Hello, everybody. I would just like to inform you that I have unpublished ‘I Only Swim Free.’ I had been secretly struggling with either deleting or keeping it for a long, long time, and some events happened today that pushed me over the edge. I published that fanfiction around 3 years ago...
After being in the heart of the American fandom for Free!, I realized that my book only pushed the stereotype that was placed on people who liked that particular anime. I didn't like that; I believed there was much more to Free! than fanservice and ships. And there is- beneath all that junk are boys trying to find who they really are.
My Wattpad account was discovered by people who went to my school last year, and the only reason I was embarrassed by that was because of 'I Only Swim Free.' People began to assume things about me- things that I STILL live with today. This whole time, I had been pushing for the developmental aspect of the anime- only to have people think I liked the very things I was protesting against! Eventually, people on Wattpad began to get in on the action... I've been dealing with hate through PM for a while now.
The scary thing? I agree. I regret writing that book 100%, and the only reason that it was kept published was because so many people seemed to like it. I can't even bring myself to read it... that's how horrible I felt about it.
My fanfiction stood for everything I was fighting against, and that made me a hypocrite. I don't want to blow up the fanservice that most girls drink up, but I want to help everyone appreciate the characters themselves.
The one thing good that came out of me writing that was all the messages I received from you guys, telling me how you went in knowing nothing about swimming and you came out knowing more about the sport.
I'm grateful for that. I really am.
However, now it's time to put this book to rest. Thank you all for supporting it, and I hope you keep supporting me as an author.
Thank you.
