#* comments

[technicallywrite]

I am a deeply insane possibly starved duck and I just posted a new chapter so… y’all know what to do

"i don't comment on ao3 because i don't wanna be annoying or weird" skill issue + you greatly underestimate the power dynamic here, writing multi paragraph comments is like feeding a bunch of deeply insane and possibly starved ducks at the park and watch them go completely mad over having received a piece of bread

[victorianpuckbunny]

I love their cheeky, little comments.

[justleaveacommentfest]

LOOKING AT SOME OF THE REPLIES TO A RECENT POST AND IM SEEING A LOT OF EXCUSES WHY NOT TO COMMENT.

REMEMBER:

NO EXCUSES!! JUST RESULTS!! GET OVER YOUR EXCUSES AND LEAVE THOSE COMMENTS

[brick3621]

When an author doesn’t reply to a multi-paragraph comment, it’s healthy to assume that it’s because they’re too busy wrapping it around themselves like the coziest blanket ever and rolling around on the floor giggling. Because that’s totally what I’d feel like doing.

@mousegard @honestground can you corroborate?

Gotta say I used to extensively comment on fics and not just a few words but did some fairly long detailed comments on what I liked but recently I started to get less and less replies on them despite authors (relatively popular ones) sometimes replying to others. And while I understand that author doesn’t owe me anything it did quite demotivate me from leaving as much comments. Why bother if nobody cares in the first place? I know its an unhelpful mindset but I can’t shake it. Any advices?

hi!

as an author who likes to comment on others' works but is notoriously bad at replying to comments I receive on my own works, I can guarantee that 99.99% of writers read the comments they receive and, even if they don't reply back, they love and appreciate your kind words more than you know. I know this may sound cliche and all, but I can wholeheartedly say this because it's true for me, as an author.

yes, I admit that I don't always reply to comments I receive, but it's not because I don't appreciate or care about them. I read them, mostly several times each, I screenshot them and save them in a special folder so I can always come back and read them again. there are just so many kind comments I receive that make me smile to myself for minutes even though I don't reply back. some of them actually make me shed a few tears of joy.

thing is when us authors don't reply to comments we receive, it's mostly because;

we don't know how best to respond that will let the commenters know how much we appreciate them. because if the comments are several paragraph long (we LOVE that!), and we only reply with "thank you so much", then it sounds too short for us. (I know this because I sometimes spend so long thinking about how best to respond that will let my commenters know how much I appreciate them that I sometimes end up don't respond back.)

sometimes we are overwhelmed by several comments from several readers, and responding to all of them are too overwhelming. but we read, love and appreciate each and every single one of them very dearly.

sometimes we reply to some comments and not the others, because maybe we have little free time where we can only reply to some people, or maybe there's something about some specific comments that makes us respond back. but this does not mean we don't care about comments we don't reply back.

sometimes we're simply exhausted from stuff in our lives and replying to comments take time and energy, depends on how long the comments are / how long we want our responses to be / how many comments we receive, etc

writing is hard, but sometimes finding the right words to reply back to comments can be even harder, especially when we want to write several paragraph responses back just to let them know how much we appreciate them. and unfortunately sometimes us writers just don't have enough energy left.

but rest assured that, even if we don't reply, we love and appreciate every kind comment we receive very, very much, and they help motivate us to keep writing.

when I comment on my fellow writers' works and don't get any response back, I know why (for the reasons listed above), and that's totally okay for me because I don't comment on their works just for them to thank me, I do it because I want them to know how I love and appreciate their works, and I believe they do know. and that's really all that matters for me.

so if your favorite authors don't reply to you, please don't think that it's because they "don't care" or that your comments "don't matter" to them.

I mean, of course, I can see why not getting a response back can be discouraging, especially when commenting on writers' works are so encouraged, but as a fellow commenter (yes, I'm an author and also a commenter of fics I love), I always think of it this way; fanfics are gifts we receive for free, we comment on writers' works as a way to thank them for giving us cool fics to read. we don't expect them to thank us back because they've already given us this lovely gift. we comment only because we want to let them know we love their fics. and they know.

your comments could now be saved in your favorite authors' folders and re-read by them over and over again, even if they didn't respond back. they could be smiling to themselves reading your thoughts on their works. who knows? their next 100k word fic could be motivated by you.

[fanfictionlibrary01]

Comment Challenge (May 2025)

We have a new Challenge for you! This time, the challenge is for writers and readers alike: support your favourite fanfics and fanfic authors by leaving a comment! Often times we want to show our appreciation to our favourite author, but don't know what to say - but as every author will tell you, that's not important, because every nice comment is a good comment!

Rules/Goals:

Within the month of May, leave at least 15 different comments

Be nice- the goal is to appreciate and support, not to bash others

Don't give unsolicited concrit- while well meant, it still includes critique, and some authors might feel discouraged by it. So only give concrit if the author states they are fine with it/ want it!

There are no rules about the length or elaborateness of the comments- no matter how unsure or awkward you feel with leaving comments, the important part is that you do! A small "I liked this, thanks!" is perfectly fine.

If you want to talk about this challenge with others, let yourself be inspired by comments that others have written, and/or track your progress, join our Discord Server!

[mysticdragon3md3]

[beadyeyes]

[allwaswell16]

I just want to talk about the power of commenting on fics for a minute.

I have my main fandom, but when I read in other fandoms, I don't know many of the writers. So I usually just find fics by looking through the tag I want. And if it's a tag I'm really interested in, I'll read every fic in the tag. And if there's a fic I really liked in there, I'll start reading everything by that writer.

So what this means is I'm sometimes reading fics or writers that don't have tons of hits/kudos/comments on their fics, but I found them through some obscure tag I wanted to read. And so I'll get back some really incredibly sweet replies to my comments.

But then, something even more incredible started happening. I'd be reading WIPs by some of these writers and they'd literally start writing the rest of the fic for me. They started asking me what I hoped to see happen or if I had any requests. And when the fic was finished, one of them said the only reason they kept writing the fic was for me.

Sometimes there can be such a lovely connection between the writer and the reader just because you decided to leave a comment. And sometimes you as the commenting reader can become the lone reason why a fic makes its way into the world for all the other readers who come after you.

[silence-between-seconds]

the next time you hesitate to leave a comment on a fic remember that I go back and read all the comments I get on my fic whenever I'm feeling down and it makes me feel so much better

if you leave nice comments on ao3 i love you

[victorianpuckbunny]

Hockey player comments brainrot part 2

[buginateacup]

Every single fic update there is an author trying frantically to find the right balance between a nonchalant aside of "leave a comment if you enjoyed =)" and clinging desperately to the coat tails of a random stranger, dragging along behind them on the street wailing "Please, please! I have to know what you thought! I'm desperate to talk to people about this! Ask me about the alliterative repetition! Ask me about the symbolism!"

[superbowlsunday]

comment on the new ghostbusters redlettermedia video

[silver104]

yeah sex is cool I guess

but have you ever had someone leave a comment with a paragraph-long review of your fanfic containing genuine praise, thorough criticism, and an in-depth analysis of all the lore hints you dropped that you spent ages intricately crafting

[justleaveacommentfest]

FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS MAKE COMMENT EXCUSES!!! VISIT OUR PINNED POST FOR TONS OF COMMENT RESOURCES AND REMEMBER-

NO EXCUSES JUST RESULTS!!!

[russianfig]

I would give more comments on fics, but my comments always end up as "awooga me likey" and "nose bleed pixiv elephant emote" instead of "I walk this mortal plane of day to day life to be gifted a seed of pure passion that lets me know that it's worth another day to read something like this again" kinda expression to let the author know I thoroughly enjoyed their work.