myfandomrealitea

[myfandomrealitea]

A serious (and seemingly obvious) problem with the implementation of the Online Safety Act is that it requires malicious actors to not exist.

Since the UK govenment in any form hates paying for things, especially things required for their goals, the current situation is that websites have to work out to do age verification themselves. There is no government-approved or provided service for this - it's a free-for-all of third-party verification providers.

Now, some people are pointing out that depending on how these companies handle the data given to them to perform verification, it's possible this data could be stolen or leaked. This is a worrying possibility. This danger is primarily one of passive incompetence, although if your driver's licence gets leaked, you won't be happy either way.

But passive incompetence probably isn't going to hurt anyone before active malice does.

Normalising showing your face or identity documents to random websites is an incredibly stupid thing to do. You know who benefits from this? Actual criminals! Phishing attacks continue to be successful because people will put their banking details into websites that are very much not their banks. And while random websites asking for your banking details is suspicious, the OSA makes it so that random websites asking for your driver's license or passport or other such things will now be expected.

Meaning an enterprising criminal can set up a website, stick a fake age verification pop-up on it, and harvest a whole bunch of things that come in useful for committing identity theft. Or blackmail perhaps.

The overall point here is that in this respect, the Online Safety Act is going to make the internet more dangerous, in a way that should be obvious if you actually think about the potential negative consequences.

[myfandomrealitea]

I've seen an alarming rise of a certain mentality on TikTok and Instagram right now, and can I just plainly state:

Your service animal's health and safety matter just as much as yours.

They're a working animal, not an actual insentient tool or piece of equipment.

They need to eat. They need access to water throughout the day.

If you wouldn't walk barefoot through a city because of glass and needles and the heat, put some fucking boots on your dog.

If it's too hot for you, it's definitely too hot for them. Your trip to Starbucks is not worth their life from heatstroke.

If you are in a situation where the dog is getting bashed around or injured or threatened, it is still your responsibility to try and leave that situation.

This increasing rise of thinking of service animals as just pieces of equipment that don't deserve basic care and consideration while they're working is really grinding my gears at the moment.

I've seen service dogs collapsing from the heat.

I've seen service dogs limping because they've stepped on glass.

It is still. Your responsibility. To make sure they're safe. Whether they're working or not.

[myfandomrealitea]

[myfandomrealitea]

UK PETITION - REPEAL THE ONLINE SAFETY ACT

Petition Link

If you live in the UK, or have a valid UK address, please sign the fuck out of this. They've responded that they have "no plans" to repeal it, but that's just a tactic to get people to back down and lose hope.

They can.

And we can make them.

[myfandomrealitea]

Gonna swing a bat at the kpop girlies right now and say that your favorite idols are absolutely getting cosmetic work done.

That that's okay!!

Cosmetic work isn't always drastic plastic surgery. It's not. Cosmetic work is injections like hyaluronic acid and fat transfers and fat dissolvers. Cosmetic work is botox and liposuction. It's skin treatments and hair transplants and microblading.

And it is happening.

That doesn't de-value your idol. It's not a dirty thing to say and acknowledge. Idols themselves, companies and people who work in the industry and in the beauty and cosmetics industries have all been open about the amount of work idols get. Especially idols who are very active in sponsorships, touring, ect.

And if I see one person going "omg but BTS would never!" I'm gonna hold your hand, sit you down, and gently tell you that you're delusional.

Idols are in an industry where how they look is practically 98% of their career. Especially current "generations" of idols and actors.

Kpop is an industry massively based on consumption and desire.

Your idols are getting cosmetic work done. And that's fine. It doesn't make them less of an idol. It doesn't take away from their beauty.

But it is delusional and damaging to pretend it's not happening. Its not a negative thing to acknowledge. Its not "hating" on an idol to acknowledge in passing that they've had work done.

[myfandomrealitea]

Actually, yeah. I'm gonna shame a few people here.

It's not a mic drop or a clap-back or whatever you think it is when you insert yourself onto someone's post or into someone's space, say your piece, then block them to prevent them from responding.

Especially if it's on posts designed to be conversations, designed to have a back and froth, designed to have two sides. If you were brave enough to say your piece in the first place, you shouldn't be a coward and run from the answers.

Obligatory acknowledgement that you can still block people who are being assholes, but if you've inserted yourself into a discussion, you can't just yell out your piece then slam the door before someone can respond. Especially if you ran into their room to say it.

[myfandomrealitea]

[myfandomrealitea]

This is, unfortunately, the time when you simply cannot decide to sit back and complain about things and be outraged without actually. Taking. Action.

Griping on social media is not going to change anything. Crying in your Instagram stories is not going to change anything.

I see so hate and emotion and outrage on social media and when I ask what people are actually doing about it, the answer is always the same.

Nothing.

It can be hard to know where to begin, I know. It can be exhausting. Terrifying. It can feel hopeless.

But things. Need. Action.

Write to your local councils and Governors and Mayors and Judges. Join protests. Sign petitions. Participate in boycotts.

Where you can, support agencies and individuals and charities working to combat the harm being done globally.

Where you can, have your input. Stop whispering into the void and start screaming in politician's ears.

Things aren't a conspiracy anymore. We are living in the dystopian realities we used to gawk at in movies and books.

And the more your energy is redirected into performative upset, the less actual resistance these people meet. They do not want you organised. They do not want you to know how to stop them. They do not want you to know you have options.

[myfandomrealitea]

If you live in the USA and you're pleading for donations to pay your rent, bills, or get food then dial 211! Please dial 211 before the last minute!

It's a toll free service with people who will help you find programs in your community to pay those bills, find food, and find housing! They will give you numbers to call so you can get help.

It is not 100% foolproof. Their job is to direct you to a program they believe will help your current issue, but it's still a step up from praying random strangers online will give you enough cash before a deadline! The added benefit of these community programs, which get funded by the local government most of the time, is if there are more people using them then they can get more money to help more people.

You're not taking resources from other people if you use your community services. Your taxes pay for them. Use them.

Dial 211 first to see if they can help, and if for some reason they can't, then make your donation posts!

https://www.211.org/

[myfandomrealitea]

Everyone: Please please please don't write your books in Google Docs. Frankly don't use Google Drive for personal stuff.

Their terms of service say they take down stuff like content related to terrorism and trafficking, but this Google Sheet was literally a list of movies I'd watched this year and books I'd read.

[myfandomrealitea]

so itchio has shadowbanned any games tagged with 'nsfw', 'adult', or 'erotic' so they don't show up in searches, and several devs have reported that their r18 games have been removed from the site with no warning

you know, maybe the internet shouldn’t be controlled by payment processors and terf lobbyists. and maybe people should be more concerned about this rise of censorship on queer media.

[myfandomrealitea]

things I would do if you're a nsfw/kink creative now because I've been eerily prescient about every single wave:

a) get a personal site with your own domain you own. now. not a carrd or third party squarespace. not next week. now. get it online with ugly-ass html but get your links there.

b) if you have the money: join one or multiple of eff.org / cbldf.org / freespeechcoalition.com

partly because they're actively fighting this, partly because they have members-only Lawyers You Might Need. Hint. Hint. Canary.

c) Write Down Those Lawyer Contact Numbers in meatspace. phone number of a real human being especially on paper, On You.

I have been in contact with lawyers for a few months now as my doujin circle knows. this should be telling you Many Things.

d) www.ecrater.com is where i'm going to be tentatively testing a shop because i like the fact you can *not* have payment processes and order digital/physical products via purely mail order.

(... be prepared for this to fall through too in the next 1-6 months.)

e) friends and followers of nsfw artists who earn most of their income through it: now's the time to support them. they're going to need the grace and financial flexibility especially mental health wise. domain/shop transfer/refund/therapy bills ain't free.

check in on them, and often.

f) get a VPN, use it daily to acclimatize, have them on your hard drive, several VPN's preferable. this is for the age verification laws coming. Start reading up on secure, privacy-focused infrastructure (prioritize email > website > shop in that order).

eff.org has a *ton* of resources.

g) prepare for discord and tumblr to be hit in the next wave. have alternatives *and actively start using them* if they're mission critical platforms for you.

I've played with matrix though I quite fancy IRC. if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I say these things not to fearmonger but to give yourself the maximum amount of time to prepare. the pendulum *will* swing back. it did with the 80's moral panic. it will for this too.

you just have to outlast the bastards.

[myfandomrealitea]

Just to clarify, there's a bill that would STOP credit card companies from controlling who's allowed to spend money on porn or "risque" (read: queer) content. If you don't think big business should be able to tell you what to spend your own damn money on, call your senators and reps to let them know! It's the Fair Access to Banking Act, H.R.987 in the House, S.410 in the Senate.

[myfandomrealitea]

Yes! Wattpad is so hypocritical with their TOS, I’ve seen ppl saying that they got shadowbanned without warning. Lost fic media ensues. I think a part of me should just delete Wattpad but I’ll feel so awful for stopping my support of the good writers there. They say they’re having an easier time uploading on that site compared to others or smth.

Unfortunately Wattpad downloads have to be chapter by chapter on pc/laptop…

AO3 is the Final Destination of online fanfiction.

I’m an ex anti, I’m very glad to have deleted the reblogs and unfollowed antis on my named account. On said named account, I’ve said that I don’t want to engage in shipping discourse. I just don’t like petty drama over fiction, unless the standom is being an ass and defending criminals that’s a who,e different tale.

I still don’t like/hate certain ships/characters. But at least I have the decency to block and filter. Not hate comment or spreading misinformation! It’s a huge waste of energy.

Heh, my block list is long but whatever.

No good author should be on Wattpad to be honest. People only say it's "easier to use" because you can "slap up and go" with it.

Which, is exactly the same as what you can do on AO3. The only difference is AO3 does have a few mandatory markers, like language and title. That's it. But even Wattpad demands a title before you upload, so.

[myfandomrealitea]

Yet again I was blocked after someone swiped their victim card and verified they don't have the braincells to properly read through a post, but just to re-clarify:

Yes. I will absolutely not read your fanfiction if there's literally no available information that tells me what the work is about, or what it contains. Its like blindfolding me and asking me to trust you to feed me something when I have no idea who you are or what you're about to stick in my mouth.

I could be allergic to it. It could be something I hate. And yes, I have the option to spit it out, but actually, I'd rather just not risk you feeding me at all.

The person who replied to the post ultimately completely misunderstood the point of the post, which was to clarify that a lot of the time reader engagement is low because people aren't reading the work, rather than people simply consuming content without any form of reciprocation.

This is because, when you refuse to tag:

People actively searching for what your work could contain aren't finding your work because they're most often using filtered searches. If your work doesn't include the tag(s) they're looking for, its going to be excluded from the search.

People who have squicks and triggers most often do not click on works marked as "author chose not to include warnings" or works that have little to no tags because chances are, it'll contain one of their squicks or triggers.

Some people like to know what a work contains, even just on a general basis, before they attempt to read it. Summaries can often be non-descriptive or misleading, so people tend to look toward tags for more clarity on what to expect.

Readers who do brave the unknown and ultimately come across something they don't like are going to exit out of the work. They're not going to fawn over it in the comments if they were blindsided by something that turned them off it.

The ultimate point is that readers will be more likely to find your work, enjoy it, and comment, if you're actually doing your part in the symbiotic relationship, and actually utilising the many, many functions AO3 gives you to make your content more visible.

AO3 does not have an algorithm. AO3 is a user-lead functional website. And it works both ways.

[myfandomrealitea]

Oh god, I have a like-hate relationship with Wattpad. It’s excluded from the internet archives hence I’m unable to find a specific user… and unable to find their deleted works or even themselves on any other social media/fanfic site. Now they’re sadly just past memories…

There used to be a website that allows Wattpad downloads on tablet/phone but it seems to not work anymore?

Wattpad is probably worse than FFN at this rate. But at the same time I don’t want to delete my account bc there are users who only use that site to upload their fics.

I detest FFN for not allowing users to manually delete their reviews unless their accounts are deleted. But at least publicly removed fics can be downloaded after copy-pasting the link from the downloaded section of the iOS app.

AO3 really is the last stand for fanfiction of all kinds. Free download options on the fic in case the user deletes their shit.

Wattpad is an absolute dogshit website and if anyone actually took the time to read their TOS there wouldn't be a single upload on that batshit garbage page.

I do actually have a post briefly outlining some of their worst terms floating around, I'll have to find it.

People shit on AO3 and refuse to use it because it's the "pedo site" but AO3 genuinely is the last stand for fanfiction, and not just because functionally it is far, far superior to other websites.

Also; Wattpad technically isn't even a fanfiction website. It's an original fiction website.

Also also, daily reminder to all authors and readers to do a monthly scour of Wattpad because it is also home to ignorant assholes who steal fanfiction from AO3 and other websites and upload it in the name of "sharing and preservation." Usually without credit.

[myfandomrealitea]

People who've reblogged a post of mine with an absolute dogshit uneducated take then immediately blocked me so I can't roast them for it counter: +1