Date: September 9th, 2018.

Hey.

So, I literally came back on this website after six years to inform you guys of something that one or two anons seem to be forgetting...

Please divert your eyes to my stories. You're there? Wonderful! I'd advise you to look at the date for majority of my Resident Evil writing, if you don't mind. Oh no, take your time--I'll wait. You see the dates? Excellent! Mind repeating them back to me?

2009-2012 you say? Wow! What a long time ago, you can totally tell from the writing!

...Okay, now that my little sarcastic rant is over, let me explain a few things. I wrote my very first Cleon story when I was only sixteen. I was a child with no understanding of relationships, how they worked, or what was acceptable in an adult relationship. At the end of my last story in 2012, I was nineteen aka the barely-an-adult. So, of course my characterization of two adult characters would be bad. Of course the story, the writing, and even the composition would be cliched. I'm actually embarrassed of this writing as a twenty-five year-old adult, but I keep it up here for a few reasons that are entirely sentimental. Those stories used to mean so much to me back when I was a young teen struggling with her health, school, friends, and other sorts of teenaged issues. Claire/Leon, the pairing, and the community used to make me feel so at home and I wanted to give back to the people whose kindness seemed practically unlimited.

So if you were one of the people who supported me as a teen writer (particularly Lucy Darkwood if she still goes by that penname and my late friend, Hollie) then know that you were so appreciated. All the reviews, support, and encouragement pushed me to continue writing even into my adulthood. Know that this community was the community that made me realize I could be a good writer if I really set my mind to it. Thank-you all so, so much for the support.

Now as for the reason I'm updating here after all these years...

Anonymous hate doesn't bother me now as an adult. I have a thick skin and, while it's annoying, I can't really defend writing that is almost a decade old. What does bother me is that these anons (who I am assuming are only two people, based on the IP addresses) don't seem to take into consideration that my writing on here is no longer an example of the way I write or understand things. What's infuriating about negative anonymous reviews is that I can't reply to this person to explain my side of things, especially when all they've been doing is commenting on every Claire/Leon story I've ever written with things like wow you don't understand the pairing and there's no true Cleon is all of your writing.

I'm not even mad at their criticism, as trite and repetitive as it may be. I really don't agree with how I wrote the characters either, but if you're too much of a coward to come out from anonymous to tell me these things, I have absolutely no respect for you. Your words didn't tear me down--it only just got annoying enough for me to address things here due to the emails fanfiction still sends me even after all this time. Had I been a young teen writing these stories, reviews (or flames, which are anon reviews with no true criticism or feedback) would have probably discouraged me from writing. Truthfully, this old but true logic applies to many situations in life, but especially writing:

IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, THEN DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL.

Naturally, not everything has to be glowing praise. I love criticism, but only if it's constructive. Feel free to point out my flaws, but tell me what I'm doing right as well! Coming onto my old-as-dirt stories over and over again with the same two sentences is just so annoying.

Anyways, this was way longer than I had anticipated, but I suppose my irritation over the last several months had been building up. That's everything, and thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

-Elle.