I have never, in my fifteen years of fanfiction writing, used an entire chapter to post an author's note, because I think it's a shitty practice generally. I feel like a madwoman actually posting this, but I couldn't keep it inside.

Having said that, what - and I cannot stress this enough - the fuck.

For those of you coming onto the scene just now, I'm sorry. This won't make much sense to you, and I can't imagine you'll think highly of me to see this. But I had initially posted a chapter here that was the next chapter and it was was, to say the least, different from my normal posting. I didn't think much of it. I'm fairly sure I prefaced it by saying "hey this isn't something I plan on doing again, blah blah blah".

I hadn't posted something in three years, and it was either post that so I could move on with the rest of the story, or post nothing and redo the chapter that had gotten me stuck for (I repeat) THREE YEARS.

Much to my ever-loving surprise, my return from the dead was not met with one or two reviews saying "welcome back, etc" but with several comments that did nothing but complain about the writing format.

To those who didn't like that chapter and said nothing, thank you. You have the right idea. Please carry on.

If you've never taken the time to comment on one of my previous chapters but you took a moment to leave a comment that said anything to the effect of "I don't like this chapter", first of all, shame on you. Second of all, let me say this in my defence:

1. I do not get paid for any single word on this entire godforsaken site.

2. I do not get any form of recognition for any work I share with you.

3. I work a full-time job and have a life outside of this, but I make time to write fanfiction anyways. Why, you ask? For FUN. For no reason other than the fact that it's something I enjoy, and I'm happy sharing it with (what I assumed) are the three or four people in the world who might enjoy it too.

So might I say that the next time you read something you really dislike on , or any other fanfiction-based website, SAY NOTHING. Oh I know what you're thinking. What about constructive criticism? What about freedom of speech?

And to the first question, let me remind you that saying you don't like something is NOT the equivalent of constructive feedback in any way, shape or form. At my work, where I get paid to fucking write, typical practice is one nice comment and one thing they could improve. Just in case you didn't know. Which, like, a lot of you clearly don't.

To the second question, I'd like to direct you back to the first point, which is that no person on this site is getting paid to post this. They're doing it because they love it, and they're happy sharing their writing with people who are also fans.

For you to come in, poke your head in the room and say loudly to the writer "I DID NOT ENJOY THIS" and then leave is, in my opinion, utter shit.

For me, it got to the point where I was receiving notifications for new reviews, and I actively dreaded reading them.

At which point I realized, why should I continue doing something that makes me so utterly miserable? I left the world of fanfiction three, maybe four years ago, because I was so depressed and unhappy. And now that I've dipped my toe back into the waters and found them to be entirely unpleasant, I'm thinking perhaps I should just keep my writing to myself.

All this to say, I have the next chapter completed. I have the next several chapters completed, actually, but TBD on if I'll ever post them because NOW I have an entire fucking chapter to rewrite because "it's an eyesore" and readers "don't like it much to be honest". Oh, and a BiG thanks to the reader who took the time to point out that there are no Septas in the north. Yeah, the story would've been totally incomprehensible if you hadn't caught that, so big THANKS there, bud.

Cheers.

M.