coalcube: (coaltide)
coalie ([personal profile] coalcube) wrote in [community profile] coaltide2020-01-01 04:21 pm
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Offseason #1

Use this post for any exchanges running from January onwards into the first quarter of the year. Try to keep final Yuletide thoughts in the last coal post of 2019 for ease of conversation.

Coal Friending Meme
2020 NYR Collection + 2019 App
Yuletide, Exchanges After Dark, & FFA Discords.

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(Anonymous) 2020-01-04 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
You are doing this to yourself. Nobody needs to write paragraphs of gushing for something they don’t like. CoN is a hell of a drug.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-04 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
The Good Egg list is a journey, not a destination. When your goal is to cultivate a reputation as someone who leaves nice comments, you suck it up and leave nice comments even when you get crap. For some people, the reputation for being a Good Egg is what they're looking to get out of doing exchanges.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-04 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Coalie, I'm frequently on the good egg list and I'll leave short but polite comments on gifts I don't like. I'm not rude and someone who doesn't check my other gifts wouldn't be able to tell it wasn't my thing, but I also don't fake enthusiasm. This is a problem you're creating for yourself.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-04 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
+1

And I’m the coalie who believes in giving shitty art the benefit of the doubt (well, most of the time - I can’t with the penis tarot). You can be gracious on a basic level without killing yourself over it.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
+2

(Anonymous) 2020-01-04 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)
But somehow whenever anyone suggests that some of those long quote-filled comments smack of performative squee, coal and FFA are HOW VERY DARE I JUST LOVE MY GIFTS.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-04 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
For me, if I see a long one with a lot of thoughts/feelings/commentary, you have to believe it’s genuine because it’s interacting with the text. If 90% under 5 word sentences/“omg”/etc then I wonder if they’re trying to make it seem longer than it is since most of comment is the fics text. You aren’t long, the fic is.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-04 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
But the highlighting of quotes & selections that the reader liked is interacting with the text too, even if it's mostly keysmashes and incoherent squee. I can't imagine reading a fic I disliked closely enough to be able to pull that many quotes out of it, to be perfectly honest. I mean, like, imagine trying to do a quote-pull review of that Dr. Doomtastic fic. I can't think of any lines I could select that wouldn't make me want to cringe into the next week.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
But the thing is, if it is performative squee, the whole reason it's formatted like that is because that is ALSO a format lots and lots of people use to express genuine joy in the fic. It's not very effective at pretending to like something if people only use it when they are pretending.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
C CYRT RT

That’s why I require the comment to be mostly original content or to engage/comment on what is quoted. You could absolutely grab 9 lines from that Dr Doom fic and go !!!!!!, /o\, STOP, I love this, etc and have a 18 paragraph comment that’s actually less than 15 commenter words total.

It definitely can be genuine, but if that’s what you do on all gifts then it gets suspect. Most of the “best” good eggs will have comments that random from medium to mega long comments depending on how they really feel. Someone that really likes engaging/the fandom can pull a genuine interest out of their ass and that kind of proves that they are a “natural” long commenter, but someone really pulling at straws usually can’t fake it. Being okay with not leaving 2+ comments on every fic (gift or random) is a sign that they aren’t that obsessed with their rec. Sometimes you only have a paragraph in you.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
Bingo. I am certainly not saying it's always performative squee! Some people, that's just their style. But I did get a comment (not from my recip) that consisted of three long quotes from my fic each followed by something like, "Yes, that's it exactly!" or "Haha, A, you are such a dork." And it just felt off to me, like, you really don't have much to say, do you, but you're trying to be a "good commenter" and - I would just as soon have "I really liked this! Especially the part where X happened, and - [quote], that was perfect. A is such a dork, and you really captured that!" That's only three short sentences and not a full comment box, but to me that is a fine comment and I would prize it.

But really, I'm reacting to the people who say they have to work hard to come up with glowing comments on crap to preserve their rep. I wish people didn't feel that they have to work hard to craft the superb perfect comment that will impress onlookers. Write what's in your heart if it's complimentary, write a polite thanks otherwise.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
nc +1

I feel like a lot of the people I see held up as good commenters don't in the exact same way regardless of quality or whether the gift fic worked for them. It'll be like multiple comment boxes of in-depth reaction and engagement vs two sentences.

So you don't actually have to write ong, performative squee comments ~to protect your rep.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
+2

The good rep is generally for a) really long enthusiastic comments if they like what you write, and b) being polite and kind if they do not.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
+3

Plus, like, you don’t want to be reinforcing incorrect readings of what you want. Not that treats are the only reason people would want a good reputation, but if those Good Reputation Treats are from people who saw your glowing review of Technically Not A DNW But God, Why?, is it really worth it?

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"being polite and kind if they do not" still requires effort. I don't think anyone is writing a four-box reply to a bad fic. They're leaving a longer comment than "thank you for writing for me" as a means to indicate "polite and kind" over "clearly hated this." The most complicated bad drawing can get the "polite and kind" treatment with two sentences. An otherwise prolific commenter who leaves two sentences on a 10k gift is going to hurt the writer's feelings and attract wank.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
If a ... I don't think you mean prolific, prolix, maybe? If someone who comments effusively leaves two sentences on a 10k gift, presumably there's a reason for it (bad writing, too close to DNWs, not following their likes). In that case it's on the writer if their feelings are hurt. Nobody has any obligation to comment on a gift with other than "Thank you."

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
If your goal here is to make people even more neurotic about leaving comments than they are already, you're doing great. Also lol, "require."

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
+1000 I came here to rubberneck the batshit exchange neuroses, and this thread has seriously delivered.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-04 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
For some people, the reputation for being a Good Egg is what they're looking to get out of doing exchanges.

Do you have any sources for this? I'd believe there's one or two out there, I guess, but I would expect it to be a negligible number.

(Anonymous) 2020-01-05 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
When your goal is to cultivate a reputation as someone who leaves nice comments, you suck it up and leave nice comments even when you get crap.

This is not true of everyone on the Good Egg list, and I'd guess not even most of them. I'm on the list regularly, and I leave a polite comment but not one that is nice like the ones I leave which people name as why I'm on the list.
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