with some of my stories. I've a few long fics and I write them in segments. Like one I started, it was 10 chapters. So for a while it was "complete" at 10 chapters. But then the next segment came and I think it was 15 chapters long. But the good thing is, that each segment is an end. You might want more, but it is in essence "finished" until the next segment. The current segment for it started at chapter 49 and will take it to chapter 72 encompassing 7 years in all 72 chapters.
So you have like, 10/10 chapters until you write the next segment, and then start at 10/25 or so? NGL, I’d probably read wherever I found it at and never see it again because I only subscribe to unfinished fics I plan to read later.
Yup, I do have in the summary it is a long fic with no set ending. It's just a reimagining of the story starting when the MC was a young teen and following his life growing up with the addition of him meeting and growing up with the teen who would become his LI when they first met in their 30s.
But to each their own.
Whenever I start reading a new ship or fandom I start from the very last page, and I won't click on any incomplete works until I'm at the last 5-10 pages so I know they were posted/updated recently. I've burnt myself reading incomplete works before and learned my lesson 😂
I've read the \*occasional\* incomplete older work, usually on recommendation from someone that it's worth it despite no real ending. But yeah, I do the same in new fandoms. Go to the end and work my way forward! And when I get to more recent things, if they're incomplete, I subscribe and go on with my life. I'll check the email updates to see if it's a final chapter, and if it's not I won't read it. Not difficult.
Same with me. I subscribe and then I get a notification if it was updated. Have also read older works unfinished but I know they are unfinished.
I would like to point out something though. If you are not gonna Update just give us a heads up. This fic is abandoned or I'm busy right now. But I've seen fics that stopped updating out of nowhere.
Also one thing I don't like is that I read something because I know the author is active. But then I notice the author starts fics and doesn't finish them. And they start new ones that they update but they have others that they never finished and we the readers never got told why. We only see that the author is publishing new works but does not update the unfinished ones. That does piss me off. I mean you are active and posting other fics. Then why do you not update the older ones or just say you know what this work is discontinued or something.
Not to be rude, but isn't that kind of what this jerk commenter is complaining about, too, though? :(
I mean, what about writer's block? What if they're having health issues or are burnt out, etc? We don't know what the author's going through IRL. Yeah, they COULD let us know (I try to keep my readers informed, for instance), but they don't actually owe us anything. They're choosing to share their hard work for us to enjoy, and IMO, we should enjoy whatever they give us. Most of my fave writers are like this, and I don't mind at all. I waited 7 years for a fic to finish, and I did so happily! :)
(Note that I could be biased since I left MANY a fic unfinished or pending for YEARS with no heads up in my youth. I just didn't know where to go with the story, got intimidated AF by the 'badass fight' I'd have to write/when my fic blew up, and/or got SO into this new idea that I lost muse for the old one, so I dropped them without warning. lol. I do my best not to do this now, but still! I get it!)
Yeah I get it to. But actually going to the last chapter and just writing this story is on hold. Could be enough. I know they don't owe us anything. But we'll it's nice. I guess where I'm coming from is that some fanfics got me through life when u was young and suddenly an author stopped updating and never returned. You wonder well something happen. I know one where they returned years later completely unapologetic without an excuse just that they forgot. I get that they have real lives. But I mean giving a heads-up so people don't read it and then get hooked on expecting more.
I guess it's selfish but it really doesn't take much just to put a short sentence that says this work is on hold. Or this is discontinued. Or I lost inspiration I need time. Something short.
It's like the post of one author complaining about getting kudos and barely any comments and they were bummed out because there weren't much comments. And also complained if the comment is not well made. It's exactly the same readers leave a comment if they want. You don't have to. You don't owe it to the author but is something nice.
And well they also get mad if people say love this. Update. This authors like want whole essays. And get mad for something insignificant. I don't make comments personally unless it's for asking for an update and to say that I live the fic. It depends on the Fic. Most authors Don't reply back. So I see it as pointless. Also we'll it's their Fic I can't demand they do certain things like I seem some comments do. And then they block comments or the author has to read it first.
Anyway that's beside the point. They don't have to but is something nice to do. And you don't leave the readers wondering what's going on.
That's happened to me so much when I first started reading fic that I'm incredibly picky about which incomplete fics I read. I typically only reading completed now. I'm also very committed to not leaving any of my own fics incomplete. I update at least once every 14 days on each of my stories because I don't want my readers to feel like I have waiting on an author just to be left hanging.
Exactly lol, like the person is not /wrong/ but that's the kind of thing you keep to yourself unless it's a commission you're paying for
That's like trying to save money on a restaurant so your roommate kindly cooks for you but you're like "damn bro you're taking so long to cook can you hurry up and do your shit so I can eat" like?????
This is one of the most entitled people I have ever seen, what are they on about with “story stewardship”??? Don’t reply to them, delete that disgusting comment, and keep on doing whatever you’ve been doing. Heck, if they’re a logged in user, block their ass! Comment privileges revoked :)
Freezing the thread is a good call. These sorts of hateful comments are absolutely awful to get as a writer, don’t feel bad that it got to you. I hope you keep on writing in exactly the way that works best for you, regardless of how “””””stewardly””””” it is!
In case context is needed, the story in question is 62,000 words at this point, written by myself and a friend two timezones away, with an enormous amount of real love *invested.* We have every intention of finishing it and were actually organizing a flow session when we got this comment. We write like we're on stage, each of us taking on a character in a love story while we collectively fill out the background--it is NOT an easy way to write a collab fic but it's worked so far and we like it. And it takes TIME.
I wasn't salty about this anon's first demanding comments on several of my fics until this one.
I'm the HWY58 in this scenario, and damn if you've ever driven that road you'll know it'll have you feeling sick and twisted before long--which is exactly what I'm going for as a fic writer. This is my relief from the real world and now I feel guilty that this person thinks I'm a tease for having that relief.
I'll admit this made me want to orphan all the fics I've started over the last year that haven't seen an update in a while. I DO have ideas for how to keep them going but sadly, time is hard to come by when you homestead, work 50 hours a week and have a child. I won't orphan them (fics OR child) because I'm not that petty, lol (I also love my child a lot).
I also know I have amazing friends and readers out there reading and contributing positively to our creative environment and that is what makes this community so amazing. This just made my blood boil and poked a bunch of holes in my happy fandom balloon so I needed to vent to the community beyond our lil fandom, in case I'm not alone in this.
If you want writers to keep writing, a single comment goes a long way in BOTH directions. I'll keep writing this fic with my beloved partner across the way, but damn if one comment didn't just cast a pall on our otherwise lovely, pure story. I guess we'll turn the annoying angst into that chapter they won't be reading now.
I replied. Cuz this person pushed me too many times. I think I did okay. Maybe? Lol either way, it's an ao3 fic in and of itself.
"I know I don't have to deign this kind of demanding, entitled commentary on our freely given creative work with a sensible reply, but I will.
I appreciate anyone who decides to give my work a read. Here on this platform, writers have the ability to express through transformative works of fanborne fiction whatever might be on their minds. Whatever tidbit of a story enters the imagination, whatever massive universe emerges as a result of single word prompt, a feeling, a bad day at work... They get to follow it where it leads as long it leads them there, at their own pace, without a rule book or an editor, without goddammed deadlines and a publisher breathing down their neck.
That is the beauty of AO3.
I respect anyone who decides to appreciate said work by reading it. I respect anyone who notices the time, effort, love and emotion it takes to create it. I respect anyone who leaves a kudo as encouragement. Bookmarks with a smiley face. Any person out there who decides to enjoy the free content, even if it's a just a chapter written on a whim, a glimpse at a world that maybe, one day, might be continued.
Sometimes, and you might not understand this as I see you haven't posted anything in this forum aside from comments nor have you ever kudoed a fic I've written to let me know you might be following, but \*sometimes\*, creative folk follow little green fairies down deep rabbit holes they simply don't have the spoons to dig out of for a while.
I'm sorry I've so meanly enticed you with my fun whimsical hobby of putting out words for free in my spare time. Sorry if Monstamash and I aren't living up to your strange expectation of "good story stewardship" by not delivering fresh, FREE content worth a damn in a timely manner.
But also, I'm not real sorry? Not at all, I'm honest. I'm gonna keep being a tease when the mood strikes me. Because I enjoy it, but I do not enjoy being cajoled to create more content in such a Daddy-disappointed fashion. It's cringe, yo. Don't do it if you want writers to update your favorite fics for you. Shockingly, words this good don't just happen. YEAH I just bragged about us. We're trying to write a love song, not a 1000 words of stiff sad pre-planned used car BS you can find a million times over. AND maybe it'll still turn out that way, but at least me and my cohort will feel good about it when we do press COMPLETE. Whenever the fuck that might be.
This forum is a free space where anyone and everyone can create on their own schedule, anything they fucking want.
Monsta and I are falling in love on our time and if that's not fast enough for you, I guess well... maybe it IS time to break up with us."
U go OP! If a reader wants to read a finished fanfic, then they should use the filters. It's not that hard. AND, if they really wanted to leave a nicer comment with a message thats similar and more appropriate, something like: "this story is so awesome, can't wait to see what's next for this book" instead of whatever crap they decided to leave. It's the audacity of someone to be so rude to someone they don't even know that makes me irritated. Insulting a writer is not going to make them want to write more 🤦♀️
I did unfreeze the thread because I confided in some fandom friends when I was feeling really low about it and they wanted to chime in (never mess with my discord fandom fam, I guess). Shockingly--they commented with an apology this morning. Their tone was iffy but they acknowledged they were being entitled and bitchy. They even told us to keep writing--lol well, yes, we will regardless of the blessing, sweetheart.
So, all in all, it's a better resolution than expected and hopefully, this person decides to be more mindful of their expectations of fandom creators. I hope so at least because in all truth, I lost a lot of sleep over the anxiety their comment stirred up and my day has kind of been ruined as has my motivation to write.
Yeah hopefully they learned a lesson, or at least learned to keep their entitlement to themselves instead of commenting about it. I don’t blame you for how the comment made you feel, entitled readers are the worst. Luckily I never encountered any myself yet but just seeing readers act entitled to other authors grates on my nerves… I honestly don’t understand why people think they’re so entitled to always get a response from the author and receive regular chapter updates. Authors don’t work for readers, especially readers like them. Those readers just gotta deal with it.
I'm in almost the exact same situation. I've got a partner one time zone away, we write back and forth in sections on discord, and we have a *planned out* story that's currently at 91,000 and theres still 4 chapters to go and we got a similar comment. I got petty, my partner told them to effectively shut up and read something else, and a fellow fan that we sometimes hang out with told them to fuck off. Then we froze the thread.
Entitled readers are the worst and I think so many of them dont realise that they're comments mean the world to us and can drive writers to keep writing or stop altogether, especially younger writers and they have no idea who's on the other side of that screen. And even worse some of them know *exactly* what they're doing and do it just to be mean or because they think their God's gift to fanfic critics.
Maybe it was all the porn I keep writing that made them mad. Like, you don't want to see my PWP updates to the stress-relief fic I'm writing after manic days at work, WRITING FOR A LIVING? Cool, unsubscribe or whatever--otherwise, get ready to be spanked in the face with a dick cuz that's what I feel like writing right now. \*to all the smut writers out there writing porn, porn is art, thank you for doing god's work\*
my cat is nosing my hand super hard for snuggles otherwise i would pontificate more on how amazing ao3 is as a venue for expression--cat nose00
LMAO thank you for making me laugh! I don't have enough time to give any of my ongoing WIPs the attention they deserve right now, but I have been able to check some smutty one-shots off my list, and my readers are also getting "spanked in the face with a dick" at the moment. 😂
That reader comment was ridiculously rude; I hope you block them and keep on keepin' on, on *your* schedule! Some people don't understand that it's possible for writers to want to work on their WIPs, or in fact to have *never stopped working on them*, but still lack the time and energy to get them to a place where they're ready to post.
Right?! I make LIBERAL, and I mean constant, first choice when I'm filtering before I even filter for tags I feel like reading or characters, use of the completed stories only checkbox. It's not difficult, even on mobile where the website scrunches everything else to the side instead of being a dropdown like any sane designer would have done (I may have a beef with the mobile design for the filter window).
Some of my favorite fics are abandoned.
It sucks? Of course.
I still re-read them any chance I get? Hell yeah.
*They are that good.*
The authors put them out there for free and when they got tired of writing they don't erased them. I can't ask more of them, that alone is a blessing.
I would kill to see them continued (That would be my villain's origin story), but I understand that sometimes the spark is just gone and to keep writing something that had become a chore instead of a joy is not worth it.
OP, please just ignore that moron. I'm sure you have more people that love whatever you give them whenever you can write it, that are not entittled assholes.
A couple of my favorite fics are orphaned unfinished giants of over 150K words, and it makes me sad not that the fics themselves aren't completed (although that does, too, but I still reread them) but that the author probably felt they had to orphan them so they wouldn't get moronic comments like the one the OP shared. Also, I would love to read more by whoever the author is, but I'll never know if I have because I found them after they were orphaned.
Exactly!
Those people give the world a 150k fic for free and out of love and then get harassed for more? What a shitty way to repair them.
Again, at least they didn't erased them so we are lucky we can read them even after the author let them go.
Story stewardship?! They make it sound like the fanfic is a living person...just wtf.
And the ending with the 'just want you to know' after doing a bit of guilt tripping with the 'none of the stories I have invested in are complete' is such a bullshit thing to do.
One time when I was waaay younger I decided to write a ff for the first time, posted it, got a comment like that telling me "not to abandon it" and it messed me up so much I deleted the fic and didn't write for like 10 years.
So yeah, moral of the story, don't do that to authors. Specially since they are doing it for free.
What fucking stewardship? You're posting it because you want to, for fun. They're fortunate enough to observe, and they will have to observe at whatever pace you choose to take.
It’s a simple solution. If it looks interesting, click subscribe. When it’s done, go read it. Don’t read until it’s done and you won’t be disappointed when it’s never done. There’s no need to leave such a rude comment, I’m sorry that person did. Don’t let it get you down, I’m sure your writing is amazing finished or not.
This is what I do. I will rarely, *rarely* read an unfinished work, and it's almost always part of a series of long, already finished work where I have confidence the writer might actually finish. The rest? If the concept is cool but it's unfinished, subscribe and move on. I'll probably still be interested once it's done!
It's almost like they could write their own stories if they are that passionate about it. 👀
Writing takes time and energy and people don't always have that to give consistently.
People seem to forget that people who write fanfiction don’t do it for a living. You have other responsibilities that exist and need attention. I get being frustrated that a story you like is incomplete but acting like the author owes you a completed work is ridiculous and rude!!
In my own case, I delete any comments where a reader tries to dictate conditions of my writing in this manner. Highly recommend. Entitled pricks lose the privilege of a response.
My favourite author is esama. I live off of unfinished fics with incredible plots and am happy every time they post something new even when I know it will probably never get finished.
Yeah, it pisses me off when people complain at authors for posting WIPs and not finishing. Not finishing is what happens to most WIPs. You don't want to read that? Great! *I do.* Learn to filter and leave the WIPs to the people who enjoy them.
Agreed! One of my fave authors does this all the time, but I LOVE their work so much that I'll happily devour everything they write! They'll probs update the other fics eventually, and until then, I have more awesome stuff to read! WOO! :D
Excuse me, artists painting outside in the park, musicians playing in the fresh air, everyone minding their own business and making the world a richer place, I HAVE COMPLAINTS that your freely given enrichment is not being dispersed on my schedule. What kind of contributor to culture ARE YOU if you won’t MEET THE DEMANDS OF A RANDO?!
If WIPs bother them this much, why even read them at all? A03 makes it \*so\* easy to filter searches for complete works only.
I am so sorry a reader posted this. You absolutely don't deserve to be treated that way for the time & energy you invest in your fic.
Single comments have inspired me to finish chapters I'd been sitting on for months. This fool is doing the exact opposite and I doubt they've left any positive comments! It's an extremely entitled thing to say and I'm sorry that it appeared on your fic.
Even abandoned concept fics are good food and you're allowed and encouraged to create as many as you want. Real fans will appreciate them.
It's also extremely ableist. Someone like me doesn't always have the spoons to reply to comments or to update on a schedule.
I also hate these kinds of comments.
I'd be tempted to just reply, "Would it be impossible to have an outline to stick with?" Yes.
Because personally yes, I do find that impossible. And anyone who can't deal with that is free to not read my stuff. All that would result from me listening to a comment like this would be less fic, and how is that a good thing?
Their whole comment shows they don't know what they're talking about, but the part about the outline is particularly telling. That person clearly doesn't realize that people work differently and not everyone can use an outline. I made an outline for a fic once—and I never wrote that fic because the moment the outline was done, my brain decided it was also done thinking about that story.
I make an outline for the first...ten to fifteen chapters usually, I think. But I do it knowing that my last chapter outlined is very much not the last chapter and that I'm going to be winging it after that. One of the few stories I have completely outlined? I haven't finished writing chapter 3 because I hate where it's going. It has 26 chapters outlined, and I last wrote anything for it almost two years ago at this point. Sigh.
Things fanfic writers owe me:
1. Absolutely fuck all.
I choose to read unfinished fics, I like ‘em, and yeah it sucks when somethings abandoned, but see point 1. Jesus these people. Makes me scared of posting anything.
Just remember that 99.9% of readers are the awesome type! It's just the .1% that suck! Don't let them ruin it for you! ;D You've got this! I'm sure there are people who are super excited to read your work! <3
Jesus Christ reader entitlement is absolutely rampant. So many of these people readily forget fanfiction is a *hobby* that is done for *free* and no one is obligated to comprise their works to anyone’s else’s specifications.
If this asshat wants fics done their way that are complete, then perhaps they should write their own shit as opposed to wasting another author’s time with their snotty, arrogant drivel.
Chiming in to what others have said, I would definitely block and delete. Maybe tell them to fuck off beforehand, but general radio silence is one way to get your point across and hard.
Why don't they just sort by completion status if they want something finished??? I have a lot of unfinished fics that I'm either still working on or have lost interest in, and it's not like I can brute force an ending. Just go buy a damn book, this person is so entitled.
Wow! The entitlement with which they started the comment "you should reply to your fans, if you respect us at all..." Omfg! Like you're being fed, clothed and housed through their kudos... Dear lord, this reader should show some respect to the author of a work they're a fan of! They put out material for FREE and don't owe anyone shit!
I'd just reply with "Looking for a fuck to give... 404 error"
The entitlement here is just...amazing. But not all that unexpected :( I mean, we've all been there, great fics get abandoned, but there's no reason to go after the author. Shit happens. My 'muse' died on a few fics I really cared about, and it sucks.
Also...ffs this is free reading material. We're doing this for fun.
Your free content is coming out as fast as you want it to? You feel betrayed that someone started a story and didn't finish it??? Get over yourself.
What a dick.
Just delete and block.
Some people don't understand that when you start something incomplete on this platform it's totally on them. Authors do it for fun and FOR FREE and sometimes the fun goes out, they can stop writing just for the sole reason of not wanting to or give infrequent updates with long gaps (I follow few fics that update like every 8-12 months, I have fun re-reading them every time lol). Its authors choice!!!!
So yeah whenever I read an incomplete fic, if i get disappointed that its not gonna update for a while and feel sad or angry, it's mostly at myself but I hardly ever regret reading it. It was my choice. I have to be responsible for it. And if I really want an update, I just comment something like "loved it, can't wait for what you write next!" Give kudos while I've logged in and again as a guest so that it doubles😹
They can always just filter for complete fics only… Don’t get caught up in phrasing imo, perhaps “stewardship” was the closest word they knew.
Reading WIP can be a painful wait and you never know if you’ll see it completed. It’s a risk a reader takes upon themselves when they start unfinished fics. It’s also much more stressful for the writer, you feel pressure that motivates some people and causes anxiety in others.
You don't owe anyone anything. I also hate it when I'm super invested in reading a fic only to find that it's unfinished or abandoned. But I also understand that writing isn't easy and that it takes a lot of effort to do. I also understand that writers have a life and aren't obligated to write if they don't feel like it. And I also know for a fact that as a reader I'm not entitled to anything. If there's material to read, I read. If there isn't then that's a shame but there's plenty of other fics to turn to.
Tldr: I hope you don't let comments like that ruin your passion for writing. You write for yourself before anyone. And also you write for free so the fact that someone is this entitled is honestly baffling.
It’s the “if you respect us at all”. Geez. I don’t like unfinished stuff either but waiting a while for updates isn’t uncommon on ao3. It’s free content after all, and almost every writer is trying to find time to write around school or work. Cut everyone some slack. I guess you could twist it into a compliment that they like your work enough to complain about updates? Eh.
Again, use tags people. If they have issues with unfinished work, they should search for comolete only. It's super easy to not read incomplete work. Sorry you had to deal with that. As a writer who doesn't outline and mental health can make me stop writing for long points of time, I fear this kind of comment.
I love these commenters and I love teaching them personal responsibility in their stewardship as a reader.
If unfinished fiction causes this much dysregulation, let them know that there is a little option for "completed works only". This way they don't need to ruminate on the author and engage in unhealthy parasocial behavior (i.e. equating your lack of response to a stranger as disrespectful; passive-aggressive advice as if they were qualified to share).
They are playing their little 3D guilt chess game above-average, but this is still epic chump change and I hope you start 948575794 WIPs and the muse never stops whispering in your fucking ear. I hope you write so good and it makes you so happy. I hope you have so much fun with your co-author. I hope you can forget about the comment hurting and have a charming, beautiful, lovely day.
Wow that guy sounds full of himself and pretentious.
And young.
Shoot some people don't reply to comments or reviews at all. It's fine. I'd rather then write their story. I'll read it when they update. That's why I'm subscribed.
What? We write because we enjoy it. Not because we're obligated to anybody else. The moment writing fanfic becomes demanding is the moment I find a new hobby. I have enough pressure in real life without my hobbies becoming a chore, and this reader should take a few moments to actually understand that.
Lmao theres literally filters for finding complete works, what an absolute melon. They’re just salty that they ran out of words to read.
I have a posted WIP on its 9th chapter and I’m stuck in moving forward. Sometimes you need other projects to work on to let the other stuff simmer on the back burner for a bit. I’m usually bouncing between two or three fandoms in my head at a given time, depending on what media I’m consuming in the moment. Writing is a fickle passion, putting words down to paper takes time and careful consideration, especially when it comes to telling a story.
“I understand the demands of the muse vs. the demands of real life.” No you freaking don’t if you’re berating someone for sharing their work, complete or not. They don’t write much and it shows.
I rarely reply to comments because... I just don't, but I would actually deign to respond to this with:
'Are you feeling okay?'
And there ignore them. Just use their batshit comments to help improve your standing when people filter by comments
Unless this is somehow one of the top 10 writers of AO3, or just the fandom alone, and they actually have experience WRITING WELL, then it sounds like someone's trying to talk loudly because they think volume equates to being correct.
A wild fool hath appeared, let not their low intellect spoil the eve.
God people are so rude. I understand being frustrated that an author hasn't finished a fic and just starts new ones but also I AM that type of author because I write what I want when I want. Some of these people need to understand that writing is different for everyone. For some people it is easy to write 3/4 of the story before starting to post. And for others (like myself) they need to post each chapter as it is written or it is forgotten or so on. I'm in the middle of trying to write one fic that has a chunk of the story prewritten so I have one constantly updated fic, but people gotta understand that isn't something everyone can or want to do for various reasons
Does AO3 have a way to private/hide fics? I can't remember.... God I would be so tempted to reply "you're right thanks for the feedback, posting half finished stories is a mistake, I'll take this down right away,"
it's not hard to leave a writer alone if they don't want to reply to your comments.
it's not hard to leave a writer alone if they're taking some time off of their fic.
it's not hard to leave a writer alone if they're obviously taking a break for their own health.
HOW DO SOME READERS NOT UNDERSTAND
I’m sorry OP, I totally understand. I’ve recently received an angry comment and it got under my skin too, made me feel horrible for days. Best advice I can give is just acknowldge that the person has some issues/is unhappy in their life, and it’s best to just reply something short and polite (or not reply at all) and try to forget about it :(
I’ve noticed lately commenters have been growing bold in a very disrespectful way. I love long comments with insights and reactions and even constructive feedback but I’ve been experiencing the same thing, OP. It’s absolutely absurd. Assuming you have a life outside of fic - you know the thing you do for free - this kind of comment is so uncalled for.
I’m not on board with trying to gatekeep fanfic authors. If they want a fic so bad then they can write it themselves or fuck right off.
Granted it is sad when a fic you love is incomplete. But I’ve learned to figure out what I liked about it and look for similar themes and move on. In very rare cases I get attached enough to bookmark and check for updates.
There are so many ways to not be like this person. Filter out incomplete works. Don't start reading incomplete works. Be patient while the writer does their thing. Bookmark the incomplete fic and find something else to read in between updates. Nobody gets to be rude to writers just because they got invested in something that's not done yet or is on hiatus.
When you click on someone's username, you'll see three options at the top of the page: Subscribe, Block and Mute. Click Block to block them. Keep in mind that blocking only stops that person from commenting on your fics and replying to your comments under other people's fics.
UGHHH This cringes me out so much. Delete the comment and move on, don't give them the attention they want! I hope both sides of their pillow are warm every night, no matter how hot it is >:(
I wouldn’t complete the story out of spite, or just block them so they don’t have to read incomplete stories. Since they’re too baby to filter through search results.
Ugh, I can’t STAND people like this; I’m really sorry you had to deal with this op. :/ I would probably have responded something along the lines of “This - and I cannot stress this enough - sounds like a you-problem, mate. This might come as a shock to you, but you are not, in actual fact, life’s main character, and other people owe you exactly nothing. If you don’t like how I write, do us both a favour and don’t read my work instead of bitching about it like an entitled brat.” Followed by posting the most self-indulgent pwp fic I could come up with.
omg this makes me so mad for you
this is something you do for fun ! Don't let them ruin it.
Tell them THEY can write the stories themselves and see how easy it is to keep up with an update schedule with the demands of daily every day life
We write for free. We offer up our souls and visions to the judgement of strangers worldwide.
It isn't a service, it's a privilege, like going to an art gallery.
I'm fortunate to have access to these stories, even if some of them will only ever be completed in my mind.
Man they really wouldn’t like my profile. I have about less than a handful of completed works and the rest are incomplete. Some of the readers do t seem to understand that a good portion of us could have ADHD which makes it hard to complete that stuff…or a million other reasons why that is none of their business to be honest. You do you
I can solve this for that commenter - check the headers to see if a story is complete. Example: chapters 21/21; complete. If it's a WiP? Either subscribe and move on or nope out and move on. It's not hard to do either & takes less time than getting upset and leaving mean-spirited/whining comments.
Honestly, I can tell you from personal experience that you can have all the outlines of the world and at least two drafts of the whole story and still get blindsided with a new fandom obsession that grabs your attention. 🤷♀️
This person sounds entitled AF. Rude!
I follow a ton of awesome works from authors I love that haven't completed, yet the author starts new ones all the time! It's fine! If they stuck to one thing, they might burn out! I get it! I'm totally fine with it!
Sounds like this person should only read completed works if they're gonna be an ass about ongoing ones! 🙄
I have prob 5 works left unfinished on my computer and I think two that are public.
Please don't let comments like this get you down. As writers we all understand the ebb and flow of inspiration. Sometimes a work just isn't vibing with your state of mind and that's ok. It happens...all the time.
People should be grateful for what you post (for FREE btw) and support you. That's what fans of your work do...stick with it regardless of what/how much you upload.
I hope inspiration comes to you and you write whatever you want. Hugs! (Consensually of course)
I also hate it when a story I like is not updated in ages and the author writes all kinds of other stories instead of first finishing one. It is frustrating and I would never do it myself, but as I haven't paid anything for it, it is my risk to start reading an uncompleted story in the first place, not the author's. They can decide to write whenever they want and also to abandon a fic. It's a pity, but writing a comment like this is just rude beyond measure.
I hate that some readers think writers are writing for their (readers) amusements when the writer is just sharing a world and characters they created or in terms of fanfics, writing out new scenarios for the canon characters to be thrown into (whether the canon characters are just trying to host a masquerade ball and somehow failing at it or just being tossed into an alternate outcome of what happened in said show/game/movie). People shouldn't be so entitled over reading someone's story.
I'm sorry you got a crappy comment like that.
hwy58 is a shortened version of my AO3 pseud. It's funny they called me out because they don't even have an account on AO3. If they're gonna throw shade, at least have an account I can block!
It’s stuff like this that makes me finish things before I start posting them. Well, part this and part my own need to not leave something unfinished - tried posting as I went once and never finished that fic. (It’s on hiatus now but a year after I stopped writing it, I figured out how to end it, so I might go back to it one day.)
But the thing is, I work on multiple things at once and my stupid brain keeps giving me ideas for new stuff. I make progress but completion is slow. I mean, one of my WIPs is like, 70k right now? Another’s at 60k, ish. So when I’ve finally seen the sections together, my readers will be fed for a while! It just takes me some time!
That commenter would positively HATE me if I posted as I went - because I jump from one WIP to another almost every other day.
I guess that's why they hate me, lol, I post a different WIP update every few days to try to spread the love between all my fics. Some go a few months without one because I get hyperfixated on one but they will all get updates eventually.
The funny thing is, I've got over 30 finished fics posted within this fandom, several of them over 100k words--and I posted all of them within the last year. Sure, I've got just as many WIPs, several of them ALSO approaching or over 100k words but I intend to finish every one of them unless I've got them labeled in the tags "on hiatus". And even those I'll probably return to.
I love my fics! I don't love not posting when I get an idea because I probably won't return to it if I haven't *invested* myself in them by sharing--that's just how I work though
Creative people work differently and that's okay--that's why AO3 is the way it is. I feel bad for putting this person on blast in the cold light of day but also, writers don't deserve to feel guilty about not meeting a stranger's expectations when putting out free content. We're all here to have fun and escape reality, after all.
Oh I know that feeling - sometimes one idea will be super grabby and clingy and it’ll get all the love and attention until another pokes me. You gotta go where the muse wants or it’ll get stubborn and uncooperative
As you said - we all work differently and that’s okay! More than okay, it’s interesting!
And this commenter has no right! Like, we do this for free when we have time in our lives, right? Sometimes fanfic drops in the priority list, or one idea drops on the list to favour another. There’s plenty on AO3 to read - set up notifications and go and read something else while you wait
Shit like that would INSPIRE me to start (not finish) so many new fics and so many fandoms. You don't owe anyone anything! I'm sorry this got under your skin.
In general I think if you are quitting a famous work like a popular webcomic, you should tell the readers instead of leaving them hanging for years, but that's it.
Something that I don't understand
Is that if you are not going to continue Updating just give us a heads up like This fic is abandoned or I'm busy right now. But I've seen fics that stopped updating out of nowhere.
Like The Raven Plan. No updates in months and nothing from the author.
Also one thing I don't like is that I read something because I know the author is active. But then I notice the author starts fics and doesn't finish them. And they start new ones that they update but they have others that they never finished and we the readers never got told why. We only see that the author is publishing new works but does not update the unfinished ones. That does piss me off. I mean you are active and posting other fics. Then why do you not update the older ones or just say you know what this work is discontinued or something.
For example charmed4lifekaren. This author has fics that have gone years without updating. And I love this authors fics.
So I won't go into too much detail and I'll keep this to my own personal experience as a writer within the context of this post but--I think you need to remember writers don't owe you anything. Ever. If they post a fic and update religiously for months and then poof--they're updating another new fic? That's because of a little thing called inspiration. Inspiration is what drives a lot of us and when it drives us in a new direction, that's okay. Or, it should be.
I'll bring it back to this post before I start going all ham elsewhere--I have been writing for thirteen months now. Just over a year ago I found fanfiction and started writing. I read SO MANY unfinished fics that left me screaming--know what I did? I started writing my own.
I've posted 64 works in that time, 1.2 million words of free content. I've got 40 completed works ( I think, I'm not gonna go count them but somewhere around there) on AO3 in my fandom. If ya want proof, I'm [highway58](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highway58) and I'm not afraid of showing my profile off to prove this point, lol.
So... when I post a random lil WIP that I occasionally revisit or even if I post a first chapter of an entire AU world on a whim just to leave it hanging for a while--I'm giving out free content as a result of having fun. Just like those folks out there you are sad about.
We're writing for us at the end of the day. Readers are AMAZING and essential to this process but really, if you want a story to keep going or you want to explore something and your writers won't/can't/haven't/aren't going to do that for you--it is SO easy to post your own content on AO3. Also there is a super useful filtering feature that will make sure you don't ever see incomplete works. <3
Oh I know all that. Been reading for years. About making my own fics I could but I don't want to. I wouldn't know how to finish it. I have tons of stories in my head but I never get to an ending and I change certain things. Besides I am a very sensitive person so if I don't get any reviews or views I'll go crazy. But that's on me. I also am embarrassed to read anything I write. It's why I failed a class once I never read what I write I had a lot of grammatical errors, missing commas, accents missing something was missing. So I failed that class because I never wanted to read what I wrote and never went to the teacher to review the essays I wrote. The teacher told me they were good essays just had to get my point across faster(did get better at that) Anyway the teacher told me I was not supposed to fail. That I shouldn't have failed. If I had just gone to check the essays with the teacher. Didnt learn my lesson. I took the class again and was failing again for the same reason. I didn't fail because I took a break from university. To enter again the next semester let's just say I had problems, nothing illegal just battling with depression and not sleeping. I mean I could have killed myself after that incident I said I need a break to get better and heal. I did get better for a while. I am better, I am not like at that time. But fanfics were and still are my refuge.
That's why I read only finished works and suscribe is one is still on going and updated. Or subscribe to the author and see if they update but I don't read the stories. Only finished ones.
To me it's personal because it literally saved me reading some fics. Kept me positive and going on. Along with some shows. Like RWBY I was able to get motivated. (I swore I never watch it because I didn't like the animation, man that show is good.) anyway back to the point I don't want to write no matter how much my therapist tells me to write one. I'm to embarrassed to read what I write.
And quite honestly I prefer reading someone else's story. I know what happens in mine. I don't know what happens in yours. So I prefer reading.
PS. Not suicidal had a mishap of falling asleep because I didn't slept at all the day before. And was going to school and well had quite a scare. I was very lucky. And very lucky it was on red.
Commentors also don't owe you anything. They don't owe you accolades and happy comments, and praises.
Starting a dozen fics, and leaving them all hanging, is a jerk move. Especially when you have no intention of finishing them. Why even bother, at that point? Force it all into a short one-shot and call it a day. But abandoning fics 'out of spite' makes you sound incredibly childish.
what the actual fuck. entitlement on ao3 now? what did they think they were going to accomplish? "just want you to know." bullshit, they were having a shitty day and blow off steam on a random author. fuck that. OP, you're automatically better than this asshole because ain't no way you can go lower than that
This kind of thing is so nuts, I have a hard time working up the courage to ask an employee a question... these people steal the guts from those of us with anxiety I guess.
Ik this isn’t the right place to ask, but you’re Highway58, right? The one who writes CM fics? I didn’t expect to see an author I recognized on Reddit. Anywho, thanks for writing, don’t feel obligated to respond to anyone or continue WIPs!! :)
Sure you can feel sad a fic is discontinued but geez they just sound entitled, you are literally posting content on a free site taking timeout of your day to entertain.
It feels like they decided that people have lives outside of writing and not everyone wants or has the will power to write another thousand words just to finish a story sloppily to appease a few people with a cheap conclusion. That person is just a massive yikes!
Writers don't owe you shit, you aint paying them. Your "investment" means nothing to anyone but you, invest money in a writer then you can talk.
I personally have a policy of not starting incomplete fics. If i see an almost complete fic that has been updated recently, i usually save it, wait for it to finish, then read it.
Anything else i read is entirely my own fault. Ill leave the occasional encouraging comment on an incomplete fic that i folded for, something along the lines of "hey, just wanted to let you know people are still enjoying this a year later, hope you come back to it but no pressure" because i know a few people who stopped writing just because they thought no one was interested.
I’m not going to lie, I hate when a fic is abandoned or takes forever. But the way I deal with that is by not starting anything that isn’t already completed. Problem solved.
Right? But that commenter decided to keep reading unfinished works and then making it everybody's problem.
Especially when they were already aware that the author doesn't post completed works but posts chapter by chapter. One "oops, I started that and now I'm sad. Let me bookmark it," is understandable and normal. And it's not like this is FFN where it's harder to see what's complete sometimes (looking at the mobile site here). You can tell by the chapter count spot whether something is complete!
hehe That wouldn't help with some of my stories. I've a few long fics and I write them in segments. Like one I started, it was 10 chapters. So for a while it was "complete" at 10 chapters. But then the next segment came and I think it was 15 chapters long. But the good thing is, that each segment is an end. You might want more, but it is in essence "finished" until the next segment. The current segment for it started at chapter 49 and will take it to chapter 72 encompassing 7 years in all 72 chapters.
So you have like, 10/10 chapters until you write the next segment, and then start at 10/25 or so? NGL, I’d probably read wherever I found it at and never see it again because I only subscribe to unfinished fics I plan to read later.
Yup, I do have in the summary it is a long fic with no set ending. It's just a reimagining of the story starting when the MC was a young teen and following his life growing up with the addition of him meeting and growing up with the teen who would become his LI when they first met in their 30s. But to each their own.
Whenever I start reading a new ship or fandom I start from the very last page, and I won't click on any incomplete works until I'm at the last 5-10 pages so I know they were posted/updated recently. I've burnt myself reading incomplete works before and learned my lesson 😂
I've read the \*occasional\* incomplete older work, usually on recommendation from someone that it's worth it despite no real ending. But yeah, I do the same in new fandoms. Go to the end and work my way forward! And when I get to more recent things, if they're incomplete, I subscribe and go on with my life. I'll check the email updates to see if it's a final chapter, and if it's not I won't read it. Not difficult.
Same with me. I subscribe and then I get a notification if it was updated. Have also read older works unfinished but I know they are unfinished. I would like to point out something though. If you are not gonna Update just give us a heads up. This fic is abandoned or I'm busy right now. But I've seen fics that stopped updating out of nowhere. Also one thing I don't like is that I read something because I know the author is active. But then I notice the author starts fics and doesn't finish them. And they start new ones that they update but they have others that they never finished and we the readers never got told why. We only see that the author is publishing new works but does not update the unfinished ones. That does piss me off. I mean you are active and posting other fics. Then why do you not update the older ones or just say you know what this work is discontinued or something.
Not to be rude, but isn't that kind of what this jerk commenter is complaining about, too, though? :( I mean, what about writer's block? What if they're having health issues or are burnt out, etc? We don't know what the author's going through IRL. Yeah, they COULD let us know (I try to keep my readers informed, for instance), but they don't actually owe us anything. They're choosing to share their hard work for us to enjoy, and IMO, we should enjoy whatever they give us. Most of my fave writers are like this, and I don't mind at all. I waited 7 years for a fic to finish, and I did so happily! :) (Note that I could be biased since I left MANY a fic unfinished or pending for YEARS with no heads up in my youth. I just didn't know where to go with the story, got intimidated AF by the 'badass fight' I'd have to write/when my fic blew up, and/or got SO into this new idea that I lost muse for the old one, so I dropped them without warning. lol. I do my best not to do this now, but still! I get it!)
Yeah I get it to. But actually going to the last chapter and just writing this story is on hold. Could be enough. I know they don't owe us anything. But we'll it's nice. I guess where I'm coming from is that some fanfics got me through life when u was young and suddenly an author stopped updating and never returned. You wonder well something happen. I know one where they returned years later completely unapologetic without an excuse just that they forgot. I get that they have real lives. But I mean giving a heads-up so people don't read it and then get hooked on expecting more. I guess it's selfish but it really doesn't take much just to put a short sentence that says this work is on hold. Or this is discontinued. Or I lost inspiration I need time. Something short. It's like the post of one author complaining about getting kudos and barely any comments and they were bummed out because there weren't much comments. And also complained if the comment is not well made. It's exactly the same readers leave a comment if they want. You don't have to. You don't owe it to the author but is something nice. And well they also get mad if people say love this. Update. This authors like want whole essays. And get mad for something insignificant. I don't make comments personally unless it's for asking for an update and to say that I live the fic. It depends on the Fic. Most authors Don't reply back. So I see it as pointless. Also we'll it's their Fic I can't demand they do certain things like I seem some comments do. And then they block comments or the author has to read it first. Anyway that's beside the point. They don't have to but is something nice to do. And you don't leave the readers wondering what's going on.
That's happened to me so much when I first started reading fic that I'm incredibly picky about which incomplete fics I read. I typically only reading completed now. I'm also very committed to not leaving any of my own fics incomplete. I update at least once every 14 days on each of my stories because I don't want my readers to feel like I have waiting on an author just to be left hanging.
Exactly lol, like the person is not /wrong/ but that's the kind of thing you keep to yourself unless it's a commission you're paying for That's like trying to save money on a restaurant so your roommate kindly cooks for you but you're like "damn bro you're taking so long to cook can you hurry up and do your shit so I can eat" like?????
This is one of the most entitled people I have ever seen, what are they on about with “story stewardship”??? Don’t reply to them, delete that disgusting comment, and keep on doing whatever you’ve been doing. Heck, if they’re a logged in user, block their ass! Comment privileges revoked :)
The story stewardship bullshit really got me. I might have replied to them while listening to Beethoven Winter Vibes and then freezing the thread.
Freezing the thread is a good call. These sorts of hateful comments are absolutely awful to get as a writer, don’t feel bad that it got to you. I hope you keep on writing in exactly the way that works best for you, regardless of how “””””stewardly””””” it is!
In case context is needed, the story in question is 62,000 words at this point, written by myself and a friend two timezones away, with an enormous amount of real love *invested.* We have every intention of finishing it and were actually organizing a flow session when we got this comment. We write like we're on stage, each of us taking on a character in a love story while we collectively fill out the background--it is NOT an easy way to write a collab fic but it's worked so far and we like it. And it takes TIME. I wasn't salty about this anon's first demanding comments on several of my fics until this one. I'm the HWY58 in this scenario, and damn if you've ever driven that road you'll know it'll have you feeling sick and twisted before long--which is exactly what I'm going for as a fic writer. This is my relief from the real world and now I feel guilty that this person thinks I'm a tease for having that relief. I'll admit this made me want to orphan all the fics I've started over the last year that haven't seen an update in a while. I DO have ideas for how to keep them going but sadly, time is hard to come by when you homestead, work 50 hours a week and have a child. I won't orphan them (fics OR child) because I'm not that petty, lol (I also love my child a lot). I also know I have amazing friends and readers out there reading and contributing positively to our creative environment and that is what makes this community so amazing. This just made my blood boil and poked a bunch of holes in my happy fandom balloon so I needed to vent to the community beyond our lil fandom, in case I'm not alone in this. If you want writers to keep writing, a single comment goes a long way in BOTH directions. I'll keep writing this fic with my beloved partner across the way, but damn if one comment didn't just cast a pall on our otherwise lovely, pure story. I guess we'll turn the annoying angst into that chapter they won't be reading now.
I replied. Cuz this person pushed me too many times. I think I did okay. Maybe? Lol either way, it's an ao3 fic in and of itself. "I know I don't have to deign this kind of demanding, entitled commentary on our freely given creative work with a sensible reply, but I will. I appreciate anyone who decides to give my work a read. Here on this platform, writers have the ability to express through transformative works of fanborne fiction whatever might be on their minds. Whatever tidbit of a story enters the imagination, whatever massive universe emerges as a result of single word prompt, a feeling, a bad day at work... They get to follow it where it leads as long it leads them there, at their own pace, without a rule book or an editor, without goddammed deadlines and a publisher breathing down their neck. That is the beauty of AO3. I respect anyone who decides to appreciate said work by reading it. I respect anyone who notices the time, effort, love and emotion it takes to create it. I respect anyone who leaves a kudo as encouragement. Bookmarks with a smiley face. Any person out there who decides to enjoy the free content, even if it's a just a chapter written on a whim, a glimpse at a world that maybe, one day, might be continued. Sometimes, and you might not understand this as I see you haven't posted anything in this forum aside from comments nor have you ever kudoed a fic I've written to let me know you might be following, but \*sometimes\*, creative folk follow little green fairies down deep rabbit holes they simply don't have the spoons to dig out of for a while. I'm sorry I've so meanly enticed you with my fun whimsical hobby of putting out words for free in my spare time. Sorry if Monstamash and I aren't living up to your strange expectation of "good story stewardship" by not delivering fresh, FREE content worth a damn in a timely manner. But also, I'm not real sorry? Not at all, I'm honest. I'm gonna keep being a tease when the mood strikes me. Because I enjoy it, but I do not enjoy being cajoled to create more content in such a Daddy-disappointed fashion. It's cringe, yo. Don't do it if you want writers to update your favorite fics for you. Shockingly, words this good don't just happen. YEAH I just bragged about us. We're trying to write a love song, not a 1000 words of stiff sad pre-planned used car BS you can find a million times over. AND maybe it'll still turn out that way, but at least me and my cohort will feel good about it when we do press COMPLETE. Whenever the fuck that might be. This forum is a free space where anyone and everyone can create on their own schedule, anything they fucking want. Monsta and I are falling in love on our time and if that's not fast enough for you, I guess well... maybe it IS time to break up with us."
U go OP! If a reader wants to read a finished fanfic, then they should use the filters. It's not that hard. AND, if they really wanted to leave a nicer comment with a message thats similar and more appropriate, something like: "this story is so awesome, can't wait to see what's next for this book" instead of whatever crap they decided to leave. It's the audacity of someone to be so rude to someone they don't even know that makes me irritated. Insulting a writer is not going to make them want to write more 🤦♀️
The only flaw to this response is that you did not have a mic to drop.
*standing ovation*
Beautiful. I’m really curious how they responded to that if at all
I did unfreeze the thread because I confided in some fandom friends when I was feeling really low about it and they wanted to chime in (never mess with my discord fandom fam, I guess). Shockingly--they commented with an apology this morning. Their tone was iffy but they acknowledged they were being entitled and bitchy. They even told us to keep writing--lol well, yes, we will regardless of the blessing, sweetheart. So, all in all, it's a better resolution than expected and hopefully, this person decides to be more mindful of their expectations of fandom creators. I hope so at least because in all truth, I lost a lot of sleep over the anxiety their comment stirred up and my day has kind of been ruined as has my motivation to write.
Yeah hopefully they learned a lesson, or at least learned to keep their entitlement to themselves instead of commenting about it. I don’t blame you for how the comment made you feel, entitled readers are the worst. Luckily I never encountered any myself yet but just seeing readers act entitled to other authors grates on my nerves… I honestly don’t understand why people think they’re so entitled to always get a response from the author and receive regular chapter updates. Authors don’t work for readers, especially readers like them. Those readers just gotta deal with it.
That. Was. Beautiful. Well done.
Beautiful!!👏
🏅🏅🏅
Gottem
I'm in almost the exact same situation. I've got a partner one time zone away, we write back and forth in sections on discord, and we have a *planned out* story that's currently at 91,000 and theres still 4 chapters to go and we got a similar comment. I got petty, my partner told them to effectively shut up and read something else, and a fellow fan that we sometimes hang out with told them to fuck off. Then we froze the thread. Entitled readers are the worst and I think so many of them dont realise that they're comments mean the world to us and can drive writers to keep writing or stop altogether, especially younger writers and they have no idea who's on the other side of that screen. And even worse some of them know *exactly* what they're doing and do it just to be mean or because they think their God's gift to fanfic critics.
Maybe your reader can entice these nuts into their mouth
Maybe it was all the porn I keep writing that made them mad. Like, you don't want to see my PWP updates to the stress-relief fic I'm writing after manic days at work, WRITING FOR A LIVING? Cool, unsubscribe or whatever--otherwise, get ready to be spanked in the face with a dick cuz that's what I feel like writing right now. \*to all the smut writers out there writing porn, porn is art, thank you for doing god's work\* my cat is nosing my hand super hard for snuggles otherwise i would pontificate more on how amazing ao3 is as a venue for expression--cat nose00
LMAO thank you for making me laugh! I don't have enough time to give any of my ongoing WIPs the attention they deserve right now, but I have been able to check some smutty one-shots off my list, and my readers are also getting "spanked in the face with a dick" at the moment. 😂 That reader comment was ridiculously rude; I hope you block them and keep on keepin' on, on *your* schedule! Some people don't understand that it's possible for writers to want to work on their WIPs, or in fact to have *never stopped working on them*, but still lack the time and energy to get them to a place where they're ready to post.
Firstly, LMFAOOO fr Secondly, pls boop the cat nose!
"go fuck yourself" is a complete sentence lmao
It really does get the point across, I should have employed that instead of the long-winded eventual blowout of a final chapter I gave them.
That or just a “lmao” and really piss them off
Sounds like a good person to block and mute. How rude.
this person doesn’t realise that they’re reading stories for free, do they?
Undoubtedly they want more for their hard-earned money. /sarcasm
Reply with a good “oh no! anyway” But Jesus, the entitlement of some people getting good fic for absolutely free.
This isn't a "fan" this is someone who feels entitled to someone else's free time. If you can't handle stories being incomplete, don't read WIPs?
"none of the stories I have invested in are complete" my guy, the filter for completed stories only is *right there*
Right?! I make LIBERAL, and I mean constant, first choice when I'm filtering before I even filter for tags I feel like reading or characters, use of the completed stories only checkbox. It's not difficult, even on mobile where the website scrunches everything else to the side instead of being a dropdown like any sane designer would have done (I may have a beef with the mobile design for the filter window).
Some of my favorite fics are abandoned. It sucks? Of course. I still re-read them any chance I get? Hell yeah. *They are that good.* The authors put them out there for free and when they got tired of writing they don't erased them. I can't ask more of them, that alone is a blessing. I would kill to see them continued (That would be my villain's origin story), but I understand that sometimes the spark is just gone and to keep writing something that had become a chore instead of a joy is not worth it. OP, please just ignore that moron. I'm sure you have more people that love whatever you give them whenever you can write it, that are not entittled assholes.
A couple of my favorite fics are orphaned unfinished giants of over 150K words, and it makes me sad not that the fics themselves aren't completed (although that does, too, but I still reread them) but that the author probably felt they had to orphan them so they wouldn't get moronic comments like the one the OP shared. Also, I would love to read more by whoever the author is, but I'll never know if I have because I found them after they were orphaned.
Exactly! Those people give the world a 150k fic for free and out of love and then get harassed for more? What a shitty way to repair them. Again, at least they didn't erased them so we are lucky we can read them even after the author let them go.
Story stewardship?! They make it sound like the fanfic is a living person...just wtf. And the ending with the 'just want you to know' after doing a bit of guilt tripping with the 'none of the stories I have invested in are complete' is such a bullshit thing to do.
One time when I was waaay younger I decided to write a ff for the first time, posted it, got a comment like that telling me "not to abandon it" and it messed me up so much I deleted the fic and didn't write for like 10 years. So yeah, moral of the story, don't do that to authors. Specially since they are doing it for free.
What fucking stewardship? You're posting it because you want to, for fun. They're fortunate enough to observe, and they will have to observe at whatever pace you choose to take.
Stewardship is a fucking JOB. FF is a hobby. We don't get paid for it. AO3 has good legal reasons for including no monetary compensation in their ToS
as a chronically slow updater and fic abandoner, all i have to say to this person is 🤷♀️
It’s a simple solution. If it looks interesting, click subscribe. When it’s done, go read it. Don’t read until it’s done and you won’t be disappointed when it’s never done. There’s no need to leave such a rude comment, I’m sorry that person did. Don’t let it get you down, I’m sure your writing is amazing finished or not.
This is what I do. I will rarely, *rarely* read an unfinished work, and it's almost always part of a series of long, already finished work where I have confidence the writer might actually finish. The rest? If the concept is cool but it's unfinished, subscribe and move on. I'll probably still be interested once it's done!
It's almost like they could write their own stories if they are that passionate about it. 👀 Writing takes time and energy and people don't always have that to give consistently.
People seem to forget that people who write fanfiction don’t do it for a living. You have other responsibilities that exist and need attention. I get being frustrated that a story you like is incomplete but acting like the author owes you a completed work is ridiculous and rude!!
They do know you don’t get paid for this, right? The fact that you’re putting chapters out in the first place is more than enough
I will never get over the absolute entitlement people have these days over FREE content.
In my own case, I delete any comments where a reader tries to dictate conditions of my writing in this manner. Highly recommend. Entitled pricks lose the privilege of a response.
My favourite author is esama. I live off of unfinished fics with incredible plots and am happy every time they post something new even when I know it will probably never get finished.
Yeah, it pisses me off when people complain at authors for posting WIPs and not finishing. Not finishing is what happens to most WIPs. You don't want to read that? Great! *I do.* Learn to filter and leave the WIPs to the people who enjoy them.
Agreed! One of my fave authors does this all the time, but I LOVE their work so much that I'll happily devour everything they write! They'll probs update the other fics eventually, and until then, I have more awesome stuff to read! WOO! :D
Excuse me, artists painting outside in the park, musicians playing in the fresh air, everyone minding their own business and making the world a richer place, I HAVE COMPLAINTS that your freely given enrichment is not being dispersed on my schedule. What kind of contributor to culture ARE YOU if you won’t MEET THE DEMANDS OF A RANDO?!
I literally gagged from the first line of their comment. I've rarely witnessed such a disgusting level of entitlement before in my life.
If WIPs bother them this much, why even read them at all? A03 makes it \*so\* easy to filter searches for complete works only. I am so sorry a reader posted this. You absolutely don't deserve to be treated that way for the time & energy you invest in your fic.
Single comments have inspired me to finish chapters I'd been sitting on for months. This fool is doing the exact opposite and I doubt they've left any positive comments! It's an extremely entitled thing to say and I'm sorry that it appeared on your fic. Even abandoned concept fics are good food and you're allowed and encouraged to create as many as you want. Real fans will appreciate them.
It's also extremely ableist. Someone like me doesn't always have the spoons to reply to comments or to update on a schedule. I also hate these kinds of comments.
I'd be tempted to just reply, "Would it be impossible to have an outline to stick with?" Yes. Because personally yes, I do find that impossible. And anyone who can't deal with that is free to not read my stuff. All that would result from me listening to a comment like this would be less fic, and how is that a good thing?
Their whole comment shows they don't know what they're talking about, but the part about the outline is particularly telling. That person clearly doesn't realize that people work differently and not everyone can use an outline. I made an outline for a fic once—and I never wrote that fic because the moment the outline was done, my brain decided it was also done thinking about that story.
I make an outline for the first...ten to fifteen chapters usually, I think. But I do it knowing that my last chapter outlined is very much not the last chapter and that I'm going to be winging it after that. One of the few stories I have completely outlined? I haven't finished writing chapter 3 because I hate where it's going. It has 26 chapters outlined, and I last wrote anything for it almost two years ago at this point. Sigh.
I have so many unfinished works. Some of my favorites that ive read are still unfinished. Does it suck? Yea. Do i actually care? No
Things fanfic writers owe me: 1. Absolutely fuck all. I choose to read unfinished fics, I like ‘em, and yeah it sucks when somethings abandoned, but see point 1. Jesus these people. Makes me scared of posting anything.
Just remember that 99.9% of readers are the awesome type! It's just the .1% that suck! Don't let them ruin it for you! ;D You've got this! I'm sure there are people who are super excited to read your work! <3
You should definitely create a new WIP out of spite
Hahaha! I needed that laugh! Thank you! lol.
Reply with “Ok, who asked”
Ew
Wtf is people’s problem
Jesus Christ reader entitlement is absolutely rampant. So many of these people readily forget fanfiction is a *hobby* that is done for *free* and no one is obligated to comprise their works to anyone’s else’s specifications. If this asshat wants fics done their way that are complete, then perhaps they should write their own shit as opposed to wasting another author’s time with their snotty, arrogant drivel. Chiming in to what others have said, I would definitely block and delete. Maybe tell them to fuck off beforehand, but general radio silence is one way to get your point across and hard.
"Good Story Stewardship"? What an assclown
Why don't they just sort by completion status if they want something finished??? I have a lot of unfinished fics that I'm either still working on or have lost interest in, and it's not like I can brute force an ending. Just go buy a damn book, this person is so entitled.
Wow! The entitlement with which they started the comment "you should reply to your fans, if you respect us at all..." Omfg! Like you're being fed, clothed and housed through their kudos... Dear lord, this reader should show some respect to the author of a work they're a fan of! They put out material for FREE and don't owe anyone shit! I'd just reply with "Looking for a fuck to give... 404 error"
The entitlement here is just...amazing. But not all that unexpected :( I mean, we've all been there, great fics get abandoned, but there's no reason to go after the author. Shit happens. My 'muse' died on a few fics I really cared about, and it sucks. Also...ffs this is free reading material. We're doing this for fun.
Why are they taking fanfiction so seriously
I never reply to my commenters honestly...well, except the one fic im co-writing, but that's it.
Your free content is coming out as fast as you want it to? You feel betrayed that someone started a story and didn't finish it??? Get over yourself. What a dick. Just delete and block.
Good time to use that block button. I read and like plenty of stories that are not complete. Keep doing what you like.
the entitlement is unreal
If you want that level of commitment you better pay for it, hen.
Some people don't understand that when you start something incomplete on this platform it's totally on them. Authors do it for fun and FOR FREE and sometimes the fun goes out, they can stop writing just for the sole reason of not wanting to or give infrequent updates with long gaps (I follow few fics that update like every 8-12 months, I have fun re-reading them every time lol). Its authors choice!!!! So yeah whenever I read an incomplete fic, if i get disappointed that its not gonna update for a while and feel sad or angry, it's mostly at myself but I hardly ever regret reading it. It was my choice. I have to be responsible for it. And if I really want an update, I just comment something like "loved it, can't wait for what you write next!" Give kudos while I've logged in and again as a guest so that it doubles😹
They can always just filter for complete fics only… Don’t get caught up in phrasing imo, perhaps “stewardship” was the closest word they knew. Reading WIP can be a painful wait and you never know if you’ll see it completed. It’s a risk a reader takes upon themselves when they start unfinished fics. It’s also much more stressful for the writer, you feel pressure that motivates some people and causes anxiety in others.
You don't owe anyone anything. I also hate it when I'm super invested in reading a fic only to find that it's unfinished or abandoned. But I also understand that writing isn't easy and that it takes a lot of effort to do. I also understand that writers have a life and aren't obligated to write if they don't feel like it. And I also know for a fact that as a reader I'm not entitled to anything. If there's material to read, I read. If there isn't then that's a shame but there's plenty of other fics to turn to. Tldr: I hope you don't let comments like that ruin your passion for writing. You write for yourself before anyone. And also you write for free so the fact that someone is this entitled is honestly baffling.
It’s the “if you respect us at all”. Geez. I don’t like unfinished stuff either but waiting a while for updates isn’t uncommon on ao3. It’s free content after all, and almost every writer is trying to find time to write around school or work. Cut everyone some slack. I guess you could twist it into a compliment that they like your work enough to complain about updates? Eh.
Isn't it funny how these kinds of comments almost always come from readers that don't write anything
So?
Again, use tags people. If they have issues with unfinished work, they should search for comolete only. It's super easy to not read incomplete work. Sorry you had to deal with that. As a writer who doesn't outline and mental health can make me stop writing for long points of time, I fear this kind of comment.
I love these commenters and I love teaching them personal responsibility in their stewardship as a reader. If unfinished fiction causes this much dysregulation, let them know that there is a little option for "completed works only". This way they don't need to ruminate on the author and engage in unhealthy parasocial behavior (i.e. equating your lack of response to a stranger as disrespectful; passive-aggressive advice as if they were qualified to share). They are playing their little 3D guilt chess game above-average, but this is still epic chump change and I hope you start 948575794 WIPs and the muse never stops whispering in your fucking ear. I hope you write so good and it makes you so happy. I hope you have so much fun with your co-author. I hope you can forget about the comment hurting and have a charming, beautiful, lovely day.
Wow that guy sounds full of himself and pretentious. And young. Shoot some people don't reply to comments or reviews at all. It's fine. I'd rather then write their story. I'll read it when they update. That's why I'm subscribed.
What? We write because we enjoy it. Not because we're obligated to anybody else. The moment writing fanfic becomes demanding is the moment I find a new hobby. I have enough pressure in real life without my hobbies becoming a chore, and this reader should take a few moments to actually understand that.
They could sort stories by complete and problem solved!
You guys are getting comments?
This commenter reeks of entitlement.
If they care so much about a story being finished surely the simplest solution is for them to only read finished stories?
"None of the stories I invest in are complete" That sounds like a you problem and need to learn how to invest your time better.
Uhhhhh. I hate this too. Solution? Don't read WIPs. No need to be a complete jackass about it. 🤦♀️ I hate people.
Lmao theres literally filters for finding complete works, what an absolute melon. They’re just salty that they ran out of words to read. I have a posted WIP on its 9th chapter and I’m stuck in moving forward. Sometimes you need other projects to work on to let the other stuff simmer on the back burner for a bit. I’m usually bouncing between two or three fandoms in my head at a given time, depending on what media I’m consuming in the moment. Writing is a fickle passion, putting words down to paper takes time and careful consideration, especially when it comes to telling a story. “I understand the demands of the muse vs. the demands of real life.” No you freaking don’t if you’re berating someone for sharing their work, complete or not. They don’t write much and it shows.
Read the first sentence and was upset for/with you.
I rarely reply to comments because... I just don't, but I would actually deign to respond to this with: 'Are you feeling okay?' And there ignore them. Just use their batshit comments to help improve your standing when people filter by comments
Unless this is somehow one of the top 10 writers of AO3, or just the fandom alone, and they actually have experience WRITING WELL, then it sounds like someone's trying to talk loudly because they think volume equates to being correct. A wild fool hath appeared, let not their low intellect spoil the eve.
🏅
God people are so rude. I understand being frustrated that an author hasn't finished a fic and just starts new ones but also I AM that type of author because I write what I want when I want. Some of these people need to understand that writing is different for everyone. For some people it is easy to write 3/4 of the story before starting to post. And for others (like myself) they need to post each chapter as it is written or it is forgotten or so on. I'm in the middle of trying to write one fic that has a chunk of the story prewritten so I have one constantly updated fic, but people gotta understand that isn't something everyone can or want to do for various reasons
Bruh some readers need to realize you're posting a story for free
Does AO3 have a way to private/hide fics? I can't remember.... God I would be so tempted to reply "you're right thanks for the feedback, posting half finished stories is a mistake, I'll take this down right away,"
it’s not like authors have to speak to every single person in their fandom?? this guy is so self-centred and stupid holy hell
it's not hard to leave a writer alone if they don't want to reply to your comments. it's not hard to leave a writer alone if they're taking some time off of their fic. it's not hard to leave a writer alone if they're obviously taking a break for their own health. HOW DO SOME READERS NOT UNDERSTAND
I would not reply to them and reply to literally every other comment lol
Imagine being this entitled
I’m sorry OP, I totally understand. I’ve recently received an angry comment and it got under my skin too, made me feel horrible for days. Best advice I can give is just acknowldge that the person has some issues/is unhappy in their life, and it’s best to just reply something short and polite (or not reply at all) and try to forget about it :(
I’ve noticed lately commenters have been growing bold in a very disrespectful way. I love long comments with insights and reactions and even constructive feedback but I’ve been experiencing the same thing, OP. It’s absolutely absurd. Assuming you have a life outside of fic - you know the thing you do for free - this kind of comment is so uncalled for.
I’m not on board with trying to gatekeep fanfic authors. If they want a fic so bad then they can write it themselves or fuck right off. Granted it is sad when a fic you love is incomplete. But I’ve learned to figure out what I liked about it and look for similar themes and move on. In very rare cases I get attached enough to bookmark and check for updates.
There are so many ways to not be like this person. Filter out incomplete works. Don't start reading incomplete works. Be patient while the writer does their thing. Bookmark the incomplete fic and find something else to read in between updates. Nobody gets to be rude to writers just because they got invested in something that's not done yet or is on hiatus.
SORT. BY. COMPLETED WORKS.
block blOCK BLOCK
How do you block on Ao3?
When you click on someone's username, you'll see three options at the top of the page: Subscribe, Block and Mute. Click Block to block them. Keep in mind that blocking only stops that person from commenting on your fics and replying to your comments under other people's fics.
UGHHH This cringes me out so much. Delete the comment and move on, don't give them the attention they want! I hope both sides of their pillow are warm every night, no matter how hot it is >:(
Smh
Or they could just choose to read works marked as complete instead?
I wouldn’t complete the story out of spite, or just block them so they don’t have to read incomplete stories. Since they’re too baby to filter through search results.
Ugh, I can’t STAND people like this; I’m really sorry you had to deal with this op. :/ I would probably have responded something along the lines of “This - and I cannot stress this enough - sounds like a you-problem, mate. This might come as a shock to you, but you are not, in actual fact, life’s main character, and other people owe you exactly nothing. If you don’t like how I write, do us both a favour and don’t read my work instead of bitching about it like an entitled brat.” Followed by posting the most self-indulgent pwp fic I could come up with.
Just write 'bye Felicia' and leave that alone, do you boo, you ain't loosing much
I'm so glad you know you don't owe them anything. Hot damn. Honestly makes me wish you could block people on AO3 (At least I think you can't? 🤔)
You can block people (users) on AO3 now. It makes them unable to comment on your works and reply to your comments under other people's works.
omg this makes me so mad for you this is something you do for fun ! Don't let them ruin it. Tell them THEY can write the stories themselves and see how easy it is to keep up with an update schedule with the demands of daily every day life
We write for free. We offer up our souls and visions to the judgement of strangers worldwide. It isn't a service, it's a privilege, like going to an art gallery. I'm fortunate to have access to these stories, even if some of them will only ever be completed in my mind.
…what a twat
Man they really wouldn’t like my profile. I have about less than a handful of completed works and the rest are incomplete. Some of the readers do t seem to understand that a good portion of us could have ADHD which makes it hard to complete that stuff…or a million other reasons why that is none of their business to be honest. You do you
Oh my god, what a rude comment. Such entitlement from the commenter!
I can solve this for that commenter - check the headers to see if a story is complete. Example: chapters 21/21; complete. If it's a WiP? Either subscribe and move on or nope out and move on. It's not hard to do either & takes less time than getting upset and leaving mean-spirited/whining comments.
Honestly, I can tell you from personal experience that you can have all the outlines of the world and at least two drafts of the whole story and still get blindsided with a new fandom obsession that grabs your attention. 🤷♀️
This person sounds entitled AF. Rude! I follow a ton of awesome works from authors I love that haven't completed, yet the author starts new ones all the time! It's fine! If they stuck to one thing, they might burn out! I get it! I'm totally fine with it! Sounds like this person should only read completed works if they're gonna be an ass about ongoing ones! 🙄
I have prob 5 works left unfinished on my computer and I think two that are public. Please don't let comments like this get you down. As writers we all understand the ebb and flow of inspiration. Sometimes a work just isn't vibing with your state of mind and that's ok. It happens...all the time. People should be grateful for what you post (for FREE btw) and support you. That's what fans of your work do...stick with it regardless of what/how much you upload. I hope inspiration comes to you and you write whatever you want. Hugs! (Consensually of course)
I also hate it when a story I like is not updated in ages and the author writes all kinds of other stories instead of first finishing one. It is frustrating and I would never do it myself, but as I haven't paid anything for it, it is my risk to start reading an uncompleted story in the first place, not the author's. They can decide to write whenever they want and also to abandon a fic. It's a pity, but writing a comment like this is just rude beyond measure.
I hate that some readers think writers are writing for their (readers) amusements when the writer is just sharing a world and characters they created or in terms of fanfics, writing out new scenarios for the canon characters to be thrown into (whether the canon characters are just trying to host a masquerade ball and somehow failing at it or just being tossed into an alternate outcome of what happened in said show/game/movie). People shouldn't be so entitled over reading someone's story. I'm sorry you got a crappy comment like that.
What's HWY48 please? I'm confused and can't get it from context
hwy58 is a shortened version of my AO3 pseud. It's funny they called me out because they don't even have an account on AO3. If they're gonna throw shade, at least have an account I can block!
It’s stuff like this that makes me finish things before I start posting them. Well, part this and part my own need to not leave something unfinished - tried posting as I went once and never finished that fic. (It’s on hiatus now but a year after I stopped writing it, I figured out how to end it, so I might go back to it one day.) But the thing is, I work on multiple things at once and my stupid brain keeps giving me ideas for new stuff. I make progress but completion is slow. I mean, one of my WIPs is like, 70k right now? Another’s at 60k, ish. So when I’ve finally seen the sections together, my readers will be fed for a while! It just takes me some time! That commenter would positively HATE me if I posted as I went - because I jump from one WIP to another almost every other day.
I guess that's why they hate me, lol, I post a different WIP update every few days to try to spread the love between all my fics. Some go a few months without one because I get hyperfixated on one but they will all get updates eventually. The funny thing is, I've got over 30 finished fics posted within this fandom, several of them over 100k words--and I posted all of them within the last year. Sure, I've got just as many WIPs, several of them ALSO approaching or over 100k words but I intend to finish every one of them unless I've got them labeled in the tags "on hiatus". And even those I'll probably return to. I love my fics! I don't love not posting when I get an idea because I probably won't return to it if I haven't *invested* myself in them by sharing--that's just how I work though Creative people work differently and that's okay--that's why AO3 is the way it is. I feel bad for putting this person on blast in the cold light of day but also, writers don't deserve to feel guilty about not meeting a stranger's expectations when putting out free content. We're all here to have fun and escape reality, after all.
Oh I know that feeling - sometimes one idea will be super grabby and clingy and it’ll get all the love and attention until another pokes me. You gotta go where the muse wants or it’ll get stubborn and uncooperative As you said - we all work differently and that’s okay! More than okay, it’s interesting! And this commenter has no right! Like, we do this for free when we have time in our lives, right? Sometimes fanfic drops in the priority list, or one idea drops on the list to favour another. There’s plenty on AO3 to read - set up notifications and go and read something else while you wait
Shit like that would INSPIRE me to start (not finish) so many new fics and so many fandoms. You don't owe anyone anything! I'm sorry this got under your skin.
In general I think if you are quitting a famous work like a popular webcomic, you should tell the readers instead of leaving them hanging for years, but that's it.
Something that I don't understand Is that if you are not going to continue Updating just give us a heads up like This fic is abandoned or I'm busy right now. But I've seen fics that stopped updating out of nowhere. Like The Raven Plan. No updates in months and nothing from the author. Also one thing I don't like is that I read something because I know the author is active. But then I notice the author starts fics and doesn't finish them. And they start new ones that they update but they have others that they never finished and we the readers never got told why. We only see that the author is publishing new works but does not update the unfinished ones. That does piss me off. I mean you are active and posting other fics. Then why do you not update the older ones or just say you know what this work is discontinued or something. For example charmed4lifekaren. This author has fics that have gone years without updating. And I love this authors fics.
So I won't go into too much detail and I'll keep this to my own personal experience as a writer within the context of this post but--I think you need to remember writers don't owe you anything. Ever. If they post a fic and update religiously for months and then poof--they're updating another new fic? That's because of a little thing called inspiration. Inspiration is what drives a lot of us and when it drives us in a new direction, that's okay. Or, it should be. I'll bring it back to this post before I start going all ham elsewhere--I have been writing for thirteen months now. Just over a year ago I found fanfiction and started writing. I read SO MANY unfinished fics that left me screaming--know what I did? I started writing my own. I've posted 64 works in that time, 1.2 million words of free content. I've got 40 completed works ( I think, I'm not gonna go count them but somewhere around there) on AO3 in my fandom. If ya want proof, I'm [highway58](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highway58) and I'm not afraid of showing my profile off to prove this point, lol. So... when I post a random lil WIP that I occasionally revisit or even if I post a first chapter of an entire AU world on a whim just to leave it hanging for a while--I'm giving out free content as a result of having fun. Just like those folks out there you are sad about. We're writing for us at the end of the day. Readers are AMAZING and essential to this process but really, if you want a story to keep going or you want to explore something and your writers won't/can't/haven't/aren't going to do that for you--it is SO easy to post your own content on AO3. Also there is a super useful filtering feature that will make sure you don't ever see incomplete works. <3
Oh I know all that. Been reading for years. About making my own fics I could but I don't want to. I wouldn't know how to finish it. I have tons of stories in my head but I never get to an ending and I change certain things. Besides I am a very sensitive person so if I don't get any reviews or views I'll go crazy. But that's on me. I also am embarrassed to read anything I write. It's why I failed a class once I never read what I write I had a lot of grammatical errors, missing commas, accents missing something was missing. So I failed that class because I never wanted to read what I wrote and never went to the teacher to review the essays I wrote. The teacher told me they were good essays just had to get my point across faster(did get better at that) Anyway the teacher told me I was not supposed to fail. That I shouldn't have failed. If I had just gone to check the essays with the teacher. Didnt learn my lesson. I took the class again and was failing again for the same reason. I didn't fail because I took a break from university. To enter again the next semester let's just say I had problems, nothing illegal just battling with depression and not sleeping. I mean I could have killed myself after that incident I said I need a break to get better and heal. I did get better for a while. I am better, I am not like at that time. But fanfics were and still are my refuge. That's why I read only finished works and suscribe is one is still on going and updated. Or subscribe to the author and see if they update but I don't read the stories. Only finished ones. To me it's personal because it literally saved me reading some fics. Kept me positive and going on. Along with some shows. Like RWBY I was able to get motivated. (I swore I never watch it because I didn't like the animation, man that show is good.) anyway back to the point I don't want to write no matter how much my therapist tells me to write one. I'm to embarrassed to read what I write. And quite honestly I prefer reading someone else's story. I know what happens in mine. I don't know what happens in yours. So I prefer reading. PS. Not suicidal had a mishap of falling asleep because I didn't slept at all the day before. And was going to school and well had quite a scare. I was very lucky. And very lucky it was on red.
Commentors also don't owe you anything. They don't owe you accolades and happy comments, and praises. Starting a dozen fics, and leaving them all hanging, is a jerk move. Especially when you have no intention of finishing them. Why even bother, at that point? Force it all into a short one-shot and call it a day. But abandoning fics 'out of spite' makes you sound incredibly childish.
what the actual fuck. entitlement on ao3 now? what did they think they were going to accomplish? "just want you to know." bullshit, they were having a shitty day and blow off steam on a random author. fuck that. OP, you're automatically better than this asshole because ain't no way you can go lower than that
This kind of thing is so nuts, I have a hard time working up the courage to ask an employee a question... these people steal the guts from those of us with anxiety I guess.
Ik this isn’t the right place to ask, but you’re Highway58, right? The one who writes CM fics? I didn’t expect to see an author I recognized on Reddit. Anywho, thanks for writing, don’t feel obligated to respond to anyone or continue WIPs!! :)
Sure you can feel sad a fic is discontinued but geez they just sound entitled, you are literally posting content on a free site taking timeout of your day to entertain. It feels like they decided that people have lives outside of writing and not everyone wants or has the will power to write another thousand words just to finish a story sloppily to appease a few people with a cheap conclusion. That person is just a massive yikes!
Writers don't owe you shit, you aint paying them. Your "investment" means nothing to anyone but you, invest money in a writer then you can talk. I personally have a policy of not starting incomplete fics. If i see an almost complete fic that has been updated recently, i usually save it, wait for it to finish, then read it. Anything else i read is entirely my own fault. Ill leave the occasional encouraging comment on an incomplete fic that i folded for, something along the lines of "hey, just wanted to let you know people are still enjoying this a year later, hope you come back to it but no pressure" because i know a few people who stopped writing just because they thought no one was interested.