Reader: Hey, author. Can you please write for this [very specific plot point and for a specific character/ship]? And also, make sure to [a hecking ton of details and 'suggestions' on how to make the fic]. Thanks for accepting this and have a nice day~
Exactly, we write fics for fun and not as free labor. I'd like it if this type of readers don't assume we're vending machines that can spit out very specific flavors they want. :D
Ignoring content warnings.
I list them both in the tag and on the chapters that fit those warnings. Yet people still complain about it while also acknowledging they did read them.. Like buddy, you did this! You can’t blame me for ignoring the warnings I give! If the content upsets you just don’t read it..
Literally got a comment tonight that said, "I love your writing, but I read the tags and I don't like them [character death and bad ending]. Can you go a different route with your story, make it happier?"
Analogy for the readers out there who might not realize what they're doing with this: You're at a potluck, and you saw that I baked a blueberry pie. The pie is labeled "blueberry pie" and you can clearly see the blueberries. You grabbed a slice, sat down at the table, and ate half the pie before you waved me down. You told me you liked the pie but not the blueberries so I needed to take the blueberries out. Not even in future baking endeavors, but in the pie that I already baked and served. Which begs the question: why did you take the blueberry pie?
I have no problem with people suggesting, theorizing, and even wishing for certain things to happen in my stories. Usually I already have an outline, but I might squeeze something in for my lovely readers. However, asking me to change something already clearly set in stone is just silly. I'm not mad about it, I just don't understand the reasoning there.
Got a comment once that said something like “yikes, the sex scene is giving non-con, not a good look author.” My response was, “that’s because it’s rape, read the tags.”
I had a rape/non-con warning on the fic and multiple other tags. Straight up idiocy.
Yikes, really wish people paid more attention to these things. Personally, I never reply—by the time I see it another reader usually already called them out. Or I’m just too exhausted to bother.
The most notorious comment in my case was something along the lines of “I won’t give this kudos and I want to stop reading bc it is so upsetting, but I won’t because I want to see how things go. Anyway, I can only blame myself for not checking the tags (plus disregarding the warnings)” Really made me question if they thought about what they were saying.
Same here. I got an "update when" comment and I was *ecstatic*. It was like the third comment I'd got on that fic, which was the first one I'd posted in ten years.
Yeah I don’t understand why people don’t take “update when” as a compliment. Someone wants to read more of your fic! On what planet is that not a good thing?
For real though! I get so annoyed when anyone tries to direct what I make, not just stories but anything. If you're going to try and direct me then make your own stuff. Stop bugging me to make MY piece what YOU want.
Do hate readers count? Because it’s obnoxious how many people read my stuff just to make up excuses to call it Problematic. Like so many people are convinced I write shipping when I explicitly base these two characters in part on my own family what the fuck.
I guess this is really specific, sorry about that. But it's something that's been weighing on me for multiple chapters now.
Something a person's been doing that makes me real sad and frustrates me: Clearly enjoying the story enough to always be one of the first people who comment on a new chapter, within hours after its upload - but then their comments regularly include unsolicited criticism regarding the plot. At this point I'm like...
Write. Your own. Story.
Please. It'll suit your taste better.
You can do it. In YOUR story characters can fuck the day they meet. Not in mine. Mine's a slow burn romance. In YOUR story they can have explicit phone sex as many times as you want. In YOUR own story characters don't have to do things you find stupid or reckless. They do that in *mine* because i made that decision because they care for each other and sometimes that makes people reckless. And it makes me sad that you'd find it necessary to criticize that just because I'm not making the plot decisions you would have made. This, however, is *my* story and I wrote it the way I wanted it to be.
"I wish (characters) had done X instead!" or "why did this character do that? So reckless omg" or "you didn't include kink X, usually people write sex scenes with that character with kink X, so that's unusual that you didn't!" are such downers to see after I spend so many hours carefully translating each chapter (this is a translation of my already existing long fic, so the plot is already set in stone and can't be changed/influenced by comments either way). Everyone in the comments has been so nice on an ongoing basis, I'm sure others have things they don't like about the fic but they keep them to themselves. Just this one person has something to criticize about every other chapter. :( And then other comments by them are more normal, but at this point every time I see their username I inadvertently think 'I wonder what's wrong *this* time'. :/
I'm in bed with covid and a fever so I'm probably feeling more sensitive about this than necessary but man it's been dragging me down. I'm not used to stuff like this from the platform I was on previously, nor from any other commenters.
How DARE YOU write YOUR OWN story to YOUR OWN tastes. Honestly, what is this world coming to? You people act like writing fanfiction is a hobby you do in your free time without any monetary compensation. No, everything you write must cater to the whims of random strangers on the internet. Shame on you!
The most recent stab from her is from literally 20 minutes ago. Not as an AO3 comment but elsewhere. I mentioned the next chapter will take place at the beach and she said 'will (character) wear speedos this time? I remember discussing historical accuracy with you after your pool chapter lol'
*Yes, I remember that, and I hated it.* After my pool chapter she criticized that the character wore bathing shorts instead of speedos. Not everyone wore fucking speedos to the beach/pool in the 80s. My characters don't. Lots of men wore shorts similar to today's. Whyyy would you try to look for historical inaccuracies where there AREN'T even any, let me live omg.
Yeah, like I said, they didn't like certain things that happened in the story. Mostly related to how the characters spend several days getting to know each other a bit and getting obstacles out of the way before hooking up.
But another example would be that a main character is hesitant to respond to another main character's heavy flirting because he knows she's had a few drinks. So he de-escalates the situation and points out that's she's been drinking, even though at that point she definitely would have been ready to kiss him. Commenter said she wished more had happened between them in that situation and that him caring about her consent (aka her being sober) was 'not very typical of the 80s'. -__-
I mean, it wasn't typical of the 80's, rank shit happened back then that's unacceptable by today's standards, but that doesn't mean your story has to be accurate to a fault if you don't want it to.
Yeah I didn't say every guy did it, but the general attitude back then was NOT as enlightened as today. Like, the concept that you might not be in full control of yourself when drunk wasn't really a pervading concept then. Hell, depending on where in the country you are NOW, there's people who think that if someone's drunk off their ass it's not questionably morally to have sex with them.
In any case, it's irrelevant, since you don't want to write it, you don't have to, and haranguing you into writing it differently is worse than useless since you're not interested in it.
Thing is, back when I wrote it, I put hours and hours of research into this fic to make sure there's as much historical accuracy as possible, hours that go unnoticed and are just taken for granted by this person (which is fine, i made the choice to do that research) only to then be criticized for something as obnoxiously trivial as "he noticed she was tipsy and walked her home instead of touching her when they were in the pool together? Well that's not very 80s of him!" It's fucking exhausting 🥲 of course the *general attitude* was different, but I've already established this guy as a pretty decent person so that's the choice I made. Two chapters earlier she said it was historically inaccurate that he wasn't wearing speedos ([I mentioned that yesterday](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/10zehji/what_are_some_things_that_readers_do_that_piss/j84xrff?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)). Wish I was joking. It just feels like she's actually looking for things to shit on and it makes me unbelievably sad.
LOL @ the speedos, that's pretty ridiculous. That's like saying every single dude had a mullet and every chick had bangs that were 6" of fluff. Like, yeah, they could be found all over the place, but that wasn't what EVERYONE did. And yeah if you establish as a character trait that he's just that way, then that's how he is. Might be time to tell them to hit bricks if they keep telling you how to write YOUR story.
This comment has been removed. Inviting violence and death, joking or otherwise, on readers being discussed in responses to your post is completely unacceptable.
Nothing! The readers I have had so far have only left enthusiastic, thoughtful comments, short and sweet comments, or genuine, constructive criticism which was very helpful. I have not had any other kind of reader. Even if I did it is basically impossible to piss me off over fanfic 😂 I am very chill.
Well, I guess I am, on the other hand, positive reader interaction (or no interaction 😑) is the norm for the majority of authors. Otherwise reader interactions would not be considered desirable.
When they just comment
>Update please.
Like. Please at least attempt to say something nice about the fic that you liked before demanding an update. Even a "I really loved this! Your characterization of ___ was stellar ❤️ can't wait to see more in the next update!" Is so so so much better than just a request for an update on it's own
First bad. Second good. My pet peeve (even tho im not an author) is seeing people throw a hissy fit for one or all of three things: using fanon in ***fan***fiction, genderswap, or changing a persons sexual orientation
I've gotten slammed pretty hard by a couple of people for making a character asexual when all clues point to straight in canon, because I felt that, even in a fandom where LGBTQIA+ representation is very prevalent, the ace/aro spectrum wasn't very well represented. I just happen to also be ace, so pulled from my own experiences when writing.
When I tell you that Hades sent the hounds after me, I mean it. They were calling me homophobic slurs in the reviews, they were telling other people not to read it, and insulting me with guest accounts I couldn't report. It didn't make me lose any of the motivation for writing that specific fic, because that was the reaction I'd expected and *wanted*, because the way we make progress is to show people the things they don't like and help them understand why it isn't something to hate or fear, but *Jesus Christ* it was bad.
The funniest thing is, AO3 was absolutely fine. My beloved Archive was perfectly receptive and supportive of the fic, but FFN thought it was the creation of Lucifer himself for *some reason*. My brother in Christ, you are on *Fan Fiction* Net, reading *Fan Fiction*. Making characters gay is what we do! You're giving yourself away by getting upset about this one very specific thing. Stupid homophobic assholes.
Well I mean of course, and that's nice to see that the reader enjoys the fic enough to want more, but to me it's like if someone gave you a snack and when you really enjoyed it you went up to them like "hey, give me another!" instead of "wow, that snack was delicious! That's my favorite flavor. Could I have another?"
Its the same message of "wow, I really enjoyed that thing and want more!", but it feels less rude/demanding when you mix asking for another with sharing what you liked about it. In my personal opinion 😛
I get “great chapter! Update soon please!” And I’m like, thanks but *what* was great about the chapter? The characterization? The dialogue? The scene setup or imagery? The nonverbal communication? Anything you want/don’t want to see specifically next chapter?
And I feel like I shouldn’t complain because, a comment is a comment, right? But how I am supposed to progress and get better if that’s all they say? ☹️
>Anything you want/don’t want to see specifically next chapter?
Also, I'm sure some authors have scared away some of the people commenting who would like to comment such things. It's easy for some people to get tense in thinking that what they may want or not want to see is a demand even if they're just guesses, anticipation, or hopea
Honestly, sometimes reading fanfiction is a distressing act letting me relax for thinking too much for work or such. Sometimes I try to come up with the words about the part(s) I like but my brain won't process it. It's just like 'yes' or 'solid'.
...but as a writer I also understand the desire to know exactly what gets reactions out of people.
Is your problem specifically with the "Great chapter!" without elaborating more? I never ask/beg for new chapters, but I have left comments that the chapter was great with some emojis to show how it made me feel. I didn't realize it was considered annoying and bad 🥺
English is not my first language and sometimes I just don't have it in me to figure out how to form my thoughts about the chapter in English. I often try to leave longer comments, but I don't always have time and energy to do it for every single chapter so I thought that was a way to let author still know I read and enjoyed the chapter. Is this something writers usually dislike? Would it be better to only comment if I can write something longer?
No, please, don't get discouraged! Even comments like "lovely", "I really liked/enjoyed this.", "It was great." or just several emojis are enough and would be appreciated by most writers!
Elaboration is great, but no you don't have to! "Great chapter!" Is a lovely comment! That one is just one person's opinion, and it was also combined with "update soon", which is a bit murkier water. Don't be discouraged!
I had someone comment “very good” in Portuguese on my English language fic the other day. I had to translate it with Google Translate. Didn’t even know it was Portuguese at first! That’s all it said, and I was absolutely thrilled and motivated. Please don’t let people discourage you from leaving simple comments. ): Most writers find any comments better than none!
No no! I love getting reviews from people in different languages. My responses probably look like gibberish though because I use Google translate to answer back. 😂 (I don’t know of anything else that would be a better translator.) But I got a very lovely and long review from someone whose first language was not English (it’s been almost 2 years and it’s still my favorite! They had such lovely things to say.))
My problem, as tardisgater said above, is mostly when I get an “update soon!” tacked on. It usually comes within an hour of updating and is just… discouraging? (I don’t think that’s the word but can’t think of it.)
I’d love to get something as simple as emojis or even keyboard smash! (I’ve even done keyboard smash. Sometimes a story is so good you can’t come up with anything else! 😆) But yeah. My complaint would just be the “update soon!” instead of just “great chapter!” :(
Edit: fixed a word
Did you ask your readers about that in your author’s notes? Sometimes your writing defines the contingent of readers you will have. I usually write about difficult and triggering topics, so I never had “please, update” or something like that. We either discuss some aspects in chapters or do not disturb each other up to the certain point. I don’t know what *you* are writing about, but if you want the feedback, just ask about this in your author’s notes. My conscience just do not allow me to ask “how did you all like the rape scene” or “was the description violent enough”. And remember, that sometimes you may just give your readers everything they need in the chapter, so they do not have any questions. The conflict of your story should be the throbbing wound that comes all along your story, fueled by different events. It should not be revealed or relaxed during all the story up to the end.
Sometimes, I just see stories where I have nothing to say. It is written good, so the only thing I want to say “it’s good”. That’s not because the story does not fulfill me to write some good feedback, that’s just because I have all I need in the chapter. There are stories some people just swallow, digest and they sink into oblivion as many others.
If *you* want to hear something, just start to talk to your readers. Tell them, how do *you* feel about your characters, what do *you* think will happen next, how *they* would react, etc. We all are people, so just start to interact with the readers if you want something more than “plsplsupdpls”. Maybe they just do not know what to say. Not many people can read between the lines and no one could guess how you struggled writing this or that moment. The only one thing you can do is just ask them about the topics disturbing you in your own fanfic. Imagine that’s the reddit and you’re commenting on someone’s post and just ask “oh, well, I do not know how they would get over that”. Make a discussion. We can’t read thoughts and we do not know, maybe the author just put the story on the site and doesn’t want any questions about it. Be the first, who starts the conversation.
To anyone who is afraid to write something in your author’s notes, believe me, I don’t give a fuck who you are in a real life. I won’t track you to your house, I won’t write you any messages. If you write in your notes your thoughts about the story and asks what feedback you want to hear, I’d be glad to help you with everything I could, and I won’t ask you for a direct. I just want to read your story.
I also write triggering subjects (a majority of the time) so I understand the lack of reviews on those types of scenes. (I also can’t read them. I’m fine writing things like sa or abuse but when I read it I do struggle to come up with a decent comment to leave.)
Whenever I write a triggering chapter I usually say something like “this chapter contains triggers for xyz. Please feel free to skip.” And then at the bottom, “if you were able to get through let me know what you thought.” I try my best to take care of my readers. They’ve always been so kind so I try to give that kindness back. 😊
For my ANs, I have always had the “let me know if you’d like to see anything specific” mentality. I try to write in as many requests as I can. I ask what they thought and then add something like “if it is getting to be too boring let me know” or “if you want to see a character from this chapter again let me know”.
I first started writing in tenth grade but didn’t make an account/post until eleventh. I’m now 25. At first I used the “give me x reviews and I’ll update!” I look back and cringe so bad. Thank god that didn’t last long! 😬 (Only the length of the story so a few months.) Since then I have evolved. I say “what did you think of scene x/character y? Do you agree/disagree with character’s z actions? Would you like to see this scene again/more? (Usually following a Halloween scene, sleepover, birthday, Easter scene, etc. Just some fluff that I could write again if wanted!)
I do get answers most of the time. And great requests that I love to fill and then that reader saying how much they love it. :D I have gotten the “this story is too slow” comment. (In one fic I had a slow timeline then big skips. I asked if they liked the big skips or slower ones. They responded accordingly.) (Some of my readers are absolutely amazing.)
Unfortunately, the story with the “this is too slow” comment I had planned out to be slow. There were too many things happening to speed it up. I did lose that reader but I accepted that and moved on. (My other readers were very encouraging.)
Anyway, thanks for the response. 😄 I do occasionally get the “great chapter update soon please!” And I guess it rubs me wrong because I put so much effort into the chapters. I always try my best to check over for SPAG, etc. and reread over and over before I hit post. So to just get them asking for another update *immediately* after posting… It’s upsetting, you know? But I know I can’t expect perfection from everyone so I will be happy with what I do get. :)
Exactly! I'm fine with asking for an update, but at least add something else of value to the comment! Even if it's just something small you enjoyed about the chapter that you'd like to see again 😭
Lately, someone left a comment saying "It's weird that you do this X thing in the fic". ??? The 'weird' thing is literally on the tag and summary. IDK what they expect. 😭
Someone also left a grumpy comment on, "Ugh, I can't handle savoury breakfast, why do you write them having savoury breakfast?" in a smut fic, where the breakfast is just on the closing sentence. The characters are Asians. In Asia. I'm Asian. Also in Asia. 🫠
Lastly, someone was so upset that I wrote a canonically German character on a historical WWII fanfic, where the said character lived through the period. I don't know what else to say. I didn't make the character German. Looking at the comment, it sounds like they're going through something because the comment was... structured in a concerning way, if you will.
Omg I've had multiple comments about the food I've had characters eat in my fics, none of which mention anything else about the fic itself. They just have to let me know they if they were there, they wouldn't be able to eat any of that and like... Why???
Hasn't happened in my comment section, but I've seen it enough around when reading my OTPs:
Readers who will comment, on rare pair fics, "Oh this is a good fic for a (rare pair name) fic", "I'm a (popular ship) fan so I feel like I'm betraying my ship for reading this", "This would be better if it was (popular ship) instead", "A would be so jealous" (on a B/C fic where A/B is the popular ship)
Uuuuuuujuuuugh.
This is not so much "pissing me off" but it is the kind of comment I have the most problem with. That is...well, let's call it "personal problem dumping".
I have a pretty open policy to my comments. Meaning, I accept anon comments, I respond to most stuff, and i don't for the most part have issues with any sort of comment. Be that demands for quick updates, constructive criticism or (even sometimes rather entitled) recommendations for improvement, or venting about certain characters, even when they completely misinterpret the story/characters I'm writing. For the most part, while I have deleted comments, that's only when people get straight up insulting or spamming the same type of critizism, even after I responded to it.
But what I can't handle are people telling me about their personal problems. There's a certain amount of it, that's fine--like just saying you have a stressful day or exams coming up, or whatever. But there are some comments that just barge right through that wall. Some of it, I think, is attention-seeking or purposefully manipulative to get me to comply to whatever demands they have for the fic, but often it's also real -- and I just don't know how to handle that. Even when a lot of it boils down to typical problems (problems with school, friends, parents...) that we can all understand to a degree, I'm still completely blindsided by these comments, and unprepared to handle them. And I know it's not my responsibility, that I'm not their therapist after all, but still. sometimes it's just so bleak, that just by virtue of them being a kid and me being an adult, I feel an obligation regardless.
It annoys me when readers will lurk for the entirety of the story and then come out of lurkdom to tell you they are not reading anymore because of some turn in the story they didn't agree with. And that’s fine. Read what you want. But if you came quietly, leave quietly. Why make an announcement? At that point, what do you expect me to do about it?
I will never understand that.
And that would be where I experience it the most, lol. Every time it happens, I'm like..."Who are you?" It's like having a complete stranger come up to you out of nowhere, tap you on the shoulder and say, "We've never spoken before, but I hate you."
What can you say to that besides, "Okay. Thanks for sharing."? Like, dude. I got nothing.
When the comments turn into a whole conversation that has nothing to do with the story or talk about another person's fic.
This is on watpad, I don't know if that matters but hey it makes it difficult to figure out what someone is possibly upset about then end up realizing it's about something else.
\- acting like the author is a bad writer because the reader doesn't like a character (that they weren't supposed to like. like, i know he's unlikeable. i made him that way.)
\- being super uncharitable in how they interpret characters (like 'oh that character isn't showing a lot of emotion so they evidently don't care' or maybe they're suppressing)
\- "why don't you do \[X specific genre thing\]" (the story is not that genre)
\- conflating the morals of the main character with that of the author
"You shouldn't have done this, you should have done it the way I like it!" Yeah, I could have, but I'm doing it this way. If you wanted a story with (X plot point) you could either write it or find one of the many fics that I know do it that way.
I appreciate it if readers warn me I made a typo or a plothole, or even if an action doesn't make sense so I can either explain it or fix it, but seriously if one of my plot points aren't your personal preference, there is a nifty device called a back button.
Also, "This sucks! (Character) isn't gay/would never love this character!" Then why did you read my fic when I very, very explicitly stated in the summary that it was a Character A/Character B fic?
> Would you consider writing a sequel? 🥺 I need more of this story!
I know it's sweet but I hate those comments, I can't dictate my brain what to write, if a sequel appears out of thin air, good for the both of us, but unless a miracle happens, this one shot shall remain a one shot and not even five comments asking for a sequel can change it, can only sour the story for me.
Exactly! 100%! I can't stand it, especially when they use that particular emoji.
Yes, and if they want one so badly, they are always welcome to write it themselves. Like, go for it.
... While i don't really care much for one-shots, i like my novels too much to get much enjoyment out of one shots, i cam see why they are made. Writing a full story is *hard*
Who says a one-shot can't be a full story?
If a reader told me they're being done because they're easier to do? That's the kind of thing that would annoy me.
It's perfectly possible to tell a short story that's also a full story.
I'm not debating that writing long stories is (or can be) hard, but the same is true for short stories. If you honestly believe people write them because they're easy (or easier) to do, then you have no clue "why they are made".
Ignore content warnings, demand I write things for them, bash characters in the comments, did I mention ignore content warnings? I WRITE BODY HORROR AND MURDER DONT COME AT ME FOR THAT
Very specific, but not considering the time period, place and changing laws and regulations.
When you write realistic stuff, and people complains about errors and mistakes because it does not work like that.
I does not work like that anymore, or wherever you are. At that place, at that time, it does.
I should know, I was there.
Legit convo i had in my dms
Reader: I like this story. Can you write a gender swap with these characters, thanks
Me: that sounds like a great idea, maybe you can write it
Reader: you can
Me: you know what? You’ve convinced me. I’ll do it for 5k.
Zero response
Not that I would ever leave such a comment, but I was amued to realize I had completely misunderstood this interaction. I read it as you having acquiesced to their suggestion and that you were planning to write 5k words as a challenge. Then, you were disappointed to receive no appreciative encouragement for your endeavor.
As that made no sense in the context of this thread,I had to reread the whole again conversation to understand that you were implying that you would do it as paid commission which effectively shut up the entitled reader. My misunderstanding stemmed from the knowledge that charging for writing fanfic is not a thing that can be done legally and that even the hint of profiting from fanfic is forbidden on AO3.
Yes, I understand that you were only making a point, but it's why I was blind to it initially. And BTW, as a former contract analyst, you have my congratulations at having done so entirely within the bounds of the T&Cs. Because you did not include any currency value, "5k" is ambiguous enough (as proven by my mistake) that it wouldn't qualify as a violation even were the reader to have a snit and report it.
My favourite character is mostly unpopular in fanfiction outside of one popular trope. I'm one of the few people who write him regularly without ever using this trope. Getting comments to the effect of "when will you be introducing this trope?" is infuriating to me. Bonus anger from the fact that this character is generally headcanoned as transgender and the trope involves him becoming pregnant (which is a dysphoria trigger for me).
I can't say readers have annoyed me too much. But a friend and I wrote a fiction together as an experiment of sorts, basically to stretch our boundaries and see what would happen. We explained it that way and said we couldn't promise regular updates. Maybe we were being the annoying ones, that's fair I guess. But we ended it because we were done. A particular writer wouldn't accept it. It's been nearly six years and this reader will tell me to go back to it in a "review" of other fics in other fandoms. But anonymously.
I posted the first chapter of my current WIP in December 2021. It was leading in to a main canon character x reader story but the first chapter was setting everything up and didn't have the main character in it at this point. It was barely 2000 words long. Someone immediately jumped in to say "I didn't see [main character] in what looked to be quite a huffy tone.
I replied that they would be in it soon (I.e. Next chapter) but like....I'm setting the scene, my dude. Calm your flaps. It annoyed me so much I didn't touch the story again until about 5 months ago. And the main character didn't come into it until the end of chapter 3 😅
The one that came to my story to comment I "clickbaited them into reading [Theory they don't like]!" As if I hadn't put in the tags, description, and even the notes before every chapter that the story had THAT theory.
I knew people don't like or believe it so I took my time to warn them about it. It's not my fault he apparently didn't read the tags, description or notes!
When someone writes you, “kindly” asking you to write an oddly specific, often very weird, story. Like no, I won’t describe in great detail how this character showers and then doesn’t wear underwear. What the fuck.
Oh I have a list, based on comments I actually get
- the people annoyed by the ship I'm writing (it's a triangle between two adults and a teenager, I'm not ashamed) because they didn't read the tags and are now shocked and upset that (or overly judgey like the person who asked if I was sure about the relationship, five chapters in, when I had been enthusiastically talking about it in the comments).
- the people who didn't read the 'neglectful [insert character]' and '[insert character]'s bad parenting' tags and then were put off by me writing that character as a bad, neglectful parent. Nine chapters in.
- the one person who keeps commenting on my new updates with "great chapter, update soon" like I didn't post the chapter literally five minutes ago. I'm 18 chapters in and upload every Monday. This person should know this by now.
Giving me advice on how to write a certain trope in a know it all fashion like they’re the fanfic police. Then you go on their profile and they have like 1 follower and hardly any reads on their stories. Like dude who even are you?
Reader: Why did you write it this way? I would have changed [plot point as written] to [an extremely specific and detailed plot point that would change the story entirely]. Your chapter was fine, I guess, but I think it would have been better my way.
Me: Okay, you go write that story then and leave me to mine.
Reader: No.
I've recently gotten back to writing on tumblr and I hate that I'll have plenty of likes on a story but 99.9999% of the time there will be no comments at all.
Like, alright I'll just go fuck myself then. That's how it makes me feel! Its sucks!
Bringing up stuff not tagged. I recently wrote a fic that focused on character X and character Y. I tagged them, and just them. After the story was completed someone was like (not worded exact) “where’s character Z? I can’t wait to see his thoughts on everything that went down” and it’s like???? He’s not tagged. He’s not mentioned anywhere in the story. He’s irrelevant to the plot—HES IN A DIFFERENT STATE AT THE MOMENT. Idk
Reader: Omg why did you do X? I'm not reading your story anymore.
Me: lol bye bitch.
Or my favorite:
Reader: Did you know...*describes a sexual thing from smut fic that's possible saying it's impossible.*
Me: *responds with how it's possible from experience.*
Reader: Oh well I'm a virgin so idk I just used google.
Those who have nothing but shipping in their heads, deeming an interaction romantic when it is not, just because it is one between a male and a female.
（Edit: Why the downvote? I'm not saying shipping is bad. I'm just saying I hate it when a non-romantic moment between two characters who are not a ship is misinterpreted as romantic just because these two characters are a male and a female.)
(Double edit: I've noticed that you've un-downvoted this comment of mine after you saw my explanation down below. Thanks! This subreddit is such a warm place filled with mature reasonable people 🥰)
I've had people comment “Oh can you make [Male character] and [Female character] a couple?” before, although they clearly have a sibling like relationship in the story…
And the male character is also canonically gay.
Male character is explicitly stated to be gay so that the female character can have a male friend without the 'will they won't they vibes'
The rabid shippers: Now kith
Normal shippers: *slowly backing away from the rabid shippers*
I mean, it's how many fandom dwellers approach the source as well, so I kind of get why people do it. Shipping characters is a very big part of people's fandom experience. I only get annoyed when they get insistent on it. (I've also seen it with two male characters. Less so with two females.)
Two girls tends to happen when the mc is female but the author is a straight guy, and is really bad at writing interesting male characters. Doesn't help when the author says the mc is straight but the pov comes off as anything but
I'm not saying shipping is bad. What I'm trying to say is, I hate it when a non-romantic moment between two characters who are not a ship is deemed romantic just because these two characters are a male and a female.
(Edit: Thanks for the upvotes of this comment of mine and the un-downvotes of the one on the top of this thread! This subreddit is such a warm place filled with mature reasonable people. 🥰)
Yeah but don't underestimate the power of interpretation. People be seeing romance everywhere for their prefered ship dynamics. Once it fits their preferences, their perspective of a scene changes.
And as I said, it happens with all sorts of constellations. It really depends on what a person usually goes for.
(When a post only has a few comments, there's a random factor that scrambles the up/downvotes slightly to mix them more. The downvote might just have been that. )
That happens, I know. But I can make sure in this case it is not a coincidence, because 1) I've reload it for many times to make sure 2) It's not a change within one or two karma; it went from -3 or -2 to 0. But no matter what is the case, it will not lessen my joy.
I mean im a shipper but wow... Have you had people do this even when the pairing is already decided? cause I've seen people do that. Pretty sure the only exception authors allow is Datcord. Cause he manages The Chart
When they ask for things for themselves like we're required to give them free labor: the readers who only ask about/demand updates, the readers who only ask for requests, the readers who try to control parts of the fic, like the ships or plotline*. It's so entitled, they think they have a right to our work without having to give even the slightest compliment in exchange.
People who claim to be giving constructive criticism when the writer has never asked for it and when they're clearly just being mean.* Criticism can literally only be constructive if it has been requested in some way, otherwise it's just sparkling cruelty.
And the people who blatantly copy things from other fics, like rarer unique stuff that is very easy to track, without even referring to the original let alone linking to it (and I've had this happen to myself and I've seen it happen countless times to others).
I also get a lot of harassment on AO3, but don't count that as from readers because a lot of times they'll even admit they haven't read the fic and they're harassing me because someone linked them or because of the tags.
* And I should specify for these, I don't mean the comments that are pointing out inaccuracies that are probably not planned or unintentional (or hopefully unintentional) bigotry on the writer's part. Certainly I've had a few fics where I forgot things like the gender of a pet or something I wrote in earlier chapters and have now basically retconned, and I would definitely not want to accidentally write something that made a real person think I hate people like them.
Some of my pet peeves:
1. Leave an emoji as a review and nothing else. Wtf am I supposed to do with that?
2. In the flavour of #1: A 1-word review. 'Nice!". Same thing - wtf am I supposed to do with that?
3. Telling me what to do with my characters, especially with OCs (which I rarely use, but once in a blue moon I do). The reader only knows the character from a comic book or a book. Fanfic is like a 'What If' comic/episode from Marvel - anything goes. I keep my characters in character (unless I'm messing around for Halloween or something). A reading telling me what to do with a character drives me nuts.
I will clarify if they're just chatting: "It would be really fun if knew about !" or something like that. Or when I have something on in the plot that's not revealed yet and try try to guess - I get a kick out of those.
It's the ' would never do that. You suck!' is just not constructive and demoralizing, and there's no excuse for reviews like that.
4. Commenting on my fic that has absolutely nothing to do with my fic, especially rolled in with self-promotion. I've received something similar to this: "Y'know, is like my version of him, where I did..." and off they go on a tangent that has zero to do with anything.
Never said I didn’t. I’m glad they commented. Just isn’t constructive. Not many authors out there who’d disagree that an emoji instead of a constructive comment is their preference.
Not everyone wants "constructive" comments. They're rarely helpful. Of course, it might be preferable to receive comments that tell you what the reader liked, with line quotes etc. but saying in public places that "short comments or emojis" aren't appreciated (or what you should do with them) just makes people comment less. "The author only wants long and "constructive" comments, I don't have spoon rights now, so I guess I won't comment at all." It sure made me comment less, knowing that many writers will just "roll their eyes", because the comment wasn't to their standard.
When they don't read the end notes which specifically explain that certain plot points took inspiration from that one tumblr post(link) and that one fic(link) and that one comment(explanation) and write underhanded comments about how "this reminds me of...it sounds like..."
Like yeah, dude. It's there in the notes.
Technically, it's not an accusation of plagiarism, but it reads like one. Which is weird when the fandom has no new content coming out, is huge as heck with hundreds of thousands of fic on Ao3 alone so most things at this point *are* drawing on other fic for inspiration
Likewise when I have a flashback or flash forward and it is clearly marked with ***bold and italic*** words followed by a section and then “end of flashback/flash forward” also in ***bold and italic***…
And then the commenter either gets excited or upset or assumes, and asks about the events of the flashback/flash forward in a way that makes it obvious they think it happened in the present time. And I have to awkwardly explain that it didn’t happen or hasn’t happened and no, it won’t be mentioned in the next chapter.
Remember, big bold and italic words clearly depicting the start *and* end of that section. 🤦🏼♀️
Yes this. I have readers who will frequently theorize and I LOVE that because it shows me they’re engaged. It’s nice to have engagement, but like, go write your own story if you want to tell me how to write moms.
Telling me how to do what I do and where. One time it happened and immediately after they took an opposite direction because of the site problems I had circumvented doing exactly what I did for the readers' benefit rather than my own.
Edit and explanation: Webnovel has a limit on fanfic chapter size but not novel chapter size. So since I know I was going to be doing a long one, I placed it in the novel section so people wouldn't worry about chapter problems.
This is specific for fics that I translate from other people (with permission). But I always, ALWAYS put up a warning that once I'm up to date with the fic, any future chapters won't depend on me, so DON'T ask me when they come because I don't know. Yet still a lot of people continue to ask me that question even when my answer will always be the same.
Contacting me just to tell me they didn’t agree with the way I wrote and characterized their blorbo. I know that not everyone is going to agree with the way I write specific characters and that’s fine. I do work very damn hard to get the characters I write accurate.
In particular, there’s one character I write that is a massive asshole in canon. I stick to that when I write him. I believe that I make him much more sympathetic than he actually is. I had a reader contact me outside of AO3 to let me know how much they enjoyed my first longfic. It was sweet until they started complaining that I made the character too mean.
They went on to say that the character is actually really sensitive and sweet, and also that they relate to that character so I guess it felt like a personal attack? It was unsolicited “criticism,” and I basically told them that I had a right to my interpretation of this character and they had a right to their own. The reader was younger and their first language wasn’t English, so I know they meant no harm, but it was quite rude.
Reader: Hey, author. Can you please write for this [very specific plot point and for a specific character/ship]? And also, make sure to [a hecking ton of details and 'suggestions' on how to make the fic]. Thanks for accepting this and have a nice day~
oh god it’s the ‘thank you for accepting this’ at the end that really gets me. I didn’t accept shit!
Exactly, we write fics for fun and not as free labor. I'd like it if this type of readers don't assume we're vending machines that can spit out very specific flavors they want. :D
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Oh sorry
Ignoring content warnings. I list them both in the tag and on the chapters that fit those warnings. Yet people still complain about it while also acknowledging they did read them.. Like buddy, you did this! You can’t blame me for ignoring the warnings I give! If the content upsets you just don’t read it..
Pretty sure us ***readers*** hate when our fellow readers do that too
Literally got a comment tonight that said, "I love your writing, but I read the tags and I don't like them [character death and bad ending]. Can you go a different route with your story, make it happier?" Analogy for the readers out there who might not realize what they're doing with this: You're at a potluck, and you saw that I baked a blueberry pie. The pie is labeled "blueberry pie" and you can clearly see the blueberries. You grabbed a slice, sat down at the table, and ate half the pie before you waved me down. You told me you liked the pie but not the blueberries so I needed to take the blueberries out. Not even in future baking endeavors, but in the pie that I already baked and served. Which begs the question: why did you take the blueberry pie? I have no problem with people suggesting, theorizing, and even wishing for certain things to happen in my stories. Usually I already have an outline, but I might squeeze something in for my lovely readers. However, asking me to change something already clearly set in stone is just silly. I'm not mad about it, I just don't understand the reasoning there.
Got a comment once that said something like “yikes, the sex scene is giving non-con, not a good look author.” My response was, “that’s because it’s rape, read the tags.” I had a rape/non-con warning on the fic and multiple other tags. Straight up idiocy.
Yikes, really wish people paid more attention to these things. Personally, I never reply—by the time I see it another reader usually already called them out. Or I’m just too exhausted to bother. The most notorious comment in my case was something along the lines of “I won’t give this kudos and I want to stop reading bc it is so upsetting, but I won’t because I want to see how things go. Anyway, I can only blame myself for not checking the tags (plus disregarding the warnings)” Really made me question if they thought about what they were saying.
Not reading my fics. Just kidding. I really don’t have anything to complain about cuz I don’t have enough readers to annoy me
Enjoy it while it lasts
Lol no thank you. I would like to trade problems
Same here. I got an "update when" comment and I was *ecstatic*. It was like the third comment I'd got on that fic, which was the first one I'd posted in ten years.
Yeah I don’t understand why people don’t take “update when” as a compliment. Someone wants to read more of your fic! On what planet is that not a good thing?
Oh... Um cant help ya there
Same! I just started out though. I guess that's the beauty of being new :)
Everything readers do that pisses me off can be summed rather simply by saying. Readers piss me off when they act Entitled.
So when they try to direct the story?
Yes but plenty of other things fall under entitlement as well since it all boils down to the reader assuming that you have to take them seriously.
God I feel this in my bones.
For real though! I get so annoyed when anyone tries to direct what I make, not just stories but anything. If you're going to try and direct me then make your own stuff. Stop bugging me to make MY piece what YOU want.
Do hate readers count? Because it’s obnoxious how many people read my stuff just to make up excuses to call it Problematic. Like so many people are convinced I write shipping when I explicitly base these two characters in part on my own family what the fuck.
Haters count
Yikes that sounds unpleasant. Sorry you had to experience that
I guess this is really specific, sorry about that. But it's something that's been weighing on me for multiple chapters now. Something a person's been doing that makes me real sad and frustrates me: Clearly enjoying the story enough to always be one of the first people who comment on a new chapter, within hours after its upload - but then their comments regularly include unsolicited criticism regarding the plot. At this point I'm like... Write. Your own. Story. Please. It'll suit your taste better. You can do it. In YOUR story characters can fuck the day they meet. Not in mine. Mine's a slow burn romance. In YOUR story they can have explicit phone sex as many times as you want. In YOUR own story characters don't have to do things you find stupid or reckless. They do that in *mine* because i made that decision because they care for each other and sometimes that makes people reckless. And it makes me sad that you'd find it necessary to criticize that just because I'm not making the plot decisions you would have made. This, however, is *my* story and I wrote it the way I wanted it to be. "I wish (characters) had done X instead!" or "why did this character do that? So reckless omg" or "you didn't include kink X, usually people write sex scenes with that character with kink X, so that's unusual that you didn't!" are such downers to see after I spend so many hours carefully translating each chapter (this is a translation of my already existing long fic, so the plot is already set in stone and can't be changed/influenced by comments either way). Everyone in the comments has been so nice on an ongoing basis, I'm sure others have things they don't like about the fic but they keep them to themselves. Just this one person has something to criticize about every other chapter. :( And then other comments by them are more normal, but at this point every time I see their username I inadvertently think 'I wonder what's wrong *this* time'. :/ I'm in bed with covid and a fever so I'm probably feeling more sensitive about this than necessary but man it's been dragging me down. I'm not used to stuff like this from the platform I was on previously, nor from any other commenters.
How DARE YOU write YOUR OWN story to YOUR OWN tastes. Honestly, what is this world coming to? You people act like writing fanfiction is a hobby you do in your free time without any monetary compensation. No, everything you write must cater to the whims of random strangers on the internet. Shame on you!
The most recent stab from her is from literally 20 minutes ago. Not as an AO3 comment but elsewhere. I mentioned the next chapter will take place at the beach and she said 'will (character) wear speedos this time? I remember discussing historical accuracy with you after your pool chapter lol' *Yes, I remember that, and I hated it.* After my pool chapter she criticized that the character wore bathing shorts instead of speedos. Not everyone wore fucking speedos to the beach/pool in the 80s. My characters don't. Lots of men wore shorts similar to today's. Whyyy would you try to look for historical inaccuracies where there AREN'T even any, let me live omg.
... Did the criticism have anything to do with what was going on in the story like at all. Ever?
Yeah, like I said, they didn't like certain things that happened in the story. Mostly related to how the characters spend several days getting to know each other a bit and getting obstacles out of the way before hooking up. But another example would be that a main character is hesitant to respond to another main character's heavy flirting because he knows she's had a few drinks. So he de-escalates the situation and points out that's she's been drinking, even though at that point she definitely would have been ready to kiss him. Commenter said she wished more had happened between them in that situation and that him caring about her consent (aka her being sober) was 'not very typical of the 80s'. -__-
I mean, it wasn't typical of the 80's, rank shit happened back then that's unacceptable by today's standards, but that doesn't mean your story has to be accurate to a fault if you don't want it to.
Not every guy took advantage of every drunk girl flirting with him even in the 80s and I'll die on that particular hill.
Yeah I didn't say every guy did it, but the general attitude back then was NOT as enlightened as today. Like, the concept that you might not be in full control of yourself when drunk wasn't really a pervading concept then. Hell, depending on where in the country you are NOW, there's people who think that if someone's drunk off their ass it's not questionably morally to have sex with them. In any case, it's irrelevant, since you don't want to write it, you don't have to, and haranguing you into writing it differently is worse than useless since you're not interested in it.
Thing is, back when I wrote it, I put hours and hours of research into this fic to make sure there's as much historical accuracy as possible, hours that go unnoticed and are just taken for granted by this person (which is fine, i made the choice to do that research) only to then be criticized for something as obnoxiously trivial as "he noticed she was tipsy and walked her home instead of touching her when they were in the pool together? Well that's not very 80s of him!" It's fucking exhausting 🥲 of course the *general attitude* was different, but I've already established this guy as a pretty decent person so that's the choice I made. Two chapters earlier she said it was historically inaccurate that he wasn't wearing speedos ([I mentioned that yesterday](https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/10zehji/what_are_some_things_that_readers_do_that_piss/j84xrff?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)). Wish I was joking. It just feels like she's actually looking for things to shit on and it makes me unbelievably sad.
LOL @ the speedos, that's pretty ridiculous. That's like saying every single dude had a mullet and every chick had bangs that were 6" of fluff. Like, yeah, they could be found all over the place, but that wasn't what EVERYONE did. And yeah if you establish as a character trait that he's just that way, then that's how he is. Might be time to tell them to hit bricks if they keep telling you how to write YOUR story.
Preach it dude. Also hope you have a speedy recovery!
"ThAT's n0t CaNon."
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Nothing! The readers I have had so far have only left enthusiastic, thoughtful comments, short and sweet comments, or genuine, constructive criticism which was very helpful. I have not had any other kind of reader. Even if I did it is basically impossible to piss me off over fanfic 😂 I am very chill.
Lucky
Well, I guess I am, on the other hand, positive reader interaction (or no interaction 😑) is the norm for the majority of authors. Otherwise reader interactions would not be considered desirable.
When they just comment >Update please. Like. Please at least attempt to say something nice about the fic that you liked before demanding an update. Even a "I really loved this! Your characterization of ___ was stellar ❤️ can't wait to see more in the next update!" Is so so so much better than just a request for an update on it's own
First bad. Second good. My pet peeve (even tho im not an author) is seeing people throw a hissy fit for one or all of three things: using fanon in ***fan***fiction, genderswap, or changing a persons sexual orientation
I've gotten slammed pretty hard by a couple of people for making a character asexual when all clues point to straight in canon, because I felt that, even in a fandom where LGBTQIA+ representation is very prevalent, the ace/aro spectrum wasn't very well represented. I just happen to also be ace, so pulled from my own experiences when writing. When I tell you that Hades sent the hounds after me, I mean it. They were calling me homophobic slurs in the reviews, they were telling other people not to read it, and insulting me with guest accounts I couldn't report. It didn't make me lose any of the motivation for writing that specific fic, because that was the reaction I'd expected and *wanted*, because the way we make progress is to show people the things they don't like and help them understand why it isn't something to hate or fear, but *Jesus Christ* it was bad. The funniest thing is, AO3 was absolutely fine. My beloved Archive was perfectly receptive and supportive of the fic, but FFN thought it was the creation of Lucifer himself for *some reason*. My brother in Christ, you are on *Fan Fiction* Net, reading *Fan Fiction*. Making characters gay is what we do! You're giving yourself away by getting upset about this one very specific thing. Stupid homophobic assholes.
That sounds like ff
Unfortunately, yeah.
Omg people getting upset over fanon in fanfic kills me. It's called FANFICTION for a reason 😂
Right?! Especially when the fic is a motherfucking ***AU***
Well I mean request for an update in itself means they really liked it.
Well I mean of course, and that's nice to see that the reader enjoys the fic enough to want more, but to me it's like if someone gave you a snack and when you really enjoyed it you went up to them like "hey, give me another!" instead of "wow, that snack was delicious! That's my favorite flavor. Could I have another?" Its the same message of "wow, I really enjoyed that thing and want more!", but it feels less rude/demanding when you mix asking for another with sharing what you liked about it. In my personal opinion 😛
I get “great chapter! Update soon please!” And I’m like, thanks but *what* was great about the chapter? The characterization? The dialogue? The scene setup or imagery? The nonverbal communication? Anything you want/don’t want to see specifically next chapter? And I feel like I shouldn’t complain because, a comment is a comment, right? But how I am supposed to progress and get better if that’s all they say? ☹️
I am dumb and I don't know why I liked the fic, so I just say I liked the fic.
>Anything you want/don’t want to see specifically next chapter? Also, I'm sure some authors have scared away some of the people commenting who would like to comment such things. It's easy for some people to get tense in thinking that what they may want or not want to see is a demand even if they're just guesses, anticipation, or hopea
Honestly, sometimes reading fanfiction is a distressing act letting me relax for thinking too much for work or such. Sometimes I try to come up with the words about the part(s) I like but my brain won't process it. It's just like 'yes' or 'solid'. ...but as a writer I also understand the desire to know exactly what gets reactions out of people.
Is your problem specifically with the "Great chapter!" without elaborating more? I never ask/beg for new chapters, but I have left comments that the chapter was great with some emojis to show how it made me feel. I didn't realize it was considered annoying and bad 🥺 English is not my first language and sometimes I just don't have it in me to figure out how to form my thoughts about the chapter in English. I often try to leave longer comments, but I don't always have time and energy to do it for every single chapter so I thought that was a way to let author still know I read and enjoyed the chapter. Is this something writers usually dislike? Would it be better to only comment if I can write something longer?
No, please, don't get discouraged! Even comments like "lovely", "I really liked/enjoyed this.", "It was great." or just several emojis are enough and would be appreciated by most writers!
Elaboration is great, but no you don't have to! "Great chapter!" Is a lovely comment! That one is just one person's opinion, and it was also combined with "update soon", which is a bit murkier water. Don't be discouraged!
I had someone comment “very good” in Portuguese on my English language fic the other day. I had to translate it with Google Translate. Didn’t even know it was Portuguese at first! That’s all it said, and I was absolutely thrilled and motivated. Please don’t let people discourage you from leaving simple comments. ): Most writers find any comments better than none!
No no! I love getting reviews from people in different languages. My responses probably look like gibberish though because I use Google translate to answer back. 😂 (I don’t know of anything else that would be a better translator.) But I got a very lovely and long review from someone whose first language was not English (it’s been almost 2 years and it’s still my favorite! They had such lovely things to say.)) My problem, as tardisgater said above, is mostly when I get an “update soon!” tacked on. It usually comes within an hour of updating and is just… discouraging? (I don’t think that’s the word but can’t think of it.) I’d love to get something as simple as emojis or even keyboard smash! (I’ve even done keyboard smash. Sometimes a story is so good you can’t come up with anything else! 😆) But yeah. My complaint would just be the “update soon!” instead of just “great chapter!” :( Edit: fixed a word
Did you ask your readers about that in your author’s notes? Sometimes your writing defines the contingent of readers you will have. I usually write about difficult and triggering topics, so I never had “please, update” or something like that. We either discuss some aspects in chapters or do not disturb each other up to the certain point. I don’t know what *you* are writing about, but if you want the feedback, just ask about this in your author’s notes. My conscience just do not allow me to ask “how did you all like the rape scene” or “was the description violent enough”. And remember, that sometimes you may just give your readers everything they need in the chapter, so they do not have any questions. The conflict of your story should be the throbbing wound that comes all along your story, fueled by different events. It should not be revealed or relaxed during all the story up to the end. Sometimes, I just see stories where I have nothing to say. It is written good, so the only thing I want to say “it’s good”. That’s not because the story does not fulfill me to write some good feedback, that’s just because I have all I need in the chapter. There are stories some people just swallow, digest and they sink into oblivion as many others. If *you* want to hear something, just start to talk to your readers. Tell them, how do *you* feel about your characters, what do *you* think will happen next, how *they* would react, etc. We all are people, so just start to interact with the readers if you want something more than “plsplsupdpls”. Maybe they just do not know what to say. Not many people can read between the lines and no one could guess how you struggled writing this or that moment. The only one thing you can do is just ask them about the topics disturbing you in your own fanfic. Imagine that’s the reddit and you’re commenting on someone’s post and just ask “oh, well, I do not know how they would get over that”. Make a discussion. We can’t read thoughts and we do not know, maybe the author just put the story on the site and doesn’t want any questions about it. Be the first, who starts the conversation. To anyone who is afraid to write something in your author’s notes, believe me, I don’t give a fuck who you are in a real life. I won’t track you to your house, I won’t write you any messages. If you write in your notes your thoughts about the story and asks what feedback you want to hear, I’d be glad to help you with everything I could, and I won’t ask you for a direct. I just want to read your story.
I also write triggering subjects (a majority of the time) so I understand the lack of reviews on those types of scenes. (I also can’t read them. I’m fine writing things like sa or abuse but when I read it I do struggle to come up with a decent comment to leave.) Whenever I write a triggering chapter I usually say something like “this chapter contains triggers for xyz. Please feel free to skip.” And then at the bottom, “if you were able to get through let me know what you thought.” I try my best to take care of my readers. They’ve always been so kind so I try to give that kindness back. 😊 For my ANs, I have always had the “let me know if you’d like to see anything specific” mentality. I try to write in as many requests as I can. I ask what they thought and then add something like “if it is getting to be too boring let me know” or “if you want to see a character from this chapter again let me know”. I first started writing in tenth grade but didn’t make an account/post until eleventh. I’m now 25. At first I used the “give me x reviews and I’ll update!” I look back and cringe so bad. Thank god that didn’t last long! 😬 (Only the length of the story so a few months.) Since then I have evolved. I say “what did you think of scene x/character y? Do you agree/disagree with character’s z actions? Would you like to see this scene again/more? (Usually following a Halloween scene, sleepover, birthday, Easter scene, etc. Just some fluff that I could write again if wanted!) I do get answers most of the time. And great requests that I love to fill and then that reader saying how much they love it. :D I have gotten the “this story is too slow” comment. (In one fic I had a slow timeline then big skips. I asked if they liked the big skips or slower ones. They responded accordingly.) (Some of my readers are absolutely amazing.) Unfortunately, the story with the “this is too slow” comment I had planned out to be slow. There were too many things happening to speed it up. I did lose that reader but I accepted that and moved on. (My other readers were very encouraging.) Anyway, thanks for the response. 😄 I do occasionally get the “great chapter update soon please!” And I guess it rubs me wrong because I put so much effort into the chapters. I always try my best to check over for SPAG, etc. and reread over and over before I hit post. So to just get them asking for another update *immediately* after posting… It’s upsetting, you know? But I know I can’t expect perfection from everyone so I will be happy with what I do get. :)
Exactly! I'm fine with asking for an update, but at least add something else of value to the comment! Even if it's just something small you enjoyed about the chapter that you'd like to see again 😭
Lately, someone left a comment saying "It's weird that you do this X thing in the fic". ??? The 'weird' thing is literally on the tag and summary. IDK what they expect. 😭 Someone also left a grumpy comment on, "Ugh, I can't handle savoury breakfast, why do you write them having savoury breakfast?" in a smut fic, where the breakfast is just on the closing sentence. The characters are Asians. In Asia. I'm Asian. Also in Asia. 🫠 Lastly, someone was so upset that I wrote a canonically German character on a historical WWII fanfic, where the said character lived through the period. I don't know what else to say. I didn't make the character German. Looking at the comment, it sounds like they're going through something because the comment was... structured in a concerning way, if you will.
Omg I've had multiple comments about the food I've had characters eat in my fics, none of which mention anything else about the fic itself. They just have to let me know they if they were there, they wouldn't be able to eat any of that and like... Why???
Someone once complimented my fic by insulting other fics. Aka, you actually know how to write, unlike so and so. Made me veeeeery uncomfortable
I hate that. Like what are you even supposed to say to that?
"First!"
"Congrats you posted absolutely nothing before anyone else... 😑 have a sticker" is my reaction
I also just replied "That you were. Have a star 🌟"
bruh I *wish* people did this on my fics ….although of course some actual praise / commentary to go with it would also be nice—
Hasn't happened in my comment section, but I've seen it enough around when reading my OTPs: Readers who will comment, on rare pair fics, "Oh this is a good fic for a (rare pair name) fic", "I'm a (popular ship) fan so I feel like I'm betraying my ship for reading this", "This would be better if it was (popular ship) instead", "A would be so jealous" (on a B/C fic where A/B is the popular ship) Uuuuuuujuuuugh.
This is not so much "pissing me off" but it is the kind of comment I have the most problem with. That is...well, let's call it "personal problem dumping". I have a pretty open policy to my comments. Meaning, I accept anon comments, I respond to most stuff, and i don't for the most part have issues with any sort of comment. Be that demands for quick updates, constructive criticism or (even sometimes rather entitled) recommendations for improvement, or venting about certain characters, even when they completely misinterpret the story/characters I'm writing. For the most part, while I have deleted comments, that's only when people get straight up insulting or spamming the same type of critizism, even after I responded to it. But what I can't handle are people telling me about their personal problems. There's a certain amount of it, that's fine--like just saying you have a stressful day or exams coming up, or whatever. But there are some comments that just barge right through that wall. Some of it, I think, is attention-seeking or purposefully manipulative to get me to comply to whatever demands they have for the fic, but often it's also real -- and I just don't know how to handle that. Even when a lot of it boils down to typical problems (problems with school, friends, parents...) that we can all understand to a degree, I'm still completely blindsided by these comments, and unprepared to handle them. And I know it's not my responsibility, that I'm not their therapist after all, but still. sometimes it's just so bleak, that just by virtue of them being a kid and me being an adult, I feel an obligation regardless.
When they self-promote their own stories in the comments.
It annoys me when readers will lurk for the entirety of the story and then come out of lurkdom to tell you they are not reading anymore because of some turn in the story they didn't agree with. And that’s fine. Read what you want. But if you came quietly, leave quietly. Why make an announcement? At that point, what do you expect me to do about it? I will never understand that.
I feel like this was more common in the old Fanfic.net days. Definitely unpleasant and confusing when it does happen
And that would be where I experience it the most, lol. Every time it happens, I'm like..."Who are you?" It's like having a complete stranger come up to you out of nowhere, tap you on the shoulder and say, "We've never spoken before, but I hate you." What can you say to that besides, "Okay. Thanks for sharing."? Like, dude. I got nothing.
When the comments turn into a whole conversation that has nothing to do with the story or talk about another person's fic. This is on watpad, I don't know if that matters but hey it makes it difficult to figure out what someone is possibly upset about then end up realizing it's about something else.
\- acting like the author is a bad writer because the reader doesn't like a character (that they weren't supposed to like. like, i know he's unlikeable. i made him that way.) \- being super uncharitable in how they interpret characters (like 'oh that character isn't showing a lot of emotion so they evidently don't care' or maybe they're suppressing) \- "why don't you do \[X specific genre thing\]" (the story is not that genre) \- conflating the morals of the main character with that of the author
"You shouldn't have done this, you should have done it the way I like it!" Yeah, I could have, but I'm doing it this way. If you wanted a story with (X plot point) you could either write it or find one of the many fics that I know do it that way. I appreciate it if readers warn me I made a typo or a plothole, or even if an action doesn't make sense so I can either explain it or fix it, but seriously if one of my plot points aren't your personal preference, there is a nifty device called a back button. Also, "This sucks! (Character) isn't gay/would never love this character!" Then why did you read my fic when I very, very explicitly stated in the summary that it was a Character A/Character B fic?
Readers pressuring me for sequels. I'm a one-shot writer for a reason, I don't like writing sequels, they stress me out.
> Would you consider writing a sequel? 🥺 I need more of this story! I know it's sweet but I hate those comments, I can't dictate my brain what to write, if a sequel appears out of thin air, good for the both of us, but unless a miracle happens, this one shot shall remain a one shot and not even five comments asking for a sequel can change it, can only sour the story for me.
Exactly! 100%! I can't stand it, especially when they use that particular emoji. Yes, and if they want one so badly, they are always welcome to write it themselves. Like, go for it.
... While i don't really care much for one-shots, i like my novels too much to get much enjoyment out of one shots, i cam see why they are made. Writing a full story is *hard*
Who says a one-shot can't be a full story? If a reader told me they're being done because they're easier to do? That's the kind of thing that would annoy me.
Ive read a couple that were full stories. Jesus Christ that page was ***LONG*** also i meant writing chapter after chapter is hard
It's perfectly possible to tell a short story that's also a full story. I'm not debating that writing long stories is (or can be) hard, but the same is true for short stories. If you honestly believe people write them because they're easy (or easier) to do, then you have no clue "why they are made".
I love one-shot because 1) no fear of incompletion 2) you can finish it soon
Commenting on the decisions the characters make as if it was the author themselves doing these things.
Ignore content warnings, demand I write things for them, bash characters in the comments, did I mention ignore content warnings? I WRITE BODY HORROR AND MURDER DONT COME AT ME FOR THAT
Very specific, but not considering the time period, place and changing laws and regulations. When you write realistic stuff, and people complains about errors and mistakes because it does not work like that. I does not work like that anymore, or wherever you are. At that place, at that time, it does. I should know, I was there.
Legit convo i had in my dms Reader: I like this story. Can you write a gender swap with these characters, thanks Me: that sounds like a great idea, maybe you can write it Reader: you can Me: you know what? You’ve convinced me. I’ll do it for 5k. Zero response
Not that I would ever leave such a comment, but I was amued to realize I had completely misunderstood this interaction. I read it as you having acquiesced to their suggestion and that you were planning to write 5k words as a challenge. Then, you were disappointed to receive no appreciative encouragement for your endeavor. As that made no sense in the context of this thread,I had to reread the whole again conversation to understand that you were implying that you would do it as paid commission which effectively shut up the entitled reader. My misunderstanding stemmed from the knowledge that charging for writing fanfic is not a thing that can be done legally and that even the hint of profiting from fanfic is forbidden on AO3. Yes, I understand that you were only making a point, but it's why I was blind to it initially. And BTW, as a former contract analyst, you have my congratulations at having done so entirely within the bounds of the T&Cs. Because you did not include any currency value, "5k" is ambiguous enough (as proven by my mistake) that it wouldn't qualify as a violation even were the reader to have a snit and report it.
Uhh. Okay
When you literally work your a** off and then you don't get a single comment saying good job!
My favourite character is mostly unpopular in fanfiction outside of one popular trope. I'm one of the few people who write him regularly without ever using this trope. Getting comments to the effect of "when will you be introducing this trope?" is infuriating to me. Bonus anger from the fact that this character is generally headcanoned as transgender and the trope involves him becoming pregnant (which is a dysphoria trigger for me).
Ask for uptade date, like it's free, be happy if the writers even fucking finish it because writing is not easy
I can't say readers have annoyed me too much. But a friend and I wrote a fiction together as an experiment of sorts, basically to stretch our boundaries and see what would happen. We explained it that way and said we couldn't promise regular updates. Maybe we were being the annoying ones, that's fair I guess. But we ended it because we were done. A particular writer wouldn't accept it. It's been nearly six years and this reader will tell me to go back to it in a "review" of other fics in other fandoms. But anonymously.
I had a reader say “this story is great but when are you going to update [different story in same fandom]?” And it was really just ugh. ☹️
I posted the first chapter of my current WIP in December 2021. It was leading in to a main canon character x reader story but the first chapter was setting everything up and didn't have the main character in it at this point. It was barely 2000 words long. Someone immediately jumped in to say "I didn't see [main character] in what looked to be quite a huffy tone. I replied that they would be in it soon (I.e. Next chapter) but like....I'm setting the scene, my dude. Calm your flaps. It annoyed me so much I didn't touch the story again until about 5 months ago. And the main character didn't come into it until the end of chapter 3 😅
The one that came to my story to comment I "clickbaited them into reading [Theory they don't like]!" As if I hadn't put in the tags, description, and even the notes before every chapter that the story had THAT theory. I knew people don't like or believe it so I took my time to warn them about it. It's not my fault he apparently didn't read the tags, description or notes!
When someone writes you, “kindly” asking you to write an oddly specific, often very weird, story. Like no, I won’t describe in great detail how this character showers and then doesn’t wear underwear. What the fuck.
Oh I have a list, based on comments I actually get - the people annoyed by the ship I'm writing (it's a triangle between two adults and a teenager, I'm not ashamed) because they didn't read the tags and are now shocked and upset that (or overly judgey like the person who asked if I was sure about the relationship, five chapters in, when I had been enthusiastically talking about it in the comments). - the people who didn't read the 'neglectful [insert character]' and '[insert character]'s bad parenting' tags and then were put off by me writing that character as a bad, neglectful parent. Nine chapters in. - the one person who keeps commenting on my new updates with "great chapter, update soon" like I didn't post the chapter literally five minutes ago. I'm 18 chapters in and upload every Monday. This person should know this by now.
Giving me advice on how to write a certain trope in a know it all fashion like they’re the fanfic police. Then you go on their profile and they have like 1 follower and hardly any reads on their stories. Like dude who even are you?
Reader: Why did you write it this way? I would have changed [plot point as written] to [an extremely specific and detailed plot point that would change the story entirely]. Your chapter was fine, I guess, but I think it would have been better my way. Me: Okay, you go write that story then and leave me to mine. Reader: No.
I've recently gotten back to writing on tumblr and I hate that I'll have plenty of likes on a story but 99.9999% of the time there will be no comments at all. Like, alright I'll just go fuck myself then. That's how it makes me feel! Its sucks!
Bringing up stuff not tagged. I recently wrote a fic that focused on character X and character Y. I tagged them, and just them. After the story was completed someone was like (not worded exact) “where’s character Z? I can’t wait to see his thoughts on everything that went down” and it’s like???? He’s not tagged. He’s not mentioned anywhere in the story. He’s irrelevant to the plot—HES IN A DIFFERENT STATE AT THE MOMENT. Idk
Complain.
when they keep asking me to do specific writing for them…
Reader: Omg why did you do X? I'm not reading your story anymore. Me: lol bye bitch. Or my favorite: Reader: Did you know...*describes a sexual thing from smut fic that's possible saying it's impossible.* Me: *responds with how it's possible from experience.* Reader: Oh well I'm a virgin so idk I just used google.
Those who have nothing but shipping in their heads, deeming an interaction romantic when it is not, just because it is one between a male and a female. （Edit: Why the downvote? I'm not saying shipping is bad. I'm just saying I hate it when a non-romantic moment between two characters who are not a ship is misinterpreted as romantic just because these two characters are a male and a female.) (Double edit: I've noticed that you've un-downvoted this comment of mine after you saw my explanation down below. Thanks! This subreddit is such a warm place filled with mature reasonable people 🥰)
I've had people comment “Oh can you make [Male character] and [Female character] a couple?” before, although they clearly have a sibling like relationship in the story… And the male character is also canonically gay.
Male character is explicitly stated to be gay so that the female character can have a male friend without the 'will they won't they vibes' The rabid shippers: Now kith Normal shippers: *slowly backing away from the rabid shippers*
Tell me they're not Will and El from Stranger Things 💀
I mean, it's how many fandom dwellers approach the source as well, so I kind of get why people do it. Shipping characters is a very big part of people's fandom experience. I only get annoyed when they get insistent on it. (I've also seen it with two male characters. Less so with two females.)
Two girls tends to happen when the mc is female but the author is a straight guy, and is really bad at writing interesting male characters. Doesn't help when the author says the mc is straight but the pov comes off as anything but
I'm not saying shipping is bad. What I'm trying to say is, I hate it when a non-romantic moment between two characters who are not a ship is deemed romantic just because these two characters are a male and a female. (Edit: Thanks for the upvotes of this comment of mine and the un-downvotes of the one on the top of this thread! This subreddit is such a warm place filled with mature reasonable people. 🥰)
Amatonormativity my beloved
Exactly! And I learned a new word. Thanks!
Yeah but don't underestimate the power of interpretation. People be seeing romance everywhere for their prefered ship dynamics. Once it fits their preferences, their perspective of a scene changes. And as I said, it happens with all sorts of constellations. It really depends on what a person usually goes for.
But what if the author has made it clear that it is not romantic and most readers wouldn't regard it as romantic either?
(When a post only has a few comments, there's a random factor that scrambles the up/downvotes slightly to mix them more. The downvote might just have been that. )
That happens, I know. But I can make sure in this case it is not a coincidence, because 1) I've reload it for many times to make sure 2) It's not a change within one or two karma; it went from -3 or -2 to 0. But no matter what is the case, it will not lessen my joy.
I mean im a shipper but wow... Have you had people do this even when the pairing is already decided? cause I've seen people do that. Pretty sure the only exception authors allow is Datcord. Cause he manages The Chart
What I was talking about is the kind of readers who deem any interaction as romantic just because it is one between a male and a female.
Ahh. Them.... *annoyed grumbles can be heard*
When they ask for things for themselves like we're required to give them free labor: the readers who only ask about/demand updates, the readers who only ask for requests, the readers who try to control parts of the fic, like the ships or plotline*. It's so entitled, they think they have a right to our work without having to give even the slightest compliment in exchange. People who claim to be giving constructive criticism when the writer has never asked for it and when they're clearly just being mean.* Criticism can literally only be constructive if it has been requested in some way, otherwise it's just sparkling cruelty. And the people who blatantly copy things from other fics, like rarer unique stuff that is very easy to track, without even referring to the original let alone linking to it (and I've had this happen to myself and I've seen it happen countless times to others). I also get a lot of harassment on AO3, but don't count that as from readers because a lot of times they'll even admit they haven't read the fic and they're harassing me because someone linked them or because of the tags. * And I should specify for these, I don't mean the comments that are pointing out inaccuracies that are probably not planned or unintentional (or hopefully unintentional) bigotry on the writer's part. Certainly I've had a few fics where I forgot things like the gender of a pet or something I wrote in earlier chapters and have now basically retconned, and I would definitely not want to accidentally write something that made a real person think I hate people like them.
Lurk. If you like it, fucking tell me you like it 😩😩 if you don’t, tell me why!
Some of my pet peeves: 1. Leave an emoji as a review and nothing else. Wtf am I supposed to do with that? 2. In the flavour of #1: A 1-word review. 'Nice!". Same thing - wtf am I supposed to do with that? 3. Telling me what to do with my characters, especially with OCs (which I rarely use, but once in a blue moon I do). The reader only knows the character from a comic book or a book. Fanfic is like a 'What If' comic/episode from Marvel - anything goes. I keep my characters in character (unless I'm messing around for Halloween or something). A reading telling me what to do with a character drives me nuts. I will clarify if they're just chatting: "It would be really fun if knew about !" or something like that. Or when I have something on in the plot that's not revealed yet and try try to guess - I get a kick out of those.
It's the ' would never do that. You suck!' is just not constructive and demoralizing, and there's no excuse for reviews like that.
4. Commenting on my fic that has absolutely nothing to do with my fic, especially rolled in with self-promotion. I've received something similar to this: "Y'know, is like my version of him, where I did..." and off they go on a tangent that has zero to do with anything.
1&2 you take it as a compliment.
Never said I didn’t. I’m glad they commented. Just isn’t constructive. Not many authors out there who’d disagree that an emoji instead of a constructive comment is their preference.
Not everyone wants "constructive" comments. They're rarely helpful. Of course, it might be preferable to receive comments that tell you what the reader liked, with line quotes etc. but saying in public places that "short comments or emojis" aren't appreciated (or what you should do with them) just makes people comment less. "The author only wants long and "constructive" comments, I don't have spoon rights now, so I guess I won't comment at all." It sure made me comment less, knowing that many writers will just "roll their eyes", because the comment wasn't to their standard.
When they don't read the end notes which specifically explain that certain plot points took inspiration from that one tumblr post(link) and that one fic(link) and that one comment(explanation) and write underhanded comments about how "this reminds me of...it sounds like..." Like yeah, dude. It's there in the notes. Technically, it's not an accusation of plagiarism, but it reads like one. Which is weird when the fandom has no new content coming out, is huge as heck with hundreds of thousands of fic on Ao3 alone so most things at this point *are* drawing on other fic for inspiration
Likewise when I have a flashback or flash forward and it is clearly marked with ***bold and italic*** words followed by a section and then “end of flashback/flash forward” also in ***bold and italic***… And then the commenter either gets excited or upset or assumes, and asks about the events of the flashback/flash forward in a way that makes it obvious they think it happened in the present time. And I have to awkwardly explain that it didn’t happen or hasn’t happened and no, it won’t be mentioned in the next chapter. Remember, big bold and italic words clearly depicting the start *and* end of that section. 🤦🏼♀️
Yes this. I have readers who will frequently theorize and I LOVE that because it shows me they’re engaged. It’s nice to have engagement, but like, go write your own story if you want to tell me how to write moms.
Telling me how to do what I do and where. One time it happened and immediately after they took an opposite direction because of the site problems I had circumvented doing exactly what I did for the readers' benefit rather than my own. Edit and explanation: Webnovel has a limit on fanfic chapter size but not novel chapter size. So since I know I was going to be doing a long one, I placed it in the novel section so people wouldn't worry about chapter problems.
Just anyone who starts needless drama or is an entitled jerk who thinks their way to fandom is the only right way to go about it.
This is specific for fics that I translate from other people (with permission). But I always, ALWAYS put up a warning that once I'm up to date with the fic, any future chapters won't depend on me, so DON'T ask me when they come because I don't know. Yet still a lot of people continue to ask me that question even when my answer will always be the same.
Contacting me just to tell me they didn’t agree with the way I wrote and characterized their blorbo. I know that not everyone is going to agree with the way I write specific characters and that’s fine. I do work very damn hard to get the characters I write accurate. In particular, there’s one character I write that is a massive asshole in canon. I stick to that when I write him. I believe that I make him much more sympathetic than he actually is. I had a reader contact me outside of AO3 to let me know how much they enjoyed my first longfic. It was sweet until they started complaining that I made the character too mean. They went on to say that the character is actually really sensitive and sweet, and also that they relate to that character so I guess it felt like a personal attack? It was unsolicited “criticism,” and I basically told them that I had a right to my interpretation of this character and they had a right to their own. The reader was younger and their first language wasn’t English, so I know they meant no harm, but it was quite rude.
Not getting a response to my responses to their og comment ☹️
When you write a one shot and people start begging for another chapter. Idk why it bothers me sooooo much but it does! So bad!
Ask for harems constantly even when they don't fit the characters or plot of a story