So I promised myself that I would write something about this.

If you've been following me for some time, and you *haven't* read the special episode titled "On Naver," go read that FIRST, because I'll be making some references to that. That episode of Ask Asterhythm was posted back in February, when Naver first bought Wattpad. In it, I discuss some of the options for what Naver could have in store for Wattpad, especially regarding the fanfiction side of things.

And we are finally starting to see how some of those cards are going to fall. HYBE Entertainment has announced there will be official books starring BTS, TXT, and ENHYPEN on Wattpad. Not fanfiction. Official books.

On ANY other platform (like WEBTOON!) I would be 120% in support of this. But because it's on Wattpad, I'm not very happy. I'm MAD, actually. Very, VERY mad. I will probably end up swearing like a sailor in this entry, because I am so mad.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm actually really happy that they're coming out with their own books. I think it's a great idea, and I want to support BTS and TXT and ENHYPEN in that way. The problem comes from WHERE they are posting that material, and officially. It means HYBE will be on Wattpad. And Wattpad, historically, has been OUR place to share fanfiction and things about the boys. I've consistently seen status updates telling people to delete their accounts because Jungkook is gonna read your Y/N.

Well, Your Friendly Neighborhood Asterhythm, who's been around this block with fanfiction several times, is here to give my thoughts on what's happening and how we should proceed next. And the FIRST thing I'm going to say is this:

1: The boys are not going to read your fanfiction.

Seriously. Why would you think Namjoon is gonna read it? First of all, it is probably in a language that most of the boys do not want to read. (I have no clue what the South Korean fanfiction scene is like.) But for reals: if the boys wanted to read fanfiction about themselves, THEY WOULD HAVE DONE IT ALREADY. It's not gonna magically change because HYBE has an account now. That's the wrong reason to be concerned.

I mentioned in my first Naver Episode that:

(The) fanfiction that exists on Wattpad does not exist to give Wattpad money. It can't, because that's the NATURE of fanfiction. And if Naver senses that those works cannot make them money -- or be linked in with WEBTOON or be promoted -- they might just decide to jettison the whole damn thing...Naver may take one look at the fanfiction on Wattpad, understand that those publishings won't make them any money, and say, we're not going to host fanfiction anymore.

In addition to this money conundrum, we have another that I recognized immediately: there are official works being posted on the same platform as fan works. Readers who go to Wattpad to read The Star Seekers will also find multiple fan works on the series, as well as books promoting theories and quizzes. Does HYBE want all of those books in the way of their official book? Would HYBE rather have you spend money reading the official Star Seekers book, instead of reading a fan version? HYBE will do what it can to protect its intellectual property -- which, in this case, is the image of the boys of BTS, TXT, and ENHYPEN.

Which means they have a VERY legal reason to send a cease and desist to all HYBE fanfic writers on Wattpad. Or rather: they would just have Wattpad pull the plug on anything, say, with a BTS tag, or monitor tags of relationships. The platform we love will very much be HYBE's new playground starting in January. And they could change the rules -- drastically -- on us, and set a standard for fanfiction going forward. For all I know, they could ignore us and let us stay on the site, but legally, we shouldn't be able to exist next to them.

So, what do we do? Other than numero uno at the top (understand the boys are never gonna engage with you on Wattpad):

2: We hold our ground, and we only move if Wattpad makes us.

This is not the time for a mass exodus from Wattpad. We stay where we have always been, we continue creating, we keep writing, and we stay silly. We wait for a message from Wattpad. This can either be an official message, something along the lines of "we're changing some things, fanfiction needs to be removed by__," or it can be a subtle message in the form of a fanfic purge. When we get the message, we leave, and we all leave at once. If we do, Wattpad will either get the message, or it won't. (Does Wattpad just automatically assume we'll stick around and watch endless advertisements or pay for stories all the time? Like we do that already??) Regardless, that time is not now. And the other thing we do is something most of you should know already:

3: BACK YOUR SHIT UP. I talked about this before. I will do it again. Wattpad can take down your fics at any time for any reason. Back it up.

Where do we go after Wattpad? And why is the answer AO3? Personally, for me, AO3 is the answer because AO3 will never take down your fics. In fact, I'm not scared for myself on Wattpad. If Wattpad suddenly decides to ban my account, it will be a headache! But everything I've posted here is either backed up on my computer or already on AO3. It would be super annoying, but my presence is not erased from the Net. And while AO3 does not have nearly as much of a social element, pair it with socmed such as Twitter and it works quite well. (Please check my chapter entitled "So You Wanna Post On AO3" for more information on AO3.) And we only move if we have to: Wattpad is our home.

And that's why I'm mad. I'm mad because Crackpad is our crappy little site with bad advertisements that breaks all the time, but it's OUR site, damnit. We've made it our own little messy home, hidden away from the world. HYBE announcing these books on Wattpad is them coming through, destroying our home, rearranging it to their liking, and we don't know if they'll care about us or not in the process. Many of you have nowhere else to go. You can't switch to AO3 or write anywhere else. You can't use Twitter because your parents will find out. Wattpad is your space. That's why I'm mad.

Hold tight. Back your shit up. In January -- or maybe even before -- we'll have more information and more answers. And when we do, you can guarantee I'll be posting about it and giving my two cents. Stay strong.