#Writer Income Concerns

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

What Did Happen to Medium Writer Earnings Suddenly?

Unexpected Earnings Decline Concerns Writers. I invite You for Patience and Understanding A quick editorial note for the writing community with some practical tips Dear freelance writers, I am the owner and chief editor of ILLUMINATION Integrated publications on Medium. Over the last few days, my Slack DMs and email inbox have been flooded with inquiries from writers who have noticed a…

[sillyangstfic]

Genuinely doing so bad rn but yk what? So is Dandelion

[neil-gaiman]

Hi Neil, I would love some insider perspective on the ongoing writer’s strike if you could give it.

The writers seem well equipped for months out of (writing) work, but seeing studios dig in for the long haul makes me wonder about WGA funding. My understanding is that the Guild’s main source of income is quarterly dues ($25 plus a portion of income). At some point dues income will presumably drop as writers don’t take any work and the strike continues.

My question is as follows: Is a dip in dues revenue a concern for the Guild? Is the ‘income’ in dues just writing-related or is it any income? If it’s the former, how does the WGA make money when nobody is making writing money? Is there a large enough cushion for them to just keep going indefinitely?

Any answer you can give would be much appreciated! I know you’re probably not an expert, but you are a Guild member. You said not to worry about the WGA early on in the strike. Perhaps you could counter the current studio narrative that they have the advantage in this waiting game.

Both the WGA east and west have strike funds, there to make low or no cost loans to members to get them through the strike. The WGAw has over $20 million in its strike fund. There are other funds as well, like the Entertainment Community Fund there to help people in the Entertainment Community whose jobs have gone away due to the strike.

[toraoistired]

let's talk about project 2025 and smut.

bc I've seen some of my favorite authors already state they aren't writing any more smut due to the mere threat of project 2025 going into effect. And hey, I'm a simple person who likes to read abt sexy times.

pls read through all the way and share if ya like any of what i wrote here - i don't want panic to be spreading through the writers of tumblr/ao3 like wildfire unchecked.

qualifications: BA in political science focusing on domestic policy, activism and ethnic studies.

Part I - what is it?

project 2025 at its core is a roadmap. it was created by the Heritage Foundation (an extremely far right disgusting think tank), and plenty of people associated with the previous and incoming Trump presidency. its like 900 pages of alt-right, christian nationalist bullshit.

but its not uncommon.

think tanks like the Heritage Foundation often create roadmaps like this to plot out what they would most want to see in a future presidency or period of political control. it isn't even particular to right-wing think tanks; left wing ones do it too! the difference in this case is the magnitude and attention paid to the manifesto.

the heritage foundation is a vast organization with a lot of money, and has had a part in US politics for a long ass time now. because of this, what they say/do carries a bit more weight. combined with the fact that dems in the past election used project 2025 as a common refrain (instead of like, developing their own policy but whatevs), you get a general public who is aware of the buzzword "project 2025" but not knowledgeable about what it contains.

what it does actually include is certainly worrying, but among the new freaky shit is a ton of stuff that has been on the republican party's to do list since day one, like dismantling the department of education. just reading that seems really shocking, i know, but if you look back to when the department was created, you will find evidence of republicans trying desperately to dismantle it.

i find the media flurry around project 2025 to be a bit concerning, because while i understand dems wanting to show voters how dangerous this shit can be, its also made it into something far more important than it could actually be. as i stated earlier, these types of policy blueprints are extremely common among think tanks. its like their entire job!! and yes, this one is scarier and more visible than others, but it

a.) isn't the official policy of the incoming admin (and if you look at their actual policy statement, its very clear they don't rly have policies, so who knows what that's gonna look like)

b.) isn't united states federal law

Part II - what's it gonna look like?

i'm not gonna sit here and say you shouldn't be worried about project 2025, bc a lot of whats in it is freaky asf. but that freakiness is what (in my opinion) will be its primary challenge. since its so out there, the extreme right wing republicans are going to have to work their asses off to get the votes they need to pass these things.

which brings me to another point-- project 2025 is a whole list of proposals. its not like republicans can put forth one bill that has the entirety of project 2025 in it and pass it all at once. for a whole laundry list of reasons, that's not possible. the process of getting one bill passed through the house and senate is an excruciatingly long one, and doing this process for 900 pages worth of plans ain't gonna be easy.

i should mention that donald trump has yet to endorse the plan as his own, so there's the real possibility that he wont even want to implement any of the ideas included. i could 100% see him ignoring the entire plan because he doesn't like that someone else came up with it tbh. and while i don't believe he has never heard of the heritage foundation, as he has claimed in the past, i think it is important to note that there hasn't been any confirmation from him that project 2025 is his roadmap.

the plan includes rollbacks of rights for every minority group possible, restrictions on immigration, access to morning-after pills, restructuring of the federal government to allow for easier hiring and firing based on little/no evidence, etc. all in all, not great.

but again, project 2025 isn't united states federal law

Part III - what does it mean for fanfic authors?

the section that has the fanfic-consuming/creating world in a tizzy is the bit about outlawing pornography. this is a concerning policy propsal, but not because of possible fanfic bans. rather, bc project 2025 and the heritage foundation at large sees queerness as inherently and exclusively sexual.

"pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children" (The Heritage Foundation, p.5)

thus, if they ban pornography (with a definition that includes/focuses on queerness), they can effectively ban expressions of queerness in the united states.

that shit is scary. and while i never want to rely on foundational documents when the people interpreting those documents (court justices (esp those appointed by the previous and incoming trump admin)), i will hesitantly say that this is gonna be a tough sell. both from a constitutional standpoint, and from a broad base support standpoint.

for the first of the two points, arguing that the first amendment doesn't "apply" to something is always a slippery slope, and defending that point is extraordinarily difficult. obviously this isnt always the case, but especially relating to pornography and obscenity, proving that a work fails the Miller test (a three part test created in Miller v. California (1973) to determine if something is obscene or not) is, like, really hard (heh).*

while the miller test is precedent for specific cases that come up in the court system, if some version of the porn ban goes into effect, the US court system is going to be dealing with challenges from every state, every form of media, every fandom.

which brings me to the second point. broad base support.

while the headline about Grindr crashing in Milwaukee during the RNC wasn't true in 2024, republican events in previous have brought an influx in users to the area in which the events are held if ya know what i'm sayin👀

on a real note though, getting a pornography ban passed in the united states would be exceedingly hard (no pun intended). especially one that includes forms of media like written pornography, not just visual. in terms of feasibility, a ban on video pornography is incrementally more likely than one on all forms of pornography. arguments against porn are weak at best, and the anti-porn movement in the US (usually religious) has been trying, and failing, for decades to ban pornography. most content about porn bans also refers primarily to video-based porn, not written smut.

let's just say worst case scenario something like this does go into action. anything you've written before the law goes into action cannot be used as a way to prosecute you. that would be an example of ex post facto punishment, which is explicitly prohibited in the constitution and by court precedent.

*note: i'm not endorsing the way the US court precedents around porn/obscenity look, as they are another symptom of purity culture and anti-sex culture created in the US

Part IV - what do we do?

well, giving up before a bill has even been proposed ain't it. it makes me deeply sad to see so many writers saying they wont be writing smut anymore because of the vague possibility of this plan. not only does it make me sad, it makes me angry. because that means people have seen so much misinformation about what project 2025 is and how it works that they are too scared to do anything about it. let me repeat again.

project 2025 is not law in the united states of america, nor is it in the process of becoming so. act accordingly.

so go forth, write smut, be gay, do some shit to make the heritage foundation angry today. and don't give up before the battle has even started. bc that's how they win. and i know shit seems really scary, but community and mutual aid is how we are gonna make it through this, so do your due diligence and research what you're scared about! knowledge is power and you gotta wield that sh*t.

i'd like to end with a quote from Timothy Snyder, who everyone and their mother has been quoting recently, but i still think it has value.

"Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do. Anticipatory obedience is a political tragedy." (Excerpted from On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder, 2017)

[Note - i have cited sources where appropriate, but this is also based on my (important to note, informed) opinion. please treat it as such, thank you]

[dykesynthezoid]

No actually I’m not fucking over what they did to Carmen. Literally when they introduced the baby plot I was going hey does anybody else think it’s fucking insane that they wrote this 38 y old woman just accepting a surprise pregnancy with zero second thoughts or concerns, when having a pregnancy at that age could put her and the fetus at even greater risk than average, when her son that she had at twenty, after getting trapped in an abusive marriage at eighteen, is just about to be a fully grown adult and she is SO CLOSE to having a little more independence and freedom and getting to be SOMEONE outside of just a mom; and she just?? Is not allowed to have even the slightest reservations about having this baby with a man who REGULARLY DRUNK DRIVES, HAS NO STABLE INCOME, and definitely does not have fucking INSURANCE

And then!! After all of that!!! THEY DECIDE TO ALMOST KILL HER!!! They admit, logically, that pregnancy CAN KILL PEOPLE. That she should have, clearly, had A FUCKING REASON TO WORRY. And is she allowed any fucking characterization in this? Is she allowed any SCRAP of humanity?? NO!!! ITS FOR JOHNNY’S MAN PAIN!! it’s for her SON!! They deny her the right to be anything other than a fucking meat sack for an unborn fetus and a receptacle for the emotional labor of every man in her life!! CK WRITERS PLEASE DIE SLOWLY!!!!!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The Coprophagic AI crisis

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TORONTO on Mar 22, then with LAURA POITRAS in NYC on Mar 24, then Anaheim, and more!

A key requirement for being a science fiction writer without losing your mind is the ability to distinguish between science fiction (futuristic thought experiments) and predictions. SF writers who lack this trait come to fancy themselves fortune-tellers who SEE! THE! FUTURE!

The thing is, sf writers cheat. We palm cards in order to set up pulp adventure stories that let us indulge our thought experiments. These palmed cards – say, faster-than-light drives or time-machines – are narrative devices, not scientifically grounded proposals.

Historically, the fact that some people – both writers and readers – couldn't tell the difference wasn't all that important, because people who fell prey to the sf-as-prophecy delusion didn't have the power to re-orient our society around their mistaken beliefs. But with the rise and rise of sf-obsessed tech billionaires who keep trying to invent the torment nexus, sf writers are starting to be more vocal about distinguishing between our made-up funny stories and predictions (AKA "cyberpunk is a warning, not a suggestion"):

https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2023/11/dont-create-the-torment-nexus.html

In that spirit, I'd like to point to how one of sf's most frequently palmed cards has become a commonplace of the AI crowd. That sleight of hand is: "add enough compute and the computer will wake up." This is a shopworn cliche of sf, the idea that once a computer matches the human brain for "complexity" or "power" (or some other simple-seeming but profoundly nebulous metric), the computer will become conscious. Think of "Mike" in Heinlein's *The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress#Plot

For people inflating the current AI hype bubble, this idea that making the AI "more powerful" will correct its defects is key. Whenever an AI "hallucinates" in a way that seems to disqualify it from the high-value applications that justify the torrent of investment in the field, boosters say, "Sure, the AI isn't good enough…yet. But once we shovel an order of magnitude more training data into the hopper, we'll solve that, because (as everyone knows) making the computer 'more powerful' solves the AI problem":

https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/

As the lawyers say, this "cites facts not in evidence." But let's stipulate that it's true for a moment. If all we need to make the AI better is more training data, is that something we can count on? Consider the problem of "botshit," Andre Spicer and co's very useful coinage describing "inaccurate or fabricated content" shat out at scale by AIs:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4678265

"Botshit" was coined last December, but the internet is already drowning in it. Desperate people, confronted with an economy modeled on a high-speed game of musical chairs in which the opportunities for a decent livelihood grow ever scarcer, are being scammed into generating mountains of botshit in the hopes of securing the elusive "passive income":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/15/passive-income-brainworms/#four-hour-work-week

Botshit can be produced at a scale and velocity that beggars the imagination. Consider that Amazon has had to cap the number of self-published "books" an author can submit to a mere three books per day:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/20/amazon-restricts-authors-from-self-publishing-more-than-three-books-a-day-after-ai-concerns

As the web becomes an anaerobic lagoon for botshit, the quantum of human-generated "content" in any internet core sample is dwindling to homeopathic levels. Even sources considered to be nominally high-quality, from Cnet articles to legal briefs, are contaminated with botshit:

https://theconversation.com/ai-is-creating-fake-legal-cases-and-making-its-way-into-real-courtrooms-with-disastrous-results-225080

Ironically, AI companies are setting themselves up for this problem. Google and Microsoft's full-court press for "AI powered search" imagines a future for the web in which search-engines stop returning links to web-pages, and instead summarize their content. The question is, why the fuck would anyone write the web if the only "person" who can find what they write is an AI's crawler, which ingests the writing for its own training, but has no interest in steering readers to see what you've written? If AI search ever becomes a thing, the open web will become an AI CAFO and search crawlers will increasingly end up imbibing the contents of its manure lagoon.

This problem has been a long time coming. Just over a year ago, Jathan Sadowski coined the term "Habsburg AI" to describe a model trained on the output of another model:

https://twitter.com/jathansadowski/status/1625245803211272194

There's a certain intuitive case for this being a bad idea, akin to feeding cows a slurry made of the diseased brains of other cows:

https://www.cdc.gov/prions/bse/index.html

But "The Curse of Recursion: Training on Generated Data Makes Models Forget," a recent paper, goes beyond the ick factor of AI that is fed on botshit and delves into the mathematical consequences of AI coprophagia:

https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.17493

Co-author Ross Anderson summarizes the finding neatly: "using model-generated content in training causes irreversible defects":

https://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2023/06/06/will-gpt-models-choke-on-their-own-exhaust/

Which is all to say: even if you accept the mystical proposition that more training data "solves" the AI problems that constitute total unsuitability for high-value applications that justify the trillions in valuation analysts are touting, that training data is going to be ever-more elusive.

What's more, while the proposition that "more training data will linearly improve the quality of AI predictions" is a mere article of faith, "training an AI on the output of another AI makes it exponentially worse" is a matter of fact.

Name your price for 18 of my DRM-free ebooks and support the Electronic Frontier Foundation with the Humble Cory Doctorow Bundle.

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

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/14/14/inhuman-centipede#enshittibottification

Image: Plamenart (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Double_Mobius_Strip.JPG

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

[thebenjiblackwoodexpress]

Delicate part.2

Gwayne Hightower x reader

Description: Gwayne finds himself enamoured by his sister's friend, though the lady in question seems implacable to his charms, and he seeks to impress her through his swordsmanship.

Part 1

Writer's note: thank you for all the lovely comments on part 1 💚 more Gwayne content incoming.

Warnings: female reader, touch averse reader.

The mellow light of the sun broke through the window of Gwayne's chambers early the next day, as he dressed in the velvet green brigandine of his house and his metal vambraces and pauldrons, in preparation for his training that day. His mind was pleasantly occupied in thinking of how contented he was to be reunited with his sister, as well as how intrigued he was by her lovely friend. Struck by her pretty features, quick wit, easy humour and the care she evidently felt for his beloved sister, he was eager to meet her again.

After Alicent had risen and broken her fast with him, he offered her his arm, eager to join her on her daily excursions. "Lead the way, sister. I am your servant." He smirked at her.

"I thought we might ask Y/N to join us on a walk around the grounds so that we can both give you a tour of the Keep."

Smiling down at his sister, Gwayne inwardly rejoiced at the thought of meeting Y/N again. "A charming idea. It's a good thing I have two arms for either of you to take a hold of, or we should be lost."

Gwayne was confused to see Alicent's brow furrow and a small frown downturn her lips at what he had meant to be a playful rejoinder. Lowering his head to examine her face in concern, he murmured "are you well, sister?"

Patting his arm affectionately, Alicent responded, smiling once again up at him. "You will have to be careful not to frighten Y/N with your usual behaviour. She is not fond of being touched by others and may not wish to take your arm. She means no offence by it."

Slightly puzzled by this but, nonetheless, taking note of it in his mind so as not to offend the lady when he only meant to be attentive and chivalrous, he continued to walk with his sister in the direction of her friend's apartments in the Keep.

As they walked, Alicent informed Gwayne that her friend was the daughter of an important member of the King’s Council, that her relationship was as strained with her own father as theirs was with Otto Hightower, and that Alicent and Lady Y/N had become fast friends over the course of the last few months.

Stopping in front of a pair of large oak doors, the guards admitted Alicent almost immediately, recognising her from her frequent visits to Y/N. They waited only a few moments before the guard returned with Lady Y/N, who smiled affectionately at Alicent, and nodded deferentially in Gwayne’s direction.

“Alicent, I wasn’t expecting to see you so early. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“Don’t be silly Y/N, we have been waiting but a moment. We only wanted to ask whether you might want to join us on a walk about the grounds. I know Gwayne is keen for us to give him a tour of the Keep.”

Looking slightly hesitant at this, Y/N responded, clasping her hands together.

“Wouldn’t you prefer to spend the day together without a third party imposing?”

Gwayne took this opportunity to address himself to Y/N.

“There would be no imposition at all. Indeed, my Lady, I would be most grateful for your company on the tour.” Smiling at her encouragingly, as he did so.

Seeing Alicent nod her head in excited accord, Y/N’s smile grew wider, and Gwayne felt his heart stutter at the sight.

“Then I shall be very happy to join you.”

As she strode towards them, Gwayne could not resist tilting his free elbow out towards her, almost imperceptibly, allowing her the choice to take it or decline it without the embarrassment of verbally rejecting such an offer.

Y/N looked at him curiously as he did this, an almost apologetic expression overtaking her features, before she moved to stand on the other side of Alicent, avoiding his proffered arm.

Turning with his sister and her friend in tow, Gwayne tried to temper his disappointment at Y/N’s rejection of his arm, reminding himself that she seemed to dislike such close proximity and that it was not personal. At least, he hoped such was the case, and that she was not still offended by his behaviour the day before. Seeing her smile and walk comfortably in his presence, answering his questions about the Keep, he assured himself that she was not. Still, he allowed himself to hope that, perhaps, in time, she would not find his assistance so objectionable.

After Alicent and Y/N had taken him on an extensive tour of the Keep, and the three had picnicked together under the white tree in the courtyard, Gwayne rose to make his excuses to the ladies and go to the training yard.

Just as he was about to bow respectfully towards both and kiss his sister’s hand, although not Y/N’s, fearing it would be objectionable to her, Alicent arrested him in his movements.

“Oh Gwayne, we should very much like to see you train. I would like to see how your swordsmanship has improved since I last saw you train.”

Looking over at her friend excitedly, Y/N surprised him by turning to direct a radiant smile at him and a laugh.

“Indeed, I am most eager to see if Ser Gwayne can, in fact, use a sword, since he has invested so much confidence in his charm to disarm the other knights.”

Laughing at this, elated at how quickly Y/N fit into his and Alicent’s usually closed off, private world together, he winked at her.

“I’m not sure where Alicent gets these ideas of my fine swordsmanship from, since I have clearly admitted to having never used one before, but I will gladly demonstrate to you ladies how I employ what Lady Y/N has kindly called my disarming charm.”

Gwayne only laughed harder when he saw Y/N’s mouth upturn and her brow raise in mock consternation, as she realised the trap her words had led her into.

Having helped Alicent to her feet, Gwayne offered his hand out to Y/N to assist her ascent from the grass, forgetting her aversion to physical contact. Remembering only when he had already offered his hand, and was internally rebuking himself for doing so, he was surprised and elated when she hesitantly placed her smaller hand in his, and allowed him to pull her up.

Unable to repress his smile at her acceptance of his aid, he nonetheless took a pace back, allowing a respectful distance for Y/N to choose whether she would walk on his side or Alicent’s, to continue to the training yard.

Y/N returned to Alicent’s side as they made their way to the training ground and Gwayne humoured the ladies, as they continued to suggest that they would have to carry the sword for him and that he was bound to be killed immediately, for he would, “no doubt, be distracted by the reflection of his charming smile in his opponent’s helmet,” Y/N cleverly accused.

Smiling at her with renewed confidence, he responded.

“I am glad to hear, my Lady, that you find my smile charming. Let us hope that the same can be said for my opponent, else I am bound to be slain, as you so prettily predict.”

Seeing a light blush growing on her cheeks, Gwayne’s smile only grew, but he directed his gaze ahead of him so as not to embarrass her further.

After leading the ladies to a seat on a low balcony overhanging the training yard, Gwayne bowed at each in turn before descending to begin his training for the afternoon. Sauntering confidently towards the sword rack, he returned the condescending smirks or glares of the older knights, with an arrogant smile and jaunty nod of his head in their directions. He sought to conceal his real nervousness at training in front of knights who were his seniors in both age and combat experience. He was also eager to prove himself as a capable knight, worthy of being his sister's champion. His desire to impress his sister's lovely friend was an additional consideration that did not prevent him from pretending to struggle to lift a sword, in order to gain the amusement of the ladies. Looking up at the balcony upon hearing their laughter at his antics, he raised the sword properly in his grasp, directing his most charming smile at them.

"When you've finished amusing the ladies, I would urge you to direct your sword to better use against mine, young Ser."

Turning to meet the sneer of the knight before him, Gwayne ignored the condescension of his challenge and responded with a respectful smile and nod of his head.

"Whilst I will never finish amusing the ladies, my good man, I would be only too happy to accept your challenge. Happily, the two things are not incomensurate."

Raising his sword across him in a defencive position, Gwayne noted the knight's arrogant smirk, clearing anticipating him to pose no significant challenge; he was not the first knight to make this mistake, assuming that Gwayne's lack of years and experience would make him an easy target.

The two knights circled each other or, in Gwayne's case, sauntered casually around the other before the challenger rushed at Gwayne with his sword. Gwayne swiftly positioned his sword behind him, flat against his back, only moving his torso slightly this way and that to avoid the clumsy strikes of the knight before him. As the knight swung his sword at Gwayne's neck, Gwayne swiftly evaded the stroke, tilting his head back, before twisting out of the way of another blow and raising his own sword for the first time. Bringing his sword down in one swift arc to disarm his opponent, as their sword clattered yards away at the force of Gwayne's parry.

A look of disbelief and then rage swept across his opponent's face, as Gwayne smirked knowingly at him and lowered his head in a deferential bow.

Hearing enthusiastic applause, Gwayne looked up at the balcony and felt his heart soar at the sight of his beloved sister and the lovely lady, he had so sought to impress, clapping and smiling down at him. Internally buoyed up at the thought that he had really comported himself as a worthy knight and protector of his sister and her friend, he could not surpress a boyish grin. He promptly  held one hand to his heart and his other arm extended out, before bowing dramatically at them both in what he hoped was a gallant fashion. He was rewarded by their laughter, once again, but he was delighted to see real admiration for his swordmanship in their eyes.

Flourishing his sword in a complicated pattern before returning it to his side, he called up to the ladies.

"It appears that your champion will not be so easy to fell as feared, my sweet sister, although I hope Lady Y/N will continue to place her faith in my disarming smile and gallantry."

Gwayne rejoiced in his sister's sweet laughter at his jest and in Lady Y/N's pretty blush at his remark. He found himself hoping that he could elicit such a response from her again, his heart rate increasing as she shly looked away, even as he could see from her upturned lips that she was supressing her own laughter. Perhaps she was not so implacable to his charm as he had begun to fear.

@liafiction @ambrosia-v-black @darknessinside11

@deltamoon666

@leptitlu

@labellapeaky

@beebeechaos

[chocobroing]

HOTD rant incoming

I was right. Rhaenicent destroyed this show

This show really has been destroyed because of the writers' desperation to give fanservice to Rhaenicent shippers. It's not an adaptation of F&B (if it ever was). It's just an adaptation of the standard Rhaenicent fanfiction you could find on AO3.

To those of you who will come back for S3, just know that every moment you're awaiting (God's Eye, Gullet, Butcher's Ball, Storming of the Dragonpit, Sunfyre's dinner, etc) WILL disappoint you. I don't blame anyone for having faith but the Green Council was butchered, Blood and Cheese was butchered, Rook's Rest was mid. What more do you need to understand that Condal and Hess don't actually care about those events (especially if it concerns the Greens) and it's just plot points they're checking or twisting to relate them to that Rhaenicent shit ?

Fuck Rhaenicent shippers. You all deserve to be hated by the ASOIAF fandom after ruining this for book fans just so you could get your pathetic fantasy when you could've just watch any random Netflix show to get your shipping fix.

But most of all, fuck you, Condal, and fuck you, Hess. I hope the joy you're getting by flipping off book fans is worth it because your garbage show will never get any prestigious award and will never be in the same conversation as HBO shows like The Sopranos, Rome or Boardwalk Empire.

[sparklepocalypse]

Soapbox moment incoming --

We love a rarepair writer, but -- there's evidence that one of the most prolific Alex/Raf posters on Ao3 right now is using ChatGPT to generate their fics instead of actually writing them. They removed the line when they were called out on it, but when they initially posted one of their works, they left "Chat GPT said..." at the top of a chapter. They've also evidently systematically deleted any comments suggesting they're using AI.

This same user "wrote" a POV switch of a fic that another person in the fandom put actual, significant mental energy and time into creating, and there's no doubt in my mind that this was also ChatGPT-generated. I have blocked this user on Ao3, but blocking someone on the site only prevents their works from showing up in search for you, and prevents them from commenting on yours. It doesn't prevent them from seeing your works, or you know, copying and pasting them wholesale into a natural language processing site or app and having it word vomit out "their" version of a work so they can post it as their own "writing."

If your immediate response to this is "Telling people not to use AI to write is ableist," you can shove that bullshit right up your ass, because they're stealing words that other people in the fandom have created and claiming they put the same sort of time and energy into them as people who actually write. But, if your immediate response is "Yeah, fuck this noise, who the fuck does this person think they are," then you are precisely my sort of person.

And listen, I'm not saying AI isn't useful. There are certainly a lot of practical applications for AI. However, there's a line about a mile wide between using AI as a tool to help you when you're stuck or looking for ideas (or hell, using it professionally to turn your recorded meeting transcript into meeting notes), and just saying "fuck it," and passing off AI's regurgitation as your own work. It's not your work, nor will it ever be; it's other people's work and you are using AI to steal it, and then basking in the easy dopamine hit from the recognition that it gets once you hit post. Fucking stoppit.

If you find works on Ao3 that are generated by AI, please note that while AI-generated works are not in and of themselves banned by the site (because, sadly, it'd be almost impossible for the Ao3 team to identify and ban them all at this point), plagiarism is explicitly against the site's Terms of Service and you should report plagiarized works for content violations. (Don't submit more than one report per user; their small but mighty team of volunteers doesn't need to be spammed about the same person to address a concern.)

[stjohnstarling]

As is often the case with mass platform actions against creators, who is and isn’t being removed from Patreon is inconsistent and confusing for creators. “When I woke up to this the other morning I got dragged into full panic attack mode and checked my email and Patreon account religiously,” Fang, a Patreon creator who wasn’t banned despite making content similar to what lots of other banned creators make—cute baby furries, dressed in diapers and baby clothing—told me. “As I'm writing this, the bans aren't over. Several other creators who we thought were safe have gotten hit. We don't know where it will end or how to protect ourselves.”  Patreon revenue pays his rent, Fang said, and if it were to be cut off suddenly, he wouldn’t know what would happen to his wife and family who depend on his income. “Being a creator is my job, and right now it feels like I could get fired for walking into work wearing the wrong color shirt one day.” 

This is completely insidious of Patreon. ABDL furries are a group of people almost perfectly chosen to be as socially unacceptable to defend as possible, and to seem ridiculous to the average person. Don’t let yourself get tricked by that. Everyone, especially queer artists and writers who rely on Patreon for income, should be concerned about this. This kind of thing will never ever start with the people you like.

[helluva-shit-show]

So I was re-watching "Oops" grabbing some screenshots for a different rant when it occurred to me, damn, Striker really should not have been in this episode. I know it's not a hot-take, lots of ppl have said this already, but I mean even for the way the writers want the show to go, right down to tone, they really botched an opportunity. I'll let someone else talk about how Striker working with Crimson makes both antagonists so much less intimidating, right now I'm just gonna focus on the narrative so far, and unfortunately for a lot of critics of the main ship it's pushing, this will have a lot to do with Stolitz.

So when we first meet Striker, it's in "The Harvest Moon Festival". The episode starts with Stolas inviting Blitz and the gang to be his royal guests at said festival. Blitz makes him promise it's neither murder work nor a sex thing and Stolas agrees. This is (to the audience's knowledge) the first time Stolas has invited Blitz out to be seen together publicly without any strings attached. He's not being bought, he's not acting as a bodyguard, and he's not expected to bang anyone at the end of the day.

Blitz meets Striker, Striker boosts up Blitz's ego immediately, they enter the pain games together, split the win, have a general good time, and at some point off screen, Blitz offers Striker a job at I.M.P.

And then Blitz catches Striker trying to kill Stolas. He's pissed, but not as pissed as he gets when Striker almost causes him to shoot Moxxie.

Blitz bites the man and puts a hole through the wall during the fight. They really go at it, it's a pretty intense fight, and you can really feel the rage in Blitz during it.

Putting a pin in Stiker for a minute, let's skip to the next episode, "Truth Seekers" we get a peek into Blitz's headspace surrounding Stolas. He feels chained to Stolas, but through his expressions during the staircase climb, it feels like he wants it to be more than just transactional. Well, at the least, hopes it can be more. Stolas swoops in at the end of the episode and (not without belittling Blitz verbally) saves Blitz and the people he most cares about. And then Stolas asks for a "reward". This 100% highlights Blitz's torn feelings. Does he let himself believe the care is real, or is it just for sex at the end? Well...

He got his answer didn't he? Stolas doesn't stand up to Ozzie for him. He doesn't make a clear statement that Blitz is more than just a cheap lay. And that hurts.

At the end of the night Blitz can barely get the words out to set a boundary for himself.

The next time we see these two interact is in "Seeing Stars". Do we get to see the resolve of the night at Ozzie's? Nope. But something has clearly changed since then, bc not only does Blitz show genuine concern for Stolas and try to reassure him, at one point, briefly, he's even receptive to Stolas's flirting again.

Two episodes later, Striker is back. Blitz very much so has complicated feelings surrounding Stolas at this point, but he shows not just concern, but both fear and rage again at the thought of Striker harming Stolas.

One could definitely argue at this point that this is about his means to continue his business and source of income and that of his employees, but there is something to be said about him almost cancelling Loona's doctor appointment to go save the rotten owl. Loona is always Blitz's first priority, and though a single vaccine might seem small in comparison to a life, if it really took five years for an appointment, that could be his daughter's life as well, assuming "hellbies" is just rabies but it's in hell. He thought about it. He was ready to turn the car around when Millie and Moxxie stepped in.

And even though Striker got majorly character assassinated in the episode, he tore up Stolas really bad. Him and his angelic weapons do carry real stakes with them, however much they want to make him a joke character. (Again, such a waste of potential)

With the narrative we know the writers are going with, Blitz does care about Stolas. The realization he can get hurt is probably shocking and terrifying to Blitz. He'd probably both be angry with himself for not going, but getting to the original point, he'd probably be furious at Striker.

Now I know Helluva has a huge tone issue. Is it a comedy? A lot of the time, yeah. Is it a drama? There's definitely drama in it. Romance? Highly debatable. Horror? I mean, it does take place in literal hell, so. Action? It's mixed in there too.

Personally though, I would like to think that the next time Blitz saw Striker, he'd tear him to shreds. I'd think the tone would be on the more serious side. He's hurt Millie and Moxxie very badly in Harvest Moon, he's hurt Stolas to the point he was hospitalized, that's three of the four people Blitz is currently close with. Narratively speaking, Striker could easily be Blitz's main external antagonist. It works both from a more action based tone, but also if you want to push Stolitz, which we know they do. And yet...

He's just an irritation for Blitz.

He didn't need to be there, it could have just been Crimson and his sharks. Would it have felt weird having him be a stand alone villain again just 3 episodes after he was first introduced, sure. But not any weirder than Stella's personal hitman looking for work in Greed and just happening to find it with said Mafia boss.

I know this was a Blitz/Fizz episode, I get that, I'm not complaining about that, hell, it literally could have been just them figuring their shit out together. But that just makes it even more glaring that Striker shouldn't have been there. This wasn't about him, this wasn't for him.

He's cowboy themed, right? And he's given Blitz plenty of reason to beat the absolute shit out of him? After hurting Stolas like that, (narratively speaking) his next showdown with Blitz should have been some high noon duel shit. Blitz rocked the vest in Harvest Moon, just give him the duel revolvers and start counting steps.

[66sharkteeth]

WEEKLY THOUGHTS ON THIS WEEK'S EPISODE! Though tbh I think I covered a chunk of it last week-

This Claude arc has been some of the writing I'm most proud of in the entire comic, and I'm so happy other people are enjoying it too. Seeing Claude go from the series' punching bag to someone seemingly everyone's screaming over and pitying really feels like an accomplishment to me and I'm so glad even the people who don't love Claude are at least sympathizing with him (the vast majority anyway). Also shout out to Claude's leg for increasing my FP sales. I can't express enough how much my FP revenue's been impacted ever since the return. I got literally less than half of my usual income this month (when I needed it most lol) but the FP numbers *almost* returned to their old average this week, so thanks everyone who fast passed to see the fate of Claude's leg lol.

This is one of those episodes that was a long time coming and I have some kind of strong feelings about it. I've been planning to lop of his leg since high school, but I did admittedly start to get a pit in my stomach the closer it got. By the time these episodes publish, I'm usually over it and laughing to cope (see above), but I hope at least a few people were as disturbed as I was writing it. Which...I know sounds mean, but I really admire media that can get that feeling out of me (without going over the top and scarring me) and it's something I hope I can achieve too. Some of the most important pieces of media that influenced me growing up (FMA, some animations that inspired CoB, Paranoia Agent, etc), really gave me a gut-sinking level of disturbance as a kid, but boy I'm glad I saw them because they sure made an impact in a way that I think made me a stronger writer, and that's one of those things I hope I can achieve.

Anyway, to address a few points I'm seeing throughout the comments- 1. Jericho's reaction. I left it kind of vague on purpose. I have no comment on it and just leave you guys to speculate on how he will react or encourage you to FP to find out (sob please).

2. people legitimately criticizing joking about claude's leg. which is interesting to me. obv there's a lot of jokes and leg puns throughout the comments, and soooometimes I don't like that when a very serious episode's comment section is filled w/ nothing but jokes, buuut there are also enough real comments of concern and speculations and analysis of the ep that i really, really don't mind some leg jokes and puns, personally. like...as you can tell from the image above, even I'm not above making them. To the people who think it's actually fucked up for us to joke about this scene... I dunno. I personally laugh to cope, and I think a lot of other people are doing the same. I don't think anyone's literally going "LOL HE'S SO DEPRESSED HE MUTILATED HIMSELF," I think its just...funny leg puns to make a dark situation a little lighter. At least for the most part. I'm certainly not above joking about it, but as you'll see in the next episode, I'm also obviously taking it seriously and don't plan to make Claude such a butt of jokes now that he's reached this point. That would just be in bad taste. But... I think a leg pun here and there is still in line.

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Hiya! Hope it’s okay to ask, but what were your kind of first steps to living in a more solar punk way?

Hi! Absolutely ok to ask, I love talking to people about this.

I can probably date my Solarpunk awakening, if you want to use the term, to a variety of points, but in the past few years due to both growing eco-anxiety and a new connection with nature (moved out of the city into the country) I became more concerned with the environment and this led me to give up flying and start educating myself on solarpunk topics through books and podcasts. Living with my parents, who have more disposable income than me, helped me see what it was like to be able to purchase organic and plastic-free food. Living rurally meant we got to know our neighbours. When our house flooded, they were the ones bailing it out with buckets beside us at 1am, up to our ankles in cold, dirty water. I learned a lot about community. I started foraging for snacks and treats (hello blackberries are delicious). I got interested in the ecological elements of paganism.

Later on I started incorporating more plant-rich food into my diet and getting interested in slow travel, rewilding, urban planning, etc. Then I started going to XR meetings, which led me to getting involved in (non-arrestable in my case) direct action. I joined some gardening volunteers which encouraged me to start trying to grow my own food at home. I decided to commit to not learning to drive or owning a car.

However, I’d actually say I’d been doing solarpunk stuff earlier than this without knowing it - seeking out positive news stories, attending protests, organising in my community (I was active in my school’s LGBT scene and ran several campaigns about it at uni), learning about indigenous cultures, telling stories. All of these things are solarpunk too.

But the single biggest thing that has helped me to be more solarpunk is changing the way I see the world, and for this the writings of Robin Wall Kimmerer have been hugely influential, along with a bunch of different writers that I can’t list all of here. But unlearning the idea that I am alone in a lifeless inanimate world has been HUGE for me. Today I thanked every element that made up my meal, from the rice in my noodles to mycoprotein that grew my meat substitute to the soybeans that made the sauce, the steel in my pan and the sunlight that powered the electricity that heated my induction hob. I walked along a river and said hello to geese. I noticed each plant and knew the names of many of them. I called my grandmother and tried to really listen as she narrated her experiences of the day to me, even though she can be difficult. Relationality has been the greatest aspect of my solarpunk work, learning to see myself as utterly interconnected with everything and everyone else, to remember that my very atoms were once compressed together with all the other atoms when this expanding universe first began. So a lot of it is about changing your thoughts, though it should also be backed up by action too.

Hope some of this helps!

[yuerikoko]

So…

I can’t believe it took me 3 years to be able to say it out loud but—

Old woman yuri.

(Or at least one-sided gay pining at the very most)

(Apologies for the lack of good screenshots, I just started replaying WE recently since my Angela brain rot is coming back)

———

Okayy so I want to confess: I initially wrote a fic about them because I wanted a wlw equivalent to Jars from S3 so then I thought about them— and thus came a slow burn fic (actually a 1k word one shot because it was part of a one shot book in Wattpad I had back then) I made of them in 2021 in an AU where Lars was the mole for the sake of making the ship sail. The one shot has been deleted, unfortunately, and as of now I might not have plans to rewrite it : (

Anyways I started shipping them seriously after I wrote that fic (I still like Angelars and Carchelle tho!) and the more I read into their interactions, the more I realized just how much untapped potential their relationship has (PS knew they would be too powerful so they had to make Angela the mole with little to no buildup until literally two cases before IPS/s). Also incoming ramble about them since barely anyone talks about them:

Their interactions, while few, are super wholesome and have a special place in my heart as someone who’s skimmed through the transcripts for either Angela’s appearances OR their interactions. No one talks about how Carmen, while usually hotheaded and quick to action, constantly praises Angela and is really patient with her enough. And as @celestiarambles has pointed out in their analysis of their relationship, Carmen has only gotten mad at Angela ONCE for a reason that wasn’t out of concern for her well-being and it was because she was flirting with Lars in front of her. (Could it be because she wasn’t being serious? Or could it be out of envy? We may never know, unfortunately…)

Likewise, I see so much potential to be explored when it comes to their interactions: Carmen teaching Angela photography after having very nicely for some reason (I bet 50 bucks that if it were Jack or Lars it’d be different) told her she sucked, them discussing parenting tips, and character studies of their relationships. Or if we were to enter fic territory, their pre-canon/post-canon dynamic is also an interesting idea to think about, or maybe an AU where they could end up together (Mole!Lars seems like the easiest way tho). Fic writers, I call upon thee to make this wish of mine come true/j

Their personalities also complement each other very well : D. While both show clear work ethic and seriousness in their work, they also complement each other. Carmen is tough, hotheaded and started off as distrustful at us in the beginning of WE, being focused on her work first and foremost, while Angela is much more calm, patient and initially warm and family-oriented. This also leads to some interesting parallels as they almost become each other’s core traits by the end of WE: Carmen having grown more motherly and caring after having Sanjay, whilst Angela grew distrustful and cynical, likely due to her pledged loyalty to SOMBRA, which lead her to follow their orders so devotedly that she was actually willing to blow us up.

The fact that the transition from the main plot of IPS to the AI has Carmen change facial expressions from holding a straight face to being sad/disappointed. It could’ve been Ripley, who was upset at the loss of one of their most competent members by the hands of the organization she swore to destroy. It could’ve been Jack, who was upset for Lars— his best friend, and they did have some nice interactions, too. But the fact that Carmen of all people was chosen for this, despite the fact that her relationship with Angela wasn’t either of their most important (Lars to Angela and Sanjay/Elliot to Carmen /platonically btw), did make for an interesting choice.

Also not related to canon but fun fact: my hc of Carmen nicknaming Angela “Angie” actually came from that one fic I wrote XD

And don’t get me started on the way they also fit into so many tropes at once:

Birds of a feather: Both of them are hardworking, serious and devoted to their work, but are shown to also care about the people around them, especially children and young people.

Red oni, Blue oni/Opposites Attract: Despite their similarities, Carmen is more hot-tempered and impatient, while Angela is known to be more calm and reserved.

Coworker yuri: do I even need to explain myself…

Brains and Brawn: Angela is shown to be really intelligent (you do not just forget a Nobel prize in biology) and it is also shown when she almost succeeded in deceiving us into thinking anyone but her was the mole. On the other hand, Carmen is more prone to action and violence (the fact that PS barely put out a moment in which she lets her badass personality shine and is almost always rescued by Jonah is a huge sin against humanity). Their jobs also reflect this in a way.

Pair the smart ones: Angela with her academic expertise in biology and Carmen with her field experience in journalism.

Battle couple: Most of the points I stated for Carmen earlier apply, along with the fact that we learn that Angela takes military training in the finale.

Dating Catwoman: Can somewhat apply post-canon, or after Angela has been outed.

Morality pet: To Carmen, since Angela is one of the few people she rarely ever gets mad at that wasn’t a child or teenager.

You (he) never did that for me: For Angela. An example was in Case 8 where she had went missing for hours and Lars was only like “hey guys my wife went missing” while Carmen actually went to go look for her.

Not so Different: Aside from their personalities, their character arcs also reflect this as discussed earlier. Carmen’s warm and motherly side gets to show itself later on with Angela still around, while the finale also shows Angela loyal to SOMBRA and being colder and meaner towards the Bureau, showing this sense of superiority(?) over their respective allegiances similar to Carmen in the early cases (and also throughout, to an extent) of the season.

Complementary colors: Red and green. Need I say more?

OKAY THIS WAS A LOT— it took me a whole hour to type this up but I wanted to get these two out of my head rq also as a means of unwinding from exam stress (will probably disappear into the shadows again after this). Please do correct me for any inaccuracies, though ^^

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canadian screenwriters have experienced a massive earnings decrease over the last half decade, says the union representing its members, and many are concerned a new federal law to regulate streaming giants doesn't go far enough to protect writers.

As their American counterparts continue to strike south of the border, the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) issued a release this week reporting a 22 per cent inflation-adjusted decline in income for Canadian television and film writers over the last five years.

But while the federal government passed the Online Streaming Act (OSA) in April to regulate digital streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+ and Spotify, writers with the union say they're worried language in the new law won't hold foreign streaming giants to the same standards as Canadian broadcasters.

"It's brutal," said Ian Carpenter, who has worked on Canadian shows Being Erica and Played, and is the current showrunner for horror-anthology Slasher. "The work is just not out there." [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @vague-humanoid

[writergeekrhw]

Can you tell us a bit about what the current climate is like for screenwriters in regards to the WGA strike?

ISSUES FOR WRITERS THAT ARE DRIVING THE WGA STRIKE:

I wrote about this when I ran for the WGA board, so this is mostly a cut and paste from my candidate statement. That said, some of the most pressing issues as I see them:

DECREASES IN WEEKLY PAY

Many TV writers are suffering financially due to shorter episodic orders. Twenty years ago, show orders were for 22, 24, or even 26 episodes per season. For producer level writers paid by the episode, this guaranteed a comfortable wage. Now season orders, especially on streaming, can be for as few as 6 episodes and are commonly for 8 or 10 episodes. Yet writers are still employed to work on these shows for months at a time. As a result of pro-rating episodic rates for a reduced number of episodes over a significant span of time, many mid-level writers now earn a fraction of the wages they would have gotten 10 or 20 years ago. In other words, per-episode pay rates have become outmoded and disadvantageous to writers.

STAFF WRITER SCIPT PAYMENTS

Little known fact: Staff Writers (the lowest ranking writers on a tv show) don't get paid extra for their scripts, which are charged against their overall pay. With shorter orders, Staff Writers often get hired for many less weeks, and sometimes they have to repeat Staff Writer multiple times before getting promoted. Staff Writers need to get paid script fees to shore up their salaries.

LOW STREAMING RESIDUALS

Streaming services currently pay much lower residuals than networks or traditional syndication, both on features and television episodes. This practice undermines the financial stability of writers and also reduces payments to our pension and health funds. When I started in this business, writing several episodes of a successful show, or writing a successful movie, guaranteed years of future income, helping plug the gaps between jobs. Streaming has greatly reduced this income source.

The Guild is fighting for significantly higher streaming residuals, to bring them closer to parity with traditional network reruns.

LACK OF PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE FOR NEW WRITERS

Twenty years ago, a lower level writer might work on several scripts a year, supervising and rewriting freelancers in addition to writing or co-writing episodes of their own. Today, lower levels on streaming shows are lucky to write a single script a season. Often this script is shared with a senior writer. As a result, these writers are missing out on valuable writing experience as they rise through the ranks.

Unfortunately, this lack of opportunity extends to all aspects of production. In streaming, lower level and mid-level writers are often no longer with the project by the time prep begins. This means they get no experience in vital aspects of production, including rewriting for production and working in post. As a result, up-and-coming writers are often underprepared when they reach upper levels or sell their own shows. Compound this with a rise in “director driven” streaming shows, and the power and authority of television writers is under significant threat.

The Guild made several proposals to ensure that the future generations of writers get the skills they need to thrive, steer their own creations, and continue our success as a union. The studios rejected them all.

PROLIFERATION OF FREE WORK

This has long been an issue for screenwriters, and it’s increasingly becoming a concern for television writers as well, especially in streaming. More and more, producers secure established intellectual property as source material, then engage in protracted audition processes during which dozens of writers are asked to pitch their takes on I.P. they do not control, often over the course of multiple meetings for months on end.

Even for the winner of a pitch sweepstakes, actual payment can be months or even years away, and it’s almost always contingent on a network sale or securing financing and distribution. Which requires more pitching and more unpaid work. In short, writers are spending enormous amounts of time developing pitches, often paying for visual materials out of their own pockets, all just to secure if/come deals, many of which never bear fruit.

Finally, writers that do win sweepstakes pitches are often only paid for a single draft, while having to execute multiple unpaid "producer drafts. This is driving down writer wages in features and development.

MINIROOMS

Over the past few years, the companies have institute a practice called "mini-rooms" wherein they hire a handful of writers to start working on a show before it's greenlit or picked up for another season. Mini-rooms only pay scale, meaning a pay cut for most writers, and they come with no guarantee of future employment. The WGA wants the studios to pay a higher rate for mini-rooms.

TEXT GENERATING PROGRAMS

Falsely labelled "A.I." Text-Generators like ChatGPT could become a fundamental threat to human writers. These programs are essentially plagiarism machines. They are programed on our writing, then chop it up and spew it back out in a kind of algorithm driven version of the proverbial infinite monkeys with typewriters. We need to restrict the use of Text Generators and to protect human writers.

Hope that helps! Please note I am not a WGA board member and am not part of the negotiations. These are the issues as I see them. Opinions expressed are solely my own.