Hi! This is Zen—long time, no see. I was planning on leaving for good, or maybe being just half-active, but recent events have led to this story. You'll find out in the AN at the end of this story. For now, read on!
It was a beautiful spring day. Flowers bloomed in effervescence, birds twittering in the background. Blossoms were thriving out in the yard, painting the ground with beautiful patches of color. It seemed that a giant paintbrush had bedaubed itself on the neighborhood. Paint made of light. Everything was a bit brighter, a bit warmer. It was wonderful.
However, one person didn't agree.
Amy Cahill was bored. Immensely so. And what did Amy Cahill did when she was bored? She read books. But there were no books to be seen, and right now, she felt too lazy to get one. She rolled over sluggishly on the couch she was lying on and felt her foot nudge against something hard and cold. She flipped around back onto her stomach, and found…an apple laptop?
Ugh, she thought. Dan, I told you to put your computer away after you used it…
She stared at the computer for a few moments before becoming extremely intrigued by it. She had recently heard of a place called fanfiction dot net, where they actually posted stories about boring, mundane Amy Cahill. Smiling, she clicked the very first story that she saw—Don't Care. And inside it…there was a half-story/half-flame about this one girl who was apparently this very nasty flamer.
Suddenly angry at Grace or Dawn or whatever that girl's name was, she went to the story that seemed to have her reviews and read them over. And slowly, her angry expression morphed into a confused one.
But...Grace…she's a nice person! She'd given criticism that this author had really needed. So…why was she getting this much hate?
Then, Amy realized why: Some of these writers were immature and didn't take criticism well. She realized that the thing about this one person was that others were all so soft and nice with their criticism, edging around the truth to avoid coming off as mean (this quote just now does NOT belong to Zen. It belongs to another great writer! Just saying). Therefore, she took harsh (yet true) criticism as hate. Other authors were trying to be nice, just to avoid tantrums from this one immature brat? Frowning, she wondered why people wouldn't take constructive criticism. That was just weird. And rude! How dare they write an offensive story about someone so nice? Her face turned angry again, but this time, she was steaming at the author of Don't Care. She decided to leave a not-so-nice review on it…When she noticed a new story that had come up at the top of the archive.
She was a tad more wary about this one, deciding to leave a flame if it was yet another insult to Grace. It was titled—Honesty: Constructive Criticism—It's NOT bad. Amy raised her eyebrows. Huh. What was this about? She skimmed the summary and found that it read: #IStandWithGrace Please look inside for more you.
Amy smiled. There we go. Clicking the 'open' button, she read the short but sweet story and grinned. Wow. These were really nice people. Not all people took CC badly, after all. They were the better writers. There was even a long AN at the very end, saying that if others agreed, she or he should post a review that said: #ISWG, for #IStandWithGrace.
She typed it out—hashtag-I-S-W-G—and was about to hit the review button—
—when the computer's power ran out.
She groaned in dismay. Just as she was about to support this…But it was okay, she thought.
Because we all stand with Grace.
So here's the rub: TheGraceOfDawn is an amazing writer, and she happens to be my bestie on this site. But one day, she saw some badly-written, hasty story by an author who shall remain unnamed. Let's call her…um…Kiri. Anyway, Grace left some constructive criticism on Kiri's story, so one of Kiri's cronies, who we will name Jay, retaliated by actually writing this terrible story that insulted Grace.
Now, the reviews Grace left…these are not flames, but actually, some CC that Kiri really, really, really, really, really, really, really needed. Jay, please don't defend the wrong person. You're being disliked for doing so. Stop bullying Grace. Kiri, I want you to know that, as of now, nobody but Jay is on your side. Inagw, Pen, Addict, and I are supporters of #ISWG or #IStandWithGrace. Also, Jay, don't be a cyber-bully. Don't do worthless shit like that. Or I will make sure you get banned. Inagw has agreed to do the same on her forum. Check it out, and prepared to be annihilated, the both of you (Just kidding).
Anyway, I STAND WITH GRACE. If you stand with Grace as well, please write a story that has #IStandWithGrace in the summary. It doesn't have to be super good. It should be short, sweet, and to the point. A big thank you to Addict for starting this.
Kiri, don't be immature. It isn't cool. Heck, it's downright horrible. Apologize to Grace immediately. For more details on the apology, go to Inagw's forum, into General Chat. Jay, you too. You know who you are. If you don't, then you're idiots. Massive, air-headed idiots.
If you support Grace, please leave a review that says #ISWG—even you guests out there!