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not-poignant · 1 year

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Pia! I need some advice. There's a writer on ao3 whose fics I really like (well, 'love' would probably be a better word) but I've just found out they are a TERF 😭

I had no idea because they don't post anything personal or political on their main tumblr and they don't write fics that reflect these views but I found their side blog and its full of terf and redfem stuff

Now I'm feeling guilty for enjoying their work and also sad because a part of me just wants to keep reading their works despite this because they really are a good writer and have kept their personal views out of their stories but...... UGGHHHHH TERF 😭😭😭

What should I do? Should I stop reading? Should I block them? Or should I separate the artist from the art and just enjoy the fics?

I am not cis btw so I feel really selfish for just wanting to ignore that stuff and keep reading.

Hi anon,

I'm sorry you've found yourself in this situation. There's no point feeling guilty about something that you could never have possibly known until this moment, though I understand that the guilt still happens, it's not like you can be expected to know this stuff when you're just trying to enjoy fics on the internet, y'know? The main thing is you know now. Guilt is a good feeling for getting us to stop and pay attention, and now you're doing that.

As for what happens next, I can't really answer this for you, but I can talk around a few points which might be worth considering re: continuing to read the fic/s or not.

Separating the 'artist from the art' is almost always hugely misinterpreted, and it often doesn't mean 'pretend the artist doesn't matter so I can keep enjoying their content.' Ultimately you have to decide for yourself what you will or won't accept, and that will be down to your personal ethics or values, and how you express those ethics or values.

If my favourite fanfic author was suddenly revealed to be a TERF (unlikely as they're trans, but y'know, it could happen), I personally couldn't enjoy their writing anymore. I wouldn't be able to escape into their stories or characters, knowing the person who wrote this thing I love doesn't believe in my right to exist as I am, and wants to constantly debate my human rights. I can't suspend my disbelief that much.

But then, on the other hand, I can still watch the films of Harvey Weinstein, a horrible fucking human being and scum on earth, and justify this by knowing that many of the people who made that film are not horrible fucking human beings and he is not the only person to consider. Some people would disagree with my choice. Others will understand.

That's me, but everyone is different on matters like that, and so then it comes down to how you show support. If you continue to read this author but never give them a platform, never like their fic, comment on the chapters, interact with them in any way, rec it to another person (not without 'you should also know they're a rabid transphobe'), be a 'silent consumer' etc. and consider this the way that you demonstrate that you don't support this person's beliefs/views, that's also valid. You still express your values by lending nothing to this person that they can then benefit from. This is how some trans people still consume the works of JKR - making sure she never sees a single cent or benefit under the proud flag of piracy - for example. There are going to be other trans people who disapprove of this, or don't like this, who even make good arguments against it, and tbh, I'm on the fence about it myself, I can just understand why people come to this place with it.

Some of those expressions of our values can be problematic - paying for the work of someone who is transphobic (which you're obviously not doing in the case of fic) directly benefits a transphobe who is publicly transphobic. That's just...straight up harmful. That doesn't really express your values. In fact it may express opposite values. Reccing the fics of this author for example, knowing other trans readers might find the side blog one day and feel deeply wounded and betrayed, expresses opposite values - this would be problematic.

You might be someone who sends them a message anonymously or similar, to let them know that their views are hurtful/hateful and ask how they feel knowing that trans people are reading their stories, and see if they respond to you. Maybe they've never thought about it before. But you don't owe them that kind of labour. You may also want to consider naming/shaming them, to at least do fellow folks in your community the courtesy of avoiding a transphobe. The fact that you've gone out of your way to protect their identity even in this anon, is not something you owe them.

There are going to be different ways you make peace with this situation anon, and don't be surprised if they change over time, depending on how you feel about it. People can only tell you what they would do based on their values, and you must sit down with your own values and decide which actions support your values, and which go against them. We don't all express these things in exactly the same way. As long as you're not expressing harmful or opposite values, you're generally going to be okay, and there is sometimes room in that to still enjoy the fic, if that is something you're able to do.

(Please see the tags since I address this in a bit more detail - although the tl;dr there is - have you considered that instead of continuing to be entertained by the works of a transphobe, maybe if you stopped reading them, you'd find someone you liked just as much, if not more, who will replace them? Sometimes the harm we do is simply in giving our time and energy to someone who wishes we didn't exist, and is actively protesting against our existence - when we could look for others to entertain us who don't expect horrible ethical quandaries from us just to enjoy what they're creating).

(Also, for the record re: other folks reading (I kind of wish I hadn't been forced to respond to this publicly lmao and I'm still in two minds re: whether I'll keep it up), I'm also trans, so I feel like I can talk about the grey area more in this specific issue. I am not advising or advocating for example that white people actively read and engage in the fanfiction of known racists. This is very much - I am talking about this one thing, from a trans person to a trans person, about transphobia in the community and in the works of creators we might enjoy - and I very much want to stay focused on that).

#asks and answers #cw terf #cw radfem #cw transphobia #(not from OP just what we're talking about)#I will say anon #have you considered that you experimented with not reading this author for a couple of months #you might find other authors you enjoy just as much #if not more?#this won't be the last fic author whose stories you enjoy #and giving space to this author takes space away from the other authors #that you could be supporting #there's just some food for thought there #the time you spend on a bigot's creativity #can be spent elsewhere #so it's then up to you to decide how vital these stories are in your life #if they're the kind of stories that keep you from harming yourself or keep you out of the pit of the despair #keep reading them #if they're just entertaining #mmmmhhhh #there's just a lot of stuff to think about around it anon!#administrator Gwyn wants this in the queue

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aronarchy · 1 year

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What’s your opinion on the “irredeemable media” discourse overall?

recordings of real-life people experiencing real abuse/victimization should be immediately & completely removed from existence upon request

some grayer area for i.e. recording police brutality & publishing to a large audience bc records currently needed for political reasons. but generally as rule of thumb avoid when not like that, or esp when it’s less public/more private/personal

all of the media recording sexual abuse, exploitation, and rape of actors/actresses currently still circulating/in existence, including the more popular/well-known films, especially those which their victims have fought to have taken down/no longer watched but failed, needs to be removed from existence asap. this media is irredeemable regardless of any other contexts shitty capitalists try to put them in for flimsy excuses

all abuse recordings such as those videos p*rents share showing them hitting their kids or yelling at & insulting their kids bragging about abusing them being circulated on social media need to be wiped from the internet. general abusive/exploitative imagery and other media recordings of that variety, i.e. revenge porn, CSEM, needs to be wiped too. if socmed platforms won’t do it then we find a way to do it. cops are very inefficient at doing so, of course. this media is irredeemable

get rid of abusive/exploitative imagery and other media recording other sentient beings as well. i.e. the irl nonhuman animal abuse imagery being circulated right now for some people’s enjoyment

watching vs contributing to tangible harm doesn’t necessarily correlate 1:1 all the time but would highly recommend not getting a viewing habit of abuse content of any sort. esp. seeking out without meaningfully using that to get rid of it asap. cops barely do shit and should not be “the only ones trusted to have large stashes of CSEM to view & share around” either, they exploit that. get their files burnt too. irredeemable media, should not exist.

regarding fiction which does not require the abuse/exploitation/victimization of real-life sentient beings to produce:

no feelings, or other intangible expressions, are moral/immoral. there is no ethical value or de-value for feeling enjoyment upon seeing something, or lacking a feeling of disgust upon seeing something, etc.

viewing fiction by bigots or abusers in a way which contributes to their revenue, fame, or other things which they are tangibly and on significant scale using to harm others isn’t necessarily wrong in a “you are personally causing the death of the planet by using one plastic straw” way, more like “do you really Need to be eating a sandwich at chick-fil-a right now?”

piracy is good. if you pirate personally some bigot thing that people are boycotting for good reason, barring bizarre unlikely edge cases such as “the piracy site records download counts and donates to bigots based on that” there’s not much tangible harm that can result from that. though bragging about you pirating instead of streaming, or touting your piracy in public a lot, probably isn’t the best idea either (as it often adds to the “hype” of the media and people who intend to stream it if they know it exists and start wanting to, so to speak). best to just not talk about it much, and enjoy on your own.

however, regarding fanfiction and other non-profit transformative works done for fandoms of previous media like the above, I have yet to find a good enough argument against doing fanfiction/fanart etc of the above

author is dead? no more proceeds going to fund their bigotry? go wild (within reasonable bounds ofc)

historical examples of bigoted fiction should not be wiped from existence. it is not unethical to view it. there are various reasons why one would want to, i.e. records, learning, but with a critical eye (and it’s perfectly possible to view any fiction with a critical eye, humans aren’t robots/sponges). would prefer distributors to tack on disclaimers if possible & helpful

I don’t understand people who put “people who enjoy [X] irredeemable media” on their DNIs, and those spaces where that is common tend to be extremely toxic to each other and outsiders

I obviously don’t give a single fuck about depictions of fictional abuse regardless of how “glorified” or “romanticized” or “eroticized,” do whatever, have fun, such media is great and deserves to exist and in fact should exist even more and its creators do not deserve to be harassed or have blanket condescending/demonizing assumptions projected onto them, focus your anti-abuse efforts on discourse spheres discussing actual IRL abuse ethics, + meaningful direct action against capital/the state

#ask #anon #ficcourse #fiction discourse #FAQ #irredeemable media #proship #profiction #pro fiction

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wizardysseus · 2 years

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there are so many people who are not librarians posting Very Confidently about what a library is right now. some thoughts on this.

accessibility is a core tenet of the american public library. there have always been inherent contradictions to this. libraries are not utopias where everything actually is completely free and accessible, for multiple reasons — from, say, the disproportionate burden placed on low-income patrons by overdue/lost fines, to the fact that sometimes a book might not be accessible because it simply hasn't been returned yet, to the fact that librarians are underpaid and understaffed for all the roles they are expected to fulfill.

another thing about libraries: they also protect intellectual property rights. like, both accessibility and ip rights are in the ala code of ethics. "we respect intellectual property rights and advocate balance between the interests of information users and rights holders."

personally, i don't think the way to get closer to the professional ideal of greater accessibility is for libraries to help people pirate materials. the hope, i would think, would be to make things available so they don't have to pirate and creators still profit. but regardless of my beliefs, you have to understand that these are both the tenets of american libraries. you have to know what these institutions actually are and do before you talk about how the internet archive is a library.

otherwise abandon that argument altogether. say the internet archive isn't a library, but you support it more than libraries because you like piracy. at least that would be honest.

public libraries pay for copies of books, even e-books. (public libraries also did not release all their e-titles for unlimited lending during the pandemic without asking authors' permission. but i digress.) it is true that e-book licensing is sometimes ridiculous, and there's a lot to say about how much it costs to lend a certain number of e-book copies and how many times they're allowed to circulate before a library has to purchase them again. however, if you believe authors deserve to be paid for their labor, i don't know how you can argue against paying them at all for e-books.

"but the reason authors don't get paid enough isn't because of piracy!" firstly, do you really know that? even so — the reality right now is that authors currently make money by certain means. taking away those means is going to harm them first, not force publishers to pay better. there are authors who are happy to share their work online for free, and i think that's wonderful. but i also think that until the industry changes, it need to be a choice that authors have. a choice that the internet archive allows them to have.

let's say the internet archive wins the lawsuit. (i'm not even sure i hope it doesn't. i use the wayback machine all the time, and i will be upset if we lose access to it because of completely preventable ethical wrongdoing on the archive's part.) is that going to make authors more likely to receive equitable pay? is it?

if your accessibility argument allows a state of financial emergency for everyone except authors, it isn't actually that inclusive.

#thoughts

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iamvoid0 · 2 years

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UK Issues Concerns over Microsoft Acquisitions, Denuvo Responds, Embracer completes Acquisitions, and Sony & Tencet takes stake in Elden Ringer Developer!

A packed week today sees a huge swat of issues, UK expressed concern over Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Denuvo tries to put out fires, Embracer Group completes acquisition of Tomb Raider developers, and Nintendo remarks, "No Price Increase".

Hey thanks for reading, if there is a game, or just something more in the games space you want me to cover, or report on, please let me know using this Google Form. Thank you.

🕹️ The Console War Rages On

Denuvo has clarified specific criticisms aimed at the company after their announcement - In a report by Kotaku, Denuvo representatives responded to claims of reduced performance and always online DRM checks. The spokesperson stated that they designed the newest iteration of the piracy-delaying software with the Switch's limited online connectivity online. The DRM is entirely offline, and the company claims there will be no performance hit. The spokesperson also stated that multiple third-party switch developers requested the software. (Source)

Nintendo has stated, "No Price Increase" - Following Sony's price increase of the PS5, investors asked Nintendo if there would be a Switch price increase due to global shortages and inflation. Nintendo reported no plans to increase the Switch price due to either issue. (Source)

Embracer Group has completed new acquisitions - In a tweet by the official account of Embracer, they have confirmed the acquisition of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal & the soon-to-be-renamed Square Enix Montreal. These studios will be under the 12th operative group led by Phil Rogers. (Source)

Sony has acquired mobile game developers Savage Games Studios - In a press release on the official PlayStation blog, Sony has announced that they have acquired Savage Game Studios. This new mobile studio will work with Sony to bring their IPs to the mobile platforms. Sony reiterated that this would not hamper their efforts on the PlayStation. (Source)

Sony and Tencent have acquired a minority stake in FromSoftware - Both companies will get shares via a third-party allotment. Once the transaction is complete, FromSoftware's parent company Kadokawa Corp will receive 263 Million USD, with Tencent Holdings Ltd holding 16.25% and Sony Group Corp holding 14.09%. Kadokawa Corp will retain 69.66%. (Source)

The UK has expressed concerns over Mircosoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard - The Competition And Markets Authority in the UK has been hard at work investigating the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. They noted that at the end of their Phase 1 investigation, they were concerned about Microsoft's control over Call of Duty & World of Warcraft and Microsoft's ability post-acquisition to harm rivals in multi-game subscription services and cloud gaming. The CMA continued in their report to note that Microsoft has a major console, Xbox, a leading cloud platform, Azure, and the top PC operation system, Windows. While Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith has stated that they are ready and willing to work with the CMA to ensure concerns are addressed. Brad Smith made mention of Sony's concern that Call of Duty will be an Xbox exclusive by stating that they wanted people to have more access to games, not less. The CMA has stated that they will be moving into a deeper Phase 2 investigation if their concerns are not adequately addressed. (Source)

✨ Going to Events Spiritually

Xbox games with Gold get new games. It got Gods will fall, Thrillville, Double Kick Heroes, and Portal 2.

Playstation Plus gets Need for Speed: Heat, Granblue Fantasy: Verses, Toem and more available in the Plus Extra & Premium tiers such as Deathloop, Watch Dogs, Assassin Creed, Dragon Ball and the like.

🎮 Where's My Controller?

Not at the moment.

🎵 Turn it up to 11!

Not at the moment.

📝I don't know what a pen looks like.

This week was a hard week. Please enjoy the news cycle.

💖 Enjoy this newsletter?

Forward to a friend and let them know where they can subscribe (hint: it's here).

#video games #news #breaking news #xbox #microsoft #nintendo #sony #tencent #kadokawa #fromsoftware #elden ring #blizzard #activision

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nft-marketpalce-clone-scripts · 2 years

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Osiz technologies madurai is not fraud company and not provide nulled scripts

osiz technologies - madurai - fraud company - nulled scripts - stolen your money - A thread has been published in the Bitcointalk forum : Here you can get the detailed clarification

The website "Bitcoin Talk" has a negative review posted by an Anonymous user that criticizes our business, saying that Osiz Technologies in Madurai is a scam company that sells nulled scripts while stealing customers' money. This case study gonna explain that our company is not like this as per mentioned in the thread.

Problems:

We noticed after thorough research that neither of our clients created the aforementioned reviews. Only anonymous people or competitors who are not related to our business have posted this kind of review. Good customers will post honest reviews based on their interactions with our products and services. If users are writing false reviews, it means they haven't used our products or services and they haven't been specific with their details. You'll see most of the reviews are placed on Google and several social networking sites, including Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, and others.

Business Challenge:

The primary challenge for us is that they are not our clients; we have no dealings with them and don't threaten to take any money from them. Only anonymous people publish reviews. The major goal of the fraud reviews is to harm our company's reputation, demonize our brand, persuade people to believe we are a fake organization, and ultimately bring our business to down. So, new users are thinking to tie up with us. These are the business challenges we are facing and also overcome by our supported and trustworthy clients.

Important Note: The Positive reviews are published by our trusted clients who have done projects with us, we also verified them. At the same time, We also have the negative/fake/scam reviews which are posted by anonymous users, those who do not have PROFESSIONAL Username and their project details are also not have a detailed explanation. They just explained the Same things OSIZ are scammers !! Just created by our competitors and their main intention to destroy our brand name. We have listed our positive reviews by our clients and also the fake review by anonymous users.

What is a Nulled script?

When someone modifies a script to remove the author-implemented protection or commercial online apps that have been changed to function without a licensing key can be found as "nulled scripts" on piracy websites. They are similar to pirated software on the web.

Refer to this blog to know more -> https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2014/11/wordpress-security-nulled-scripts-cryptophp-infection/

Is it legal to use nulled scripts?

Nulled scripts and themes are first and foremost illegal as they break the rules and regulations, steal the source code, and delete the licensing key and copyright documents. Numerous websites offer free downloads of nulled themes, scripts, applications, and plugins.

Refer this blog to know more information-> https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2014/11/wordpress-security-nulled-scripts-cryptophp-infection/

How does Osiz handle the challenges?

Let us ask one question for those who left negative reviews: "What is the necessity for us to steal your money?" There is no need for us to steal your money. Our team of Certified user experience professionals and developers created over n+ digital platforms have been built and created for startups and businesses.

We are skilled at delivering digital platforms on time and for a limited budget. We deliver the product once it has been thoroughly tested, free of bugs, and more. We will start the project after signing NDA. We have a dedicated ORM (Online Reputation Management) team to ascertain the difficulties you are facing. We assist you in resolving the problems and providing the right solutions.

About Osiz Technologies:

Osiz Technologies is one of the top software development firms founded in 2009 in Madurai. We are also one of the leading blockchain development companies in south India. From small to large organizations worldwide, we offer end-to-end IT solutions for all business sizes.

Osiz Technologies has more than 1000 current and potential customers worldwide. Our dedicated employees contribute fresh ideas and collaborate under the guiding principle of exceeding our clients' expectations. We are able to provide a wide range of services to our clients and keep our team happy due to our top-notch IT infrastructure.

What is business fraud?

The word "business fraud" is broad. It may relate to offenses perpetrated by senior team members of a company or it may refer to clients of the companies themselves. In the end, business fraud nearly usually entails someone stealing money from another person while pretending to conduct business.

Types of Frauds in business:

1. Fraud in payroll:

Payroll fraud is when someone uses the payroll system at your organization to steal money while making it appear as though they are paying someone for their work. It will be easier for a worker who has access to the payroll system to commit this kind of fraud. But anyone with advanced hacking skills, whether they work for the organization or not, might potentially commit it.

2. Fraudulent financial statements:

Financial statement fraud can be committed by a employees or business owner for a variety of reasons. The fraudster most frequently falsifies financial records to inflate their assets, income, or overall net worth. Usually, people who commit this kind of fraud do so to obtain loans or to escape punishment for failing to meet their financial obligations.

3. Misappropriation of assets:

The most prevalent and often committed form of employee fraud is asset misappropriation. To be clear, misappropriating assets is stealing from an employer on purpose. Cash misappropriation and Non-cash misappropriation are the two categories.

4. Tax Evasion:

An organization will have to pay more in income taxes the more money it brings in. Tax fraud is when a company pays less in taxes as it is in a lower tax category. Tax evasion is another term for completely avoiding paying taxes by both corporations and people. This is likewise seen as a form of tax fraud.

5. Theft of an identity:

Due to the possibility that a company could both be the offender and the victim, identity theft is a sophisticated type of commercial fraud. Identity theft is the act of stealing another person's personal information and using it to commit fraud against them. With their social security information, fraudsters may do a lot of things, including open a new line of credit and more.

6. Corruption:

A broad phrase used to describe numerous sorts of business fraud is corruption. In essence, corruption refers to any type of dishonest activity or willful mismanagement of funds by a person in a position of authority within a business.

Preventing fraud at your business:

Fraud in businesses is a big issue. Everyone associated in an organization needs to remain vigilant, whether the business is the offender or the victim of criminal activity.

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To Know more Information>>>>

#Osiz technologies madurai is not fraud company and not provide nulled scripts

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glassamphibians · 3 years

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the book piracy discussion is so weird bc like . what if instead of telling people they’re awful for pirating you talked about websites that make books accessible!! or talked about other ways to support authors!! telling someone to stop doing something isn’t gonna work if you don’t give them alternatives

#i understand not wanting people to pirate but just going ‘piracy is bad!!!!’ is unproductive #people know that piracy can harm authors they Get That #but its also free and accessible #which cant be guaranteed with bookstores and libraries #so either find them alternatives or leave them alone #books

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natalieironside · 2 years

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Well

This ain't good

But if you hire mercenaries to hunt down copyright infringers, you share the blame when they go after innocents. You set that landmine, so you have some responsibility for the legs it blows off.

The reality is that the automated enforcement tools that Pixsy uses will always generate false positives, and the people who operate those tools have no incentive to look too closely at the accusations they generate. False accusations merely terrorize random strangers, who can’t punish you in any way, except, perhaps, by embarrassing you.

Stojkovic is an individual photographer in Serbia. It’s possibly he just hasn’t been around this kind of operation enough to anticipate this outcome. But there are plenty of others who should absolutely know better, who keep hiring fishermen to hang out their tuna-nets without regard to the dolphins they know they’ll catch.

Take HarperCollins (one of the four largest publishers in the world) and Penguin Random House (the largest publisher in the world, in the process of acquiring Simon & Schuster). They definitely should know better.

And yet: HarperCollins and PRH hired Link-Busters, an “anti-piracy” company, to send legal notices to Google in order to flense the internet of pirate editions of their books (disclosure, I have books in print from both publishers).

You can probably guess what happened next. Link-Busters’ automated process misidentified the book reviews at Fantasy Book Critic, a noncommercial site whose volunteers have reviewed over 1,000 books in its 15 year history. Link-Busters, acting on behalf of HarperCollins and PRH, lied to Google and claimed Fantasy Book Critic was full of infringing material, and Google deleted the site, which was hosted on its Blogger platform.

Link-Busters is culpable here, obviously, but HarperCollins and PRH must shoulder part of the blame. Fantasy Book Critic embodies millions of hours of volunteer labor from their own best customers, all in service promoting their books. HarperCollins and PRH knowingly put those volunteers — and every other online book-lover — in harm’s way.

Ironically, the one place where reviewers can be certain they won’t face capricious removal thanks to off-the-leash mercenaries employed by giant publishers is Goodreads, the monopoly review platform owned and operated by Amazon, which serves as a powerful funnel that drives dedicated readers to Amazon, strengthening its commercial control over HarperCollins and PRH.

The good news is that Fantasy Book Critic is now back online, because authors and readers flooded Google with complaints and pleas (this is generally the only way to get Google to address its own mistakes, and obviously it doesn’t scale).

It could get much, much worse. Rightsholder groups are backing a Copyright Office plan to make this kind of robosigning into law, forcing all online platforms to institute filters that automatically remove materials that an algorithm finds to be infringing, without human oversight or judgement.

It’s a recipe for a world where the mercenaries are robotic, remorseless, and act with utter impunity. When a first-name-only Pixsy rep calls you Colin and threatens to sue you for $150,000, at least you can call them out publicly. But when the robosigners are baked into every public forum, even that small measure of accountability is denied to you.

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howtofightwrite · 2 years

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Hi! I've been working on a historical fantasy story (think Taisho era but with Caribbean influences). My issue is with two of the main characters: A morally-questionable "ronin" for lack of a better term, and street-fighter with the noble incentive of supporting her family financially. While it's easy for me to picture what their relationship ends up becoming, it's hard for me to decide how these two could end up working together without it seeming unrealistic or forced.

I have no idea what this means.

I'm vaguely familiar with the Taisho Period. This was from 1912 to 1925, and saw some early elements of the transition that lead to the Japanese Emperor's authority being completely subverted by a military junta in the following decade. It's a very significant era.

The problem is, Japan in 1925 looked nothing like Jamaica in 1656, and I cannot extrapolate exactly what you're looking for here.

"Caribbean influences," could be as simple as geological, or it could be an elaborate fantasy setting that melds elements of late Imperial Japan with the European colonial squabbling in the Caribbean that resulted in an authority vacuum, and the proliferation of piracy, both freelance, and state sponsored.

The result is, I don't know your world, and that's not a bad thing. It does make this question much harder to answer with any specificity.

So, yes, a unique world is a good thing. Not being able to boil that down into a single sentence is something you may want to work on. Though, the goal is to create a coherent one line description, not to simplify your world.

The problem with your characters is, I don't know who these people are. The description of them is basic, but fine. However, because I don't know your world, I don't have a full frame of reference for what your setting's ronin really are. This could be anything from a disgraced noble to a former military leader who's degenerated into piracy when their place in the old order collapsed when the previous emperor died.

How does that interface with someone who has the, "noble incentive of supporting her family?" This could get really dark.

A couple years back I remember reading an article discussing the good/evil axis for D&D's alignment system. The author used the concept of proximal empathy a litmus test for a character's alignment. (Note that "proximal empathy," means something very different in developmental psychology.) The idea is that a good person will experience empathy and exhibit compassion and altruism to a wide range of people, in some cases, even total strangers. However, as the alignment shifts away from good, that proximity will decrease. A neutral character may be apathetic about strangers, but they don't stop caring about or protecting their friends and family. An evil character may either only care about their innermost circle, or themselves alone.

While I think it has limited value as a philosophical position, it's something worth considering about your characters. If your character is willing to commit crimes and harm others in pursuit of providing for their family, that does not make them a good person. Further, even someone with noble intentions can be responsible for horrific actions.

This will be a slightly crude explanation, but when you're plotting the relationships between characters, it can be helpful to think of it like a multi-act story, with a sequence of different stages or phases. Over a long enough period of time, many relationships are unstable. People who start as friends can become bitter enemies, and people began barely tolerating one another could come to respect each other, only for that to be scuttled later on.

There's nothing inherent in these two character concepts that would automatically mean they couldn't work together, or even become friends. Similarly, there are a lot of potential threads that could lead to a brutal falling out down the line. That's fine. More than fine, that's useful.

I've said it before, but your job is not to make friends with your characters. You are not responsible for handing them a happy ending. Having characters that end up parting ways because of irreconcilable differences can punctuate a good story. Conflicts between protagonists can be incredibly valuable for changing a character's trajectory, or showcasing new insights into who your characters are, and how the story's events have changed them.

In both cases, you have a the basic sketch of a character who could be a complex individual, and that's something you will want to encourage. Character conflict lets you tease out that depth without requiring either character to be exceptionally self aware.

I can't tell you how they met, or why they started to work together. I can't tell you if there was friction or if they started out working together for purely pragmatic reasons. I don't know. Those are your character and your story.

What I do know is, try it. If it doesn't work, examine where and why it failed, and rewrite it until you're happy with it.

-Starke

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#Starke answers #writing advice #writing tips #writing reference #world building #character building

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cassandraclare · 4 years

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I'm sorry to hear that your hard work was leaked but I was curious about what happened. I hope the person faced consequences because that was a very selfish thing to do leaking your work like that :(

I haven’t taken action against the person who leaked the book. I know who they are, since they uploaded the page I signed for them, and I was able to match that against my records.

I haven’t refrained from taking action because I feel sympathy for them. I don’t. It’s beyond shitty behavior to receive an early, signed book as a gift, and to then leak the entire book online. It’s a shit thing to do to the authors and an equally shit thing to do to other fans. However, I don’t want to put myself (and Wes) through the exhausting, grim and expensive process of legal repercussions. It doesn’t mean what this person did isn’t horrible, and it doesn’t mean they haven’t cost the entire fandom any chance of there ever being an early contest giveaway like that again. They did. There never will be. There will be no ARCs of Chain of Iron, either, and you can thank them for that, too.

Part of what makes piracy such an issue for authors goes far beyond the individual assholes who upload and distribute and translate stolen books. It’s that the whole system is set up to make it incredibly difficult for us to do anything about it. Publishers do little to nothing to prevent piracy, and authors shoulder the entire burden of searching out and reporting illegal copies of their books. And even then, we’re dependent on whether or not the reported website feels like complying with copyright laws or not. Twitter is incredibly slow to respond, Tumblr is about fifty-fifty on bothering at all. They’re legally required to take action, but they also know that the effort of doing something about it if they do not falls on exhausted, overburdened artists who often can’t afford to follow up with a lawyer’s letter.

And like, I get being broke and wanting to read books; there were a lot of books I had to pass up reading when I was broke (I will be forever grateful to the library system of New York and Brooklyn, which is how I read books at all from about 2001-2004.) I was broke enough that I slept on a bare mattress because I couldn’t afford sheets, but I’m pretty sure if I broke into Bed, Bath and Beyond and stole a bunch of fitted percale bedding I wouldn’t have encountered much sympathy if I got caught.

I talked about this on Twitter before, and I’ll say it again here though I know it will make very little difference: pirating books doesn’t just hurt the author of those books. It hurts everyone at the publishing company, where the margin of profit is razor-thin (and yes, publishers should do more to protect themselves against piracy; I agree there); it hurts bookstores, especially indie bookstores (I remember doing an event at a store that told me, sadly, that they were likely going to have to close because people “came into the store, looked at the books, took notes, then went home and pirated them.”) It hurts libraries, who rely on circulation for funding, and the shutting down of libraries hurts people who actually can’t afford books.

Now, I know is no way to talk people out of piracy; the internet has normalized it, and besides, people will generally do the cheaper, easier thing — you can’t talk people into not doing something they want to do by telling them it’s wrong, in my experience. They’ll find ways to justify it, whether it be that they can’t afford the book or it isn’t yet available in their language or that they find the author “problematic” and this is the way they’ve chosen to punish them.

The reason I put “problematic” in quotes is because yes, of course you can read and enjoy work that has problematic elements. Pretty much everything has some element that’s going to be found problematic by someone — which is exactly why deciding that it’s morally excusable to steal from people you think are creating flawed work is more than problematic. Holding creators accountable for their work means critiquing that work, not stealing it.

I listen to a lot of political podcasts, and some of them review work by extreme right-wing politicians etc. who have written books that the podcasters find morally despicable but wish to, or need to, review and discuss. Since they don’t wish to give money to the authors, they buy second-hand copies or take the book out of the library. They certainly don’t steal, translate and distribute copies of the books because they genuinely do not like them and do not want more people reading them. That’s what it looks like when you have an actual moral problem with a book or author.

However, running multiple fan accounts for a book series, naming your internet identity after characters from that book series, and talking endlessly about “your favorite parts” and how this is “your favorite book” entirely invalidates any argument that you’re doing this because you think the books are bad, evil, etc. If you claim a book is actively homophobic or racist but are so desperate to read it that you’ll steal it, so excited about it that you’ll share that stolen copy, so obsessed that you’ll illegally translate a whole book and provide that stolen translation to as many people as possible, and so dedicated to the fandom that you’ll name yourself after the characters in the books and write poetry about them, I have to tell you: the last thing that looks like is that you actually find the books problematic, regardless of what you say to the contrary. It looks like you like them but don’t want to pay for them, because in fact, that’s the case. (Either that or it looks like you’re really into racist, homophobic books, and making sure as many people read them as possible, which is your problem.)

One of the issues I have with piracy is that it teaches you to hate creators. You have to hate them, because you’re doing a fucking awful thing to them and you have to justify it. This results in lying about creators — about their process, their translations, their research — as if somehow, even if they were bad researchers, that would justify widespread theft. (It doesn’t.) Those who steal books wind up in a headspace where they are obsessed with the content of the books, and entirely unwilling to accept the reality that those books were created by a real person that they’re really harming. It encourages the mentality that I didn’t create Jem or Magnus or Will or Cordelia: they came from some kind of sparkly outerspace planet and I was just lucky enough to get to write down their adventures. It invalidates the hard work creators put into what they create, and in fact, erases their very existence. The internet attitude toward creators is already incredibly toxic (especially if they’re women, LGBT+ and/or BIPOC) and the feeling of entitlement to free content, and vicious hatred toward those who aren’t providing it (even though a lot of creators, me included, provide a great deal of free content) contributes to that. Genuinely, if you’re stealing someone’s work, the least you could do is not also be an asshole about them. (Or pretend you’re Robin Hood. He stole from the rich who had taken property and goods from the poor, and returned that stolen wealth. He didn’t steal from artists and independent bookstores and use that stealing to benefit himself and his friends. The idea is actually kind of funny.)

I understand there is a pressure to be up to date on the books that are being released so as to participate in fandom, and I do get that. Unfortunately, piracy has real consequences that stretch beyond just hurting me and Wes. Because LGBT+ books are pirated at such an incredible rate, and we’ve definitely seen that with TEC, I am left wondering if there will ever be an actual Spanish translation of TEC, or whether the publisher will decide not to bother because it’s already been so thoroughly pirated in Spanish. I have to wonder if there will even be a third book of TEC at all, or whether publishers will feel it isn’t worth doing. And I have to wonder why the people who create this situation so often have usernames that include Jem or Magnus or Alec or Cordelia or Julian or Tessa. What an incredible misunderstanding of those characters, to imagine a world in which Will Herondale or Magnus Bane or James Carstairs would approve of stealing books and harming writers. And why name yourself after a character who absolutely couldn’t stand you? I don’t know. I don’t get it, any more than I get hating someone who provided you with something you claim is your favorite book.

That was a much longer answer than you were probably expecting or hoping for, and I know I’ll get yelled at quite thoroughly for writing it. Writers always do, when we engage with the issue of piracy. I know most of you reading this acquire your books honestly; most of you are not like this at all. But like most things on the internet, a small amount of people really do have the power to make things pretty rotten for everyone else.

#brother-sixpackariah-carstairs #piracy #tda #tlh #tec

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wickedwitchoftheemidwest · 3 years

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Happy New Year, everybody! I know that Literally no one cares or will read this, but I have to rate and talk about what I’ve read this year and this is my page, so deal with it.

2020 may have been a dumpster fire of a year, but I did read so me pretty good books. I didn’t get to read as many books as I wanted (like always), but that’s life. If you couldn’t tell, I do have a preference for romance novels, and these selections are very... 🌈 and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here we go:

- Lies we Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley (4/10)

- I think I could write a dissertation about why I have a problem with this book, but I think I can just stop with “a white lady writing an interracial queer romance in the 1960s where the lead white character is literally a racist” should about cover it. Absolutely disappointed.

- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (10/10)

- Oh my god does Casey McQuiston know how to write a book. Classic enemies to lovers, my favorite trope. This is my comfort novel that I use as a form of escapism, and probably the reason I didn’t read many new books, as I reread it about five times. It’s my comfort novel, and I come back to it every time I need to feel happy. I’ve made three of my friends read this book, and I recommend it to everyone

- These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling (8/10)

- It’s sapphic, it has witches, and it’s adorable; what more could you possibly want? The ending left me wanting more. I was finally able to buy the sequel and I can’t wait to get into it.

- Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (7/10)

- I think this book is sort of a classic when it comes to gay YA. This was a pretty good book, but it took me awhile to get into it.

- Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins (9/10)

- What did I say about enemies to lovers? HRH was regarded as sapphic Red, White, and Royal Blue, which I think is all you need to know to be interested. This book and short, sweet, and to the point. It’s an easy read (I read it twice, both times in one day). I think there could’ve been some more character building, but it’s so adorable I literally do not care. When I say I want more cute gay romcoms, they should use HRH as the blueprint.

- It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura (7/10)

- A cute, interracial sapphic love story where no white people are involved (the main character is Japanese American and her love interest is Mexican American). This coming of age story deals with acceptance, cultural differences, racism, and coming out. I think some of the points it was trying to delve into were too much on the nose at some times, but I really enjoyed this book.

- The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee (9/10)

- A fun romp set some time in the 1700s with a chaotic bi as the main lead? Count me in! I read this whole series this year, including the novella (the gentleman’s guide to getting lucky), and I loved every second of it. It’s an adventure series with some romance sprinkled in (a hella slow burn, but definitely worth it). The whole series has gay, bi, lesbian, and ace aro representation, and I was in love the entire time.

- You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (8/10)

- The black sapphic book I needed. Liz Lighty decides she wants to leave her hometown and go to college, but after losing the financial aid she was counting on, she remembers the scholarship that prom queen gets every year, and decides to run. Sprinkle in a cute love story, and I’m hooked.

- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (10/10)

- I... cannot put into words how this book made me feel. When I finished TSOA, I cried all night trying to recover. Beautifully written, and I still can’t get over Achilles and Patroclus. One of my favorite books this year.

- Sorry Not Sorry by Naya Rivera

- After Naya’s tragic passing in July, I struggled to find her autobiography anywhere. However, I was finally able to get my hands on it, and am so glad that I did. Naya Rivera was just as genuinely funny and carefree as her previous costars have said, and I wish the world could’ve gotten more of her.

Not pictured:

- Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst (9/10)

- Sapphic love story about a princess who has been betrothed to a prince from a nearby country her whole life who instead falls in love with his sister. The main character, Denna, also possesses magical powers, which is forbidden in their land. One of my favorite things about this book is that it’s set in medieval times, but no one cares about queer relationships. The only problem with Denna falling in love with the princess is that she’s betrothed to her brother and nothing else. I recently bought the sequel to this book as well, and I’m excited to read it

- The After Series (books 1-2) by Anna Todd (-400/10)

- I was curious about this series because of how terrible the movies are, and needed to read them myself. I apologize to myself every day that I every even wasted my time on these two books. If I ever see Anna Todd, it’s on sight immediately. Not only is the writing terrible, but the romanticization of abusive relationships is absolutely unacceptable. I think I could take less issue with these books if the author wrote them as a “what to look for in men you should never date” rule book, but it isn’t. I could actually write an essay on why these books are more harmful than entertaining and how I genuinely think this series should have never been published. Also, Harry Styles did not deserve this.

I also discovered WEBTOON this year, and here are some of my favorites that I have read:

- Always Human by creator walkingnorth, a finished WLW story which was absolutely beautiful to look at and delightful to read.

- Lore Olympus by creator Rachel Smythe. I don’t think you can find too many people who haven’t heard of this story, but it’s a retelling of the Hades and Persephone mythology, and I adore it.

- Novae by creators KaixJu. A historical, queer and paranormal romance about a necromancer who falls for an astronomer.

- My Lady Artemisia by creator rimarza. This WEBTOON is a little bit newer with fewer episodes, about a knight tasked with guarding the princess, which starts to prove difficult once she starts to gain feelings for the princess, and an impending threat might cause her to past to come to the surface.

Of course, I’ve also spent a lot of my time on A03. I know I’ve read more, but here are the ones I bookmarked and have come back to this year:

- kiss me (if you mean it) by nerdybutpunk

- Carry On fanfic, short but sweet, absolute fluff

- Camp Llwynywermod by bleedingballroomfloor

- Red, White, and Royal Blue AUwhere Henry and Alex are camp counselors. It’s so good and I find myself waiting every wed and sat for the updates.

I read more this year than I have in a long time, and I enjoyed it most of the time. My goal for 2021 is to read at least two books a month and to expand my horizons to something that isn’t YA and isn’t romance. Also to find Anna Todd and tell her off. Hopefully we can accomplish some of that.

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doctorslippery · 3 years

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Shea Longshanks – A human drug lord who has taken control of a wing of the prison and requires rent from others in his wing. He has a group of henchmen and acts as if he is a guard/warden.

Malcer Holden – A well-dressed half-elf necromancer who will not state why he is here. In return for information, he requires spoons, which he provides to his army of undead in hopes of digging his way out.

Zenbis Axor – A yellow dragonborn who will not speak to anyone she encounters. She possesses immense magical power but chooses to spend her days solitarily in her cell. Nobody knows the story behind her.

Durgar Steely – This dwarf holds an infinitely refilling beer glass and nobody in the prison has ever seen him sober. He is very friendly and can just about speak and walk normally.

Naroxius – The source of annoyance for much of the prison, Naroxius always manages to find a way to vandalize the prison. He has made clear that he will stop at nothing to escape, however all that he has managed to do is anger other inmates and staff. His current cell now consists of a wooden slab in the corner, after he fireballed his previous one

Argus Shatterhorn – A goliath and zealous follower of a crazed war god. He’s seemingly possesses an infinite trove of energy and vitality, laughing and preaching loudly despite being literally skewered to a wall in his cell. Nothing can shut him up short of magical silence, which he doesn’t seem to notice.

The Witch of Cretchreaver – A very polite sounding woman behind a foot of concrete and a metal door. She requests that you open the tiny hole so that she can get a look at you. She’s a medusa with her eyes pressed against the other side.

Slobfoot the Eloquent – An educated, well spoke goblin who tried to incite a political revolution. He gives a very deep, loquacious philosophical speech to the party.

Thaddeus Null – A blue dragonborn and self-proclaimed God. He doesn’t seem arrogant beside that, just comfortable and quiet. His followers are magically capable, morally bankrupt people who are trying to break him out as they speak.

The Rat – A wood elf who ratted out his bandit gangmates. Can’t be trusted, would sell their own brother for half a smoke. Nonetheless, they keep their eyes and ears open and know a lot about what’s happening in the prison.

Randy Shackleford- human, assailed a government agent with sand and authorities now cannot find his name on any records.

The Smuggler – A male gnome. He is the prison supplier who can find almost anything and smuggle it in the prison in exchange for the prison’s currency (smokes, food, etc.)

Daloriz – A blind vampire who overcame his sunlight sensitivity. He has blindsense, and his power is to the point where he can overwhelm most enemies. When spoken to, he is polite and mentions he has seen the future and knows he must wait here for the right time. Why is this vampire in prison? What is he waiting for? Who is coming? Up to the DM to decide.

Takaar ‘Two shields’ Alzurini – small time dwarf mob boss locked up for extortion and racketeering. He has boys on the outside planning to break him out.

Voracious Veronica – A cannibalistic human who is soft spoken. She claims she was a knight who resorted to ‘the worst sin of all’ when her position was under siege for months. Her skin is pale, her eyes are dull, and her gaze sends shivers up your spine. You’re almost certain she’s lying.

Gregor Brutalous – An imposing half-giant with jet black braided hair, dressed in clean formal clothing. He was a psychotic and incredibly powerful warlord, but years after his arrest insists he is trying to atone for his actions. He can easily escape (or so he claims) but refuses to leave as penance.

Marros Tarmikos – A merchant who was caught up in a bar fight with some religious fanatics. He knows a few secrets about the prison and seems to be a law-abiding citizen for the most part.

Gorgeous Gnurl – An orc pit fighter that lost his champion title to *insert NPC* and in a violent rage murders him and his entire team right there in front of the entire crowd.

Mordekai – Leader of a gang of wererats, he used his rats or ‘little friends’ to spy on people, and to blackmail them, or to sell their secrets to the highest buyer.

Torun Sacanti – This ex-palace guard was thrown in prison after he gave his friend a tour of the duke’s apartments. When asked why he is in prison, he will do whatever he can to distract the party from the question.

Tharon Ash – A Tiefling man who was kidnapped for a part in an infernal ritual but was arrested along with the cult when city guards caught them all. He will do anything short of murder to prove his innocence or escape.

Resh – This culinary master in orcish cuisine can barely speak a few sentences in common. Employed in the kitchen, he is known to sometimes get rowdy and confiscate the fingers of anyone who looks at him the wrong way.

Myrca Faro – Quiet and keeps to herself. She seems capable in many skills, decent in a fight, but is distant, mumbling to herself often, though what she’s saying can’t be heard. She was caught with her crew, but one of them testified against her. She doesn’t seem keen on reuniting since she doesn’t know who.

The Painted Claw – A charismatic rakshasa who enjoys gaining followers and leading them into a suicide pact. He is sending souls back to his master in the nine hells and he has been captured for now…

Habstrek the Painter – A former cart driver turned serial killer, she’s not getting out any time soon; she was captured during a time referred to in the local lore as ‘the summer of art’, in which she killed and drained the bodies of over twenty prison guards’ family members, apparently out of revenge for their extrajudicial killing of her apparently innocent husband, Algnir Half-Tusk. She’s fed via a wand charged with Create Food and Drink, as her cell door is welded shut. Guards hate her above almost all other prisoners, knowing she’d gladly turn her targets into further ‘paintings’.

Elgin Powell – charged with a dozen counts of kidnapping, he was a local mob boss’ favorite enforcer – with no bodies ever discovered, the families of his victims were denied even the peace of knowing that they were able to be contacted via necromancy. Reportedly, he kept his charges in a deep mine and they are, one and all, still alive, just shielded from scrying and blood legacy magic. Knows more about kidnappings than anyone local is likely to have ever considered.

Jimmy ‘Lumberjack’ Jackson – Woodcutter turned assassin. He was brutal, honest, and captured by the palace guards when they asked him to start signing his work; reportedly, he’s still working from inside of the prison, except his rates are infinitely more affordable. His signature weapon remains undiscovered – which is a neat trick, considering that it’s a massive war axe.

Anna – Kept in a dark room and bound with magic sigils, Anna is a deeply motivated, highly disturbed wandering killer, captured after a five-year hunt by professional adventurers; her modus operandi was to disguise herself as an orphan human child, infiltrate colonial outposts, and then systematically destroy food, water, and medical supplies, forcing the pioneers into madness, murder, and cannibalism. Rumors say that she’s responsible for the failure of two nation-states’ failure to expand their territories. She’s boasted she’d gladly take one another job, if freed.

Rankle the Bookkeeper – A master of puppeteering and palace intrigue, he went from entertainer to information broker in under a year; his spies consist of handmade puppets, each one capable of recording sights and sounds, he extorted vast amounts of funding from select projects and missions, lining his own pocket freely until he was captured under what many consider unusual circumstances. Some say that he did so to protect himself from the palace paladins and clergy, all of whom are above harming prisoners.

Coins and Pouch – Master forgers and loan sharks, these two brothers are a regular feature in the prison yard, dealing out loans with reasonable interest rates and obtaining rarities for other prisoners; it’s said that on the day they were brought into the prison, they presented a set of keys to a well-appointed cottage to the chief guard as a token of their appreciation. Ever since, they’re under protection and weekly payments continue to provide them with many creature comforts. Every year, on the anniversary of their incarceration, the guard that treats them the best receives a key to another cottage.

Aldac – Former adventurer, expedition guide, reformed arsonist, and now a leader of a prison yard ‘exercise group’, this monk is a dangerous person; some say that she’s building an army, others that it’s a cult, and nobody wants to test her in a straight fight since she crippled her last opponent in under ten seconds. Anything that requires focus and determination, she’s happy to offer her thoughts on, free of charge – provided that she’s shown proper respect first. Her sentence is for a triple life duration – tough luck for her, as her species is a long-lived one.

Thack – A monstrous human, he was a warlord by age fifteen, a respected bandit king at twenty, and captured during his attempt to seize the capital itself, turned over by his own command structure in exchange for lenient sentencing for war crimes. Passionate, charismatic, and mysteriously possessing a keen ear for music, he’s an example of what can happen to a Bard if they decide to turn war itself into a performance art. He’s making money through the writing of strategic, tactical and logistic guidebooks, periodically singing for the lost days of his misspent youth. He turns twenty-three in a month.

Rejoice-Cried-The-Kraken – Still living her best life, RJCTK is a priestess first, bandit second, and a model prisoner third, choosing to ignore her history of piracy and looting in exchange for running a small group of like-minded believers in the church she’s built in her cell; she served as a first officer on the flagship of a vast pirate fleet, choosing who lived and who was sacrificed to her deity, often by slow drowning or something that officials referred to as ‘hook dancing’. She makes a few extra coins giving nautical theme tattoos for fellow prisoners, each one a work of art worthy of a church’s stained-glass windows.

Prisoner #644 – Captured at the frontier, whatever it is, it’s only eaten six times in ten years, each time it was an unwary guard who strayed too close to the sealed cage covered in a thick burlap sheet. It hums at night, an eerie, unsettling event taking place only just before the onset of riots, uprisings, and acts of revenge on a wide scale inside of the prison. Recently, guards have reported that it has started to sing softly. Each of the Dead prisoners killed in the previous ten years are named, one by one, and it chuckled wetly when younger guards approach it.

Kishi the Kid – A 16-year-old changeling who attempted to steal the Crown Jewels. He’s stuck in solitary after using the persona of a guard to start a riot, and is well known for the many he’s started in the few months he’s been here

Cold Turquoise – The former cult leader of a Dragonborn pirate fleet. Will only talk in Draconian, and will give advice on how to operate a ship at a cost…

Henri Schum – Halfling Mafia-don. Used his resources and cutthroat approach to fund a smuggling operation on rare animals for collectors. Has 2 fingers missing on his left hand and has his ‘buddies’ rough up any new people who mention them.

Zarakos – Super beefy winged Tiefling. Brought in for attempting to rob a local bank and fly off with the loot, not accounting for the wizards that can cast Fly. Wings are always tied for obvious reasons. Not very smart, but very loyal. If you free his wings, he will follow you and your group until the end. Will carry and fly anyone that needs it

Kimnuan Shadestalker – Black kitsune assassin. She and her bard troupe would spread rumors about people so others would order hits on them. Specifically in for burning down a village after getting caught by the local authorities. If she can get access to her hands, she can summon a lute and cast spells to become invisible/incorporeal.

Binks Falkhorn- A scribe for 2 generations of very powerful wizards. Has not shown any criminal intent but is ordered to be imprisoned in solitary indefinitely after the wizard went mad and went on a killing spree, showing horrible power. His scribe is the last shred of evidence of the wizard’s work. It would be too dangerous to let the scribe roam free, but it would be foolish to kill him in case his knowledge became useful

Sparkler- A nine-year-old bronze half dragon who just wants to go home to her older brother. She was framed for a crime that she in no way could have committed. She is kept in a dark cell and is the favorite to be abused by the head guard. No knows her actual name because she rarely talks to anyone even when she is allowed.

Xnyxyh Halfheart – Channeling Chronurgy wizard without his spell book. He looks human and is locked up for various crimes. He will help anyone who can get him his spell book. However, if he gets it, he will finish becoming a lich. He does not care for anyone but himself.

Thornbull – an experimental warforged, who committed too many war crimes.

Thragg Jadewolf – half-orc spy. He looks like an ugly human. He is in prison for high treason. He infiltrated border settlements and opened the gates at night, sabotaged the defenses, etc., so the neighboring orc kingdom could conquer the settlements easily.

The masked man – this human wears a cursed mask, which he cannot take off. His crime: He is the elder brother of the current king.

The Wyrd Sisters – Three halfling sisters each identical except for different colored eyes, the Wyrd Sisters are prohibited from accessing the kitchen and mess halls, kept in solitary confinement from each other, and fed separately. This is due to their innate toxicity, their blood, saliva, and sweat producing an extremely toxic poison which when ingested, causes a terrifying and agonizing death in even small doses. They were arrested after their entire village was found rotting the next morning after drinking from the tainted well which they had poisoned. Rumors persist that their natural lethality came from a tradeoff with a powerful Demon.

Semaj Ironscreamer – An elderly Half-Orc Druid who has spent half his life in this cell. He was jailed after being involved in multiple eco-terrorist attacks on mining towns that had been dumping their industrial waste into the nearby rivers. Seen as a kindly grandfather figure by the other inmates and even some of the guards, Semaj is often the peacekeeper between those he can hear from his cell and dispenses wisdom to those who ask. Given the nature of his magic, Semaj is kept in an underground cell with no window and any visitors he receives will be checked for wooden objects and plant matter.

Azar – A former acolyte of the church who used his talents as a thief to steal back religious artifacts from wealthy aristocrats. Until one day he was set up by the Queen dowager to make it look like he was trying to assassinate her with the same knife she had killed her husband with. Is actually completely innocent of this particular crime, but with the weight of the crown bearing down on him his trial was anything but fair.

Vulmon Longroot – A 900-year-old High Elven Bard who was the very first prisoner ever put into this place. His crime? 800 years ago, he had been caught having an affair with all 11 princesses of the area and is actually the reason every member of the royal family has any access to magic.

Tybo the Mad Monk – An incredibly dangerous and violent martial artist who was known to wear the ears of his enemies that he killed in battle like a necklace. After a failed assassination attempt by one of his party members caused Tybo to go mad and kill his party, the Human Monk returned to his roots raiding ships along the coast before he was eventually captured and placed in prison.

Irving – he was just an ordinary peasant… until adventurers showed up in his life and destroyed it. After that he has dedicated his life to destroying them.

Dean Fisher – human. Scum landlord to good upstanding goblins. forgot to bribe a local official.

Greta Howitzer- A human horizon walker ranger who was once a famed demon hunter. But while hunting members of the cult of Baphomet, she lost her mind in Baphomet’s lair. She has the madness ‘The world is my hunting ground. Others are my prey.’ She now views all humanoids as demons and will go to any length to hunt them down. She was imprisoned after spending her money building a massive maze, kidnapping people, and hunting them down in the maze.

Dominic Halfcastle – Halfling, originally in jail for tax evasion, now known for being transferred due to the murder and consumption of multiple sentients, claims the ability to kill sentients with his mind, has displayed no actual psionic or magical power

Vestlev the Mad – War criminal of the highest order, he has been moved to a normal prison as a temporary holding place until a proper area is found. He looks old and disheveled but is a mastermind when it comes to the magical arts of evocation. From his cell can be heard incoherent babbling, but do not be fooled, he has escaped before.

Minkus the Feebleminded – Everyone knows it’s a mistake that he’s in the prison. He’s a real sweetheart if a bit soft in the head. Sometimes his cell glows at night though. Oh, and don’t let him tell you about his nightmares if he says you were in one…

Sir Jim Haggins – A true gentleman at heart, he wears his ragged suit proudly. He’s perfectly polite in every way. He doesn’t look kindly on the poor however, oh no. He detests the poor. So much so that his hunting lodge was full to the brim with human trophies when the authorities finally tracked down ‘the Slum-spree Killer’

Thiggund – This hairy brute is referred to by the only word he heads ever been known to utter. When the villagers of a small farming community found him by the road, surrounded by the brutalized remains of a merchant and his horses, Thiggund was arrested on the spot.

Unburned Barty – A slight man with an unassuming smile. He survived being burned at the stake without a single scar. He was moved into isolation after his cellmates kept killing themselves

Billy Pumpernickel – A gnome who is well known and loved in the prison, but actually committed a horrible crime. Everyone just goes with it, and other than the one horrible unforgivable thing, he’s just a pretty nice dude. Like ‘Hey, there’s Billy. Yeah, he mutilated a few kids, but only once. Nice guy.’ (Edit: This would just be hilarious when the players try to come to terms on how to treat him)

The Time Master – Real name, age, sex, & race unknown. (S)he exists 5 minutes in the future. The cell was locked, and an empty plate appeared with a note. The note had an explanation and instructions. ‘Please place a full plate inside the cell each time an empty plate is discovered. Failure to do so will create a paradox and subsequently release the prisoner.’

Elwe – An elf who walks through the corridors of the prison as if he was someone free, talks to the guards and other prisoners as they were friends. Says he is in prison due to stealing, is actually hiding from the king, who wants to kill him since he killed his father

Ozob – An old looking human with hair only on sides and a fire potion (Molotov) where his nose would be. Always angry. Whenever someone looks wrong at him, he says: you are so annoying I might sneeze.

Walks-Winding-Paths – A tabaxi shadow monk, she is kept in a fully lighted cell at all times, wearing glowing enchanted clothing. She is only fed by guards under a faerie fire spell, as otherwise they would cast a shadow which she could teleport into to escape. She will attempt to convince a party member to give her a cloak, bowl, or other object to block the light with.

Garth the Radiant – A paladin of the fallen angel Zariel. His guards are ordered to hit him every time they see him meditating or praying, as that would let him regain the spells, she grants him and summon his enchanted mace, Purity, to destroy his cell. If the party can bring him his weapon, or even give him ten minutes of peace, he will consider himself honor-bound to grant them a favor upon request. If their aims align with his, he might even fight alongside them.

Nibbles – Literally just a warlock cat.

Iydis Tyger-Eye – Former Guld Leader, she is high level Fighter and also a Were-Tiger. Killed the heads of other Were families, in an attempt to seize power and take control of the protection of the city, and its criminal underworld.

Rollins – Air School Elemental Wizard. Believes in Anarchy and Equality of all races. In jail for starting a revolution and killing the Queen.

Herman – Normal human who built Mythic Bracers of Shatter that are only attuned to him. Had used the Bracers to gain access and rob several small vaults. Then he was caught by an adventurer after going for heist to rob a merchant banker when he refused to harm others to escape with the goods. He refuses to teach/sell the knowledge of how to make the Bracers as he doesn’t want others to use it to harm someone.

Roscoe Tealeaf – A well-dressed halfling who smells of saffron. He brokers deals between prison factions. It’s no secret that he is trying to escape. He claims he was framed by a noble, or maybe arrested breaking into the noble’s vault. He’ll tell anyone who asks that the noble has a dangerous artifact. Roscoe is a lore bard that specializes in counter spell silence and general magic user shutdowns.

John ‘Musical Manipulator’ Green – Half-elf, in jail for making a whole court dance for hours on end to prove a philosophical point that the upper class will just do as they say to hold up appearances and are so comfortable in their wealth, they can watch it be taken away and redistributed.

Colin Green – human. John’s half-brother who supported him and helped with a second set up hands to pull off music. Tuomas Yurke – elf. the voice and magic behind all of this. Started to talk to John about these thoughts and with a few others began to flesh them out into a more concrete thought and into a sound. Loved by the low class, anticipated and loved by the upper class even though it is all a misunderstanding. The three of them are located at different corners and different levels of the prison so the music can’t come together and convince guards to open up cages. Mail comes from them from all over. 2 members of their group are still at large.

Vaelh’noo – Githyanki sorceress who once commanded a powerful fleet in the astral sea before she was captured in a botched raid. Her secret is that she allowed herself to be captured to escape the wrath of the lich queen, whom she plots to overthrow from the safety of her cell.

Quikiliar – A doppleganger (Rogue). Thrown into prison for impersonating a person of high authority, they’re known for frequently making their way into guard chambers by pretending to be one. They can get access to a lot of things if you ask for it, but almost always ask for some odd favor or trinket, usually personal, like a lock of hair or an image of someone loved.

Locke – Once a guard themselves, this warforged fighter was sent to jail after attacking someone due to a misinterpretation of their actions. Unfortunately, this was also another guard with good standing with the warden, who had them put in. They serve their time willingly but can be interrogated or otherwise convinced to disclose explicit info about the prison and its guard shifts and similar.

Breeze – An air genasi artificer, she was thrown into jail after selling several infused items for high prices and then the infusing a different item. Since then, she’s gotten in good favor with guards and other inmates by enchanting some magic items and plans to use these favors and connections to escape at some point.

Zaurok – A Goliath Barbarian, although he acts calm and meditates. Known for the rare outbursts, during which he flies into a rage after being provoked or possibly from being disturbed while meditating. The several escape attempts that’ve happened are from him simply breaking the jail bars. Since then, he’s been relocated to a cell made out of adamantine.

Slicer – Kenku cleric. Devoted to a god of trickery, they gained their name after a particular… Prank, on part of their god. Around the jail will often prank the various inmates but is also known to make distracting sounds at the guards at night. Likely to be able to convince with shiny objects to prank someone or create a distraction.

Color-of-Blood – An insane Tabaxi woman incarcerated for eviscerating several people. Can often be found singing quietly to herself songs usually about ‘meal preparation’. Is usually docile and doesn’t react to being talked to unless threatened which she may attack while loudly singing ’50 ways to skin a human.’

Reginald Mark – A mild mannered human male incarcerated for a chain of serial killings. He claims he’s possessed by a banshee, but no one believes him. His speech has a feminine undertone and his skin is cold to the touch. Those who threaten him are usually found in the morning choked to death with a horrifying look on their face.

Tee’vah – Tiefling rogue who doesn’t seem too upset to be there. If approached he will happily show off a copy of his wanted poster, listing crimes from arson to murder. Secretly a doppelgänger who is honestly just trying to provide for his family and have some fun. Can break out any time he wants.

The Dread Pirate Azuzula, Roger, and Primten – A Tiefling, an earth genasi, and an air genasi. Azuzula seems useless but the other two are competent sorcerers. Despite this they follow her words to the letter. In for piracy. Azuzula can’t spell and keeps ranting about her ship the Doom Squid. Will challenge people to fights.

Taryon Sandstone – A half-elf paladin who used to be a slave fighting in gladiator pits. After gaining his freedom, he vowed to fight for the freedom of other and became a powerful hero. After the tragic loss of a close friend, he went on an overzealous crusade against slavers, killing them and their family as well as anyone who had in any way helped them (ship captains, harbor employees, food/clothes/rope vendors, blacksmith, etc.)

Tilby Valenois – A gnome mage of sorts who has committed zero crimes besides somehow breaking into a maximum-security prison and… staying there? The security guards have tried to get him to leave numerous times but usually get charmed or subdued out of it magically. Nobody knows why the gnome wishes to be there, but he hasn’t been messing with the order of things much.

Adelai – A rather amicable young woman. Nobody knows for sure what she’s in for, but general consensus is that it involved a basilisk head and the water supply to a small town

Vass – A large orc man that was used as a phylactery for a lich. Vass has been hearing whispers of the lich in his mind and is slowly being possessed. He has started doing horrible things under the influence of the lich. Performing Magic’s that he has no right to know.

Endeer – A being that inflicts his victims with horrible nightmares in each of these nightmares a horrifying creature appears to the dreamer and offers them the opportunity to “Loose yourself from the chains of your labored slumber” if the dreamer accepts, they never sleep again as their mind descends in to horrible madness

Cultists of the Basilisk – These cultists are attempting to create the creature they worship a terrible all-knowing basilisk they know that they will be successful and that the basilisk will destroy anyone who knew about him and didn’t help create him so they only share their beliefs with those they deem helpful or worthy of death

Arnold Long – A half orc/elf, he looks like a giant of a human and seems pleasant to be around in a group of people. While it appears, he is a big stupid sweet teddy bear of a person, his record is full of brutal killings that may or may not have happened. The last killings were not too long ago after a prison gang isolated Arnold in the showers and bribed a guard to not interfere. Long story short, the gang WAS major player in the prison, now all of its muscle IS dead, and the guard went missing. Arnold is to be handled with care and kindness.

The ‘Statue of The Maiden’ – It looks like a statue of a naked elven woman that was bought by a merchant (deceased) from an artist (deceased) who sold it to a noble (deceased) for a gift to his wife (deceased) and children (deceased). All that is known is the statue moves when not observed and will eat and clean itself. It leaves flirtatious messages for the guards it likes and death threats to the guards it hates. The artist swore on their deathbed it was a mistake for them to create it but, this is the only place it has been stored where it does not kill thought it has maimed a few people who fail to respect it. Attempts to remove, destroy, or study it has been ‘unfruitful and unwise’.

Inspector Brundt – A beardless dwarf imprisoned for the crimes of tax evasion, swindling, theft, and gross debt. He knows how to get things and bribes the guards to get luxuries and messages through the prison walls.

Tur the Kobold – He seems stupid and harmless. Everyone assumes he’s just a patsy who took the fall for a bigger criminal. Occasionally, though, he lets something slip that only someone high-level in a criminal organization would know.

Axe Hands – A warforged barbarian who found great success as a military shock trooper, but also was involved in an incident where he dismembered a commanding officer. Sees prison as an ‘extended furlough” and is convinced he’ll be let out when the next war starts.

Clara – A human paladin. Recruited into the military, she was driven mad by the trauma of war and turned oathbreaker. Jailed for the same incident as Axe Hands, having used her healing abilities to keep their victim from bleeding out after being dismembered. Lives to see people suffer but remembers enough of her pre-oathbreaker life to maintain a kind, innocent facade when it suits her.

Harald Silverfinger – An elf wizard who sees humans the same way a scientist sees a bucket full of white rats; testing fodder. They’re close enough to elves to be useful for experimentation, but short-lived enough that killing them really isn’t a big deal. It’s rumored that the local guild is secretly helping him continue his work, using his fellow prisoners as test fodder.

Verdos – A dwarven female cleric. Believes she was morally just in murdering the children of a local village. Full of righteous anger. Judges everybody according to her own warped and insane moral code. Can often barely be understood. In maximum security for obvious reasons. Can offer a range of cleric services at prison prices.

Tabitha Binks – A Tabaxi Rogue. An orphan growing up on the coast, she quickly fell in with the Revelry pirates. Tabitha learned to use her claws as lockpicks and may teach other Tabaxi how to as well. She was caught at sea after ambushing a wealthy fur trader.

James the Changeling – A male changeling known for impersonating the guides and has so far escaped every prison he’s been in. He’s a new inmate already planning his escape.

??? – the cell appears empty, save for a stool. Could be they’re just using it for storage. But, then why does that stool make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up?

Ood – A very old, frail and nearly paralyzed Illithid who sits still in solitary confinement, his blind eyes wide open, and only blinks or changes his position once or twice per year. Said to have messed something up when attempting to become an Alhoon. Nobody knows why he’s there, but he occasionally sends nearly unintelligible telepathic riddles to the other prisoners. Rumor has it he has invaded the minds of everyone in the prison and lives vicariously through their dreams at night.

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