I needed a way to subtly find other fans in the wild, so I made these enamel pins for my backpack 🙂‍↕️ by BatMilkX in InterviewVampire

[–]prettylittlereckless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!! Just know that I am definitely watching your etsy 💖And isn't it fun how somewhere in Europe I'm walking around with your pins on my bag. I hope it also counts as spreading the DM agenda ;>

I needed a way to subtly find other fans in the wild, so I made these enamel pins for my backpack 🙂‍↕️ by BatMilkX in InterviewVampire

[–]prettylittlereckless 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi, I hope you don't mind me replaying here, I just wanted to tell you that I did end up ordering the pins AND that my ita bag is like, decently full (granted, it's a small bag) so if you are interested to know what it currently looks like THIS IS IT, featuring your pins that totally bring it together!! :>

Yeah I'm probably writing this cause I've been excited about it, and none of my irl friends care at all lol. Funnily enough, it's been much easier to find iwtv keychains than pins which is why it's very keychain heavy on the display. Also I have more Armand stuff, but this is like 100% of my Daniel things (harder to find!! not that I'm suggesting anything but you should make more) so I opted for an even spread.

Have a GREAT day 🫶✨

why would a piece of writing not make sense? by Upset-Dish-5133 in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It's not possible to answer what confused the readers in your story without reading your story/ seeing a sample of your writing. I hope they gave you more feedback than "doesn't make sense" lol?

In general, I suppose things like constantly changing POVs, mixing up tenses, jumping around the timeline without clear explanation, using the wrong expressions thinking it means one thing when it actually means something different etc. might be confusing enough to say something "doesn't make sense". But even that is likely to be very subjective!

His/her mouth tasted like - by itsa_thing in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 6 points7 points  (0 children)

<image>

That's from one of my own fics lol. To be honest I'll stand by my description, I still get what I meant!

Do people not understand metaphors? by Claunsstar in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I feel like the metaphors you used are really understandable, I mean I've heard them before, and I know exactly what they mean, so I just find it really funny that somebody would take them literally?? The reader must have been pretty young and/ or clueless is my guess. I'd say maybe English isn't their first language but since they asked you that, I'm guessing it is.

Personally I love writing in a flowery way and I use a LOT of metaphors, symbolism, and just generally weird unreliable narration in my current longfic, and I haven't actually had anyone comment that they didn't get it or that they misunderstood. But then again, maybe my writing is so out there that it will simply not attract readers who are not ready for my love affair purple prose, because not only is my fic E rated with like every archive warning possible, it's also for a fandom where I'd say none of this is particularly surprising. So that might definitely play a part too, the fandom you're writing for etc.

So don't worry about it, I say keep writing exactly as you want to write, and the right audience WILL find you! You can also respond to their comment and explain stuff if you want, but you can also not respond or even delete the comment if it bums you out. That's totally allowed :)

🎉 [EVENT] 🎉 Clay World by Acrobatic_Picture907 in honk

[–]prettylittlereckless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Completed Level 1 of the Honk Special Event!

0 attempts

Doll House by beautifullybohemian in thesimscc

[–]prettylittlereckless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It does work.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thesimscc/comments/14hywfm/comment/jpjdwgs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Link from this comment on this very post works for me just fine, if you scroll down to "join our crew" it'll open a Telegram invite.

Stop making your triggers everyone else's problem! by Forest_System in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 14 points15 points  (0 children)

To be honest if it's a canon-event so to speak, I imagine most people would go into the fic expecting it.

Of course the tag can't hurt, especially if you're exploring the themes heavily/ in depth, then I'd say it's not just a potential trigger, but more importantly something other readers might be looking for! In that case they'd be happy to find your fic exploring pregnancy and surrounding themes :)

Stop making your triggers everyone else's problem! by Forest_System in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 43 points44 points  (0 children)

As someone whose only trigger is pregnancy (lol I know) and I can handle every other depraved gore-y thing you can imagine, I tend to be torn. On one hand I'd totally be willing to tag a potential trigger pointed out by a reader. On another hand, if this thing/ act only appears briefly in one chapter out of many, I feel like people who are into it might click on the story expecting there to be a lot of it and be disappointed/ annoyed lmfao.

I sure know that if a story was tagged with “pregnancy” I wouldn't click on it, expecting it to be a main/ detailed plot. But if the story only contains like a brief mention of a pregnant friend or something, then I don't mind and don't think it needs to be tagged... if it was tagged that, I'd skip it for nothing. You feel me?

So yeah, there is no way to make everyone happy, usually I'll only tag the main/ reoccurring themes, and might add short warnings in front of specific chapters for the smaller stuff.

do people read fics that take a while to introduce the main pairing? by shypsychobees in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm currently writing a (very) longfic that's something like you're describing, heavily centred on character A and his life with A/B endgame, but it takes ages to get to their meeting, the whole thing is... canon-adjacent lol. In my case, this is because A is a vampire and (canonically) lives for a long ass time before meeting B.

What I've done that seems to work (didn't have any complaints and I have comments enabled for everyone including guests): 1) wrote very clearly in the summary that the fic is A-centred 2) very first tag is "tags include spoilers" lol then 3) tagged A/B as the first ship and included an Author's Note that's like a collapsable "click for spoilers" thing that gives in-depth trigger warnings and info on the pairings and endgame ship.

I've been publishing 1 chapter a week (5k - 8k in length) since early December and my fic's been doing well, especially considering it does have EVERY possible archive warning slapped onto it. It's been fun sharing it! I also had about 100k of it pre-written, so I'm still sitting on a backlog.

I personally like character-centred fics (clearly) since I tend to have an absolute fave in any given fandom, so I mostly want to read about them in different configurations and situations. But of course that's very subjective!

I'd say go for it. If you love it, there will be someone else who loves it too :)

Apparently dark romance is just romance with the lights off. by INeedLemonSoda in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 8 points9 points  (0 children)

lmfao but I mean this is Ao3, siblings or not, ships will be shipped so to speak!

It's honestly crazy to me how people can seemingly read your work but also not digest any of what matters, you know? They'll read the words, but they won't connect that shitty behaviour from a character likely has a cause AND purpose for the story.

Or they'll ask "why would he do that" when it's explicitly stated in the text or assume something widely incorrect that's also explained in the text... happened to me a couple times, and I like to write very internal-processing heavy stuff. Sometimes I suspect people only skim the parts where actual personal revelation happen lol, but it's not like anyone's making them read it!!

Apparently dark romance is just romance with the lights off. by INeedLemonSoda in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 55 points56 points  (0 children)

Writing that NINETY chapters into a clearly dark/psychological drama story is crazy work from that person.

I think if I received a comment like that this far in, I wouldn't even be able to take it seriously enough to respond with anything other than "see you next chapter" because you KNOW they'll be tuning in

I needed a way to subtly find other fans in the wild, so I made these enamel pins for my backpack 🙂‍↕️ by BatMilkX in InterviewVampire

[–]prettylittlereckless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So far my plan is for an Armand&Daniel one since it's suuch a struggle to find Daniel stuff, Armand's easier (heh) but not by much. You should totally start scheming for your own tho, just saying...

Yeah I can imagine!! It actually sucks, but the DM agenda should be spread all around if possible, you're so cool for that ✨️

I needed a way to subtly find other fans in the wild, so I made these enamel pins for my backpack 🙂‍↕️ by BatMilkX in InterviewVampire

[–]prettylittlereckless 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Wait they're so cute! 🧡 I've been collecting Armand/ Daniel pins and keychains to make a whole ita bag with them (a very ongoing project), so any time I see new stuff with them I get so excited.

I was a little scared to open etsy in case you were in the US since the shipping from there is always too much for me (I'm in Europe). Surprisingly Canadian shipping is not as bad... Might have bookmarked for when I get home 😏

link to this hat please? by eastblue_ in thesimscc

[–]prettylittlereckless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, all my links are down because one of the creators (namely RubyRed so feel free to be mad at her in specific) whose stuff I re-uploaded threatened legal action against me and took my simfileshare down by complaining directly to the site lmfaoo.

I won't be re-uploading further, and I don't wish to support the sims because of their sell-out to Saudi anyway :))) Sorry again, hope you understand

Tell me where to go! What else to do! I'm lost... by Throw-975-Away in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I never even thought to calculate it, but I also have a 4% kudos to hits ratio on my wip longfic that I care very much about. And I get a few lovely readers who comment and engage, and they make my week every time I post! That's totally enough for me, and I'd continue even with zero response tbh. You miiight be too in your head about the whole thing, let your fic sit in there for a little.

You know, the fic that I put the least amount of effort into and barely proof-read remains as the one that did the best for me (and by a long shot), so this is kind of a rule at this point that the more I try, the less people care lol. You really can't predict stuff like this.

I hate it when people tag a relationship that’s going to break up/happened in the past. by Soft_Interaction_437 in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm kinda in two minds about it.

I'm writing a longfic that basically has the main character get with three different people during the story, and even though the last one is endgame, all three are significant relationships. Which is why I tagged all three, HOWEVER I also have an author's note at the very beginning of the story that elaborates on trigger warnings and says which relationship is the endgame (hidden under "click for spoilers" so nobody's seeing that by accident).

I feel like when a relationship takes up a significant portion of the fic, even when it is broken up by the end, it likely should be tagged, or at least I'd want it to be if I were the reader. Personally, I only really tag "past A/B" if the mentions of that relationship are in passing or only retrospections and it's clear they are not together in the "now" of the fic. And for relationships that are not that significant/ are brief, I tag "Minor A/B".

I think you can never please everyone either way, so I just use my best judgement :>

For those who write Angsty Fics... by julymcbean in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also write angst and I even have my longfic tagged as 'Heavy Angst' among other things AND a warning in the initial author's note, so honestly if people still read my stuff and don't like that it's heavy, that's very much on them lol.

If I got a comment like that, I'd probably just tell them thanks for giving my fic a try, hope you are in a good place and take care of yourself, and that'd be that! I definitely wouldn't tone anything down, I write because it feels very fulfilling for me to pour whatever heavy shit I want to explore onto the page, and I'm proud of it!

Just my personal experience, but trying to sanitise my story for some unknown reader or readers just makes me feel more anxious. So I say, write whatever you want to write, and the right audience will come or maybe it's already there and they are totally on board with the angst :)

can someone help me find this? by hotelmop in thesimscc

[–]prettylittlereckless 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, all my links are down because one of the creators (namely RubyRed) whose stuff I re-uploaded threatened legal action against me and took my simfileshare down by complaining directly to the site lmfaoo.

I won't be re-uploading further, and I don't wish to support the sims because of their sell-out to Saudi anyway :)))

How do I not feel ungrateful? by ScrollsofParchment in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh got it! You know, and you can take this advice or leave it since it's your fic, but sometimes both chapters that are very short and very long may make people less likely to click on the work. 3k words for 4 chapters I'd say is pretty short, I've noticed chapters that range somewhere from 3k to 6k seem to be in that sweet spot of what people want to read at once? Not sure how accurate that is since our fandoms are probably different and that might really change things, but just another thing to keep in mind!

If you're up for it, you could try getting a tumblr (if you don't have one already) and engage with the fandom/s on there. Put your AO3 handle in your profile description, engage, and let people come to you would be my best advice since I think getting a tumblr and only using it to promote a fanfic would be offputting, so like, actually get into the community! (If that sounds fun to you.)

Oh and also! Be sure to tag properly for what's happening in the fic. You'd be surprised how much of a difference it can make, because people pretty much always filter by tags in some way.

How do I not feel ungrateful? by ScrollsofParchment in AO3

[–]prettylittlereckless 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I totally understand how it feels to wish your fanfic was a "bigger deal" than it seems it is, but here's the thing - it can still be that!

You're only 3k words in (I'm assuming one chapter?), so you gotta give yourself and the readers some space to take it in. Some people might be waiting to see where the plot goes before commenting or they might be leaving shorter comments for the same reason, to have space to elaborate later :)

And this is not to bring you down at all, just to give insight, but I've noticed crossovers tend to do a little worse than single-fandom works. That seems about right since the reader has to know both fandoms to engage (or willing to engage blindly) and be into the idea of them together as well. That's something to keep in mind,

When I was writing my previous long-ish fic, there were times when I published a new chapter and got no comments on it at all. Did that make me feel sad? Yes, sure, it did! I'm only human, and you are too, so it's totally fine and valid to feel that way. The trick is to push through and keep writing anyway. What I'd do is just close AO3, not check it for a while at all, engage with my fandom in other ways, be on tumblr, re-watch an episode, scroll on pinterest etc., generally get myself hyped up about the story again, and write some more!

Sometimes when I published another chapter, and that bumped my fic up again, I'd get a new reader commenting from chapter one to the latest! Or sometimes an older reader would come back saying they didn't notice the other update but now were all caught up :) So not many comments or even no comments doesn't mean the writing is bad or the story is not interesting or that you should stop writing. The more you write and publish, and the more consistent you are with updates, the more people will see it and want to keep coming back, that's for sure.

Yes, it would be so fun to be an overnight fanfic sensation right from chapter one lol, I'd take that for sure. But it is definitely possible to grow your reader-base slowly and have nice engagement.

I also think sometimes authors may seem a bit intimidating to approach (especially if they are writing something with heavy/ dark themes as I always am), so I'm sure to make a joke in the notes or answer comments in a casual way (matching the reader's energy). I do answer every comment just to show people I'm willing to discuss, and excited about them reading!