i really liked this :-) as someone who grew up on the internet around fandom spaces (i've been on tumblr for 10+ yrs... lol) this felt really nostalgic. the very distinct pre-dashcon kind of posts here really took me back, hahaha.
i've never been directly involved in this kind of thing but again, i've been around long enough to have seen it happen a lot of times. it feels particularly poignant with recent events...
i feel like even beyond the fandom/tumblr aspect this is something a lot of people can relate to - just in general getting older and learning new things about the world & yourself and then revisiting old media you remember fondly only for it not to be the same, or even painful.
i read some of your postmortem and i did seem to miss a few pieces of the story - probably because i didn't reblog enough, or follow karla's lead about stella. i did get the luna ending though !! your reflections on your work was really interesting to read. the "this isn't your story" in particular really resonated with me.
i think my favorite part was actually the fanfic sections. choosing to keep writing or to stop, grappling with it and coming to end that may not be satisfying... it felt relatable & authentic. i also liked how you used the CS themes to differentiate the sections - i've actually never seen someone do that with CS, though that may just be due to the kind of CS games i've been reading.
a lot of the times when i read something that revolves around tumblr/"fandom culture" i don't enjoy it. i don't know, i think it just makes me embarrassed, hahaha. i think since i was //there// when it all happened, it makes me more critical when people try to recreate it, especially when it's clear they weren't //there//, if that makes sense. and in some work it feels very dated, referencing tumblr.
obviously the latter isn't really applicable here, since that's what the game revolves around. but i really did enjoy it. it felt authentic (how many times can i use that word lol) and the characters reminded me exactly of the people i used to know in the internet space, and still see every now and again. and it's refreshing to see fandom explored like this, from a marginalized perspective, and how it can be both an escape & safe haven as well as a space that actively harms the most vulnerable people - it's something i feel like is excluded a lot in fandom-focused media. it was all very bittersweet.
thanks for making this and sharing :-)