Hey yall,
I thought it would be only fair to tell you that after I post this next installment, I'm going to be taking some time off from fic-writing. I have a lot of things going on right now - some pleasant, most unpleasant - and I just don't think I have the energy to create my own distractions anymore. But like I was telling Leshagen, don't despair - I'm just taking a hiatus from fic-writing while I pack my life up and move it to Canada in time for college, and then figure out what to do with it. Until then, I just wanted to say you guys have been amazing, and I don't know how to thank you for all the support and lovin'. :)
And another thing - if you could join me in my petition to get FF to allow its users to take down their own reviews, I would really appreciate it. It seems this fic has become popular enough to have its own Google search now, and while that's a good thing in some ways, I have this mildly annoying, highly obsessive friend who's snooping around trying to find these fics because I made the mistake of telling him they exist. Like I said in my email to the support team, if I can't find a viable fix soon, I'm gong to have to close my account and take down these fics - and I don't know if I'll ever get around to putting them up again. The worst part is that all your awesome feedback and words of encouragement will be lost in the process, too.
So please, help! Here's the email I sent to support at fanfiction dot com and support at fanfiction dot net (it's not even clear which of these is operational, if any) if you're interested:
Hi,
I have been trying to take down a couple of reviews I'd written a while back because I accidentally left my name tacked on at the end, but there just doesn't seem to be any way to do this-even with full cooperation from the authors. Two writers were kind enough to take down their stories so that the reviews would disappear. You see, I don't have the most common name so it would be very easy for someone to track down my profile or my stories if they just typed a few words on Google. I've tried reporting the reviews, as have the authors, but nothing seems to work. I even went so far as to change my penname, but the name changed on the reviews page as well, so that didn't help either. I don't necessarily want to remove the reviews altogether-just my name. If there is no viable way to do this, I'll have to open a new account-and lose all my existing reviews and followers. I really value the anonymity that the site provides, and I would greatly appreciate it if someone could help me out.
One of the things I like best about the site is that it protects the identity of its users, and for a number of reasons, I do not wish to continue posting without the assurance of anonymity. I believe that every user should have the right to control private information that is made available in the public domain, and in order for them to do this, they should be granted the freedom to take down or change any such information that they may have disclosed at an earlier date. Moreover, as we grow out of certain outmoded views and age brackets, our opinions tend to change and grow with us. Taking away the ability to change or replace a review will only deter readers from posting one in the first place. For these reasons and many others, I think it's about time the site introduced a mechanism that allows posters to take down old reviews - or modify them, at any rate. Don't stifle our enthusiasm and creativity by taking away the sense of liberation that provides us. For many of us, this a place that we come to escape, to forget, and to unleash our imagination in every sense of the words. We derive a measure of comfort in the very existence of the parallel reality that the site allows us to catch a glimpse of. Depriving its users of their anonymity or their freedom to change their own views goes against everything FF has come to represent. Please consider these appeals with the attention that they deserve, and take steps to bring about the necessary changes.
Regards,
S
If any of you would like to join me in my appeal, dear readers, please copy and paste that last paragraph there, and send it in the form of an email to support at fanfiction dot net and support at fanfiction dot com. If you frequent the forums and message boards on the site, share these concerns, and garner support from other posters. Lurkers, please do your bit and help pass on this message. You should understand better than anyone the value of being allowed to read without the fear of discovery or judgement. If any fellow writers are out there are reading, please consider posting the final paragraph of the email in your own stories as well.
Thanks again! I love you guys, and I hope to see you soon.y
