Ha! I totally grovelled:D And maybe I'm a little bitter now thinking of how unsure of myself I was back then but that's no one's fault but my own, I'm sure.

I know what you mean. I think Cath is right, though; this is at least partly a product of the changes in fandom culture. People used to be so touchy about their precious little "fic babies," and maybe this is just my impression as still a relative fandom noob (about five years all told), but it doesn't seem that people are as precious about it as they used to be. I have so much less patience with this attitude than I used to, as well.