Always-anais - Adult Of Face & Body, But Child Of Mind & Heart

Every time AO3 makes an update, there’s a chorus of ‘and can we please please please be able to leave kudos on each chapter pleeeeease?!?!’

In theory, this is a nice idea. We’ve all smashed the kudos button on our favourite fics, bemoaning the fact we can’t give them all the love.

But ya’ll, kudos per chapter would absolutely fucking suck.

For readers, it would suck because it would compound the existing problem of making it hard to find fics that are good and not just long - not that a fic can’t be both! But there are plenty of Pulitzer-worthy one-shots out there that are buried way way down the list when ranked by number of kudos, because they’re beneath a bunch of 50/? fics where the author lost sight of where the hell the story was going 30 chapters ago, but their fic has had 50x the chances to be viewed so has more kudos. It would encourage authors to release their fics in lots of little chapters instead of a few longer ones/one-shots as they might otherwise have done (and as might otherwise suit the story).

And for authors it would especially suck, as it would compound the existing problem of people not commenting. Kudos are very much appreciated, but comments make an author’s day; but so few people bother, and frankly, it’s disheartening. Let people just click a button to show their appreciation for each new chapter? The hits:kudos:comments ratio would get even worse than it already is.

You can already ‘give kudos’ for each chapter of a fic on AO3 - by commenting. Hell you can literally write ‘kudos!’ It will make the author smile, I promise.

I usually lurk and keep to myself, but with this going on, I decided to step out of the shadows and briefly say something.

What can be said about Eucatastrophe? Honestly, despite stating that I wanted to say something, I’m lost for words. That’s how powerful this story is. Out of all the fics I’ve read in my time, Eucatastrophe by far is THE ONE that changed my brain chemistry. I remember, when it was first posted, how I read it all in one go for 12 hours straight. No joke. Every twist, every turn, spun around in all directions, I can’t recall ever being on such a journey. I laughed, I cried, I shrieked, I cried some more, I cheered, and I cried even more still. Even just the moment it started transmogrifying from Celtic folklore to Lovecraftian horror had me nearly having a conniption. /pos And I was devastated when I reached the end, but only for a moment, because then I remembered that I could re-read it again whenever I so desired, and experience the journey all over again.

In truth, anything else I want to say about Eucatastrophe, I can’t. There’s both too much and not enough that I can say about it. If I absolutely had to pick one word to describe it, there’s already one such perfect descriptor.

It’s ineffable.

Round 2 Side B Poll 4

7. Eucatastrophe - @/arealsword (ao3) vs. 10. You Can't Go Back - @/delimeful (ao3)

Propaganda:

Eucatastrophe:

Image ID: A screenshot that reads: Amazing Fae AU, crossover with Tam Lin myth, bizarre in all the best ways

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You Can't Go Back:

Image ID: A screenshot that reads: My favorite sasi “humans are space orcs” au yet!!! Virgil gets to walk around with four menacingly long spider limbs and a bunch of venom at his disposal, Janus gets to defy the space government in the best way possible, Remus gets to be responsible for all of humanity’s credibility, Roman gets turned conspiracist and is proven right, Logan gets to draft the first research papers on alien life to his hearts content, Patton gets himself an alien bodyguard, and they all get to be dumb as shit the whole time!!!! very fun read

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@sanders-sides-events