#tbh I don't like how you can't say anything remotely critical about fanfic without people getting up in arms like you're invalidating it

[anyroads]

Posts I've seen in just the last week:

AO3 is one of the most visited sites in the world

It's ok if your fanfic [that you're writing for free in your spare time] is unfinished! You do you!

How very dare these WGA writers not finish writing my stories for me [that they spend full work days every day working on] just because they don't get compensated fairly for their paid labor and decided to go on strike?

Respect unions! Unionize your workplace! Respect picket lines!

Posts I have not seen ever but maybe it's just me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :

AO3 would not exist without the paid writers who are currently striking. You would have no stories to write fanfic of. The entire world your fic exists in was created by someone else's labor.

#tbh I don't like how you can't say anything remotely critical about fanfic without people getting up in arms like you're invalidating it #I very much agree fanfic is a valid art form #but most of it very much does rely on the work of writers who are able to develop narratives in ways that a lot fic writers don't need to #and who are practicing a craft they are trained in #and granted I don't really rove in fandom circles #but fanfic very much would not exist if not for someone else's world building and character development #and I haven't seen that acknowledged during this strike at all #people are expecting writers to finish their paid work when they can't even afford health insurance #I see so many posts about how fanfic is a valid genre and it is but that doesn't mean it's the same as professional writing #I love that people have such a passion for writing and storytelling that they do it for free in their spare time! #but that's not the same as doing it for a living and planning out a whole TV season's story arc before writing any episodes #it's not the same as writing every single character and plotline from scratch and understanding that process #it's not the same as understanding how to structure a novel and plan and implement literary motifs and themes and metaphors #which isn't to say fanfic can't do these things but how many fic writers do? #and tbh that's not the point of fic and that's fine but where's the acknowledgment that fics exist because other people DO