I think about the writer who stopped writing because people went after them.
I think about the new reader who got scared off from commenting because they might say the wrong thing.
I think about the artist who was going to dip their toes in, but saw a blacklist posted and debated in the fandom they so recently were excited about.
I think about all the people who would be here with us, writing meta and squeeing and creating and lifting up creators. Who became ghosts, afraid that to speak up is to stick out your neck.
How many stories won’t we get to read, how many pieces of art won’t take our breath away, how many comments won’t be put in notes or on stories that push us through our blocks… because anger and pettiness and jealousy and aggression are so common in fandoms that so many become ghosts before their time, and the ones who stick through it are still healing from their battle scars?
I mourn all the stories I will never see, all the friends I will never make, all the headcanons that will never bring stars to my eyes.
And I hope that all those who went quiet before they could speak will find a place to be safe, so that one day I may hear their voice.
The one about the ship no one else cares about, or the deeply unpopular character, or the extremely unusual AU?
The fic that got no comments or kudos when you posted it?
Months or years from now, that fic might be exactly what someone is looking for in the sea of fics about all the popular characters, ships, and AUs.
Your fic might be the only fic out there that has what someone is looking for. The only fic that scratches the itch that it turns out you and that reader share.
you don’t need to write a dark deconstruction of Peter Pan where he’s willing to kill people and his state of eternal childhood makes him morally ambiguous, JM Barrie already wrote one and it’s called Peter Pan
So something I’m loving about the unsleeping city so far is the commitment to being kind? Like I don’t know if it’s intentional but from the very first episode onwards we meet people like Kingston, whose whole aim is that he protects the city. He’s there for his people, his neighbourhood, his community, he’s giving himself to help them. He’s a nurse- a healer- he knows everyone and everyone knows him. Kugrash, who lurks in subway tunnels and sewers, watching over subway workers and giving warmth and shelter and food to those who don’t have it. Who makes little plastic shoes for a drunkard in an alleyway. And Ricky, whose only desire is to keep people safe, to use his skills to fight danger on their behalf, to interpose himself in harm’s way. Even though it’s not as evident in the others, it’s still there. Sofia addresses a bachelorette party after her husband leaves her not to mock them or discourage them- but to wish the bride-to-be happiness and joy. Pete (though again, not as obvious, especially at first) takes his ex, who was actively trying to hurt him at the time, in his arms and carries her to safety. And Misty, though often vain and dismissive, has nothing but kind words and compliments for her friends and compatriots. Sorry for the rant, it’s just something I think is really cool, especially given the setting of new York being portrayed as somewhere where people are cold-hearted and self-centred.
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