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thank you & goodbye 

It’s almost been a year since I have posted my first F1 fic on my account - and what a year it has been. I have learned so much, met so many great people, stepped out of my comfort zone a bunch, and really, really found my love for writing again. 

The events of the last 24 hours have made me reconsider a whole lot. About what I am doing here, about the time I invest in writing, about what it all amounts to. I have been writing non-stop since I started a year ago - it has been my most productive year, yielded my longest work so far, and it has been a great year for me, of both growth and enjoyment.

Writing has always been an escape for me, a reprieve. It has been the most wonderful outlet for me for an entire year, and I have found solace in it. However, that has changed over the last few weeks. 

Everything has gotten so big, so overwhelming – to the point that I have not managed to stay on top of replying to comments and to asks, which has always been the most important part of this whole thing for me. All of a sudden, people have started to talk about my fics everywhere - and, of course, in Oscar’s comments as well. 

What happened with the MCSR fandom has showed me how big these things can become in a very, very short amount of time - and it has really put the fear of god in me, haha. I did everything in my power to contain it, but it was of little avail. 

I think that the way ZC breached containment has been a warning sign for me, since, thankfully, none of the streamers who know now played important parts in the fic - but Oscar and Lando do. And it would mortify me, fill me with a guilt I could never shake if something like that happened with those two - or any of the people I write about - as well.

So I have decided to take the very difficult measure of removing my fics and myself from the internet. 

I cannot control how people behave, and I apologize for any damage I have caused. I can, however, take the fate of my fics into my hands. 

I will always love writing. This past year has taught me that; you have all taught me that. 

I want to thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart. I have had the single greatest time, but I feel like this is the only thing I can really do.

harassing the people we read/write about is quite literally the cardinal sin of this type of fan space and has been for going on nearly 20 years; this isn't some newly made up rule everyone is up yalls asses about. if you want to keep this fan space you have to guard it. this situation isn't the first nor the last time this will happen in any sort of rpf fan space, i just hope this will be the last time it will be of our own doing/enabling.

zero cycle was a beautiful fic that really made me tear up at times and was the crossover of a century for me as someone who was highly involved in mcyttwt from 2021-2024. it brought me here. but watching you guys make the SAME mistakes i've seen from other fandom spaces before is just like watching these drivers crash these fuckass cars into the barriers. all you have to do is respect author's wishes around their works of art. it is art at the end of the day! this is free! free!

This situation is not exclusive to rpf. I have watched this happen in pretty much every single major fandom. Klance Byler Mcyt, ect, they have all had a fic go extremely viral which then results in a downward spiral where fandom etiquette is thrown out the window and the author inevitably ends up pulling their fic from the internet and stepping away all together.

To be honest with you I am not surprised that this has happened again. I have been noticing for a while that the way people have been treating Rose and her fics has been absolutely terrible. Even people who were well meaning let their excitement about her fics cloud their judgement and cause them to be quite rude to her and disrespectful of fandom and rpf etiquette.

Therefore I would like to give some reminders to everyone about fandom etiquette. Because it's not just "keep all rpf discussion to ao3 and tumblr." those are important and those rules being broken certainly played a role in this particular scenario, but there's a lot more to it then that and as a fan you need to be more aware of how you interact with content.

Authors are not celebrities. They did not sign up for having an audience to deliver things to. They are fellow fans and creatives who are passionate about what they do. Because of this, I urge you, no matter how good a fic is, no matter how much you love it, you cannot treat it like a grand monolith for the fandom. When that happens the fic gets pulled out of its intended context and the author will inevitably be put under extreme strain and scrutiny. If you love a fic the best thing you can do for it is keep your interactions with and discussion of it purely to the ao3 comments and the authors askbox. I understand that creating a separate fandom for someone's works is done out of love and admiration but I have never ever seen it end well. When you create a fandom for a fic you are inviting typical fandom problems in and pushing them onto an author who did not ask for this.

You also need to stop treating authors like they are gods or something. I know this is usually done with the intentions of being complimentary. But an author is a real human being who deserves compassion and kindness. When you treat them like something to be worshipped you are inevitably dehumanizing them and making people feel more comfortable saying horrific shit to them or just generally being disrespectful. While it is also bad to get too parasocial and act like an author is your close personal friend, going towards the other extreme is also harmful. It is also just uncomfortable in general to have people act like you are not just a normal average person existing in the world. Authors are amazingly talented of course and that should be appreciated, but that does not rank above the fact that they are a normal person who would just like to interact online like anyone else.

The most important thing to remember is respect above all else. Because authors are human beings who deserve it. Being talented at something should not exclude them from that right. I ask that you take the time to reflect on the way you talk to/about authors and double check that you aren't accidentally forgetting about that.

any kind of rpf related content (ESPECIALLY explicit) should not be shared on platforms where the people involved (or the people close to them) could possibly see it.

im aware mostly teenagers are doing this. i get that it’s fun and exciting to talk about this with other people, especially on fast paced platforms such as twitter and tiktok.

but not only are we risking the people involved finding out by doing this, we are also risking the authors and artists who are providing us with this content for free!! to take it down and quit.

- i bet we were fun.

"What terrible things we do to those we love" - Frank Herbert, Dune

fanfic that I like