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Coal All The Way

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Two questions!

Is it rude to leave a long comment before the recip has commented?

Do authors normally wait to respond to comments until anon period over?

Apologies for Not Knowing Things.

There are schools of thought about commenting before the recip, I don't know what the consensus is, but I don't think it's rude. I comment when I read it regardless, because I can't trust myself to go back later. And it'll probably make the author's day to get a comment from you, especially such an enthusiastic one.

You can respond to comments anytime. Your reply will be anonymous until reveals. (Years ago, you had to wait or be deanoned, before the AO3, but now respond at will!)

It's not rude! More comments are always good!

Some do, some don't. It really depends on the author.

Not rude. Comment whenever you want. I usually comment right then after I read it.

Some authors wait, some don't. It doesn't matter. You will show up as anon if you reply now while logged in.

How would it be rude? And no.

In addition to what coalies said above: you have no way of knowing how long the recip will take or if they even will comment. Waiting for the recip to comment would mean someone who wrote for a non-commenter never getting comments, which would be sad.

+ infinity

No, it's not rude at all. Just comment as you usually do. I've had people leave longer comments on my gift than I do, because they do the quote + squee thing while I tend to do more 'summary of what I liked' style comments, and I don't think anyone came out of those instances unhappy. I actually feel bad when my gifts *don't* get much attention from people other than me.

A lot of authors do wait to respond until anon period is over. Then the e-mail notification contains their author name, and sometimes people will follow that link to see what else the author has written. I don't do that for all the fic I comment on, but if it left a deep impression on me, I like the reminder to go check out that particular author.

The recip may never comment at all so if you want to leave a comment, please do, I'm sure the author will appreciate it.

Since you are new, I'll give you the context of why some people wait.

Some people don't want to upstage the recip. This is a YMMV thing. IMO the recip is being ridiculous if they are petty about those things, because commenting first is in their control. They should be here when the archive opens if they care that much.

The other reason is this: there are awkward situations where you may comment positively on a fic that later has wank. Could be a heeroluva situation where you say fic is hot that ends up being a very contentious lightening rod/the DNW 2nd POV The Pilgrimage fic where the author said "I know you don't like 2nd POV but it was the only way I could write it" and people in the comments fell over themselves to reassure the author 2nd POV was great (which coal was rightfully WTF at Yuletiders coddling and giving asspats to someone who clearly knew they were breaking a DNW) which was NAGL in general.

Most people aren't going to wank over you being in the comments saying nice things about a wanky fic unless you start defending the author/recip in there too (like gay bashing dragon bystanders) but if it would personally make YOU feel bad to +1 a fic that ruined someone's Yuletide, that would be a reason to have proof the recip enjoyed it before you gave your stamp. "Lots of people liked it so I don't want to complain...." is also a reason some Stockholm Syndrome recips quietly accept DNW fic instead of going to the mods.

People will reply with "why would you even care" and "anyone that holds it against you before you even knew is an asshole". If you don't care it doesn't matter. I'm letting you know so that you don't get caught in wank/feel bad for not realizing this is a thing that happens to bystanders in wank.

DC But -- just to add on to that -- the odds of any particular fic being a wank lightning rod are well under 1%.

If you see a fic with an A/N like "Sorry I had to write homophobia even though you didn't want it!" or something, by all means, steer clear. But the vast majority of Yuletide fics will not turn into wankstorms.

CYRT

Absolutely. I think us vets can spot wanky fic warning signs and most fics have no. I just wanted to give a noob some heads up.

Like coalie below said, darkfic or porn is your best bet to be wary, but that isn't usually the Yuletide fic that blows up. It's usually the really moving cancer fic, awkwardly preachy but sweet poly fic, and the nice 2nd POV fic that you liked are more likely to actually be coal.

You aren't able to tell those things until you do more exchanges and start to clock what tropes/kinks are common opt-in/opt-out wank sirens.

This is useful advice for a newbie, good job coalie.

I personally do this on kinkier/darker fics. I'm not involved enough to check the letter, but I usually wait for the recip to comment first. I am somebody that goes back to comment 10 times out of 10 though, so if you're flakier than me it might not work out. Maybe save the dirtybadwrong fics to read for later in the week when there's a higher chance the recip has commented?

I really appreciate this thank you - that second reason had not even occurred to me!

+1000

Once (not in Yuletide) I got a fic that was very much not what I wanted, and acknowledged as such - one of those "I couldn't write it any other way!" A/Ns - and while I was eating my meal and fretting over my comment, a then well-known wanker and semi-BNF swept in to comment glowingly on it and rec it on her journal. So I came back to make my PA "thank you for writing for me" comment and see it already has enthusiastic comments. Not so much "Lots of people liked it so I don't want to complain" for me as "If I don't accept this graciously the author will have multiple knights ready to joust for her in the wank."

Most people aren't going to wank over you being in the comments saying nice things about a wanky fic unless you start defending the author/recip in there too (like gay bashing dragon bystanders) but if it would personally make YOU feel bad to +1 a fic that ruined someone's Yuletide, that would be a reason to have proof the recip enjoyed it before you gave your stamp.

Yeah, this. Realistically, the only thing that is going to happen if you comment glowingly on a fic I hated or outright rejected is that my opinion of you will plummet...and if our tastes were already that different you probably won't care what I think anyway.

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