Chronology, like correlation, does not necessarily indicate causality.

Or, as I keep trying to tell myself, it's not my damn fault. Yet I still feel responsible and guilty. How stupid is that?

I've been debating with myself whether to post anything about the whole stupid p_g thing. On the one hand, I just want it all to go AWAY. On the other hand, I kind of want to get it out of my system, and isn't that what lj is for?

I wrote a snippet, set after the Atlantis ep "Home". At 2am. In an email to a friend, because she was testing her new address, and I was just screwing around. Then I went to bed.

Woke up, checked email, it had made her chuckle and she encouraged me to post it to p_g. So I did. And then Badness Ensued. ::facepalms::

It was the headers, wasn't it? That's where I went wrong. I put headers on it, and that somehow made it look like something worth having a convulsive shitfit over.

See, this kinda crap? Is why I essentially fell out of fandom for 6 months, and hadn't posted anything for almost a year. Big, heartfelt sigh.

Random notes about the whole thing:

-There's a world of difference between constructive criticism and, uh, destructive criticism. I know we live in a televisionwithoutpity kind of world, but "trying to help" and "trying to score points" are not the same thing.

-I, in fact, like constructive criticism. When it's actually, you know... But even actual helpful concrit is easier to take in private, because no one likes to be told in front of a room full of people that their fly is down.

-Did I mention it was a fucking snippet? Good for me.

I think there's a difference between fanfic written in the heat of squee!, fanfic written with care and time, and profic. The first is like cotton candy--share it with people, it amuses, and then it's all gone. Some people only write cotton candy, and you know what? It's all good. The second involves beta readers and all, and it's still all good. The third, profic? For me, it's a completely different animal. Possibly not even from the same planet. Because why I write fanfic and why I write profic are two utterly separate urges that just happen to share the same toolbox. I'm not putting out remotely the same product, nor would I try to.

For me, fanfic is for fun. Read for fun, write for fun. Take a break from the nonfun things in life. If I want to have fun laboring over a fic, that's cool. But it should also be cool if I just want to share a moment of squee! with like-minded folks.

OK, probably done preaching. Now go, and be excellent to each other.