The Loss of a Safe Space for Free Expression

AO3's defenders were using shame as a weapon and targeting fellow fans by outing them. This was so contrary to the foundation of the AO3 community which is that you can be who you want to be online. They were breaking that implicit boundary between what happens online and what happens in real life. In China after Xiao Zhan had lost all his endorsement deals and after AO3 the fan fiction site was blocked. The thing that Samu was surprised to feel was not just the loss of her platform, her space for free expression. It makes you wonder like you've poured out your heart and your soul to write fan fiction and kind of losing that sense of stability.