oh great, this again...

[edenfalling]

I posted ch. 16 of "Guardian" on ff.net today, since I'd finally caught up with the revisions over there.

Things I have missed about actively posting Naruto fic on ff.net: getting a whole bunch of comments. Things I have not missed about actively posting Naruto fic on ff.net: the annoyingly high percentage of commenters with axes to grind and a conviction that my inbox is the place to grind them. *sigh*

(Let me hasten to say that all the comments on "Guardian" itself have been nice so far! One of my other Naruto fics, however, has been less lucky.)

I always wonder what people who leave anonymous comments with no contact information hope to accomplish when they ask questions. If they actually want an answer, how on earth do they expect to receive it? And if they're delivering an indirect insult (which is what many of the questions in question (haha) boil down to), what do they think that will make happen? If they're trying to change a writer's mind about a character or plot element, why pick such a useless and counterproductive method? If they dislike a story, why do they feel a need to tell the writer directly instead of backbuttoning away and perhaps complaining in their own space? If they're just trying to be jerks, what is the appeal?

Ah well. I have had surprisingly few problems with internet whackjobs over the years, all things considered. I am willing to laugh at a handful of pissed-off readers who take the discrepancy between their tastes and my writing as a personal insult. *wry*

Comments

[mme_hardy]

Fail-fandom anon says that comments left since Dec. 31 aren't showing up on the site. ?!?!?

[edenfalling]

*goes to look* You're right; they're not. The review notifications showed up in my email and the review counter on the story has been tallying them, but the actual comments are nowhere to be found. How bizarre!

I guess this explains why I couldn't reply to a comment on an unrelated story a couple days ago. Here's hoping the glitch gets fixed soon!

[heliopausa]

I think they're visible now - at least a review that had been present-but-not-visible on one of my stories has now become visible.

[edenfalling]

Yes, I was able to reply to all of mine this afternoon!

[sabriel]

I remember several authors I follow on ff.net was in the habit of responding to comments, both anon and named, through author notes either on the beginning or the end. Maybe that's what people are looking for?

[edenfalling]

Yeah, that is a thing some writers do! Which means leaving anonymous questions on a WIP can make sense, especially if the writer says they will respond and/or has previously responded to comments in such fashion. But on a story that's been done for a decade? (And for a writer who does not have any pattern of using author notes that way?) That's a lot less explicable. *shrug*

[sabriel]

Well, hope does spring eternal in some cases, especially when these are people looking for attention.

[redwolf]

Ah, the pit of voles.

I haven't posted anything there in forever and still get the occasional missive. This morning brought someone feeling the burning need to comment on 20 odd drabbles that I can't even recall the content of without looking. Most were harmless "loved it" comments. Don't know that it calls for my inbox to be clogged, but Yay! I guess. Interspersed with the odd passive/aggressive "character X doesn't do that" variant. Special.

I just assume that people are stupid and have been sent to amuse me with their juvenile antics for the morning.

[redwolf]

Oh my, Jeremy Crawford just pinged me. Again.

[edenfalling]

Well, at least they're reading and (mostly) enjoying? I think ff.net could use a kudos/like button of some sort, though, to handle that kind of extremely generalized appreciation.