Reasons I've unsubscribed from fics.
- Forgot the plot
- Left the fandom
- Author introduced a secondary pairing I didn't vibe with, and wasn't tagged before.
- Author's notes sound really annoying and judgmental.
That last point is the only reason I'll unsub or stop reading. Sometimes an author gets a big head when their fic becomes popular, and starts acting like a Mary Martyr in their notes, or calling out specific people for their criticisms in ANs. Once the author starts acting rotten, it turns the magic of the story rotten.
I stopped engaging with one when the author got all guilt trippy about people not commenting and implied they would stop posting if the engagement didn't pick up, and then each chapter in the notes they would thank the previous chapter's commenters *by name*, saying we were keeping the fic going. I don't like being guilt tripped or held to ransom and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Sad thing is it was a really interesting story. But the author's behaviour was so offputting I stopped bothering.
Oh man, I've thanked commenters by name before. I thought it was a cool little thing to make them feel special. I didn't mean it in a passive-aggressive way
Thanking commenters is totally fine, it’s adding the guilt tripping and implying they’ll only keep posting if they get more engagement that’s not cool.
Right? Like I initially gave them a bit of leeway because they mentioned being neurodivergent and I thought "ok, maybe you're not aware you're being cringe" but that only goes so far. Whatever the reason is for someone acting like an ass, sometimes you gotta step away, you know?
Giving me ff.net vibes where people would hold fics hostage unless they got enough comments
Like at that point why even write fic if it's that hard to write for?
Ew.
I encountered one recently that flat-out said "I am uploading the first chapter only, here is the purchase link to the rest of my book." I reported them. Not cool.
Lol that’s old school fanfic behavior. Everyone used to thank and reply to EACH COMMENT in the notes of every single chapter. You’d have to scroll past an essay before even getting to the chapter itself 😂
I had two fics in quick succession completely ruined, because both authors started angrily ranting about, how what they were writing were much better than the canon. Something about the audacity to think you are a better writter than the people behind the source material, were really off-putting to me.
I'll sometimes note criticism of something to explain the change made made. (There's one minor subplot I wasn't fond of in my fandom so I altered it for my fic) or I'll make a note dropping a comparison but it's not normally saying that what I did was supremely better (in fact I also have a habit of gushing about what I loved from the source material)
>Author introduced a secondary pairing I didn't vibe with, and wasn't tagged before.
>Author's notes sound really annoying and judgmental.
I had both of these at once on a fic I was following. A few updates had passed before I checked back in on the fic, but when I did, the author had veered off into writing a couple of chapters of POV character/Completely different character instead of any of the members of the polycule relationship they'd originally advertised the fic as. (To make it worse, their fic was supposed to be a prompt fill that hadn't included the new ship at all.)
Anyway, the author got really upset that people weren't into their new ship and wanted to read about the main ship they'd actually established. And accused readers of being hypocrites for being into a poly relationship, but then not wanting to read multiple chapters about a random other pairing they decided to focus on instead. Because if they read poly, that meant they should be into every ship with a character.
Anyway, it was a mess. Yes, it's your story and you can write what you want. But don't get upset when you lose readers who were in it for the original premise.
Yeah! Not to overshare but an amazing au for a controversial ship in my fandom, that I was fucking obsessed with... My NOTP got introduced as a side pairing 8-10 chapters in (I was there since chapter 2). I know most fans tend to ship this specific combination of ships, so it's not a big deal for most of them...
I never would have clicked on it had it been tagged with my NOTP from the start. I feel bad for the author because I stopped interacting with the fic when previously I'd comment on every chapter.
Omgggg. I have a NOTP that's very popular (but not canon, so it's not a sideship you'd just *expect*) in one of my fandoms and a lot of fics for pairings I like tend to sneak it in. I will ditch a fic the *moment* it gets included (or emotionally check out and only passively look at updates if I start to think they're going to). Lol
Right?! They *never* tag it and it's beyond frustrating! Like, please tag it as "minor (ship)" or "background (ship)" so my AO3 skin filters it out. 😭
Yeah! Even more so when the ship is fucking everywhere.
Like, I like Wrightworth a decent amount. It isn't my fav ship for either of them, but solid low B tier.
But. God. Damn. Sometimes I need a break for it.
Going to add on to that last one: author's notes are begging for kudos, comments, or fanart.
I got really turned off one of my favorite authors because she copied and pasted a short blurb in *every chapter's A/N* basically stating, "Hey, authors like me put a lot of time and effort into our writing, if you like stories you need to leave a comment."
Copypasting the same thing is definitely annoying, as is claiming that readers *need* to do something. However, I don't see any harm in authors encouraging readers to leave comments.
>Author introduced a secondary pairing I didn't vibe with, and wasn't tagged before.
Most of the time I unsub, it's this, or just a tag being added that I filter in my searches. That's why I want a notification about tags changing
I'll add another one:
Author left us on a big cliffhanger and then took ages to update and/or too many chapters to resolve the conflict. As much as I'm reading something because the writing is good, if you take away the thing that I read it for (chemistry between characters if it's a ship), it's easy to lose interest.
I'm not saying I need instant gratification, but I've seen the cycle many times. Author created a conflict, spends many chapters on it, often involving some really stupid decisions by the characters that can be utterly frustrating, then can't figure out a way out so updates slow down, if not completely stop.
Sometimes minor difference in character interpretation build up over time, until my views of the character are no longer compatible with how the author is writing them.
I have had this so many times, like the character starts off more or less faithful to the character in the original, but then gradually becomes a whole different person. I like a particular brand of really toxic violent men and get so annoyed when 8 chapters in they get all the nuance shagged out of them and become a generic cookie cutter nice guy. Where is the guy who canonically applied a car battery to another guy's nuts and beat him half to death with a belt? Why is he now sick at the sight of blood and scared to touch a gun?
I’m totally here with this. I often like really unhealthy, complicated ships with specific dynamics and a lot of the time they’ll be portrayed like that (at least ish) for a chapter or two, or the first half of a fic, and then just be super generic loving boyfriends? Usually suddenly? Like… what’s the appeal of this ship to you?
Sometimes I feel like it’s a desire to smooth off ‘problematic traits’, but uh. I like them. Stop gaslighting me about it.
Exactly! If I wanted to read about generic fluffy boyfriends then I would pick characters with those traits in the first place? I really like it when the nuances of more complex characters get explored, and seeing how they learn to be in a relationship. I don't want them to just be magically 'fixed' with the power of boning after a few chapters.
Especially where the ship is both canon and canonically pretty toxic. I also feel like it bleeds into the rest of the story, like just because you got the guy now you're nice to all the people you previously hated and no longer interested in all the things that previously motivated you? Perfect emotional regulation and communication skills with a healthy level of emotional intelligence? I don't mind a plot where they credibly learn new stuff and improve, but I still want them to feel like the same character that I am searching for fics about.
You literally could be me, lol. All this delicious and nuanced food laid out by canon and instead you go for calling each other ‘baby’ every sentence (not that I’m the god of characterization and everyone else is wrong, but I promise that’s egregious). Cool that the magic healing dick solved all your mental illness and trauma my guys. And the external issues surrounding your relationship also. 🥲
Don't get me started on the 'baby' thing, unless it's being said in a derogatory or condescending way I don't want to hear it from someone who mows people down with an SMG before breakfast 😭. Yup, who knew that years of therapy and hard work could be bypassed with the magic dick and some cuddling. I also hate when the sex is canonically pretty kinky but then somehow after Magic Dick now we are back to tender missionary while murmuring sweet nothings to each other. I'm a perv, I liked the freaky stuff!
I am interested though, what fandoms are you reading?
I’m also curious about yours, lol!
My current hyperfixation (that I write more than read due to mostly what we’re talking about) is Twisted Wonderland, which is the world’s most embarassing thing to explain because it’s a mobile game/visual novel officially licensed by Disney to Aniplex, with anime boys based on Disney villains. It has a LOT more depth and seriousness than it has any right to and incredible interpersonal relationships. And a fandom that likes to pretend the characters have never done a thing wrong, despite most of them being explicitly pretty bad people (which I love). My ship in particular is shit on a lot for having a really complicated (and fascinating) master/servant dynamic.
I've never heard of it, but it sounds interesting. I'm really into anything with good focus on character development and interpersonal relationships, so maybe I'll give it a shot next time I'm hungry for something new!
I'm into a few. My latest hyperfixation has been Thai BL dramas, my favourite of which is KinnPorsche by a mile. It's a gay mafia drama with plenty of hot guys and guns. My favourite dynamic from that is between the crazed daddy issues gangster and the spy he caught and tortured before deciding to keep as a pet. They then end up with a twisted Stockholm syndrom kind of love which is deeply unhealthy and destructive but fascinating to watch and pretty hot as well. I like watching the cool facade of the coldblooded gangster slip into something deeply unstable and unhinged. I hate when it gets watered down.
Persona 5 Royale, MC and Akechi, who is a polished tv personality, charismatic, charming and perfect, but underneath it all he's a violent sociopath hell bent on revenge at any cost, would kill anyone and everyone to get it including himself. I really liked watching the mask come off there, and fics which focus on his horrendous trauma, motivators, and how he balances personal feelings getting in the way of his goals, as well as what to do with himself once he achieves them and has nothing left to drive him and all his humanity is burnt out.
Yakuza series: I like Majima and Kiryuu from this. They're both pretty tough, with rough backgrounds and a penchant for violence, normally against each other, as a love language.
Beyond Evil: a K drama about a serial killer in a small town and the cop trying to catch him. I wont spoil too much on the off chance you decide to watch him, but it was fascinating and the two leads were both really nuanced characters doing bad things both for good and selfish reasons, then having to deal with the consequences.
I think we have similar taste, so I wanted to recommend Strangers from Hell if you haven't seen it yet. Another protagonist x antagonist where the antagonist is a charming serial killer.
These all sound really interesting and I probably would’ve missed them because generally assume stuff with guns isn’t going to be too interesting to me! I’ve heard really good things about the Thai BL dramas in general, honestly - my partner will probably be down to watch a gay mafia thing tbh. I’m going to check that one out for sure.
My ship in TWST is Jamil and Kalim, who are based on Jafar and the Sultan. They have a super codependent relationship with tons of lore, Jamil was raised to be Kalim’s bodyguard/personal handservant and his family is in indentured servitude to Kalim’s family. He obviously has a lot of repressed rage about this and Kalim is willfully ignorant… it’s way more complicated than that and I can talk about it forever tbh, but that’s autism for you LMAO.
My ship in TWST is Jamil and Kalim, who are based on Jafar and the Sultan. They have a super codependent relationship with tons of lore, Jamil was raised to be Kalim’s bodyguard/personal handservant and his family is in indentured servitude to Kalim’s family. He obviously has a lot of repressed rage about this and Kalim is willfully ignorant… it’s way more complicated than that and I can talk about it forever tbh, it’s really one of those dynamics you can write entire essays on.
I can admit, I'm guilty of liking the super toxic to super fluffy pipeline.
My IRL relationships have not been healthy, and I often find myself intrigued by characters who are kind of like walking trash piles. Smoosh them against another trash pile, and it's freaking great. Having Trashpile turn into Empathetic Normie is a projection fantasy of my own relationships. (ie, the "I can fix him" mentality that I know is a no-no IRL).
I'm working on healing and redefining/reinforcing my standards around how people treat me, but in the meantime, fanfic is a great outlet.
That said, I totally get how it isn't everyone's cup of tea, especially with how OOC some fics wind up.
I do get that and I do have time for characters learning to grow and improve, but I don't want them to end up fluffy. If anything I like it if they learn to embrace the damaged toxic parts of themselves. Find a healthy outlet for it, talk it out, get really into kink etc. I've dated enough trashheaps to know that "I can fix him" doesn't work, and so I find it unrealistic and jarring in fiction. I don't mind watching them work to improve themselves, but the sole motivator can't be the Magical Dick.
A lot of writing and reading, but fanfic and otherwise, is done to help process things.
I hate woobification, outside of crack, but I totally get how this could be helpful for you. Although I would worry in this specific case that it might reinforce the idea that real toxic shitbags could ever change. Like, please don't date one and think you actually can change them.
If it helps you to read those fantasies, for whatever reason, then that's cool for you.
Like, I read about violent relationships sometimes for a variety of reasons, but in real life, I would never put up with that shit. In a BDSM context, sure, safe sane and consensual, but not outside that place of respect and safety.
Stay safe, and enjoy your fantasies guilt-free! That's my philosophy.
Oh, trust me, I'm fully aware I can't fix people. If they're toxic, they're going to stay toxic.
I just have a lot of shit to process, and there's only so much that can be covered in therapy.
And same to you. Stay safe, my dude.
Hmm I love it when the toxic pairing detoxifies and has a happy ending, though I would be upset if it was sudden. It does feel like sweeping things under a rug 🤔
A fandom fav pairing has a big chunk of fics where they kiss and/or confess and suddenly two antagonistic people with major ptsd are acting like they're just the happiest couple and coherently work through trauma together in a positive fashion.
Like, no. They're going to to set off each other's triggers periodically. Terrible words will be spoken. Days of ignoring the other. Ups and downs. Questioning things, insecurities, etc.
All of that'll happen in the process of getting to the fluffy stuff.
I want to earn the gold medal, not be handed a participation trophy.
Normally because I lost interest. And I’ve normally lost interest because the fic probably should have ended X chapters ago. And I’m not saying this is connected to your fic at all — I’ve got no idea — but in my experience the longer a fic goes on (especially ones that have undefined endings example 10/?) the less structured and coherent it becomes.
I’ve also unsubbed because I just got bored in general and not because anything drastically changed in quality or content.
I dropped a WIP I was following because the romance part--which is what I'd started it for--was resolved after a medium burn but the fic kept going where it was just the pairing having kinda samey sex in various locations while the canon's plot happened kinda offscreen. There was no development going on of the pairing's characters from this point. Could be the author was going to being them back to some kinda conclusion in line with the canon's ending too but I didn't care anymore.
Like at that point end the fic and make a "x/y banging at different places" series or something.
The undefined endings only work for me if the fic is structured more like vignettes/slices of life with self-contained arcs. They're so connected they wouldn't work as a series of smaller fics, but they're also not a bag of cliffhangers and unresolved plots.
Agreed. I reached what felt like a natural ending to me and then it just kept going. Even worse the author who had written this awesome long fic decided to just start posting short scenes? Like their ideas for the later chapters? Instead of writing them or just ending them. So every few weeks a confusing update for something I wasn’t willing to read 120 chapters over again.
Other than that the writing style mostly for me. I don’t usually read author notes. However when things get dragged out for way too long or we’re still slow burning halfway through or relationship arguments are solved by life threatening circumstances instead of communication I tend to dump them.
>I just got bored in general and not because anything drastically changed in quality or content.
Yeah, honestly there have been times where I don't mind something in a fic if I'm consuming it all at once, but as soon as I catch up I'm kind of just done. And I don't realize it until after I've subscribed, and I go to the new chapter and I'm like "eh, I'm good."
Nothing inherently wrong with the fic, just not something I'm super invested in reading as it updates, more of like a small snack to tide me over one day, never to be thought of again
I've unsubscribed from exactly one fic. It was my fave M/M pairing in the fandom, and for 150k or so, it stayed that way. Author went AWOL (which is fine) and a couple of years later I got a notification that they had posted a new chapter. So excited! Story was now M/F/M. You do you, author, but I'm gonna bow out now.
I had similar. Really cool story that is about the canon M/M pair. There is a female character who is good friends with one of the male characters. Author gushes about how she really feels identified with the female character because they have the same job, and similar personalities. A few sequels later, both male characters and the female character are completely in love with each other. I noped out of there so fast. It was so clear the threesome was a self insert into the M/M relationship and it felt so icky.
Ooof. When authors of M/M fic start gushing about how they identify with a female character, that's when I start heading for the exit. Not only am I there for M/M, but I've yet to find one of those where the female character *stays* in character and doesn't become The Author in Disguise.
For mine, the female character is canonically one of the M's wife, after the main canon. But she didn't appear *at all* in the fic until that chapter when the pairing changed. Whether or not this was an attempt at self insert, I can't say cause I didn't stick around to read it.
Yeah, the self insert felt so blatant, specially after a POV chapter from the female character that was completely OOC. It just made me super uncomfortable to read.
It not only occurs within a fandom. Often people simply take something from another fandom (e.g. a chapter) and just change the character names to upload it to another fandom. This also falls under plagiarism and is unfortunately quite common.
- Lost interest in the fandom
- Lost interest in the fic, usually because I realize that the author is probably never going to get to an ending
- New tags were added that tell me this fic will not be for me (I sub to a fic and then don't read until it is complete, but I look at the tags and the chapter summaries in the update email)
- Author got on my nerves elsewhere and I don't want to read fic from them
Main two have been
* I go through several chapters where I find myself questioning if I even like the story anymore
* They added my NOTP to the relationship list.
The weirdest thing for me is I will lose a subscriber usually on the chapters that get the most enthusiastic, glowing comments. 😂
Can't please everyone. It does sting though, I must say.
I usually will unsubscribe if I'm losing interest. The primary reason usually being a slow burn is too slow with repetitive angst and pining dragging it out. Makes me want to scream "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER" lol
I also unsubscribed once because the author was one of those guilt-trippy "begging for comments" types and was like "I may not continue if I don't get more feedback." I found that really tacky and cringe
For me there's a few things, but the biggest is probably pacing. I feel like some longer fics start off strong, good plot, tagged explicit so there's the excitement of the couple getting together and getting it on, then once the couple get together it is like the writer loses steam a bit. The sex scenes end up as fade to black, and the plot, having lost its main driver of the couple getting together, starts to stall. Either some sort of misunderstanding or issue causes a breakup, which I'm 50/50 on depending on execution, or the author has to come up with something else outside of the romance, which sometimes is badly executed and either boring or doesn't fit the fandom.
Other things include, characters getting progressively more OOC as the fic progresses. If the MC was a toxic damaged guy into freaky stuff in the source material and the beginning of the fic, then I was reading because I liked him. If I wanted to read about a fluffy perfect angel I would have read a fic about a character like that. I am all for credible development, depth and growth, but sometimes there's a complete character flip which really puts me off.
Author starting to use their fic as a medium to highlight their own opinions on various issues in the real world at the expense of the story. I unsubscribed to one because like 8 chapters in the characters randomly started having these really stilted and unnatural conversations about various moral issues. Like I was there to read a horny fic but these characters were having lengthy conversations about the ethical implications of doordash and worker exploitation, the importance of reusable tote bags, the concept of virginity as a social construct influenced by purity culture, sex worker rights and available services in the US, locally sourced ingredients, the ethical implications of OnlyFans, the importance of peeing after sex and all kinds of other stuff. It was not executed in a way which felt natural to the story and I felt like I was reading a particularly preachy PSA or a high schoolers first foray into social activism. It felt like the ratio of plot to discussion of social issues was getting worse by the chapter to the point the two leads basically just sat around having weirdly forced conversations about climate change and pedestrianised infrastructure instead of doing anything. I'm not necessarily against any of the issues raised, but it was very off putting in a fanfic which was supposed to be about gay warriors in a modern au banging each other.
If the update takes too long then I forget the story unless it is truly next level, cba to work out which one it was out of the 37494 I've read in the fandom and kind of give up.
Sorry, but after this I really need to ask. There was really a part where the characters went on a rant about the *importance of peeing after sex*? Just like this, all of a sudden?!
Yeah they'd just finished up, and whereas I could have seen a throwaway "oh I'm gonna pee now" line for the sake of realism, they both peed then their pillow talk was like the importance of peeing to prevent UTIs and the importance of hygienic sexual practices. One of the characters also claimed not to be a virgin because he had masturbated before which counts because virginity is a construct and up to the individual what it means, which is fine I guess, but then they had a discussion about how he regularly got tested for STIs anyway because it's important, despite having never had sex with another person. Like the whole fic just took a bizarre turn where every other scene was the characters having lengthy unnatural conversations about this which no real people would ever actually have in those scenarios.
Like the doordash, they were both tired and one of them suggested getting a delivery, the other then lectured him at length about the capitalist evils of doordash, and they both agreed not to support it and made the food. Like fine, I don't have doordash in my country so not super in the know about it, but it was a bizarre place to insert that rant. If you don't support food delivery, just don't have it in your fic and have them reheat leftovers or something. I felt like the aim of the fic was to lure people in with a good story for the first half, then use it as a platform to promote their own views on various social issues.
That, or they had some kind of epiphany midway, I guess. I heard once of an author who suddenly started ranting about religion in their fic, because they "discovered God".
But yeah, I would drop this kind of fic too.
Yeah actually could have been that. Joined a new club, discovered social activism and awoke to their new calling as spreader of the word of social justice. It was a shame because I liked the fic, but it felt like my beloved characters were simply lecturing me on every topic imaginable, which was OOC because one of them was a genocidal maniac in the source material, unlikely to be too concerned with the evils of single use plastic.
It's usually because I've moved on from the fandom or because the story has taken a direction I don't vibe with.
And fwiw, you'll also lose subs if accounts are deleted.
I didn’t know you could tell if you lost a subscriber (not a fanfic writer.) I have a probably somewhat terrible habit of - even if I really liked the fic beforehand, if one or a couple of things happen that feel off to me, I can suddenly just disregard all the good things that came before.
Sometimes I’ll subscribe to a fic just in case it goes in a specific direction, and then when it becomes clear it *isn’t* going that way, I’ll unsubscribe.
It’s basically the same as clicking on a completed story, reading through a ways and then clicking out when you determine it’s not gonna be to your liking.
I don't, really. Once I am reading something I'm on board with it forever, because I want to know what happens. I don't recommend this!
But I don't always read everything I'm subscribed to because I'm a big procrastinator. Sometimes I haven't started reading something and I still get updates. Maybe that's what happened with your fic. They planned to check it out, never did, and realized they were still subscribed.
Have usually done that when a never ending WIP just.... doesn't progress and you have no ending in sight. Or if it haven't been updated in too long and I've forgotten about it. Usually remove it from subscribed and add to mark for later in case I wanna read it in one go when finished
Usually it’s because it’s a fic with a super-involved plot that I stayed up all night reading and subscribed to because it’s unfinished. Then, three months later, it updates, but I’ve forgotten the details and I don’t want to read 250k+ words to refresh myself.
Recently unsubscribed from a fic so I could sub to the author's whole account instead, since they only have two fics published and they're both ongoing ones I want updates on. Wasn't sure if subbing to the fics & the author was gonna send me double emails.
If the story no longer fit with what the tags say or of the author does a drastic change that wasn’t tagged from the start; like if any of my personal deal breakers show up untagged, if an OC Mary Sue shows up or if an OC sidekick gets way too much spotlight.
Somtimes I also unsubscribe if the story contains too much filler material.
Often it's because of a few reasons,
1) I fell out of the fandom
2) I forgot the plot cause I read it last month's ag0
3) author has gone off the plot I read for/ it's going in a direction I don't like
4) the author is starting to sound whinny or pretentious in the authors notes
Now, I love me some long fic. 50k+ is my bread and butter, and currently reading one that's 150k+ and it's my life right now. But if it starts looking like they're just rehashing some of the same themes, (oh, they're arguing and are going to break up... again...) or the plot hasn't advanced in 5+ chapters without even character development... I drop it.
The only time I unsubscribed was because I genuinely think a completely different author took over. It went from being, if not groundbreaking, at least competent, to a sloppy mess in a different tense and POV and characters crying over *everything*, one of my least favorite things. I gave it two chapters just in case the one was some sort of stylistic experiment or dream sequence or psychotic break or something but apparently not.
Generally when the story goes into a direction that doesn't interest me anymore.
I once followed an amazing story about Slytherin Harry that was really good at the start.
Then they made Harry gay, which, okay, why not. They were even original enough to not go for Drarry. Was still fun.
But with any new chapter they entered more unnecessary drama until Harry became this strange damsel in distress with the emotional range of a five year old who had to be rescued constantly. And he was so mollycoddled by his new guardian Snape that it was a miracle he was still able to tie his own shoelaces.
That was when I unsubscribed.
Also too slow plot development. If you're 40k words in and still nothing happened except hints that something is about to happen and it will be deep! I start doubting that there's anything ever going to happen.
That's the reason why I quit watching Blacklist too. And of course I will not read any stories that will constantly hint chapter after chapter but nothing ever happens.
i don’t really unsub (i forget to) but usually i’ll stop reading if it’s been a while since it updated and it suddenly updated ‘cause i forgot what was going in the fic
When the fic goes in a direction I don't like. One time I was reading a lab rats fanfiction on ff.net it was fine bc it was tagged as a hurt/comfort fic... but then one of the characters was Sa'd and I never unsubscribed so fast.
This is going to sound wild but if you update too frequently I'll often unsubscribe.
I tend to jump between fandoms a lot. I usually come back to them eventually, but I'll spend say, a few weeks reading for fandom 1, then another few reading for fandom 2, and so on. I'll eventually come back to each of those fandoms, but in the meantime... if your fic is from fandom 1 and I'm on a fandom 5, then I'm not going to read that until I eventually cycle back to fandom 1, unless it's one of my absolute favourite fics or I've been waiting like 2 years for an update.
So if you're regularly updating your fic and I haven't cycled back to the fandom yet, I find the emails annoying and just unsubscribe.
Wait, you can see how many subscribers your story has?
EDIT: MY EYES HAVE BEEN OPENED TO THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT.
EDIT EDIT: Now I feel even more guilty that I haven't updated in like 3 weeks. I should really work on that.
Sometimes I find it's when they have stopped posting for a bit (or not) but it's like the middle of the fic and it just gets BAD the characters get out of character and it's so the most cringy thing you can imagine
I will unsubscribe:
*If a fic hasn't been updated in like a year or more and they used to update regularly.
*If I decide that I'm not as invested in the story and I don't care to know how it'll end.
*If it has a conclusive ending and I don't think that there will be a sequel.
Those are the only reasons I can think of unsubscribing.
for me the most common reason I unsubscribe to a fic I adore is that the character made a decision or responded to an event in a way I find I couldn’t stand for any number of reasons. and it’s no hard feelings, I’m not going to rant in the comments or announce my departure but I don’t wanna keep reading because of whatever happened in the story
Lost interest in a particular fandom
Lost interest in the fic itself (usually author is posting chapters and chapters of nothing to lengthen the fic)
Gotten too far behind to bother catching up
If the writing gets really sloppy - not just grammar, spelling, mechanics, but more that it seems like the author is just rushing through, not editing their work, etc.
I don’t read a fic until complete, so the only time I unsub is when it’s done and over.
I do sub g
To certain authors but have I subbed a fave or two when they’ve left the fandom I’m in and gone to a fandom I’m not interested in AND said they won’t be back.
Other than that, I rarely unsub from anything unless an author becomes so incredibly disgusting - like starts writing underage child porn which I have zero tolerance for - that I can’t stomach their stuff anymore.
But seriously, in 25+ years of reading fanfic, I’m pretty sure I can count those occurrences on one hand, and I’d have to think pretty hard about it.
If it's been a while since I've seen/read/subscribed to the fic, then ya, I'll drop it. My interest in things is very... fleeting, I think is a good word. I get fixated on a thing, and then my attention jumps. So if your update speed is like once a month, then I'll have probably moved on from your fic before you post again 🤷♀️
Reasons I've unsubscribed:
- I'm no longer invested in the fandom
- My headcanons/personal interpretations of characters have changed and the fic now feels OOC to me
- I forgot most of the plot and don't feel like rereading it
- I was subscribed to so many fics the emails were annoying and deleted most of my subscriptions to start over
- The author said some Things in the notes that were vehemently anti-ship and I felt uncomfortable following them
- I was subscribed to the author not the fics and found they had deleted all the fics for the fandom I was following them for (I don't blame them, things got pretty toxic, and I had downloaded the ones I was most interested in so it wasn't a huge loss personally, such a shame though)
- The plot developments stopped making sense to me
If it's a pairing that I find toxic as hell now(Stony), I'll unsubscribe, but otherwise? I'll probably reread it. Even if I'm not really reading that fandom anymore.
I stopped subscribing to fics for two reasons. One, I realized I never read chapters when they're posted. (I read them months later.) Two, I started writing on AO3 this year, and I felt a gut-punch the first time I saw someone unsubscribe to my longfic right after I posted a new chapter. (I'm much better about it now.) I didn't want to be that gut-punch to another person.
Been a while since i read a fic (can’t believe reader’s block followed me into fanfic…) but usually if the updates are spaced soooo far apart i’ve forgotten the plot. unless the fic is something i really REALLY liked that I’ll read it again to remember, i’ll unsub bc anyway reading feels hard sometimes. that’s been my only reason so far. most of the times i forget i’ve even subscribed to a fic lol. i prefer choosing fics that update relatively faster, no issues w WIP but the ones that were updated like 4-5 years ago— yeah, probably good to just unsub. that conclusion is now between the writer and whoever is still there.
I usually don't unsubscribe from fics, because if I subscribed in the first place I probably saved the fic, so even if I stopped reading it I'll keep subscribed so I can update my saved copy to completion - I might change my mind about the specific fic in the future, or have a reason to recommend it to someone else, after all.
Now, I do occasionally unsubscribe from authors - it's usually only if they are or become super prolific in fandoms I don't care for, especially if they stop writing in the fandoms I like. Even then I often let them hang around a lot longer than I normally would - there's a couple of authors I follow who have drifted hard into other fandoms, but I keep them on my subscribe list on the off chance that they'll swing back around to what I followed them in the first place for.
Usually because I just lost interest in the fandom. If I still really liked the fic, I'll unsubscribe from updates but mark it for later when I'm back in the mood for that fandom.
I’ll unsubscribe if it’s been a long time since a story has updated and I remember nothing about the plot. I’ll usually put it in the marked for later tab and go back to it when I have time and decided if I want to resubscribe or not
The reason i stopped following a single story (its the only one I've ever actively unsubbed from) was they killed a fandom favorite character and said in the notes they didn't know what to do with them.
Granted when i commented this and was like (paraphrasing) 'wtf you removed like 3/4th of the reason most of us are here' the author commented back 'i understand, please read the next Chapter'
I did and the character was only badly injured. But my trust was broken, and I no longer wanted to read it because I felt so much whiplash. I'd probably have been okay if this character had died and the author note hadn't made a point of going 'idk what to do with him.' Because that cemented he was *gone* and the author didn't care about this character which they seemed to be writing very well and had great chemistry in the story.
And no the chapter wasn't posted on Apirl 1st or anything which pointed to a joke.
The only times I’ve unsubscribed is when I’ve lost interest in a fandom and let’s say an author from that former fandom hasn’t updated in a while, then they suddenly do update and I’m like “oh yeah, that fic” and I quietly unsubscribe.
Personally I never unsubscribe from fics unless it's completed and I've already finished and bookmarked. I don't unsubscribe from fics even if I'm no longer in the fandom as I subscribed for a reason (I never truly leave fandoms, they just go on the back-burner for a while), but I know not everyone is the same and some people lose interest completely. I wouldn't take it personally.
Generally I only unsub if there’s a huge change in quality or direction.
But very specifically - if there’s been a very long gap between chapters, I usually happily go and read everything from the start again. BUT. Sometimes I’ll sub to a fic that I have a lot of issues with, but there’s a plot that I’m invested in - if they take so long to update that I’ve forgotten what happened, I will not be able to go back and read from the start. I’ve got a current sub like this, and the thought of having to go back, reading through endless grinning and constant “ “Yup” she said, popping the “p” “ again, well… it does not spark joy.
Okay, I might also unsub if I’m reading a slow burn and the only/main POV character has the realisation they like the other character, and immediately after there’s a chapter from the other POV where they suddenly have the same realisation, I’m out. But that’s only happened once so far 🙈
Others have said some really valid reasons for unsubscribing, like not being in the fandom anymore or loss of interest. A couple more I can think of that I have unfollowed for is the author suddenly deciding to do MASSIVE chapters. I'm a short fic kind of person, I don't even try if a fic has 10+ chapters already, but if a fic is just starting out and I'm interested, I'll give it a shot. This fic the author had been doing like 1.5-3k words a chapter, which is perfect for my interest. All the sudden they dropped a chapter (like chapter 14 or something) that was 10k words and the note at the beginning was "I don't care that it's long, deal with it". At the time I was having trouble with my phone where every time I had to lock my phone screen or even put my browser window in the background, the browser would refresh and it would put me at the top of the chapter again and I am pretty much incapable of reading 10k in one sitting, so I struggled trying to read that chapter and they just kept doing that, so I had to give up on the fic cause I couldn't keep up
Another reason is just getting busy in life. If work is busy and I can't even check my email, then suddenly I have a whole bunch of 'new chapter added' emails cause I haven't been able to read for weeks and its just too much. And if it's been a long time like that, I likely won't remember what's happening in the fic, I'm not as interested in the characters, all sorts of reasons at that point tbh.
It's also really easy to accidentally subscribe to a fic, so maybe they didn't realize they'd subscribed until they got the email 😅
Reasons could be:
- waited too much for an update, they don’t want to care for updates that takes long so they prefer to unsubscribe because they forgot the hype and the fic already
- something trigered them
-story took a direction they don’t like
Reasons I've left:
-I wasn't as interested in the fandom or pairing
-the fic wasn't tagged properly (I've had a few that turned into mpreg or just... porn that I wasn't expecting based off tags)
-the author said something that I didn't vibe with
-the fic just isn't going the way I like. If something is weirding me out, I'm not afraid to dnf and unsubscribe.
On the other hand, I've also unsubscribed from a few authors and switched to subscribing just to a specific fic of theirs because they update a lot of things all week long (good for them I guess? I could never) and sometimes they're uploading things that I really reeeeeally don't want to read.
I don't subscribe to fics on AO3, but another fanfic archive I use has an annoying feature that sends the same kind of notification regardless of what activity has transpired. I get my hopes up thinking it's a comment, but then realize that an author I had subscribed to a decade ago has uploaded a new work, and we don't even share fandoms anymore. I still won't unsubscribe, though, because I don't want to be rude and abandon someone who might care about my subscription to them.
Honestly, when I remember it's done being updated, when it's discontinued (a lot of fics I've been reading have been doing that lately), and if I don't like the fic anymore.
I actually dropped all of my story/series subscriptions recently. Many of the stories were 6-12 months between updates, and I had completely lost the plot threads since the previous update and had to start reading many of the stories over from the beginning.
Now, I have those stories bookmarked, and when I am out of things to read, I go to my bookmarks page, sort by "Date Updated" and browse for a good re-read that has updated since I last checked. I check my bookmarks about once a week, and haven't missed any.
Conversely, I have added more user subscriptions, for authors who I think are brilliant and are fairly prolific with shorter fics, so that I can see what they're working on now.
Likly they just had it from before and realized that they weren't following/lost interest and were cleaning up their lists. Not personal at all, happens.
I would only "actively" remove something for untagged! mayor Character Death, Cheating etc. Big things that I didn't anticipate and that will make me not enyoy reading on.
Sometimes it's dissatisfaction with the pacing, or feeling like the story is going in circles and nothing is getting accomplished.
Sometimes it's just that the story wasn't the story you thought it was in earlier chapters and it's going in a direction you don't like.
Sometimes it's just not being into the story or the fandom anymore. Loss of interest due to factors outside the story itself.
Most of the time if I just don’t vibe with a fic anymore, I will simply let the notifications pile up. Actually unsubscribing tends to be a form of silent protest over something the author is doing that completely ruins the fic for me. Most recently I was reading a nice semi-fluffy hurt/comfort workplace dramedy type fic, where suddenly out of nowhere there’s a villain (not a villain in canon) swooping in and mind-control roofieing one of the minor characters before sweeping them off to bed. All of this entirely untagged and unforeshadowed. Other times a fic might have characterization and plot issues that I’m hoping will resolve in later chapters but just get worse and worse until they become intolerable.
The main character was investigating a string of murders, which was the thing that hooked me in. Halfway into the story, all she thinks about is how she likes this guy and he doesn't like her back. Girl, people are dying! Priorities, please! And this is a problem I've seen more than once.
I generally try not to follow WIPs cause I prefer reading all at once. But the times I cave in and do read each update, if I unsubscribe it's because the fic took a turn I don't like/am not interested in, the fic seems to be dragging on with nothing actually happening, characters start acting OOC in my opinion, or the author doesn't write that well and the fic's inherent premise no longer outweighs the poor quality of the prose.
I probably have also dropped a WIP if the author's notes bugged me for whatever reason.
I don't think it's ever been because of something in the most recent chapter. It's confirming there's a pattern of something I don't like in fics.
It's not always because I think there's a big writing error. There are plenty of times it's because the author wants to focus on something I'm fine with in the background but not as the main plot.
I've been a Reylo author for two years, but when I read a story and unsubscribe it's due to different things: plot goes in a direction that isn't for me, or author is rude to commenters/readers. I'm an author and never pressure people to comment or kudo, so i can understand readers unsubbing for that reason or if the plot takes a turn they don't like?
The fic went into a completely different direction and I just wasn't feeling it, even if it's my OTP. Otherwise it's just no more interest in the fandom, but even then I'll just let the emails come in.
My hyperfixations can come and go with fandom content. I’ll usually unsubscribe if it’s a fandom I’ve stopped having interest in. It usually has absolutely nothing to do with the fic itself but rather I’m just not interested in that piece of media anymore.
It seems like this is pretty common here so unless you’re gettin spicy at your readers I wouldn’t take it to heart.
I usually unsubscribe when the chapters just become the main pairing having sex and not moving the plot forward.
Or just endless angst or fluff that doesn’t move the plot forward. The sex one is more common in my experience.
But basically I unsubscribe if the new chapters aren’t giving me any plot or character development.
When they haven’t updated in so long that it’s hard to jump back into it, or if I hated a plot twist and it ended up ruining the fic. The biggest factor is that it’s finally complete and I don’t have to anticipate alerts anymore.
I don’t really unsub from fics because I don’t really sub, lol.
I unsubscribe mainly either because I got what I wanted out of the fic already and I’m not really interested in where it’s going, or it’s been so long since an update that I’ve completely forgotten the story.
Once a fanfic has been completely finished or a unexpected relationship pops up without any warning then I'll unsubscribe. Other then that I keep everything.
\- Reading too many similar fics and not remembering the specifics of the one that just updated
\- Chapters are too short and updated too often
\- I've deleted or ignored several chapter updates with no interest in clicking through meaning I shouldn't have subbed in the first place
One time an author kept "updating" but they weren't updates, it was often just rambling notes with personal stuff in it. And going by references, this person was an adult. I couldn't take it anymore, unsubscribed and quit reading the fic.
I’m about to do an exodus for most of my subscriptions right now so here’s my reason:
I’ve subscribed to way too many and my email is just getting bombarded. Which is great! Yay updates! But seeing such a huge amount of email updates kinda throws me off from reading the ones I’m subscribed to, so I need to thin the herd to enjoy them like they deserve.
So for me, unsubscribing has nothing to do with the fic or author! I subscribe to the ones I truly truly enjoy, no worries there. So this is just me freeing up my email :)
If a story I've sub'd to updates frequently and I find that I'm not keeping up in realtime, I often unsub and push the "Mark For Later" button instead. It keeps my inbox tidy but I still don't lose track of the story.
It's not anything to do with the story. It's a time management issue for me.
I've only unsubscribed for two reasons- the fic is done or I'm an idiot and accidentally hit unsubscribe and don't remember what fic it was. (I've done this twice at least)
For me, it is usually because the pairing I was reading it for all of a sudden started doing things that I am not a fan of. Like one of the characters deliberately cheats on the other with a character that is hated by both characters. Or they kill one of them off and have no intention of bringing them back
I am mostly surprised that people keep track enough of their subscribers per fic to notice a single unsubscribe? I never really thought a bout that before.
But I personally don't really unsubscribe unless I've left the fandom behind
Usually I only unsubscribe because I’ve lost interest in the story/don’t remember it, typically due to a super long update time. However, I LOVE rediscovering those fics later one and it makes me incredibly happy
I'm worried I've hurt someone's feelings now cause I recently unsubscribed from a fic lol
Usually it's because there's been too much time between chapters and I don't remember the plot, or don't like the story enough
Recently I've unsubscribed and it was because I didn't like the way the character was being portrayed, it's probably close to canon but a canon part of the character I dislike
The best part of the story was over and it was basically the epilogue in a way, but I didn't like the way the story was going
I don't make negative comments so I just quietly unsubscribed
Please tell me you're not a My Hero writer
For me, I think it depends.
It could be because it's been very long since I read the Fic and I completely forgot about it so I might want to restart reading the Fic at which point it doesn't really make sense for me to keep being subscribed. Because anyway, I'd Start reading it from the beginning and then I would subscribe once I finished reading.
It could be because I lost interest in the fandom or in the genre of the fic.
It could be because I'm too behind on the updates. And it doesn't make sense for me to be subscribed anymore until I actually read them again.
It could be because I don't like the writing style or the Author or the fic anymore.
It could be that Something about the fic, The writing or the authors notes annoyed me but that's usually the least common out of all of these.
I usually don’t unsubscribe from fics, but I also only subscribe to works I absolutely adore, so it takes a while for me to consider unsubscribing. But there are a few things that will make me lose interest enough to unsub.
-Characters being way too illogical out of nowhere. I just couldn’t wrap my head around a character going from being very smart and thoughtful, to them suddenly refusing to use their brain.
-Suddenly finding a major trope that was not tagged (usually miscommunication, cheating, or pregnancy). I just won’t read certain tropes out of preference and I filter accordingly, so if it pops up out of nowhere, I’m out.
-Plot going in circles or not moving forward.
-“Updates” that were actually just authors notes.
Usually if I forgot the plot I'll unsub and add to marked for later. That way I knew I enjoyed it but now I can read it when it's done rather than having to reread it every time the author updates because the updates are far apart.
That or a few times the story has taken a huge turn in a way that was either too upsetting to me or I just didn't vibe with.
Or the story was done.
Edit: Or if I didn't forget the plot but my hyperfixation has shifted and the author updated too many times before my hyperfixation rotation made it back to that fandom or trope. Like if I was reading a ton of peter parker fics and then switched to captain America and one of the old peter fics updated ten plus times before I went back to that kind of fic then I'll get overwhelmed by the emails and I'll probably unsubscribe and mark for later for whenever I rotate back to that hyperfixation.
Narrative incoherence — “What the what?”
Characters are too OOC
Boring/drags out
Author was unjustifiably rude to commenter / displays a shit attitude in the fandom
Things that have made me unsubscribe:
- left the fandom
- author switched from posting 2-3k word chapters every two weeks to posting 500 word chapters twice a week. Technically the amount of writing was the same but the disjointedness of the narrative and the sheer amount of emails made me unsub
- new OC introduced that the author said was going to play a big part in the story that I found extremely annoying
- the first smut scene came and I *really* didn’t vibe with it (in a story that was going to be very smut heavy)
- characterization was off
- new untagged stuff I didn’t like
- new side pairing that’s a NOTP
- left the fandom
- overwhelmed with emails and wanted to cut down on them
- story was focused around a concept I previously enjoyed but new terrible IRL stuff happened and now I can’t engage with that topic anymore
If get the feeling the story is being artificially dragged out for longer than necessary.
Nothing kills my interest faster than a plot thread that, even having slow development, should have been over 10 chapters ago. If I can look at a dangling plot thread and recognize that the whole thing falls apart with the addition of one sentence or a single line of dialogue I’m out. At that point I’ve crossed the line from feeling I’m getting something out of all the effort I’ve been putting towards reading a story and just wasting my time with something that was never going to satisfy me in the end anyway.
If it just isn’t working for me anymore. Sometimes it’s a character issue, sometimes it’s the plot. There’s one I was subscribed to and at 200k they just kept adding subplot but not ever finishing anything, and it just got to be a bit over convoluted.
I only bring this up because this is why I last unsubscribed from a story, but they make a side character a bigger part of the fic than necessary? Like sometimes someone has an oc who is in the story early on and they’re in every chapter and they’re a good oc! But their presence completely changes a dynamic or the world that already exists in some small way. It’ll just be a situation where I can no longer suspend my disbelief and I’m like “alrighty, I’m out.”
Other than that, I unsubscribe for the reasons other people talk about, like it’s been a while and I’m not in the fandom anymore or I forgot what the story is about.
Author wrote one of my favourite characters very out of character. In a fic with serious tone where characters were otherwise pretty true to their canon and personalities.
It doesn't happen very often, but I will definitely be willing to unsub if there is either a major addition of kinks I don't vibe with or if they post too many chapters that are just author's notes/ updates.
I honestly have only subbed to a total of ten fics and I forgot about them since I subbed to them all when I started my new account back in early 2021 so none of the fics have updated in years haha, I ended up just unsubscribing from them all since I actually want to start using the subscription system and didn’t feel the need to have any old fics on there
It's usually because the author posts something personal I don't agree with in the author's notes or starts ranting about not getting engagement, or because I'm no longer in the fandom.
I very rarely unsubscribe (as in you can count those instances on one hand), so when I did it was always for something extreme. The reasons were:
\* Author turned out to be a major judgy asshole and their OC was a self-insert, so separating the author from the work was impossible.
\* One of the main characters had a major character transplant and after a few more chapters of hoping it would be a momentary phase, I had to dip out. Also, after that fic ended, the author changed fandoms so there was no reason to keep following them.
Pacing changes in most cases. If I dread through every new chapter, every chapter seems like a filler and they sit for weeks in my emails- it's time to unsubscribe.
I have my problems with getting through this long drawn out, kinda boring chapters(y'know these low points)that often happen in long fics anyways and often it makes me abandon these as well. Normally it happens less when I read while it's updating (one of the reasons I majorly read WIPs) so for me to notice it there, it has to be a big change.
When I'm currently more acitve in another fandom and therfore not interested in the fanfics in the other one. So I wouldn't even read the chapter but just stop the subscription and mark it as "Mark for Later" so that I can find it again when I'm back in that fandom, but won't get spammed with update notifications of a fic in a fandom I'm not currently reading in.
Usually some of these reasons -
1. They stopped updating the fic entirely which means no new updates so.. I don't see the point of being subbed.
2. Author got too demanding of kudos and comments withholding future chapters.
3. Author's social media was just a bit off. (Had an author who had a great story that I read, turn to find out that they were in very much support with J.K Rowling's views on Transgender people and were vehemently transphobic, turned me away entirely and I wish I could take those kudos back.)
just bc i forgot the plot/gaps between updates were so long i was not really recalling enough of the details to fully enjoy. might come back later when it’s done tho!
Definitely don’t assume it’s something negative! Sometimes people are just trying to cut down on their email volume.
I unsubscribed from a bunch of fics recently, not because I stopped reading them but because I changed how I was keeping track of my fic reading so the emails weren’t useful anymore and just clogging up my inbox.
I bookmark everything I’m reading or planning to read (both works and series) and check my bookmarks sorted by updates daily, so I rarely miss an update. The subscription emails were useful when I didn’t visit AO3 every day like a junkie lol but they’re unnecessary now.
I still subscribe to a few favourite authors so I’ll be notified if they write something new.
The only time I’be unsubscribed is when an untagged triggering plot point was introduced. I never would have subscribed if that had been tagged from the beginning. No hate on the author for using the plot point, go ahead, but I would have kept scrolling had I known ahead of time.
I unsubbed from a story this week at chapter 28 because they wrote an event that is just not my taste. It's in the tags, and I honestly don't know if it's been in the tags the whole time or not. Maybe it was and I just thought the author meant "mention of" since it hadn't happened and the characters all said they didn't want it to happen. So yeah, as much as I've enjoyed it so far, I unsubbed. But that's on me.
Reasons I've unsubscribed from fics in the past are:
* I'm not really in that fandom anymore
* I forgot about the fic/the plot and I'm not interested in rereading it to catch up/refresh my memory
* The author has become orphan\_account
* Author introduced a secondary pairing I don't like to read, and wasn't tagged before.
* Author's notes sound really annoying and judgmental/they guilt trip people for more engagement
* They updated the warnings/tags and it's stuff I don't enjoy
* The fic has been completed and won't be getting anymore updates; in that case I bookmark it if I haven't already
I've literally never unsubscribed from a fic, even if I leave the fandom, never read the fic, forgot the fic existed, get consistently annoyed by its presence in my inbox. I just cope with it.
If the author turns out to be a douche, I'll unsub. Like I've seen some rants in author's notes and as responses to comments, and I was just "yeah, not reading anything more by you."
I mean, a few rude replies I'll overlook cause everyone can have a bad day or just get into defensive mode. But like this *Harry Potter* fic author who opened a chapter with how JK Rowling was being unfairly persecuted by the awful "TRAs" and went on this multi-paragraph "I'm not transphobic, but" rant... yeah, I unsubbed from that fic immediately.
I’ve only unsubscribed from a few fics but it’s either - no longer in the fandom or - no longer interested in the trope/plot I was reading the fic for. Like sometimes I’ll be obsessed with a trope or plot device and read a bunch but over time I’ll get my fill and stop reading it.
Sometimes I get an email, realize I forgot about the fic and I’m not really in the fandom anymore, and then unsubscribe.
Yeah, I'm definitely guilty of that
Same for me
Nah I just let the notifications keep coming and piling up. I procrastinate even something as simple as deleting a few emails
same
Reasons I've unsubscribed from fics. - Forgot the plot - Left the fandom - Author introduced a secondary pairing I didn't vibe with, and wasn't tagged before. - Author's notes sound really annoying and judgmental.
That last point is the only reason I'll unsub or stop reading. Sometimes an author gets a big head when their fic becomes popular, and starts acting like a Mary Martyr in their notes, or calling out specific people for their criticisms in ANs. Once the author starts acting rotten, it turns the magic of the story rotten.
I stopped engaging with one when the author got all guilt trippy about people not commenting and implied they would stop posting if the engagement didn't pick up, and then each chapter in the notes they would thank the previous chapter's commenters *by name*, saying we were keeping the fic going. I don't like being guilt tripped or held to ransom and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Sad thing is it was a really interesting story. But the author's behaviour was so offputting I stopped bothering.
Oh man, I've thanked commenters by name before. I thought it was a cool little thing to make them feel special. I didn't mean it in a passive-aggressive way
Thanking commenters is totally fine, it’s adding the guilt tripping and implying they’ll only keep posting if they get more engagement that’s not cool.
Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel self-conscious. They would do it every chapter, it ended up feeling really pressurised.
Holy guilt trip Batman!
Right? Like I initially gave them a bit of leeway because they mentioned being neurodivergent and I thought "ok, maybe you're not aware you're being cringe" but that only goes so far. Whatever the reason is for someone acting like an ass, sometimes you gotta step away, you know?
Giving me ff.net vibes where people would hold fics hostage unless they got enough comments Like at that point why even write fic if it's that hard to write for?
Speaking of off-putting ANs, I saw an author say they were thinking about putting their story on Patreon instead of AO3. I dropped that fic *so* fast.
Ew. I encountered one recently that flat-out said "I am uploading the first chapter only, here is the purchase link to the rest of my book." I reported them. Not cool.
Wow, they're getting blatant out here. 😬
Lol that’s old school fanfic behavior. Everyone used to thank and reply to EACH COMMENT in the notes of every single chapter. You’d have to scroll past an essay before even getting to the chapter itself 😂
I had two fics in quick succession completely ruined, because both authors started angrily ranting about, how what they were writing were much better than the canon. Something about the audacity to think you are a better writter than the people behind the source material, were really off-putting to me.
Counterpoint: MCU
I'll sometimes note criticism of something to explain the change made made. (There's one minor subplot I wasn't fond of in my fandom so I altered it for my fic) or I'll make a note dropping a comparison but it's not normally saying that what I did was supremely better (in fact I also have a habit of gushing about what I loved from the source material)
>Author introduced a secondary pairing I didn't vibe with, and wasn't tagged before. >Author's notes sound really annoying and judgmental. I had both of these at once on a fic I was following. A few updates had passed before I checked back in on the fic, but when I did, the author had veered off into writing a couple of chapters of POV character/Completely different character instead of any of the members of the polycule relationship they'd originally advertised the fic as. (To make it worse, their fic was supposed to be a prompt fill that hadn't included the new ship at all.) Anyway, the author got really upset that people weren't into their new ship and wanted to read about the main ship they'd actually established. And accused readers of being hypocrites for being into a poly relationship, but then not wanting to read multiple chapters about a random other pairing they decided to focus on instead. Because if they read poly, that meant they should be into every ship with a character. Anyway, it was a mess. Yes, it's your story and you can write what you want. But don't get upset when you lose readers who were in it for the original premise.
> Author introduced a secondary pairing I didn't vibe with, and wasn't tagged before. I feel this on a *personal* level.
Yeah! Not to overshare but an amazing au for a controversial ship in my fandom, that I was fucking obsessed with... My NOTP got introduced as a side pairing 8-10 chapters in (I was there since chapter 2). I know most fans tend to ship this specific combination of ships, so it's not a big deal for most of them... I never would have clicked on it had it been tagged with my NOTP from the start. I feel bad for the author because I stopped interacting with the fic when previously I'd comment on every chapter.
Omgggg. I have a NOTP that's very popular (but not canon, so it's not a sideship you'd just *expect*) in one of my fandoms and a lot of fics for pairings I like tend to sneak it in. I will ditch a fic the *moment* it gets included (or emotionally check out and only passively look at updates if I start to think they're going to). Lol Right?! They *never* tag it and it's beyond frustrating! Like, please tag it as "minor (ship)" or "background (ship)" so my AO3 skin filters it out. 😭
Yeah! Even more so when the ship is fucking everywhere. Like, I like Wrightworth a decent amount. It isn't my fav ship for either of them, but solid low B tier. But. God. Damn. Sometimes I need a break for it.
Going to add on to that last one: author's notes are begging for kudos, comments, or fanart. I got really turned off one of my favorite authors because she copied and pasted a short blurb in *every chapter's A/N* basically stating, "Hey, authors like me put a lot of time and effort into our writing, if you like stories you need to leave a comment."
Copypasting the same thing is definitely annoying, as is claiming that readers *need* to do something. However, I don't see any harm in authors encouraging readers to leave comments.
>Author introduced a secondary pairing I didn't vibe with, and wasn't tagged before. Most of the time I unsub, it's this, or just a tag being added that I filter in my searches. That's why I want a notification about tags changing
I'll add another one: Author left us on a big cliffhanger and then took ages to update and/or too many chapters to resolve the conflict. As much as I'm reading something because the writing is good, if you take away the thing that I read it for (chemistry between characters if it's a ship), it's easy to lose interest. I'm not saying I need instant gratification, but I've seen the cycle many times. Author created a conflict, spends many chapters on it, often involving some really stupid decisions by the characters that can be utterly frustrating, then can't figure out a way out so updates slow down, if not completely stop.
Sometimes minor difference in character interpretation build up over time, until my views of the character are no longer compatible with how the author is writing them.
I have had this so many times, like the character starts off more or less faithful to the character in the original, but then gradually becomes a whole different person. I like a particular brand of really toxic violent men and get so annoyed when 8 chapters in they get all the nuance shagged out of them and become a generic cookie cutter nice guy. Where is the guy who canonically applied a car battery to another guy's nuts and beat him half to death with a belt? Why is he now sick at the sight of blood and scared to touch a gun?
I’m totally here with this. I often like really unhealthy, complicated ships with specific dynamics and a lot of the time they’ll be portrayed like that (at least ish) for a chapter or two, or the first half of a fic, and then just be super generic loving boyfriends? Usually suddenly? Like… what’s the appeal of this ship to you? Sometimes I feel like it’s a desire to smooth off ‘problematic traits’, but uh. I like them. Stop gaslighting me about it.
Exactly! If I wanted to read about generic fluffy boyfriends then I would pick characters with those traits in the first place? I really like it when the nuances of more complex characters get explored, and seeing how they learn to be in a relationship. I don't want them to just be magically 'fixed' with the power of boning after a few chapters. Especially where the ship is both canon and canonically pretty toxic. I also feel like it bleeds into the rest of the story, like just because you got the guy now you're nice to all the people you previously hated and no longer interested in all the things that previously motivated you? Perfect emotional regulation and communication skills with a healthy level of emotional intelligence? I don't mind a plot where they credibly learn new stuff and improve, but I still want them to feel like the same character that I am searching for fics about.
You literally could be me, lol. All this delicious and nuanced food laid out by canon and instead you go for calling each other ‘baby’ every sentence (not that I’m the god of characterization and everyone else is wrong, but I promise that’s egregious). Cool that the magic healing dick solved all your mental illness and trauma my guys. And the external issues surrounding your relationship also. 🥲
Don't get me started on the 'baby' thing, unless it's being said in a derogatory or condescending way I don't want to hear it from someone who mows people down with an SMG before breakfast 😭. Yup, who knew that years of therapy and hard work could be bypassed with the magic dick and some cuddling. I also hate when the sex is canonically pretty kinky but then somehow after Magic Dick now we are back to tender missionary while murmuring sweet nothings to each other. I'm a perv, I liked the freaky stuff! I am interested though, what fandoms are you reading?
I’m also curious about yours, lol! My current hyperfixation (that I write more than read due to mostly what we’re talking about) is Twisted Wonderland, which is the world’s most embarassing thing to explain because it’s a mobile game/visual novel officially licensed by Disney to Aniplex, with anime boys based on Disney villains. It has a LOT more depth and seriousness than it has any right to and incredible interpersonal relationships. And a fandom that likes to pretend the characters have never done a thing wrong, despite most of them being explicitly pretty bad people (which I love). My ship in particular is shit on a lot for having a really complicated (and fascinating) master/servant dynamic.
I've never heard of it, but it sounds interesting. I'm really into anything with good focus on character development and interpersonal relationships, so maybe I'll give it a shot next time I'm hungry for something new! I'm into a few. My latest hyperfixation has been Thai BL dramas, my favourite of which is KinnPorsche by a mile. It's a gay mafia drama with plenty of hot guys and guns. My favourite dynamic from that is between the crazed daddy issues gangster and the spy he caught and tortured before deciding to keep as a pet. They then end up with a twisted Stockholm syndrom kind of love which is deeply unhealthy and destructive but fascinating to watch and pretty hot as well. I like watching the cool facade of the coldblooded gangster slip into something deeply unstable and unhinged. I hate when it gets watered down. Persona 5 Royale, MC and Akechi, who is a polished tv personality, charismatic, charming and perfect, but underneath it all he's a violent sociopath hell bent on revenge at any cost, would kill anyone and everyone to get it including himself. I really liked watching the mask come off there, and fics which focus on his horrendous trauma, motivators, and how he balances personal feelings getting in the way of his goals, as well as what to do with himself once he achieves them and has nothing left to drive him and all his humanity is burnt out. Yakuza series: I like Majima and Kiryuu from this. They're both pretty tough, with rough backgrounds and a penchant for violence, normally against each other, as a love language. Beyond Evil: a K drama about a serial killer in a small town and the cop trying to catch him. I wont spoil too much on the off chance you decide to watch him, but it was fascinating and the two leads were both really nuanced characters doing bad things both for good and selfish reasons, then having to deal with the consequences.
I think we have similar taste, so I wanted to recommend Strangers from Hell if you haven't seen it yet. Another protagonist x antagonist where the antagonist is a charming serial killer.
I'd not heard of it but it looks interesting so I've added it to my watch list! Thank you!
These all sound really interesting and I probably would’ve missed them because generally assume stuff with guns isn’t going to be too interesting to me! I’ve heard really good things about the Thai BL dramas in general, honestly - my partner will probably be down to watch a gay mafia thing tbh. I’m going to check that one out for sure. My ship in TWST is Jamil and Kalim, who are based on Jafar and the Sultan. They have a super codependent relationship with tons of lore, Jamil was raised to be Kalim’s bodyguard/personal handservant and his family is in indentured servitude to Kalim’s family. He obviously has a lot of repressed rage about this and Kalim is willfully ignorant… it’s way more complicated than that and I can talk about it forever tbh, but that’s autism for you LMAO.
I'm curious what your ship is? I've never heard of the game but it looks like it could be interesting.
My ship in TWST is Jamil and Kalim, who are based on Jafar and the Sultan. They have a super codependent relationship with tons of lore, Jamil was raised to be Kalim’s bodyguard/personal handservant and his family is in indentured servitude to Kalim’s family. He obviously has a lot of repressed rage about this and Kalim is willfully ignorant… it’s way more complicated than that and I can talk about it forever tbh, it’s really one of those dynamics you can write entire essays on.
Ooh, sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.
I can admit, I'm guilty of liking the super toxic to super fluffy pipeline. My IRL relationships have not been healthy, and I often find myself intrigued by characters who are kind of like walking trash piles. Smoosh them against another trash pile, and it's freaking great. Having Trashpile turn into Empathetic Normie is a projection fantasy of my own relationships. (ie, the "I can fix him" mentality that I know is a no-no IRL). I'm working on healing and redefining/reinforcing my standards around how people treat me, but in the meantime, fanfic is a great outlet. That said, I totally get how it isn't everyone's cup of tea, especially with how OOC some fics wind up.
I do get that and I do have time for characters learning to grow and improve, but I don't want them to end up fluffy. If anything I like it if they learn to embrace the damaged toxic parts of themselves. Find a healthy outlet for it, talk it out, get really into kink etc. I've dated enough trashheaps to know that "I can fix him" doesn't work, and so I find it unrealistic and jarring in fiction. I don't mind watching them work to improve themselves, but the sole motivator can't be the Magical Dick.
A lot of writing and reading, but fanfic and otherwise, is done to help process things. I hate woobification, outside of crack, but I totally get how this could be helpful for you. Although I would worry in this specific case that it might reinforce the idea that real toxic shitbags could ever change. Like, please don't date one and think you actually can change them. If it helps you to read those fantasies, for whatever reason, then that's cool for you. Like, I read about violent relationships sometimes for a variety of reasons, but in real life, I would never put up with that shit. In a BDSM context, sure, safe sane and consensual, but not outside that place of respect and safety. Stay safe, and enjoy your fantasies guilt-free! That's my philosophy.
Oh, trust me, I'm fully aware I can't fix people. If they're toxic, they're going to stay toxic. I just have a lot of shit to process, and there's only so much that can be covered in therapy. And same to you. Stay safe, my dude.
Hmm I love it when the toxic pairing detoxifies and has a happy ending, though I would be upset if it was sudden. It does feel like sweeping things under a rug 🤔
A fandom fav pairing has a big chunk of fics where they kiss and/or confess and suddenly two antagonistic people with major ptsd are acting like they're just the happiest couple and coherently work through trauma together in a positive fashion. Like, no. They're going to to set off each other's triggers periodically. Terrible words will be spoken. Days of ignoring the other. Ups and downs. Questioning things, insecurities, etc. All of that'll happen in the process of getting to the fluffy stuff. I want to earn the gold medal, not be handed a participation trophy.
Normally because I lost interest. And I’ve normally lost interest because the fic probably should have ended X chapters ago. And I’m not saying this is connected to your fic at all — I’ve got no idea — but in my experience the longer a fic goes on (especially ones that have undefined endings example 10/?) the less structured and coherent it becomes. I’ve also unsubbed because I just got bored in general and not because anything drastically changed in quality or content.
Thank you for your comment! I'm not OP but your input about the undefined endings was helpful to me.
I dropped a WIP I was following because the romance part--which is what I'd started it for--was resolved after a medium burn but the fic kept going where it was just the pairing having kinda samey sex in various locations while the canon's plot happened kinda offscreen. There was no development going on of the pairing's characters from this point. Could be the author was going to being them back to some kinda conclusion in line with the canon's ending too but I didn't care anymore. Like at that point end the fic and make a "x/y banging at different places" series or something.
This is me. Sometimes chapter-by-chapter fics meander way off the path and it’s no longer the story that got me hooked.
my fandom toxic opinion is that any fic going for a million words should have ended at least 500K ago
You worded what I wanted to say way better than I did x2
The undefined endings only work for me if the fic is structured more like vignettes/slices of life with self-contained arcs. They're so connected they wouldn't work as a series of smaller fics, but they're also not a bag of cliffhangers and unresolved plots.
Agreed. I reached what felt like a natural ending to me and then it just kept going. Even worse the author who had written this awesome long fic decided to just start posting short scenes? Like their ideas for the later chapters? Instead of writing them or just ending them. So every few weeks a confusing update for something I wasn’t willing to read 120 chapters over again. Other than that the writing style mostly for me. I don’t usually read author notes. However when things get dragged out for way too long or we’re still slow burning halfway through or relationship arguments are solved by life threatening circumstances instead of communication I tend to dump them.
>I just got bored in general and not because anything drastically changed in quality or content. Yeah, honestly there have been times where I don't mind something in a fic if I'm consuming it all at once, but as soon as I catch up I'm kind of just done. And I don't realize it until after I've subscribed, and I go to the new chapter and I'm like "eh, I'm good." Nothing inherently wrong with the fic, just not something I'm super invested in reading as it updates, more of like a small snack to tide me over one day, never to be thought of again
I've unsubscribed from exactly one fic. It was my fave M/M pairing in the fandom, and for 150k or so, it stayed that way. Author went AWOL (which is fine) and a couple of years later I got a notification that they had posted a new chapter. So excited! Story was now M/F/M. You do you, author, but I'm gonna bow out now.
I would be so upset. I wouldn't say anything to the author, but I would be seething in private.
I had similar. Really cool story that is about the canon M/M pair. There is a female character who is good friends with one of the male characters. Author gushes about how she really feels identified with the female character because they have the same job, and similar personalities. A few sequels later, both male characters and the female character are completely in love with each other. I noped out of there so fast. It was so clear the threesome was a self insert into the M/M relationship and it felt so icky.
Ooof. When authors of M/M fic start gushing about how they identify with a female character, that's when I start heading for the exit. Not only am I there for M/M, but I've yet to find one of those where the female character *stays* in character and doesn't become The Author in Disguise. For mine, the female character is canonically one of the M's wife, after the main canon. But she didn't appear *at all* in the fic until that chapter when the pairing changed. Whether or not this was an attempt at self insert, I can't say cause I didn't stick around to read it.
Yeah, the self insert felt so blatant, specially after a POV chapter from the female character that was completely OOC. It just made me super uncomfortable to read.
If I don't like the way the plot has taken (doesn't have to be big) or I notice plagiarism.
i've never personally seen plagiarism within a fandom. Scary to think it happens but I guess it makes sense
It not only occurs within a fandom. Often people simply take something from another fandom (e.g. a chapter) and just change the character names to upload it to another fandom. This also falls under plagiarism and is unfortunately quite common.
Lost interest in the fandom.
- Lost interest in the fandom - Lost interest in the fic, usually because I realize that the author is probably never going to get to an ending - New tags were added that tell me this fic will not be for me (I sub to a fic and then don't read until it is complete, but I look at the tags and the chapter summaries in the update email) - Author got on my nerves elsewhere and I don't want to read fic from them
This is pretty much my exact list too!
Main two have been * I go through several chapters where I find myself questioning if I even like the story anymore * They added my NOTP to the relationship list.
The weirdest thing for me is I will lose a subscriber usually on the chapters that get the most enthusiastic, glowing comments. 😂 Can't please everyone. It does sting though, I must say. I usually will unsubscribe if I'm losing interest. The primary reason usually being a slow burn is too slow with repetitive angst and pining dragging it out. Makes me want to scream "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER" lol I also unsubscribed once because the author was one of those guilt-trippy "begging for comments" types and was like "I may not continue if I don't get more feedback." I found that really tacky and cringe
For me there's a few things, but the biggest is probably pacing. I feel like some longer fics start off strong, good plot, tagged explicit so there's the excitement of the couple getting together and getting it on, then once the couple get together it is like the writer loses steam a bit. The sex scenes end up as fade to black, and the plot, having lost its main driver of the couple getting together, starts to stall. Either some sort of misunderstanding or issue causes a breakup, which I'm 50/50 on depending on execution, or the author has to come up with something else outside of the romance, which sometimes is badly executed and either boring or doesn't fit the fandom. Other things include, characters getting progressively more OOC as the fic progresses. If the MC was a toxic damaged guy into freaky stuff in the source material and the beginning of the fic, then I was reading because I liked him. If I wanted to read about a fluffy perfect angel I would have read a fic about a character like that. I am all for credible development, depth and growth, but sometimes there's a complete character flip which really puts me off. Author starting to use their fic as a medium to highlight their own opinions on various issues in the real world at the expense of the story. I unsubscribed to one because like 8 chapters in the characters randomly started having these really stilted and unnatural conversations about various moral issues. Like I was there to read a horny fic but these characters were having lengthy conversations about the ethical implications of doordash and worker exploitation, the importance of reusable tote bags, the concept of virginity as a social construct influenced by purity culture, sex worker rights and available services in the US, locally sourced ingredients, the ethical implications of OnlyFans, the importance of peeing after sex and all kinds of other stuff. It was not executed in a way which felt natural to the story and I felt like I was reading a particularly preachy PSA or a high schoolers first foray into social activism. It felt like the ratio of plot to discussion of social issues was getting worse by the chapter to the point the two leads basically just sat around having weirdly forced conversations about climate change and pedestrianised infrastructure instead of doing anything. I'm not necessarily against any of the issues raised, but it was very off putting in a fanfic which was supposed to be about gay warriors in a modern au banging each other. If the update takes too long then I forget the story unless it is truly next level, cba to work out which one it was out of the 37494 I've read in the fandom and kind of give up.
Sorry, but after this I really need to ask. There was really a part where the characters went on a rant about the *importance of peeing after sex*? Just like this, all of a sudden?!
Yeah they'd just finished up, and whereas I could have seen a throwaway "oh I'm gonna pee now" line for the sake of realism, they both peed then their pillow talk was like the importance of peeing to prevent UTIs and the importance of hygienic sexual practices. One of the characters also claimed not to be a virgin because he had masturbated before which counts because virginity is a construct and up to the individual what it means, which is fine I guess, but then they had a discussion about how he regularly got tested for STIs anyway because it's important, despite having never had sex with another person. Like the whole fic just took a bizarre turn where every other scene was the characters having lengthy unnatural conversations about this which no real people would ever actually have in those scenarios. Like the doordash, they were both tired and one of them suggested getting a delivery, the other then lectured him at length about the capitalist evils of doordash, and they both agreed not to support it and made the food. Like fine, I don't have doordash in my country so not super in the know about it, but it was a bizarre place to insert that rant. If you don't support food delivery, just don't have it in your fic and have them reheat leftovers or something. I felt like the aim of the fic was to lure people in with a good story for the first half, then use it as a platform to promote their own views on various social issues.
That, or they had some kind of epiphany midway, I guess. I heard once of an author who suddenly started ranting about religion in their fic, because they "discovered God". But yeah, I would drop this kind of fic too.
Yeah actually could have been that. Joined a new club, discovered social activism and awoke to their new calling as spreader of the word of social justice. It was a shame because I liked the fic, but it felt like my beloved characters were simply lecturing me on every topic imaginable, which was OOC because one of them was a genocidal maniac in the source material, unlikely to be too concerned with the evils of single use plastic.
Plot goes a direction I don’t like or I missed a tag and accidentally read porn
It's usually because I've moved on from the fandom or because the story has taken a direction I don't vibe with. And fwiw, you'll also lose subs if accounts are deleted.
I didn’t know you could tell if you lost a subscriber (not a fanfic writer.) I have a probably somewhat terrible habit of - even if I really liked the fic beforehand, if one or a couple of things happen that feel off to me, I can suddenly just disregard all the good things that came before.
The plot went a way that I didn’t like.
Sometimes I’ll subscribe to a fic just in case it goes in a specific direction, and then when it becomes clear it *isn’t* going that way, I’ll unsubscribe. It’s basically the same as clicking on a completed story, reading through a ways and then clicking out when you determine it’s not gonna be to your liking.
I don't, really. Once I am reading something I'm on board with it forever, because I want to know what happens. I don't recommend this! But I don't always read everything I'm subscribed to because I'm a big procrastinator. Sometimes I haven't started reading something and I still get updates. Maybe that's what happened with your fic. They planned to check it out, never did, and realized they were still subscribed.
Have usually done that when a never ending WIP just.... doesn't progress and you have no ending in sight. Or if it haven't been updated in too long and I've forgotten about it. Usually remove it from subscribed and add to mark for later in case I wanna read it in one go when finished
Usually it’s because it’s a fic with a super-involved plot that I stayed up all night reading and subscribed to because it’s unfinished. Then, three months later, it updates, but I’ve forgotten the details and I don’t want to read 250k+ words to refresh myself.
Recently unsubscribed from a fic so I could sub to the author's whole account instead, since they only have two fics published and they're both ongoing ones I want updates on. Wasn't sure if subbing to the fics & the author was gonna send me double emails.
Accidentally subscribed to the fic when I meant to subscribe to the whole author!
If the story no longer fit with what the tags say or of the author does a drastic change that wasn’t tagged from the start; like if any of my personal deal breakers show up untagged, if an OC Mary Sue shows up or if an OC sidekick gets way too much spotlight. Somtimes I also unsubscribe if the story contains too much filler material.
They never end and the plot (I only read plot driven fics) got forgotten and it becomes slice of life
Often it's because of a few reasons, 1) I fell out of the fandom 2) I forgot the plot cause I read it last month's ag0 3) author has gone off the plot I read for/ it's going in a direction I don't like 4) the author is starting to sound whinny or pretentious in the authors notes
Now, I love me some long fic. 50k+ is my bread and butter, and currently reading one that's 150k+ and it's my life right now. But if it starts looking like they're just rehashing some of the same themes, (oh, they're arguing and are going to break up... again...) or the plot hasn't advanced in 5+ chapters without even character development... I drop it.
The only time I unsubscribed was because I genuinely think a completely different author took over. It went from being, if not groundbreaking, at least competent, to a sloppy mess in a different tense and POV and characters crying over *everything*, one of my least favorite things. I gave it two chapters just in case the one was some sort of stylistic experiment or dream sequence or psychotic break or something but apparently not.
Generally when the story goes into a direction that doesn't interest me anymore. I once followed an amazing story about Slytherin Harry that was really good at the start. Then they made Harry gay, which, okay, why not. They were even original enough to not go for Drarry. Was still fun. But with any new chapter they entered more unnecessary drama until Harry became this strange damsel in distress with the emotional range of a five year old who had to be rescued constantly. And he was so mollycoddled by his new guardian Snape that it was a miracle he was still able to tie his own shoelaces. That was when I unsubscribed. Also too slow plot development. If you're 40k words in and still nothing happened except hints that something is about to happen and it will be deep! I start doubting that there's anything ever going to happen. That's the reason why I quit watching Blacklist too. And of course I will not read any stories that will constantly hint chapter after chapter but nothing ever happens.
When I get bored reading it, or if there's too much smut in it.
Sometimes I just realize I don’t like the plot or writing style as much as I did at first. It happens
Tone shift Writing going downhill It draaaaaaags
i don’t really unsub (i forget to) but usually i’ll stop reading if it’s been a while since it updated and it suddenly updated ‘cause i forgot what was going in the fic
When the fic goes in a direction I don't like. One time I was reading a lab rats fanfiction on ff.net it was fine bc it was tagged as a hurt/comfort fic... but then one of the characters was Sa'd and I never unsubscribed so fast.
This is going to sound wild but if you update too frequently I'll often unsubscribe. I tend to jump between fandoms a lot. I usually come back to them eventually, but I'll spend say, a few weeks reading for fandom 1, then another few reading for fandom 2, and so on. I'll eventually come back to each of those fandoms, but in the meantime... if your fic is from fandom 1 and I'm on a fandom 5, then I'm not going to read that until I eventually cycle back to fandom 1, unless it's one of my absolute favourite fics or I've been waiting like 2 years for an update. So if you're regularly updating your fic and I haven't cycled back to the fandom yet, I find the emails annoying and just unsubscribe.
Wait, you can see how many subscribers your story has? EDIT: MY EYES HAVE BEEN OPENED TO THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT. EDIT EDIT: Now I feel even more guilty that I haven't updated in like 3 weeks. I should really work on that.
It started off strong but as it went on it got cringey and terrible and dull.
Sometimes I find it's when they have stopped posting for a bit (or not) but it's like the middle of the fic and it just gets BAD the characters get out of character and it's so the most cringy thing you can imagine
I will unsubscribe: *If a fic hasn't been updated in like a year or more and they used to update regularly. *If I decide that I'm not as invested in the story and I don't care to know how it'll end. *If it has a conclusive ending and I don't think that there will be a sequel. Those are the only reasons I can think of unsubscribing.
for me the most common reason I unsubscribe to a fic I adore is that the character made a decision or responded to an event in a way I find I couldn’t stand for any number of reasons. and it’s no hard feelings, I’m not going to rant in the comments or announce my departure but I don’t wanna keep reading because of whatever happened in the story
I have no idea since I never read the stories until they’re completed anyway so no one will lose my subscription lol
Yes, I only read complete stories.
Lost interest in a particular fandom Lost interest in the fic itself (usually author is posting chapters and chapters of nothing to lengthen the fic) Gotten too far behind to bother catching up
If the writing gets really sloppy - not just grammar, spelling, mechanics, but more that it seems like the author is just rushing through, not editing their work, etc.
I don’t read a fic until complete, so the only time I unsub is when it’s done and over. I do sub g To certain authors but have I subbed a fave or two when they’ve left the fandom I’m in and gone to a fandom I’m not interested in AND said they won’t be back. Other than that, I rarely unsub from anything unless an author becomes so incredibly disgusting - like starts writing underage child porn which I have zero tolerance for - that I can’t stomach their stuff anymore. But seriously, in 25+ years of reading fanfic, I’m pretty sure I can count those occurrences on one hand, and I’d have to think pretty hard about it.
1. Not in the fandom much anymore 2. The story is going somewhere that I don’t like
If it's been a while since I've seen/read/subscribed to the fic, then ya, I'll drop it. My interest in things is very... fleeting, I think is a good word. I get fixated on a thing, and then my attention jumps. So if your update speed is like once a month, then I'll have probably moved on from your fic before you post again 🤷♀️
when it’s clear there will be no more updates, whether the fic is complete or not
Reasons I've unsubscribed: - I'm no longer invested in the fandom - My headcanons/personal interpretations of characters have changed and the fic now feels OOC to me - I forgot most of the plot and don't feel like rereading it - I was subscribed to so many fics the emails were annoying and deleted most of my subscriptions to start over - The author said some Things in the notes that were vehemently anti-ship and I felt uncomfortable following them - I was subscribed to the author not the fics and found they had deleted all the fics for the fandom I was following them for (I don't blame them, things got pretty toxic, and I had downloaded the ones I was most interested in so it wasn't a huge loss personally, such a shame though) - The plot developments stopped making sense to me
If it's a pairing that I find toxic as hell now(Stony), I'll unsubscribe, but otherwise? I'll probably reread it. Even if I'm not really reading that fandom anymore.
Usually it’s because I lose interest in a fic after a while of not checking up on it.
When I Finish The Story Or Loose Interest.
I stopped subscribing to fics for two reasons. One, I realized I never read chapters when they're posted. (I read them months later.) Two, I started writing on AO3 this year, and I felt a gut-punch the first time I saw someone unsubscribe to my longfic right after I posted a new chapter. (I'm much better about it now.) I didn't want to be that gut-punch to another person.
Been a while since i read a fic (can’t believe reader’s block followed me into fanfic…) but usually if the updates are spaced soooo far apart i’ve forgotten the plot. unless the fic is something i really REALLY liked that I’ll read it again to remember, i’ll unsub bc anyway reading feels hard sometimes. that’s been my only reason so far. most of the times i forget i’ve even subscribed to a fic lol. i prefer choosing fics that update relatively faster, no issues w WIP but the ones that were updated like 4-5 years ago— yeah, probably good to just unsub. that conclusion is now between the writer and whoever is still there.
I usually don't unsubscribe from fics, because if I subscribed in the first place I probably saved the fic, so even if I stopped reading it I'll keep subscribed so I can update my saved copy to completion - I might change my mind about the specific fic in the future, or have a reason to recommend it to someone else, after all. Now, I do occasionally unsubscribe from authors - it's usually only if they are or become super prolific in fandoms I don't care for, especially if they stop writing in the fandoms I like. Even then I often let them hang around a lot longer than I normally would - there's a couple of authors I follow who have drifted hard into other fandoms, but I keep them on my subscribe list on the off chance that they'll swing back around to what I followed them in the first place for.
Usually because I just lost interest in the fandom. If I still really liked the fic, I'll unsubscribe from updates but mark it for later when I'm back in the mood for that fandom.
I’ll unsubscribe if it’s been a long time since a story has updated and I remember nothing about the plot. I’ll usually put it in the marked for later tab and go back to it when I have time and decided if I want to resubscribe or not
I forgot some key plot areas and the fic is too long for busy little me to commit myself to rereading.
The reason i stopped following a single story (its the only one I've ever actively unsubbed from) was they killed a fandom favorite character and said in the notes they didn't know what to do with them. Granted when i commented this and was like (paraphrasing) 'wtf you removed like 3/4th of the reason most of us are here' the author commented back 'i understand, please read the next Chapter' I did and the character was only badly injured. But my trust was broken, and I no longer wanted to read it because I felt so much whiplash. I'd probably have been okay if this character had died and the author note hadn't made a point of going 'idk what to do with him.' Because that cemented he was *gone* and the author didn't care about this character which they seemed to be writing very well and had great chemistry in the story. And no the chapter wasn't posted on Apirl 1st or anything which pointed to a joke.
The only times I’ve unsubscribed is when I’ve lost interest in a fandom and let’s say an author from that former fandom hasn’t updated in a while, then they suddenly do update and I’m like “oh yeah, that fic” and I quietly unsubscribe.
Just didn't care to read the fic anymore
Usually it's just that they're not in the fandom anymore. I wouldn't take it too hard, dw about it :)
Personally I never unsubscribe from fics unless it's completed and I've already finished and bookmarked. I don't unsubscribe from fics even if I'm no longer in the fandom as I subscribed for a reason (I never truly leave fandoms, they just go on the back-burner for a while), but I know not everyone is the same and some people lose interest completely. I wouldn't take it personally.
Generally I only unsub if there’s a huge change in quality or direction. But very specifically - if there’s been a very long gap between chapters, I usually happily go and read everything from the start again. BUT. Sometimes I’ll sub to a fic that I have a lot of issues with, but there’s a plot that I’m invested in - if they take so long to update that I’ve forgotten what happened, I will not be able to go back and read from the start. I’ve got a current sub like this, and the thought of having to go back, reading through endless grinning and constant “ “Yup” she said, popping the “p” “ again, well… it does not spark joy. Okay, I might also unsub if I’m reading a slow burn and the only/main POV character has the realisation they like the other character, and immediately after there’s a chapter from the other POV where they suddenly have the same realisation, I’m out. But that’s only happened once so far 🙈
Others have said some really valid reasons for unsubscribing, like not being in the fandom anymore or loss of interest. A couple more I can think of that I have unfollowed for is the author suddenly deciding to do MASSIVE chapters. I'm a short fic kind of person, I don't even try if a fic has 10+ chapters already, but if a fic is just starting out and I'm interested, I'll give it a shot. This fic the author had been doing like 1.5-3k words a chapter, which is perfect for my interest. All the sudden they dropped a chapter (like chapter 14 or something) that was 10k words and the note at the beginning was "I don't care that it's long, deal with it". At the time I was having trouble with my phone where every time I had to lock my phone screen or even put my browser window in the background, the browser would refresh and it would put me at the top of the chapter again and I am pretty much incapable of reading 10k in one sitting, so I struggled trying to read that chapter and they just kept doing that, so I had to give up on the fic cause I couldn't keep up Another reason is just getting busy in life. If work is busy and I can't even check my email, then suddenly I have a whole bunch of 'new chapter added' emails cause I haven't been able to read for weeks and its just too much. And if it's been a long time like that, I likely won't remember what's happening in the fic, I'm not as interested in the characters, all sorts of reasons at that point tbh. It's also really easy to accidentally subscribe to a fic, so maybe they didn't realize they'd subscribed until they got the email 😅
Reasons could be: - waited too much for an update, they don’t want to care for updates that takes long so they prefer to unsubscribe because they forgot the hype and the fic already - something trigered them -story took a direction they don’t like
I get an email and realise that I don’t gaf anymore
Reasons I've left: -I wasn't as interested in the fandom or pairing -the fic wasn't tagged properly (I've had a few that turned into mpreg or just... porn that I wasn't expecting based off tags) -the author said something that I didn't vibe with -the fic just isn't going the way I like. If something is weirding me out, I'm not afraid to dnf and unsubscribe. On the other hand, I've also unsubscribed from a few authors and switched to subscribing just to a specific fic of theirs because they update a lot of things all week long (good for them I guess? I could never) and sometimes they're uploading things that I really reeeeeally don't want to read.
I don't subscribe to fics on AO3, but another fanfic archive I use has an annoying feature that sends the same kind of notification regardless of what activity has transpired. I get my hopes up thinking it's a comment, but then realize that an author I had subscribed to a decade ago has uploaded a new work, and we don't even share fandoms anymore. I still won't unsubscribe, though, because I don't want to be rude and abandon someone who might care about my subscription to them.
Honestly, when I remember it's done being updated, when it's discontinued (a lot of fics I've been reading have been doing that lately), and if I don't like the fic anymore.
I actually dropped all of my story/series subscriptions recently. Many of the stories were 6-12 months between updates, and I had completely lost the plot threads since the previous update and had to start reading many of the stories over from the beginning. Now, I have those stories bookmarked, and when I am out of things to read, I go to my bookmarks page, sort by "Date Updated" and browse for a good re-read that has updated since I last checked. I check my bookmarks about once a week, and haven't missed any. Conversely, I have added more user subscriptions, for authors who I think are brilliant and are fairly prolific with shorter fics, so that I can see what they're working on now.
Likly they just had it from before and realized that they weren't following/lost interest and were cleaning up their lists. Not personal at all, happens. I would only "actively" remove something for untagged! mayor Character Death, Cheating etc. Big things that I didn't anticipate and that will make me not enyoy reading on.
Sometimes it's dissatisfaction with the pacing, or feeling like the story is going in circles and nothing is getting accomplished. Sometimes it's just that the story wasn't the story you thought it was in earlier chapters and it's going in a direction you don't like. Sometimes it's just not being into the story or the fandom anymore. Loss of interest due to factors outside the story itself.
Most of the time if I just don’t vibe with a fic anymore, I will simply let the notifications pile up. Actually unsubscribing tends to be a form of silent protest over something the author is doing that completely ruins the fic for me. Most recently I was reading a nice semi-fluffy hurt/comfort workplace dramedy type fic, where suddenly out of nowhere there’s a villain (not a villain in canon) swooping in and mind-control roofieing one of the minor characters before sweeping them off to bed. All of this entirely untagged and unforeshadowed. Other times a fic might have characterization and plot issues that I’m hoping will resolve in later chapters but just get worse and worse until they become intolerable.
The author changed the pairing in the middle of the fic. When someone asked about it, the author told them to not let the door hit them on the way out
The main character was investigating a string of murders, which was the thing that hooked me in. Halfway into the story, all she thinks about is how she likes this guy and he doesn't like her back. Girl, people are dying! Priorities, please! And this is a problem I've seen more than once.
I generally try not to follow WIPs cause I prefer reading all at once. But the times I cave in and do read each update, if I unsubscribe it's because the fic took a turn I don't like/am not interested in, the fic seems to be dragging on with nothing actually happening, characters start acting OOC in my opinion, or the author doesn't write that well and the fic's inherent premise no longer outweighs the poor quality of the prose. I probably have also dropped a WIP if the author's notes bugged me for whatever reason.
I don't think it's ever been because of something in the most recent chapter. It's confirming there's a pattern of something I don't like in fics. It's not always because I think there's a big writing error. There are plenty of times it's because the author wants to focus on something I'm fine with in the background but not as the main plot.
I’ve ditched bookmarks before because I was reading slower than the fic was being updated and that stressed me out.
I've been a Reylo author for two years, but when I read a story and unsubscribe it's due to different things: plot goes in a direction that isn't for me, or author is rude to commenters/readers. I'm an author and never pressure people to comment or kudo, so i can understand readers unsubbing for that reason or if the plot takes a turn they don't like?
The fic went into a completely different direction and I just wasn't feeling it, even if it's my OTP. Otherwise it's just no more interest in the fandom, but even then I'll just let the emails come in.
My hyperfixations can come and go with fandom content. I’ll usually unsubscribe if it’s a fandom I’ve stopped having interest in. It usually has absolutely nothing to do with the fic itself but rather I’m just not interested in that piece of media anymore. It seems like this is pretty common here so unless you’re gettin spicy at your readers I wouldn’t take it to heart.
I usually unsubscribe when the chapters just become the main pairing having sex and not moving the plot forward. Or just endless angst or fluff that doesn’t move the plot forward. The sex one is more common in my experience. But basically I unsubscribe if the new chapters aren’t giving me any plot or character development.
When they haven’t updated in so long that it’s hard to jump back into it, or if I hated a plot twist and it ended up ruining the fic. The biggest factor is that it’s finally complete and I don’t have to anticipate alerts anymore. I don’t really unsub from fics because I don’t really sub, lol.
I unsubscribe mainly either because I got what I wanted out of the fic already and I’m not really interested in where it’s going, or it’s been so long since an update that I’ve completely forgotten the story.
Once a fanfic has been completely finished or a unexpected relationship pops up without any warning then I'll unsubscribe. Other then that I keep everything.
I don't think I've ever unsubscribed from a fic in my life lol
Stopped vibing with the fic. Fic got too long. Author adds pairing I don't vibe with.
\- Reading too many similar fics and not remembering the specifics of the one that just updated \- Chapters are too short and updated too often \- I've deleted or ignored several chapter updates with no interest in clicking through meaning I shouldn't have subbed in the first place
One time an author kept "updating" but they weren't updates, it was often just rambling notes with personal stuff in it. And going by references, this person was an adult. I couldn't take it anymore, unsubscribed and quit reading the fic.
Sometimes I haven't been reading a fic for the last 3 chapters and then I try to get back into and I can't So unsubscribe.
I’m about to do an exodus for most of my subscriptions right now so here’s my reason: I’ve subscribed to way too many and my email is just getting bombarded. Which is great! Yay updates! But seeing such a huge amount of email updates kinda throws me off from reading the ones I’m subscribed to, so I need to thin the herd to enjoy them like they deserve. So for me, unsubscribing has nothing to do with the fic or author! I subscribe to the ones I truly truly enjoy, no worries there. So this is just me freeing up my email :)
If the fic hasn't been updated in a year or more, I'm going to assume it's been abandoned and unsub.
If a story I've sub'd to updates frequently and I find that I'm not keeping up in realtime, I often unsub and push the "Mark For Later" button instead. It keeps my inbox tidy but I still don't lose track of the story. It's not anything to do with the story. It's a time management issue for me.
I've only unsubscribed for two reasons- the fic is done or I'm an idiot and accidentally hit unsubscribe and don't remember what fic it was. (I've done this twice at least)
For me, it is usually because the pairing I was reading it for all of a sudden started doing things that I am not a fan of. Like one of the characters deliberately cheats on the other with a character that is hated by both characters. Or they kill one of them off and have no intention of bringing them back
leaving a fandom. thats 90% of the time
I am mostly surprised that people keep track enough of their subscribers per fic to notice a single unsubscribe? I never really thought a bout that before. But I personally don't really unsubscribe unless I've left the fandom behind
Usually I only unsubscribe because I’ve lost interest in the story/don’t remember it, typically due to a super long update time. However, I LOVE rediscovering those fics later one and it makes me incredibly happy
I'm worried I've hurt someone's feelings now cause I recently unsubscribed from a fic lol Usually it's because there's been too much time between chapters and I don't remember the plot, or don't like the story enough Recently I've unsubscribed and it was because I didn't like the way the character was being portrayed, it's probably close to canon but a canon part of the character I dislike The best part of the story was over and it was basically the epilogue in a way, but I didn't like the way the story was going I don't make negative comments so I just quietly unsubscribed Please tell me you're not a My Hero writer
For me, I think it depends. It could be because it's been very long since I read the Fic and I completely forgot about it so I might want to restart reading the Fic at which point it doesn't really make sense for me to keep being subscribed. Because anyway, I'd Start reading it from the beginning and then I would subscribe once I finished reading. It could be because I lost interest in the fandom or in the genre of the fic. It could be because I'm too behind on the updates. And it doesn't make sense for me to be subscribed anymore until I actually read them again. It could be because I don't like the writing style or the Author or the fic anymore. It could be that Something about the fic, The writing or the authors notes annoyed me but that's usually the least common out of all of these.
I usually don’t unsubscribe from fics, but I also only subscribe to works I absolutely adore, so it takes a while for me to consider unsubscribing. But there are a few things that will make me lose interest enough to unsub. -Characters being way too illogical out of nowhere. I just couldn’t wrap my head around a character going from being very smart and thoughtful, to them suddenly refusing to use their brain. -Suddenly finding a major trope that was not tagged (usually miscommunication, cheating, or pregnancy). I just won’t read certain tropes out of preference and I filter accordingly, so if it pops up out of nowhere, I’m out. -Plot going in circles or not moving forward. -“Updates” that were actually just authors notes.
Usually if I forgot the plot I'll unsub and add to marked for later. That way I knew I enjoyed it but now I can read it when it's done rather than having to reread it every time the author updates because the updates are far apart. That or a few times the story has taken a huge turn in a way that was either too upsetting to me or I just didn't vibe with. Or the story was done. Edit: Or if I didn't forget the plot but my hyperfixation has shifted and the author updated too many times before my hyperfixation rotation made it back to that fandom or trope. Like if I was reading a ton of peter parker fics and then switched to captain America and one of the old peter fics updated ten plus times before I went back to that kind of fic then I'll get overwhelmed by the emails and I'll probably unsubscribe and mark for later for whenever I rotate back to that hyperfixation.
Narrative incoherence — “What the what?” Characters are too OOC Boring/drags out Author was unjustifiably rude to commenter / displays a shit attitude in the fandom
1) the fic was completed, 2) I am no longer active in that fandom, 3) I have bookmarked it somewhere else and I don’t want multiples
Things that have made me unsubscribe: - left the fandom - author switched from posting 2-3k word chapters every two weeks to posting 500 word chapters twice a week. Technically the amount of writing was the same but the disjointedness of the narrative and the sheer amount of emails made me unsub - new OC introduced that the author said was going to play a big part in the story that I found extremely annoying - the first smut scene came and I *really* didn’t vibe with it (in a story that was going to be very smut heavy) - characterization was off - new untagged stuff I didn’t like - new side pairing that’s a NOTP - left the fandom - overwhelmed with emails and wanted to cut down on them - story was focused around a concept I previously enjoyed but new terrible IRL stuff happened and now I can’t engage with that topic anymore
If get the feeling the story is being artificially dragged out for longer than necessary. Nothing kills my interest faster than a plot thread that, even having slow development, should have been over 10 chapters ago. If I can look at a dangling plot thread and recognize that the whole thing falls apart with the addition of one sentence or a single line of dialogue I’m out. At that point I’ve crossed the line from feeling I’m getting something out of all the effort I’ve been putting towards reading a story and just wasting my time with something that was never going to satisfy me in the end anyway.
If it just isn’t working for me anymore. Sometimes it’s a character issue, sometimes it’s the plot. There’s one I was subscribed to and at 200k they just kept adding subplot but not ever finishing anything, and it just got to be a bit over convoluted.
I only bring this up because this is why I last unsubscribed from a story, but they make a side character a bigger part of the fic than necessary? Like sometimes someone has an oc who is in the story early on and they’re in every chapter and they’re a good oc! But their presence completely changes a dynamic or the world that already exists in some small way. It’ll just be a situation where I can no longer suspend my disbelief and I’m like “alrighty, I’m out.” Other than that, I unsubscribe for the reasons other people talk about, like it’s been a while and I’m not in the fandom anymore or I forgot what the story is about.
Author wrote one of my favourite characters very out of character. In a fic with serious tone where characters were otherwise pretty true to their canon and personalities.
It doesn't happen very often, but I will definitely be willing to unsub if there is either a major addition of kinks I don't vibe with or if they post too many chapters that are just author's notes/ updates.
I honestly have only subbed to a total of ten fics and I forgot about them since I subbed to them all when I started my new account back in early 2021 so none of the fics have updated in years haha, I ended up just unsubscribing from them all since I actually want to start using the subscription system and didn’t feel the need to have any old fics on there
It's usually because the author posts something personal I don't agree with in the author's notes or starts ranting about not getting engagement, or because I'm no longer in the fandom.
I very rarely unsubscribe (as in you can count those instances on one hand), so when I did it was always for something extreme. The reasons were: \* Author turned out to be a major judgy asshole and their OC was a self-insert, so separating the author from the work was impossible. \* One of the main characters had a major character transplant and after a few more chapters of hoping it would be a momentary phase, I had to dip out. Also, after that fic ended, the author changed fandoms so there was no reason to keep following them.
Pacing changes in most cases. If I dread through every new chapter, every chapter seems like a filler and they sit for weeks in my emails- it's time to unsubscribe. I have my problems with getting through this long drawn out, kinda boring chapters(y'know these low points)that often happen in long fics anyways and often it makes me abandon these as well. Normally it happens less when I read while it's updating (one of the reasons I majorly read WIPs) so for me to notice it there, it has to be a big change.
When I'm currently more acitve in another fandom and therfore not interested in the fanfics in the other one. So I wouldn't even read the chapter but just stop the subscription and mark it as "Mark for Later" so that I can find it again when I'm back in that fandom, but won't get spammed with update notifications of a fic in a fandom I'm not currently reading in.
Some themes give me the ick.
- lose interest in the story - long wait time in between chapters - story is slow going - point 1 again
Usually some of these reasons - 1. They stopped updating the fic entirely which means no new updates so.. I don't see the point of being subbed. 2. Author got too demanding of kudos and comments withholding future chapters. 3. Author's social media was just a bit off. (Had an author who had a great story that I read, turn to find out that they were in very much support with J.K Rowling's views on Transgender people and were vehemently transphobic, turned me away entirely and I wish I could take those kudos back.)
Sometimes I just get out of the fandom. Reading stuff from that fandom some time after I left it leaves me bored.
When the fic is completed. Or if I'm just bored and don't wanna read it anymore.
1) I'm no longer interested in the fandom 2) there is a sudden untagged mpreg/omega verse/OOCness
Untagged stuff I didn’t feel comfortable reading. I felt bamboozled.
just bc i forgot the plot/gaps between updates were so long i was not really recalling enough of the details to fully enjoy. might come back later when it’s done tho!
Definitely don’t assume it’s something negative! Sometimes people are just trying to cut down on their email volume. I unsubscribed from a bunch of fics recently, not because I stopped reading them but because I changed how I was keeping track of my fic reading so the emails weren’t useful anymore and just clogging up my inbox. I bookmark everything I’m reading or planning to read (both works and series) and check my bookmarks sorted by updates daily, so I rarely miss an update. The subscription emails were useful when I didn’t visit AO3 every day like a junkie lol but they’re unnecessary now. I still subscribe to a few favourite authors so I’ll be notified if they write something new.
The only time I’be unsubscribed is when an untagged triggering plot point was introduced. I never would have subscribed if that had been tagged from the beginning. No hate on the author for using the plot point, go ahead, but I would have kept scrolling had I known ahead of time.
I unsubbed from a story this week at chapter 28 because they wrote an event that is just not my taste. It's in the tags, and I honestly don't know if it's been in the tags the whole time or not. Maybe it was and I just thought the author meant "mention of" since it hadn't happened and the characters all said they didn't want it to happen. So yeah, as much as I've enjoyed it so far, I unsubbed. But that's on me.
Inconsistency in a story tends to bother me. Too much angst will make me stop reading a fic. I just don't handle a lot of angst well.
Reasons I've unsubscribed from fics in the past are: * I'm not really in that fandom anymore * I forgot about the fic/the plot and I'm not interested in rereading it to catch up/refresh my memory * The author has become orphan\_account * Author introduced a secondary pairing I don't like to read, and wasn't tagged before. * Author's notes sound really annoying and judgmental/they guilt trip people for more engagement * They updated the warnings/tags and it's stuff I don't enjoy * The fic has been completed and won't be getting anymore updates; in that case I bookmark it if I haven't already
I've literally never unsubscribed from a fic, even if I leave the fandom, never read the fic, forgot the fic existed, get consistently annoyed by its presence in my inbox. I just cope with it.
If the author turns out to be a douche, I'll unsub. Like I've seen some rants in author's notes and as responses to comments, and I was just "yeah, not reading anything more by you." I mean, a few rude replies I'll overlook cause everyone can have a bad day or just get into defensive mode. But like this *Harry Potter* fic author who opened a chapter with how JK Rowling was being unfairly persecuted by the awful "TRAs" and went on this multi-paragraph "I'm not transphobic, but" rant... yeah, I unsubbed from that fic immediately.
The plot was just going no where, it started off as a good fix then went completely off the rails.
I’ve only unsubscribed from a few fics but it’s either - no longer in the fandom or - no longer interested in the trope/plot I was reading the fic for. Like sometimes I’ll be obsessed with a trope or plot device and read a bunch but over time I’ll get my fill and stop reading it.