Main premise of this blog: I fully support the crowdfunding option in AFF

I've read some complaints from AFF readers about the crowdfunding option, many of them worried that the free fanfiction they're accustomed to will no longer be accessible. As the typical reader myself (someone who doesn't have that much money as a student), I'm also dependent on AFF for my entertainment. I want to be able to maximize this platform without having to pay a single cent. Except this is my perspective as a poor person.

As a poor writer, on the other hand, I'm a bit disappointed with the hate that the crowdfunding option is getting. I get how we think that we're entitled to all the wonderful stories written here, but they're also the products of struggling artists that spend time, effort, money, and all the creative juices that they have in their body. Our writers here may not be the Danielle Steele, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling that you want to spend money on, but they're all artists that need to live.

The thing is, art has been so devalued in the real world that people feel strongly against spending for it. We think that, because it's art, it should be something that we can acquire with the littlest amount of money. There's this belief that if you're not from the hard sciences, then you're not worth anything. If you're not represented by a big company (if you're working independent), such as being under a known publisher, then you're not worth anything. This is why we have jobless graphic artists, creative writers, painters, musicians who may or may not have graduated top of their batches within their respective universities. This is why people are fond of asking for freebies from these artists, to the extent that people complain if they're asked for a talent fee. But this shouldn't even be the case for our artists. They provide services that people can't do themselves.

We're in a consumerist world. We're in a Capitalist world where the arts are forced into the lowest of positions even though we can't live without the arts.

Writers need to live. Writers need to get paid. If they're asking for a small amount of money, please don't take it the wrong way.

P.S. Yes, I fully support the crowdfunding option, but I don't think I need to utilize it anytime soon. As someone who's not known yet, I'm still in that part where I just want to share all my works to the public. I haven't proven myself enough for me to feel confident about asking for money. The main reason I write is because it helps with my depression, not because I do it to live and as a skill. But for others who need it, who have been in this platform for so many years just to give us quality content, they have all the right to get crowdfunding.

P.P.S. Sorry if this is a bit puzzling. Crowdfunding is actually a "donation" type of option for the writers. I'm actually talking about art getting paid in general and in the real life.