#the comment fest

[mega-aulover]

I wrote a thing…for Comment Fest,- a Canon AU please go and read Igniting Sparks : A what if trope - what if nobody watched the games and the 74th games were the last ones.

I should’ve called this the voyage home but instead it’s called igniting sparks here’s a snippet-

“While there will be no press at your arrival, the residents are quite excited to see you today. So, I beg you to please act like dignified children. You will be staying in the Mayor’s Mansion for the next week. The homes in the Victor’s Village are nowhere near sanitary.”

Haymitch snorted.

“Your house is in a particular state,” Effie said. “We thought at first to house the children there with you, but we discovered that it wasn’t fit for pigs.”

“You should know,” Haymitch muttered.

Katniss snorted out loud which earned her a deadly glare from Effie. She turned her head and noticed how Peeta's shoulders shook. His face was red, as he tried not to laugh at Haymitch's jab.

Effie smiled tightly as she spoke, “The children will stay with the Mayor…”

“Um,” Peeta began. “Wouldn't it make sense for us just to stay with our families until we know where we want to live.”

“Well that certainly is a good suggestion, however…” Effie however was cut off by Haymitch.

“The kid is right, Trinket,” Haymitch said, pouring some brown alcohol into his cup of tea. “I bet Sweetheart is anxious to see her sister.”

All eyes turned to Katniss. She nodded. Her worry shouldn't have been Peeta, it should have been seeing her sister.

"I…” Effie stammered. “...forgive me Katniss, I did not consider you would be anxious to be reunited with your loved ones.”

“I'd like to see my brothers. I became an uncle while we were away.”

“I wish we had the media present, that reunion would have been so lovely,” Effie sighed.

Katniss was glad there wouldn't be any reporters present. While she did volunteer for her sister, Katniss did not want the specter of the Hunger Games to dictate her life. She loathed the public spectacle the ex-President tried to make of her life and Peeta's. Thankfully, the man had become gravely ill right as Katniss gave Peeta the nightlock berries, trying to save both of their lives.

“Fine, the children can stay with their families. You, however, will stay here with me on this train!” Effie stood up and triumphantly walked out of the dining car.

Haymitch turned pale.

Katniss couldn't help herself and laughed. Upon hearing her laughter, Peeta laughed as well.

“Brats!” Haymitch muttered under his breath before leaving them behind.

Peeta wiped his face as they stopped laughing. “Man, he’s got it bad.”

Katniss frowned, when Peeta wiggled his eyebrows. She wasn’t following what Peeta was suggesting.

“Come on, you can see it right?”

“See what?”

“How much they like each other!” Peeta exclaimed, rolling his eyes as if it was obvious.

“Like each other?” Katniss couldn't help her astonishment. “They hate each other. They're always bickering!”

“Exactly, they like each other, but they don’t want to admit it,” Peeta said, picking up his cup of hot chocolate and sipping it.

Katniss looked down at her plate, a little weirded out about Haymitch and Effie. It was too weird. Yet again, it couldn’t be true, but they sure did watch each other. Katniss sighed.

“So what do you think about what Effie said?”

“I don’t know,” Katniss replied. Truthfully she wasn’t sure what to make out of the idea of living in another District. She was struggling with how to bring up what happened in the Arena with Peeta.

“I’m going to talk to my family, see what they say…maybe you could talk to yours too.”

“What if your family wants to leave the District and mine doesn't?” The question flew out of Katniss's mouth. Although she was confused about her feelings, the idea of leaving him behind and being separated from him didn’t feel right.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe we can do it together, you know, talk to them at the same time?”

Katniss nodded. She didn’t say much afterward, only stared out as the scenery flashed by the windows. They were almost home. She could see the blue crest of the mountains and the rolling hills of the woods she hunted in as she drew closer to home.

Effie and Haymitch were once more bickering. Peeta shot her a look, and she rolled her eyes. The train began to slow.

“Children, children, please gather round, we are approaching the station. Katniss dear, why didn’t you choose one of the lovely things Cinna designed for you?”

“This is my maw’s dress,” Katniss said. “It’s special.”

“Oh, I never realized you were so sentimental.” Effie sighed, “You’re just like a piece of coal put under pressure that turned into a precious pearl.”

“Some Capitol education you got, pearls don’t come from coal,” Haymitch snorted into his flask.

Effie reached out and snatched Haymitch’s flask away. “Whilst you are living on this train with me, I have one rule, No drinking.”

Katniss turned her face away. She wasn’t going to get in trouble with Effie again or Haymitch for that matter.

“As much as the dress is sentimental, I implore you, to please put on one of the outfits Cinna designed for you.”

Katniss wanted to protest but she caught Haymitch shaking his head no. “Fine,” Katniss muttered.

—-

Please go and read some really good stuff is on there!

[feedthefandomfest]

Comment Bingo: Old Fic Edition

Very simple rules: connect 5 squares in a line by commenting on fics that suit the task in each square

Very simple goals: encourage readers to comment on older fics; encourage fandom writers to KEEP WRITING

STEPS:

Download Bingo Card HERE (png) or HERE (jpg) or HERE (pdf)

Complete the tasks on the card, marking off each as you go, until you've completed 5 in a line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal; NO double-dipping; center ♥️ is a free space)

POST your winning card (or list your filled squares) and tag @feedthefandomfest! Glory in your victory.

SEARCH TIPS:

This card requires some familiarity with AO3's search filters. Once you've narrowed your results according to fandom/ship/additional tags, certain squares require you to sort the results by Date Updated, which is the default. Other squares require you to search for fics posted within a certain range of years, which you can do by scrolling on the search menu to More Options:

Note that to enter a date range, you must format the date as shown.

REWARD:

✨ victory badges ✨

New badge for this card, but here are examples from previous cards:

Tag me when you earn a bingo (or double, triple, quadruple... FULL CARD bingo) and I'll reblog a shiny badge with your name on it to commemorate the win.

FAQ:

Can I comment on tumblr or only on AO3?

Either one is great! This card especially is more designed with AO3 in mind, but some can be adjusted to suit tumblr as well, so I say go for it. Tumblr fics deserve love, too.

Can one comment count toward multiple squares if the fic fits more than one category?

Since the goal is for as many fics to receive comments as possible, try to comment on a different fic for each square.

Is there a time limit?

Nope! Take your time or set your own deadline, whatever works for you. This blog is still in its early experimental stage, so feedback welcome. Play around and let me know what you like and what might be added/changed—including ideas for squares on future cards!

Do I have to record progress on the actual card?

Nope! If it’s easier to keep track in a different way, that’s fine. This is all very honor system, so if you say you earned a Bingo, we’ll call it a win 🎉

Some people have been tracking not just completed tasks, but the fics they read along the way, so that when they post a bingo, they can also promote the fics/authors in a little rec list. Not required, but definitely cool to see!

Can I adjust the task in a particular square to suit my comfort level?

Of course! If you deliver something in the spirit of the task, then it’s all good. Use your best judgement in constructing a comment that will make the author smile, and you can consider it a job well done.

In general, so long as each square has produced at least one comment, you’re golden and I salute you 🫡

Happy commenting!!

[justleaveacommentfest]

WE'RE BACK BABEYYYYYYYYYYY

[robthegoodfellow]

Comment Bingo

Very simple rules: connect 5 squares in a line by completing the task in each square

Very simple goals: encourage readers to comment on fics; encourage fandom writers to KEEP WRITING

STEPS:

Download Bingo Card HERE (png) or HERE (jpg) or HERE (pdf)

Complete the tasks on the card, marking off each as you go, until you've completed 5 in a line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal; NO double-dipping; kudos ♥️ is a free space)

REBLOG/POST your winning card (or list your filled squares) and tag @feedthefandomfest! Glory in your victory.

PROPOSED REWARD:

Bingo Badge!

@ihni and I thought it'd be fun to receive something commemorating a win (who gets bingo first isn't the point—ALL BINGOS are wins), in which case, there could be different tiers of achievement:

Bingo Badge (one line filled)

Double Bingo Badge (two lines filled)

ELITE Bingo Badge?? (ALL squares filled—for the ambitious, or at least for @ihni who will prob eat this card for breakfast)

I can make a badge with my limited Canva skills, but we thought it'd be cool if fandom artists came up with different designs? So if any artists wanna contribute, let me know.

If enough people are into this, I'm open to planning a more organized event, but figured this would be fun to try out for now.

no pressure, just tagging anyone who seemed interested: @sanguine-tenshi, @adelacreations, @redfeathered, @heartbreak-sandwich, @magniloquent-raven, @sepulchralsmile, @inquisitiveadventuress, @mrprettywhenhecries, @1jet2unknown, @iravenish, @six-demon-bag, @billyharringson, @suometar, @tciddaemina, @phoenix-burns-wildly, @lafey, @doctor-of-war-and-heartache, @supercomplicatedperson, @g-arya, @hesitantsorrows, @soap-lady, @fan-written, @we-want-mini-mini, @komatsuna-yuki, @calico-kiwi, @pinkittwice, @puppylove24680, @starcourtjesus

P.S. To facilitate unhinged liveblog comments, install the AO3 Floating Comment Box!

if you have any questions/concerns/suggestions, let me know! 💛

[pathetic-life-form]

With comments, it can sometimes be hard to know what to say, but as an author who adores every comment I’ve ever received, I can confirm how much it means to writers, and I’m so happy @justleaveacommentfest is encouraging people to write even more of them! If you still feel lost, here are some things to try:

A string of emojis. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ is a perfectly valid comment!

HMHHKJJFGJD THIS IS AMAZING/INCREDIBLE/WHATEVER NICE WORDS YOU HAVE TO SAY

"AO3 wont let me leave more kudos so here are more: ❤️❤️❤️❤️"

(incoherent excited screaming)

Pick the part of the story that made you feel the strongest emotions. Let them know how absolutely adorable it was to see the characters holding hands, or how you nearly burst into tears on public transport while reading their fic and are thankful for it

"Reread!" comments! Let them know this is the second, third, fourth, or millionth time you've come back to reread their fic! It brings an extra level of joy to authors to know that their fics are worth reading not once, but twice, or even more!

Quote a favorite line and tell them how it made you laugh/cry/stare at your screen in awe and then reread the same line three times on account of its brilliance.

Literally any other compliment you can think of

Any combination of or all of the above!

So yes. Smash your face into the keyboard, highlight a favorite moment, or tell them it's 4 am in your timezone but you absolutely could not stop reading because it was so good. It means the world to hear positive feedback from readers, and it's encouragement for authors to share more works in the future!

[doodlewizardry]

Have you ever wanted to find your old Ao3 comments? Easily keep track of which (and how many) fics you've commented on? Rediscover a fic that you left a time capsule of a gushing essay on?

Well, you can! And it's simple! (* Note: it only works for comments written after you turn this on.)

Go to your Preferences:

There's a checkbox labelled "Turn off copies of your own comments". This is selected by default. If you deselect it (and save your preferences) then you receive an email for every comment you leave.

But I don't want to get my inbox flooded by Ao3!

Understandable! Luckily, most email clients allow you to set up rules for incoming mail depending on their sender and contents. For instance (using Gmail), I've made it so that these emails skip the inbox, are marked as read, and moved to a label I call my "Comment Collection".

The result? A complete, organised and fully-searchable repository of any comments you leave from this point onwards! Search by fic name, author, date, that one sentence you vividly remember leaving!

I've set up other rules, too, like starring emails that are replies to my comments - I'm always excited to receive them!

I love this system, and I think it's motivated me to leave more comments. I hope that others find it useful too. Happy commenting!

Original preferences trick from this Reddit thread. Tagging @justleaveacommentfest, which motivated me to write this post!

[evil-robot-cat]

Thinking about how it's @justleaveacommentfest and how AO3 is down today, made me feel like sharing a little something.

When I bind my own fanfics into book form, at the end of the book I include the comments. If someday there is no longer an AO3 (or the more likely scenario, that in a spell of depression I delete everything again), I can still go back to the book and see that other people read my stories, and felt moved enough to share something with me.

I looove the book-report-style long ones, but one of my favorite comments is just seven words long. While writing the chapters, I would always go back to it and hope that one particular reader was still following along. When I posted the final chapter, they left a very satisfying comment - exactly two words. 🤭

That's how important a comment is. 💖

[lyliah7]

Leaving a comment makes me fucking anxious and for some (stupid) reason I always feel guilty leaving a short comment so I often just skip commenting. But you know what? @justleaveacommentfest motivated me to get over that and it feels so fucking good to leave comments on fics I enjoy. So far I've posted, I think, 3 comments today? Which, sure, isn't a lot, but for me it's huge and it's stressing me out but I will keep doing it because authors fucking deserve it

Thank you fanfic authors for sharing your work with us and making us smile (or cry) with your works 🤍

[rainbowcatz123]

I love making Monster High-style puns. I’ve been trying to think of music-related ones bc Monster Fest, and so far I’ve come up with Melanie Mortinez and Chappell Groan with their songs “Scarousel”, “Haunt To Go”, and “Good Luck, Ghoul” respectively. I usually come up with these while playing with my dolls, and I giggle every time I say them.

[kindahoping4forever]

📸: Christian Sarkine

[feedthefandomfest]

Comment Bingo (Original Edition)

Very simple rules: connect 5 squares in a line by completing the task in each square

Very simple goals: encourage readers to comment on fics; encourage fandom writers to KEEP WRITING

(reposted so a cleaned up version links back here rather than my main blog)

STEPS:

Download Bingo Card HERE (png) or HERE (jpg) or HERE (pdf)

Complete the tasks on the card, marking off each as you go, until you've completed 5 in a line (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal; NO double-dipping; kudos ♥️ is a free space)

POST your winning card (or list your filled squares) and tag @feedthefandomfest! Glory in your victory.

REWARD:

✨ victory badges ✨

Tag me when you earn a bingo (or double, triple, quadruple... FULL CARD bingo) and I'll reblog a shiny badge with your name on it to commemorate the win.

FAQ:

Can I comment on tumblr or only on AO3?

Either one is great! The tags are drawn from AO3, but most can be adjusted to suit tumblr as well, so I say go for it. Tumblr fics deserve love, too.

Can one comment count toward multiple squares if the fic fits more than one category?

Since the goal is for as many fics to receive comments as possible, try to comment on a different fic for each square.

Is there a time limit?

Nope! Take your time or set your own deadline, whatever works for you. This blog is still in its early experimental stage, so feedback welcome. Play around and let me know what you like and what might be added/changed—including ideas for squares on future cards!

Do I have to record progress on the actual card?

Nope! If it’s easier to keep track in a different way, that’s fine. This is all very honor system, so if you say you earned a Bingo, we’ll call it a win 🎉

Some people have been tracking not just completed tasks, but the fics they read along the way, so that when they post a bingo, they can also promote the fics/authors in a little rec list. Not required, but definitely cool to see!

Can I adjust the task in a particular square to suit my comfort level?

Of course! If you deliver something in the spirit of the task, then it’s all good. Use your best judgement in constructing a comment that will make the author smile, and you can consider it a job well done.

In general, so long as each square has produced at least one comment, you’re golden and I salute you 🫡

Happy commenting!!

[justleaveacommentfest]

JUST LEAVE A COMMENT FEST MASTERPOST

DAILY THEMES DETAILS

HELPFUL COMMENT RESOURCES

FLOATING AO3 COMMENT BOX

BINGO CARD FROM LAST FEST AND LOTS OF COMMENT RESOURCES

HELPFUL COMMENT STARTERS

GUIDE TO LEAVING LONG AND DETAILED COMMENTS

FIC AND COMMENT TRACKING TEMPLATE

FIC AND COMMENT TRACKING TEMPLATE FOR SUMMER 2024

FIC RANDOMIZER TOOL

MORE TO COME!

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

For @justleaveacommentfest (starting in a few days' time) I made my own bingo card! I did a bingo thing last December with this fic hunt but decided to make my own for fun and not at all procrastination.

Feel free to use/share. I'm going to try to get a full bingo each day for the comment fest. Plain text under the cut and a few resources for leaving comments!

Plain text:

Fanfic Reader Bingo

B1 - Angst I1 - Fluff N1 - Crack fic G1 - Major Character Death O1 - Gen fic B2 - Under 50 kudos I2 - No comments until now N2 - <100 works for the ship G2 - WIP updated <1 week ago O2 - WIP updated >6+ months ago B3 - New to you fandom I3 - New to you ship N3 - Free space G3 - New to you author O3 - New to you trope B4 - Time travel I4 - Femslash N4 - Canon compliant G4 - Original character-centric O4 - Person of color main character B5 - Author's first work I5 - Under 1,000 words N5 - Neurodivergent main character G5 - Over 100,000 words O5 - Written for a fest or challenge

Helpful comment starters

Fanfiction commenting guide

How to praise authors and influence fics

How to use AO3 tag search

[jadelapis]

I wanted to say that I managed to overcome my social anxiety and leave an (anonymous) comment on a work this week. That was one of my goals this year (along with possibly publishing some fanfiction to ao3). So thank you, comment fest for giving me the excuse courage to do so.

I hope to leave more comments in the future. Hopefully at least one more

[elwenyere]

Crafting Comments on Fics

So with Comment Fest approaching - and with the possibility of bot-generated comments undermining the value of reader-writer engagement - I thought it might be helpful to provide a short explanation of some different approaches I use in crafting comments, in order to identify a few places to get started for anyone who has wanted to leave more (or more detailed) comments but who feels unsure how to get going. 

This is far from an exhaustive list, and the categories are designed to allow for a mix-and-match construction with varying levels of development (from basic to more elaborate). At the heart of it, I think of commenting as a practice of paying attention to what I notice in a story and then crafting language to share those observations with the writer. So each of these categories starts from something we might notice when we read.

1. Affect: how the fic affected you/made you feel

This is a great place to start if commenting feels intimidating, because you’re drawing from your own emotional responses. A basic template might be something like “_____ made me ________.” You can pick a particular moment (the scene with the tooka infestation, the kiss in the Denny’s parking lot, the moment we realize character x was dead the whole time, etc.) or focus on the fic as a whole; and you can describe the effect in simple terms (made me cry, smile, laugh, feel soft, etc.) or extravagant ones (made me want to roll myself into the sea, made me feel like I had ascended to a new astral plane, shook me so deeply it registered a 10.3 on the Richter scale). The idea is to take one or more responses you had to the fic and let the writer know what they were/what about the story produced them. 

2. Memory: what from the fic has stuck with you

If a story has an especially strong effect on you, you might also let the author know what particular moments, lines, or images are going to linger in your mind after you finish reading. After identifying the detail(s) you want to flag (if you were going to bookmark this fic with a note to remind Future You which one it is, what image or scene or plot premise or line of dialogue would go in the “the one with the ___________” slot?), you can describe the way it’s sticking with you in general terms (I’m still thinking about it, chewing on it, rotating it like a Hot Pocket in a microwave), or you can point to some of the reasons why it’s sticking with you (it captures character x’s whole deal so well, it reminds me of y moment in the film/tv show/comic, it crystallizes a larger theme in the story so effectively). 

3. Appreciation: what in the fic seems beautiful, artful, striking

In this approach you’re giving a writer a sense of what stood out to you aesthetically about the story: the moments that made you feel like “put a frame around that fucker because I want to keep staring at it.” This category can feel tricky because there might be terminology specific to the form that we’re not familiar with, so it can feel hard to describe what exactly makes a moment strike us as well-crafted. But we might think about the appreciation approach as having a basic template: “_____ is so ________.” The first slot can be either general (the whole story, a larger scene, the way the author writes dialogue or description or a major character) or very specific (copying and pasting a particular line or passage, identifying a pattern of imagery, pointing out the way the author narrates a specific kind of experience). And the second slot can be just one adjective (beautiful, visceral, unsettling, powerful, stunning, lyrical) or a more elaborate evaluation (so effective at conveying emotions, so hard-hitting after the slow build-up, so vivid I feel like I’m actually there). 

4. Discovery: what the fic showed you/made you think about

Sometimes you read a fic that makes you think about the media/the ship/the characters in a new way, and that’s a really powerful thing to share with the writer. As with the other approaches, you can frame this in terms of the fic as a whole or pull out particular lines or plot points, and you can either describe the effect on your thinking in general terms (this changed my brain chemistry, this blew my mind, this is canon for me now) or in specific ones (I’d never thought about x moment in the film that way before, but now I’m going to think about it that way every time; the line where character x says y was like a lightbulb moment for me - it clarified so much about x’s motivations; I would never have thought about this show as being about z theme, but after reading this fic, I’m seeing z everywhere). 

------

So there you have it: a non-exhaustive list of things we notice about stories and some ways to talk about that. I hope it’s helpful. And of course, when in doubt or when pressed for energy, a string of emojis, a keyboard smash, or an all-caps “I LOVED THIS!!!” are also wonderful ways to share a little love with fic writers.

[squoobest]

guess who learned how to OOB- erm. i mean got VIP passes at grand festival