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basmathgirl · 3 months

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I’m a casual Doctor Who fan. I’m not too deep into the lore, I never watched Classic Who, I don’t watch interviews or bts footage and I only watched the entire series one single time. Therefore it is quite possible that the answer to my question is common knowledge among the fans and I just missed or forgot it.

Time and again I read about the Doctor being asexual, and sure you can conclude that from the things the series shows or rather not shows. So my question is: was it ever directly stated at any point that he, that time lords in general, are asexual? Because frankly speaking when I first read this notion somewhere online I was a bit surprised, especially because of the many flirty innuendos made by River Song. Besides I ascribed the fact that we never saw anything explicit to the show’s wish to appeal to a wide demographic.

Hello kind Anon

Ah, I can understand your confusion, because some things need to be defined properly, rather than you having to find out purely due to reading some obscure book or other.

Now, I may have watched Doctor Who from the very start, but I never read any of the books (I never felt they were aimed at me, nor appeared in the local library), heard the audios, or touched fanfiction until 15 years ago. But some things were always implied by the programme.

One of these was that Time Lords were asexual because they didn't need or use sex to reproduce. Probably too high and mighty for all that. I've no idea when I first heard about them using looms instead; it's just been there in my mind.

It was R.T. Davies and Steven Moffat who decided to 'sex up' Doctor Who by introducing love interests for the Doctor. Reinette and River Song being Moffat's creations, of course. It was also Moffat who decided that any child conceived in the Tardis is a Time Lord, not a topic that had ever arose before so it was never pondered. He also did horrendous things to that pregnancy which we are all meant to skip over and ignore (he must have been lovely to his wife when his kids were born *snorts my scorn* and yes, as a person who has given birth, I really resent the way he treated Amy's abduction) so have never properly considered what practicalities that meant. Apart from limited, finite lives. And don't get me started on the BS about River only being born to love the Doctor! Is that how Moffat truly sees women? What a prat.

But I digress. The 50th anniversary interviews with the old Doctors was funny because Colin Baker in particular was disgusted by the idea of the Doctor being in love with a human; a lower species. "Why?!" he demanded to know.

When the topic of a love interest for the Doctor was brought up in an interview with David Tennant, he stated that the Doctor is asexual. So it sort of became fact after that.

By being asexual, the Doctor is never a threat to children, the original target audience (despite loads of middle-aged men claiming it's all for them). they can trust his care and follow his instructions without fear. He's always been like a friendly onscreen uncle, and is a powerful role model. I suppose that's why it's always been implied rather than stated that the Doctor is asexual.

Well, it was, until River Song entered The Library and flirted with the Doctor as though we were expecting it. I personally was not. And she later snogged the Eleventh Doctor, as well as boasted she'd snogged a few other people. Fortunately, it never got more explicit than that.

River's flirtiness brings up more questions than answers. As you say, she represents diversity to appeal to a wider demographic; a space formerly occupied by Captain Jack Harkness.

But is this Time Lord behaviour? Hmm. I'm inclined to say: no.

#kind Anon #the Doctor is asexual #David Tennant #quote #Time Lords use looms instead #of needing sex #...#I also obviously have problems with Moffat's writing #so sue me #at least I remembered to put in a big ol' 'The'#to show how big the Library is #River never got to wear the Time Lord outfit #or look into the Abyss #like the Master was shown to do #hmmm

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mossmx · 1 year

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While Merlin is trending I want to thank the whole Merlin fandom

people who have been with us since 2008 and people who have just started watching, people who have left us too soon but will be forever in our hearts and people who switched fandoms but are still amazing

whereter you create, lurk, cheer or just cry in the corner (most of us have been there lol) every part of the Merlin fandom is always part of our family

even if we have no reason to trend we will always have a reason to celebrate :D

#bbc merlin #merlin #merlin fandom #ok sembra una sviolinata #ma i sentimenti sono onesti #<33<<3<3 #to tex who taught me to welcome people with my heart open #her warmth is still in my thoughts #to kitty who has shown me how good communities can be #to sunfall aeris ligi and so on who showed me the love you gives is given back to you tenfolds #to merlocked alby deheer feuxx mushroomtale stelle and all the other amazin artists #all of your art moved me and kept me creative!#to amazing fic writers #to elv for being amazing #to bunny brunettepet and eurydice loved getting your comments and seeing your names in my pages #<3<3<3<3 #to malu I still have your postcard in my library remindign me to draw more perwaine XD #to archaeologist thanks for the amazing photos #<3<3<3 #a big hug to you all!!!

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incorrect-primarchs-quotes · 2 months

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Can I be honest here,

I find highly ironic that people will harass new fans just because "ew you don't know all the 400 books and 200+ short stories, you're new and ignorant, ew", then will proceed to correct them and

*drum roll*

They are wrong or hold incomplete knowledge themselves.

#where is that graph showing 'how much you know ' and 'how secure ypu are about your knowledge '#literally a good chunk of the fans here #someone should inform these people that books are meant to be read and that listening to podcasts is not the perfect way to get all the info #especially if you follow those big guys who literally read the wiki #ironically enough those who are really human libraries of the lore are actually chill and understanding

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softquietsteadylove · 3 months

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Would you continue the Addams Family au?

"Thena?" Gil whispered in his family's expansive home library. He didn't receive a reply, but he should have known he would lose her to his family collection.

He had shown her around the manor as soon as she and her father arrived. Their fathers went to talk business and he was entrusted with her. So, like normal, he had taken her hand and led her away from the business talk and to show her around their home.

The library was only the third stop on their tour, counting just looking out the windows of the grand hall, but she had laid her eyes on all the books they had and excitedly asked if they could explore it.

How could he say no to that?

She looked so cute and enthused and he rarely got to see that sparkle in her eye with both her parents breathing down her neck. He was happy to encourage her, even if it meant potentially never finding her again in the labyrinthine shelves.

"Thena," he whispered again, walking slowly in case she was crouched down behind a stack waiting to be re-shelved. "Are you still in here?"

"Gil?"

He poked his head around a corner and found several piles of books, all several tomes high but arranged very neatly in their respective stacks. He chuckled, "find some stuff you like."

Thena immediately turned contrite, and maybe a little flustered. She looked down at her piles from up on the ladder. "I-I'm sorry, perhaps I have let myself get carried away."

"Hey, don't let me stop you," Gil said gently as he came to the base of the ladder. He both held it steady and averted his eyes as she scurried down in her white dress. He chuckled down at the black and white floor tiles, "someone should read them--might as well be you."

Thena offered her thanks silently in her expression, which he was used to. But she looked down at the books she had pulled out for herself and even hugged the one she was holding to her chest. "I can't possibly take them with me. Even if you say so, Father would be mortified at the idea of me taking such liberties."

Gil made a face, rolling his eyes only while Thena wasn't looking at him. Her father was a real pain in the ass sometimes. "Hey."

"Hm," Thena blinked as he started picking up one of the stacks in his hands. "Gil?"

"Let's just make you a shelf of your own," he suggested, balancing the books in his hands as he walked somewhat blindly to where there were still a few empty shelves in the back corner. "Then you can save all the ones you want to read and borrow them a little at a time."

"Truly?" Thena inquired behind him. He heard a few covers thunking around and finally turned. Much to his relief, Thena had about a half a stack in her more delicate hands, hurrying to follow him.

"Yeah," he laughed at how baffled she was that he would let her borrow some books that were just collecting dust. "I don't spend much time in here, really. These shelves are actually mine. Ma thought it would encourage me or whatever."

Gil set the stack down on the floor first rather than try to angle and cram them all onto the shelf at once. For the most part, he wouldn't really care if they fell or got damaged, but if Thena wanted to take them home with her then he could at least treat them with a little respect.

"Thank you," she said quietly, keeping her eyes forward as she also shelved the books she had brought with her, even shuffling them around the ones he put up to alphabetize them in real time.

He smiled as the backs of their hands brushed, although Thena was quick to retreat from it. "Any time, Thena. You're welcome to anything and everything here."

"That is a generous," she laughed faintly, "and dare I say unrealistic invitation."

"Maybe," he sighed. As much as his wildest dreams could be of him gallantly suggesting they run away together from both their families' strict rules, it simply wasn't an option. "But so long as you're with me, I mean it."

"That's sweet."

With no more books in hand to shelf, Gil looked over at her. She clasped her hands in front of her again. It was natural for her to totally clam up, he was coming to learn the more time he spent with her. It was a shame, though--like a beautiful flower that could only bloom by itself.

Or something poetic like that.

"Father is excited to discuss their railway negotiations," she murmured, returning to the safer topic of their fathers' shared business interests. She returned to her piles, picking up a few more books for herself.

Gil sighed as he picked up another full stack. But he didn't expect her to suddenly be able to view her father in a new light after living directly under his thumb all her life. "Yeah, Pop is all giddy at the thought of your dad using it to ship his building stuff?"

"Indeed."

The two fell into silence again, only the sounds of the books on the shelves filling in the air between them. They hadn't struggled to speak much before now, but he was struggling to think of something just as much as she was.

He had tried flirting with her before. And while she hadn't gotten mad at him for it, he wasn't really sure if she wanted to go down that road again, either.

He looked over as Thena cleared her throat faintly. She was determinedly looking at each book spine as she arranged them. "Do you have a favourite?"

"Book?" he asked, and then immediately felt dumb with the weight of a particularly thick one right in his hand. He also looked at the shelf, feeling the back of his neck grow warm. "Uh, kind of. It's a little embarrassing, though."

"What could possibly be embarrassing about it?" Thena asked, her curiosity beating whatever tentativeness she had.

"Well," he sighed, knowing that as soon as she asked, she was going to get the honest answer anyway. He looked upward, feeling the back of his shirt and suit jacket against the heat in his skin. "I was a kid."

"My aunt wasn't really the type to play with me much, but whenever she visited, she would read me whatever story I wanted. I had adventure books about pirates and knights and stuff. But one that was her favourite was about this lonely woman."

"Oh?" Thena leaned closer.

"She lives outside of town, all alone, and everyone thinks she's a witch or some sad, old widow or something. But then one day, a man stumbles to her door. She opens it up and he's been travelling, but he's collapsed, on the verge of starving. So she takes him in and gives him a meal."

"When he asks why she helped him she says 'I don't know'. She keeps trying to get him to leave, but he's like, 'oh, my shoes are in ruin', so she fixes his shoes. Then he's like, 'oh, I have no food for the journey to the next town', so she bakes him biscuits to take with him. Then he's like, 'yknow, it's getting cold, sure could use a coat'. And she says, 'ugh, here's your stupid coat'."

Thena laughed along as he went through the summary of the old story.

"Then, finally, this guy is ready to get back on the road. He says goodbye to this woman he's been staying with for weeks now, and he asks if she wants to go with him. She says she can't. But he asks why not--she's just shown him that she can prepare everything she needs to make the trip. So what's holding her back?"

"And basically the woman realises that she's only staying there for the sake of it--because she's afraid to leave her home. But the man tells her just to come with him to the next town, just to see what it will be like. If she doesn't like it, then he'll walk her back to her home and be on his way."

Thena's expression shifted in real time as he continued. She toyed with the end of the tight blonde braid wound over her shoulder. "What a sad conclusion."

"Lucky it's not over, then," Gil grinned, causing her to laugh again. "She goes with him to the next town. It's a short trip, only a few days. And they see the sights, and she gets to experience nature and stuff, and blah-blah-blah-"

Thena nudged his arm affectionately, "don't skip the best parts! You told me in such great detail her making biscuits and sewing a coat!"

He laughed, enjoying fussing with her as if they were kids. "You've gotta read it for yourself!"

Her eyes changed as she stopped poking his arm and folded in on herself again. "Will you not tell me the ending, then?"

He could decline to, and just tell her to read the book for herself. But she also seemed like she really wanted to know. He put his hand on her shoulder as he moved away from the shelf that was now hers to one of his. "It has a happy ending, if you're worried about that."

"So you won't tell me," she half joked and half lamented. But she watched as he searched through the other books.

"Ah!" he pulled it from the shelf, careful with its delicate but well kept spine. He grasped it with both hands as he held it out for her, "it's a love story."

Thena accepted the book from him, letting their fingers brush together again. Her eyes looked down at the cover as her pale skin took on a little colour, "oh?"

"Yeah," he pulled away, returning to being sheepish about it. "It's kinda cheesy, I guess. But it really is a good book. And I think maybe you'll like it."

She pulled the book closer to herself, smiling at him shyly as her eyes darted between him and the pages. "Thank you, Gil."

Heat rose in his cheeks as well and he looked towards the entrance of the library, just to occupy his eyes. "Yeah, I mean no problem, keep it for as long as y-"

A foreign object, soft and warm, collided with his cheek as he was looking to the side. He looked forward again, just catching Thena leaning away and off of her toes and back onto the slight heel of her shoes.

He wasn't sure if his heart was pounding like a hummingbird's wings or if it had stopped completely. But he just stared at her.

She arranged her braid around the book she was holding more preciously than Theseus. But her smile was almost like a little bit of a smirk, and it suited her. "I shall let you know when I've learned of this ending you're keeping so secret."

Gil immediately thought of the story events, and his aunt's favourite section. He could remember the tears in her eyes as she would read the part of the man desperately confessing his love and learning that the woman wanted to see the world with him instead of going back to her little home all alone. He could remember her voice cracking when she read how the man asked the lonely woman to marry him.

But that would be crazy to think about in relation to a girl he had only met a few months ago, he told himself (very firmly).

He grinned, drawn to her as she bounded back to her other piles of books, still waiting to be shelved in their little home here in his family house. "Hey, I can't spoil it. You have to experience it for yourself."

"I think you're just a tease," she stated with a faint purse in her lips.

Maybe he was, but he just couldn't resist when it came to her.

#Thenamesh Addams Family AU #thank you so much for asking for this!#I really like this au #Gil down bad for this girl #or rather #down good as they would say #down wonderful #He's so excited to show Thena around the big mansion #he's like well this is the foyer of course #our dads are gonna talk in the sitting room #and there's the sun room #and this is the library #Thena: LiBrArY !!!#but Gil is happy if she's happy #He has all these books on his shelves now #and his mother is like you're finally reading more!#Gil: ...yes they're definitely not for my girlfriend you don't want me to have #Thena writes him literally the next day that she loved the book #and Gil is like oh my god I have to find a way to get these book sto her #so he sends them a few at a time via normal mail #she asks how she's supposed to get them back to him #and instead of telling her to just marry into his family and move in #he says oh no worries :)

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fictionadventurer · 5 months

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#since tumblr cut off my curious george tag rant i'll continue it here #i mentioned the curious george episode with the little free library ON A DIRT ROAD #the episode ends with george learning they need LOTS of little free libraries that let people swap different kinds of supplies #and they're ALL on a dirt road #among a small friendly community that should be able to ask each other for things #you see in joe and ken's worldview people have neighbors that they know and have friendships with and help out when they need it #in pete's worldview you have a faceless public that needs to be served by generic good works and/or a community institution #and the former makes for much better stories #because it's about people! and relationships!#instead of an impersonal idea #same thing happened in arthur #joe's take on 'how a community should respond to a big storm' is #'band together with your neighbors and help each other out'#pete's take is 'arthur is a good person because this EIGHT YEAR OLD CHILD started a WEBSITE that reunites people with lost pets'#it's impersonal AND wildly unrealistic #not applicable to the real life of any actual child #a story about characters helping each other out is always going to work better #than one that's aim is 'let's show these characters doing things that YOU the generic audience should do'#idea needs to come out of realistic interaction between characters #instead of character becoming generic vessel for idea

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boogiewoogieweeb · 12 days

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it's all fun and games typing up a silly, rickety little au idea in the tags of someone else's post and then suddenly you find yourself expanding on the world-building and plotting out interconnected stories for characters you swore would only make background appearances and your brain is On Fire with the need to write even when you know you can't commit to yet another doomed wip

#the terror #this is 100% about the fucking hartving tech!averse jirv/librarian!hartnell au from yesterday bc IT WON'T LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE #thinking about a ficlet detailing how bridlgar met #peggles is a delivery driver who does the rounds dropping off the library's stationary orders and john's the one in charge of receiving #and they strike up a friendship over terrible stationary puns and eventually start dating when john introduces harry to classic lit #thinking even more about a joplittle sequel where after ned shows up soaking wet the first time and is immediately smitten #by thomas “Just Being A Decent Person” jopson; he starts volunteering at the library just so he can get closer to jops #(like the loser he is; bc why ask someone out directly when you can just hang around in their orbit and hope they notice you noticing them)#but the more time he spends at the library the more he comes to love it; and ends up volunteering to read to children on his free weekends #(my tumblr homies know exactly where i'm headed with this bc i am so transparent my mom might as well have called me “window”)#and jops; despite his better instincts; gets so turned on after hearing ned do voice impressions for fictional crayons while reading to #a bunch of enraptured rugrats that he decides then and there he absolutely can't NOT fuck ned senseless the second he gets his hands on him #meanwhile for the main fic; jirv and tartnell are both absolutely disgustingly in love but are also completely clueless #as to how to go about expressing interest in each other bc while i imagine jirv not being as repressed in this as he normally is in fanon;#he still hasn't actually figured out he's Big Time Gay™ yet and #tartnell on the other hand is both extremely attracted to and intimidated by the handsome; aloof yet kind; bible-quoting scotsman #who's decided to adopt him as his personal apple support technician #despite the fact that tartnell knows little more about iphones than jirv (seeing as he's been using android since smartphones took off)#god i'm in so deep about this stupid little au i've dreamed up that i just want to yell about it for hours on end #and despite knowing i'll likely NEVER get around to writing it; it is just... taking up Brain Space... that i already Do Not Have

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bookwyrminspiration · 4 months

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okay I have to hear your thoughts on the how to train your dragon series (movies, not books)

You are asking a dragon fanatic what they think of the critically acclaimed immensely popular highly beloved dragon movies, what do you think i'm gonna say? Obviously I adore them!

Storylines about learning to love monsters are 100000% my thing, and when those monsters are dragons? No contest, one of my favorite movie series of all time. Will always have a soft spot for stories about coming to love what you once found monstrous, even though nothing about it has changed--the dragons are the same as they always were, they've simply changed their perceptions and reactions to them and opened a whole new world.

And just!! the relationships!! I'm thinking specifically between Hiccup and Toothless, as that kind of unconditional support and love, complementing each other in ways only those involved will ever truly understand get to me. the bond between the boy who downed a dragon and then saved it and the dragon who learned to trust him and defend him like a part of himself, who become something more through the combination of selfs, is something that can actually be so personal.

Ambivalent on the third movie, though I understand what it was going for. On the one hand, love dragons. On the other, they were quite...ridiculously characterized and also all left. so. also maybe it was just me, but they seemed more anthropomorphized in the third? or at least toothless was, and I would've preferred him a little more draconic.--but the first two? absolutely lovely <3

actually currently rewatching the first movie and I AM losing my mind over it

#httyd #quil's queries #gayupstraight #you have no idea how perfectly timed this ask was #you sent this. the DAY after I checked out the third movie from the library #after FOUR YEARS of me being like 'ill get around to it'#anyway. i wanna watch the show but first. gotta finish this movie #and also do a whole bunch of projects #I was like 'i won't start the show because i'll want to binge watch and I have assignments due...i'll just watch the movie'#but the movie was longer than I remembered #so now. i am having the same problem I was trying to avoid #which is that I want to watch the movie instead of doing my important imminently due big project #luckily I just got the the final exam hiccup gotta fight a dragon scene #which means the secondhand embarrassment is strong and I don't want to watch the scene #so. that should save me

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totheidiot · 1 month

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i have acquired the good omens novel finally !! might post my thoughts on it, who knows.

#🍂 arian's shit #good omens #funny story how i got my hands on it #i was looking for neil gaiman books all of the damn time in the library #the library is big but i still literally can't find any. no books by him at all. all of the g writer books would jump to fucking jkr #that didn't stop me whenever my friends and i would drop by to the library i would fucking look for him anywhere #my friend gets a mention because he stuck by my frantic search even though he was so confused on why i kept saying 'gay man'#in the end i found it and i almosg wept for joy #my friend was happy for me too and is now less confused when i showed him that that's the author's name

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lulubeanie · 2 months

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Had a dream about Eliot finding a big abandoned library that a giant spider person has made into their home. the spider person was very not nice and the experience left Eliot afraid of spiders even though normally he likes them (the spider person was also in control of all the normal spiders that lived there or something)

#duck speaks #ocs #Eliot #there were other people who also found the library and sort hung around Eliot. but none that he knew already #and also I'm pretty sure they didn't make it out of there. so also none that he'd see again later #the only person who was another one of my ocs was Sage. and they showed up in sorta a flash forward thing #like. a scene that would happen a while after this #they were walking together somewhere and a spider was hanging down from a web in the path where in front of them #and Sage was about to tell Eliot to move it out of the way (put it in a bush or something) like he usually does #but Eliot jumped and looked all scared when he saw it #and Sage looked concerned and went '.. you ok bud?'#very compelling concept I think. Eliot solo adventure where he gets scared and experiences the horrors #at some parts of the dream I would even stop and think about how I could draw it out as a comic #I remember going 'oh we're gonna need to put a big arachniphobia warning at top of this one huh'#it's not even a comic normally.. it only exists in my head rn really

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blunderpuff · 1 year

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almost kicked a small child in the head today bc he was running around during story time while i was acting out this page:

lucky for that kid i’m SHORT but otoh if i *HAD* given him a traumatic brain/face injury, MAYBE THEM LITTLE KIDS WOULD STOP FUCKING RUNNING DURING STORY TIMES!! maybe their parents would, idk, NOT LET THEIR LITTLE KIDS BE SO FUCKING DISRUPTIVE ALL THE TIME

artist’s rendition

#yes i hate story times #our story times are aimed at the preschool set... and the only kids who are coming are the Under Threes #they're not old enough to understand hardly any of the concepts (letters/numbers/colors/sequences and patterns/etc)#they don't have the attention span to sit through even one mf picture book #they mostly don't even have the coordination to do fucking Head Shoulders Knees and Toes #WHAT ARE THEY GETTING OUT OF THIS???????? nothing!!!!! they're dragged there by their moms and the squirm and run and whine and cry #the ENTIRE time and the moms are chatting with each other and letting the kids do whatever #and it's SO FRUSTRATING for US bc we're having to shout over fussing infants and chatty toddlers bc the parents are sooooo self-involved #so the employees are frustrated bc we're doing our regular Dog and Pony Show to a loud and disruptive crowd #and the toddlers are frustrated bc they literally do not have the attention span for this. they aren't there in their development yet #and the moms have started to get Big Mad bc we're limiting how many ppl can be in story time (20 ppl)#so the moms who come too late to get their admission tickets are pissed off that they came all the way to the library for nothing #and other moms are just blasting right past the 'STOP! STORY TIME IS FULL!' sign that we post #and it makes the room even more crowded and loud and awful #one of the behaviors that really cheeses my crackers the most is when they kids are having a picnic buffet during story time #like... they're just standing there. eating their snacks. and staring at us while we do stupid dances and read silly stories and sing songs.#it feels like they're just staring at us like we're a tv show. they could have stayed home for that.#and when the weather is treacherous and moms still show up for story time.... it blows my mind #they really risked life and limb (literally-- we're talking blizzards and ice storms and heavy snow accumulation) so they could play on #their phone for 25 minutes while their toddlers ran around a room and collided with other toddlers while i sang Hot Potato in the background #the wiggles ftw #long tags #whining

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akajustmerry · 2 years

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tried watching heartbreak high......it's a yeah nah from me. 1 episode was enough to remind me why I said I was done with high school teenager media after heartstopper. also as a teacher I just can't derive entertainment from watching my job badly dramatised lmao

#this is nothing against the show really it's nice but I just can't care #also watching these high school shows just make me feel kinda sad and lame #cos I really was just a kid who went to school and came home like I didn't have many friends and when I did we just hung out in the library #played board games and list games and whatever #so I watch these shows where everyone is having sex n partying and kinda just brings up a lot shit for me honestly about feeling inadequate #would love to see a show just about like....teens hanging out and being geeky and at most having crushes that went nowhere #also I really do feel sad about how I didn't really know I was gay n stuff in school and the kids in these shows do and it's just.#I truly can't relate to it at all and can't appreciate it as entertainment because I'm just watching my job lmao #also why is heartbreak high trying to be like 'this is the Australian hs experience' when it's very specifically inner big diverse city hs #fucken city Sydney/Melbourne ppl think they're the only ppl on earth tbh

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waitingforminjae · 1 year

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not my mom being a kirk cameron stan

#NOT HER SAYING WHAT THAT MAN PREACHES IS THE SAME AS GRANDMA #and my personal fav 'he just feels like the rest of us' WHO'S US? u gotta mouse in your pocket?#every day i think abt how close my mom is to to falling into the alt right pipeline and there's nothing i can do about it #also what is she even talking abt lmfao acting like some big disaster happened at the event when it didn't lmfao #yeah some ppl sat OUTSIDE drawing in chalk and some ppl walked around the library carrying a rope #and a handful of ppl showed up deliberately gnc and at one point someone IN THE LOBBY shouted love is love #and yet she's acting like protestors caused a scene #HELPPPPPPP HER TELLING MY DAD THAT SHE'S PRAYING FOR ME RN #LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOO WHAT ABT ME NOT LIKING KIRK CAMERON MEANS I'M NOT CHRISTIAN???????? I'M LITERALLY CHRISTIAN HELLO #hella personal #GOD this is why we can't have a fucking conversation like she always does this at the most inconvenient times #and then starts crying over Everything and it just all snowballs like we literally need mom-daughter therapy so fucking BAD #and she seriously needs to let so much of her own guilt go before we can have any conversation abt our shit #like sooooooo many of her feelings are about her and not me lmfao #and it's fucking uncomfortable. anyway

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arklay · 2 years

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gesturing vaguely at diana’s perfume being mainly jasmine something something al and his anxiety

#leah.txt #pair: ewskers #oc: diana #not intentional. v much screaming about it #saw a lil just thing on pinchrest of like oils for things and jasmine for anxiety made me go wait a minute… no way…….#anyways i had a post in my drafts somewhere about this but diana smells like jasmine vanilla sandalwood and gardenia. with like a few other #lil hints. and ofc every now and again big antibacterial soap moment lmaoooo she be washing her hands a lot. working in labs and around #animals. you know how it is #so yeah. she smells nice :)#canon he has anxiety by the way in case you are looking at this like ??? his file in the library of 5 talks about it mwah #and his report ii very much shows some of it as well i think #anyways sorry for another breakdown before. it’s only monday and yet…#i’m gonna go to bed early i think after everhthing tonight so augh

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drchucktingle · 5 months

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THE TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION TELLS CHUCK TINGLE TO STAY HOME BUT WE PROVE LOVE ANYWAY

just when you buckaroos thought 2024 would be a break from book drama, here comes chuck tingle in the mix. recently i was asked to be a featured speaker at the TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION annual conference. a few days ago they rescinded my invitation. here is what happened.

(EDITED TO ADD THIS LINK. if you have a hard time reading this on way of tumblr you can also read for free on chucks patreon)

i would like to start off by saying it is not my intent to start a fight, and all those reading this should know that the actions of a few misguided folks do not speak for the whole TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. i am sure there are many involved who will be very upset to learn what others at TLA have done in their name. there are many individuals here, so please do not paint them all as villains in your mind. besides, chuck loves the dang library everyone knows that.

the point of writing this is not to vilify. i am writing this is because MOMENTS OF DARKNESS are the best places to SHINE A LIGHT AND PROVE LOVE IS REAL. this is a perfect time for learning and growing and for us talk on some very important things that queer buckaroos and neurodivergent buckaroos face every day. this is an unfortunate moment that WE can turn around and use to prove love is real.

i am also writing this to understand some of my own personal feelings on the matter. for something that seems very simple on the surface, the trot is complex, and i am still working out my emotions on the whole dang thing. i am learning in this way.

PART ONE: BAG OF LOVE

a few months ago chuck was asked to be a featured speaker at the 2024 TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE. i have been asked to do things like the before and it is ALWAYS a fun time to meet bookseller and librarian buds. trotting around face to face and talking about my story of conquering chronic pain and overcoming my mental hurdles is VERY IMPORTANT to me. i say YES to these things whenever i can. (here i am with authors at CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS ALLIANCE conference. they are a WONDERFUL group and they proved love with their OWN invitation to chuck. this was such a moving event with so many amazing authors and stories. got very teared up during this photo)

ANYWAY BUCKAROOS i get the TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION invite and say 'YES BUD LETS TROT'. we are then confirmed.

months pass. a few weeks ago i get a call from my manager and agent and publisher saying ‘the TLA have rescinded their invitation.’

turns out some things had been going on behind the scenes

at some point the TLA asked chucks INCREDIBLE HEROIC BAD ASS PUBLISHER if chuck would be okay with not wearing the mask, to which tor/nightfire/macmillan said ‘what the heck are you talking about of course chuck is going to wear his mask. this is how chuck presents himself’ (NOT EXACT QUOTE)

as you all know, my pink bag way is a VERY IMPORTANT SPACE. as an autistic buckaroo it is a boundary that allows me to express myself freely and relieve my chronic pain from neurotypically masking all day. i have talked about this for years, and it is why i consider my private identity a SACRED THING. it is literally a health issue.

fortunately THE PINK BAG is never really a problem when making appearances. i have spent years going on television shows, doing interviews, speaking at other conferences and conventions, hosting book events on tour, and even MEETING WITH LAWYERS in my pink face covering. it is always respected and that is very validating to my way.

when arriving anywhere i always take precautions. i always warn buckaroos ahead of time that there is a masked man coming. i always have someone go in ahead of me JUST IN CASE. again, there has never been an issue. at a big conference where i am a special guest there is ESPECIALLY not an issue because my face and bio are printed IN THE DANG PROGRAM

SOME FUN TIMES AT BIG EVENTS BELOW:

CHUCK ON TV SHOW NAME OF 'AT MIDNIGHT' BACK BEFORE I WROTE LOVE IS REAL ON MY HEAD:

well, there has never been an issue.... UNTIL NOW.

PART TWO: RESCINDED

a few days ago TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION suddenly messaged my publishers and said that chuck tingle is no longer invited. my invitation was rescinded. the reason given was that people could possibly be uncomfortable with my mask

right out of the gate i would like to say this: it is absolutely the right of the texas library association to disinvite someone from their conference. it is their event, after all, and they can ban anyone they would like, for any reason.

of course, that doesnt mean other folks HEARING THIS NEWS wont have their own opinions the TLA choices. if the TLA disinvites someone, their reasoning for doing this can be discussed and analyzed. whether or not they follow their own guidelines can be questioned, and certainly their kindness and tact can be considered

there are a few BIG POINTS to make regarding this choice from the TLA

first and foremost, i just gotta say buckaroos, it is incredibly rude to invite someone to be a guest speaker at your event, have them confirm and mark off their calendar and turn down other offers, then rescind their invitation. this is maybe the simplest of the points, but it is an important one.

second, (DEEP BREATH HERE WE GO BUCKAROOS) i personally do not think of my autism as a disability very often, but i also KNOW that despite these feelings it ABSOLUTELY IS. autism is important to be listed as a recognized disability because of the help some autistic buckaroos need regarding government programs and things like that. ALSO just because my neurodivergence has helped me in some ways (hyperfocus and a unique artistic sensibility for example). i personally need to step back and remember my battle with stress and chronic pain from having to neurotypically mask all the time. for as much as i love being autistic it has made some things very difficult.

in other words, i am perfectly capable of speaking and interacting with folks without this pink bag on my head BUT WHEN I AM IN THE CHUCK TINGLE SPACE I REQUIRE IT. i can ONLY use this space while covering my face. is not a want. it is a need. holding this boundary is more important than i can ever say. i will not, and can not, let these spaces cross.

TLA not letting an autistic author wear the face cover theyve set up to express their neurodivergence in a safe, healthy way is--for lack of a better term--NOT A GOOD LOOK.

i cannot fathom them disinviting another author for using a disability aid. i cannot fathom them saying that a buckaroo who hears better with a hearing device cannot use it during their panel because it would make others 'uncomfortable'.

but here we are.

PART THREE: WHAT DOES A BUCKAROO GOTTA DO TO GET BANNED AROUND HERE?

this is the TLAs official stance on disability issues according to their website:

when poking around on the TLA website i noticed a few other things. i noticed a previous guest speaker wearing a niqab, and i was left wondering if the religious significance is what make that okay but chuck tingle banned. that made sense until i looked deeper and saw mascot buckaroos dressed up on the exhibition floor, and saw some kind of spiderbud in a costume contest. nobody around them seemed to be all that scared. their invitations REMAINED INTACT.

it should be mentioned here that AT ONE POINT during the discussions an email was sent from TLA saying chuck is allowed to come and wear his mask in the exhibition halls and smaller panels, just not at any of the big PAID PANELS i was once supposed to participate on. this was a confusing offer, but their explanation was that people who paid for something should have the option to not see chucks 'scary neurodivergence aid'. i tried to wrap my head around WHY they would make a distinction. maybe the exchange of money (rather than time) causes some kind of philosophical adjustment that i just cant grasp?

i wonder, would the author who wears a niqab ALSO be banned from the paid panels? i hope not

my answers trotted up short until i investigated deeper and found this quick moment from one of the TLA help videos. while some events DO require additional buckaroo cash, it actually appears that THE ENTIRE CONFERENCE IS TICKETED AND COSTS MONEY.

at this point i realized there is clearly no actual official policy about not covering your face (other than one from a few years ago saying that you HAVE to cover your face), and the addition of 'money' is a red herring. these excuses make no sense

PART FOUR: CLOSE THOSE GATES

it appears that my neurodivergence is 'scary' enough to get me uninvited, REGARDLESS what their disability and mask policies may say

BUT WHY? why is chucks preferred physical presentation valued SO little by the TLA that a THEORETICAL complaint is worth more? is my neurodivergent expression so awful? is my own safety as a queer activist such an afterthought?

is a pink bag with the words 'love is real' scrawled across the front REALLY going to frighten someone when the posters and pamphlets on the way into in panel would have a photo of my masked face saying THIS IS LITERALLY WHO IS ABOUT TO APPEAR BEFORE YOU.

if THAT accommodation is too much, would it really be so difficult to have someone trot out beforehand and make an announcement? to say 'there is someone on this upcoming panel who needs a mask to express this part of himself, if this makes you uncomfortable then this panel might not be for you'.

and really, i have to heckin ask, is this physical expression of my raw inner truth really so hideous and frightening that fear of making someone uncomfortable is a REAL problem?

(a terrifying display of autism. apparently)

i cannot imagine what kind of precautions they need to take before a stage play featuring costumes and masks.

you MIGHT think chucks queerness and left leaning politics could be the issue with this organization, but they have had drag queens as past speakers (also featuring some GLORIOUS makeup and hair that covers almost all of their faces. VERY CURIOUS). regardless, the TLA do not seem like a conservative bunch.

if you are bisexual or an autistic person who is good at 'passing' you probably already know where this is headed, your dang spiderbuckaroo senses are tingling at FULL ALERT. i will say i do not KNOW the real reason why i was uninvited, and i do not have enough information to make any concrete statement of the real answer. there is only evidence that masks have been fine at TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION events in the past, but not much else to go on.

so the FACTS part of our discussion ends there, but i think it opens us up to talk about some very important feelings that bisexual and autistic buckaroos know well.

THIS is where we take a unfortunate, hurtful moment and turn it into a discussion. this is where we prove love is real.

as someone who is constantly doubted and put through purity tests because of my unique way, we are pushing up against a subject i know well. thats right buckaroos: we are talking GATEKEEPING

AGAIN, i do not know if this is the answer, but someone in my position might be VERY STRONGLY INCLINED TO THINK that a few well-meaning left leaning buckaroos think i am a joke and that this is a character, and that there is something problematic about my work because i am not really a real person.

any upstanding left leaning organization would OF COURSE allow a mask for a neurodivergent buckaroo with an unusual visual presentation, an autistic buckaroo who conquered his chronic pain ONLY by creating this important space... but what about a FAKE autistic buckaroo?

any upstanding left leaning organization would OF COURSE allow a mask for a queer LGBTQ activist standing up for gay and trans rights against a torrent of scoundrels hunting for his legal identity. its a matter of safety... but what about a FAKE queer activist?

let me be very clear for the 100th time: i am a real person. this is not a joke. i am not playing a character. i am really autistic and bisexual. tinglers are sincere and they are not ‘so bad theyre good’. they are just good. camp damascus is not ‘my first serious book’ because my queer erotica is serious. my art is important and real.

when people tell me to unmask they often do not know WHY they want it, and of course one very good reason is innocent curiosity. but there are SOME cases where i start to get THAT feeling--that tingle all of us ‘passing’ buckaroos get when we can sense the real intent behind the poking and prodding. that is the feeling of stumbling into a gatekeepers crosshairs.

if i was to take off my pink bag, what about my face would you analyze to tell if i was REALLY queer. my eye color? my ear shape? if you learned my legal name, would you see if it sounded autistic? is my voice neurodivergent enough?

or is all of that utterly absurd? i am curious what the TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION thinks.

PART FIVE: GENDERED

this will be the shortest of parts, but it has to be said. i have a very complex relationship with gender, as written about at length here and here. i understand these things can be difficult to parse for some, but i ask that you trust me when i say that the ONLY reason i have been able to talk about my gender and sexuality and learn these things about myself is because of this pink bag. this outward appearance is a direct expression and reflection of my gender journey.

if the texas library association does not care about my appearance as an expression of my autism, then i cant imagine them giving a dang about it as an expression of my gender and queerness. that being said, it is personally very important to me and i think it should be mentioned

PART SIX: SO YOU WANT TO REMOVE AN AUTISTIC QUEER AUTHOR FROM YOUR EVENT BECAUSE PEOPLE MIGHT FIND THEIR DIFFERENCES SCARY

there is a question to be asked here: how could the TLA have done this correctly?

i have one very big piece of advice i would like to shout from the rooftops. please, for the love of sweet barbara, DO ENOUGH RESEARCH to know if this appearance will be a problem and, IF SO, dont extend an invitation in the first place. unique buckaroos with different presentations are constantly left in this place of limbo because we are bombarded with careless actions like those of the TLA. before you consider extending a branch to an artist who might need more accommodations than usual, think to yourself 'CAN WE MAKE THESE ACCOMMODATIONS?'

putting all of this on the shoulders of a single 'buckaroo with a difference' is exhausting. as the TLA has shown, we currently live on a timeline where a buckaroo like myself never really knows if an invite is SOLID without doing a deep dive history lesson on how often a group discriminates and against who.

i did not want to spend my whole family holiday worrying whether or not i should say something publicly or just lie down and shut my dang mouth. i had to consider HOW i should say it. i had to worry whether or not its worth standing up for myself in the face of the largest state library association in the country. i think buckaroos with differences are with me when i say: WE ARE SICK OF HAVING TO DO THIS WORK TO COVER FOR THE POOR BEHAVIOR OF LARGE ORGANIZATIONS WHO TREAT US BADLY

another option would just be to use kindness and common sense and happily accommodate artists with unique presentations to your conventions

PART SEVEN: LOVE IS STILL REAL

i would like to close by saying THANK YOU to my publisher nightfire and editor kelly for standing up for me. they immediately stood firm and had my back. they are the real dang deal. THANK YOU to my management and agent buds dongwon and gino for trotting along beside me. THANK YOU to the folks at the texas library association who initially invited chuck with goodness in their heart and then likely got bowled over by someone else, and maybe even got knocked to the side by a big closing gate.

i hope there are librarians in texas who are still interested in carrying BURY YOUR GAYS when it comes out (which is ironically about someone who creates a space through art to express their queerness where they cant otherwise). libraries prove love is real and what they do IS SO IMPORTANT. it was SO IMPORTANT TO ME as a young buckaroo and i cannot thank you enough. i am not sure if me writing all of this will hurt my sales in some way, but this opportunity to speak about the reality of disability awareness and queer gatekeeping is too important to stay silent. (if you have not already preordered BURY YOUR GAYS then give it a preorder to make up for some texas library losses i guess.)

which leads me to my final thank you. THANK YOU to the buckaroos reading this. yes YOU. i am in the position to stand up and speak my mind against scoundrel forces ONLY because i have the might of you buckaroos by my side. the buckaroo trot is ALL OF OUR TROT and we are ALL HERE TO PROVE LOVE. i cannot tell you how much i appreciate the way you have created a space for me to express these important parts of myself. you have seen this pink mask over my face and saying YES, I ACCEPT YOU, you have literally saved my life. for that i am so thankful.

if you are UPSET by what youve read here, then turn it into something positive. you can support autistic creators, or make a donation to the AUTISTIC SELF ADVOCACY NETWORK

and besides WHO IS REALLY MISSING OUT? this is what it looks like when you invite the worlds greatest author chuck tingle to your event and treat their identity as valid. WE HAVE A DANG GOOD TIME

youtube

KEEP TROTTING INTO THE FUTURE. KEEP KICKING DOWN GATES WHEREVER THEY MAY BE. KEEP PROVING LOVE IS REAL AND PROVING IT TOGETHER. lets go buckaroos - chuck

UPDATE AN HOUR AFTER POSTING:

true buckaroo TJ KLUNE was set to be another author on panel chuck was removed from and has informed me he has now chosen to decline his invitation in support and solidarity with chuck. i am so deeply moved by this. thank you from bottom of heart buckaroo

to be very clear TJ has a huge platform and DOES NOT NEED TO DO THIS. these conferences are great for book sales and he is taking a hit out of pure solidarity. this is queer buckaroos standing up for eachother. i am floored by this kindness and love

please consider checking out his books if they are not already covering your dang bookshelf. chuck blurbed IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS and i was blown away i heckin loved it

MOST RECENT UPDATE:

here is more

#love is real #chuck tingle #tingleverse #texas library association #actually autistic #lgtbqia #Youtube

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mostlysignssomeportents · 10 months

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Kickstarting a book to end enshittification, because Amazon will not carry it

My next book is The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation: it’s a Big Tech disassembly manual that explains how to disenshittify the web and bring back the old good internet. The hardcover comes from Verso on Sept 5, but the audiobook comes from me — because Amazon refuses to sell my audio:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

Amazon owns Audible, the monopoly audiobook platform that controls >90% of the audio market. They require mandatory DRM for every book sold, locking those books forever to Amazon’s monopoly platform. If you break up with Amazon, you have to throw away your entire audiobook library.

That’s a hell of a lot of leverage to hand to any company, let alone a rapacious monopoly that ran a program targeting small publishers called “Project Gazelle,” where execs were ordered to attack indie publishers “the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle”:

https://www.businessinsider.com/sadistic-amazon-treated-book-sellers-the-way-a-cheetah-would-pursue-a-sickly-gazelle-2013-10

[Image ID: Journalist and novelist Doctorow (Red Team Blues) details a plan for how to break up Big Tech in this impassioned and perceptive manifesto….Doctorow’s sense of urgency is contagious -Publishers Weekly]

I won’t sell my work with DRM, because DRM is key to the enshittification of the internet. Enshittification is why the old, good internet died and became “five giant websites filled with screenshots of the other four” (h/t Tom Eastman). When a tech company can lock in its users and suppliers, it can drain value from both sides, using DRM and other lock-in gimmicks to keep their business even as they grow ever more miserable on the platform.

Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

[Image ID: A brilliant barn burner of a book. Cory is one of the sharpest tech critics, and he shows with fierce clarity how our computational future could be otherwise -Kate Crawford, author of The Atlas of AI”]

The Internet Con isn’t just an analysis of where enshittification comes from: it’s a detailed, shovel-ready policy prescription for halting enshittification, throwing it into reverse and bringing back the old, good internet.

How do we do that? With interoperability: the ability to plug new technology into those crapulent, decaying platform. Interop lets you choose which parts of the service you want and block the parts you don’t (think of how an adblocker lets you take the take-it-or-leave “offer” from a website and reply with “How about nah?”):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/adblocking-how-about-nah

But interop isn’t just about making platforms less terrible — it’s an explosive charge that demolishes walled gardens. With interop, you can leave a social media service, but keep talking to the people who stay. With interop, you can leave your mobile platform, but bring your apps and media with you to a rival’s service. With interop, you can break up with Amazon, and still keep your audiobooks.

So, if interop is so great, why isn’t it everywhere?

Well, it used to be. Interop is how Microsoft became the dominant operating system:

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

[Image ID: Nobody gets the internet-both the nuts and bolts that make it hum and the laws that shaped it into the mess it is-quite like Cory, and no one’s better qualified to deliver us a user manual for fixing it. That’s The Internet Con: a rousing, imaginative, and accessible treatise for correcting our curdled online world. If you care about the internet, get ready to dedicate yourself to making interoperability a reality. -Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine]

It’s how Apple saved itself from Microsoft’s vicious campaign to destroy it:

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

Every tech giant used interop to grow, and then every tech giant promptly turned around and attacked interoperators. Every pirate wants to be an admiral. When Big Tech did it, that was progress; when you do it back to Big Tech, that’s piracy. The tech giants used their monopoly power to make interop without permission illegal, creating a kind of “felony contempt of business model” (h/t Jay Freeman).

The Internet Con describes how this came to pass, but, more importantly, it tells us how to fix it. It lays out how we can combine different kinds of interop requirements (like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Massachusetts’s Right to Repair law) with protections for reverse-engineering and other guerrilla tactics to create a system that is strong without being brittle, hard to cheat on and easy to enforce.

What’s more, this book explains how to get these policies: what existing legislative, regulatory and judicial powers can be invoked to make them a reality. Because we are living through the Great Enshittification, and crises erupt every ten seconds, and when those crises occur, the “good ideas lying around” can move from the fringes to the center in an eyeblink:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/12/only-a-crisis/#lets-gooooo

[Image ID: Thoughtfully written and patiently presented, The Internet Con explains how the promise of a free and open internet was lost to predatory business practices and the rush to commodify every aspect of our lives. An essential read for anyone that wants to understand how we lost control of our digital spaces and infrastructure to Silicon Valley’s tech giants, and how we can start fighting to get it back. -Tim Maughan, author of INFINITE DETAIL]

After all, we’ve known Big Tech was rotten for years, but we had no idea what to do about it. Every time a Big Tech colossus did something ghastly to millions or billions of people, we tried to fix the tech company. There’s no fixing the tech companies. They need to burn. The way to make users safe from Big Tech predators isn’t to make those predators behave better — it’s to evacuate those users:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/18/urban-wildlife-interface/#combustible-walled-gardens

I’ve been campaigning for human rights in the digital world for more than 20 years; I’ve been EFF’s European Director, representing the public interest at the EU, the UN, Westminster, Ottawa and DC. This is the subject I’ve devoted my life to, and I live my principles. I won’t let my books be sold with DRM, which means that Audible won’t carry my audiobooks. My agent tells me that this decision has cost me enough money to pay off my mortgage and put my kid through college. That’s a price I’m willing to pay if it means that my books aren’t enshittification bait.

But not selling on Audible has another cost, one that’s more important to me: a lot of readers prefer audiobooks and 9 out of 10 of those readers start and end their searches on Audible. When they don’t find an author there, they assume no audiobook exists, period. It got so bad I put up an audiobook on Amazon — me, reading an essay, explaining how Audible rips off writers and readers. It’s called “Why None of My Audiobooks Are For Sale on Audible”:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

[Image ID: Doctorow has been thinking longer and smarter than anyone else I know about how we create and exchange value in a digital age. -Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock]

To get my audiobooks into readers’ ears, I pre-sell them on Kickstarter. This has been wildly successful, both financially and as a means of getting other prominent authors to break up with Amazon and use crowdfunding to fill the gap. Writers like Brandon Sanderson are doing heroic work, smashing Amazon’s monopoly:

https://www.brandonsanderson.com/guest-editorial-cory-doctorow-is-a-bestselling-author-but-audible-wont-carry-his-audiobooks/

And to be frank, I love audiobooks, too. I swim every day as physio for a chronic pain condition, and I listen to 2–3 books/month on my underwater MP3 player, disappearing into an imaginary world as I scull back and forth in my public pool. I’m able to get those audiobooks on my MP3 player thanks to Libro.fm, a DRM-free store that supports indie booksellers all over the world:

https://blog.libro.fm/a-qa-with-mark-pearson-libro-fm-ceo-and-co-founder/

Producing my own audiobooks has been a dream. Working with Skyboat Media, I’ve gotten narrators like @wilwheaton, Amber Benson, @neil-gaiman and Stefan Rudnicki for my work:

https://craphound.com/shop/

[Image ID: “This book is the instruction manual Big Tech doesn’t want you to read. It deconstructs their crummy products, undemocratic business models, rigged legal regimes, and lies. Crack this book and help build something better. -Astra Taylor, author of Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When Its Gone”]

But for this title, I decided that I would read it myself. After all, I’ve been podcasting since 2006, reading my own work aloud every week or so, even as I traveled the world and gave thousands of speeches about the subject of this book. I was excited (and a little trepedatious) at the prospect, but how could I pass up a chance to work with director Gabrielle de Cuir, who has directed everyone from Anne Hathaway to LeVar Burton to Eric Idle?

Reader, I fucking nailed it. I went back to those daily recordings fully prepared to hate them, but they were good — even great (especially after my engineer John Taylor Williams mastered them). Listen for yourself!

https://archive.org/details/cory_doctorow_internet_con_chapter_01

I hope you’ll consider backing this Kickstarter. If you’ve ever read my free, open access, CC-licensed blog posts and novels, or listened to my podcasts, or come to one of my talks and wished there was a way to say thank you, this is it. These crowdfunders make my DRM-free publishing program viable, even as audiobooks grow more central to a writer’s income and even as a single company takes over nearly the entire audiobook market.

Backers can choose from the DRM-free audiobook, DRM-free ebook (EPUB and MOBI) and a hardcover — including a signed, personalized option, fulfilled through the great LA indie bookstore Book Soup:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation

What’s more, these ebooks and audiobooks are unlike any you’ll get anywhere else because they are sold without any terms of service or license agreements. As has been the case since time immemorial, when you buy these books, they’re yours, and you are allowed to do anything with them that copyright law permits — give them away, lend them to friends, or simply read them with any technology you choose.

As with my previous Kickstarters, backers can get their audiobooks delivered with an app (from libro.fm) or as a folder of MP3s. That helps people who struggle with “sideloading,” a process that Apple and Google have made progressively harder, even as they force audiobook and ebook sellers to hand over a 30% app tax on every dollar they make:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/red-team-blues-another-audiobook-that-amazon-wont-sell/posts/3788112

Enshittification is rotting every layer of the tech stack: mobile, payments, hosting, social, delivery, playback. Every tech company is pulling the rug out from under us, using the chokepoints they built between audiences and speakers, artists and fans, to pick all of our pockets.

The Internet Con isn’t just a lament for the internet we lost — it’s a plan to get it back. I hope you’ll get a copy and share it with the people you love, even as the tech platforms choke off your communities to pad their quarterly numbers.

Next weekend (Aug 4-6), I'll be in Austin for Armadillocon, a science fiction convention, where I'm the Guest of Honor:

https://armadillocon.org/d45/

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/31/seize-the-means-of-computation/#the-internet-con

[Image ID: My forthcoming book 'The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation' in various editions: Verso hardcover, audiobook displayed on a phone, and ebook displayed on an e-ink reader.]

#pluralistic #trustbusting #big tech #gift guide #kickstarter #the internet con #books #audiobooks #enshitiffication #disenshittification #crowdfunders #seize the means of computation #audible #amazon #verso

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