I know that I'm a blip of a blog in this fandom. I know my opinion doesn't matter much, but I need a place to get out what's in my head.
Infold fucked up. That's the short of it.
I don't care if you liked or didn't like Valko, because what it boiled down to was greed. Plain and simple.
I said at the very beginning Valko's sudden appearance was weird and rushed. We were always set for a sixth LI eventually, but how they dropped him felt like we were getting a new puzzle shoved with an old one.
Valko was growing on me, I won't lie. His Peter Paker playfulness had me intrigued.
When the livestream dropped, I was also disappointed that, once more, the main feedback had been ignored. No ways to grind diamonds, no updates outside of Valko (which I was actually excited for, because I wanted to see how it all connected), no orbit updates, and a slap sticker "it's coming" update for Sylus and Caleb.
Also...the fifteen minutes of music was weird.
This felt frantically thrown together, and I know I wasn't the only one feeling that way.
But still, I was excited. Valko would add something new into the game again, and the constant banners were causing burn out.
Then to wake up to him being fully yanked? That's wrong.
Valko has become the scapegoat for Infold dodging actual issues that they should've been addressing. Hell, this is the same company that was deleting users last year for sending hate birthday messages to the LIs, so what the hell happened?
Why are we turning tail so quick?
Love and Deepspace has been a comfort for me. It got me writing again, and I've met some amazing people through this. We're all hurting. We're all trying to figure out what to do next.
I am asking for grace for fandom creators right now. As my lovely friend, Amy, reminded me, fandom is bigger than the game or show itself.
I will continue writing for LaDS, as it is still a source of comfort for me - Sylus especially. I had a couple ideas for Valko as well, and maybe they'll be fully written one day, too.
But please, be kind to your fellow fandom people who are hurting. And if you are one that is hurting, like many of us, please be kind to yourself. Step away if needed. Make sure to eat and drink something.
We will figure out how to move forward - because humans are resilient like that.
DMs and Anon is open if you just need a safe place to chat or vent or have a moment.