I swear, the MOMENT I stop regularly checking this thing, I get mail.

For the record, I found this whole message extremely refreshing—I think civil, cross-communication between viewpoints is good, and on a more personal level, its nice to get a compliment like this that isn’t prefaced with ‘you’re wasting your talent.’ I’ll admit I’m kind of surprised/curious that you like my meta so much, just because, from my perspective, my media takes are SO intertwined with my willingness to entertain darker dynamics/implications, but that’s just me. It’s good to know that they stand up even coming from a very, very different critical perspective.

I’m also glad you were able to enjoy some of my fics in spite of knowing what else I wrote. I mean, that’s what tags are great for, isn’t it? I am VERY accepting of the fact that 99% of people won’t like 99% of my fic, I don’t write for mass appeal, but I’d still hope people can enjoy my palatable writings for what they are, divorced from my overall body of work. I think it’s totally understandable/valid to be personally revolted by some of the topics I write about (I have many friends who are!). Being ‘proship’ (admittedly not my preferred term, but we’ll go with it) for me is less of a matter of what I’m personally interested in than it is a question of whether I should be allowed to explore these topics, quietly, in my own space, without harassment or unfounded accusations of absolute monstrousness. And the natural, necessary converse of this is that people also have the right to avoid whatever they want without being bothered or misrepresented, either.

I don’t think you’re a coward, I think this was sweet, and ultimately very restorative of my faith in humanity. Thank you for sending it to me (and I’m sorry it took me… nine days… to notice it).