I think another problem with the mindset of kudos/comments on AO3 is part of the “stalking” culture on instagram. If you like a picture that is months old on instagram, its “insta-stalking” because you had to scroll through that person’s profile in order to find those months-old pictures.
That is NOT how AO3 works. It’s not cringe or embarrassing to find a fic that was posted in 2012 and like it. It is there to read.
Same for works on AO3. Sure, maybe some of us have some old works that aren’t up to our current standards of writing. But I, personally, am never going to look at a kudos email and think “ew omg I can’t believe someone found this fic from 2016 why are they liking it”. In fact, I am entirely going to go “nice! people are still reading some of my older works too, I’m glad they enjoyed it”. It’s an archive, it is meant to be a collection of transformative works, old and new, and you are meant to find them.
In fact, if you find a work that is from five years ago and you really liked it? I bet the author would love a comment even then.
Stories are written to be read.
Show some appreciation.
Writers write to be read!
Older stories need love just as new ones. Please don’t let stories and chapters die of neglect after one fucking week!
I got a comment a couple of months ago for a nearly-10-years-old crackfic and I was thrilled!
Part of why there’s sortable searches at AO3 is to let you find fics for a now-dormant fandom, fics that are no longer canon-compliant after the new episodes, fics that work with fanon tropes that are no longer popular, fics from authors who are no longer actively writing… and just fics that weren’t written recently.
Comments on old fics are great! Often, they bring back a rush of memories for the author - oh wow, I remember when I was obsessing about this fandom, how much I loved this pairing, the fics I read that inspired this fic!
Getting kudos/comments on old fics is always a cause for celebration! And also never be embarrassed to leave kudos/comments if you work your way through an author’s catalog of fic. I know that personally, when I open the daily kudos email every morning, if I start seeing the same name repeated, it makes me want to jump for joy. Especially if the person reads a variety of fandoms, because that either means we love the same things (yay!) or they like my writing enough to try out new things (double yay!).
Fics are labors of love, and getting to find that people still love the months, years or even a decade later? Is awesome. (And showing appreciation for fic in the form of kudos or comments is an excellent way to inspire more fic! It’s a win-win.)
Last year i got a comment from someone who’d read my work TWENTY YEARS AGO and sent me a note about it. It made my year
I mean, if you find a pro author you like and go buy/borrow all their older books and leave reviews or something on Goodreads nobody thinks that’s stalking, do they? It means “Oh I just found your work and I’m getting caught up and enjoying it immensely!”
Or you just encountered a band for the first time and go listen to all their previous albums?
It’s totally cool to read a fic writer’s back catalog and leave kudos or comments, is my point.
I’m always tickled when something I wrote a while ago gets a kudo.
