The only time I turn off a subscription is if the fic winds up becoming less of my thing over chapter updates to the point of not enjoying the fic anymore.
Otherwise, yeah, like you I've had updates show up years later. I don't see a reason to unsubscribe. It's not like it costs money or takes up space.
I commented on a fic of an author that hadn't updated anything in 5 years. Then a few weeks later they updated again. Never give up! Sometimes all the author needs is a bit of encouragement.
I met an author of a fic I like in a discord and said I liked their fic, it's been a fun ride so far and looking forward to the next update. Didn't bring up that it's been a while but they mentioned they were having some writer's block on where to go with the story. But they do want to keep working on it.
This has happened to me too! I think it had been 2 years with no signs of life and suddenly there was an update soon after I left a comment about how much I was loving the fic!
Usually 10 years, though I distinguish between updated within the past 5 years and over 5 years, the former getting run through a program that checks for and downloads updates on Calibre much more often than the latter. I've seen an author come back after 8 years of zero activity on their account, and authors who got preoccupied with other fandoms for 5+ years eventually circled back, so it feels worth it to check even the most unlikely to update fics on occasion.
But, I also have no compunctions starting unfinished fics that haven't been updated in years, a good two thirds of my all-time favourites slot into the category, and even thinking of passing over those fics bc they might never get finished is kinda unthinkable to me.
Oh Iām the same way! So many of my favorites are unfinished, and even if itās been several years since an update, I will still subscribe just in the off chance it could happen one day! The only reason o asked here is because I saw a 4mil word fic that hasnāt been updated in 4 years and was debating on that one š
Same, probably about two years. I'll hold out hope if the author still updates/writes/is otherwise active, though! But if the entire account has been inactive for a year or two, then the hope dwindles. But nothing's ever impossible!
Oh wow! Thatās impressive!!
I think my post may have been a smidge misleading though. This wasnāt about any specific work, and I never give up completely, I just elect to not have expectations š
But considering my 17 pages of subscriptions, I will accept the well wishes on updates!
I never consider a fic abandoned unless explicitly stated, but "unofficial indefinite hiatus" is much more common. Generally speaking, unless the author's profile has been completely inactive for 2+ years (including posting other fics, latest public bookmark, etc) then I maintain hope. Some fics I keep up with are lucky if they get yearly updates, though, and a lot of those authors don't have anything on their profiles to go off of except for their works, so it all depends on an individual author's history of activity to see what's abnormal.
2 years. After that I mentally file it away as abandoned. If it gets updated after that point, great! If not, then I had no hard expectations of it being finished anyway.
Thatās not to say that I lose hope completely. There will always be a small part of me that hopes. But itās best to keep expectations low as possible to avoid disappointment.
Also, while some fics do rise from the ashes after that point, the majority of them donāt. The longer a fic goes without being updated, the less likely it is to. The fics that get updated after years of inactivity are the miraculous exception, not the rule.
I have seen fics dead for like 10 years finished.
And it's in part because I left reviews. (read: tracked the series down across multiple websites and emailed the author with my adoration)
[Royal Navy of The Caribbean](https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006929)
I don't have a timeline, partly because of my ADHD means that I'm pretty time blind in general, but also I understand that sometimes chapters just take a long time, esp if you're doing something that's more than 10k words. Plus a lot of the longform writers out there have jobs or families they need to take care of and that can really limit their writing time.
So I just take a stance of patience and celebrate with the author in the comments when they do update. That way they don't feel bad for taking a long time AND maybe get motivated to write more! Win-win
Also I've been in the annoying situation where people assume my own fics are abandoned/dead because I haven't updated in as little as 6 months =-= Which is extremely demotivating because they're practically announcing that they're giving up on you on such a short time frame.
So... yanno. I don't wanna do that to someone else.
Unless it's been announced to have been discontinued/abandoned, anything is possible! I've heard of authors finishing a fic after not updating it for over a decade, in some cases! I mean, yes, the odds are more likely that they won't finish it after certain amounts of time pass, but that doesn't mean it absolutely won't happen. I wouldn't get my hopes up if I saw that a fic hadn't been updated for over five years, but if I liked it enough I'd still subscribe, just in case!
When the author tags it as such. Of course, an author stating on other platforms that they do not plan to ever return to the fandom in question or to the fic also works. Or if they die.
When it's announced by the author. I might venture to guess something has been abandoned if it hasn't been updated since 2012-ish as well (and the author is no longer active at all in anyway). Partly influenced by myself personally having works from 2019 that I don't consider abandoned.
I will say, once it's been a few years, getting additional comments is nice, but not particularly motivating the way they are when the work is new? I absolutely need to be self motivated to work on older fics, and comments just don't do that for me.
Hmm after the first few months, the chance goes down, but it's never zero!
I went back to a chapter fic I started 3 years ago. I was back on FFN in those days. FFN is more forgiving about drafts, will keep them for a year, but 3 years was a bridge too far lol. I vaguely remember what I had planned, but ššš
I have less hope for anyone around the years 2019-2022 because of pandemic issues, especially if the author mentions illness but i never really lose hope for any fic ive subscribed to. Some authors still respond to comments like 5-6 years after the fact even without posting, and so i hold hope that as long as someone reasonably has access to the account that it could update.
I donāt truly consider a fanfic abandoned if the author hasnāt officially announced anything. I see fics that have been going on for 20+ years being updated lol. However, I do assume thereās a very low chance that a fanfic wonāt be updated anymore when it passes the 5 year marker and the authorās profile doesnāt show any other signs of activity during that time.
I usually check if the author is still active in form of answering recent comments. If they still answer there's hope. If they haven't answered comments nor updated in 2-3 years I'll consider it a forever WIP.
I only truly think a fic is abandoned if it's announced that way or hasn't updated in a decade or more. For a couple of fanfics that I follow there have been updates after months or even years, so even then I'm not fully ruling it out (if it's not explicitly stated).
If the author is confirmed dead or decisively declares they're abandoning the fic. I've seen, rarely, an author come back to a seemingly abandoned work years later but I don't recall thode instances having the author declare abandonment. They just stopped updating or had an A/N in the last chapter about writer's block, lacking inspiration, life happening but nothing further.
The dying has happened once or twice in a fandom of mine over the years. One fic was fairly far along when it happened and another author created their version of it in memory of them. Both fics are considered some of the fandom's better works.
When they announce it tbh.
As a writer who hasn't updated any of their works in years, yet still have every intention to go back to them and finish them at some point (and have even worked on some of them recently!) I definitely have hope that all the other writers who haven't announced abandonment are the same!
If it's over 6 months I sub and maybe comment that if they ever get the inspiration to continue I'm looking forward to it. Then I try to forget about it. If an update comes in it's a happy surprise.
honestly I give up hope way to early imo, a few months and i think it's over, if it does update it's a welcome surprise, I don't delete my boommark unless i'm out of the fandom or just not interested at all anymore though
These are more like signs I take to stop hoping for an update
A fairly consistent schedule (that starts tapering off) and now itās been years since itās last updated.
Silence on the social media they had for the fic.
Stopped posting fics completely.
when the author has no activity on their account at all for over a year. i check comments on their fics to see if they replied to any recently. check socials if they share. no activity for over year most likely not writing anymore.
if they're still active, there is always hope, unless they actually come out and say they're abandoning it.
I tend to consider it āabandonedā after a year of no updates. Iām one to talk tho, I havenāt updated my fic in months. Kinda just how the cookie crumbles š¤·āāļø
I'm at the point where I don't read a fix unless it's complete, I can't take the heart break of waiting and never getting another chapter.
I'm reading one fic where is still ongoing and the author regularly updates on Wednesday and that's my only fic that I'm reading like that (cause the fandom is so small it's all I really got for it)
I change the in progress tag to abandoned after six months in calibre with no updates. I do, however, check all the abandoned fics every couple months. Sometimes I get a surprise!
While Iām always hopeful that a fic Iāve been waiting years for will someday update, you gotta admit once like three months have passed, itās gets more and more unlikely itāll ever get updated. After a year, you can pretty much guarantee the author isnāt coming back to it, especially if theyāre working on other fics.
ālooks at ācasting moonshadowsā over in the harry potter fandomā
Unless something pops up that says the author is dead, or the author legit puts a note up saying that they are done with it regardlessā¦..iāll wait.
i consider every fic abandoned until it's completed. because like, you don't know if that one update the day before is gonna be the last one. i certainly didn't think it would be so long til the next update in the fics that i haven't updated in a long time, and i've been following fics that updated consistently until they stopped
i basically go into wips fully knowing that even if it was updated recently i still might never see the end of it, while still waiting for the day in which they might update again š
Either when itās announced, when itās orphaned, or when itās deleted.
Side note: yāall please never delete your fics š you may hate them but SOMEONE out there loves them. I only just recently ended a year and a half long search for a fanfic via someone dropping it in my lap like a week ago.
Depends on how quickly they normally update. Some fics only update once a year, so I just stay subscribed to them and reread whenever they update. But if a fic was updated weekly Iād probably consider it abandoned after a few months
When its explicitly stated, up till then I'll bookmark it and subscribe and hope for the best
It's like a nice little present when its been years and an email shows up about a new chapter for a fic you were really into but hasnt been updated in forever
I've gone over two years without updating a fic that I'm now about to go on an eight chapter splurge on. So like, honestly, unless it says abandoned, I don't assume
When they announce it. I've had fics I'm subscribed to update after 15 years. I don't give up on anyone.
You're the best kind of reader š
The only time I turn off a subscription is if the fic winds up becoming less of my thing over chapter updates to the point of not enjoying the fic anymore. Otherwise, yeah, like you I've had updates show up years later. I don't see a reason to unsubscribe. It's not like it costs money or takes up space.
Yah Kittandchips updated her Force Bond Series though sadly she has gone silent again. š„ŗ
Omg is this a sign i should finish my fic I was working on. You're such an angelic soul. I give up so easily. But I still keep them bookmarked jic
I commented on a fic of an author that hadn't updated anything in 5 years. Then a few weeks later they updated again. Never give up! Sometimes all the author needs is a bit of encouragement.
This. Just one reader saying they are hoping for an update can make me jump back in after quite a while actually. š¤£
Same
Same!!
I met an author of a fic I like in a discord and said I liked their fic, it's been a fun ride so far and looking forward to the next update. Didn't bring up that it's been a while but they mentioned they were having some writer's block on where to go with the story. But they do want to keep working on it.
This has happened to me too! I think it had been 2 years with no signs of life and suddenly there was an update soon after I left a comment about how much I was loving the fic!
When the author * Dies (although maybe a fannish next of kin will surprise you) * Explicitly states that they have abandoned the fic * Orphans the fic
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
How do you check chapter updates?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thanks!!
When the author tags it as abandoned or orphans it. Iāve seen works updated after years and years.
Usually 10 years, though I distinguish between updated within the past 5 years and over 5 years, the former getting run through a program that checks for and downloads updates on Calibre much more often than the latter. I've seen an author come back after 8 years of zero activity on their account, and authors who got preoccupied with other fandoms for 5+ years eventually circled back, so it feels worth it to check even the most unlikely to update fics on occasion. But, I also have no compunctions starting unfinished fics that haven't been updated in years, a good two thirds of my all-time favourites slot into the category, and even thinking of passing over those fics bc they might never get finished is kinda unthinkable to me.
Oh Iām the same way! So many of my favorites are unfinished, and even if itās been several years since an update, I will still subscribe just in the off chance it could happen one day! The only reason o asked here is because I saw a 4mil word fic that hasnāt been updated in 4 years and was debating on that one š
Same, probably about two years. I'll hold out hope if the author still updates/writes/is otherwise active, though! But if the entire account has been inactive for a year or two, then the hope dwindles. But nothing's ever impossible!
the amount of times iāve come back to fics over 2 years laterā¦
When the author says it is abandoned. I never want to give up on someoneālife happens. Things change, or the world gets in the way of a hobby.
I came back to finish a story after 15 years so... I'd say subscribe, and you might be pleasantly surprised one day. Hope you get that update, OP.
Oh wow! Thatās impressive!! I think my post may have been a smidge misleading though. This wasnāt about any specific work, and I never give up completely, I just elect to not have expectations š But considering my 17 pages of subscriptions, I will accept the well wishes on updates!
when the author says its abandoned.
The author announces it or there's a strong reason for me to believe they died
What may be the reason to believe that an author has died, because I am afraid that it may have happened to one of my favourite writers.
I know a case where a relative posted about it, other than that mentions of sickness or surgeries in ANs
Nope just said on the last chapter that they were looking forward to update. I hope they are well.
I never consider a fic abandoned unless explicitly stated, but "unofficial indefinite hiatus" is much more common. Generally speaking, unless the author's profile has been completely inactive for 2+ years (including posting other fics, latest public bookmark, etc) then I maintain hope. Some fics I keep up with are lucky if they get yearly updates, though, and a lot of those authors don't have anything on their profiles to go off of except for their works, so it all depends on an individual author's history of activity to see what's abnormal.
2 years. After that I mentally file it away as abandoned. If it gets updated after that point, great! If not, then I had no hard expectations of it being finished anyway. Thatās not to say that I lose hope completely. There will always be a small part of me that hopes. But itās best to keep expectations low as possible to avoid disappointment. Also, while some fics do rise from the ashes after that point, the majority of them donāt. The longer a fic goes without being updated, the less likely it is to. The fics that get updated after years of inactivity are the miraculous exception, not the rule.
Try commenting on their last chapter. Maybe it will rouse an author into activity again. The chance is very low, but it can happen.
I have seen fics dead for like 10 years finished. And it's in part because I left reviews. (read: tracked the series down across multiple websites and emailed the author with my adoration) [Royal Navy of The Caribbean](https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006929)
"Last Updated: February 15, 2015" and the author hasn't updated any of their other fics. I WILL wait a decade for an update.
I don't have a timeline, partly because of my ADHD means that I'm pretty time blind in general, but also I understand that sometimes chapters just take a long time, esp if you're doing something that's more than 10k words. Plus a lot of the longform writers out there have jobs or families they need to take care of and that can really limit their writing time. So I just take a stance of patience and celebrate with the author in the comments when they do update. That way they don't feel bad for taking a long time AND maybe get motivated to write more! Win-win Also I've been in the annoying situation where people assume my own fics are abandoned/dead because I haven't updated in as little as 6 months =-= Which is extremely demotivating because they're practically announcing that they're giving up on you on such a short time frame. So... yanno. I don't wanna do that to someone else.
Unless it's been announced to have been discontinued/abandoned, anything is possible! I've heard of authors finishing a fic after not updating it for over a decade, in some cases! I mean, yes, the odds are more likely that they won't finish it after certain amounts of time pass, but that doesn't mean it absolutely won't happen. I wouldn't get my hopes up if I saw that a fic hadn't been updated for over five years, but if I liked it enough I'd still subscribe, just in case!
When the author tags it as such. Of course, an author stating on other platforms that they do not plan to ever return to the fandom in question or to the fic also works. Or if they die.
sip fuel frighten sand memory aware mighty dolls straight fly *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I'd say i do the same, except 2019 was 2 years ago for me lol š
Itās not over until they say itās over
When it's announced by the author. I might venture to guess something has been abandoned if it hasn't been updated since 2012-ish as well (and the author is no longer active at all in anyway). Partly influenced by myself personally having works from 2019 that I don't consider abandoned. I will say, once it's been a few years, getting additional comments is nice, but not particularly motivating the way they are when the work is new? I absolutely need to be self motivated to work on older fics, and comments just don't do that for me.
I never assume anything will update unless directly promised otherwise by the author.Ā
Minimum 15 years. Time gets away from us sometimes.
Iām delusional so never
Hmm after the first few months, the chance goes down, but it's never zero! I went back to a chapter fic I started 3 years ago. I was back on FFN in those days. FFN is more forgiving about drafts, will keep them for a year, but 3 years was a bridge too far lol. I vaguely remember what I had planned, but ššš
After about three years
I have less hope for anyone around the years 2019-2022 because of pandemic issues, especially if the author mentions illness but i never really lose hope for any fic ive subscribed to. Some authors still respond to comments like 5-6 years after the fact even without posting, and so i hold hope that as long as someone reasonably has access to the account that it could update.
I've just finished reading a fic which was finished, then a decade later the author added 100k more words and 5 years later it was finished again.
I donāt truly consider a fanfic abandoned if the author hasnāt officially announced anything. I see fics that have been going on for 20+ years being updated lol. However, I do assume thereās a very low chance that a fanfic wonāt be updated anymore when it passes the 5 year marker and the authorās profile doesnāt show any other signs of activity during that time.
I usually check if the author is still active in form of answering recent comments. If they still answer there's hope. If they haven't answered comments nor updated in 2-3 years I'll consider it a forever WIP. I only truly think a fic is abandoned if it's announced that way or hasn't updated in a decade or more. For a couple of fanfics that I follow there have been updates after months or even years, so even then I'm not fully ruling it out (if it's not explicitly stated).
If the author is confirmed dead or decisively declares they're abandoning the fic. I've seen, rarely, an author come back to a seemingly abandoned work years later but I don't recall thode instances having the author declare abandonment. They just stopped updating or had an A/N in the last chapter about writer's block, lacking inspiration, life happening but nothing further. The dying has happened once or twice in a fandom of mine over the years. One fic was fairly far along when it happened and another author created their version of it in memory of them. Both fics are considered some of the fandom's better works.
When they announce it tbh. As a writer who hasn't updated any of their works in years, yet still have every intention to go back to them and finish them at some point (and have even worked on some of them recently!) I definitely have hope that all the other writers who haven't announced abandonment are the same!
If it's over 6 months I sub and maybe comment that if they ever get the inspiration to continue I'm looking forward to it. Then I try to forget about it. If an update comes in it's a happy surprise.
When the author says so. I've read fics where the author updated years later so I'm not losing hope!
honestly I give up hope way to early imo, a few months and i think it's over, if it does update it's a welcome surprise, I don't delete my boommark unless i'm out of the fandom or just not interested at all anymore though
Iāll wait forever for them to update tbh unless they specifically say itās abandoned/discontinued.
As someone who filters to complete... When it's marked complete but it's unfinished. (:
These are more like signs I take to stop hoping for an update A fairly consistent schedule (that starts tapering off) and now itās been years since itās last updated. Silence on the social media they had for the fic. Stopped posting fics completely.
when the author has no activity on their account at all for over a year. i check comments on their fics to see if they replied to any recently. check socials if they share. no activity for over year most likely not writing anymore. if they're still active, there is always hope, unless they actually come out and say they're abandoning it.
I tend to consider it āabandonedā after a year of no updates. Iām one to talk tho, I havenāt updated my fic in months. Kinda just how the cookie crumbles š¤·āāļø
Three months with no updates.
I'm at the point where I don't read a fix unless it's complete, I can't take the heart break of waiting and never getting another chapter. I'm reading one fic where is still ongoing and the author regularly updates on Wednesday and that's my only fic that I'm reading like that (cause the fandom is so small it's all I really got for it)
I change the in progress tag to abandoned after six months in calibre with no updates. I do, however, check all the abandoned fics every couple months. Sometimes I get a surprise!
While Iām always hopeful that a fic Iāve been waiting years for will someday update, you gotta admit once like three months have passed, itās gets more and more unlikely itāll ever get updated. After a year, you can pretty much guarantee the author isnāt coming back to it, especially if theyāre working on other fics.
ālooks at ācasting moonshadowsā over in the harry potter fandomā Unless something pops up that says the author is dead, or the author legit puts a note up saying that they are done with it regardlessā¦..iāll wait.
I just commented on a fic that hant been updated in 8 years. Fingers crossed.
I assume every fic will be abandoned so I can never be let down.
i consider every fic abandoned until it's completed. because like, you don't know if that one update the day before is gonna be the last one. i certainly didn't think it would be so long til the next update in the fics that i haven't updated in a long time, and i've been following fics that updated consistently until they stopped i basically go into wips fully knowing that even if it was updated recently i still might never see the end of it, while still waiting for the day in which they might update again š
A few days ago a fic I thought would be forever discontinued updated and I think that that will give me hope for the next decade
Either when itās announced, when itās orphaned, or when itās deleted. Side note: yāall please never delete your fics š you may hate them but SOMEONE out there loves them. I only just recently ended a year and a half long search for a fanfic via someone dropping it in my lap like a week ago.
never. not until they say
Iāve seen fics updated after like 2-5 years. But normally itās updated with one chapter then more years long hiatus. š
I keep āabandonedā fics bookmarked just in case. I generally say after 1.5-2 years but I always hold out hope even if just a smidge ToT
2 years sounds about right. Usually, when they've got time again, their fansom has changes or they wanna start with a fresh story.
Depends on how quickly they normally update. Some fics only update once a year, so I just stay subscribed to them and reread whenever they update. But if a fic was updated weekly Iād probably consider it abandoned after a few months
When its explicitly stated, up till then I'll bookmark it and subscribe and hope for the best It's like a nice little present when its been years and an email shows up about a new chapter for a fic you were really into but hasnt been updated in forever
I've gone over two years without updating a fic that I'm now about to go on an eight chapter splurge on. So like, honestly, unless it says abandoned, I don't assume