Please stop talking about other people’s fics on someone else’s works
I wasn’t sure how to title this properly, but this post is about readers comparing fics to another fic they are currently reading, and commenting about it on that work.
I wrote for a semi-popular fandom once. I had one fic do well on a few platforms that I was proud of at the time, but I haven’t been able to look at it the same anymore because of comparisons. There’s this really popular author in my fandom that is probably the top one for the pairing I write about because they have so many long fics of them. I haven’t read all of them but there’s one I consider one of my favorites, so I truly do think they’re a great writer.
The thing is, there is one platform where I feel like they are so popular that when their readers read other works from different authors for this pairing, they will immediately start comparing them to the popular author. This happened to me from the VERY first chapter. People were saying my character reminded them of the character in the other author’s story. Cool. Never read it, but I took it as a good thing.
Then it kept going and going and GOING AND GOING. Every sentence was apparently a reference to their fic, people were saying I was obviously a huge fan of theirs and took inspiration when I didn’t even read the fic they were talking about (they were both canon universe fics so some similarities were bound to happen??? My premise was completely different though).
There were some words I stopped using altogether because people would relate the smallest things to each of their fanfics, and it started making me worried people were going to accuse me of plagiarism or something when I haven’t even read some of the fics they kept referencing (thankfully hasn’t happened). When I say some readers ONLY kept commenting references and nothing else, I mean it. I didn’t know how to vocalize my discomfort without seeming pathetic, so I just didn’t say anything.
But what really got to me was what I saw on a different platform. People were posting fanfic recs, and someone mentioned mine. I was overjoyed at first until I saw someone else reply that while mine was good, nothing was better than the other author’s works.
This is a common sentiment in my fandom. They always say no one writes better than the popular author and that they can’t read anything else. I understand people have preferences and not everyone will like my work, but is this really necessary to state when talking about another person’s work? As pathetic as it sounds, these type of comments really started to make me feel like my fic meant less. I just don’t understand why people can’t comment about how much they love another person’s fics on THEIR fics and THEIR account. Not mine. These comments became less about my work and more about theirs. I’d feel a little differently if these readers also left me that same amount of love, but most of them haven’t. Deep down, I know I’m not as good as that author, but I wish I wasn’t constantly reminded of it.
And listen, I know some of these readers are just excited. They probably saw similarities to their favorite fics and wanted to vocalize it. I get it. I’m sure most people are not intentionally trying to make me feel discouraged, but I can’t help but feel that way when it’s all they comment about. I haven’t been able to write anything in so long because I got so in my head about it. I really wish my fic could stand out on its own. But most importantly, I wish this didn’t bother me this much.
That’s all…