#my most kudod fic on ao3 is one of the first things i ever posted there which was one of the first things i ever wrote in english

[itwoodbeprefect]

i think it’s extremely important for anyone to be able to delete something they made off the internet if they don’t want it public anymore for any reason whatsoever, but i also think there is a lot of value in keeping your old fic or art up for all to see and for yourself to think about once in a while, cringe at a little maybe, and then just leave it there, as a gentle homage to who you once were and a record of the work you did to get to the things you’re making now

#don't mind me i'm just. having feelings about the fic people write when they're just starting out #i see people delete their old work sometimes just because it's old and not up to their current standards anymore #and i get it and i respect it but it also makes me sad #there's somebody out there who liked that but more importantly you liked it once upon a time! #that you don't anymore is not a sign it was bad in the first place it's a sign you've grown #like. is it possible it was never very good? yes absolutely. but do we need to scrub everything that isn't our best work from our pasts? #is only the Very Best Thing worth preserving? doesn't a date stamp by itself imply that it's old work? that you'll only have gotten better? #i'm not even talking Problematic content here. i see why you might decide to take something down if you've realized it's offensive #but oh. oh i love seeing stuff that's clearly Old Work from someone who's really good at what they do now. it's such a boost #like look!! they had to learn too!! this is where they came from and this is where they are now!! isn't that just extremely cool #and god especially on an internet that's increasingly obsessed with image and identity and where content can get lost so quickly #that kind of history. that kind of vulnerability and just the willingness to still let people enjoy things you might not anymore? i love it #my most kudod fic on ao3 is one of the first things i ever posted there which was one of the first things i ever wrote in english #it's a hp fic and it still gets kudos almost daily (ensuring it will stay my most kudod work in perpetuity) and it will haunt me forever #is it anything like my current work? can i look at it without cringing a little? no and no. will i ever take it down? probably not #anyway shout out to sixteen year old me for writing something that's still around in 2022. i'm from the future i'm shaking your hand #you're doing great kid. keep going and you might one day write a million tags on a tumblr post about it #*