#support authors

love commenting old ongoing fics. i feel like I'm sending a letter in a bottle off to the ocean bc i don't expect a response but i do hope my words bring joy to someone

I have in comments and stuff discussed ITHBM with people and what it’s generally about and have gotten stray observations from others saying how “tropey” and ridiculous it sounds. Personally I’m not offended. I love what I’m doing and tons of other people do too. However, there are other authors and artists who are also up and coming and less positive, supportive attention is on them and their work, and saying rude and disrespectful things like that to a much newer artist does absolutely nothing but discourage them. And what do discouraged, aspiring creators do when they’re losing hope? They steal. They have a machine write for them in hopes to please these holier-than-thou critics (who were not solicited to begin with). And thus generative ai becomes part of them. I get it, some of you think everything has to be catered exactly to your taste, fit into one dark romantasy box, but before you open your mouth and spit on someone’s passion, remember that the person behind that enthusiastic description of their whole life could be a young/fresh/inexperienced, easily influenced person who has not yet learned that art is made by, and for oneself. In other words, keep your entitled mouth shut unless you’re asked or unless you have something constructive to say, or otherwise that person might lean into other methods of pleasing you. It is not that hard. You don’t have to throw money or praise or anything at them. Just don’t say or do something that could cripple already starved and weak hope and creativity, because God knows that’s a commodity hard to come by these days.