#and you could use me as a troll example to break down when people are being obstinate shitheads

[astraltrickster]

I am a girl in the same sense that a dolphin is a fish.

I am a girl in the same sense that a seaplane is a boat.

I am a girl in the same sense that Diogenes's bald chicken is a man.

But most of all I am a girl in the same sense that a person who bought a Windows laptop, uninstalled Windows, installed Linux, and occasionally runs Windows on a virtual machine for compatibility is a Windows user.

#gender #personal #that is to say #you can have a spirited debate over where any lines lie using me as an example #and you could use me as a troll example to break down when people are being obstinate shitheads #i would not only allow it but applaud it #but at the end of the day uh #if you call me one straightforwardly by any conventional non-bigoted definition you're just being a fucking clown #idk i'm kinda long Over(TM) trying overly hard to label my shit #but in a fun loose poetic sense i'd probably call myself 80% boy 50% boygirl 100% ''is a hot dog a sandwich?''

[ltleflrt]

This whole backlash against printing fics irks the fuck out of me, and I got some shit to say about it. Mostly "Fuck You" but here's some nuance:

On the surface, I understand where the naysayers are coming from. It's a legitimate fear that making a profit from fanworks will bring down the C&D Hammer on fandom. I get that. Do not put on the One Ring, or you'll risk the Eye of Sauron.

But here's the thing. Fuck capitalism. Fuck digital only. We're living in the digital dark ages, and 100 years from now huge swathes of our history, fact and fiction, will be lost to our descendants because there will be no physical copies of our lives for them to find in old libraries and boxes in the attic, etc.

Creators deserve physical copies of their creations, and so do the other people in the world who love them.

I don't want to profit from letting people print my fics. That's why I use Lulu, since they have an option to set zero profit and make the links hidden so only fans in the know can get a copy. Other printing sites I've looked at in the past don't have those options. In fact, the first time I ever even thought about printing one of my stories was when I won NaNo for the first time and one of the prizes was a coupon for 3 free printings of your story. HELL YEAH, that's a copy for me, a copy for my beta, and a copy for the artist who made the cover for me. Perfect! But I ended up not using that coupon, because the site required I set a profit margin, and did not have an option to make it private. Ummm, no thanks. Not worth the risk. And even though the profit margin could be set as low as ten cents, I did not want to make ANY money from my fic, because I know that would be breaking Fair Use rules. I found Lulu instead, and decided to let other people get copies too, because I'm nice. And if I don't, it's not like I can stop them from doing it themselves, no matter how much I'd rather they not do that.

But that's not good enough for the Reporting Trolls. Their argument is that it's not possible for it to be completely profit free, since Lulu makes a profit on the printing costs and the shipping carriers make a profit off the shipping costs. Someone is making a profit, and that's unacceptable, even if that someone is not Me, The Person Who Made The Printing and Shipping Worth Paying For.

I would like anyone who thinks that to delete your accounts where you read fanfiction. AO3, Wattpad, FFNet, LJ, Dreamwidth, hell even Tumblr for the short ficlet stuff that only gets posted here. Because even if the website it self isn't profiting, (AO3 for example), the companies that sold them their server hardware made a profit. Since utilities are privatized, the electric company that runs those servers are making a profit. IF YOU PRINT IT ON YOUR PRINTER AND PUT IT IN A 3 RING BINDER, the paper, printer, and ink manufacturers made a profit from your dinky little print out. The companies that build all the parts for your computer or your smartphone made a profit on your portal to the internet, who profits from your monthly subscription, just like your electric company profits from the power it takes to run your pc or charge your phone battery. IT'S A SLIPPERY FUCKING SLOPE, AND YOU NEED TO LEARN WHEN TO BACK AWAY FROM THE LEDGE.

We live in a Capitalist Hellscape, and if a company could figure out how to charge you to breathe and for every single beat of your heart, they'd fucking do it. So get off your goddamn high horses with this "wELL SoMEonE iS makINg PrOFit" bullshit. Or if you truly believe that, shut off every account you own, turn off your utilities, and go live in the woods and make up your own goddamn stories, which you can only share orally to the local wildlife. They give kudos by biting you and giving you rabies.

(not to mention; these assholes don't go after fanartists who are ABSOLUTELY making a profit off their work. but noooo, Flirty can't format a fic for print and allow other people to pay for the printing service and shipping, while never seeing a penny of that herself, despite all of the GODDAMN WORK I HAVE PUT INTO IT, WRITING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE INCLUDED FUCK YOU VERY MUCH. fuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufucky--)

#ltleramblings #printed fic

[proshippers-against-censorship]

Serverstuck anon again, I found the announcement for that weird name ban.... it's a long one so buckle up:

Pt1 "@/everyone Hey fellas! It's no-fun big boss man time, here to say "no fun!" Recently, we've had an overload of character submissions with human words for names. This has always been against the rules, but due to lax rulings by the team in the past, a few characters have slipped through the cracks. I want to tell everyone we no longer accept characters whos names are troll names! This includes…

Human names on trolls (Oscarr Isaack)

English words (Lizard Kisser)

Words from non-English languages (Cheval Jambon)

Attempts to cleverly fool the mods by changing the spelling the word in a way that still sounds like the words (Lizerd Kissur) It is, unfortunately, kind of immersion breaking to walk into a thread to see a character called Peanut Butter just chilling, which breaks our Setting Breaking rule. We will henceforth not read submissions with rulebreaking names. Can't think of a name? Change some consonants! Our beloved Lizerd Kissur doesn't work, but let's substitute some letters, and hey, Vizert Gissur works pretty nice! If you have a character with a name like this, it'd be pretty cool if you changed it, but we won't enforce it. We accepted it, and you're all good! Here's a meme my dad sent me."

Pt 2 "Hey @/everyone ! A follow up announcement to yesterday's name ruling. I've seen a few people get confused about intention, so we're clarifying what is and isn't meant by our "no words" rule! In short, the "no words" rule could probably be more accurately put as "no words… unless they're obscure". A lot of the character submissions we were rejecting were words that were instantly recognisable (Vampyr, Tohbie, Garcon as equivalent examples). These names are very quickly recognisable as to their meaning— they're either mispellings of recognisable words, or common words in recognisable languages. What is okay, however, are English words nobody's ever going to say in regular conversation.

For example, want to name your librarian who makes a lot of footnotes "Ibidem"? Cool, no problem. Your character who specialises in string instruments is called "Buzuki"? Yeah, go for it. I guarantee nobody reading this knows what either of those are without googling it— and THAT'S the key here. We all know Eridan, Nepeta, Aradia, etc, that canon Homestuck characters have names derived from other words. But generally, these names are very obscure, and you are more likely than not going to not recognise them when you see them for the first time.

It's been pointed out that a lot of existing characters had names like these accepted, both on the mod team and off it. Some are entirely accidental— the Princess, for example, is named Anette, which was meant to be a pun of Marionette, but is also a French name. Other times, it's obviously intended, like Irstax the IRS Tax troll. "Mods!" I hear you cry. "Why is this allowed? Why are the mods allowed to do this, but not us? You are fiends, moderators! You have no honour, and Valhalla will spit you out when you die!" First off, yeah. Second off, it's very true that there's lots of existing characters with names like that.

The reason for the inconsistency is much more innocuous than a coordinated favouritism campaign though: not all the mods were on the same page about name rules. What was fine to some wasn't to others, so it was kind of luck of the draw as to whether your name got accepted or not depending on the mod going through your application. The rule being more closely enforced came up after the mods sat down, discussed it with one another after we noticed a lot of characters with these types of names, and decided this was the best way to handle the server, to be fairer to everyone. The mods are just as bound to them as anyone else, and we're not going to force any existing trolls to change names; we're just going to be a little stricter on characters named Funnie Joekes or the likes.

Again: classic, obscure word Homestuck names like Eridan, Bombyx or Jezail are fine! We never said they weren't. In fact, I encourage them to have etymology! Just make sure there's effort put into them to keep the setting Homestuck feeling."

Lizzerd Kissur is one of the most Homestuck sounding names I've ever heard, tbh.

#proshippers against censorship #jackal barks #proship please interact #proship positivity #proshippers please interact #proship #proshipper safe #proshipping #proshipper #anti anti #ask #asks #pro stance

[ahleezeruinavt]

The Vtuber Community Greatly Suffers From The Worst Aspects Of Its Inspirations.

You may be going "Ahleeze- what do you mean by that? The Vtuber community markets itself as this amazing place where you can portray yourself as whoever and whatever you want!" Yeah- that's more or less a lie. It's an accepting community so long as you don't criticize it. And that's primarily because of the fact that the audience and culture that vtubers as a community have adopted are all the absolutely worst aspects of it. It's a weird amalgamation of anime, idol, gaming, and content creation culture, but all the worst aspects of it. I'll try and break it down as I go so it's a bit less of a scrambled post of thoughts.

Also, just a disclaimer, of course this doesn't apply to everyone, it's just some observations I've seen in my time as a vtuber and the issues that are prevalent in the community.

Anime Community - Obviously since most vtubers have an "anime" style to them, it was bound to attract people who were interested in anime. More importantly, people who now had "2d Waifus" they could actually interact with and give money. However, there's a reason why some people won't touch anime fandoms with a ten foot pole. There is a LOT of bigoted anime fans. Transphobic, homophobic, racist, misogynistic, you name it. All of them are especially prevelant in those communities. You can see it when people make black edits of characters. You can see it in One Piece and Guilty Gear discourse (you know the ones). You ESPECIALLY see it when a woman happens to know literally anything on a subject and corrects someone. A good example I've seen is the JJBA fandom shitting on Jolyne for shit literally every other Joestar has done. Like- they're quiet when everyone else did it, but Jolyne does it and now all of the sudden its a problem.

Same thing happens to Vtubers. If your model / you:

Doesn't pass the paper bag test

Isn't super thin

Don't have breast that breast breastily

Isn't a literal child in appearance

Don't have a deep enough or high enough voice

Doesn't match your voice

Openly LGBTQ+

Openly fight for the rights of marginalized and oppressed groups

Talk on literally any social issue

You're basically in for a world of annoyance and trolls almost 24/7. And that's from both Vtubers AND Vtuber fans. Look at literally any corporate Vtuber's fans when they get crticized for something. Watch how fast they are to attack LGBTQ+ people and POC over daring to think a negative thought about their 2D anime waifu. There are plenty of POC who are vtubers and get NOTHING but hate comments and deal with absolutely unfair treatment because of the anime fans that also happen to overlap in Vtuber communities.

Oh, and don't get me started on if a vtuber dare says "lolishos DNI". Because people will get in a fucking TIZZY over how their waifu is actually 90000 years old and its a-okay to like them! That's also just an unfortuntate byproduct of anime culture that seeped into Vtubing. Especially when there are vtubers who call themselves "lolis" and openly make lewd content.

There's also the weird pressure people feel to have Japanese names and that's sparked a lot of discourse in the community. Also that some people end up being offensive by using westernized depictions of Japanese culture to seem more "anime".

Idol Culture - A lot of the words Vtubers use ("oshi" for example), are taken from idol culture. However, it's been time to ditch the "idol culture" since the whole thing started. It's cool to want to be a vtuber who does stuff like sing, or do concerts, but so many have twisted it into this weird competitive space where parasocial relationships thrive. God forbid you set up a boundary, talk about a social issue, or post a selfie.

For those that down know, vtubing used to (and still kinda is to some people) about "immersion". They want to watch the dommy mommy demon queen be seductive and everything else on stream. Once you ruin that immersion, some people get annoyed, others get pissed. And for no reason other than it's breaking the "immersion" that so many vtubers use as a sort of marketing. It's a lot of online personas. And getting people to fall in love with those online personas. Some people feel pressured to "play nice" and allow people who make them uncomfortable in their communities because of the fact that if they say something about it, then they're "cutting off their community".

Then there's the absolute obsession with being entirely "unique". Look at how many orca-themed vtubers get called Shylily wannabes. To the point they've had to unfortunately ban the other streamer's name in their chat! Or dog boys that get called Shxtou wannabes. Hell, I've seen guys called wannabes for just having the same COLOR SCHEMES. And it doesn't help that other vtubers will start pointing fingers at each other. Whether it's for clout or because they geniuenly think their concept can be the only one in the space. I saw discourse over someone's friend deciding on the same NAME as them.

Content Creation Culture - This is more about the constant push that vtubers say you need to do in order to be succesful. Constantly saying you need to spread yourself thin across every platform that you possibly can. Upload content everywhere. Constantly make content even if you're tired. It's exhausting, and leaves disabled peopel out of the conversation most of the time. Even then- it still pushes non-disabled people into burnout.

On top of that, it promotes being mean to each other because people are rewarded for that in engagement. Creating drama allows people to get attention, and constantly promotes "any publicity is good publicity". On top of that, it constantly switches the roles of what's a serious issue and whats drama. Things like sexual assault and harassment is considered drama when it's called out, but when someone traces emotes it's the most serious issue in the world and needs to be talked about for the next month. The same drama and discourse is passed around every week like it's a new thing, meanwhile actual issues are pushed to the side. They also conveniently coincide with each other. Women talk about men abusing their power and status in content creation? Suddenly the new big talk is about how men are treated horribly and they need more love and support since they are the few against the many in vtubing. It's the same cycle over and over.

Someone posts a really shitty take, everyone responds. That person gets a shit ton of engagement. They get discovered from it. They find more shitty people to join their audience. It happens over and over again and people fall for it every time. People pit entire communities against each other because they know it will get traction. All the "vtuber news" channels you see are just reskinned drama channels that barely add any substance to what they're "reporting" on, but they build their entire fanbase upon it. They don't even have the decency to censor names and then shrug when people come to them saying they're being harassed. There's entire channels based on harassing others and vtubers and people see it as normal. But engagement and "exposure" is supposed to be a good thing.

It also pushes others to be nasty towards each other and fight each other for the spotlight. It just sucks and people constantly try and treat it like a good thing.

In conclusion, the vtubing space isn't all people market it to be, and they will hound you down if you criticize it because "that's what the space has always been". That or you're brushed down to wanting attention and it's just so annoying that people tend to ignore all this to "keep the peace". Women can't speak out or else we're called clout seekers. POC can't speak out or else they're called attention seekers and drama-causers. LGBTQ+ people can't speak out or else we're making everything about ourselves. And you certainly can't criticize the corporate Vtubers or else their entire fanbase will come and likely get your account suspended.

#ahleezerants #vtuber #vtuber stuff #vtuber talks #vtuber community #rant #ranting

[dollsonmain]

I wanna talk about something people aren’t going to like, and which I don’t talk about much because I get FLOODED with messages like “Why don’t you just leave?” “Why don’t you just talk to him?” etc. etc.

Don’t.

Literally, if it were that easy, it would have worked already. I have tried.

Let me give you an example of why “Just talk to him.” doesn’t work with someone like That Guy (it’s kind of graphic, and long, and I’m not tagging it because of concern trolling randos):

Out of the blue, starting about two or three weeks ago, every time I would give That Guy head (which is far more often than I’d like and that’s a bit of a related issue re:  Overstepping boundaries and demanding sexual acts that I’ve refused) he’d try very hard to shove his penis down my throat. I would physically resist until he stopped, but he’d do it again every time. Eventually he asked me to deep throat him, and I had to sit him down and tell him “No. Don’t push yourself down my throat. I don’t want to. I can’t without throwing up. I don’t want to throw up in the bed. Don’t.”

A simple boundary was set:  Don’t try to push your dick deeper than I can physically tolerate. No.

The same evening he tried it again, harder, and I had to push him away with both hands while pulling my head back as hard as I could.

He grievously overstepped that boundary and I was angry. I know that’s putting it lightly but it’s been 21 years and I’m tired.

Then, a few days later I was cooking with Son and he came stomping into the kitchen to “help” because Son’s uncertainty was annoying him. I told him to leave the kitchen. Him doing that and constantly “enforcing” what I’ve said by interrupting me and talking over me to say the exact, same thing I was saying has taught my son that what I have to say isn’t important. It only matters if Dad gets involved. I told him I can handle it and leave. I got it.

A simple boundary was set (though it’s been in effect since we met):  Don’t come into the kitchen while I’m cooking unless I ask you to.

He did not leave, and I was angry.

I’m not allowed to be angry, so I was “punished” (quotes because it was actually a nice break from his constant whining and baby talking) for a week for “Just talk to him.” by him acting like I didn’t exist.

That Guy can’t handle not having sex for more than a couple of days so while he was pretending I didn’t exist as a “punishment”, he was also going without sex.

He’s told me outright that I need to suck his dick more and swallow which is another boundary I’ve set because that makes me sick and he keeps trying to overstep, to “show a little appreciation” for him buying me food.

We got groceries yesterday while he was still pretending I didn’t exist because I dared to get mad at him for overstepping boundaries, and then he came to bed expecting “a little appreciation” anyway.

When he doesn’t get what he wants, I’m not allowed to sleep until he does. So he’s gone from pretending I don’t exist to not getting to use my body for sex and is punishing me for that, too. I wasn’t allowed to sleep last night, and I’m tired.

What he does is he huffs and thrashes in the bed, which I do not reward with compliance. I have consistently not rewarded that behavior. I will ignore him and then he will do one of three things:

reach out and rub my back in hopes of getting what he wants (it usually works, I see it as a form of compromise)

violently get out of bed somewhere around midnight, thrashing and slamming into things, cussing loudly, knocking things off the nightstand, slam the bedroom door on his way out, stomp down the stairs, cuss some more waking up our son because he gets punished, too, in hopes I’ll be compliant to keep Son safe, and go sleep on the living room floor (that’s what he did last night)

huff and thrash until morning when it’s time for him to get up and go to work, do the violent leaving thing, and repeat that every night until he gets fed up and does one of the other two

It will persist until he gets what he wants.

Joke’s on him, though, I sleep while he’s at work.

This is what “Just talk to him.” and “Don’t LET him blah blah blah!” does with someone like That Guy. It’s not some magic wand and POOF! The abuse ends!

So just don’t.

[keeganmantle]

Good morning. Shiver came to give me morning hugs.😊

Let's celebrate my victory and be hopeful I can stay public on Tumblr again. nephrite-rod has made my paranoia even worse. I'm glad he's gone. What a coward. He threatens me, sends me disgusting art! I swear. I have all the evidence! He's a loser. I will continue to love on my comfort characters.❤️

They helped me through a lot of anxiety including this one. Now thanks to him, if I see a new DM on here I start getting the shakes because I'm paranoid it could be some other crazy person or so. Also those alternate accounts he was using to threaten weren't his so...how did he get those and why? What a desperate creep. Not to mention he could be a r*pist after what he sent me regarding my girlfriend.😒

You know I dream about kicking pervs senseless in the balls so...yeah, don't mess with me.😐

It actually makes me so mad now when these crazy people get after me for the dumbest stuff. Some people don't get it! If you have a problem, JUST SCREW OFF!!! But no, you had to come and troll me, threaten my life, my family, my girlfriend, and say all these nasty things, have weird s*xual fantasies which just makes you even worse to deal with, all because I turned down an art trade offer? How bored are you, weirdos?! He says he has work, then focus on work instead of threatening an American! "In my homeland, you'd be called a beast for that". Best line.😄

You know who the beast is? Freaking nephrite-rod. I have done nothing. I just like to express my love for these female characters that I have loved for a very long time. And if you saw my arts, they were just wholesome art of these characters comforting me. nephrite-rod on the other hand, it's no wonder he's got no b*tches.😏😁

I mean, he sent me a sickening art of him and my girlfriend saying my girlfriend is so hot and just saying these offensive things about her and my mom! Saying he would steal her from me? Saying he would do things to my mom? My freaking mom?! You don't mess with people close to me, Wang! Me & my girlfriend are fine. At least she's safe. Our bond is so strong. I feel safe with her. And since she was a fan, then we became friends, then started dating, I feel like we were meant to be. So I shouldn't worry about these brats because like my girlfriend said, nothing can break us apart.😌

They're just jerks. But yeah, after what Wang did, I hope he's in jail. No wonder his girl left him. Judging by what he sent me and all the nasty things he said, it's clear he has no respect for women. Did his parents ever love him? Did he ever learn the word, "no"? He's gotta be a creep. He threatened r*pe and everything. He's the beast! Not me. You lowlifes don't know me, so just screw off! Take this situation of me vs. nephrite-rod for example.😐

#splatoon #comfort characters #best girls #shiver #good morning #good riddance #screw off wang #screw the haters #you don't know me personally #don't mess with me

[strawbearytae]

NAURRR how could u end it like that 😭 I was hoping there’d be some more action or something after oc found out jk goes to yonsei :’(

Are they gonna introduce their friends to each other just to hangout together any time soon??? Cause I would love to everyone like 😶😶😶😶😶 Nd then shit blows up lolol. and then jk and oc realize that they’re falling for with their ex but it’s okay bc they’ve both changed over time and are good people who should stay together 😁😁😁 NGJSHD OMG WAIT WAIT who do you think is gonna hurt more when they realize each other’s identities? like jk, bc he fell for the girl whose heart he purposely broke and ruined—thereby breaking his ow </3—because he couldn’t bear to see her get dragged down with him for his mistakes? Or oc bc she’s falling for with her ex that she reallyyy liked (loved even, I think??) who broke her heart out of the blue (and according to her) bc of the very things she’s insecure about🤔

how did the high school people come to the conclusion that jk goes to yonsei? All namjoon did was post a picture of him

this is really irrelevant and literally nothing will change at all no matter how you answer it lol but it’s been bothering me tbh. is jaegguk’s name 재국? why is there an extra g 😭 

and if I may ask a Korean language-related question: when are you not supposed to call an older guy 오빠? I thought it was it was a general honorific for a girl towards an older boy. Do you have to be close to use it? what about a stranger then. I assume it’d be (name)씨  but what if u don’t know their name?

-comet

LOVE BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY I WANNA SKIP TO THOSE PARTS TOO😭😭😭 But unfortunately my stupid ass wants something called ”cHaraCtEr dEvELopMent” like wha🤧🙄

I WANNA SKIP TO THE ANGST BABY😭

AND A HANGOUT REUNION??? OH MY MY MY😭😭😭 I would love to write that but nooooo we need jk and yn to be deeper in their relationship 😭 Istg the logical side of my brain and my fan girl side are constantly fighting over pacing for this story🤡 Unfortunately, I am planning on making everything slightly more complicated than a BOOM HEY THEY’RE YOUR EX! So get ready for a real sh*tshow soon😌✨

I feel like yn and JK would be equally guilty, horrified and terrified when they find out? Like JK for obvious reasons while for YN???? Jungkook relates to a part of her life that she would rather forget (I.e. her obvious insecurities + homewrecker allegations), so meeting him again would remind her of the bad place she was in yk?

I don’t think I’ll really go into this but what I think would’ve happened was that those internet trolls (sorry I mean ex-classmates) would’ve found Jungkook’s Twitter through Namjoon’s and found the school he’s going to (probably he posted about it or he’s following the school’s Twitter). Which is also how the brutal ones are dm-ing him all that hate yk?

For Jaegguk: His name IS 재국 BUT I slightly went for the more romanized version of his name. Like yk how some army’s spell Jungkook as “Jeongguk”? It’s similar to that. Because depending on how the reader reads “guk” it can easily become “걱” instead of “국”, so the extra “ㄱ” insures more the “ook” sound ig. Tbh I just made him jaegguk to fit his Twitter username nfjdjfhdhd🤧

Now this one is tricky and I could probably write a whole essay on the formal and like more truthful implications of what 오빠 means. Truthfully and technically, 오빠 does mean older brother or anyone older than the female speaker… HOWEVER, there’s kinda like a flirty aspect to it… 오빠 kinda carries a similar meaning to “babe” or “baby”. kinda. It’s more like an very very very innocent version of “daddy” too ig. It’s kinda difficult to really express in a few lines the implications that 오빠 can have. But most the time, between friends, you don’t call the other person 오빠 unless you really think of them as a brother or you’re flirting with them. It’s like bro/babe in one word and you kinda have to figure out what that person means based on your relationship with them.

For example, I have a childhood friend that is 2 years older than me that I call 오빠, but we are 1000000% not dating. I’ve known this dude since I was a fetus and sang Dora the Explorer everywhere. There’s no way we’d ever date but we have a mutual respect for each other so I still call him 오빠.

However when I was first flirting/썸-ing with my ex-bf who was 20 months away older than me I started calling him 오빠. We called each other by names before but that quickly changed when we found a mutual interest in one another.

If you’re a girl and you meet an older guy that you’re legitimately gonna be friends with, you’d more likely call them [name]-ssi until you’d both agree to drop honorifics. When that happens you’d most likely call him by his name and if you start mutually showing interest then you might transition to 오빠.

It’s quite complicated and there’s some guys who tell you to “call them 오빠 because they think of you as a little sister” when in reality they’re flirting with you.

This turned out wayyyy too long, sorry.

In yn’s case I made her call JK “오빠” because she was making fun of him but she’s gradually showing interest in him. Plus, JK seems to hate it rn so it’s funny… ahhh the things I do for the crackfullness of my fics🥴

I should started a Korean-with-Minhee series or soemthing shfhdjdj but thanks for reading my very LONG explanation, I hope I didn’t bore you 😅

EDIT: The -ssi thing… hmm most of the tome the first thing people do is introduce themselves so they’re most likely to know each other’s names… Unless you’re like working with them in which they have titles like Director Kim that you’d refer to them by instead of [name]-ssi… So there really isn’t a situation that you wouldn’t use [name]-ssi. just like english, if you dont know their name: just ask😊

#papercuts #comet anon #I literally love your asks you ask so many questions that I didn’t even think about???? #like I can feel your love for my story and it makes me go uwuwuwuuwuwu #Korean with Minhee💗

[jjkpls]

the wishlist (m) - 5

“She broke up with me.”

> genre : Angst, fluff

> pairing : jeon jungkook x reader (f)

> words : 4k

> content/warnings : back at it again w/ the bff2l; one sided love, lot of pining; explicit language; ambiguous infidelity; jjk heartbroken & crying; some wholesome flashbacks to make you swoon

previous - next

The next box arrives about a month or so later. You haven’t seen Jungkook in a while. He had been out of town, hopping from shop to shop, completing a series of long-awaited guest positions. 

He’s kept you up with his days and his appointments as much as he could, sending you dorky selfies, little videos of city landscapes you’ve never seen before, and exhausted late vocal notes made in tiny, with dragged on, mumbled words, to wish you luck and send you some courage for work. 

You did not expect that the day you’ll meet again, he’d be so different from the Jungkook you prefer and left a month ago.

It takes you a few seconds to realize. At first, you’re preoccupied with the sudden set of needles stinging your insides when you hear the peculiar sound of your front door being unlocked. There’s a very finite amount of probability that it’s not him, he's the rudest of your tiny group of friends and the only one that feels comfortable enough in your home to invite himself without any prior warning.

It’s him, your best friend and subject of too many of your both daily and nightly thoughts and preoccupations.

Once he appears in the door frame, with his heavy coat on his heavy XXL sweatshirt, in his heavy military pants, face turned down hidden by his hair, the magic thing, that grows so mysteriously quick. There’s the little explosion of warmth in your chest. The one that makes you smile tenderly without meaning to. He’s allowed to see how happy he makes you, as a friend anyway. Everybody smiles this way when he walks into a room.

Your eyes catch sight of a box, all white, that fits in his hand. Your eyes roll on reflex. You’re about to curse again. It’s not nice, you don’t want to, to attack him as soon as he returns to you but he’s asking for it, isn't he?

He’s still in the hallway, slowly slipping his shoes off, focus fixed on the present in his hand. The time he takes doing it and the seemingly seriousness you feel irradiating from his aura, confuse you.

Jungkook shakes his head twice, the way he does, kind of like a wet puppy would, before setting the box on the counter of your open kitchen.

It’s only when he starts walking towards you, that his head raises up, just a bit, enough for his eyes to meet yours through his hair. He has a tiny smile as a greeting. He looks really upset. 

He should be bouncing on the balls of his feet, he should be doing some TikTok cringe dance moves to make you laugh or yell some greetings in a dialect. He has a lot of peculiar, very Jungkook ways to celebrate meeting you again after a while. Even if neither of you has ever said the words, you do miss each other a lot when you can’t see each other, and the excitement that blooms during your reunions translates that. 

But he’s sad today. It’s obvious. 

When he takes a seat beside you on the couch, he avoids your gaze. You’re agape, watching him with probably too much insistence, a hand holding a spoon half-filled with yoghurt in the air.

These few moments are decisive. They’ll determine rather he’ll talk or not. Jungkook, for someone who cries easily, is not good with feelings and sharing them aloud. Sometimes he can, often he can’t. He’s told you not to worry about it before, that it was fine because sometimes he just didn’t need to, he just wanted a shoulder to lay his head-on. 

“You okay, Guk?”

He shrugs. You just have the time to catch his upper lip sucked in, a twinkle in his eye before he’s switching position, bumping into you and hitting his own shin against the coffee table like a giant dog, unaware of his own growth, would. Only to settle for an impressively tiny huddle against your side, cheek pressed to your shoulder. 

So that’s how it’ll be. 

It’s heartbreaking, torturesome. You always feel miserable when you know he’s sad but not knowing the reason makes it a thousand times worse. You might be the same vengeful kid you used to be. The one who’ll inquire straight away who made him cry and immediately went on her way to beat that reason up -it being another child or the troll of a tree that made him trip. 

Except you are grown-ups now. He knows he can deal with his problems on his own and he would probably not let you go and try to beat up everyone -he probably doesn’t believe you can too, even though he’d be wrong about that. 

Jungkook tears his hand out of his pocket only to mime you to turn up the volume of the television. You do so and the pretty hand is gone and if it wasn’t for his quiet sniffling and the heavy press on your side, you wouldn’t know he’s really here with you at all. 

Your heart hurts the whole duration of the shitty afternoon movie, even if having his warmth next to you helps a little. He leaves later the way he entered, mostly silently, only smiling a bit when you smooch the side of his head and squeeze his forearm in a wordless comforting effort.

Guk

Sorry for earlier

Guk

It was nice seeing you though

You

Don’t be sorry. Can you call?

Guk

Yes, in 5

The five minutes turn out to be twenty. You wonder, hoping to be wrong, how numerous those tears were that he needed twenty minutes to dry them. 

When he finally calls, voice quiet and throat dry, whispering through the phone straight in your ear, uneasiness settles deep and heavy in your stomach as you know, you were right. 

“What happened, Jungkook?”

He must not have heard you this soft and gentle for a while because you can hear a humourless chuckle you recognize as incredulity. He clears his throat a first time, inhales deep and has to clear it a second time before he can start, still choking out on a syllable or two. 

“She broke up with me.”

The gasp that escapes you, loud and obnoxious, could not have been faked. This news is hardly believable to you. First of all, because, to your greatest guilty despair, Jungkook and his girlfriend, who’ve been dating for almost a year, are probably the embodiment of The Power Couple. There’s no doubt, in all the people that know them, that they are meant to be. They look good together. They are on the same page, always, it seems. They’re beautiful and enviable, an example of a match from Heaven, healthy and aesthetic if that's even a mentionable point.

You can’t, even in your deepest, darkest fantasies, have imagined them to break up. 

But the thing that makes it all the harder to comprehend is that she is the one who did it. The girl is great. She’s beautiful, she’s smart and funny, so you heard. She has that glamour to her, with her dainty pretty milky hands and long thin milky neck, with her silky, shiny black locks wondrously floating over her shoulders. She is great, matches him well.

She is not that far behind him but she's still not Jeon-Jungkook-great.

How could she have broken up with him? Someone dumping him makes no sense to you. 

“That’s-“ You catch yourself before the words slip out clumsily. You’ve never really been talented at comforting people with words, especially a crying Jungkook which is the equivalent of your very own kryptonite. “I’m so sorry, Jungkook.” And you mean it. Even more so when you hear him snivel hard. You’ve never allowed yourself to, even just for yourself, in the quiet and discreet comfort of your own head, wish for that to happen. Because if there’s one thing that you want more than anything else, more than having him for yourself, more than your own fulfilment, it’s his happiness. And he was happy with Jiyeun. He’s got the girl he had a crush on for months and they went so well together. “But why? Did she give you a reason?”

You hate how eager you sound asking. The question is so pressing though. You wish to know so bad why, in what circumstances, Jeon Jungkook gets dumped. 

“She-“ There’s a sob he swallows back. “I know what you’ll say,” Your eyebrows dip low on reflex. You couldn’t imagine the reason. He must have really fucked up but Jungkook is not the kind to fuck up. Even when he’s annoying, even when his mindset on something turns a bit auto-centric, he’s too compassionate, he’s too considerate and loving, to suddenly stop wondering how the person facing him is feeling and act without care, hurt them, in any way. It’s just not his kind. So what did he do that even you’ll have a word to say about it. “Spare me because she’s done enough.” 

It takes another set of minutes for him to gather himself, find most of his voice back clear enough for you to decipher. You show yourself patient, not saying anything and leaving him all the time that he needs. In all honesty, in the darkness of your curtain closed bedroom, tucked comfortably in your mountain of pillows and blankets, with your phone stuck to your ear and just the quiet sound of his breathing and humming to himself to break the silence, but rock it rather than disturb it, it’s easy to be patient. Feels like an ASMR. A class A type of ASMR, his breathing to your ear could so easily lead you to sleep. 

“Yesterday, she came to welcome me back and-“ Rather than hurt, his tone sounds weakened by shame now. What the hell did he do? “She found the- the thing I brought for you today.”

The fucking idiot.

“Oh my God.” You feel instant nausea. It's not like you never thought about it. You wondered, multiple times, if she was aware that her boyfriend was buying you these. You never allowed dipping far in the questioning because what would be the point? Ultimately, it's his relationship. And it's his way of shaping your friendship. If she kept smiling pleasantly, asking politely, as she always would, how you're doing whenever you happened to cross her path, leaving his apartment, or visiting his shop, it was fine by you. It must have been fine by her. She might have known about it, or she might not, didn't really matter. Jeon Jungkook is a grown-ass man, who's allowed to make his own decisions, no matter if they make sense to you, or her, or whoever.

But he's a fucking idiot.

If she didn't know, if he didn't warn her, and now she's mad after learning about it, and he's surprised and he's sad then he's a fucking idiot.

“She asked if it was for her, I wasn’t gonna lie!” Fantastic. He's passed the shock, soaked in wrath now. That was quick.

"For fuck's sake, Jungkook!"

"What?" He sounds a bit hysterical on the phone, voice rough and angry, incredulous, even mad that you might suggest he's wrong. Obviously, he already knew you'd react this way, hence the primary warning. "You're my best friend. I get to gift you whatever the fuck I want." He whisper-yells, suddenly very much aware again of the late time and the quiet calmness he'd perturbed. "She-"

"I don't think that's the issue, is it? Did she- Did you tell her that- Like, nothing was up?" You don't know how to articulate what you mean to ask. It sounds so bizarre, so irrealistic, the idea of something romantic or sexual going on between you two. It sounds so ludicrous you can't even say it. And again, you're scared to say the words. You don't know how they'll sound leaving your mouth. Suspicious, maybe revealing.

You owe to ask the question though. Because the cause of the sudden nausea comes from one surprisingly major reason, you would hate for her to hate you. To think of you as the bad guy, the massive bitch who stole her boyfriend. It shouldn't matter but it does.

"What do you mean?"

"That it was just friendly. Did you say that to her?" You stutter, largely on edge.

"Of course, I did." He doesn't seem to notice. Or to pay attention to the, evident to your ear, change in your tone. "She said that it didn't matter." You bite your tongue, along with the couple of words threatening to slide off it. Quite frankly, Jungkook is a weirdo with his own intake on the world surrounding him, she chose to date that special, in a lot of different ways, one, however, you can fairly understand that she wouldn't accept any explanation, of any kind, for this situation. "Do you get that? If she thought I was cheating, I'd understand that she'd be mad but- it's not even the case!"

You try to focus on the essence of the conversation, annihilate the faint words you can read in between the lines. The ones that say that even his girlfriend, in those strange circumstances, couldn't imagine the two of you as more than friends. Just as he couldn't. Just as you can't either.

"She knows and she's still mad. But- I do- I was just curious about it."

"About what?"

"The toys." He pouts, barely articulate like the kid he really is.

"Why didn't you get them for her, then? She's your girlfriend."

There's a pause after your words coming from him.

"She hates those." The pout sounds so thick now, in between the sniffs, you wonder if his mouth won't stay stuck in this position, like a cute permanent raspberry on his cute little dumb face. "I did once and she- threw it in my face and called me a freak."

"Jungkook." You sigh. "That explains a lot, by the way." This comment might be mainly for yourself. He doesn't need an explanation, as it seems. He doesn't seem that troubled about the whole deal, about that new hobby he's picked for himself. But you did. It's hard to simply content yourself with a "well, it is what it is" and nothing more.

He's been curious about them, couldn't buy them for Jiyeun because she wouldn't use them and make him feel guilty about his interest. He's sort of living it by procuration this way.

Now you feel guilty. He can't have found much satisfaction from your reviews if you ever have given him any. And she called him a freak. What a bitch. You wouldn't have imagined that coming from her.

Your mind is a mess.

"And it makes you happy. I see the way-" You hear the friction of tissues, the squeaking of his bed, and the deep sigh that follows when, as you picture, he finds a comfortable position on his back. "You seem much better. Less stressed and-" You cannot deny that. Even though it's partially frustrating, to think that he has this very unpleasant picture of you, of the version of you preceding the very first orgasm brought by him - sort of. You are feeling considerably better. Even if you have to force yourself not to abuse the masturbatory habits, not wishing to turn into a jerk off crazed teen like you once was when your hormones were fucking you up, it helps a lot. Sometimes it's a late-night quickie, other times a longer seance to celebrate the start of the weekend, or find force for the beginning of a new week.

"What was that again? Youthful?" You wonder aloud, an annoyingly amused smile on your face.

"Rejuvenated." He's laughing a bit. And for that, all the turmoil he's been putting you through feels fine and worth it. When you think about the heartbreaking tone of his voice when you first heard it through the phone, it eases an incredibly heavyweight to your heart, enchants you to know that he can still laugh, and you can still be the one reminding him how to. Unfortunately, his heart's just recalled how to hurt and the ache is back as quick as it pretended to leave an instant ago. "She said to never call her again." He confides with a hearable sorrow.

"She didn't mean it." It's surprisingly easy to be a good friend to him. The words you know he needs to hear not even hurting that bad.

"I don't know. We never fought like that before."

"Of course, you didn't. But it's been a year, it ought to happen at some point."

"But if she won't even let me talk to her, how am I supposed to make it better?"

"Be patient and leave her time to cool down." He sighs, already defeated. "Maybe send her a vocal note, she'll listen when she's ready.” They're awfully nice when he sends some to you. “It'll be fine." You're made to be together, probably, you should add. You could add, it might help him immensely, to dry the tears you can picture filling up his eyes. It's a little too much though. You're not that strong of a masochist to force this on you.

"How do you know that?"

"I just do. Don't worry too much." He can't. His heavy silence precisely screams that. "Do you wanna come to my island? I'll let you run in my flowers if you want."

It makes him laugh once again. The lovely, most satisfying sound to your ear.

"That's sweet of you." And it is, extremely sweet of you. If there's one thing that you despise is him sprinting through the mindfully planted flower beds of your Animal Crossing island. It pisses you off. Even more so when he does it by accident than on purpose, because this shit happens way too often. And now, you're allowing him to do so. You're definitely too good at being his friend. "It's fine though. Turnips sell at 138 on mine if you're interested."

It's your turn to be laughing now. You love how even with his heartbroken, upset and crying, he still picks up his Switch to check where's the turnips' stock at.

"Jungkook." I adore you.

You have for seemingly ever. Since the very first time you met.

You'd never forget it. How you almost passed out from laughing because of the street sign that nearly knocked him unconscious. His forehead was already bruising dark, eyes unfocused and shiny with tears. You didn't mean to laugh but he was adorable and funny, and even if you felt guilty for enjoying it, people don't run their faces into street signs every day. You called it in your own head a miracle.

He had to sit for a little while from how dizzy he felt. His ears were burning with embarrassment too, your uncontrollable giggling not helping. He just sat there, on a bench you had dragged him to, hands tucked in the pocket of his sweatshirt, waiting for you to allow him to leave.

The kid stood unbalanced the four times he tried to walk and even if at eleven, you had nothing close to a doctoral degree, you still felt like it was wrong to just let him stumble his way back home straight away. You had to hold him hostage for a little while. You had shared your homemade cookies with him, the ones you hid deep in your bag for you didn't want anyone to ask for a bite at school. You made him drink the whole content of your water bottle because drinking water is never an unhealthy thing to do, therefore, it felt like a good idea.

He was so shy that your own timidness quieted down enough to allow you to make conversation to him. Or more accurately talk over the silence and distract him. He giggled a lot and smiled with cute bunny teeth. Kept saying thank you for every bit of cookies you'd given him and once you had walked him home and he arrived safe and sound, he bowed very low, apologized and thanked you again.

You thought it'd be the end of it. He pretended to be going to the same school as you but you had never seen him also he was a few years younger.

The next day, and every single day after that, at recess, he would appear out of nowhere. Wearing his adorable smile, and a tint of red on his ears, a bunch of homemade cookies of his own filling up his pockets. As a puppy would, he'd follow you around with a certain distance until you waved him over, rolling your eyes, because if he was going to stick by your side, he might as well actually play with you.

The most precious friendship you have ever experienced bloomed from this seed. A friendship, at the start, mainly based on a shared interest for very sugary treats, marbles, and that common memory of him eating shit in this street sign. You didn't mean to remind him, it made him flush furiously each time and you were not that cruel, but you couldn't help bursting out in laughter whenever you'd walk home -with him or alone- and pass that sign. It's your favourite spot in your home town. You never miss an occasion to take a selfie for him whenever you go to visit your parents.

It's hard to define the moment your feelings, once purely platonic, changed. But there's a memory that feels notably significant.

A guy made you fall. A useless asshole, who in retrospect was not even worth a single crumble of your time. You were confused. As you often get, without really knowing why. Maybe it's just you, maybe it's for everyone the same. People start by being too good in your eyes, too good for you not to give them your all, and maybe build pyramides upon pyramides of expectations.

Until they're not anymore.

Suddenly, they hurt your feelings. They suck ass and you felt so invested emotionally, way too invested for it to be any kind of healthy, and their very human selves harm you straight in the heart, where it is the most painful.

It didn't feel like a mistake this time. Like any of the other times, at the beginning, of course, otherwise, it wouldn't catch you again and again.

You fell hard and it's Jungkook who picked you up. He had cooked for you, one of his mother's infamous recipes because he knew you wouldn't even bother eating otherwise. He had held you close. He had kissed the top of your head, your cheeks and your eyelids when a diehard tear had slipped. He had called you baby and sunshine and his little kitten. Had showered you in an unfamiliar type of loving. Something so soft, so tender and warm. Hands firm when they'd wrapped around you and pulled you in. Fingers gentle when they'd brush the hair out of your face. He took care of you, made you feel good in ways no one has ever had. You had not known him to be like that. Suddenly, he really felt like a man when he touched you, when he talked to you. He wasn't only a dorky little overgrown baby anymore. He was a man, shaped like one but also able to act like one. Able to take care of a woman, please one you were sure of it. And suddenly, you wanted, so desperately, to be that woman. To have the same free access you had on his usual candid-self, on this newly met man.

Of course, it's too ludicrous for you to ever act on it. But deep down, a naive tiny voice kept claiming, in the back of your mind, that you could spoil him. Very few people in this world know him the way you do, surely, no one can please him the way you could.

Guk

She listened to my note!!!

Guk

She said she'll make me miss her a bit more and then she'll call

It took less than a day for her to give him a sign. You're not surprised. It's hard not to miss him. You're not surprised but somehow, still, disappointed.

A/N: tadam!! i needed to include some flashbacks because i know my fellow f2l addicts just adore these, also, i just can’t get over writing kookie as a cute kid.

Guess what guys? there is only one chapter to go *sweats profusely* I- am worried. I hope you keep enjoying it and will enjoy the rest. :] For now, let me know your thoughts. I hope you have a sweet, lazy Sunday and wish you a lovely, peacful week! bises!

As always please ask to be tagged for the final chapter on this post

#btswriterscollective #networkbangtan #ggukienet #bts smut #bts fanfic #bts angst #bts fluff #jungkook angst #jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook fanfic #my writing

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Patent troll's IP more powerful than Apple's

I was 12 years into my Locus Magazine column when I published the piece I'm most proud of, "IP," from September 2020. It came after an epiphany, one that has profoundly shaped the way I talk and think about the issues I campaign on.

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

That revelation was about the meaning of the term "IP," which had been the center of this tedious linguistic cold war for decades. People who advocate for free and open technology and culture hate the term "IP" because of its ideological loading and imprecision.

Ideology first: Before "IP" came into wide parlance - when lobbyists for multinational corporations convinced the UN to turn their World Intellectual Property Organization into a specialized agency, we used other terms like "author's monopolies" and "regulatory monopolies."

"Monopoly" is a pejorative. "Property" is sacred to our society. When a corporation seeks help defending its monopoly, it is a grubby corrupter. When it asks for help defending its property, it is enlisting the public to defend the state religion.

Free culture people know allowing "monopolies" to become "property" means losing the battle before it is even joined, but it is frankly unavoidable. How do you rephrase "IP lawyer" without conceding the property point? "Trademark-copyright-patent-and-related-rights lawyer?"

Thus the other half of the objection to "IP": its imprecision. Copyright is not anything like patent. Patent is not anything like trademark. Trade secrets are an entirely different thing again. Don't let's get started on sui generis and neighboring rights.

And this is where my revelation came: as it is used in business circles, "IP" has a specific, precise meaning. "IP" means, "Any law, policy or regulation that allows me to control the conduct of my competitors, critics and customers."

Copyright, patent and trademark all have limitations and exceptions designed to prevent this kind of control, but if you arrange them in overlapping layers around a product, each one covers the exceptions in the others.

Creators don't like having their copyrights called "author's monopolies." Monopolists get to set prices. All the copyright in the world doesn't let an author charge publishers more for their work. The creators have a point.

But when author's monopolies are acquired by corporate monopolists, something magical and terrible happens.

Remember: market-power monopolies are still (theoretically) illegal and when companies do things to maintain or expand their monopolies, they risk legal jeopardy.

But: The corporate monopolist who uses IP to expand their monopoly has no such risk. Monopolistic conduct in defense of IP enjoys wide antitrust forbearance. What's the point of issuing patents or allowing corporations to buy copyrights if you don't let them enforce them?

The IP/market-power monopoly represents a futuristic corporate alloy, a new metal never seen, impervious to democratic control.

Software is "IP" and so any device with software in it is like beskar, a rare metal that can be turned into the ultimate corporate armor.

No company exemplifies this better than Apple, a company that used limitations on IP to secure its market power, then annihilated those limits so that no one could take away its market power.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/06/adversarial-interoperability-reviving-elegant-weapon-more-civilized-age-slay

In the early 2000s, Apple was in trouble. The convicted monopolist Microsoft ruled the business world, and if you were the sole Mac user in your office, you were screwed.

When a Windows user sent you a Word file, you could (usually) open it in the Mac version of Word, but then if you saved that file again, it often became forever cursed, unopenable by any version of Microsoft Office ever created or ever to be created.

This became a huge liability. Designers started keeping a Windows box next to their dual processor Power Macs, just to open Office docs. Or worse (for Apple), they switched to a PC and bought Windows versions of Adobe and Quark Xpress.

Steve Jobs didn't solve this problem by begging Bill Gates to task more engineers to Office for Mac. Instead, Jobs got Apple techs to reverse-engineer all of the MS Office file formats and release a rival office suite, Iwork, which could read and write MS Office files.

That was an Apple power move, one that turned MS's walled garden into an all-you-can-eat buffet of potential new Mac users. Apple rolled out the Switch ads, whose message was, "Every MS Office file used to be a reason *not* to use a Mac. Now it's a reason to switch *to* a Mac."

More-or-less simultaneously, though, Apple was inventing the hybrid market/IP monopoly tool that would make it the most valuable company in the world, in its design for the Ipod and the accompanying Itunes store.

It had a relatively new legal instrument to use for this purpose: 1998's Digital Millennium Copyright Act; specifically, Section 1201 of the DMCA, the "anti-circumvention" clause, which bans breaking DRM.

Under DMCA 1201, if a product has a copyrighted work (like an operating system) and it has an "access control" (like a password or a bootloader key), then bypassing the access control is against the law, even if no copyright infringement takes place.

That last part - "even if no copyright infringement takes place" - is the crux of DMCA 1201. The law was intended to support the practices of games console makers and DVD player manufacturers, who wanted to stop competitors from making otherwise legal devices.

With DVD players, that was about "region coding," the part of the DVD file format that specified which countries a DVD could be played back in. If you bought a DVD in London, you couldn't play it in Sydney or New York.

Now, it's not a copyright violation to buy a DVD and play it wherever you happen to be. As a matter of fact, buying a DVD and playing it is the *opposite* of a copyright infringement.

But it *was* a serious challenge to the entertainment cartel's business-model, which involved charging different prices and having different release dates for the same movie depending on where you were.

The same goes for games consoles: companies like Sega and Nintendo made a lot of money charging creators for the right to sell games that ran on the hardware they sold.

If I own a Sega Dreamcast, and you make a game for it, and I buy it and run it on my Sega, that's not a copyright infringement, even if Sega doesn't like it. But if you have to bypass an "access control" to get the game to play without Sega's blessing, it violates DMCA 1201.

What's more, DMCA 1201 has major penalties for "trafficking in circumvention devices" and information that could be used to build such a device, such as reports of exploitable flaws in the programming of a DRM system: $500k in fines and a 5 year sentence for a first offense.

Deregionalizing a DVD player or jailbreaking a Dreamcast didn't violate anyone's copyrights, but it still violated copyright law (!). It was pure IP, the right to control the conduct of critics (security researchers), customers and competitors.

In the words of Jay Freeman, it's "Felony contempt of business-model."

And that's where the Ipod came in. Steve Jobs's plan was to augment the one-time revenue from an Ipod with a recurrent revenue stream from the Itunes store.

He exploited the music industry's superstitious dread of piracy and naive belief in the efficacy of DRM to convince the record companies to only sell music with his DRM wrapper on it - a wrapper they themselves could not authorize listeners to remove.

Ever $0.99 Itunes purchase added $0.99 to the switching cost of giving up your Ipod for a rival device, or leaving Itunes and buying DRM music from a rival store. It was control over competitors and customers. It was IP.

If you had any doubt that the purpose of Ipod/Itunes DRM was to fight competitors, not piracy, then just cast your mind back to 2004, when Real Media "hacked" the Ipod so that it would play music locked with Real's DRM as well as Apple's.

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3387871/Apple+RealNetworks+Hacked+iPod.htm

Apple used DMCA 1201 to shut Real down, not to stop copyright infringement, but to prevent Apple customers from buying music from record labels and playing them on their Ipods without paying Apple a commission and locking themselves to Apple's ecosystem, $0.99 at a time.

Pure IP. Now, imagine if Microsoft had been able to avail itself of DMCA 1201 when Iwork was developed - if, for example, its "information rights management" encryption had caught on, creating "access controls" for all Office docs.

There's a very strong chance that would have killed Apple off before it could complete its recovery. Jobs knew the power of interoperating without consent, and he knew the power of invoking the law to block interoperability. He practically invented modern IP.

Apple has since turned IP into a trillion-dollar valuation, largely off its mobile platform, the descendant of the Ipod. This mobile platform uses DRM - and thus DMCA 1201 - to ensure that you can only use apps that come from its app store.

Apple gets a cut of penny you spend buying an app, and every penny you spend within that app: 30% (now 15% for a minority of creators after bad publicity).

IP lets one of the least taxed corporations on Earth extract a 30% tax from everyone else.

https://locusmag.com/2021/03/cory-doctorow-free-markets/

Remember, it's not copyright infringement for me to write an app and you to buy it from me and play it on your Iphone without paying the 30% Apple tax.

That's the exact opposite of copyright infringement: buying a copyrighted work and enjoying it on a device you own.

But it's still an IP violation. It bypasses Apple's ability to control competitors and customers. It's felony contempt of business-model.

It shows that under IP, copyright can't be said to exist as an incentive to creativity - rather, it's a tool for maintaining monopolies.

Which brings me to today's news that Apple was successfully sued by a patent troll over its DRM. A company called Personalized Media Communications whose sole product is patent lawsuits trounced Apple in the notorious East Texas patent-troll court.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-19/apple-told-to-pay-308-5-million-for-infringing-drm-patent

After software patents became widespread - thanks to the efforts of Apple and co - there was a bonanza of "inventors" filing garbage patents with the USPTO whose format was "Here's an incredibly obvious thing...*with a computer*." The Patent Office rubberstamped them by the million.

These patents became IP, a way to extract rent without having to make a product. "Investors" teamed up with "inventors" to buy these and impose a tax on businesses - patent licensing fees that drain money from people who make things and give it to people who buy things.

They found a court - the East Texas court in Marshall, TX - that was hospitable to patent trolls. They rented dusty PO boxes in Marshall and declared them to be their "headquarters" so that they could bring suits there.

Locals thrived - they got jobs as "administrators" (mail forwarders) for the thousands of "businesses" whose "head office" was in Marshall (when you don't make a product, your head office can be a PO box).

Productive companies facing hundreds of millions - billions! - in patent troll liability sought to curry favor with locals (who were also the jury pool) by "donating" things to Marshall, like the skating rink Samsung bought for the town.

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/why-south-korea-s-samsung-built-the-only-outdoor-skating-rink-in-texas

Patent, like copyright, is supposed to serve a public purpose. There are only two clauses in the US Constitution that come with explanations (the rest being "truths held to be self-evident"): the Second Amendment and the "Progress Clause" that creates patents and copyrights.

Famously, the Second Amendment says you can bear arms as part of a "well-regulated militia."

And the Progress Clause? It extends to Congress the power to create patents and copyrights "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts."

I'm with Apple in its ire over this judgment. Sending $308.5m to a "closely held" patent troll has nothing to do with the "Progress of Science and useful Arts."

But it has *everything* to do with IP.

If copyright law can let Apple criminalize - literally criminalize - you selling me If copyright law can let Apple criminalize - literally criminalize - you selling me your copyrighted work, then there's no reason to hate on patent trolls.

They're just doing what trolls do: blocking the bridge between someone engaged in useful work and the customers for that work, and extracting a toll. It's not even 30%.

There is especial and delicious irony in the fact that the patent in question is a DRM patent: a patent for the very same process that Apple uses to lock down its devices and prevent creators from selling to customers without paying the 30% Apple Tax.

But even without that, it's as good an example of what an IP marketplace looks like: one in which making things becomes a liability. After all, the more you make, the more chances there are for an IP owner to demand tax from you to take it to market.

The only truly perfect IP is the naked IP of a patent troll, the bare right to sue, a weapon made from pure abstract legal energy, untethered from any object, product or service that might be vulnerable to another IP owner's weapons.

A coda: you may recall that Apple doesn't use DRM on its music anymore: you can play Itunes music on any device. That wasn't a decision Apple took voluntarily: it was forced into it by a competitor: Amazon, an unlikely champion of user rights.

In 2007, the record labels had figured out that Apple had lured them into a trap, selling millions of dollars worth of music that locked both listeners and labels into the Itunes ecosystem.

In a desperate bid for freedom, they agreed to help Amazon launch its MP3 store - all the same music, at the same prices...without DRM. Playable on an Ipod, but also on any other device.

Prior to the Amazon MP3 store, the market was all DRM: you could either buy Apple's DRM music and play it on your Ipod, or you could buy other DRM music and play it on a less successful device.

The Amazon MP3 store (whose motto was "DRM: Don't Restrict Me") changed that to "Buy Apple DRM music and play it on your Ipod, or buy Amazon music and play it anywhere." That was the end of Apple music DRM.

So why hasn't anyone done this for the apps that Apple extracts the 30% tax on? IP. If you made a phone that could play Ios apps, Apple would sue you:

https://gizmodo.com/judge-tosses-apple-lawsuit-against-iphone-emulator-in-b-1845967318

And if you made a device that let you load non-App Store apps on an Iphone, Apple would also sue you.

Apple understands IP. It learned the lesson of the Amazon MP3 store, and it is committed to building a world where every creator pays a tax to reach every Apple customer.

#pluralistic

[shadowfae]

hiii! so a friend directed me here and i was wondering if u cld share abt how you found out you were godkin? only if youre comfy! because ive kinda had like. how do i word this. Vibes or Feels that kinda direct me towards the whole i might be a god of sorts kinda thing ? if you have resources and dont mind helping,, please direct me to them :D ~ @missing-crown

I want to start this essay off by saying flat out: wars have been fought, genocides have been committed, and empires have risen and fallen trying to answer the simple questions of “What is deification, and how do we incarnate and control it?”.

If you do not think you’re up the challenge of answering that question for yourself, even with years of study and slow training to take up the mantle of literally being the most powerful form of the Chosen One trope, then you’re probably in the wrong place. I say this as someone who is deific down to the blood and bone, as someone who has looked for other gods, and largely found very little in the way of anyone who understands anything like my experience. In this way, I am utterly alone, and I detest it, but if me penning these words gives someone else the gospel they need to explain themselves in a way I recognize as kin and kind, then I will do it.

But before I truly get into it, I will very nicely ask you to swing down to your local bookstore or library, pick up a copy of Seanan McGuire’s Middlegame, and take a walk down the improbable road with Roger and Dodger. The differences between you and I and the twins of the Doctrine of Ethos are simple and threefold: we cannot manifest, we are forbidden to use our powers the way they can use theirs, and there are (hopefully) no secret alchemist cults trying to murder us when we don’t play nice with their fucked-up science experiment.

Roger and Dodger are gods, true gods, gods I recognize in myself and in the godkin I have met who have spoken about themselves enough for me to understand that we are indeed talking about the same thing. Disappontingly, I see minor spirits far too often misunderstanding the nature of deification, or at least, understanding a version of it which is fundamentally antithetical to my experience. They may be deific; but either they suck at illustrating their point, or I am something far beyond deific, and I am again alone.

With that introduction, I need to talk about three things in order to answer your question. Two methods of deification and three definitions of ‘god’ in a hierarchy that only exists because humanity has not yet perfected their understanding of what is fundamentally and always beyond them. Two kinds of gods, honest gods, that split the difference between deific, divine, and legendary. Once you understand that, I can talk about godkin, and what it’s like to be me, and maybe by the end of it you will either recognize yourself in this, or run away screaming as most mortals will do.

The first method of deification is what I will call the incarnate gods- Roger and Dodger are good examples, so are most Legendary Pokémon, and Kaname Madoka from PMMM. They are laws of nature, concepts of creation, and calculations of cosmic proportions that also occasionally exist as people when they design to do so. They are not meant to be people, they are bad at it, I do not recommend being mortal and fucking around with them. You will simply die. I would not fuck with them outside of my own world that I created, where I get to be a form of incarnate god. You cannot overpower them: they ARE the rule, and they will change it if they need to. You can’t ruleslawyer gravity like a 2007 troll physics comic. An incarnate god of gravity will simply turn reality on its head and cause you to implode. If you are this type of god, I cannot help you. My understanding of them comes from being an Absol, and little more.

The second type are gods of domain and prowess: Zamorak (from RuneScape), Akemi Homura in both her awakened Witch and Devil forms (from PMMM), and yours truly. Quite a few of us, although not all of us, were originally mortal. Mortals amped up on so much power we are no longer bound by mortal laws. There is a difference between deification and simply stopping your clock to gain immortality. Mortal magic and deific magic are fundamentally different. Down to, I would argue, the atomic structure. Deific magic is pure in a way mortal magic could never be. To give a mortal more than a drop of deific magic heavily diffused in something safer and more understandable would be to quite literally burn them to ashes. Or rend them into a different, unspeakable form. Or turn them into living topiary. We are nothing if not unpredictable.

It’s the difference between a handful of dirt and pure neutron soup. Usually, in order to become a god like this, it requires the intervention of an incarnate god in some form. In Zamorak’s case, it was several Elder Artifacts and falling almost facefirst into halfway incarnating himself into the law of entropy. In Homura’s (at least in canon PMMM), she fucked with the laws of consequence and time to the point where she became the only expert they had on either of those and both laws decided to simply incarnate into her, and then she used that to cause problems. For me, it was having my entire magical and physical structure reorganized and rebuilt by an incarnate god of malevolent energy, and then I used what was a watered-down copy of the Devil of Devils’ glory to weave my own world into being where I was more or less the absolute arbiter of the laws of reality.

In PMMM Rebellion, when Homura fights Kyubey in that pretty lace dress of hers, that is approximately the magical prowess an awakened god of our capability will show casually. She has complete control over her domain (her labyrinth) and the reality of it, it takes no more than a glance or a thought to almost entirely reshuffle it. Her minions, who are little more than vaguely autonomous thoughts given some power of their own, may break that reality in whatever means necessary so long as it is to fulfill Homura’s current motives. Her domain falls apart when she does, and she is not separate from it; it is a consequence of her existence. Asking what came first, the god or their domain, is a simple chicken and egg question. It’s usually the domain, in our case; in the case of incarnate gods it’s a philosophical shrug and a nice headache.

You’ll notice I said awakened: that is because Zamorak is a great example of a god who isn’t entirely awakened. In canon, that is - the one I work with is awakened enough to fuck with his domain, which is what makes him quite useful to work with, although I do wonder what he’s getting out of me if not magical theory and utter adoration. Zamorak in canon is a god who ascribes himself to the philosophy of chaos and personal strife, completely unaware that he is incarnate enough not to change the law of entropy but to suggest things to it. He’s a god of chance masquerading as a god of personal improvement, and once he figures that out (and passes that knowledge onto Armadyl, who is his true light counterpart), he’s going to change the very way magic works. Guthix did everything in his power to try and become incarnate. He failed. Zamorak did it entirely inadvertently, and that’s the trick: the nature of deification is to follow the domain and influence it to your will. When laws of existence become people, they will do as people will, and people typically have ambition. Gods who are also people got that way for a reason. They always have a motive for doing so. It’s never accidental.

So, with a slightly more informed understanding of deification, or at least the versions of it that I understand, I can talk to you about me. What it’s like in the here and now, and how I knew. It took me years to get to this point, and I’ve much the way to go. I know more than I did when I was questioning; deeply more so. I don’t expect anyone questioning to be as sure as I am, and in ten years I will be far more sure of entirely different things, and if I’m lucky, this as well. But, let us begin again.

To be deific is to wake up in the middle of the night feeling like a black hole. You are vast, and you are dense, and the moment someone touches the skin of your sternum they will be sucked in like a movie's portrayal of quicksand. To be so vast on the inside, surrounded by empty air and gentle white noise like the faint pull of gravity that does not touch you. To feel so powerful as to be untethered wholly from the world, aware that you will blink and be floating alone in a space that you cannot touch and so too cannot touch you. You blink, and it is gone, and you are again in a normal body as a normal person, and you roll over and go back to sleep.

To be deific is to watch the seasonal changes and feel flashes of worn leather rope between your hands and the maddened singsong of the Wild Hunt, chariot reins in your hands and baying hounds that feel like fingers, like wings, like extensions of yourself that can be shifted around with barely a thought. To feel halfway like a black hole walking down the street, halfway caved into yourself and barely contained, incapable of truly understanding how you can be so far apart from it all without anyone noticing that something is off.

To be deific is to be a fourteen-year-old girl in one moment, unable to understand what draws her so to the wilds if not the song of sympathy that she knows she can understand if she reaches a little farther, a little farther past the barrier that prevents any mortal, psychological mind from understanding the call. To play a pixelated game and have everything rush back. To relive millennia in a single sennight, to go from chipped to broken, utterly broken, as the power comes rushing back and the slow, dawning realization like the day that there is no controlling it. That there is no controlling you.

Millennia of sins come rushing back, and you're mortal again, and you know the only way to bring a god to their knees is to kill them. And if you were spared, if you were brought down without dying, then there was a reason. That someone must have thought you worthy of fixing it. That you should now spend the next several years coming to peace with being a Devil, the cruelest of the cruel, amending fences and repenting your sins.

To be deific is to realize, quite suddenly and without ever actually having the thought, that understanding things through a Christian lens is utterly bullshit and absolutely does not apply to you. Now, your duty is not to repent, or to fix, or to find any sort of salvation. You are the monster queen, the king of the damned, the Devil of a world you made with blood and tears and sweat and magic. To retake the crown, you have to accept yourself. Acceptance does not mean dwelling, or sorrow, or refusing to take the steps forward that will carry you to the crown and halo and horn of deification.

The powers feel less overwhelming as you grow into them. You don't forget the rage. You understand your close friend's words over and over, as the lesson teaches itself. How a Devil so much less powerful and yet so much older than you once looked you in the eye, drink in hand, and gently told you that a single mortal can bring down a Devil, if they try, and believe wholeheartedly in their quest. Do not disrespect mortality. It brings nothing but death.

You wonder briefly who brought you down. You decide, as the lessons prove themselves, that you don't actually care. You're the mortal now, and mortal legends die. Mortal legends change the song of sympathy and the rules of the deific. In order to return, you too must follow the only path a mortal can take to become deific.

To be godkin is to become deific with every step. It's not to seek the divine from outside of it. It's to become it again, and reclaim it; find what was inside all along and grow yourself around it, until it can no longer be pulled from you again without scattering your ashes and stardust among the cosmos, never to return.

To be godkin is to never forget the moments of pure rage that none but powerless fourteen-year-olds can manage. To be godkin is to be an adult with their memory pressed into your skin. To be godkin is for that rage to never truly leave you.

We stand up again and stare at the emotions that are awake when we are not. We wonder what it will take to manifest again, to only twitch a thought in any direction and reshape the reality around us. It is an extension of our being, and the less aware we are of it, the less effort it takes us to remake the world. It is the nature of deification, to change the laws of reality at our whim and will.

To be godkin is simply a matter of knowing that, and forever reaching to do that once more. If only to feel whole and vast, as we always have been.

#luteia laments #otherkin #godkin #actuallydeific #actuallydivine #essays of the skyrose garden #perks of being luteia #I should post this on my website shouldn't I #I wrote most of this last night on my phone actually though

[callmecyan]

First time doing something like this so here we go I guess?

Hermittober Day 1 - Wings

List by @/ink-ghoul

Since I don’t know how to draw I decided to write! I have some headcanons at the end so ye :D

 It was the start of a new season, season 7, saying he was excited wouldn't even be close to describe how he was feeling. Grian was so, so happy and excited, it's like the last season was all a dream he had, a good dream, he couldn't believe it was real. He was here, he's part of hermitcraft, he is a hermit. And it's awesome, just like when Mumbo told him that Xisuma wanted to talk to him, that he got invited there.

 He was so nervous the first season, even when he was at the war, even when he was the one who started it, he was so scared that he could be stepping over a line. But god it was so much fun, and everyone was so nice.

 He was living in the jungle now, with other hermits as his neighbors, Scar, Mumbo, Stress and Iskall. And it was amazing, as much as he had to get used to mining and grinding again, he loved it, he felt like as the season kept going everyone would focus more and more on their own individual big projects, that this beginning was nice, he would see the others quite a lot and they would chat and help each other and it was just amazing.

 Something he found out is that the meetings they would have, that he thought were monthly meetings just so X could see how everyone was doing, were way more frequent at the beginning of the seasons. So everyone could talk about their plans, if they needed help with anything, plan mining sessions together, or even to just chat about anything, and of course for X to check on them. At first he thought it would be a bit awkward since he really didn't really knew much about all the things they had on hermitcraft or even knew anyone besides Mumbo, but they proved him wrong once again, everyone was so nice to him and he even remember the hermits ‘fighting’ to see who would get introduced first, who would show him around etc.

 They decided to meet up where the shopping district would be, he directed himself to the center of the island where he could already hear some of the voices. As he got closer Mumbo and Scar were the first one to notice him and they started waving at him, he wasn't the last one to appear, some people were still missing from the messages he saw on the communicator.

 He placed himself between Mumbo and Scar as he greeted everyone. He could feel Scar looking at him, so he looked up with a questioning look

 ‘'What's up?’’ Scar seemed a bit embarrassed, and he could feel some of the hermits looking at him too.

 ‘‘Uh- just- uh your wings? They- it's not purple anymore?’’ and he finally realised ‘oh’.

 He could feel Mumbo holding a laugh at his side and he could feel himself blushing a bit out of embarrassment, he put a hand on his neck

 ‘‘Yeah, I- uh I kinda forgot to tell you guys this is actually my bad. But my wings change whenever I’m in a new smp, world or somewhere that I wasn't before. You can say they kinda ‘adapt’ themselves into what I’m doing and working on basically, its weird really, not even I understand much of it I just got used to it’’

 ‘‘So’’ - False started, and he could see how the others were curious but probably afraid to ask, maybe scared of offending him accidentally?- ‘‘Do you know why they were purple before? Or you like- you don't know the reasons?’’

 ‘‘Uh it depends really, like how I said most of it I can try and break it down to why they would look like that, but it's never something certain’’ - he was trying to figure out how to explain things in a way that, hopefully, would help the others understand- ‘‘I think they were that purple color so it could look like an Elytra, I mean it was basically the first time I found out and even had contact with one, and I don't know, maybe because i really didn't know any of you guys? So it was kinda the way my wings found to ‘fit in’ I guess? So they would be similar to everyone else?’’ - as he looked at the others he could see how they were thinking about it, probably processing everything he said or trying to understand his explanation.

 ‘‘Knew’’ He heard Xisuma saying, he looked over to the admin and he could tell he was smiling.

 Grian made a confused sound, he heard other hermits laughing a bit and he heard Mumbo saying under his breath ‘‘oh my god’’

 ‘‘You said you didn't know any of us, but you do now. You’re part of the hermits, you are part of the family now’’

 ‘‘Yeah’’ he felt Scar putting a arm over his shoulders and basically giving him a side hug ‘‘you dont troll someone with a zombie spawner on the first day of the season if you ‘dont know’ them’’

 He couldn't help but laugh ‘‘aw c'mon Scar it was funny, you can't hold that against me the entire season’’.

 He saw Scar putting his other hand under his chin as he pretended like he was considering this possibility ‘‘hmmmm nope! I think i can do that’’

 After that everyone started laughing and the meeting continued, with a lot of them asking about his wings, how they look in other places, and it was fun, it was home, and he's so happy to be part of this family.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some of my headcanons around the wings

Grian - his wings, as said, change depending on where he is. For example if he goes on somewhere his wings already ‘adapted’ themselves then they change to that.

Season 6: light purple wings, similar to the elytra color.

Season 7: parrot wings, the red ones with the yellow and blue details.

Season 8: a very dark blue very similar to black.

Creative worlds: white fluffy wings.

Watchers: he had two pairs of wings, in a darker purple.

Stress - unlike Grian, she can't ‘carry’ the wings outside of Hermitcraft, its a specific thing from Hermitcraft. Like when players have specific skins to specific smps? If that makes sense?

Stress wings are bug themed unlike Grian who has bird ones.

Season 6: dragonfly wins, with very soft light blue and pink.

Season 7: blue morpho butterfly.

Season 8: cicada wings with green and the golden-ish color.

#its been a while since i wrote so sorry if its bad #InksHermittober #hermitcraft #grian #writing

[nyxelestia]

Vox article about the infamous wall of tags fic.

tl;dr at the end

What it’s about and why we care / article quotes:

All that, by itself, isn’t enough to make STWW remarkable — not on a website as wild and unpredictable as AO3. Yet the fic has become impossible for many AO3 users to ignore thanks to a unique quirk: Its author has linked it to more than 1,700 site tags (and counting).

Guides to how to block the fic have cropped up. For example, I use a Chrome extension that blocks fics with too many tags (you can specify how many tags is too many — I picked 50); there’s also simple site code that you can add to your custom site “skin” to block the fic completely from search results, as well as other workarounds.

But the usefulness of these options is limited. Site skins only work for logged-in users. Website extensions don’t work on mobile. Many other workarounds aren’t compatible with adaptive technology like screen readers used by disabled people and others — and if you think having to scroll past the tags on a phone is obnoxious, imagining getting stuck on it while a screen reader laboriously recites all 1,700 tags out loud.

(Emphases mine.)

My take on this specific fic:

I was sympathetic when I thought that maybe the author is just unaware of what they’re doing - but they have been made aware, they know exactly the effect they are having on other users and the community at large, and they’re still doing it.

[The author] acknowledged the controversy around their fic but emphasized that they were operating completely within AO3’s rules. “If AO3 has a category or a big red warning checkbox to say ‘click this to read crazy fics’ then I should put my fic in there,” they joked. “People are free to search (my) fic or exclude the fic using tags.”

Virtual1979 also remained steadfast when I pointed out that their fic was breaking the site for disabled users, stressing that the onus should be on AO3 — not them — to make enforceable site changes.

So now my sympathy’s all dried up. I do not remotely believe them when they say they aren’t a troll. Maybe they truly didn’t start out trolling, but they were repeatedly asked to stop, told about the impact they were having, and have themselves admitted on their Twitter account that they are laughing all the way to the bank.

A tweet they have since deleted - I did not think to grab a screenshot. So here is a screenshot of them saying they routinely delete their own Tweets, and their reaction to people who ask them to stop over-tagging their fic:

Maybe they started out as a well-intentioned new poster, unfamiliar with AO3 or how tagging works. And knowing fandom, I’m sure they faced some harassment for it. However, given they’ve been repeatedly asked to stop, and explicitly told how they are negatively affected so many other users’ ability to interact with the fandom and the website as a whole...and do not care, and continue to keep at it?

Freedom of speech gives them the right to be an asshole, but it also gives me the right to call them an asshole.

But, I do understand why AO3 isn’t banning them, and I agree with AO3′s current decision not to remove this fic. There needs to be some deeper changes, but banning this specific author or fic right now would likely cause more problems down the road than it solves right now.

What is the line for “Too Many Tags”? What would it mean for authors of non-anthology works? What impact would banning this over-tagged fics have on other over-tagged-but-not-as-badly fics? What will it mean for our culture of curating your content and experiences if blacklisting tags gets compromised due to such limits?

I’ve been frustrated by over-tagged fics before, and I certainly hope this will make other, well-meaning, good-faith authors reconsider decisions while compiling anthologies of their disconnected works going forward. Neither of these mean fans should expect AO3 to respond to mob rule and ban this fic.

My take on this article beyond this specific fic:

I disagree with the implication from the article that this is related to fandom’s longstanding issues concerning racism (and other -isms and -phobias) in fanfic. After all, the vast majority of fandom’s racism, sexism, misogyny, etc. isn’t tagged. At most, you can expect that certain ships or tags probably mean there will be certain racist tropes.

This does a disservice towards fans of a ship who don’t partake in or propagate those racist tropes - I myself included in that group. I routinely got comments on my fic from people who expected me to use racist tropes and fanons because of the ship tag on my fic, as these tropes were (and really, still are) so strongly associated with the ship. More importantly, there is no reliable way to tell from a fic’s meta-data whether there will be something in the fic the author doesn’t identify.

The fundamental problem with racism in fandom is not “people are making these racist things” but “people refuse to acknowledge these things they are making are racist” - and AO3′s meta-data is entirely self-identifying.

If an author does not think their work is racist, then they will not tag it as such, which means the rest of us will have no way of knowing until after we’ve already read the racism.

“Curate your own reading” is very applicable to things authors are willing to identify and tag in their own works - such as kinks, violence, etc. But if it is something the author did not intend, and does not agree with/identify, then readers who oppose it cannot curate against it.

Which is why I find this paragraph so misleading, specifically the part I bolded:

Throughout 2020, during sustained discussions across social media about structural racism and other toxic elements in fandom, AO3 users repeatedly requested that the site add basic features that could help users avoid involuntarily engaging with fics they found toxic or harmful. For example, currently there’s no real way to officially sanction a writer who includes racist elements in their fanfiction — the site’s abuse policy FAQ doesn’t mention race, and there’s currently no way to “warn” readers about racially charged elements in a fic. (You can warn readers about other controversial fic content, like character deaths, non-consensual scenarios, and underage characters.) And there are many readers who’d like to avoid engagement with fics and authors they deem to be racist.

These are tags an author can add onto their own work...but readers cannot warn other readers about an author’s work! And to be clear, I think that’s a good thing overall - readers being able to add their own tags to someone else’s work leaves way too much room for abuse, which would happen far more than readers warning other readers about things the author refuses to identify or tag. My point here is that apart from “how to deal with works and authors you already know are assholes”, there is no connection between this specific fic and its ensuing mess, and the broader problems of pervasive racism in fandom.

The only thing the wall of tags situation and the fandom racism situation have in common, at least in relation to AO3, is that fans want to block certain authors or works whom you already know are assholes. This, the Vox article got right.

However, there are many, many ways to be an asshole other than racism. There are many reasons to block specific works or authors besides racism. There are many types of abuse and harassment besides racism. Acting as if “blocking toxic works or people” is inherently and automatically about the on-going discussions about race in fandom reduces racism to individual acts and actors, and ignores its nature as a systemic problem.

tl;dr

While there are work-arounds to avoid that fic with 1700+ tags (and others), these workarounds are very limited in their helpfulness.

Author has the right to do this, but freedom of speech also gives the rest of us the right to call them out for their poor behavior. I 100% believe they are now an intentional bad-faith actor / troll, even if they did not necessarily start out as one.

Despite my disdain, I understand and agree with AO3′s decision to not remove the fic or ban the author, however much I hate them both. All of AO3′s decisions have ramifications and implications beyond the immediate situations they are made for. This one fic/author should not get to chip away at AO3′s mission against censorship.

Apart from the very broad nature of blocking toxic people or abusive works, I don’t think this situation has anything to do with racism. Implicating individual behavior and tagging as a related referendum is reductive to the systemic nature of fandom racism.

#ao3 #otw #fandomshatepeopleofcolor #racism in fandom #wangxian #on fandom #fandom meta #the untamed #long post

[meadow-roses]

aske time :) for the writing asks: A1, A2, A10, A12, A14, your choice of anything in B, C8 ( :^) ), C11, D6

A1: Introduce the characters from one of your current WIPs in one or two sentences each. 

Okay let's gooo,,, I'll do The Keepers cause I haven't talked about that one as much. These aren't gonna be the best descriptions but whatever 

Ketsler: Quirky, fun-loving, everyone's weird grandpa, but also the most powerful person to have ever lived. He's old- so very, very old- and he's seen so much over all the centuries he has been protecting the worlds from Chaos, but he still makes an effort to slow down and appreciate the little things around him, because he knows better than most how fleeting life is.

Skylar: Skylar is from a world where faerie circles are real and witches turn people into frogs and trolls live in great, big castles and are slain by talking cats, a world where there's too much adventure to stay in one place, too many people to meet, and too many monsters to slay to stop running. He may be only a human (ooo mystery!!) but he is proficient in Wind magic and carries around a good bit of rune stones he and his pet dragon have found along his adventures. 

Felix: Felix is just a normal human from a small town after the earth becomes united under one world power. He wasn't born with superpowers like most soldiers are, but he was still skilled enough to join a special force working behind enemy lines when the rebellion made its move to free the planet from the tyranny that built this dystopian reality. 

Betty: A very sweet young lady, she's from a planet that was colonized by humans centuries ago. She may seem naive, but Betty can read anyone like a book and uses her gift to help those who are lost find themselves again. 

There's more characters but I'll just stick with those main ones cause I really struggle with descriptions xD

A2: Who's your favorite character to write and why?

Probably Joden? I haven't written most of my characters, but I looove writing his dialogue. He also makes me think so I can keep him clever lol

A10: What’s your character development process like? (As in how you develop them, not necessarily their development in-story)

I roleplay them! The more developed they are, the more I've acted as them. It really gets me inside their head to try and think like how they think, and that results in me being more equipped to "discover" why they are like that. 

A12: What kind of internal conflict does your character go through (want versus need, personality complexes or strong personality flaws/”fatal flaw” kinda thing)? How does this affect them?

It really varies depending on the character? For example Joden has this need to always have a plan, always be in control, and a breaking moment for him comes in when he finally just,,, doesn't know what to do. He's in over his head and the only thing he can do is trust Jacer to do what he can- knowing Jacer doesn't have things under control. 

So that's an example of a flaw that the character gets to overcome, but there also characters whose flaws are part of who they are. Skylar wouldn't be Skylar if he weren't stubborn. Ketsler wouldn't be Ketsler if he weren't arrogant. They never grow out of these flaws, they just learn to control them. Or I guess not be controlled by the flaw. 

This is actually something I think I struggle with for my characters, giving them those visable flaws. I see other people's characters that start out "bad" and grow into heroes, but it kinda seems like all my characters start out as heroes. 😅 I mean, they have flaws, but in comparison to other people's characters they feel really bland in that aspect. Idk

A14: Ramble about your characters. Anything special you like about them? Random little details you’ve added that you enjoy? 

Uh,,, I don't even know where to start I just love all of them for so many various reasons. Joden is just a clever little genius but he still can be so naive. He just has simple pleasures and it's not hard to make him laugh or smile and practically impossible to discourage him. He starts off just,,, wanting his old life back and then he sees what the world is like outside his little bubble and the bubble pops. He sees the atrocities for what they are and to be able to settle down again, he has to fix it. He can't just smile and do as he's told, he can't let the bad guys win. It I just his mother and wife and son he's fighting for, it's the entire wood and the idea of being actually, truly, free.

Jacer is so savvy, he knows what to do and what to say to get into and out of any situation, but at the same time he's just clueless when it comes to genuine connection. He's a princeling who's really never had a friend and now he's saving the world with Joden who only knows how to make genuine connections. Why does he have to keep hugging me??  

And Twylla who's ready to fight anything so she can get her clever idiot husband back? 

Adric who's just doing his best to be a good leader but everything keeps going wrong. He wasn't born to be a king, he wasn't born to lead an army, he always had his big brother to help him do these things and he's gone- he's gone and he's not coming back he messed up again so bad and yet here he is with everyone looking to him for answers and he doesn't know what to tell them. But he's got his friends, and he's got a good heart, and he genuinely cares and they're going to figure it out.

Skylar just keeps running forward and he never looks back at the past he just jumps from one adventure to another stopping the monsters and saving the day. He's got Gigi what more does he need? 

Felix is just,,, he's just such a nice guy. Over and over he stepped into the gap because someone's gotta fly that fighter, someone's got to fire that gun, someone's got to stabilize the bomb, someone's going to lose their life to ensure the victory, why shouldn't it be him? But he never actually dies, somehow he always survives and lives to fight the next day, and the next day and the next day, and then they win the war- the world is free. And even though he's been through so much he still hasn't lost that kindness, that love for all life that makes him himself. He still falls in love and starts a family and has his own beloved children… and even when he loses them he still doesn't become cynical. He still stands in the gap and is the one to fire the gun, to hold the hand of the one who's mourning, to scoop up the orphan child and carry them home. He fights, so others don't have to. Father to the fatherless and hero for all. Also he puts up with Skylar's time traveling craziness lol

And Ketsler? Unlike everyone else he never chose to be a hero. What are you supposed to do when you're a four year old boy and everyone tells you you're the hero they've been waiting for, praying for, you have to save them. It wasn't at all his choice to be born with the power of the universe running through his veins. To hold the Inness in his hands and bend reality to his will. But he didn't run away. He never hid from his destiny. He took the world onto his shoulders and never set it down. Only once- and he's never going to do it again. Never going to ask someone to fill in his role for him, it is his burden to bear… Except not anymore. Despite being multi-millenniums old, all that time didn't dull his appreciation for the little things. A baby's smile, sunshine through the leaves, the change of the seasons. The union of two souls in marriage, or the colors of the sunset streaking a foreign sky. He still sees these things, loves these things, fights for these things. Cause it's the little things he's fighting for, not just the big things. The precious moments and precious lives that make up the worlds. One of his apprentices asked him once, he'd been fighting for so long, when was it going to end? It's not his job to strike the final blow, to end the suffering and bloodshed, just to help. He saves the world, so that he can save it again. 

I have… several more characters I'd love to ramble about but that answer's gotten pretty long so I'll cut it off there. XD

B3: Do you have any plot twists? No need to describe them, just think about what kind of reaction you want from your readers. 

Oh I was just talking to August about this the other day. XD There is one plot twist in the Keeper's story I'm reeaaally looking forward to hehe I want to make people confused and then really mad when the whole thing is stretched out. >:) 

C8: Does magic exist in your world? Who can use it? How does it work?

It really depends on which WIP, but in general I like to keep magic restricted with rules. Joden's story and the Keeper's story are in the same universe (along with ThRoG) and follows that magic system. It's too complicated to go in depth here, but "magic" exists in another plane of existence, and things in the material world have varying levels of connection with it. It's kinda the energy that holds all worlds together and sustains life. The magic realm- the Inness is not a place where physical matter should exist, only spirits can walk there. 

Wizards are creatures that stand with one foot in the physical realm and the other in the Inness. Tevlar is destroying the world basically by turning it inside out- pulling the Inness out.

C11: Have you developed historical figures? How do you develop them? How in-depth do you go?

Oh yes. I am a complete history nerd so if any world EXISTS it has history, and history only happens because people. 

Sometimes it's a thought through process of "somebody needs to go here" and sometimes it's an npc from a time travel rp that took on more importance than I originally intended. 

It really varies how in depth it will go? Sometimes it's just a name to fill a spot and other times it's like, man I could write a whole book about this guy!

One historical figure would be Ares of the Pegasus. He was a powerful warrior that won a bunch of wars and united the different pegasus clans under his leadership and became the first king. He's really famous and people like naming their kids after him in a kinda superstitious hope they'll grow into attributes of his character. Ares is the male form of the name, Aris is for girls. It's like, the most common Pegasian name. XD

D6: Are there any writing styles that inspire you?

Probably the first writing style I wanted to emulate was Tolkien's, but I also really liked Andrew Peterson's? Tolkien is so dramatic, and Peterson isn't heavy on location descriptions, so I'm kinda aiming for in between I guess. 

#thanks for the ask!! #sorry that took so long to answer 😅 #reblog #text #writing #keepers #deepwood #shifters #ask

[warlordgab]

Announcement + reponse to shippers

First, the Naruto analysis I was planning is cancelled, and the Fishman Island analysis is put on hold until further notice. Instead, I'll be focusing solely on NaLu and LuNa projects, and the haki analysis I promised

Why? Things escalated with the NaLu/Gruvia shippers, so I had to prepare responses accordingly. Given someone was kind enough to try to make a statement about shipping, I’ll explore the matter through a claim this shipper made: the discussion of pairings brought here being "pointless"

"A lively discussion is usually helpful, because the hottest fire makes the hardest steel"

- Tom Clancy

More often than not, shippers tend to ignore context and story for the sake of hype. As surprising as it sounds, most shippers don’t really care about the weight or significance of moments. Some of them even say so

So, is having a debate about pairings pointless?

Let's look at a few examples within the fandom to find out the answer:

Nearly two years ago, Decadus, a famous user for his analyses on Fairy Tail, NaLu, and Gruvia found a shipper who made the bold claim that Gray is far more supportive to Lucy than Natsu would ever be, and their commonalities made them a superior pairing over NaLu. He presented this argument, as an “intellectual”

Decadus responded with a great analysis that both defended the premises as portrayed in the Fairy Tail story and debunked the claims of this shipper: https://decadus.tumblr.com/post/185088250620/lucys-preferences-and-why-its-bad-to

Was Decadus’ analysis pointless for the fandoms involved?

Back in 2018, I found a NaLu shipper who promoted the idea of Natsu and Lucy having no chemistry, and concluded the GrayLu pairing had actual chemistry while being the hottest

I responded with a series of 5 short analyses breaking down NaLu’s chemistry and debunking such a claim: https://warlordgab.tumblr.com/tagged/nalu-and-chemistry

Was this breakdown of the chemistry in the NaLu relationship pointless?

And of course we also have one the most infamous NaLu shipper out there: Chris. 

Some of you may be familiar with his content, most being reasons why the NaLu fandom is evil, how they’re holding Mashima hostage, or how Natsu and Lucy should never be together, instead NaLi and LoLu should happen. Or as one of his post went: they can’t be together because they can’t have an actual relationship with each other.

Do we have a response to this argument? Yes, an analysis breaking down how the dynamic and strengths of the NaLu bonding has everything a healthy relationship needs to grow and thrive: https://warlordgab.tumblr.com/post/188104551546/nalu-analysis-what-do-people-want-from-a

So, is it pointless to call out people when they twist both story and characterization to either hype or downgrade a premise?

“The only way to give a bad idea a real chance to publicly fail is to hear it and then use facts to eviscerate it“

- C.A.A. Savastano

It is through debate, we determine which premises hold up when compared to facts and evidence, and which ones go against logic and reason. Or in the case of pairings, against plot and characters

However, some people are not willing to properly defend their position. And even resort to blocking those who actively contradict their ideas. But, blocking someone and then making a point, when it’s unlikely they’ll even read your argument to respond is akin to cheating. Or as another thinker would put it...

“You don’t win a debate by supressing discussion, you win it with a better argument”

- Frank Sonnenberg

As you could appreciate in the cases I used to make my point, people like detractors, wankers, and even haters can offer you ideas to discuss, even if it is only to refute an argument. And these ideas can even lead to making content, something that can't happen if you suppress the opposition instead of proving their premises wrong

Some shippers may argue they’re not doing anything remotely similar as to those examples mentioned before. But, they may actually even try to justify their ideas and arguments as valid regardless of the author’s works, or even the context of the scenes; as they keep wanking shallow premises

And just like it happened back then, if a shipper tries to sell, for example, the idea of Lucy getting frisky with other guy while her closest companions are bleeding out in the next room, you shouldn’t be surprised if someone calls you out

So, is your argument for a better relationship based on shallow sex appeal? Commonalities with no impact? Rescue scenes that lead nowhere? Or non-existent nostalgia?

Here my statement to those NaLu/Gruvia shippers. I’m still here, and I’m not going to hide. Which is why I even unblocked the wankers and trolls I blocked in the past. So, if any of you guys disagree with any of the posts used here, or this response, feel free to refute the analyses or arguments I presented in this post

“Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument”

- Desmond Tutu

You can leave your reply in a comment, you can also link a post if your response is too long, or even PM me. I’m willing to engange in a civil discourse to defend my position as a NaLu supporter, are you willing to defend your premises?

#announcement #nalu #gruvia? #luna #shipping #logic #reason #defending nalu gives me life

[qqueenofhades]

I was already distressed about the political and social situation in the US, and then this happens. Are there any examples of societies that fought back against fascism and won, without civil or international war breaking out? Surely there must be some success stories in history. How did other societies overcome fascism, are there lessons to be applied to our current situation? Please tell me we're not doomed, because I have no hope for the future.

Sigh.

Okay.

I’ve been through... a lot of the stages of grief by now. That is, rageposting on tumblr, venting to my friends via text, drinking, crying while drinking, lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling, feeling the crushing weight of certainty that we’re all screwed and nothing matters, crying while talking to my sister, crying generally, lying in bed some more, and am currently still in bed while writing this, but am struggling to put on my internet historian aunt hat and offer some comfort to the stricken masses.

First off: This is bad. I’m not even going to pretend this isn’t bad. We all knew RBG had cancer again, but it was pretty fixed in our minds that she would somehow manage to hang on until after the election. 45 days before the biggest presidential election of all time, in the middle of this year, when names including Ted “Zodiac Killer” Cruz and Tom “Time for Roe vs. Wade to go, block federal funding from being used to teach about slavery, send in the military to crush the BLM protesters” Cotton have already been floated as some of her possible replacements? With Trump and McConnell determined to work as fast as possible to steal this seat as brazenly as they can, because they are literal fascists who don’t care about their own example (Merrick Garland was nominated in FEBRUARY of an election year and McConnell held it up for being “too close to the election?”)

Ugh. Anyone who doesn’t get that this is bad or acting like people are overreacting doesn’t get what’s at stake. And when, as we’ve said before and are saying again now, the future of everyone who isn’t a white straight rich Republican man in this country depends on an 87-year-old woman with cancer for the fourth time? Something’s wrong here. RBG’s death did not have to leave us in this total existential panic, and oh yeah, maybe this could have ALL BEEN AVOIDED AND WE COULD HAVE ALSO HAD THREE (3) NEW LIBERAL JUSTICES SECURING PROGRESSIVE LEGISLATION FOR A GENERATION IF SOME OF YOU HAD JUST FUCKING VOTED FOR HILLARY CLINTON IN TWO THOUSAND AND FUCKING SIXTEEN.

(Why yes I am still mad about that, I will be bitter until the end of time that we were consigned to four years and counting of this completely avoidable nightmare because of apathy, misogyny, and Leftist Moral Purity TM, but we’re talking about the future and what can still be done here, not what’s in the past.)

Anyway. Here’s the bright side, which admittedly sucks right now, but it’s been the answer all long:

VOTE.

You have to fucking vote, and you have to fucking vote for Biden/Harris. Everything that we’ve been talking about is no longer a hypothetical; it’s happening right now. This is not just some Awful Worst Case scenario, and it’s not somehow being spouted by privileged white liberals ignoring the struggles of the masses. (Viz: that awful fucking text post with its simpering self-righteousness: “are you punching nazis or just telling oppressed people to vote blue?” I hate that text post with a fiery passion and it’s the exact kind of morally holier than thou leftist propaganda that wouldn’t surprise me if it was generated by a troll farm in Krasnoyarsk.) My dad is disabled and lives on Social Security. Trump’s second-term plan to end the payroll tax takes SSID out by mid-2021, so... I guess that’s my dad fucked then. I’m a gay woman with long-term mental illness, no healthcare, no savings, no current job, and a lot of student debt. My sister has complex health problems and relies intensely on publicly funded healthcare programs. All my family have underlying conditions that would put them at worse risk for COVID (age, asthma, immune issues.) These are just the people IN MY HOUSEHOLD who would be at risk from a second Trump presidency. It says NOTHING about my friends, about all the people far less fortunate than us, and everyone else who IS ALREADY DYING as this nation lurches into full-blown fascism. That is real. It is happening.

Here’s the good news and what you can do:

Democrats are fired up and mad as hell, and they’ve already donated $31 million between the announcement of RBG’s death last night and today, and that number is climbing every second.

You can help by donating to Get Mitch or Die Trying, which splits your donation 13 ways between the Democrats challenging the most vulnerable Republican seats in the Senate. That also has raised EIGHT MILLION BUCKS in the less-than-twenty-four hours.

You can donate RIGHT NOW to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, vote if your state offers early voting, request your mail-in ballot, or hound everyone you know to ensure that they’re registered.

You can call your US Senators (look up who they are for your state, ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE REPUBLICAN OR YOU LIVE IN A SWING STATE OR ARE UP FOR RE-ELECTION IN 2020) and phone the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 to voice your insistence that they respect RBG’s last wishes and refuse to vote on any Trump nominee until after January 2021.

The other good-ish news is that I woke up to an email from the Biden campaign this morning about how they’re well aware of this and they’re already on it. BUT WE CANNOT COUNT ON EITHER THEM OR THE SENATE DEMOCRATS TO BE ABLE TO STOP IT. Because Joe Biden is not president and the Senate Democrats do not have a majority, if the Republicans manage to rush a nominee and a vote and all 52 GOP senators vote for that nominee, hey presto, tyranny by majority, a SECOND stolen Supreme Court seat, and a 6-3 hard conservative majority for the next generation. Even if Roberts or Gorsuch sometimes defect on procedural grounds, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer (who is also 82 and thus ALSO might soon be replaceable, thus resulting in an EVEN WORSE ideological swing) would be outnumbered on everything. This is terrible. I’m not even gonna pretend it wouldn’t be.

BUT:

If Joe Biden is elected with a Democratic Senate and House, IT MATTERS. It gets us off the fascism track, it gives us the ability to make progressive law and have it enacted without going to die in Mitch McConnell’s Kill Stack, it gives Biden the executive authority to nominate liberal judges and change Trump’s worst outrages on day 1, it stands as a huge example of a nation managing to reject fascism by democratic process, and while yes, we’d still have a terribly rigged Supreme Court, Democrats would control all the other branches of government and be able to put safeguards in place. The other option is outright fascism and the end of American democracy for good. This may sound alarmist. It’s not. It’s literally what the situation has ended up as, as all of us who were begging people to vote for HRC in 2016 saw coming all along.

So yes. That’s what you need to do, and what WE need to do. We need to make as much goddamn noise as possible, protest, contact elected representatives, make sure everybody pulls their weight and ferociously fights the promised attempt to ram through a new justice before Election Day, all that. But even if that does happen, THEN WE NEED TO FUCKING DONATE, ORGANIZE, AND VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN AND DEMOCRATS UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT. ALL OF US. NO EXCUSES. NO MORE TWITTER LEFTIST ECHO CHAMBERS. NO MORE. THEN, EVEN WITH A RIGGED SUPREME COURT, WE WILL ALL BE SAFER ON NOVEMBER 4TH AND CAN TRY TO FIX WHAT’S BROKEN.

The stakes are just too high to do anything else.

May her memory be a blessing, and a revolution.

#politics for ts #bury me in a mountain of salt #then vote #the end #humoristhefirstcasualty #ask

[blindtaleteller]

PROMPT: OOC Interview with [X] Clint ‘Cuyler’ Barton

" Been a while since we did one of these.. but. You know the drill man! This is your first interview, yeah? Want to explain why and where you’re from? “

     Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Besides trolling the hell out of tags with Viedimadr? *grins* Ah, mostly that’s keeping the core element I guess. Most Bartons are the quintessential superhero, at least in the range of having that alter-ego. Might not wear a mask ‘til Ronin in the MCU? But --and especially with how my character works pre-Avengers; sharing past the job isn’t exactly any of our fortes? We have a family to protect, and if you do the math of how old the kids are even in Ultron: that family has been a thing since before we take the higher ground up out of the paid-SHIELD-killer status I’m in that Nat does mention in the original Avengers. Also usually save it up between the pages and occasional poke into tags and skits here on the dash.

     Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) As for where I’m from! *he leans back and hooks his hands behind his head* We’re Universe Fourteen; two doors on the left down the connecting Vestibule from Lisan’s Universe, and one to right of the Ego-centrics with Grey Knight and Leadsprite. Ours starts out different in the respect that, Fury ends up getting the Scepter tap instead of me; and the resulting conflict goes very differently.

“ Such as? “

     Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) We never even hit New York; Fury tries to snag me in, and under the Stone’s influence that means trying to at best grab my kids since he’s one of the only two people attached who know about them. Loki ends up breaking form and getting in the middle of that. Yanks us off world and out of Fury’s sight, with the goods. That’s where we picked up with our first published bit ‘The Warming Stone’ anyways.

” Speaking of.. what do you think about the split from the original timeline? “

     Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) I’m having a lot of fun with it myself. And I’m pretty sure Laura is somewhere outside the room clapping in agreement; she’s quieter than most but a constant presence and; she and Lo get along real well. Anyway. End up dealing with that whole ‘the city is flying, we’re fighting an army of robots; and I have a bow and arrow’ overwhelmed mentality a lot sooner because of it? I like the existential twists that come with the Dark Fairy Tale elements and whatnot that get thrown out there and right into our faces pretty much immediately, what with running face-first, on foot, into Jotunheim of all places through that doorway in Illinois. We did some collabs with the other guys that run through there, on top of the research and expanded on some of the wildlife ourselves to manage that? So that was some actual fun. This side of the pool I can absolutely admit us Bartons are a bit masochistic? *laughs* I am pretty sure we enjoy exploring those bits and how we’d react to them. I’m no different in that respect. I mean.. how would you react to being a dinner sized meal for labrador-to-great-dane sized snow-caterpillars with the elongated teeth of freakin shark? Or finding out the hard way there’s giant predator owls flying around about the size of a plane that eat those, just as an example? Never mind trolls, or frost giants, or anything else that manages to survive in that kind of insane climate and might decide to try and eat you just to see if you taste good.

” Probably stay inside forever if I was going to be honest? XD Anyway, Is there anything you’d change about your current story? “

     Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Considering we’re still building back there? Not yet. I mean, too much fun so far. I mean we’ve done what.. four parts at this point? All during what we’re currently calling the Traveler Phase from Earth to Asgard through the doors between Illinois, Jotunheim, and Vanaheim. Which is interesting in itself. I mean whole other world, and things are shaken up before we even get there and (in part because of the fact that) we end up dependent on our Loki pretty fast. I think maybe my only change there would be in maybe doing another part for Extras that includes ‘Ogre’ .. who hasn’t even shown yet at that point in the story. He’s our Bruce Banner; or more specifically our Hulk? Thing is finding a space that won’t interfere too heavily with the book when we do it though. We could excuse the bits in the Traveler Phase because we intended to shorten it when we got there anyway; maybe cut straight to Asgard with that as a supplemental extra; a lot like the GROUNDED kids did with their out-takes featured in the same platovember series.

“ I imagine messing with Universe Three’s next installment’s been helping that along? “

    Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:)  Oh yeah, definitely. That mirror of Bruce’s is pretty similar in mindset and approach.

” That said, do I have to ask if there’s anyone in particular you like to watch or get into reading over their shoulder when they’re at it? “

    Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) Oh definitely The Bean right now, for sure? But there’s a list.. *grins* GROUNDED and DREAMS being woven together finally, especially with  some of the inter-universal roles being brought up is a big one. Looking forward to whipping out that sword.. heh. Though, watching the ESCAPE kids from the other forming Vestibule has been an interesting ride now that they’re not entirely cloistered in Tuscon, or their hotel room. I know what’s up there outside of Traverse too, which helps. And there’s Josh. I think everyone’s been waiting for that fireball to explode across the page? The fact Tony, Lo and Fury managed to somehow make that nutcase all on their own with just a few lines still makes me laugh. Walsh is a character and a half. I’m looking forward to getting my chance at screwing with his mirror in our Door. Leigh is a weird bit of fun too, but Josh is definitely one of those at the top of the list, and who you chose for a face in close rep, is interesting. Maybe Vix too as far as characters go? But he’d a little lower down for me at the moment.

“ Stab, stab pull..? Heh. Which is your favorite upcoming group from the books/portions of Mixology aka the Lokiverse at large? And which are you most curious about? “

     Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:)  Ha! yeah; stab-stab, pull. Loxley’s got an interesting bunch next door. *rubs his hands up over the top of his head and back down* Honestly, MONSTERS and ASHES. Ah, that’s Door and or Universes Three and Twelve for those that don’t know. Three has a similar bonding mechanic between Bruce and Lo I’ve been interested in, while ASHES hits on other things, including a rockier relationship and overall dynamic between his Bartons and Redbird (that’s his Quill) that tends to go dark in the personal aspects a lot. I guess I like that struggle between them, personally. Loxley brushes something similar going on post-Ronin with his family dynamic with his internals and his Lo’s concerns for that; but I think Lili and his crew hit that at a whole other angle from around five years prior on? With, a whole other take on the family dynamic that Laura and I have with Lo by the time we leave Asgard. And that’s curious to me.

” I put you guys through a lot of shit in the name of storytelling. Any parts you have complaints about? “ 

   Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) None, planned or otherwise.

“ ..that was fast. “

   Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:)  What can I say? I enjoy the twisty shit, at least on this end of the pool. Ignoring the reservations, and dealing with the danger-fear of getting hurt in ways that can’t be fixed with stitches or band-aids, of accepting that kind of bond knowing how it started and risking the idea that finding out why might not make that danger less or that person better or more relatable than perceived to be able to accept them farther even after that investment?

  Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:) The contradiction of pride and ego versus conscience and the guilt when it belongs there getting in the way -and even dealing with when it should be toned down that results in having one,  even if it’s just a sliver in places and playing that out along with dipping into places mostly ignored or washed over in the Universes; is interesting and fun to me. Danger included. I have a little less guilt than my mirrors in a lot of directions that gets placed elsewhere after we come back to Earth; and I enjoy that dynamic and what we’re trying to explore there. That whole; ‘what if he was loyal, without he stone’s influence’ aspect, in our own flavor is a LOT of fun to play with. It’s a very different Universe, but holds hints and background pieces, and similarities enough, as well as the core; that it’s a feasable alternative to the canon line. Which is extra fun, for the personal aspects or ‘humanity’ we manage in the process? So no.. no complaints. Not yet anyways.. heh. We’ll see how I feel when you start actually touching actual, hands-on Gagnarok fixes and alternates though. Outside of that Cosmic-FrostIron bitty from a few doors down anyway. That’s gonna be a mess.

  “ Whee.. yeah. MONSTERS gets that honor first, most likely.. “

  Cuyler (Clint Barton D14:)  Good. Bean can handle that best, I think... or maybe worst. Either way it’s gonna be entertaining for me..

For those interested, Cuyler’s published stories are found below in chronological order (they were posted out of order in part because of the prompts themselves and some parts were planned ahead to take certain slots.) The title names are the links to each part.

The Warming Stone (part 1)

Fathers (part 4)

The Hart (part 2)

Between the Reds (part 3)

#Lokiverse #Lokiverse muses #muse interview #Cuyler/Clint Barton D14 #Clint Barton #Dark Fairy Tale Elements #Door/Universe 14 #Hawkeye #OOC interview #Lokiverse (Mixology) #alternate universes #multiverse #conjoined AUs #Alternate Reality #fanfiction #FrostHawk #aka #LoHawk