The rest of the thread is here.
tl;dr: Don’t monetize AO3, kids. You won’t like what happens next.
read this thread. this is by far the most concise explanation of a lot of different issues that i’ve seen in fandom spaces in a while. cosigning both the linked thread and the thread about aus/uk/can law that’s linked in-thread.
bfdi:
someday everyone on this site will collectively realize that being a grown adult with the personality of a judgmental highschool meangirl is infinitely more pathetic and shameful than any innocuous cringe otherkin fandom blogger type ever will be and then maybe online will finally be tolerable
“Without this character’s actions, the story wouldn’t happen. Therefore, they are the main character.”
Antagonist. The character you’re describing is the antagonist.
Every time someone adds something akin to “or you could just do things normally” onto any of my disability life hack posts, I should be allowed to harvest their organs.
I don’t need them. I just don’t want them to have them anymore, either.
If you’re anything like me and really struggle to say or even let yourself think that your writing is “good” or [insert positive descriptor here] I really recommend doing a “Positivity Pass”.
The idea is simple: read your work, and type answers to the questions: What do I like about this scene? What made me laugh? What evoked an emotion? Which part is my favourite?
Sometimes I answer the first question and sometimes I answer all of them, because over time its becoming easier to just let myself be happy and acknowledge that I’ve created a thing that I like. And of course, you can make up your own questions.
I think the important thing is to actually type out my answers. It feels more concrete and convincing to my brain that way, especially because I can go back and re-read my answers and think “yeah! that bit was funny, actually!”
Anyway I’m sure something like this has been recommended and spoken about before, but I honestly just kind of stumbled into doing this before I begin revising my novel (I am reverse outlining, heyooo), and it’s made me feel so much better and more excited to dig into edits 😊