(Merida X female reader) Scottish Nymph

My thoughts. Did I make a mistake?

Hi!
I have 2 announcements: the next chapter is in progress and I may delete THIS chapter after some time because it doesn't contain any plot, just my thoughts about something connected to my work.
To anyone who decided to stay here and read it, thank you for your time!

Lately, I got more than usual negative comments and DMs about Lydia's character so today I'm gonna talk about her and the story in general. (Spoiler: if you didn't like her, it's ok. Don't freak out.)

"Scottish Nymph" it's not the typical '(y/n) fanfiction', I think we can all agree to that. I always wanted to write a multi-chapter story and the usage of '(y/n)' was supposed to help the reader feel like a part of the world that I'd created. That's the keyword 'the world'. I didn't want two characters to just appear out of nowhere, to an unspecified place and just start kissing (I'm not saying this is bad writing, I'm saying that it's not my style). In order to create the feeling that there is actually an existing world, I made the main character had a normal life outside the romance. She has friends (some of them are good, others not so much), she has simple colleagues, she has relation with her leader, she has work to do...as in normal life we don't exist just for sake of a romance. Of course, describing the relationship with Merida was important for me as an author, but I didn't want to end my work there.

Lydia was part of that 'life'. Her first appearance was an indicator for the reader that the main character has feelings for women but then she just couldn't vanish out of existence. Y/n had a crush on Lydia and even after the girl met Merida, the feeling was still there. And someone who says that it was not realistic, they never had a proper crush. Lydia was not supposed to be a homewrecker, when she was told 'no' she backed off like a decent, mature person. She was not created for a sake of cheap drama.

HOWEVER, many of you disliked that character and I respect that because this is exactly what I want from you...your honest opinion. I'm a little disappointed with myself because I feel like if I was a better writer back then and described the whole situation with Lydia better, she wouldn't get so much hate now. 'She' is fictional and cannot be bothered but I, as an author, can. I'm sad and like I said, dissapointed, that my idea turned out to be a complete failure. But at the end of the day, I don't regret creating Lydia's character.

I think that as a creator in general, sometimes the ideas that you see as interesting and good for your work, are going to be received very badly by the viewers. And other ideas that you find dull or too simple, are going to do surprisingly well. AND THAT'S OK!

But the worst thing that you can do, in my opinion, is stop being creative and true to yourself and just start trying to please the audience at all costs. Because it shows! And neither you as a creator, your viewers nor your work are going to profit from it.

Thank you for your time and as always,
HAVE AN AMAZING DAY