mostsanestfcrashout

[mostsanestfcrashout]

princess Sofia

[mostsanestfcrashout]

take a snippet of this fics first chapter

sigh i am SO back in this fandom

im actually gonna foam at the mouth i need to write a fic about miranda, roland, cedric, and baileywick learning about sofia being a protector in the finale bc there is SO MUCH potential there and im gonna crash out that there arent any fics about this that i can find. so anyways i have like 22 days until school break is over i need to LOCK IN.

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"just write the story you want to read!" they said. well, guess what, now i have 14 unfinished drafts because apparently, i want to read 14 different stories at once.

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wip i guess

bye it looks worse than i thought before but whatever i tried something okay 😭😭😭

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change.org petition link set up by a commenter (@/luciantlux)

Hello! So sorry to bother, but have you had any updates on the Word-Stream/Speechify situation?

Just one: like I posted on Xitter and Bluesky last night, as of yesterday afternoon, the links to individual works as they were listed on WordStream are gone from both Google and Bing. Hurray, right? Surely we’re all sick of this whole debacle and there’s far more important things to worry about. If all is well that ends well, surely there’s no need to still be angry.

Well, I am. Here’s why:

When I checked on Wednesday, the links to my own work on WordStream were still listed. So rather than it taking a week after Cliff Weitzman first hid the fanwork from view, it took a little over a week from the moment he first promised privately that they would be deleted. Which, fine. Perhaps Cliff didn’t really know what he was talking about when he gave that timeframe. Or maybe he told a little white lie to create the impression that he always intended to do the right thing. It seems more likely to me, though, that Cliff still believed—even after the backlash he received—that he would get away with honoring only individual takedown requests. Or worse, that he needed just a little bit more time with the stolen material to figure out an alternative way to profit off it—preferably without us noticing, this time.

But who knows? I certainly don’t! All we can do is speculate, because publicly, Cliff Weitzman has remained completely silent on his copyright infringements. All we got was the initial justifications he and his sockpuppet accounts used in comments on the original Reddit and Tumblr posts. After those were so understandably ill-received, Cliff only ever communicated with a few individual authors who contacted him directly and repeatedly, blocking people who addressed the issue on Twitter and quietly distancing himself from WordStream by deleting a blog he’d posted to Speechify.com dated December 20th—where Cliff promoted WordStream’s platform specifically to fanfiction readers. (See my enormous timeline post for details and screenshots of said posts before they were taken down.)

And this is why I’m still angry: As long as Cliff Weitzman faces no real consequences for his actions, he won’t see a need to own up to his mistake; and as long as he’s able to delay taking responsibility, this isn’t over. This didn’t end well.

After all, wasn’t this the next-best scenario for Cliff, second only to him turning WordStream into a (for him) effortless, infinite money-making machine? He took something we provided for free and fed it to AI so he could more easily put it behind a paywall; we found out and protested; Cliff quietly erased all evidence of his crime; and we went—almost equally quietly—away.

I want to make sure you know that I continue to be genuinely amazed and intensely grateful for how quickly the news about WordStream’s copyright infringement was shared—and continues to be shared—throughout fandom, on tumblr in particular. If it hadn’t been for our collective outcry here and on Reddit, WordStream would very likely still be up in its original form, and Weitzman would be reaping the benefits (those subscription prices were steep) today.

But it’s been frustrating to see that, with the exception of mentions in articles on Substack and Fansplaining (the latter of which is a particularly awesome and thorough read on fandom’s decontextualization) and a Fanlore listing, our outrage never really spilled out beyond the safely insulated, out-of-the-way spaces that are tumblr, a handful of subreddits and bluesky. And I believe that—unfortunately—we are collectively responsible for that part, as well.

Most of us seemed content to only spread the word by circulating the same two posts on tumblr. (Have we all given up completely on every other social media platform? Am I the only remaining straggler?) And soon after Cliff Weitzman hid WordStream’s fanfiction category from view, our interest in the issue took a sharp dive even there. Are we genuinely deceived into believing the issue has been fully resolved? Do we truly fail to realize that Weitzman’s refusal to admit that what he did was wrong left the door wide open for the next greed-driven tech bro to wander through? Or is the true naivety in thinking that, as a community, we can keep this kind of attack on fandom from happening again? Has our disillusionment already gotten that bad?

However the situation spins out from here, Cliff’s actions will set a precedent. If we fail to show Cliff and his ilk that attempts to profit off fandom’s unpaid labor have consequences, their tech companies will keep trying until something eventually sticks. They might be a little smarter about it next time; obscure their sources a bit better, maybe leave the titles and the authors’ names off. Or maybe they’ll go a bolder route: maybe next time they cross the line they’ll do it boldly enough for IP holders to take notice and stop tolerating fanwork entirely.

Doesn’t that make you angry, too?

There’s this whole other mess of thoughts I would love to be able to untangle about how commercial influence is contributing to the steady erosion of fandom’s foundations, but I’m tired, and other people have said it all much more eloquently than I ever could. Seriously, go read that article on Fansplaining. Or listen to the podcast version of it. Better yet, as long as you’re wearing your noise-canceling headphones, go listen to a podfic of one of your favorite fandoms’ works, and enjoy the collaborative joy and creativity of the people who Cliff Weitzman refuses to believe exist. (In one of Speechify’s other blogs, Cliff claims there are only 272 podfics on AO3. Would you like to run that ChatGPT prompt again, Cliff?). Honestly, much like Cliff Weitzman’s infuriating denial of the fact that fandom fucking has this covered, thank you very much, there’s so. Many. More. Things for us to talk about. There’s the connotations of WordStream’s dubious ‘upload’ button, for instance, or the fact that the app scraped (and in some cases, allegedly, still lists) copyright-protected original fiction as well, or WordStream’s complete lack of contact information, which is illegal for an internationally operating app. And oh! Has anyone reported more thoroughly on Cliff’s app’s options to ‘simplify’ or ‘modernize’ uploaded works, or—my own very favorite abomination—to translate them into something Cliff calls ‘Gen-Z Language’? Much like his atrocious AI book covers, it would be hilarious, if it didn’t make steam come out of my ears.

Anyway, there it is. I highly recommend you do all of that. And then, if you aren’t familiar with it already, go do some research re: fair use and your rights as the copyright owner of your works. A good number of people commenting on this controversy expressed stunned surprise or fearful hesitation about claiming any sort of ownership of their fanfiction. The more informed we are about our rights, the more willing we will be to defend them.

Please don’t stop writing or sharing your work. If you can’t bring yourself to work on your WIPs today (trust me, I get it), post about this situation instead. Tweets, skeets, whateverthefucks—about WordStream’s theft, about how this reflects on Speechify’s already shady business practices, about how Cliff’s actions and justifications have personally affected you. You’re welcome to share or copy my posts on these platforms, but since Cliff already blocked me, I very much prefer you post your own. If you do, call Cliff Weitzman by his full name and tag or include both WordStream and Speechify to ensure Weitzman will recognize he has both a personal as well as a professional stake in handling the situation with integrity. Leave your concerns in reviews on the Speechify app. (We weren’t provided with a more appropriate place to put them, after all!) Consider calling for a Speechify boycott until Cliff accepts accountability for his actions.

Do avoid making exaggerated claims, and don’t call for physical retaliation against Cliff’s person or his property. We don’t want to give him or Speechify even the weakest of grounds to claim defamation or threats of violence. Focus on the facts: they’re incriminating enough by themselves. Show Cliff that we’re determined to keep bringing up his company’s wrongdoings in public spaces until he demonstrates that he understands why taking these freely shared fanworks and monetizing them was wrong, and takes steps to ensure it won’t happen again.

One last thing—and this is really more of a general reminder—please stop suggesting I handle this situation for you. People have come to me asking for action items. The resulting flashbacks to my days as an office assistant were extremely upsetting. In all seriousness, casting me as some sort of coordinator or driving force behind this backlash actively hurts the cause. Not only does it downplay fandom’s collective efforts, it also makes our message extremely vulnerable. It would be all too easy for Cliff to silence one singular source. Wikipedia will not maintain mentions of this controversy as long as it leads only to Easter Kingston’s attempt to summarize what happened as it was happening. You only know my name because I stumbled upon WordStream’s theft and decided to get my friends involved. I am not more knowledgeable, more skilled or more angrily invested in this issue than you are (or can, or should, be). I draw pictures and I write stories and I worry about the shift I’m seeing in fandom after having been on this ride for even a few pre-livejournal rounds.

I’m not going to stop doing any of those things. But I am going to allow myself to step away for a bit, make my wife dinner, and catch up on our shows.

I trust you’ve got it from here.

[mostsanestfcrashout]

am i being ambitious bc im also planning on/starting to write another Sofia the first fic where Sofia is mentoring a Protector in training? maybe. but will it be fun, yes!!

sigh i am SO back in this fandom

im actually gonna foam at the mouth i need to write a fic about miranda, roland, cedric, and baileywick learning about sofia being a protector in the finale bc there is SO MUCH potential there and im gonna crash out that there arent any fics about this that i can find. so anyways i have like 22 days until school break is over i need to LOCK IN.

[mostsanestfcrashout]

sigh i am SO back in this fandom

im actually gonna foam at the mouth i need to write a fic about miranda, roland, cedric, and baileywick learning about sofia being a protector in the finale bc there is SO MUCH potential there and im gonna crash out that there arent any fics about this that i can find. so anyways i have like 22 days until school break is over i need to LOCK IN.

[mostsanestfcrashout]

TILLY WAS 16????? WHAT BUSINESS DID SHE HAVE PUTTING A 10 YEAR OLD IN THE RING 😭😭😭

BYE I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT SOFIAS AGE

STOP its still so crazy how sofia went from EIGHT to ELEVEN from seasons 1 to 4. I thought she was 12 in season four so at least a preteen but this girl is ELEVEN LIKE 11 LIKE HUHH THAT KID STILL HAS BABY TEETH. but also this brings up some interesting developments that: ~ her parents just dont??? pay attention to where their youngest is?? ~~ i dont think theyre like horrible parents but how do you NOT know where your youngest daughter is for most of the day ~ hg was doing the secret library shit at 10?? ~~ aunt tilly youre great and all but telling a TEN year old (literally first double digits year) 'oh you need to know how to handle things when you face your destiny' like come on there HAD to be better foresight than that 😭 ~~~ adding onto that AGAIN she freed elena at 10??? like whyd elena decide that was a good time to send this girl overseas what if she didn't manage to convince them to go to avalor then what?? 😭😭 ~ SHE WAS 8 DURING THE FLOATING PALACE????? ~~ the beef w this episode bc WHY DID NO ONE BELIEVE HERRRR

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helphelp

i NEED to get better at drawing im actually gonna foam at the mouth if i dont get to draw age accurate sofia.

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BYE I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT SOFIAS AGE

STOP its still so crazy how sofia went from EIGHT to ELEVEN from seasons 1 to 4. I thought she was 12 in season four so at least a preteen but this girl is ELEVEN LIKE 11 LIKE HUHH THAT KID STILL HAS BABY TEETH. but also this brings up some interesting developments that: ~ her parents just dont??? pay attention to where their youngest is?? ~~ i dont think theyre like horrible parents but how do you NOT know where your youngest daughter is for most of the day ~ hg was doing the secret library shit at 10?? ~~ aunt tilly youre great and all but telling a TEN year old (literally first double digits year) 'oh you need to know how to handle things when you face your destiny' like come on there HAD to be better foresight than that 😭 ~~~ adding onto that AGAIN she freed elena at 10??? like whyd elena decide that was a good time to send this girl overseas what if she didn't manage to convince them to go to avalor then what?? 😭😭 ~ SHE WAS 8 DURING THE FLOATING PALACE????? ~~ the beef w this episode bc WHY DID NO ONE BELIEVE HERRRR

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sofia the first but like traumatised !

sofia the first has me in a chokehold so take some silly hcs or ideas i have

not a hc but i NEED to draw sofia age accurately, that girl is ELEVEN at the end of season 4 like HUHH SHES A BABY ~ sofia is SO COOKED after her parents are told about her being a protector (also the way they made her a full protector at ELEVEN in front of her PARENTS without consent from them 😭😭) ~ sofia gets mad sassy as she gets older cause aint no way she doesnt go through the phase of 'man fuck you' after ALL that shes done ~ also aint no way sofia isnt steven universe future core when shes a teenager its just not how it works ~ AND sofia DESERVES a crash out. in this sequel if she doesnt get to crash out over doing literally EVERYTHING AROUND HERE im going to scream. give my hg a crashout 2026 !!!! thats it for now yippee im gonna crash out as i look up 11 yr olds and see how young sofia wouldve been in season 4 now