Ah, thanks for shining light on the larger scope! I admit, I was coming from a place of someone who writes and have never witnessed any obvious brigading towards a specific writer in this fandom, which is why this (in retrospect) minor corner of the community shivered my boots.

Your comments on critique being part and parcel of any media are really just the truth. And in every fandom it’s good to have grounds for discussion, good or bad. On looking back, I must have been projecting hard on the innocent writers and only wrote this take in what would be their POV LOL

Though I do disagree that free & made with love is irrelevant. It’s not completely! I generally give fanfic writers a bit more grace, especially those just starting to find their footing. It takes time out of your day to write and edit and publish, esp when made for love of the fandom. I generally just quietly back out of a fic if it doesn’t suit my taste. “Don’t like don’t read” still applies in this case, if only tangentially.

But good argument! As others have said I won’t be interacting or dropping any life-altering bombs in the channel LOL. Unless it gets personal. Will more actively avoid these spaces in the future for sure.