I’m just now learning about the discourse surrounding people not understanding RPF etiquette and about what has happened to a truly wonderful author in this space, as well as all of her work.
There are reasons fics are locked on AO3. There are reasons authors go to such great lengths to keep their work strictly within fandom safe spaces. It is so unbelievably shitty that she poured this much time, care, and hard work into a story that meant so much to so many people, only for others to completely ruin the experience for her and force her offline. The treatment she has received is deplorable. I cannot believe anyone would feel comfortable telling another person to kill themselves over this.
As someone who has struggled with agoraphobia and panic disorder from a young age, the ZC fic reached me on a level I have never experienced with another piece of fanfiction or any piece of fiction, for that matter. It was healing for me in ways I cannot fully explain which makes it even more upsetting to see the person who created something so so so meaningful being met with this kind of cruelty.
Recently I saw someone recommending one of my own fics beneath a Landoscar TikTok about fic recommendations, which was a “wait, what the fuck?” moment. It made me deeply uncomfortable but I wasn’t sure how to address it at the time at all. I have spent a significant part of this year writing a much larger fic and after everything that has happened, I feel increasingly inclined not to post it at all. I’m also trying to decide what to do with my existing work because this space simply does not feel the same anymore.
So here is a not so friendly reminder-
Keep fanworks in fucking fandom spaces, for the love of God.
