me

@funnier-as-a-system

[ID: a news headline from Hot Shot that reads: Woman is Living her Best life. But Like In Her Head / end ID]

a few days ago a coworker asked me to explain Hanukkah and I asked her if she knew what a menorah was. She said, “like the Northern Lights?”

I’m simultaneously haunted by and wild about this concept now. instead of aurora borealis, menorah borealis. menorah borealis

i’m not Jewish but now i’m also captivated by the concept of a menorah borealis, and I didn’t see anyone else drawing it. Hope you like it & hope everyone who celebrates has a lovely Hanukah. <3

Localized entirely within your windowsill?

Is leaving kudos on fanfics not common courtesy anymore?

Something I've noticed on AO3 in the last two years is the lack of kudos and comments left on fanfics.

Fanfics have an increasing number of hits, but their kudos and comments remain minimal.

I understand that leaving comments is daunting, but kudos is the easiest thing you can do to show support and appreciation for an author.

Part of me wants to blame BookTok and the commercialized consumption of books.

Readers are more demanding and impatient for content, but they're quick to move on once a book is published. It's a constant demand for 'More, more, more' without appreciating and/or supporting authors. And these readers are now getting into fanfic.

I don't want to complain because it's not productive. But if you're new and getting into fanfic: Support writers.

Support means leaving kudos on AO3, and if you're able, leaving a comment. It's simple courtesy.

It’s weird. I used to get email alerts every day and now it’s almost nothing.

I don’t want to sound entitled or like I’m complaining. I’m just baffled as to what changed. Are my fic really worth kudos? Does anyone reading them actually like what they’ve read? I don’t get comments after I finish posting—did they like the ending?

I don’t know.

It's demoralising for newer writers especially. I have multiple friends who have written great fics, but have gotten next to nothing back from their readers - and silence doesn't feel very good. No wonder so many of them have given up posting their stories. Why bother creating when silence is your reward?

I think these kinds of posts should be boosted far and wide. There's an "etiquette" to interacting with fanworks on AO3 and people often don't know, because they think in social media terms. Why "like" someone's 5 year old photo? That's creepy, after all.

But AO3 isn't social media, it's an archive and it's perfectly acceptable to kudos/comment on old works, or small fandoms, or to comment on every single thing an author posts and on every new update. Unfortunately, unless one is active in fandom communities on tumblr or reddit, or has writer friends, they'll hardly ever come across the unwritten "rules" about giving kudos, leaving comments or when/how to provide constructive criticism. And they'll just default to "social media behavior". I know I did, before I learned better.

I've been in this space for about 2 years now and the difference in how I interacted with ao3 writers at first, as compared to now, is stark! I've gone from radio silence to pretty much leaving kudos to almost everything I read, and I comment most of the time (though that is dependent on whether I follow a series' updates regularly or whether I batch-read chapters - even readers take a hiatus sometimes).

I've had authors reply that they pushed out an extra chapter because of a kind comment I made, or that I made them laugh/smile/grin. I've subscribed to "dead" fics only to find out (via automated notification and to my absolute delight) that their writers came back months or years after hiatus. Every interaction mattered, in a small insignificant way, but it always felt to me that it mattered more than my standard upvote, like, retweet, because fics themselves (usually) matter more to their authors than a hasty vacation pic on one's social media does. Fics take time and effort, they take commitment, they take something personal from us every time.

Be generous, people. This isn't social media, kudos are not a "seal of approval" that you need to carefully curate. Nice and/or thoughtful comments make someone's day. Be generous and I guarantee that you won't regret it.

That little ♥️ means so much to creators! It takes a lot of effort to create something and share it with you. We are real people, not AI. When you read a fic or enjoy an artwork, please take a moment to tap that little kudos/like button and you might just impact someone in a positive way more than you could imagine. Spread the love!

I have to agree with everything above. I’m not saying the fic that made me want to stop writing was just because only 1.75% of hits got kudos, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say how much that hurt, especially for imo one of the best fics I’ve ever written that I was already barely able to write due to such small kudos to hits ratios lately. I get that it might not have been something everyone was into, but damn. It made me feel like shit. I’m so grateful for everyone who has supported me over the last few years - especially those who have created art for my fics and read and left kudos on everything - but I think the sting of having my writing be unliked by so many people has been really hard to get over. It shot my confidence and I’ve had trouble writing ever since. And over the years, I have known several writers who have stopped writing altogether because of this, and even left the fandom because of it. I do not plan to do either, but to be honest, it has been a struggle not to be able to do something I really love doing because it just made me feel so bad to do it.

I wish so much that readers didn’t use kudos as a measure of how much they like something. I wish so much that it meant, “Hey, it’s so cool that you worked so hard on this so I could devour more content about my favorite ship without paying for it,” rather than, “This was amazing, one of the most amazing things I’ve ever read, so I’m going to reward you with the coveted heart of approval I only use to let the most special of writers know they’re the best because they deserve it more than everyone else.” This can create competition amongst writers when there really shouldn’t be. And more than anything, I wish I could just turn kudos off altogether, but I can’t because every single kudo I get lifts my spirits just a little, and that’s a really hard feeling to walk away from, even though I suspect most of them come from “guest” bots.

It is a dark truth, and writers aren’t really allowed to talk about this because we are supposed to be so grateful for every single heart, and talking about this makes us come across as entitled. We provide a free service for our readers, and I consider a kudo to be a way to acknowledge that, and it costs readers absolutely nothing! In the US, we leave money in tip jars for practically everything. Kudos are tips you don’t have to pay for. And it’s not like anyone’s keeping track and judging readers for leaving hearts for fics that might not be the pinnacle of greatness in their opinion. That’s what bookmarks are for, and they can be made private. However, people do judge fics for not having that many kudos and some will skip over fics if the kudos-to-hits ratio is too low. So instead of rewarding only the very best fics with kudos, not leaving kudos actually hurts writers. Not to mention the very personal cost of putting ourselves out there and making ourselves completely vulnerable for everyone to judge us against our fellow writers. Many writers write about very personal things, and tbh, not getting kudos can feel like it’s not just our writing being rejected, but ourselves.

So if anyone wants to accuse writers of feeling entitled for being upset about not getting enough kudos, please consider how entitled readers who don’t leave kudos are for reading our free labor and not clicking a freaking button (that costs them absolutely nothing) in acknowledgment of the service we happily provide, and how ungrateful they are for not appreciating what we do. We don’t have to post our writing. We could just “write for ourselves,” but we don’t; we share what we write with our readers because that give and take relationship should be rewarding for both writers and readers. But not getting kudos does more to discourage writers from writing altogether than to encourage them to provide more content. You wouldn’t pay for a fancy coffee or overpriced cocktail drink without leaving a dollar in the tip jar, would you?

So at the very least, I wish people would stop making writers feel guilty for feeling this way, and I wish writers wouldn’t buy into this way of thinking rather than valuing all of our hard work and countless hours that go into writing fanfic. Our feelings are valid; we’re allowed to feel like shit when our hard work and vulnerability go unacknowledged for the mere reason that it was judged against someone else’s work and found wanting. Wouldn’t most readers feel that way if it was the other way around?

ALT

DEFEND YOUR FUTURE.

Keep reading

She Holds a Candle

Fandom: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff, Kristoff & Sven, Ryder Nattura/Sven
Characters: Kristoff, Anna, Transfemme!Sven, Ryder Nattura
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Flirting, Second Chances, Father-Daughter Relationship, Teen Romance, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Trans Female Character, Queer Themes, Gender Dysphoria, gender euphoria, Single dad Kristoff, Kristoff Lets Down His Guard, Pansexual Ryder Nattura, Ryder Nattura is a Sweetheart, Mild Transphobic Bullying
Summary:

Kristoff goes to Oaken's Bath & Sauna Works to buy a gender-affirming Valentine's Day gift for his 14-year-old daughter Stephanie (trans femme!Sven), who's barely spoken since her crush broke her heart and humiliated her in front of the whole school. He's lost until a salesperson named Anna helps him find his way around the store.

What's the harm in a little flirtation? She's only being nice so he'll spend more money, anyway. It's all good fun until a candle gets involved.

All Chapters + Bonus Chapter Now Posted on AO3!

Super cute fan art of Stephanie and Ryder created by @99goosebumps

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Photo of Stephanie's happily ever after by @99goosebumps

Frozen x Beauty & The Beast Yuletide Exchange 2024

It's happening! And sign-ups open soon, so mark your calendars.

Sign-Ups Open: Friday 9/13 (if not sooner)

Sign-Ups Close: Monday 10/7

Assignments Out: 10/8 (or as sooner)

Assignments Due: Monday 12/23

For those who don't know, the Yuletide Exchange is an annual event for Frozen and Beauty & the Beast fans to create and gift fan works to fellow Frozen and/or BATB creators. This means writers, artists, mood board enthusiasts, etc. How it works: everyone who would like to create/receive a fan work will sign up on AO3, stating what kind of gift you'd like to receive and what kind of work you'd like to create. More details to come!

❄️🌹❄️🌹❄️🌹❄️🌹❄️🌹❄️🌹❄️🌹❄️🌹❄️🌹❄️🌹

I know it seems early considering it's only September, but we wanted to give the creators time to work on their creations. Fall is a busy time, what with October festivities and Nanowrimo, so we hope it will be enough time so more people are able to sign up. We're also not going to be hosting any other fall events this year, though @firawren is hosting a BATB event this month, so please message her for more details if you're interested. (BATB Week)

PLEASE REBLOG SO EVERYONE CAN GET READY TO PARTICIPATE!!! Please and thank you :)

DM me or co-mod @paigebstorey if you have any questions.

Beautiful banner made by @sunflowers-and-sandwiches!

Frozen x Beauty & the Beast Yuletide

I know, I know, it's only August! But we're trying to plan ahead for this year's Yuletide event. But first, we wanted to see if anyone is interested so creators will have enough time to work on their gifts.

Awesome! If you have any questions, please feel free to send and ask or DM to me or co-mod @paigebstorey.

Originally posted by too-many-disney-gifs