Today I will speak as both a reader and a beginning writer. Sit down because a big text is coming.
And sorry for any mistakes, my English isn't the best
I want to say some compliments and thanks to @evilwriter37! <333333
I've always loved the HTTYD franchise, I've lost count of how many times I've watched the first movie. But I was never part of the fandom, I was always outside of it. Until one day, when I was watching RTTE again, and I remembered how much I liked the dagcup ship. I searched for fanarts but didn't find much on Instagram, so I ventured into Ao3. And it was like falling into a bottomless hole, a hole that I never want to get out of. Guess whose first fanfic I read was? That's it, one of yours. Well, (un)fortunately I choose a complicated fanfic to be my first, it was Ball, Chain, and Dagur, and wow, it was an… experience.
I can't measure how angry I was reading this fic. How painful it was to see my favorite character doing those atrocities. I think I like seeing myself suffer. Every chapter was me wanting to kill Dagur in several different ways. And when I got to the end and discovered that there was no ending because you gave up on the fic (a little warning at the beginning would be nice), it made me want to throw my cell phone against the wall.
Anyway, I just let it go. So at that time I never paid attention to who wrote the fics, I never left comments or kudos either (but in my defense I didn't know how to use ao3, it was new to me). I read other dagcup fanfics by other authors and yours too, but I didn't pay attention to who wrote them. Until one day I read Ruined Together and All Because of a Kiss and I loved it (even though they are far from being cute fics, I always read them again. I think I really like seeing myself suffer).
That's when I first looked at who wrote it, the name was familiar and then it hit me "wait, is this the same guy who wrote Ball, Chain, and Dagur?". It got me thinking, the same guy wrote a story I love and another one I hate. Then I bit my tongue and cursed myself "stop being an idiot, there are people who wrote that".
So I started paying attention to the authors. I went deeper into your fics and threw in the towel, you're my favorite for sure. And with that I arrived here on Tumblr, and god, the fandom was all here and I didn't know. From then I started trying to interact more. You weren't the first person I commented on in a fic, to be honest I was embarrassed to comment especially on your fics, but today I do as much as I can to show my support. And I started to loosen up more here too, making drawings, posting memes, reblogging a lot of things.
It's been a really fun phase and I'm very grateful for it. You were like a light to me, you opened doors to many new things that I never thought I would like. I hope it takes a long time to end.
The irony of it all is that, today, when I think about Ball, Chain, and Dagur I have a feeling of great affection, because it was the beginning of everything. And it's among my favorite fics now, even with all the hate. Whenever you post a new fic, even if I don't favorite it, I'm sure it will be a read that I won't regret, because everything you do is so good and well written, that just for the experience it's worth it.
You brought me into the fandom. And you encouraged me to create for it, with fanarts and now with my own stories. I'm just starting out but I want to move forward with this. So… Thank you very much!!💗
I hope you always stay motivated to continue because I will definitely be here!