i’ve heard a lot of people say “don’t reach out to your friends first and see how many people will remain in your life. those are your true friends” and i get it. it sucks and it’s tiring constantly being the one to message first, to initiate hang outs but don’t take this so literally. some friendships require initiation. i have lost touch with so many people who genuinely cared about me and wanted me in their life because i stopped reaching out. it’s a hard pill to swallow but honestly some people just suck at it and it doesn’t mean they don’t love and value you. i’ve reconnected with some people over the past few months and it’s crazy how genuinely happy they are to see me and how engaged they are in the conversation. i just think sometimes we’re too harsh on each other & too quick to emphasize other peoples flaws and remove them from our lives but then we’ll all be alone and what’s the point of life then!!!!

Highly enjoying reading all your tags 🤍

I got this comment on a story from my Other AO3 Account this morning.

(Info redacted because I prefer keeping these accounts separate but no one follows me on the side blog I have for that account.)

The story was posted almost a year ago and is relatively “popular” by my average statistics even though it has tropes and themes that are big turnoffs for a lot of people (hence separate accounts). This popularity is undoubtedly because it’s a Marvel Loki story and that fandom is massive.

So there is obviously an algorithm or a bot scrubbing ao3 statistics and leaving this comment on fics that meet a certain metric with the main character of the fic inserted into the comment.

I had a little time to kill this morning so I decided to investigate further. And y’all this is so predatory. Come on this journey with me. It made me mad. It may make you mad.

First, if you go to Webnovel’s website, you HAVE to choose between male lead or female lead stories before you can go any further. WTF?

And that’s weird, but this gets so much worse. This is basically a pay-to-read site that has different subscription models. Which… okay BUT! The authors don’t get paid! Look at that comment again. They’re promising a supportive and nurturing community, but zero monetary compensation. It’s basically, “post your stuff here so we can get paid and you can get… nice vibes?” I mean look at this Orwellian writing:

Using the phrase “pay-to-read model” in the same sentence as “qualitative changes in lifestyles for authors” deliberately makes you think that you can get paid and maybe even make a living on this website. But that’s not actually what it says and authors will not receive one red cent.

Oh but wait, the worst is still to come. In case this breaks containment (which I kind of hope it does) this is where I mention that I’m a lawyer in the US.

I don’t do intellectual property or copyright law but I do read and write contracts for a living. So I went to look at their terms of service. It was fun!

Highlights the first, in which Webnovel gets a license to do basically whatever they want with content you post on their site. This is how they get to be paid for people reading authors’ writing without paying them anything.

Highlights the second, in which Webnovel takes no responsibility for illegally profiting off of fan fic. This all says that the writer is 100% responsible for everything the writer posts (even though only Webnovel is making money from it).

Highlights the third which say that by posting, the author is representing that they have the legal right to use and to let Webnovel use the content according to these terms. So if a writer posts fan fiction and Webnovel makes money from people reading the fan fiction, and the House of the Mouse catches wise, these sections say that that’s ALL on the writer.

So that’s a little skeevy to start off with but the thing that is seriously shitty and made me make this post was that these assholes are coming to ao3. They are actively recruiting people in comments on their fan fiction. And they are saying they are big fans of the character you’re writing about and that they share your interests.

They are recruiting fan fiction writers and giving every impression that you can make money from posting fan fiction on their site and hiding the fact that you absolutely cannot but they can make money off of you while you try, deep in their terms of service which no one but a lawyer who writes fan fic and has some time to kill will read.

I see posts on here regularly from people who don’t understand how this stuff works, don’t understand that they (and others) can not legally make a financial profit from fan fiction. And there are tons of people who will not take the time to dig into the details.

Don’t deal with these bastards. Fuck Webnovel.

“but shrouded black figures are scary!” not when ur muslim. its the funniest fucking thing. this is labeled on pinterest under shit like “classic horror” “scary phone wallpaper”

but that LITERALLY just looks like a niqabi or someone in a jilbab. Like Look at this pic of me (from a self photoshoot, now w/o the dramatic lighting and dark background)

or this pic of me

or this pic of me

like its so funny i can’t be scared of shrouded figures it just looks like me.

if i saw this i would just be like “Assalam alaikum sister, dope sword you got there”

I mean I think a part of the ‘scary background’ bit is the thing where the individual in question is staring directly at the viewer from a foggy pond in a dense forest. And also the literal burning halo

sounds like a normal Friday night. if a sister wants to go on a walk in the evening who am i to stop her. if she has a burning halo that’s the will of god.

Cats painting studies by Paul Rabaud

this is so fucking funny i don't even care if it's real

a ma comic for my ma - i love her and loved tmnt

i keep seeing jokes about Imagine Dragons showing their support by performing for WGA strikers, like about how bad their music/singing is and jokes about how it’ll hurt the movement and normally i’m neutral to the hatred of popular/used to be popular things, but GOD. as a queer ex-mormon i so badly wish more people knew what this group and what specifically Dan Reynolds has done to support queer kids

(article from screenshots)

also while im here Enemy (the arcane song) is also about queer mormon kids <3

I absolutely hate how people took a kind, progressive, good band and decided to give it the nickelback treatment.

(Frankly I don’t even necessarily think they’re bad, sound wise, either. But I guess music is subjective so if you disagree that’s your right, just don’t treat it as some kind of unilateral truth)

My cousin (who is a christian fundamentalist and a massive homophobe) once mocked me for liking the band as an atheist because they’re religious, and I just went silent because I didn’t feel like getting into an argument, but

Like

Dan Reynolds has been an outspoken ally for a while.

“Believer” is about queer religious trauma. “Love” is about queer acceptance. He called out Eminem over homophobia. He was part of the Loveloud Festival, that raised over a million dollars for queer charities like the Trevor Project.

Gee, it’s sure a funny coincidence he and ID got branded as cringe. I wonder what motive someone could possibly have to do so.

I got the honour of seeing Imagine Dragons live, and, a. they’re fucking GOOD what the FUCK especially live, like their music style has changed over time and it’s fine to not like that but the live performance was just so passionate and wonderful, and b, I can’t coiuldn’t take any pictures of it but one of the guitarists has a trans flag guitar with a trans flag strap and it’s so fucking beautiful and I nearly cried when I saw that clear and open support in such a subtle way. I’m glad someone else put into words how fucking annoying that attitude has been towards them with the strike.

then i went back to bed

a christmas comic.

i really like when the dragons are drawn like this