Where no bird flies by my window...

Jen, she/her, occasional fic writer when I can find the time :)

[lluvichan]

[thepinkpestilence]

now imagine a au with these three working together as home renovators

[trekscribbles]

This week, I read a fic that was around 20 years old, which had originally been posted on the author's personal website and which she added to AO3 a few years ago. She listed her email address with the fic, so after I finished reading, I sent her an email saying how much I enjoyed the story, how much I appreciated the work and effort she obviously put into it, and thanked her for uploading it to AO3. She responded the next day and thanked me for my message, then said she had a few more stories in the same series that she hadn't gotten around to uploading. I checked this morning--she added a 35,000 word novella and thanked me in the summary.

👏 comment 👏 on 👏 old 👏 fics 👏

[sgatazmy]

I wrote SGA 20 years ago. Then I took a long break with an occasional story now and then.

I came back to the SGA fandom after a wonderful comment on an older story of mine. I’m now friends with that person, I found a whole community, and I have posted maybe 30 new stories since.

That said, as my fandom gets quieter including less stories posted and less readers/commenters, my motivation to write has dwindled. It may not seem fair as I do write for me, but the community is such a huge piece, too. Comments bring me so much joy that I get a burst of excitement for writing my next story. If I feel alone, a lot of that joy dissipates.

That’s why that comment drew me back. It was like the lights coming back on, saying, “People are here. Come back home.” So I did.

[herpsandbirds]

[azaablue]

the best fanfiction you've ever read was written by a woman in her 40s before she made dinner for her kids. it was written by a teenager after school when they should've been studying for a history test. and a barista came up with the idea while they cleaned the espresso machine and busser fact-checked it on their break and the post-doc edited between writing grant proposals and the nurse apologized for typos in the notes after a long shift and behind every drabble and one-shot and multi-chapter fic there is a person with a wonderful and interesting and chaotic life and it is such a privilege that we get to be apart of it because they decided to do this thing we all share, for fun.

[peachsuhai]

[theotherwesley]

I love baby foxes. Nothing has ever had less of an idea.

buffering

[theotherwesley]

feather obtained, purpose unclear

leaf obtained, purpose unclear

ground:

unclear

sibling obtained, purpose: biting

[legsdemandias]

Commenting fanfiction is the easiest thing in the world once you start doing it. 

[legsdemandias]

I leave a comment on every single fic I read. Sometimes when I read published books I go and leave a comment somewhere the author can find it. Granted, I literally majored in ‘leaving comments on fics’ (English Education), but once you start doing it it just becomes second nature. Now you’re gonna go to the Ozymandias school of leaving comments: 

Problem: I can’t leave kudos again.

Beginner: This is a second/third/fourth Kudos

Advanced: This is my second/third/fortieth time reading this, I still love it so much. Here are a few new things I noticed. I like the way you personally do x, y, z compared to other authors I’ve read (in this ship/genre/fandom).

Problem: I don’t know what to say :(

Beginner: Just list what you did to read this fic. “I stayed up late reading this”, “I read this on a crowded train”, “this kept me company while sick”. 

Advanced: X,Y,Z parts made me get butterflies, and I had a physical reaction to this part of the story, I squealed outloud when characters did x,y,z. I blushed at this part. I laughed out loud here. Whatever. 

Problem: I’m embarrassed to leave a comment (what if I annoy the author?)

Beginner: Short answer: you won’t EVER annoy the author (unless you’re needlessly mean) But to start, be generic, you don’t have to spill your soul in the comments section. “I liked this” “I enjoyed reading this” “nice fic”.

Advanced: This really meant a lot to me that you wrote this. This is something I feel like I’ve always wanted to read. This fic hit me in all the right places. Etc. 

Problem: I don’t know how to express myself/my experience 

Beginner: My beginners go to is to highlight a line, put that in your comment and say “i liked this” or to identify basic emotions you had while reading and comment those “this made me happy” “this part made me sad” “i almost cried” “you made me laugh”  Advanced: “Highlighted line” This line made me smile because it has to do with character development/it’s really romantic/it’s so unique/it’s moving. Sometimes I don’t highlight a line at all, I just talk about the stuff I’ve noticed were unique to the fic. “I love the way you did this particular thing with this character”. 

[toybeluga]

This? This is an amazing post. This is the Captain Awkward of commenting posts—it addresses all your fears directly and gives you actionable scripts for each one.

[whetstonefires]

yeah i can’t speak for others but if you Cannot Words but want to comment on my fic, finding a bit you really liked, copypasting it into the comment window, and labeling it something like ‘wow’ or ‘best’ or ‘this’ or w/e goes a really long way

[shrimp-gender]

I use chains of <3<3<3<3<3<3 or heart emojis when I can’t make words work but want to show my appreciation

[butt-rice]

i wish there was a way to say "you're right, but this is really ineffective and even counterproductive messaging to anyone who doesn't already agree with you" without sounding like an asshole

[kiefbowl]

thank god I got whatever's wrong with me that isn't the kind of wrong with me that would have me falling in love with an ai chatbot or whatever the fuck

[verseof-vera]

👋 What are your top five WaltJesse scenes?

hey!

Their entire scene in ABQ, when he goes to look for Jesse.

2. Their exchanged glance in their final scene.

3. Their hug in confession

4. Jesse giving that watch to Walt on his birthday.

5. In Fly, when he’s trying to put Walt to sleep.

[brainrotcake]

"He gets cancer. Time's running out. Mid-life crisis. He acts up. He steps out. And the wife, she catches him. I mean, it's a story as old as time."

[minipliny]

Seen today on walk peace and love on planet earth

[hapalopus]

[kaibacorpintern]

Not OTP nor NOTP but a magical third thing: I’m indifferent to your ship but your fanart fucking slaps

[mysterycat-official]

I lowkey hate when programs talk to me in a friendly way. "don't worry, nearly there!" Shut up. It should say "loading 64.3% completed. Do not turn off device" and absolutely nothing else. You arent my friend you are computer. Act like it

[tearlessrain]

making friends via fandom is inherently hilarious because in many ways it's like a regular friendship and sometimes you'll share stuff that's going on in your lives and offer support and talk about food or pets or random cultural stuff because you live on opposite sides of the damn planet, but also some of your interactions are like "hello beloved friend whom I cherish deeply, I have brought you a deceptively platonic gift of lovingly crafted star wars porn"

[copperbadge]

I just received an email from my building management company which opens

On Monday, from 1:30 PM to 1:37 PM, several residents have volunteered to host a brief tutorial in the laundry room for anyone interested in learning more about proper use of the equipment.

That is a leviathan passing beneath the ice of my peaceful fishing hut if ever I saw one.

The passive-aggressive nature of declaring it will take only seven minutes, but precisely seven minutes, for people to actually learn how to use the laundry room is amazing (I'm figuring five minutes to present and two minutes for questions).

The sad thing is, I've lived here long enough to know this informative presentation is absolutely necessary.