Hey , I personally dont agree with the blackout , mainly due to the reason it's being done I always reblog, comment like and PM writers when I thoroughly enjoy their work and I feel as thought it's a punishment to those of us who do support writers a way of saying "your 400 reblogs arent enough " I dont do anonymous shit because I don't give hate 😂 I personally use reading as an escape from depression and real like the thought of not having anything to read it scary but each to their own ❤
Sorry my last ask ran out of space lol. I totally respect that it's down to each writer to do as they please and I will continue to support their pages even after the blackout, it's not your responsibility to provide things for us to read but to alot of us your writing is everything, it makes our day, /week/month and it's a little hidden place we can come to get into a new world especially in the middle of a pandemic where there isnt much to do. Stay safe and do what makes you happy 🥰
Thank you for being respectful with your opinion, I do appreciate that a lot❤
I think there’s this misconception, where readers like yourself who do interact a lot, feel like the blackout is meant to be a punishment for them. But I want to assure you and everyone who reads this that this black out does not mean “you’re not enough”.
Your feedback is greatly appreciated and it is enough.
What the blackout means is that there have been many instances where:
writers would get hate for not updating fast enough
writers would get hate for writing something their readers don’t agree with
writers get requests from people to be added to ever-growing taglists, but then from those taglists, maybe 5% of people will actually show any sign of interaction (if we’re lucky)
there’s been at least one instance of a hate blog being created against a writer who wasn’t able to update and their friends being sent hate as well
anons are being sent requesting or sometimes downright demanding updates, but then said updates get no interaction at all
writers being criticised for only reblogging fics from their mutuals as if it’s some sort of crime to reblog from a writer you know, trust and admire
“big” blogs being treated like they are evil and like there isn’t an actual person behind that “big” blog
writers getting hate and crazy insults and even death threats thrown at them for literally no reason
writers quitting writing or being driven off this website because of the extreme hate and bullying they’ve experienced
And writers who experience this have had enough of it.
These are probably only some of the issues that I’ve noticed happening in the past months. Yes, there has been a big decrease of notes on fics, but the fact is, that’s literally the last issue we should focus on (if at all).
The things I mentioned above are the most important reasons why the blackout and the constant drama is happening. I feel like I’m one of the lucky ones who has only ever experience one of those issues, but my other friends on here have to deal with this crap on an almost daily basis and it’s just not fair.
We aren’t faceless blogs. We are people. And that seems to have been forgotten as of late.
Once again, I am very sorry that you feel punished. We don’t want to make our readers sad, but we literally don’t know what else to do to help our situation.
One thing I can suggest for readers who worry about the blackout leaving them with nothing to read in the upcoming month is go back to your favourites, read them again, enjoy them again like you did the first time. Our masterlists are still here and there are new writers popping up all the time and they deserve love and attention as well.
Also, it’s only a month. Those writers will probably be back in July with more content and I think this month-long break is plenty of time for people to maybe change their attitude towards writers. We never wanted to be put on a pedestal and then having rocks thrown at us. And that’s basically what it feels like.
