#the playwright

"Are you seeing that, Cole?"

But we gotta talk about the whole Yaelokre Cooper and Playwright situation!

Irregardless of whether there were enough bad actors to justify punishing the whole fandom, irregardless of whether Keath is intertwining themselves with their characters too much, I have a bigger issue with all of this.

Where does it stop?

Because people on the internet are always going to be people on the internet. Removing Cooper and Quest from the narrative is not going to stop people s*xualising things from the Meadowlark world, or even Keath themselves. It's Rule 34 of the internet. Everything will be s*xualised, whether you want it to or not.

And so if that's true, which it is, are they just going to cut away more pieces from their story? What if people start s*xualising the Harkers next? Bam, there's an important part of the narrative just gone in some pointless attempt to put a plaster on a gaping wound. And if they start s*xualising other characters? Cole, Clemmie, Kingsley, Peregrine? (Not saying they should, s*xualising child characters is fucked up, I'm just saying some freaks would and probably have). Well, there goes our main characters too.

Now, I'm not saying Keath will do this, I'm not trying to fearmonger or spread paranoia. I'm just saying that this is where this path can lead.

If you allow these bad actors, this small minority of the fandom, to force you into ripping chunks out of your story just to try and stop them, then you are letting them win. This has the potential to not stop here, but instead to rot away Meadowlark from the inside if Keath doesn't get their shit together and realise that they can't just cut pieces of their lore with reckless abandon.

Especially unreleasing songs (And The Hound - Reprise). What, are we going to lose Kid & Leveret next? Kamahalan? Neath The Grove Is A Heart? God forbid, Hearken? Where does it end? You wanted to tell a story through your music, but now you're willing to burn that story and burn that music in some mad endeavour to control something so much bigger than yourself?

To those of you who don't know, Keath has formally announced on all of their socials that they are removing COOPER AND QUEST from the Meadowlark storyline. They've done so because people have been sexualizing the two crudely and rather repulsively. Cooper and Quest are extensions of Keath's personality and insecurities, just like the Lark. Also, the Wonderfolk is largely made up of young people. So it's not just Keath you're disturbing and disrespecting; it's a lot of people.

Keath has stated that Sunwright may come back, but it's too soon to tell. And there shouldn't be any expectation surrounding it. Quite frankly, I'm very disappointed, but not in Keath. As a fellow author myself, I understand that they have to do what they have to do to feel safe and comfortable. I cannot speak for them in any capacity, but I can imagine they've probably thought long and hard about how this would affect every party, and it couldn't have been an easy decision to make.

So out of respect for their wishes, I shall not be posting anymore content relating to Sunwright. And yes, that means that "Return to the Cage" will most likely be discontinued. To those of you who brought this on, I offer only this: You all know who you are, and you should be fucking ashamed of yourselves.

This is also probably a good time to tell you that I'll be going on an indefinite hiatus. This doesn't have anything to do with Keath's decision - in fact, it's been coming for a long time. I've been directing my passion into my own work, and it's made me happier as a person.

So to all my loyal followers: I bid you a conditional farewell and thank you profusely for your unwavering support and dedication. If you want to find me elsewhere, I shall be working on a series of my own known as 'Nevermore' (original, I know). Fern and Fortuna will be involved in that story; in fact, they’re the main characters. I can't promise you an official release date, but I shall work tirelessly to polish it to perfection. I thank you for your understanding, and I'll catch you on the digital page.