piano958

[piano958]

don't judge a fic by its stats

[piano958]

Just clarifying this for the AO3 folks that aren't familiar with Chinese fandom, but Tiffany G misrepresented the reason for the AO3 ban in China. It was NOT because of "pedophilic content" like she claimed. AO3 was banned in late February 2020 after the fans of a Chinese idol named Xiao Zhan mass reported the site to the authorities. His fans found an RPF fic depicting him as a transgender sex worker, were pissed off by this, and then decided to take action by drawing the attention of the censors. His fans made detailed tutorials on how to report that AO3 fic to the government on grounds of pornography and pedophilic content and mobilized other fans to report it en masse. They were sucessful and the entire site was permanently banned. They also reported RPF content featuring Xiao Zhan on other Chinese sites like Lofter and Bilibili, and the result was even more stringent censorship for these already heavily censored platforms.

The reason their reports were honoured was not because the content they reported had any actual "pedophilic content" (The RPF fic did not have pedophilia), but because sexual intimacy 'below the neck' is banned in Chinese platforms, and LGBTQ content regardless of rating has been the target of increasingly strict state censorship for years. It was never about pedophilia like Tiffany G claims it is. I think a lot of people (including myself) think that censoring truly morally reprehensible content is a good thing, but from my experience with state censorship it always starts out that way, with things that we generally agree is abhorrent but then it never stops there. As of now, sexually intimate scenes are no longer allowed to be portrayed in stories, especially in LGBTQ centered stories, even though it was possible just a few years ago.

EDIT: Clarifying because I phrased the above line wrong and people on the comments think this means I'm pro censorship. What I meant was that there are people who may think that censoring morally reprehensible content like pedophilia is a good thing and I WAS one of them, but because of my experience with state censorship, I've come to realize that it doesn't stop there and will eventually spread to other "formerly acceptable" content and people should realize that fiction is not reality when deeming whether content is moral or not. My english is really not that good yet 😂 Thanks for helping me compose this @ravijahn

AO3 was able to exist as a gray area in Chinese internet for so long because of its niche existence. In the uncertain world within the 'Great Firewall', things like this can usually survive longer as long as it stays in its little niche corner, that's why minding your own business and being meticulous about tagging your content is such an important concept in Chinese fandom. It was generally agreed upon that no matter how bad things get in fandom disagreements, reporting content should never even be an option, because drawing mainstream attention is a surefire way to kill a free creative space within the firewall. Xiao Zhan's fans disrespected that and ruined everything for everyone, and since then rules like "No Xiao Zhan fans allowed" are common to see within Chinese online spaces.

This issue has made its way to weibo and plenty Chinese fans are pissed at that Tiffany person. Just look up 'Tiffany G' on weibo and read what people are saying. Although I have seen some genuinly hurtful and racist takes about Tiffany on international social media, I would also like to say that reducing the criticism against her as nothing more than 'white people being racist' isn't fair either because Chinese fans are just as worried and angry about this. I hope people can fight for this without unfairly misrepresenting Chinese fans, who were the biggest victims of the AO3 ban in China. It was the last bastion of creative freedom and uncensored LGBTQ content within the firewall and to have it taken away really brought so much pain to a lot of people. Tiffany G's views do NOT represent Chinese fans, and even though some people are painting her as possible representation for non-white fans on the OTW board, the reality is that her views are the exact opposite of what Chinese fans want.

Here's an excellent twitter post that explains this much better than I can. Please give it a read and share!

Thanks for reading and I apologize for the clumsy english 😂

[piano958]

it's so bitter to watch how many people are only now realising that the censorship of "morally bad" things will never stop at just the things they personally find repulsive. the problem with morals is that they're not a fixed norm that everyone agrees on and that they're a very easy argument to be used by bigots against marginalised groups. that's why it's dangerous to call for censorship on moral grounds - whose morals exactly?

all you people campaigning for a boycott of ao3, wanting them to censor "bad" content, i am begging you to wake the fuck up and understand that for many people "bad" things include queer people's existence, any form of sexual content, minority-representation and criticism of the government.

don't open the door for them.

[piano958]

speaking of Ao3 not being a social medium:

it will always need money. It’s an archive. Even if they meet their yearly donation aim now without any problem doesn’t mean it will be like this in 5 years, in 10 years, in 80 years. Yeah you read that right. Ao3 is an Archive. It intends to be available forever. Like a library. Because Ao3 *is* a library. If you want to keep your library, you wouldn’t cut its budget just because it did well last year. Maintaining a library creates running expenses. The purpose of an archive is to preserve data indefinitely, and this costs money.

[piano958]

ao3

[piano958]

It's hilarious to me when people complain about AO3 and its policies, and what they allow on the site - but it's ESPECIALLY funny when people complain like "Why can't the freaks make their own site and just go there?"

Sweetie... AO3 is the site for that. Y'all invaded our space.

Wattpad and FFN still exist. Go there. They're as shitty and G-rated as you want. You can't have the luxuries that AO3 offers if you're gonna be a little bitch about its policies. Imagine walking into a strip club and complaining about the alcohol and naked ladies when there's a god damn Dennys next door you could have gone to. Christ.

[piano958]

[piano958]

You can find my fanfiction on AO3, under the same name as here, Piano958.

I write for multiple fandoms.

Some of my content can be triggering for people, please read tags and proceed with caution. Don’t like? Don’t read, please. Thank you.

[piano958]

Finally

[piano958]

What to do when you don’t like a fic: a step by step guide

Step 1:

[piano958]

The excluded tags filter on Ao3 is such a fucking lifesaver. I love it so much.

[piano958]

My first AO3 Post: Don't Leave Again (chapter 1, Narusasu/Sasunaru)

So I wrote this after being horribly sad and stuck in a hole. Decided to post it, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who wanted to read it!

This is the first chapter. There are nine chapters (currently) in total, please check it out if you like it!! Also yes, it is indeed a Naruto fic. I am not sorry, I am just now getting into Naruto :')

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Link to fic Content Warnings: Angst, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Self-Harm, Alcohol, Drunkenness

Summary: Sasuke has been gone for so long that almost everyone has given up on him and moved on, but for some reason, Naruto is still hung up on him. Speaking of Naruto, he is not doing well in the slightest. The man is depressed, anxious, and on the brink of giving up on life in general. When suddenly one day Sai appears at Naruto's door with information on Sasuke, things are about to be shaken up out of nowhere.

Notices: They’re adults but aged up. Kinda like if Naruto had started a little later than it did? I don't know how to exactly explain it, but they're adults (around like 21.) This takes place in an 'AU' where the ninja war was more of a general thing than part of the main story, and where Sasuke isn’t as fucking stupid. Also, a lot of these words were supposed to be italicized but I wrote this all on my phone so it didn't carry over; that's why the formatting is weird too. READ. THE. WARNINGS. Thanks.

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Chapter 1: A Collapse Rarely if ever did anyone see Naruto cry. He was always a positive person. Being on his own had taught him that nothing would get done by moping, and a smile made you far less of a target than crying did. He was quite used to the side eyes he received every day, though a majority of it changed from angry glances when he was a kid to regular ones now. Realizing that Naruto could, in fact, kill them and blow up the village easily but didn’t and instead fought for the village probably has sunk in a little bit.

It would’ve mattered a few years ago. It would’ve mattered to Naruto a lot that people didn’t see him as a monster anymore. His ultimate goal, becoming Hokage and proving his worth, didn’t matter for a second if he couldn’t save Sasuke.

Sasuke shouldn’t matter that much, and Naruto was fully aware of that. Even Sakura had given up, truly given up, on the fucking stupid black-haired ninja. And she had been absolutely head-over-heels for the man. Naruto, however, just couldn’t give up and he didn’t know why.

It was starting to get to him. Like, really really get to him, that he couldn’t shake Sasuke. The team had previously discussed the possibility of killing the ninja should he ever become hostile and Naruto absolutely did not take the conversation well. He was no stranger to panic attacks, but no one else was aware of that and they almost had a meltdown watching the smiley, bubbly boy crumble. He wished they didn’t see that. They check on him far too often now and look at him questioningly when he does anything but smile.

He still hadn’t let them see him cry. No one would get that pleasure.

The dining table Naruto sat at felt cold. It felt empty. Naruto didn’t eat very often anymore. He still adored ramen; no one could take that love away from him. He didn’t buy any now, though, and instead only got some when he knew people suspected something was up and he wanted to keep face.

Cold. Empty. It genuinely didn’t bother him most of his life, and he enjoyed having space to himself, but tonight was one of those nights.

Some years ago Naruto learned something pretty awful: he healed super fast. The fox inside of him gave such a huge boost to his chakra that any wounds he received would heal pretty much overnight. This made him sort of reckless as a ninja, and a fun puzzle for the doctors at the Leaf hospital.

How could that possibly be awful? Well, Naruto had learned a very common form of coping: self-harm. As a ninja, you’re surrounded by knives and blades all day every day. You practically carry a dozen everywhere you go. Pair that, Naruto’s incredible healing speed, a young human whose life is seemingly falling apart at every turn, and you have a recipe for disaster. Sometimes, it’s literally the only thing that kept him alive other than being a disgrace.

Being treated like a monster, losing the only thing he ever considered to be a friend and facing the idea of killing him, losing his teacher, being alone, feeling so absolutely terribly hopeless… Naruto was stuck in a hole. He couldn’t see a way out of it. Sasuke wasn’t coming back any time soon, and he could never accept his life’s goal without him. He’d rather die with Sasuke than kill him. In fact, even if Sasuke came back there was still something eating at Naruto… something to do with him and Sakura… something to do with Naruto never being okay. He couldn’t figure it out, and it was eating at him like a heaven curse. Even if Sasuke was back, Naruto would still be a monster and would still have nothing. Sasuke hadn’t ever cared about Naruto’s attempts to bring him home, and even though Naruto would chase him till the end of time… well… it didn’t matter. Naruto didn’t matter. He was nothing but a burden and a tool, happy to give his power to the village, but in the end, he knew whatever this was that was eating at him would never allow him to become Hokage.

He trudged off to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He sat at the bottom of it, cleaning himself vaguely and staring mostly, eyeing the knife he kept in there. Did it really matter that he did this? If he healed overnight, no one would ever know, and for the times it was too deep some bandages and an extra few days were all he needed. He couldn’t hurt anyone else if they didn’t know, and there was no other thread than this one tethering him to the earth. This was, quite frankly to Naruto, the only thing he had control over.

Kurama wasn’t happy about what he was doing, but Naruto didn’t listen. The fox would heal him regardless. He felt what would be the angry stomping if the fox was in front of him in his chest, demanding him to stop because even it knew when enough was enough, but Naruto didn’t listen. He continued on and on until the last thing he was red. It was fine, he’d wake up anyway. Nothing mattered, not even his own life.

Except… this time he didn’t quite make it to red. A knock sounded on the door. Normally Naruto would ignore it, as it was probably just Sakura or Sensei checking on him, but the knocking grew frantic. Naruto groaned, picked himself up, and bandaged his arms the same way he always did when he awoke, and yelled, “Coming, just give me a minute!”

The knocking stopped suddenly, and Naruto rolled his eyes as he took his time. No one could know, after all. He approached the door mentally preparing himself to act happy.

When he opened the door, a black-haired someone collapsed into his arms, coughing blood. It wasn’t Sasuke.