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etoilesbienne · 4 months

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re: boundaries

I've made many posts previously on this subject already, so people are already aware of my stance regarding disliking the way "boundaries" as a concept are used by the mcyt fandom, however I want to have a brief meditation on why this is the case, and a look at common arguments about them.

however i do want to make clear that i don't mind boundaries as a concept, actual boundaries. as in "if you do x, i will respond with y" kinds of boundaries. I think cc are completely fair and understandable in this kind of perspective. if someone makes a kind of content they dislike, they're free to block that fan or express discomfort over it. That's normal.

my critical eye is turned toward the fandom's perception of "boundaries" as a sort of fandom ruleset, either you follow them with the in-group, or you're thrown in the out-group and labelled all sorts of insults, anywhere from a criminal offender to just having people be plain nasty toward you. this in my opinion, really feeds into the fandom habit of having "cliques" as fandoms are social networks that are voluntarily joined. i find it juvenile at best.

at worst, on the other hand, is the concept of mcyt having mixed in kpop stan culture around 2019 with smplive (great server. horrific fandom at the time it was run. all of the smplive fans still left are veterans worthy of respect for surviving that.), which caused a very explosive mixture.

kpop fandom has this outlook and parasociality toward idols because these idols are borderline unreachable. even in smaller groups, companies generally (not always.) discourage idols from talking one-on-one selectively with fans. there deserves to be a more thorough examination of kpop fandom with stan culture, that i believe i am not fully qualified for. my point is that kpop idols are a hell of a lot harder to reach for english fans, whether through language barrier or through professionality done by companies.

the explosive mixture is bringing this same mentality - the mentality that these people you look toward as the main source of the fandom as being untouchable, perfect people. it's dehumanizing in its own right, but aside from that, it creates a dangerous fandom situation. as best shown using smplive with CallMeCarson from before.

CMC is the origin point of boundaries within the MCYT fandom, having held a live in fall of 2019 talking about how a popular danganronpa themed wattpad smplive fanfiction was upsetting for him to read. CMC had an intense fanbase that could and would look up to him no matter what. of course the fanbase would go after and harass this author off of the internet and deleting their work (which remained lost media until this January of 2024. Almost half a decade.) after this situation, only months later it comes out that CMC had in fact been manipulating women aged 17 to early 20s, into sexual dms and sending him explicit photos of themselves for around a year. i am of the opinion CMC would have done this behavior regardless, however, the fact he had access to so many women who put him on a pedestal without considering he could exploit them was exacerbated by the stan culture mentality of mcyt's fandom at the time. this is not a criticism of the women, it is a criticism of the fandom culture of the time for failing to treat carson as a human being who had every capability to treat people like this.

no cc is exempt from that mentality by the fandom. carson knowingly used his position within the fandom to make the choice to do that to those girls. no cc should be exempt from the real possibility of the consideration that they can fuck up, not always in the way that they necessarily need to be cancelled or deplatformed, carson is an extreme example that is absolutely not representative of cc as a whole, but there needs to be a healthy level of doubt and separation between creators and fans.

to reiterate: cc are not your friends. cc do not need you to speak for them. you do not know these people personally. to present your defense of them and their personal opinions like you spoke to them directly and are close friends is dangerous, both for yourself, and for other fans in the community.

everything i have listed is why i always will be critical toward any fan group or clique that presents themselves as being pillars of the community, and why i am critical of any page or resource that tries to list "boundaries" as hard fast rules to be self policed by the fandom. not only is that punitive mentality, it's careless and poor understanding of how communities at large work.

i don't think a "boundaries" list is necessarily a bad idea in the long run either, if these lists were, like, compilations of streamers' twitch chat rules, that'd be cool! but generally these lists lack any nuance of why and where some boundaries may apply. like a ton of streamers hate ships being spammed in chat, but could give less of a fuck about people making ship fanart. or like wouldn't care as long as the ship art isn't put in their main tag.

as well as the general ignoring of regular boundaries, we all remember the horror show of people dono-ing to cc in 2020-22 asking for their boundaries right? like just so we're explicitly clear, walking up to someone and asking what someone's opinion of making adult content of them is very much sexual harassment. that's objectively something fans should not be asking to cc. if they want to say something, they can speak up on their own. they do not need your prompting. if you wouldn't ask it to your boss in an office, don't ask cc it. tangentially related is the ignoring of boundaries based on disliking fans harassing each other or other cc. those boundaries never get to be prioritized for a reason, as those behaviors feed into the stan culture mentality of pitting sources against each other in fan wars.

parasociality and stan culture turn mcyt fandom into a power vacuum where fans who like to self-police to a dangerous extent try to take charge. this makes the fandom worse.

#ive had this in my drafts for months might as well drop this now LOL #discourse #mcyt discourse #posts from the aether

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sagephilosophie · 13 days

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URGENT!

I have been sent a dm by @wisteria-chan that informed me about a telegram channel that translated my Shio smut without my permission nor did it credit me anywhere, and apparently they have also been banning users that linked my work.

You can see right here by the dates that they clearly stole it today, when i posted it on April 19th ->

I have also changed it back to english to double check and it's the same as my fic, translated word by word ->

I don't have telegram so i can't speak to them nor am i alowed to report them, i could contact telegram team but i would rather we talked so they can take it down or at the very least add my authorisation rights, but if i couldn't be in touch with this user within 24 hours i will take the proper measurements to have telegram team take it down and ban them, if this person is reading this right now, it's your choice how it's gonna be, either you delete it on your own, send me a dm to settle things, or i will take matters into my own hands.

This is the link to the channel please contact them or send them the link to this post

This deeply upsets me and is really insulting to any writer's hard work including myself, and things could have gone differently had they asked, i have had poeple from former websites accounts of mine previously asking if they could translate old works and promised to credit me and i found it pretty sweet and flattering, but the act of deleting any indications to the original post and author, lacks any signs of respect or admiration to their work and is straight up stealing, you can show your support in many ways weither it'll be by leaving a comment or a like or reblogging, i can assure that all writers appreciate any and everyone of those stuff, but always and ALWAYS ask before you translate their work, needless to say they might respond with no which means no and nothing else but no. And that is final. So kindly, this can be dealed with maturely and quickly, it doesn't have to get any more extreme.

If you got in touch with them, more informations are greatly appreciated ♡

#once again i will only give them 24 hours to contact me or delete it on their own #big thanks for telling me again #urgency #vee's

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licorice-lips · 19 days

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Hi, everyone! So, I know there's a lot of controversy about Rhys's behavior Under the Mountain (at least in Brazil fandom it's a hot topic), a discussion that is valid and definitely needs to be had, so I did a lot of research on the subject and compiled the three texts that influenced me the most into a compilation that I'll share here — along with my thoughts and additions.

These texts that serve as my supports were made here on Tumblr and can be found under the following titles, although the third one is the most comprehensive of them all:

*Rhysand's Defense Post (The author had only read A Court of Thorns and Roses when she wrote this).

*The Difference Between Tamlin and Rhysand: The Man on the Throne and the Man in the Arena — Acotar and Acomaf's Excerpt Analysis (The author was following the small teaser quotes for A Court of Mist and Fury and analyzed them).

*Understanding Tamlin and Rhysand — A Post-Acomaf Reconciliation of Rhys's Actions Under The Mountain in a Culture of Defeat.

In addition to discussing Rhys's behavior, however, I'm also going to discuss Tamlin's behavior and compare the two. It's going to be quite fun… Just a heads up that I don't want any hate messages. Do you want to share your thoughts agreeing or disagreeing? That's fine, but with respect. Any offensive comments will be deleted.

Now here's my defense post for Rhys:

Leadership is a heavy burden. When you're a leader, especially when it's not your choice but comes to you because of the family you were born into, for example, responsibility can be a burden. But when you're a leader, there's something very important to consider when making a decision: those who follow you.

All of Rhys's actions as High Lord of the Night Court must be thought of to put the well-being of those he is responsible for first. And when he, Tamlin, and the other High Lords are Under the Mountain, he decides that he will be Amarantha's whore to ensure that his Court is in the best possible condition within the situation — he lets himself be raped to ensure that his people and his family remain safe when he could have done nothing.

But from the moment Feyre strikes the deal with Amarantha, he is the only one who is truly in a position to make a difference: the other High Lords do not have enough of Amarantha's trust for her not to suspect anything if one of them tried to bargain with Feyre as Rhys did, for example. If any other High Lord — Kallias, Thesan, Helion, etc. — tried the same thing as Rhys, Amarantha would have been suspicious.

So in this case, he is the only one who can truly act.

But he doesn't have to. The point is that his Court is reasonably safe because of his role in the court Amarantha built, so Rhys doesn't really need to help Feyre win. But he does it, not because he wants his power back, but because he's the kind of leader who will do everything achievable to change — for what he believes is the best — the lives of his people.

And I'll talk about how admirable that is later on when we're talking about the culture of war and defeat, and about Tamlin's behavior. So, he decides to act, and he tells Feyre in A Court of Mist and Fury:

"I decided at that moment that I would fight. And fight dirty, and kill and torture and manipulate, but fight. If there was any chance of freeing us from Amarantha, it was you." (A Court of Mist and Fury, page 550, Brazilian edition)

He knows, then, that the fight he would have to wage was not the beautiful, heroic, noble thing we're so used to seeing: Rhys knew that his actions to ensure victory — for Feyre and Prythian as a whole — would be horrible and would probably haunt him for the rest of his life. He knows that. And he doesn't excuse himself for a moment. He doesn't invent, he doesn't embellish, he doesn't paint himself as a hero. He knows he's not and he really isn't a hero.

A hero is someone who sacrifices themselves in a grand gesture to save the entire population, a true hero doesn't really sacrifice one person to save others. And while Rhys does have his own share of sacrifices, that doesn't excuse him from the horrible actions he took Under the Mountain:

So, the first part of his questionable behavior in Under the Mountain comes to light: the moment he twists Feyre's injured arm to convince her, to scare her enough to accept his bargain. This is a minor moment and my description alone makes it understandable: he does what he does to keep her alive and charges an insignificant price (which he planned to release her from later, as he himself says) to keep up appearances.

And Rhys needs to keep up appearances because his whole game to defeat Amarantha depends on how he appears to her and to other people: no one can notice while he moves the pieces on the board to bring the advantage to them. No one, not even Feyre, who is the "lamb to the slaughter," so to speak. And she can't know for several reasons:

Feyre is not in a mental condition to act and pretend to hate him as much as he needs her to pretend. So if she knew what he was doing, she would probably let something slip, or wouldn't be convincing enough, because honestly? Who could?

Rhys spent the last 50 years fighting alone and being surrounded by people who constantly despised him for being Amarantha's whore or for those who tried to ingratiate themselves with her through him, so he doesn't trust others easily, even though he was falling in love with Feyre, as he says in ACOMAF.

He couldn't trust that Feyre wouldn't trust others — Lucien and, therefore, Tamlin — with this knowledge. With their mutual hatred, they would surely end up messing things up.

Feyre was there to protect the High Lord who killed his mother and sister — and Rhys didn't know that Feyre didn't know the history behind his and Tamlin's relationship — so, in theory, it made sense that he wouldn't want to show his "true face" to her.

That's exactly what the book is about: like a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, the book is about how appearances deceive. If Feyre found out that Rhys is a decent person right away, it would be the same as throwing the whole intention of the story out the window.

So we have the second — and most controversial of all — point: the dance and the wine. I'm not going to mince words about this: It was sexual harassment. Period. But with this, Rhys manages to:

Get Feyre out of her cell, which is driving her crazy, as she says in this part: "I was alone, locked in silence — although the screams in the dungeon continued day and night. When they became unbearable and I couldn't ignore them, I looked at the eye in my palm." (A Court of Thorns and Roses, page 356, Brazilian Edition). And let's face it, anyone would go crazy in an environment like that.

Keep an eye on Feyre so that no one else could harm her — something he disguises with a comment about not liking others to touch what's his — and that's a curious thing because Feyre never expresses concerns about being abused by others after Rhys starts taking her to these parties (it's also interesting to note that despite the various traumas of what happened Under the Mountain, Feyre never showed any signs of trauma from sexual abuse, as far as I know — and again, not that this excuses Rhys, it's just a factor to point out that maybe she understood his game better than we did).

To leave Tamlin full of anger — which he claims is the main reason for all that theater during A Court of Thorns and Roses — so that he wouldn't hesitate if he had the slightest chance to kill Amarantha in the end or between challenges, no matter as long as he didn't hesitate. Because from Rhys's perspective, Tamlin is the noble golden prince who might spare Amarantha's life to demand some kind of trial or something. Which I consider he might have been dumb enough to do too.

Divert Amarantha's attention, as, thinking that Feyre was already humiliated and abused enough during those nights, she wouldn't give Feyre those ridiculous tasks anymore (like cleaning that filthy hall or collecting lentils from Rhys's fireplace). And if you reread ACOTAR, she really never gives those small tasks to Feyre again after that.

Send a message to those who could read, as Rhys himself says: he crowns Feyre every night, and for the cruel ones, this would be a subtle kind of mockery, but for those who could see beyond the evil, Rhys was declaring Feyre the champion of them all. He declared that he believed in her and in her potential to free them all.

Convince Amarantha that he's still playing on her side — a belief that was shaken by Rhys betting on Feyre in the first task and closing that bargain to heal her arm. This might be the most fundamental of all points: the one that allows the game to continue toward victory. He needs to prove to Amarantha that he's doing it for fun, out of cruelty, considering Feyre as the whore of the whore, someone lower than the lowest of courtesans. Thus, Rhys clears the way to act when the time is right.

By taking Feyre with him to those parties, he moved not one, but six pieces of the game to be in his favor. He killed six birds with one stone. Strategically, it's an incredible tactic, by the way. But morally, this act leaves something to be desired.

So why the wine and the dance? Because Rhysand plays with appearances. Everything in his game depends on it.

Feyre wouldn't play the whore of the whore while conscious, no one with a shred of self-respect would accept that without knowing the reason behind it, and Rhysand, for the reasons I mentioned, wouldn't tell her anything. So he makes her drink the wine to keep the whole purpose of that show and keeps her close to prevent her from being touched by anyone other than him.

But besides that, the wine is a form of escape, a way to forget about the horrors, as Feyre herself says at the end of the chapter where all this happens:

"[…] and I began to long for the moment when Rhysand would hand me the goblet of faerie wine and I could let loose for a few hours." (A Court of Thorns and Roses, page 381).

In fact, Rhys sees it this way: when he is forced to kill the High Lord of the Summer Court (not Tarquin, but his cousin from whom he "inherited" the title, Nostrus), he himself drinks the wine with Feyre — it's an escape from the character he so carefully plays because not even Rhys can bear everything without letting the facade fall, even if only a little.

Note: not that I'm saying this would be a healthy way to deal with all that trauma and accumulated stress, but considering the place they were in and the situation, perhaps it was the most… effective way.

I have to say, however, that all of this doesn't justify what he did: it was still sexual abuse and it's still very bad and very serious. However, I need to point out to you: what we do to survive often does not reflect what we would be in a normal situation (normal being their everyday life without Amarantha, in this case).

When we are confronted with a situation like this, where to survive we end up needing to do something horrible, many say they would never do and would take the noble path of dying before giving up their values and principles, which is great, it proves that you have a very good character. The problem is that Rhys doesn't have the choice to think only of himself and how much this abuse will cost his dignity and principles because every decision he makes affects his people.

So here's my question for you: could you love someone who chose to preserve you instead of saving thousands of innocent — children, women, and men — who are under their responsibility?

Because I couldn't love someone who did that. And that's how I make peace with what Rhys did to Feyre Under the Mountain: I couldn't love someone who condemned the world to save me from abuse that I know I can endure — even if it causes me terrible harm.

Of course, it's entirely valid if you decide not to forgive him for what he did, because, after all, it's a morally gray action when you consider the whole situation they were in and what Rhys did. So, no one is really wrong for not forgiving Rhys for what he did, but those who forgive him aren't wrong either. It's very important that we understand that.

Now, an argument that is often used and that annoys me every time I hear it is that Sarah "changed Rhys and Tamlin's personalities because of shipping", so she ignored everything Rhys did Under the Mountain to make him the hero just because fans liked him. There are so many things wrong with that that I don't even know where to begin, but let's analyze all of Tamlin's, Feyre's, and Rhys's behavior throughout the ACOTAR and ACOMAF stories and show why I know Sarah did absolutely everything with careful consideration:

There is a trait that is very striking in Tamlin from the beginning of the ACOMAF story and is especially explicit when Alis tells the whole story about Amarantha, Tamlin, and the curse, which is the fact that Tamlin can't deal with the consequences of his actions:

The first time he does this is at the beginning of the curse when he gives up sending his soldiers to die for him, thus Tamlin simply gives up not only freeing himself but all of Prythian, all the people who live there, and still condemns the human lands in the process. He only started sending the soldiers out of desperation after 46 years, look at Alis's speech:

"For two years, he sent them, day after day, needing to choose who crossed the wall. When there were only a dozen left, Tamlin was so devastated that he stopped. He canceled everything." (A Court of Thorns and Roses, page 294, Brazilian Edition).

The second time I can point out is Feyre herself (this because I'm ignoring the events during her stay in the Spring Court, as I don't remember what happened): he takes Feyre to Prythian with the intention of making her fall in love with him, but at the first glimpse of direct danger from Amarantha — in this case, the scene where Rhys makes him kneel — he sends her away.

He gives up saving Prythian because he can't stick to the decision to put Feyre in danger so that she could break the curse, so much so that he condemns himself for it, because Feyre only doesn't say that she loves him — and breaks the curse — precisely because she's leaving:

"— I love you. — He said, and stepped back. I should say — should say those words, but they got stuck in my throat because… Because of what he needed to face, because maybe he wouldn't find me again, despite the promise…" (A Court of Thorns and Roses, page 261, Brazilian Edition)

These are the main events, and perhaps I could list more for you if I reread A Court of Thorns and Roses. But what does this show us? That every time Tamlin makes a decision, he freezes and backs down at the first sign of an obstacle. He retreats and avoids anything that shakes him.

So it makes sense that Tamlin's reaction Under the Mountain is paralysis — a common behavior among leaders in times of war and defeat, by the way, which aligns not only with Tamlin's personality but also with the reaction of a true leader in such a situation.

Alright, let's stop there and go back in time to analyze Feyre's behavior:

Right from the start, we learn that, even being the youngest of three sisters, Feyre was the one who, when they were starving, took action and sought a solution, which shows us right away the kind of person Feyre is: she's the kind of person who acts when forced to face danger, whether it's something intangible, like death by starvation, or tangible, like Amarantha.

This is proven repeatedly throughout the books: when she seeks answers with the Suriel, when she tries to fight off the bastards who tried to rape her at Calanmai (because paralysis can also be a reaction to abuse of that kind), when she goes to Under the Mountain to fight for Tamlin without even hesitating, when she heals from the traumas of Under the Mountain as soon as she has something to focus on, something to dedicate herself to.

And this is one of the fundamental differences between Tamlin and Feyre: while he paralyzes, she acts, and whether we like it or not, differences create friction. Especially with what happened Under the Mountain because she and Tamlin were separated, and neither of them experienced trauma together. Paralysis generates a different trauma from the trauma of someone who is acting, so the end of their relationship begins when she goes to save him Under the Mountain — and Tamlin freezes.

Then we have Rhysand, who is exactly like Feyre: he acts when confronted with danger or defeat and has thousands of actions of his that exemplify this:

As soon as he becomes High Lord, he bans the wing clipping of Illyrian females regardless of the reaction of the Illyrian lords or what they thought about it. It's not that he doesn't care: Rhys, unlike Tamlin, is willing to pay the price that comes when a decision is made.

He becomes Amarantha's whore to protect his people from her getting too close to them. He doesn't care about the cost to himself simply because Rhys knows he's doing some good for his own people by letting himself be raped.

When he sees in Feyre the chance to do something to free all of Prythian, he goes all in knowing that that game would be total defeat or victory. He acts.

When Hybern starts threatening Prythian, he is willing to do whatever it takes — lose a potential friend, hand over the city he loved with all his heart to horrible women, give up his own life — so that they wouldn't fall into slavery again.

When the war comes anyway, he faces it head-on and uses every card he has to stop the King of Hybern: monsters of all kinds, all his power, his own life, and the truth about himself, about who he is.

And these are just a few examples. The fundamental difference between Tamlin and Rhys, just like between Tamlin and Feyre, is how they respond to situations and traumas.

Quoting Teddy Roosevelt (btw, this is a direct translation of the Portuguese version of the quote, so it can be different from the original):

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Feyre and Rhysand are the ones in the arena, they are the ones who fight to be able to act in the face of evil — Amarantha. And it's interesting to note that those who condemn Rhys for the dubious actions he took Under the Mountain never say anything about Feyre committing murder there as well, which is a crime as heinous (or at least should be when it comes to innocent people) as Rhys's.

I'll tell you why: when we're faced with a gray and complex character like Rhys — and we don't know his heart, instead we're "infected" with the main character's partial view — we tend to connect him directly with evil, instead of understanding that this character is neither wholly good nor bad. We forgive soldiers for killing people in a war — that's also a combat in Under the Mountain, so why can't we forgive both Rhys and Feyre?

We forgive Feyre because we know how sorry she is, we know her heart, and we love her. But Rhys? He's the High Lord of the Night Court — which alone triggers some unconscious alerts within us — and he's playing dirty, hiding, and being a horrible person, so why should he be forgiven?

That's what our brain unconsciously thinks sometimes, and it makes us judge some characters more severely. Understanding the duality and complexity of a character is not an easy task; it requires a lot of empathy and an open mind.

But why am I saying this? Because it's important to understand: Rhys and Feyre are extremely similar, and they understand each other at a fundamental level because of that. Tamlin, on the other hand, has a completely different personality. He's the one who freezes, who paralyzes.

Rhys and Feyre experience the trauma Under the Mountain together, so Feyre and Tamlin are separated, which, combined with the glaring difference between the two, makes it difficult — perhaps impossible — for them to heal together because, out of loyalty to the character's nature, Sarah can't make Tamlin talk about what's happening like Feyre needs.

Even after Under the Mountain, Tamlin's instinctive action is to freeze. So he doesn't talk about Feyre's nightmares, he pretends not to see her despair, he turns away from her need to talk about the subject — because looking at her trauma would be the same as acknowledging his own.

And he can't do that because it's part of his nature to freeze. But this isn't healthy, hence the explosions of anger, and hence he locks Feyre up the moment she tries to assert herself: these are the consequences of forcing someone who deals with PTSD by freezing to actually deal with their traumas (that and the fact that he's horrible).

I can understand that (not in his relationship with Feyre, I'm talking more generally here, about him as High Lord, he can rot otherwise) but I can't forgive it like I did with Rhys because, unlike the actions Rhys took, paralysis only allows evil to continue to grow and end up imprisoning us (this is, in fact, one of the reasons why Tamlin didn't try to fight like Rhys while Amarantha was killing Feyre: his lack of previous action left him unable to take action when it was time to "put up or shut up").

While Tamlin's paralysis pushes us down while doing us harm, Rhys's actions, as horrible as they may be, are done in the hope of something good, they're done to move us forward. I can forgive him because I'd rather be someone who does horrible things in the hope of creating something better than be someone who allows evil to continue to grow until it imprisons me.

It's that simple.

And Feyre is exactly that kind of person. She needs to act, she needs to talk about it to heal. She needs to have a purpose, not be coddled like Tamlin — and his trauma — wants her to be.

The relationship between her and Tamlin becomes abusive the moment he tries to stifle her feelings to maintain a state of paralysis. And that's something you'd expect from a character like Tamlin, that's how he was built. But this happens long before Under the Mountain: I remember that on the first day Feyre yields to the dresses Tamlin gave her in ACOTAR, I think it was the morning after Calanmai, she warns herself to be gentle, to be kind, when dealing with Tamlin and Lucien.

But after Under the Mountain, Feyre can no longer accept that her feelings be stifled simply because her traumas are consuming her from the inside out. So she fights back. And that's what completely ends their relationship.

But the point is: both Tamlin, Feyre, and Rhysand follow exactly the line of their personalities throughout the story. They are those kinds of people from start to finish. There's an evolution, of course, but it's an evolution of beliefs, opinions, and perceptions — their essences remain the same.

That's why Sarah is brilliant in these books: by being completely faithful to her characters' personalities, she created a story that discusses abusive relationships, the varied responses of certain types of people to trauma, and the various reactions of leaders in times of war and defeat.

But the point is: none of them were changed to fit a ship, simply because they weren't changed. All three of these characters act exactly the way they should within the limits of their own personalities.

Rhys is the High Lord who plays dirty to create a better world, and Tamlin is a leader who can't make a tough decision. And there's another fundamental difference between them:

While Rhys knows that, from time to time, he'll be forced to make decisions that will end up harming part of his people (and will choose the lesser of two evils), Tamlin still struggles with the enchanted vision of a superhero who saves everyone without exception. And when that doesn't happen — because it's never possible to save everyone no matter what you do — he prefers not to act.

I think the two things that illustrate very well the kind of person Rhys and Tamlin are is the Illyrian tradition of cutting the wings of their females and the Tribute:

Rhys risks a revolt to improve the lives of his people and sticks to that decision, willing to pay the price for it if the result is a better life for the Illyrian females, while Tamlin fails to abolish an extremely unnecessary tax because his inability to act makes him cling to archaic traditions like the Tribute.

So, yes, I forgive Rhys for what he did Under the Mountain, because I couldn't love someone who freezes and leaves me to die. I prefer to love someone who cares so deeply about something — a dream — that they're willing to fight and play dirty for it. And then go to battle to defend it.

Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to point out points that I didn't comment on; I'll try to respond to everyone's comments!"

#acotar #rhysand #feyre archeron #feysand #rhys acotar #books #fantasy books #sjm #sarah j. maas #sarah j maas #cassian acotar #a court of thorns and roses #acomaf #a court of mist and fury #a court of wings and ruin #tamlin #tamlin acotar #morrigan

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sarahowritesostucky · 5 months

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📖"Body Heat" : a Snowpiercer-Marvel Mashup Story

Part 1 - "The Man"

Rated: Mature (non-explicit chapter, marked mature for dark themes)

Pairing: Curtis Everett x ofc

Tags: dystopia, food insecurity, post apocalypse, age difference (18/34), dark!fic, implied/referenced suicide, background character death (offscreen), poverty, arranged marriage, implied/referenced past cannibalism, hurt/comfort

Summary: She’s too young for him to be eyeing her up the way he has been, but this is the Tail section, and Curtis has caught other men looking more than once. Everything is a commodity in the Tail. Everything. It won't be too long before he has to step in and claim her.

Author's Note:

On Tumblr, forbidden ToS content categories are: "terrorism, hate speech, harm to minors, self harm, sexually explicit material, violence, threats, gore, and mutilation."

And while you ARE apparently allowed to write a fictional story about incestual, torturing, anorexic racists who rape, murder, kidnap, hate, cannibalize, terrorize, and self-injure in the plotline of said story,

you ARE NOT allowed to write an underage character who engages is any sort of sexualized conduct in a story.

For this one category and this one category alone, Tumblr staff (or at least one particular individual 😏on staff) makes no distinction between fictional stories and C.S.A.M. They can and will delete your blog without any notice.

So, in the face of this VERY SPECIFIC criteria for Tumblr's censorship choices, I have changed the age of a character in this story to 18. That's not how the story was originally written, and the story can still be read on Ao3, which does not arbitrarily censor their content. But my m/f stories seem to be most popular on Tumblr, so I wanted to include the altered version in my library here.

(To be spiteful, however, I have changed the ofc from 16 to 18 and Curtis from 28 to 34, thus WIDENING the original age gap from 12 yrs to 16 yrs😆)

🖤With that said, this is a dark story regardless, so if you're looking for fluff, I suggest you look elsewhere.🖤

Part 1 - "The Man"

The Man’s been dead for almost a day, the body already stiffened in rigor mortis and then relaxed again by the time anyone comes to take it.

They’d found him in his bunk just after breakfast yesterday, which means they’ve been keeping his wake for nearly twenty-four hours now, up at the front of the lead assembly car; his daughter and a few others who were closest to him sitting vigil with the body until the time comes. Mourning while they still can.

Jackboots visit the tail section only once per day—in the morning, with the food. That’s how Tailies tell time. So when one of their own dies, the funeral and the family’s goodbyes last only as long as the next arrival of the next pushcart with the next batch of gelatinous bars.

Bringing in food and taking out bodies—a callous reminder to Snowpiercer’s lowest inhabitants that their deaths are little different from their lives: cold, unadorned, hopeless.

Curtis keeps his distance once he’s paid his respects, and it’s quiet now as they all wait. A few people had given some nice speeches earlier, a decent eulogy capped off by the beautiful singing voice of the daughter that The Man has left behind: Rose.

Curtis watches her adjust the sheet over The Man’s body. He’s already been washed and stripped in preparation, wrapped in the old grey sheet that will be returned to them within a matter of hours. Nothing is wasted on Snowpiercer. The few pieces of clothing that The Man had owned now sit folded on the floor, ready to be given to their next occupants. The sight of his trademark checked shirt, unworn and available, is a point of mourning all in itself, Curtis finds.

New clothing always means death.

The Man had been a good person, a leader in his own right. Back when they’d first boarded, he’d been one of the first to volunteer his own flesh—though only once his wife had been killed and the mob was coming for his young daughter, too.

Curtis looks back up towards the front of the car when the heavy groans of unlatching metal come from the next section up. Rose’s face, covered in tears, also shoots up at the sound. Her eyes widen and her lip begins to quiver again. Her fingerless-gloved hand reaches for the body, clutching The Man’s shoulder one last time as the door slides open.

The jackboots bark for everyone to move back, since the funeral group isn’t sitting behind the usual yellow line of demarcation that’s taped to the floor, but then they look down and see the body. The lead guard sighs. “Oh, great,” he mutters. “Just what I wanted to do today.”

Curtis’ eyes narrow and his muscles tense, anticipating disrespect to the body—that he can handle, is used to, but if they lay a hand on her as the scene plays out, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to restrain himself. Rose is a sweet girl despite her circumstances, with an innocence and a naivety that usually only the train babies have, and Curtis has always done what he can to look out for her.

“Right,” the one guard says to the other. “Okay. Protein blocks first, then you can load ‘im on the cart.”

Rose stays sitting by the body as everyone lines up to receive their daily portions. Curtis makes eye contact as he steps up to the lead guard and takes his portion. “Be nice,” he says. “It’s her dad.”

Luckily, the jackboots don’t seem to be in any kind of foul mood today. They let Rose sniffle over the body for a few extra seconds before hefting the corpse onto the empty protein block cart. And then they’re gone. No muss, no fuss, no fanfare. Just like it always happens when a Tailie dies.

“What do you think they do with them?” Curtis overhears Ned and Peter saying, talking with each other as they nibble off their protein blocks not too far from Rose. “Throw ‘em out?”

“How?” Peter says doubtfully. “S’not exactly an escape hatch in this thing.”

“Course there is,” Ned argues. “Where d’you think your shit goes when you flush the—”

“Hey,” Curtis hisses, glaring at them and tipping his head discreetly in Rose’s direction. “Show a little respect.”

Ned and Peter mumble an apology and move off, and when Curtis looks back to Rose, she’s blinking up at him with red rimmed eyes. “You didn’t have to do that,” she says, her voice deeper than usual as it emanates from a throat scraped raw by grief.

“I did.” Curtis walks over and slides down the wall to sit next to her. “He was a good man, your dad.”

“Thanks,” she says quietly.

Her nose sounds all stuffed up, so Curtis fishes in his pocket for his handkerchief. “Haven’t spoken to you in a hot minute,” he says, handing it over for her to blow her nose.

“Yeah well I hear you’re always planning the next revolution, so …”

Curtis scoffs. “Yeah, maybe.” He looks her over, taking in the worn knit of her sweater, the colorless felt of her coat that’d once been blue and belonged to her mother. So many of the Tailies are worn down to nothing but dull, grey husks now, just like the clothes they’ve recycled for over a decade. But Rose is different.

For whatever reason, her skin is still clear, her hair still thick. The malnutrition hasn’t affected her the way it has most others. Her soul still comes through her eyes. That inner luminance makes her pretty, maybe even the prettiest girl in the tail section. Even though she’s still very young. Probably too young for Curtis to be eyeing her up the way he has been, these past few months.

But she’s about that age now, even though it feels like only yesterday he was scrounging up materials to make her a little doll she could play with. People grow up fast in the tail whether they want to or not, and Curtis has been on high alert for a while now because he’s caught other men looking more than once. He’s even heard some bits of hushed conversation, whispered from nearby bunks where the occupants didn’t realize he was there to listen. Everything is a commodity in the tail. Everything. And there’s no one else who looks like Rose. She’s only made it this far because of her father.

And now her father’s dead.

Curtis realizes he’s been staring a little too long when Rose’s eyes slide over to him in curiosity. He coughs and looks away, shaking his head when she tries to hand him back the handkerchief. “Naw. You hold onto it for me, Hon.” She tucks it shyly away in her coat, and Curtis is pleased. “So …” he hedges, not knowing what to say to her. There’s nothing he can say. All they have in the tail is each other, their people, and she’s just lost hers. “So … you still going by ‘Rosebud’?”

That gets a tiny smile from her, which warms Curtis’ chest in the same way that he can remember whiskey doing, a lifetime ago. “Nobody calls me that anymore,” she says. “Nobody but him. And you.”

“Yeah?” Curtis thinks on it some. “Well maybe you should retire it. It’s a girl’s name anyway.”

“Aren’t I a girl?”

He raises an eyebrow without looking at her. “You still have that doll I made for you?” He hears her scoff and knows the answer. Rosie helps look after the young children in the tail. Curtis has seen that shabby little doll floating around in various tiny hands for years now. “You’re a good person,” he says quietly. “Like your dad. He was good. I’ll miss him." He’s looking straight ahead across the assembly car when he says it, but he still catches her slight movement out of the corner of his eye.

“He didn’t act any different,” she says, voice tiny. “I didn’t know. He didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything that made it seem like he was going to …” She cuts herself off, swallows thickly and shakes her head. “I just didn’t know.”

Curtis holds out his hand in offer for her to hold, and she takes it. Even with the fingerless glove on, her hand still feels tiny in his. “How about Petal?” he suggests.

“Petal?”

“Yeah,” he decides. “Yeah that’s what I’ll call you. Petal. My rose petal.”

“Oh, god.” She groans. “No. Curtis.”

“No?” He turns his head to look at her, and this time he waits until she looks at him too. Her expression sobers as their eyes meet. Curtis reaches to gently tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s a beautiful word,” he murmurs. “Couldn’t I call you that?” His eyes skip over her face, soaking up the way her breath stutters, how a slow blush starts to fill the apples of her cheeks. “I promise I won’t tell anybody else,” he whispers.

She ducks her chin with a bashful smile. “Well, I guess so.”

In her lap, her other arm curls protectively around the small pile of belongings she’s been holding onto, drawing Curtis’ attention. Her father had been a large man, imposing, and yet the pile is so tiny. A whole entire life, compressed into less than one square foot in the end.

(Curtis does wonder, sometimes, what they do with the bodies.)

“He was one of our best,” he tells her. “Even in the Desperation. I remember how he was, how he volunteered. He was a leader. Brave.” His eyes slide over to the excuse for an artificial limb that's been cobbled together from an umbrella and a few old wire coat hangers, of all things. Now it sits, sad and unused, on the floor next to Rose’s leg. “You know who you’re gonna give it to?”

“What?”

He nods at the limb. “His arm. It’s the best one in the tail.”

“Oh.” She glances away from it, looking pained. “No,” she says. “I figured I’d just give it to you.”

“Me?” Curtis isn’t one of the few who’d volunteered in the Desperation—obviously, as he’s still got all four limbs intact. He wasn’t the same person back then that he is now. Back then he’d been a taker, not a giver. He looks away with a frown. “Give it to Phil,” he suggests. “He needs one, since his broke.”

Rose agrees that the arm should go to Coulson. She carefully sets the pile of clothing aside on the floor and returns to place her hand back in Curtis’ waiting one, this time pulling their joined hands into her lap. They sit there together like that for a long while, not speaking, just existing side by side. Some things have so much more value now than they did Before, including silent company and a comforting hand.

“Do you remember it much?” Curtis eventually says.

“Before?”

“No.” He never talks about Before, since it only breeds despair. “Boarding,” he says. “Do you remember?”

“Of course.”

He winces. “Oh. I didn’t know if you did. You were so young. I thought maybe … maybe you’d forgotten. A lot of the kids did, even some of the older ones.”

“Yeah. MJ was eight and she says she can’t remember at all.”

Curtis nods. “Sometimes it feels like a dream even to me, it was so long ago.” He’d been twenty-two when the world froze and people were reduced to animals all around him. Twelve years couldn’t erase that pain, but it could muddle it a lot. “I’m sorry you didn’t. Block it out.”

“I remember ... shouting,” Rose says, her voice teasing the memory out. “It was dark. And I remember getting shoved around, hiding against my mom's legs, being hungry ... how cold it was.” It’s been cold ever since, but never as cold as that night—the last night before the wind and snow and ice got shut out forever. She heaves a sigh. “It’s all a jumble in my mind, anyway. I couldn’t see past anyone’s coat.”

“You were little,” Curtis mumbles. “Short.”

“Well I was six."

He smirks and bumps her shoulder with his. “You’re still short,” he teases, while privately he thinks that it’s better that she was so young when it happened. It means her earliest memories are of cold and chaos, and that’s better than the alternative of having had more time in the World. It means less things to mourn. “What are you going to do now?” he asks, shaking his head like he can knock the past out of it. "Plans for today?"

Rose shrugs. “Same old, same old. Kids, stories. It’s my night to shower.”

Curtis turns his head towards her, brow furrowed. “You … but you’re not going back to you guys' spot, right?”

"'Course. Where else would I go?"

He doesn’t know what he was expecting, what he thought the alternative was supposed to be. Every square centimeter of the tail section is already portioned and claimed. New space doesn’t just appear. Nothing new ever appears, except babies, bodies, and the rats that Wanda breeds to supplement their diet.

“Rosie,” Curtis scolds. “No. You can’t go back there. Not where he—”

“It’s not a big deal,” she says stubbornly, pretending it doesn’t bother her. But she’s a horrible liar and that’s just another thing that's always made her so endearing ... and so vulnerable.

“Hon,” Curtis mourns,

“It’s just a bunk," she insists. "He slept there, he died there. I’ll probably die there too, one day.”

Curtis growls unhappily. “Don’t say that. Don’t you ever say that. Hey, things won’t always be like this.” He catches her throwing him side eye and he glares at her. “They won’t.”

“Right,” she says, mouth quirking sadly at one corner before her gloved hand gives his a final squeeze and then lets him go. “Well. Not everybody has the big plans that you do, Curtis. Sometimes it's better to know what the future holds, even if it's this.”

“Don’t lose hope, Petal,” he pleads, but he can see that she’s dismissive of it. People lose hope all the time in the Tail. That’s what’d killed her father.

He sighs and looks back to the opposite side of the car. Now that the jackboots are gone it’s thinned out some, with some people gone back to their bunks and others remaining behind to munch on their protein blocks in the fresher air of the assembly car. Curtis spots a man several yards away who’s been openly staring at Rose. When the man sees Curtis looking, however, he hurriedly turns away.

Curtis scowls. “Hey,” he says, intending to take Rose's hand again and offer to have her spend the night with him. But her hand isn't there when he reaches over. She’s getting up, gathering her dead father’s pile of folded clothing items in her arms. Curtis frowns and gets up with her. He hurries to pick up the artificial limb. “Wait. Where’re you going?”

“Gonna give these to Gilliam,” she says, already on the move. “I want him to have first dibs." As if her father’s clothing would even come close to fitting Gilliam's shrunken and weathered old frame.

But Curtis gets up anyway and follows after her, not wanting to let her go just yet. He hurries along as she walks surprisingly fast for having such short legs. “Hey,” he says, talking to her back as they navigate through the communal living cars and the showers, and then into the cramped passageways of the market. “Hey, you know … you could come over tonight, if you wanted. My spot’s a pretty good size.”

“So is ours—” she says, faltering when she realizes her mistake. “I mean, so is mine.”

Curtis sighs and grabs her shoulder, pulling her to a stop. “Don’t go back there,” he pleads, cornering her into a cramped spot to face him. “Hey. I mean it, Hon. Don’t. You shouldn’t go back there tonight. Not alone, not where he …” She squares her jaw and looks up at him, expression stubborn as ever, and Curtis is struck by the sudden, overwhelming urge to kiss her. “It’s too soon,” he insists, because she’d been the one to find The Man sitting up in the bed: straight backed and purple faced and all out of hope, a cord wrapped thrice around his neck. “Too soon,” Curtis repeats sadly.

“I’ll be okay,” she insists, nodding when he makes a face to show how much he doesn’t agree with that. “It’s fine, Curtis. Really. I appreciate the offer. And I get it, I do. But that's our spot, ya know? I’ve lived there for twelve years, and I—” her eyes cut away, glossy with the threat of fresh tears. She swallows thickly and won’t look at him again. “I’m not ready to leave it,” she whispers. “I’d rather stay where it still smells like him.”

Curtis isn’t sure what love feels like, but he thinks maybe it’s partly made up of the horrible feeling he gets in his guts when he sees Rose in pain like this. “... Okay,” he says quietly, taking a small step back so that she can continue on down the passage. The tail is made up of twenty cars, and they’re only several down from the forwardmost car at this point. “Gilliam’s probably at the back,” he tells her. He can see that she wants to be alone in her grief, though he hates the idea of letting her go. “Hey,” he says softly, cupping her face. “I’m right here if you need me, Hon. You know that, right?”

She smiles and nods with watery eyes, worsening the tug in Curtis’ guts. He thinks seriously about leaning in and kissing her, but winds up holding himself back like he’s done so many times already. Instead he just strokes his thumb over her cheek, finger ruddy against the clear skin of her face. “Okay,” he says again. He gently places the artificial limb on top of the stack of clothing she holds, then takes another step back. “I’ll see you at dinner?” he asks, not bothering to hide the hope in his voice. He wants to see her again, as much as possible. The more he can keep her in his sights, the better.

“Yeah,” she agrees, leaning up to plant a quick peck to his cheek. “Thanks, Curtis. For looking out for me. He'd feel better, knowing that."

He watches her go with a sense of trepidation, uttering a quiet, "Not doin' it for him," once she’s halfway down the car.

Masterlist

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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I find the people upset about deleted fics to be as silly as the people annoyed when authors edit things after posting. If it was actually meant to be a forever-archive, untouchable after posting, then Ao3 wouldn't give us edit or delete buttons. My fic, my choice.

Respecting your choice means people let you make it, not that they approve.

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donnabenevientosimpingzone · 3 months

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Complex feelings and absolute pandemonium about my mental health aside- going back to reread and look at old posts to relive memories (mostly the very bad cuz I was not a good person when I was in the fandom and am beyond embarrassed about it-) has been an absolute disaster of a healing journey.

May be redrawing some old sketches as a checkpoint of that, so comic updates are going to slow.

I ask that everyone remain polite to my wishes and not tag anyone who you see my art addressing. For example if a draw or redraw fanart from a fanfic, do not reblog tagging the author.

Most certainly I am not remembered fondly by those people, and that’s okay.

In my answer to the Donna headcannons ask, I included one very specific relationship headcannon. It’s not a coincidence- that was me. Back when I was part of this fandom during its peak- I was that lil toxic jerk that ruined shit for other people. I have no excuses for this- young and dumb, pretherapy, unknowingly, flat out being stupid- it doesn’t excuse my actions. As much as I wanted to be a good person- I was not- I did good things- but at my core I was rotting. I still am tending to parts of it.

People are going to remember me as that lil toxic jerk. That’s why I hope ya’ll respect my wishes as I redraw old stuff. Everyone deserves to enjoy their passions without someone, something- a memory- ruining it (again) for them.

I’m sharing these redraws because there’s a story here I hope people take inspiration from. Whether the story is about forgiving others for their past mistakes, learning that you’re not alone, or embracing your embarrassments- that’s different for every person. If that story is lost on people, I have every right to delete it all.

And as for that headcannon, Donna has and always will be the person who trekked beside me through this hellscape that is my mind. As I’ve written stories and drawn more where she gets that happy ending, I see a road for myself- as corny as that could have possibly sounded. There are weights I carry that I must learn to let go- memories of people who have come into my life for a season and changed me forever that probably even despise me now- and one of them is going to be Donna eventually.

Eventually.

For now she’s still very much on the forefront of my mind lmao.

Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk<3

And for you, you know who you are- the one who was the largest victim of my toxic foolery and had the unfortunate responsibility where I crashed upon you from tumblr dms and just wouldn’t leave you the fuck alone because of your work- if you’re by any slim possible fucking chance you’re reading this: thank you for moving on. It sounds so silly, but abandoning me was the right choice, despite all my abandonment issues. I cannot ask for forgiveness after the manipulative bullshit I did to you- the best that I can ask is that your best is an even better person then before for those that’ll have the blessing to be let into your life. Which, from what I’ve read on the latest update to said work, I am reassured you have.

#donna beneviento #shitpost

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tenpintsof-sundrop · 1 month

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“no one owes you anything” correct. if you don’t write for readers or socialization through interests, do not ask for recognizance and reblogs. we don’t owe you that. if writing is purely to indulge yourself in fandom & for your fixations, you don’t ask for a fucking thing. do not expect notoriety and admiration for this anymore. if you can’t complete something you’ve committed to already to a multitude of people, don’t do it? don’t say you will with schedules and promises just to fall short? you cannot demand every reader and follower to comment on your eloquent authoring, reblogging every thing you write when it’s your interest, and interacting with you. not when you don’t respect the people who have given you a platform and the opportunity to spout ignorance. you can be multifandom, you can stop writing when you don’t want to, you can no longer take requests if it’s just for your passion and fandom fixation. don’t expect more than what you give. deleting fics out of embarrassment, unfinished work, ignored comments and asks, and a shitty dash is all a choice you can make. maybe ask for critique and commentary AFTER you COMPLETE something and not with a bunch of unfinished work and not fall short on promises. AFTER you have respectful conversations. we’re done lol.

I can feel the pettiness coming off this omg. I can smell the "I have never written a fic in my whole life" energy.

I don't have the energy to respond to each point individually, but like - omg.

Someone's a little cranky that I haven't announced the date for the final chapter of Careful even though it's finished in my drafts.

And I wanna move on to other creative pursuits for a minute (to get some creative satisfaction after all of the demanding, entitled attitudes over that fic) before posting it so that I don't have to be bombarded with comments about how people are upset that the series is over - cause I will be fucking glad that it's over.

Also the people who have given me a "platform to spout ignorance?" This blog has less than half the followers of my writing blog, so if people don't wanna see my actual personality or don't wanna see me rightfully point out the unfair treatment of authors from the demanding tiktok brainwashed masses, then they don't have to listen to me or follow me here in order to read my personal posts. They can just follow my other blog for fanfiction posts only.

And last point - I have never deleted fics out of embarrassment. I deleted my blog to escape harassment like this and untintionally deleted unsaved fics along with it. All of the fics that I have put hard work into - even ones that I am not incredibly proud of anymore that might not represent my current style and skill level - are on AO3. (Like what fic are you even upset about? One of those random 200 word blurbs that I wrote half asleep that I don't even consider to be a fic - just a spouting of my ideas?)

Anyway, the more comments like this I get, the longer I am just tempted to hold onto the last chapter of Careful and wait to post it - months from now, years from now. Idk. Who knows. I'll just give what I get 💖💕

#duuuude #like SERIOUSLY #how do you even get a mindset like this #whhaaaa whaaa the author didn't finish a fic I like therefore they are evil and targeting ME PERSONALLY #fuck off #anonymous #sundrop answers #fanfiction #writing #discussion

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downstarr · 3 months

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Fanfic and the Right to Be Forgotten

You know that thing that’s been happening where people are binding fic that they didn’t write and selling it for a lot of money? And some people are even selling merch based off of fic without permission?

That speaks to new and/or young people in fandom not realizing how tenuous the existence of fic is and how easily it can and has been taken away. But what’s also contributing to this is the idea that fic exists in some kind of creative common just because it’s fic.

To be clear, you can’t make money off someone else’s intellectual property without permission/paying a licensing fee, full stop. People selling fanart are basically riding off the goodwill of the IP holders not to serve them with a cease and desist. Usually the studios don’t do that because they realize persecuting their biggest fans for making a small amount of money is not a good look. They tend to take a harder line with fic for various legal reasons I won’t get into here. But basically, you cannot in any way, shape or form, make money off fanfic. It is only allowed to exist because the writers are not making money. Even that right was hard-fought and kept in large part because of the work of the nonprofit Organization for Transformative Works who run Ao3.

Just because an author can’t make money off their fic doesn’t mean that fic belongs to fandom, though. It still belongs to the person who wrote it. It is not free for others to use unless the author explicitly gives permission.

That means that the author of the fic is allowed to remove it and it should stay removed. The author has the right for their work to be forgotten and to disappear. It doesn’t matter if it’s beloved in the fandom, or if it meant something to people. That doesn't change the fact that it doesn’t belong to fandom. The idea that it does is what leads people to think it’s okay to bind and sell fic they didn’t write.

Now, if I personally decided to delete a fic, I’d probably give people a head’s up and a chance to download their own copy for personal use. I also wouldn’t mind if they passed a copy off to a friend who wanted to read it. But under no circumstance should you put it up again or put it on a server for others to download to “save” it. Frankly, it isn’t yours to save and fandom should respect the wishes of the author who wrote it and then chose to delete it.

Why would an author delete a fic? Well, it doesn’t really matter. It’s the author’s work and their choice. But maybe they were getting hate in the comments. Maybe they don’t think the writing was very good. Maybe they aren’t part of that fandom anymore and don’t want to interact with readers. Yes, they could orphan the work but they definitely aren’t obligated to.

The biggest reason though, is that a lot of fic contains TONS of original elements. Some fic only holds a tangential relationship to canon through archetypes and basic personalities. Those original ideas belong to the writer. This means they have the option to delete the fic version and file the serial numbers off the work and turn it into a wholly original, saleable IP of their own if they want to. Many many published works started off as fic, the most famous of which is, of course, Fifty Shades of Gray which started as Twilight fic.

If you circumvent an author’s wishes and repost or share their deleted fic widely, you undermine their ability to profit off their original ideas and writing. I get that it’s sad to lose a fic you loved, but it’s very easy to download copies of fic if you want to make sure you can reread it in the future. We also shouldn't guilt authors who choose to delete their fic, especially if they want to remake that work into something original.

Regardless of whether an author can make money off of their writing, it’s still theirs to control. Or at least, it should be. The idea that fanwork belongs to a collective also leads to authors and fanartists being taken for granted, as well as giving people the mistaken idea that they can remix it and sell it.

This work doesn’t come out of the aether. It comes from talented folks who create transformative works for free. The least we can do is respect their right for that work to be forgotten if they decide to delete it.

#fanfiction #ao3 #ao3 writer #fanfic #fic #archiveofourown #intellectual property

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vwbugggie · 10 months

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Introducing my Supernatural DR:

Buckle in this is a long one!

Disclaimers:

I’m gonna write this with the assumption that you’ve seen the show and know what I’m talking about. I’m not really gonna explain things that are canon.

Feel free to ask any questions!

I made several changes to canon for my DR, if you don't agree with them that's perfectly ok, but please be respectful!

Comments on my DR (opinions, ideas, etc.) are welcome as long as they are respectful towards me and others!

If y’all with Supernatural DR’s (or any DR; but especially if we have DR’s in common) ever wanna chat my DM's are open, don't be shy! (No minors, sorry!)

Anti-shifters do not interact, I don't care what you think. If you are rude or disrespectful I will block you and delete your comment. I'm not going to argue with you because I simply don't care to. (If you see a rude or disrespectful comment before I can get to it I encourage you not to engage, ignore it, thanks!)

Last thing before we start: Yes, I’m one of those shifters who overpower themselves, so? You think I crossed the multiverse to be what I am here? No.

Background:

First thing first, introductions! This portion is just a meet & greet! More details will come later when I go into the 'plot' of my Dr! :)

Name: ‘Buggie’ Singer (Me!)

Species: Demi-god (Unbeknownst to everyone, including me, but more on that later)

About me: Born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Raised by Bobby to know how to protect myself from the supernatural, but wasn’t raised specifically to be a hunter. He didn't exactly want me to be a hunter but he supports my choices because he knows I'll do what I want anyway. I like to write, read, make jewelry, listen to music. Before Dean came to get me I was an author who mainly stayed home writing and helping my dad with the salvage yard or helping him help other hunters. Occasionally going on a hunt with him if a monster happened to find itself in our area.

Biological mom: Amara

Species: God

About her: The darkness, god’s sister, existed before creation

Status: Alive; Locked away by the god squad

Do I know her a first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: In my DR when she escaped she wasn't a baby and instead of going to Dean (when she thanked him for freeing her and she saved him from the black smoke) she came to me and told me she’s my mom (oooooo dramatic reveal) and saved me from the black smoke. (In the show it's Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire season 11, episode 1)

Adoptive dad: Robert ‘Bobby’ Steven Singer

Species: Human

About him: Semi- retired Hunter, born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on August 12, 1950. He was like family to my biological father and adopted me when my parents died. To raise me he stopped hunting. He still helped others (like he did in the show), but he only went on hunts if a monster stumbled into our area. It was a last resort of course, first he'd try to call other hunter close by, but if they couldn't deal with it he'd reluctantly go. When that happened he'd always drop me off at the roadhouse for a couple of days.

Status: Alive (I scripted out his death)

Do I know him at first shift?: Yes

When did we first meet?: Shortly after I was born

Biological dad(s): Cassian Calavera and Alastair

Species: Human and demon

About Cassian: Born in Toluca, Mexico, on December 29, 1950. From a legendary family of hunters.

About Alastair: A white eyed demon, considered one of the oldest and strongest demon. Hell's grand torturer.

Status: Dead

Do I know him at first shift?: I was a newborn, so no. I got to know him later in life though.

When did we first meet?: The first time I met him was shortly after I was born. Later, I met him when he rose from the dead during the rise of the witnesses.

Mother figure: Ellen Harvelle

Species: Human

About her: Widow, retired hunter. She’d let me stay at the roadhouse if ever my dad went on a hunt. Treats me like her own. Doesn't really want me or Jo to be hunters, but supports our choices because we'll do it anyway. Born on November 2nd, 1968.

Status: Alive (Scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: Yes, she helped raise me

When did we first meet?: Childhood, I was around seven

Like a sister to me: Joanna 'Jo' Beth Harvelle

Species: Human

About her: Born to Ellen and William Anthony Harvelle on April 7, 1985, raised at the roadhouse. Wants to be a hunter like her father.

Status: Alive (I scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: Yes, we're besties! She's like my little sister fr.

When did we first meet?: Childhood, I was around seven and she was around five.

Bestfriend: Samuel 'Sam' William Winchester

Species: Human

About him: Hunter, legacy. Son to John and Mary, Dean's little brother. Born May 2, 1983. Views me as a little sister, stayed in contact with me after he left for Stanford. The only person who knows about my powers other than my dad at first shift (Technically Cas does too he's not there at first shift). Him and Eileen are endgame.

Status: Alive

Do I know him at first shift?: Yes

When did we first meet?: John dropped him off at my house so he could go on a hunt when Sam was around three. We’re the same age so we were instant besties. Have been ever since!

Future S/O: Dean Michael Winchester

Species: Human (Later a vampire, then demon, he gets cured though)

About him: Hunter, legacy. Son to John and Mary. Born January 24, 1979.

Status: Alive (I scripted out his final death)

Do I know him at first shift?: Yes

When did we first meet?: When John came to pick up Sam the first time (when me and Sam met), John was putting Sam's stuff in the trunk and I came out to say bye to Sam. John introduced Dean, who was waiting in the passenger seat. He waved.

Guardian Angel (Kinda): Castiel

Species: Angel

About him: Angel of the lord. I truly feel like it's impossible not to like him, especially if you know him. Him and Meg are endgame (I'm not sorry).

Status: Alive (I scripted out his final death)

Do I know him at first shift?: Technically

When did we first meet?: When I was a child; he was with me shortly after birth up until I was nine (I thought he was an imaginary friend).

Bestie: Meg Masters

Species: Demon

About her: Got a job as a nurse so she could look after Cas when he was in his crazy era. She's a demon so she's not exactly 'nice' but she's not exactly 'mean' either. Falling/ looking after Cas made her a little soft. She's sort of hard shell somewhat soft-ish insides.

Status: Alive (I scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: At a bar (In the show it was season one episode 16 'Shadow'. She was still possessing the other girl.)

Close friend: Garth Fitzgerald IV

Species: Human (Turned werewolf later)

About him: This man is so chill. He has no beef with anyone. You might not like him at first (I did though) cuz he does come on a little strong, but he grows on you.

Status: Alive

Do I know him first shift?: Yes

When did we first meet?: We met like how I met most hunters, they came to my dad for help on a hunt.

Close friend: Crowley (Born Fergus MacLeod)

Species: Demon

About him: He's really not as bad as he wants you to think. So unserious. Low key bestie vibes. Material Girl!

Status: Alive (I scripted out his death)

Do I know him at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: When Sam, Dean, and I tracked him down. (In the show: Abandon All Hope Season 5, Episode 10)

Close friend: Rowena MacLeod

Species: Witch

About her: Definition of material girl. She's so iconic. She also puts on a tough exterior. She originally only wanted to be my friend so she could use my power, but it turned into a genuine friendship.

Status: Alive (I scripted out her final death)

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: On a case (In the show: Girls, Girls, Girls Season 10, Episode 7)

Adoptive child: Jack Kline

Species: Nephilim

About him: Parents: Kelly Kline and Lucifer. Born on May 18, 2017. I love him so much.

Status: Alive

Do I know him at first shift?: No (He doesn't exist yet lol)

When did we first meet?: I was there when he was born. (In the show its at the end of season 12 episode 23 'All along the Watchtower'. Also, in my DR he didn't come out the womb a grown man, he had a few years of childhood.)

Family friend: Rufus Turner

Species: Human

About him: Semi- retired hunter, recluse, dad's old hunting partner, checks in on me from time to time. So unintentionally funny.

Status: Alive (I scripted out his death)

Do I know him at first shift?: Yes, haven't seen him in a while though

When did we first meet?: He first came by the house (before he became a recluse) when I was five. He needed dad's help on a hunt.

Bestie: Charlie Bradbury (Born Celeste Middleton)

Species: Human

About her: Larper, rookie hunter, hacker, smart as hell and impossible not to love

Status: Alive (I scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: When she tried to hack into Frank's hard drive. (In the show it's season 7, episode 20, “The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo")

Bestie: Jody Mills

Species: Human

About her: Cop turned hunter, born June 7, 1976. Black cat person, she's rough around the edges but she is truly kind. Very motherly.

Status: Alive

Do I know her at first shift?: Probably, we're from the same town and my dad has run in with the law often.

When did we first meet?: Haven't scripted it, but we're not close until she starts helping Sam, Dean, and me.

Bestie: Donna Hansum

Species: Human

About her: Cop turned hunter, born July 15, 1982. She is so nice and caring, total badass too of course but legitimately one of the nicest people I've ever met.

Status: Alive

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: On a case (In the show: season nine episode thirteen The Purge.)

Bestie: Eileen Leahy

Species: Human

About her: Hunter, Legacy. She's so funny, she keeps Sam in check, she's a badass, she gets along with Dean. What's not to like? (We're a lot alike personality wise, I'm just more unhinged, lol.) Her and Sam are endgame.

Status: Alive (I scripted out her death)

Do I know her at first shift?: No

When did we first meet?: On a case (In the show: Season eleven episode eleven into the mystic.)

The Past:

The moment you've all been waiting for, 'plot' time!

In the beginning there were two: Chuck, the light, and Amara, the dark, brother and sister. Chuck, or god, wanted to create. Story goes Amara destroyed everything Chuck made, so he created the Archangels: Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, and Gabriel to help him defeat her. Here's where my DR starts to differ from canon. Yes, there was a battle between the god squad and Amara, however they failed to completely defeat Amara.

God didn't want to kill Amara. So he came up with a way to defeat her without killing her. Chuck created ‘The Mark’ this was to serve as lock and key to Amara’s prison. He entrusted it to his favorite son, Lucifer. However, something that powerful, something meant to contain that much darkness, corrupts. So Chuck and the Archangels attacked Amara. They nearly won, however by then the mark had already begun corrupting Lucifer. Instead of delivering the final blow to incapacitate Amara, Lucifer turned on his brothers and his father. While they were busy fighting Lucifer, Amara slipped away using what little power she had left to cloak herself from god and the Archangels. She wasn’t usually the run and hide type, but if they found her in the state she was in they’d surely win that fight. So she hid and waited for her strength to return to her.

Lucifer was not defeated that day either. Say what you will about him, but he’s not an idiot. He knew that if his family could nearly kill Amara, who was a great deal stronger than him, he knew that they’d most likely make quick work of him. He too fled, and for a while everything was quiet.

With no sign of Amara or Lucifer’s return, Chuck began creating again. He created the rest of the Angels, the world, you get the idea. While there were no obvious signs of Lucifer, he watched and waited. He saw his father's latest creation: humans. Chuck was worried Lucifer would return so he charged Gadreel with protecting them. Chuck was right to worry of course because Lucifer did return and to trick Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Man fell, Lucifer gave the mark to Cain (making it the mark of Cain), he made Lilith then the princes of hell. He lost the war against heaven and got cast into hell and trapped in the cage by Michael.

Eventually Amara regains enough of her strength to return, and when she does she’s met with something that actually kind of amazes her. Humans, humanity. She was both intrigued and infuriated. She still wasn’t at full strength so she decided to live amongst the humans, more like hide amongst the humans, while she looked for her brother. But finding Chuck was only half the battle. She’d still need a way to defeat him. She knew the angels and Archangels would side against her and with Lucifer in the cage she had no other choice but to make something of her own.

Amara tried to make her own angels or similar beings like her brother had, but it seemed creating life was harder than she thought. Maybe the darkness just wasn't meant to create. Until it finally dawned on her. Chuck had given her the answer. Procreation. The idea disgusted her, true, but if a Nephilim grows to be stronger than their Angel parent, what of a god’s child? Surely they’d grow to be stronger than God himself. Yes. With this child, she could defeat god and become unstoppable.

While searching for Chuck, Amara lived all over the earths in the different worlds that Chuck created. Until she landed in ‘The Main Universe’ (Where God’s favorite Sam and Dean are). She was traveling the world looking for a human she didn’t completely detest. The one that would be my father.

My father was a born into a family of legendary hunters. Every hunter has their speciality. Every hunter has a favorite thing to hunt. My father's favorite were demons. His last case was a demon named Alastair, he worked the case alongside his little brother, Ivan. They had never encountered a demon so powerful. Alastair takes possession of Ivan and leaves Cassian for dead. Cassian survives and tracks Alastair all the way to Sioux Falls. Where he mets Bobby, who was also hunting Alastair. Bobby was reluctant to team up at first, but he gave in once Cassian shared his story. While working the case they become close friends, all was going well until they actually encountered Alastair. They were losing the fight against Alastair. While Bobby knocked unconscious Cassian pleads Alastair to leave his little brother be. If he must take someone take him instead. Let Ivan go and live his life. Alastair accepts only so Cassian can watch Ivan's body fall to the ground, having been dead since he was first possessed. Once he had taken hold of Cassian's body, he wakes Bobby. Taking over his body was not enough, he would force Cassian to watch as he took over his life. Alastair, as Cassian, settles in Sioux Falls.

Alastair sensed Amara's power the second she entered Sioux Falls. He was drawn to her darkness, to him that made her truly beautiful. She paid him no mind at first, but he persisted. She could hardly stand humans, let alone demons. Ultimately the promise of an all powerful weapon to use against Chuck and Alastair worshipping the ground she walked on won her over. Sure, for her he was just a means to and end, but for him? She was the love of his life. She wasn’t particularly kind or caring towards him but he didn’t much care.

After I was born the room lit up and started to shake. Amara knew this meant Angels were on the way to destroy her and whatever caused that surge of energy. She told my father to take me and run. He does, he takes me straight to Bobby. He would have preferred to leave me with other demons, but demons could be found to easily by angels. My father pounded on the door frantically until a confused Bobby came to the door. He explained that something was after him and Amara, but he didn't know what, but he needed his help. Bobby of course wanted to help, so he agreed to take me for a couple of days.

My father returned home to find nothing. Amara was nowhere to be found. Now you might be thinking, how can some run of the mill angels defeat Amara? She's as powerful as God. They were no run of the mill angels. The angels that came to deal with Amara were the remaining Archangels along with Cain (because he had the mark). This coupled with Amara being severely weakened by my birth, and the fact that she had never fully recovered from the first go around, she was sealed away as god had intended all those years ago.

My father, was so caught up in his grief that he almost didn't notice a man come out from the shadow's behind him. The two men fought eventually ending in Alastair leaving Cassian's body. Escaping to hell and leaving Cassian to deal with the agonizing pain of being stabbed. Then the man stood there, looking over his body with no particular emotion. For he was no man at all, he was an angel. An angel named Castiel.

Castiel had orders. He had orders to wait after Amara's defeat to find and destroy the reason for that power surge. With the death of my father he thought his orders complete, so he returned to Heaven. Upon his arrival he was met with disdain by his superiors. They not so kindly informed him that his orders remained and that he was to return to earth to finish them. He was not welcomed in heaven until his orders were fulfilled.

Castiel does as he's told. He searches my parents house for days, with not much luck until the house phone rings. It had been a few days since my father dropped me off at Bobby's and he hadn't heard back from him. He made some comment about how it's easier to run a salvage yard than to look after a baby. Castiel knew of a human's instinct to protect their young so he figured that was the missing piece. Castiel was set.

After a few hours of searching, Castiel finally found the salvage yard that had both a 'Bobby' and a baby. He snuck into the house on the property while Bobby slept. He looked over my makeshift crib with the intention of completing his orders. At the last minute I awoke, he expected me to scream or cry, but instead I just smiled and reached out to him. In that moment Castiel wondered why heaven would condone the death of an innocent child.

He stayed with me for a while, he'd never been so close to a baby before, there was something about this child. Something that made him decide on another path. He decided then and there that he would not- that he could not kill this child. Instead he warded me against the angels. The very same spell he would later use on Sam and Dean.

Throughout my childhood, Castiel would come by and check in on me. He hadn't meant for me to see him, in fact he's still not sure how I could see him, no one else had. He walked straight past my dad, with no incident. But somehow he wasn’t invisible to me. Every time he'd come by I'd reach out to him. He was confused as to why at first, but after a few tries he caught on.

Slipping away from heaven was no easy task, but he managed. When he discovered my powers he felt no choice but to increase his visits. My powers weren't like any he'd ever seen. By then I could speak and due to that one time I accidently saw his wings, I called him Birdie. He taught me what he could about controlling my powers, when I cried he'd comfort me, when I got hurt he healed me. He was so much more than a teacher, he was family to me. He was my best friend that no one else could see. Things stayed that way until I was nine. Until he left.

Growing up me and Dean weren't really close. We were never really around each other too much. Mainly because I only saw him when John was dropping off or picking up Sam. I saw him a little more once we got older and they started to come around more. Not a ton though. Me and Dean were friends, but not close. We became close after Sam left for Stanford. After Sam left he called me and kind of asked if I could be there for Dean. I reached out not really expecting a response, but he got back to me and we talked. After that we talked all the time and he came to visit whenever he could.

The Present:

Sorry this is short, but I didn't really change too much of the show's beginning so there's not much to say!

I am shifting to the beginning of the show. Before Dean went to go pick up Sam from Stanford he came to pick me up. They haven't spoken since Sam left so he wanted me to come along because he wasn't really convinced that he could convince Sam to leave with him to look for their dad. Totally not because we're crushing on each other. It's a two day drive from Sioux Falls to Stanford so I will be shifting to the night of the 28th.

First Shift:

I haven't shifted to this DR yet btw but this is what I have scripted for my first shift!

When I wake up I'll be laying on the couch in the living room. Dad will be reading some lore at his desk, the radio softly playing "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. There's a knock on the door, my dad looks at me and asks if I'm expecting anyone. I'm still waking up so I don't respond. He huffs and goes open the door. He's gone for a minute, I hear some talking, then he walks back into the living room followed by Dean. Dean asks to speak to me, we go into the hallway while dad returns to his reading. He asks me to come with him, I agree. I grab my go bag and say goodbye to my dad, then we're off!

My Powers:

I just really wanna talk about my powers. Totally not an excuse to show off my shitty edits.

My Magic:

My powers for this DR are a combination of Wanda's powers (Unoriginal, I know. Idgaf.), god powers (Cuz Amara's my mom), and a siphon witches powers (from TVD). I wanted my powers to be visible and look more like witch magic than angel magic, which is why in the beginning I think I'm some sort of witch. My power is basically Wanda's magic with a black core and a dark red outer shell. It's more free flowing than Wanda's, her's stays in a ball shape mine is more free flowing and moves like fire. When I use my power my iris' glow the same dark red that my power is and it makes the same noise that Wanda's magic makes when she uses her power (Idk how to describe it, it's sort of like little whispers).

My wings:

The wings in my DR work more like the wings in the show ‘Lucifer’. They have to be summoned by the Angel, and when summoned they can be seen by everyone. (Example of wing summoning on the right.)

Thanks for reading!

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not-poignant · 7 months

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hey pia! i love your work, hi!!! im a young writer interested in posting some of my big projects online (not that i really expect them to get any traction lol). i was wondering how you protect your work from plagiarism, or how you deal with people plagiarizing your work. it seems like the internet is kind of the wild west, and that’s only sometimes a good thing :/ im probably a bit too poor to afford any sort of copyright or whatever online authors do, but maybe i can save up? 🙏🙏

PS - i didn’t actually care whether or not this ask was anonymous, but from my experience on tumblr it seems like an unspoken rule🤨 so i guess i’ll turn it on🫡

Hi anon!

Tbh the only real difference between anon and attaching your name is that I have the choice to reply to you privately if you send an ask under your name (which is sometimes preferrable if the question is personal or really niche!) and that gives me more options. Anon forces me to only answer publicly (which is probably why you're seeing that so much!!), but the downside is that sometimes I have to delete anon messages when I don't want the responses or even the ask/s on my public blog.

Anyway! This is something I'd respond to publicly anyway, because I think this is a fear a lot of new and young writers have. The tl;dr is that copyright is often assumed on the internet, provenance makes it easy to send DMCA takedowns, and letting a fear of piracy stop you from putting your work up is one of the biggest ways I see new authors handicap themselves on the web currently (idk if it's confirmation bias or what but it seems like I see this several times each month atm from specifically new authors), and it's like...not a thing...to be hampering yourself with.

Okay, now for the longer explanation:

The first thing with copyright is that it by and large depends on your country and what you want to do with the story. In Australia, every created work by default has legal copyright protection simply by being created by someone. We don't need to pay to apply for copyright on creative works, we automatically have it and if we can prove provenance (i.e. if we can demonstrate we created it first, with like a document date etc.) we are legally protected.

So I can't answer for the country you're in, anon, but honestly, this is how it works on most of the internet where you're likely to put a project online. AO3 will respect that a work is yours if it gets stolen, if you can prove you came up with it or published it before another person did (literally all you need is a screenshot or a link). In the Properties or Details of most of your documents, the 'date created' is your best friend.

I've had my work stolen quite a few times over the years. It's been stolen the most from AO3 over to Wattpad (it's almost like Wattpad authors don't realise that sometimes we look lol).

In one case, blanket commenting on one of the fics that the original fic was on AO3 *and complete and not stolen* was enough for the author themselves to take it down. x.x Otherwise what you generally do is send a DMCA takedown notice, which almost all creative sites give you access to when reporting theft (your readers cannot do this for you, you must do it.)

Similarly, on AO3, if this happens, you can just report it. The big downside here is that it can take the volunteers there some time - sometimes up to two weeks or more - to get on top of that, so it might feel like nothing at all is happening. Patience is recommended.

Look, theft happens, you can't avoid it. It is a normal part of putting your work out there in the world. And I can't tell you how many new authors I know who kind of shoot themselves in the foot trying to prevent the acts of thieves, while not realising they're hampering themselves in the process.

Pirating is the worst, but so is never putting your work out there, or waiting for a magical protection from piracy. It doesn't exist - and there's a general rule where the more steps you introduce to stop or reduce piracy, the more you actually alienate your general readers - think about how having right-click disabled on a website can feel, for example. It's considered hostile internet architecture that is often very inaccessible.

(There's also a phenomenon where the authors most scared of theft are the ones least likely to encounter it, because their works are new, and they'll need a lot of time to build up readers and engagement in the first place. Most of the time, those who plagiarise don't want to take the works of new/young authors over the works of experienced authors who just won't think to check the sites they're using. By the time you're popular enough for that to be an issue, you'll probably have more confidence in yourself and your ability to handle this. I will say theft of ebooks on sites like Amazon etc. is way more common than theft of original stories and fanfics on AO3, but both happen more often than they used to, that's just...sadly a part of life.)

Also, applying for copyright doesn't mean your work won't get stolen. You'll still have to send DMCA takedowns, and you'll still have to get in contact with websites. A lot of the time websites have a form you can fill out. You still have to do all that labour and pay to register copyright. The filing of copyright is sadly not a magical shield against theft of a creative work. It does make it easier to take someone to court, but that's expensive, often not worth it, and the labour someone can spend chasing down thieves is often better spent amongst the readers who actually give a shit (they're the ones who often notice the theft in the first place when it comes to serials).

If you plan on publishing ebooks, there's software and organisations you can pay a monthly fee to, who just exist to issue takedown notices to piracy sites so you don't have to. I've never used these personally, but from what I've read on Facebook writing groups, they're often not worth it compared to the past, because new sites spring up all the time. But different authors have different experiences with online theft (and different levels of income to combat it) so you'll hear different things on that front.

I'm...pretty zen about it. To me, it's only a worry when I have to send someone a notice about it, which I don't actually have to do all that often. Like, it sucks, but almost always it never happens as much as a new author like yourself fears it will. That doesn't mean you won't hate it when it happens, but you'll live, and your works will keep finding readers, and it won't be what you're likely imagining it will be. It's for most authors, just an occasional giant pain in the ass that we forget about a day or two later sdakfjdsa

#asks and answers #pia on writing #pia on publishing #it depends on what path you're taking #ebooks are more prone to it than serials or subscription-locked works #but as a result there's also more protections available for ebook authors #there's less protections for someone like me #except i can prove provenance #and i can be like 'hey i put this up 10 years ago and this person published it today so can you do something about it please'#and sites do because legally they have to #though some drag their feet sdlfkjas #but anyway yeah i'm very 'eh whatever it happens'#some authors will take it very seriously #but i am...more interested in my writing and my relationship to my actual readers #then the actions of people who aren't giving me a hard time #until they *actually* give me a hard time #and then i have things i can do y'know #maybe i'm too flippant but being too anxious about theft #seems like a one-way ticket to not putting yourself out there

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