cognitiveanxiety42

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🤣🤣🤣

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It’s officially been a year since I started adventuring in Eorzea with my dear Z’ahra ;u; 

Can’t wait for my boy and his pals to get launched straight to the moon in Endwalker

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SCIONS OF THE SEVENTH SUMMER

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In recent days, there have been a number of posts on tumblr about third party apps that host AO3 fic on them. A lot of people are worried and even more people are pissed.

There is no need to send in emails to AO3 Support or to the Policy and Abuse team. They are fully aware of the situation and are probably drowning in emails right now. 

Here’s what I know and what you can do about it.

Fluff app / Fanfiction Pocket Archive Library app / Archive Track Reader app:

These apps work as a sort of skin for the AO3 site itself. They don’t download works and redistribute them. They provide an access point to AO3.

The developers of these apps are making money from the app itself (through tips and subscriptions - both voluntary), which wouldn’t exist without the free content created by AO3 authors. Since people post their work to AO3 because it is free to access and hosted without ads, authors are understandably angered by this.

Because these apps are basically just a portal to the site, a DMCA notice will not apply in this case. All works currently hosted on AO3 will show up on these apps, because these apps are simply letting you view AO3 through their interface.

Woodsign company apps (including MCU, Harry Potter, Sherlock, Creepypasta, and more):

These apps seem to curate  some fic from the various fandoms and rehost it. They allow users to read offline, so it’s possible they are redistributing it. In this case, a DMCA takedown might be effective.

This app developer is also making money by hosting fanfic that was written and posted for free on AO3. They have put up a paywall so that you can only access the complete fic if you pay for it or rate the app in the App store. 

If you want to post a negative review, consider saying things like:

* these fanworks are free already at archiveofourown.org * you can kudos, comment, bookmark, subscribe, and mark to read for later for free with an archiveofourown.org account * you can also download fics to read later in various file formats - both pdf and formats that are usable by ereaders * archiveofourown.org is a website with full mobile browser accessibility. Anything you can do in this app, you can do on the site - for free, and without ads * the Archive is a fully-licensed non-profit organization run by volunteers, unlike this for-profit app

There is no official AO3 app. The website is mobile friendly and if you want to have quick button access to it, you can Add to Homescreen on your phone and you can click in just like you would on an app. None of these third party apps can provide you with AO3 support. Only AO3 can do that. The best version of the site will always, always be the site itself.

If you’ve read this far, please signal boost so that AO3 Support can get fewer tickets. And if you love AO3, consider donating to them. They accept donations year round, not just during their pledge drives. 

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Happy 2020 guys, this is what I spent my new year’s eve on; Scion Lightwarden sketches. Wanted to finish them up before my vacation was technically over and I’d be back to posting sketches only on my Patreon feed only. So uh… happy start to the new decade I guess.

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I feel like with the new ~fandom drama~ or whatever going around, I should re-introduce my favorite theory of fandom, which I call the 1% Theory.

Basically, the 1% Theory dictates that in every fandom, on average, 1% of the fans will be a pure, unsalvageable tire fire. We’re talking the people who do physical harm over their fandom, who start riots, cannot be talked down. The sort of things public news stories are made of. We’re not talking necessarily bad fans here- we’re talking people who take this thing so seriously they are willing to start a goddamn fist fight over nothing. The worst of the worst.

The reason I bring this up is because the 1% Theory ties into an important visual of fandom knowledge- that bigger fandoms are always perceived as “worse”, and at a certain point, a fandom always gets big enough to “go bad”. Let me explain.

Say you have a small fandom, like 500 people- the 1% Theory says that out of those 500, only 5 of them will be absolute nutjobs. This is incredibly manageable- it’s five people. The fandom and world at large can easily shut them out, block them, ignore their ramblings. The fandom is a “nice place”.

Now say you have a medium sized fandom- say 100,000 people. Suddenly, the 1% Theory ups your level of calamity to a whopping 1000 people. That’s a lot. That’s a lot for anyone to manage. It is, by nature of fandom, impossible to “manage” because no one owns fan spaces. People start to get nervous. There’s still so much good, but oof, 1000 people.

Now say you have a truly massive fandom- I use Homestuck here because I know the figures. At it’s peak, Homestuck had approximately FIVE MILLION active fans around the globe.

By the 1% Theory, that’s 50,000 people. Fifty THOUSAND starting riots, blackmailing creators, contributing to the worst of the worst of things.

There’s a couple of important points to take away here, in my opinion.

1) The 1% will always be the loudest, because people are always looking for new drama to follow.

2) Ultimately, it is 1%. It is only 1%. I can’t promise the other 99% are perfect, loving angels, but the “terrible fandom” is still only 1% complete utter garbage.

3) No fandom should ever be judged by their 1%. Big fandoms always look worse, small fandoms always look better. It’s not a good metric.

So remember, if you’re ever feeling disheartened by your fandom’s activity- it’s just 1%, people. Do your part not to be a part of it.

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“in this essay i will explore” memes piss me off because it implies y’all still using first person pronouns when writing academically. childish ass

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you can make nearly any object into a good insult if you put ‘you absolute’ in front of it

example: you absolute coat hanger

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I am a(n):

⚪ Male

⚪ Female

🔘 Writer

Looking for

⚪ Boyfriend

⚪ Girlfriend

🔘 An incredibly specific word that I can't remember

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Untitled Goose-Ra

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what do you mean it didn’t happen like this

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Prompt #13: Wax

For FFXIV Write 2019

ao3 link here!

In which, contrary to all expectations, the Red Moon does not actually hit Eorzea. 

Set during the Battle of Carteneau.

The Red Moon was coming down.

It had dominated the sky day and night for weeks; there was no wax or wane to its baleful glow. And now, as the setting sun bathed the sky a ruddy orange, the crimson light of Dalamud seemed to overtake everything. Pieces of Dalamud were already falling, streaking across the sky like comets, though the moon itself remained whole.

Even now, on the eve of calamity, there were those who didn’t believe it would land. Plans were in place, surely, they said, adventurers and leaders and archons working to halt the fall of Dalamud and put it back in its place in the sky.

As she watched the Red Moon fall ever closer, Kyrean wasn’t so certain.

She’d wanted to be out there, fighting with her uncle Evan at Carteneau. But her parents had said that thirteen was too young, that her magic was only half-trained. Kyrean had seen the worry in their eyes, and heard the unspoken fear that she wouldn’t come home. And so she had acquiesced, even when some of her friends had snuck off to join the war. 

Now, she sat with her parents and her grandmother on the rooftop of one of Ul’dah’s taller buildings. There was really nowhere else to go; it was far too late to leave Eorzea entirely, and if the world was going to end tonight, then they may as well watch.

They weren’t the only ones, either. Nearly every rooftop in Ul’dah was occupied, by the looks of it. Some were even making a celebration of it, throwing impromptu parties complete with food, alcohol, and music. Kyrean didn’t see the point, but her grandmother had laughed and insisted it was better for there to be dancing on the rooftops than riots in the streets.

For her own part, Kyrean had too much on her mind to dance. Her uncle was at Carteneau, and while the prospect of her own impending death didn’t feel quite real to her, she knew that if the Red Moon fell, the devastation would be massive. Her grandmother’s trade between Eorzea, Ishgard, and Sharlayan would be interrupted if not ended, and her own acceptance to the Studium would be moot if she couldn’t make the trip to Sharlayan to attend. Everything was uncertain, and she didn’t like it at all.

It began with a flare of light as Dalamud expelled the glowing blue needles of light - Ragnarok-class ships, her father had told her - from its face. They shot out at impossible speeds, and even from Ul’dah they could see the great clouds of earth thrown up when they landed. One passed overhead, perilously close, and the watching crowd screamed in unison. 

The next few moments would be seared into Kyrean’s memory for the rest of her life. Brilliant red lines appeared across the face of Dalamud, marring its sullen glow before pulsing, once.

The Red Moon shattered.

The sharp crack that reached them moments after the break was almost an afterthought; they were too busy staring at the dragon that had emerged from within. It roared, a sound that shouldn’t have made it as far as Ul’dah, but was deafening all the same.

Suddenly, the roof didn’t seem like the safest place to be.

The streets below erupted in panic, as the riots Kyrean’s grandmother had hoped wouldn’t happen began. And the sky above…. Flame, and smoke, and the flashing glow of aether.

“Where is it?” Her mother’s question was barely audible over the panicked crowds.

As if in answer, a massive shape soared overhead, fast enough to leave behind only the suggestion of wings and impossible size. It was followed by streaks of magic, slamming into the landscape in its wake. Kyrean clapped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut, and this time, she screamed along with everyone else.

After several moments - she never figure out how long - had passed, she opened her eyes, somewhat surprised to still be alive. But the dragon, it would seem, had returned to the battlefield. The clouds lit up with a blue aetheric glow that was soon joined by others, pillars of light across the land. The aether coalesced, and for a moment another moon hung in Dalamud place, shining brilliant in the night. Kyrean felt the smallest spark of hope light in her chest. There had been a plan!

Then it shattered, and Kyrean’s hopes shattered along with it. The sky above Carteneau brightened, massing hellfire visible through the smoke.

Kyrean’s vision went white.

When she could see again, empty skies greeted her. The dragon, the gathering aether, it was all just… gone. Kyrean blinked, confused. “What happened?” she asked in a small voice.

It would be years before she found out the answer to that question. 

#ffxivwrite2019 #Kyreann Reed

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Prompt #11: Snuff

For FFXIV Write 2019

ao3 link here!

In which Kyrean opens the mail.

Takes place immediately before the beginning of A Realm Reborn.

It was finally here. 

The package itself was unassuming, for the most part - a large, sturdy envelope, nearly an ilm thick, sealed with green wax stamped with the shape of a nautilus. It had come all the way from distant Sharlayan, and it contained the most recent folio of published academic articles. Kyrean’s shelves bore several like it, going back several years.

But this one was special.

Kyrean curled up in her overstuffed armchair and carefully broke the seal before sliding the folio out of its protective envelope. Candlelight flickered across the page, picking out the titles of the articles contained within. When Kyrean’s eyes found what she was looking for, she couldn’t contain her grin.

The Fruit and the Flame: An analysis of Belah’dian symbology and its impact on historical Nald’Thal worship in Thanalan.

By Kyrean Reed.

Her first published work. Not the ancient civilization she longed to study, but it would do. With another published paper or two under her belt combined with her personal expertise, she would have the academic clout to apply for a spot in the Sons of Saint Coinach, and from there…

One step at a time, she thought, setting the folio down next to the others. She stood and snuffed out the candle, leaving only moonlight to guide her to bed. She would read the other articles later. But the hour was late, and she had an early start waiting for her in the morning. First we pay the bills, and then we find more ruins to study.

#ffxivwrite2019 #Kyreann Reed

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Prompt #10: Foster

For FFXIV Write 2019

ao3 link here!

In which Greleita takes a break.

Greleita scampered up the rigging, making for the crow’s nest with all of the agility and speed her gangly limbs could muster. Once there she settled in, ignoring the amused glance the lookout gave her as he made room for her to lean against the rail and take in the view. Everyone spent their breaks in their own way, and for Greleita, it was at her usual post, reveling in the freedom to watch whatever she wanted, rather than keep a sharp eye on the sea.

Not that the sea wasn’t beautiful, a glittering canvas stretching from horizon to horizon, but she already watched the sea all day. And so she gave the sea a quick glance before casting her eyes down to the deck of the ship.

A flurry of activity greeted her, as her (rather large) foster family went about their duties. There was their master gunner, Zirnwyda, cleaning the cannon. Later she would check on the store of gunpowder and, if she was in a good mood, she’d regale Greleita with tales - some of which might even be true - of the mighty sea beasts she’d repelled with cannonfire. Bosun Beaudeaux - who had taken over her father’s position when he retired due to injury - was retying every loose knot he could find, determined that no injuries could result from any negligence on his part. Hallodor was swabbing the deck, a punishment for drinking while on lookout the previous evening, while Memeru reclined on a coil of rope nearby, eating lunch and teasing her friend. The Captain was below, probably discussing their course with the navigator - they hadn’t yet found their quarry, and the crew was starting to get antsy.

An odd family, Greleita, supposed, kicking her feet. But it was hers all the same.

#ffxivwrite2019 #Greleita Hyrtstyrmwyn