My equally petty thought about FFFX is that we need to start keeping a list of sparse longfic commenters the same way we do for noncommenters.
I'd honestly rather write for a noncommenter (or people who leave a decent comment one day before the next round's sign-ups) than someone who says some version of "Yeah this is a cool thing you've spent months working on and editing and refining and tailoring to my likes. Thank you I liked it!", give or take an extra sentence.
IDC if that's entitled. Writing a longfic for someone feels personal, and comments like that feel painfully impersonal. It's just such a buzzkill, especially when you can't expect much in the way of driveby feedback.
Well, what do you expect when the cool thing you spent months on is shit? If I had looked at any of the things I read in the collection in the wild, I would have backbuttoned in the first page.
You came into a thread complaining about how fffx works were disappointing this year to complain about how disappointing comments on disappointing fics should get people put on a list, so you, I guess.
Coalie, no. Some people's fic is shit. Some people are shitty commenters. Not everyone who gets assigned to a perennial shitty commenter is a shit writer and it's okay to complain about it when that happens. I get it but nobody is telling you to feign enthusiasm for those fics you hated. This is a bit OTT.
Sometimes, yeah, there's a reason your recip isn't exactly falling over themselves with praise, and more people need to swallow the bitter pill that maybe their writing just isn't very good and they need to work on it if they want the kind of effusive feedback well-written and well-plotted longfics get. But I've seen plenty of gifts (not in this FFFX because I haven't read that much, but in general) by writers and artists whose work I adore and would love to receive as a gift get really barebones feedback. And then you check the recip's history and sure enough, they comment on everything the same half-assed way regardless of if it's a drabble or 15k. And I'm like... if this were my gift I would be screaming politely. Receiving it would make my entire year and I would damn well let my creator know that and explain all the things I love about it, because I want them to know that I noticed. Sucks that some people seem to treat is as given.
Anyway, this "all the fic in the collection is shit and you're all bad writers" trolling is tiresome and rude.
i get being disappointed on a personal level. Like I think this person might actually have liked their gift:
https://archiveofourown.org/comments/880076890
but huh, that's ... brief.
But in terms of the impact on the community? Lol what toxic nonsense it would be to keep a list of "They commented BUT IT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH" commenters.
Especially in FFFX, where the mod straight-up tells you it's fine to pick your assignment. If getting a short thank you bothers you, you don't need a register. You just need to look at your potential matches and decide if any of their commenting habits are dealbreakers. That's your problem, and a simple solution is available to you.
It is! The point is that when it comes to time-consuming hand-crafted or highly-tailored gifts, disappointment with curt thanks yous is not limited to the BFE scene. It's a pretty universal feeling.
No one is making you knit that sweater when you know in advance you'll have your butt crungled by "thank you for the gift." Someone else less sensitive can do it instead.
Yeah I would absolutely DNM or game away from someone who left me a comment like that on a 10k fic. The thing is, if enough people feel like I do, then that makes it a them problem, actually. (Them=recipient)
But in terms of the impact on the community? Lol what toxic nonsense it would be to keep a list of "They commented BUT IT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH" commenters.
I don't actually want that, I was just letting off steam.
But nah. Even if gaming were always possible and worked (and I won't bother listing all the reasons it doesn't, I'm sure you're aware)... Faced with the choice between an assignment I love for a recipient who can't be arsed to say more than two sentences and an assignment I'm meh about for a recip who leaves the best comments, I will always pick the former in a 10k exchange. And I think that's for the best when it comes to the quality of the gift and finishing in general. But it still kinda sucks and I will complain about it the whole time.
But again: this is specifically fffx. THE most gameable exchange. The exchange where you have a week after sign-ups to look at people's requests and see what you match to and say you have regrets. The exchange where you can trade in your assignment for ANY OTHER ONE for a period after assignments go out.
At that point, if your problem is that the fandom pickings are so slim you can either write for Not-Good-Enough-Commenter or Nobody, then that is not a problem that a register of mid commenters will solve.
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Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-27 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)I'd honestly rather write for a noncommenter (or people who leave a decent comment one day before the next round's sign-ups) than someone who says some version of "Yeah this is a cool thing you've spent months working on and editing and refining and tailoring to my likes. Thank you I liked it!", give or take an extra sentence.
IDC if that's entitled. Writing a longfic for someone feels personal, and comments like that feel painfully impersonal. It's just such a buzzkill, especially when you can't expect much in the way of driveby feedback.
Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-27 03:42 pm (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-27 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-27 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-27 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)Coalie, no. Some people's fic is shit. Some people are shitty commenters. Not everyone who gets assigned to a perennial shitty commenter is a shit writer and it's okay to complain about it when that happens. I get it but nobody is telling you to feign enthusiasm for those fics you hated. This is a bit OTT.
Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-27 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-27 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)Sometimes, yeah, there's a reason your recip isn't exactly falling over themselves with praise, and more people need to swallow the bitter pill that maybe their writing just isn't very good and they need to work on it if they want the kind of effusive feedback well-written and well-plotted longfics get. But I've seen plenty of gifts (not in this FFFX because I haven't read that much, but in general) by writers and artists whose work I adore and would love to receive as a gift get really barebones feedback. And then you check the recip's history and sure enough, they comment on everything the same half-assed way regardless of if it's a drabble or 15k. And I'm like... if this were my gift I would be screaming politely. Receiving it would make my entire year and I would damn well let my creator know that and explain all the things I love about it, because I want them to know that I noticed. Sucks that some people seem to treat is as given.
Anyway, this "all the fic in the collection is shit and you're all bad writers" trolling is tiresome and rude.
Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-27 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)i get being disappointed on a personal level. Like I think this person might actually have liked their gift:
https://archiveofourown.org/comments/880076890
but huh, that's ... brief.
But in terms of the impact on the community? Lol what toxic nonsense it would be to keep a list of "They commented BUT IT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH" commenters.
Especially in FFFX, where the mod straight-up tells you it's fine to pick your assignment. If getting a short thank you bothers you, you don't need a register. You just need to look at your potential matches and decide if any of their commenting habits are dealbreakers. That's your problem, and a simple solution is available to you.
Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 12:04 am (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 12:04 am (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 12:36 am (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 01:19 am (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 02:31 am (UTC)(link)Lol are you sure that's what you meant to link?
Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 09:37 am (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 10:24 am (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 12:58 am (UTC)(link)Yeah I would absolutely DNM or game away from someone who left me a comment like that on a 10k fic. The thing is, if enough people feel like I do, then that makes it a them problem, actually. (Them=recipient)
Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 01:25 am (UTC)(link)But in terms of the impact on the community? Lol what toxic nonsense it would be to keep a list of "They commented BUT IT WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH" commenters.
I don't actually want that, I was just letting off steam.
But nah. Even if gaming were always possible and worked (and I won't bother listing all the reasons it doesn't, I'm sure you're aware)... Faced with the choice between an assignment I love for a recipient who can't be arsed to say more than two sentences and an assignment I'm meh about for a recip who leaves the best comments, I will always pick the former in a 10k exchange. And I think that's for the best when it comes to the quality of the gift and finishing in general. But it still kinda sucks and I will complain about it the whole time.
Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 02:34 am (UTC)(link)But again: this is specifically fffx. THE most gameable exchange. The exchange where you have a week after sign-ups to look at people's requests and see what you match to and say you have regrets. The exchange where you can trade in your assignment for ANY OTHER ONE for a period after assignments go out.
At that point, if your problem is that the fandom pickings are so slim you can either write for Not-Good-Enough-Commenter or Nobody, then that is not a problem that a register of mid commenters will solve.
Re: fffx
(Anonymous) 2025-02-28 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)Sometimes there are no good assignments for you. You don't have to sign up for those exchanges. This is okay!