#cause like as much as we like to be mean to twitter users and ao3 users... thats still a big big part of the internet getting lost.

[viewmonster-deactivated20230122]

torn between "archive of our own is host to some truly vile and downright traumatizing shit including but not limited to romanticized depictions of racism pedophilia incest and abuse and the moderation does nothing about it and every asshole with that websites dick down their throat is really annoying about "censorship" because theyve been called out for jerking off to written CSEM and so honestly i would be glad if it went away" and "archive of our own is like the only dedicated place where any old layperson can put their written fanworks without having to learn an entire coding language and put together their own website and a lot of just regular people who havent been sucked into the horrific throes of fandom discourse who just like to read or write fanfiction once in a while are going to lose out on a good space to share it with others"

[fanfictionlibrary01]

AO3 works being stolen and posted on rivd.net

What is happening, and what you can do. Check for edits with additions at the end of the post!

We've posted these infos in our Discord server, but want to make them accessible for more of you AO3 and fanfic folks out there. What is happening? A user called "Fanfic Books" on the site https://rivd.net is posting over a million of fanfics since May 18th (account creation time of that user), all of which seem to be stolen from AO3 users. You can check if your works were stolen by searching your AO3 username on that site. Reporting this on the site is tedious, and contains so much requested data and personal (sensitive) information about you that is just seems sketchy and like they want to grab your data to sell it off again. (See this for more on that.) That a virus called "rivd" apparently also exists does not help their case. Since the person posting the works is also listed as Moderator of the website, chances of successful reports are, by our estimation, very small to non-existant. (As you can look up here.) Creating an account on that site is also tedious - after trying it, the feedback was that a moderator needs to approve of my account creation request. How long that is supposed to take is not known. What can you do? We deduced - through admittedly rushed, because we felt like time was of the essence, and and sparce, checks - that people who have their works locked on AO3 have not been affected. (At all/as much is not to say, it's our best hope and theory rn.) We advised our server members to lock their AO3 works for the time being, as that currently seems like the only prevention method available. A great tutorial for how to lock all your AO3 works at once has been posted here. Kudos to this X/Twitter post that seemed to have started the spread of information, and others relaying the infos (like e.g. r/AO3 on Reddit). Edit (0,5h after initial post):

With permission of the author on AO3, here are screenshots from when I checked if their works (unlocked on AO3) were stolen. Searching for works of the FFL Discord server's admin, who has them locked on AO3, resulted no matches on the rivd site - hence the theory/recommendation that locking your AO3 works helps.

Edit 2 (4h after initial post):

There also seems to be a new occurrence that the fanfiction tab has been emptied/does not contain (publically displayed) fanfics anymore. What this means and if the fanfics are really taken down is unclear, but given that the anime fanfic category that once existed is seemingly completely gone, something is being done. Rumor is that a mass report of DMCA at Cloudflare caused this - it feels like a win either way!

Edit 3 (23h after initial post):

It seems like rivd.net is now completely down/inaccessible. See last attached screenshot in this post! No infos on what this means or what caused this are available atm, but like before, it feels like a small win!

[5ummit]

AO3 Ship Stats: Year In Bad Data

You may have seen this AO3 Year In Review.

It hasn’t crossed my tumblr dash but it sure is circulating on twitter with 3.5M views, 10K likes, 17K retweets and counting. Normally this would be great! I love data and charts and comparisons!

Except this data is GARBAGE and belongs in the TRASH.

I first noticed something fishy when I realized that Steve/Bucky – the 5th largest ship on AO3 by total fic count – wasn’t on this Top 100 list anywhere. I know Marvel’s popularity has fallen in recent years, but not that much. Especially considering some of the other ships that made it on the list. You mean to tell me a femslash HP ship (Mary MacDonald/Lily Potter) in which one half of the pairing was so minor I had to look up her name because she was only mentioned once in a single flashback scene beat fandom juggernaut Stucky? I call bullshit.

Now obviously jumping to conclusions based on gut instinct alone is horrible practice... but it is a good place to start. So let’s look at the actual numbers and discover why this entire dataset sits on a throne of lies.

Here are the results of filtering the Steve/Bucky tag for all works created between Jan 1, 2023 and Dec 31, 2023:

Not only would that place Steve/Bucky at #23 on this list, if the other counts are correct (hint: they're not), it’s also well above the 1520-new-work cutoff of the #100 spot. So how the fuck is it not on the list? Let’s check out the author’s FAQ to see if there’s some important factor we’re missing.

The first thing you’ll probably notice in the FAQ is that the data is being scraped from publicly available works. That means anything privated and only accessible to logged-in users isn’t counted. This is Sin #1. Already the data is inaccurate because we’re not actually counting all of the published fics, but the bots needed to do data collection on this scale can't easily scrape privated fics so I kinda get it. We’ll roll with this for now and see if it at least makes the numbers make more sense:

Nope. Logging out only reduced the total by a couple hundred. Even if one were to choose the most restrictive possible definition of "new works" and filter out all crossovers and incomplete fics, Steve/Bucky would still have a yearly total of 2,305. Yet the list claims their total is somewhere below 1,500? What the fuck is going on here?

Let’s look at another ship for comparison. This time one that’s very recent and popular enough to make it on the list so we have an actual reference value for comparison: Nick/Charlie (Heartstopper). According to the list, this ship sits at #34 this year with a total of 2630 new works. But what’s AO3 say?

Off by a hundred or so but the values are much closer at least!

If we dig further into the FAQ though we discover Sin #2 (and the most egregious): the counting method. The yearly fic counts are NOT determined by filtering for a certain time period, they’re determined by simply taking a snapshot of the total number of fics in a ship tag at the end of the year and subtracting the previous end-of-year total. For example, if you check a ship tag on Jan 1, 2023 and it has 10,000 fics and check it again on Jan 1, 2024 and it now has 12,000 fics, the difference (2,000) would be the number of "new works" on this chart.

At first glance this subtraction method might seem like a perfectly valid way to count fics, and it’s certainly the easiest way, but it can and did have major consequences to the point of making the entire dataset functionally meaningless. Why? If any older works are deleted or privated, every single one of those will be subtracted from the current year fic count. And to make the problem even worse, beginning at the end of last year there was a big scare about AI scraping fics from AO3, which caused hundreds, if not thousands, of users to lock down their fics or delete them.

The magnitude of this fuck up may not be immediately obvious so let’s look at an example to see how this works in practice.

Say we have two ships. Ship A is more than a decade old with a large fanbase. Ship B is only a couple years old but gaining traction. On Jan 1, 2023, Ship A had a catalog of 50,000 fics and ship B had 5,000. Both ships have 3,000 new works published in 2023. However, 4% of the older works in each fandom were either privated or deleted during that same time (this percentage is was just chosen to make the math easy but it’s close to reality).

Ship A: 50,000 x 4% = 2,000 removed works Ship B: 5,000 x 4% = 200 removed works

Ship A: 3,000 - 2,000 = 1,000 "new" works Ship B: 3,000 - 200 = 2,800 "new" works

This gives Ship A a net gain of 1,000 and Ship B a net gain of 2,800 despite both fandoms producing the exact same number of new works that year. And neither one of these reported counts are the actual new works count (3,000). THIS explains the drastic difference in ranking between a ship like Steve/Bucky and Nick/Charlie.

How is this a useful measure of anything? You can't draw any conclusions about the current size and popularity of a fandom based on this data.

With this system, not only is the reported "new works" count incorrect, the older, larger fandom will always be punished and it’s count disproportionately reduced simply for the sin of being an older, larger fandom. This example doesn’t even take into account that people are going to be way more likely to delete an old fic they're no longer proud of in a fandom they no longer care about than a fic that was just written, so the deletion percentage for the older fandom should theoretically be even larger in comparison.

And if that wasn't bad enough, the author of this "study" KNEW the data was tainted and chose to present it as meaningful anyway. You will only find this if you click through to the FAQ and read about the author’s methodology, something 99.99% of people will NOT do (and even those who do may not understand the true significance of this problem):

The author may try to argue their post states that the tags "which had the greatest gain in total public fanworks” are shown on the chart, which makes it not a lie, but a error on the viewer’s part in not interpreting their data correctly. This is bullshit. Their chart CLEARLY titles the fic count column “New Works” which it explicitly is NOT, by their own admission! It should be titled “Net Gain in Works” or something similar.

Even if it were correctly titled though, the general public would not understand the difference, would interpret the numbers as new works anyway (because net gain is functionally meaningless as we've just discovered), and would base conclusions on their incorrect assumptions. There’s no getting around that… other than doing the counts correctly in the first place. This would be a much larger task but I strongly believe you shouldn’t take on a project like this if you can’t do it right.

To sum up, just because someone put a lot of work into gathering data and making a nice color-coded chart, doesn’t mean the data is GOOD or VALUABLE.

[anobjectshowguy]

I hope people in the OSC (and other fandoms in general) who are ok with or neutral about Kosa realize that not only will we lose a bunch of platforms that allow us to interact with each other (Tumblr, discord, Ao3, Wattpad, Twitter, YouTube, etc) but will also get rid of at least 80-95% of our fandom.

The OSC consists mostly of people between 13-17 who (if Kosa goes through the Senate and Houses of Representatives and gets passed as a law) will most likely no longer have access to YouTube and other social platforms which actively kills almost all the people who read and watch Object Shows!

By visiting and sharing animated shows like II or BFDI those creators make money which gives them the means to keep making their shows and paying their animators, voice actors, writers and so much more. This bill will actively get rid of most of the people who watch these shows which will cause a large loss in support and revenue for these creators and will most likely mean the end for any smaller object show.

Object show comics rely on people sharing them around in fandom spaces since they’re not animated and put on YouTube like animated object shows are. By losing these spaces and the people who support their content these creators will no longer be able to reach a large audience and get the support they need to continue their comics. This means that we will lose a lot of the comics that the OSC has!

Most of the content you see in the OSC is made by minors, which this bill will actively destroy and thus kill this fandom and many others!

So I am begging of you OSC and other communities, Please please please sign petitions, tell your senators and representatives that you don’t want this bill to pass, and tell anyone that you can reach about how this Bill is a violation of privacy and minors' rights! Re-blog anything you see with helpful information about what Kosa is and keep talking about it! We need to tell people about it so that this doesn’t go through the Senate. Remember, the final day is February 26, we don’t have that long!!!

Here’s some helpful resources:

 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/07/you-can-help-stop-these-bad-internet-bills

[flowerpotmage]

Tight Grip, Broken Dam (15)

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You don’t question it anymore, when Miguel appears in your bed at night. He’s not there for sex, no, you’ve never even kissed—though you would be lying if you said you weren’t open to the idea of kissing him. He’s there for comfort. For rest. If only it could stay so simple.

Pair: Miguel O'Hara & GN!Reader

Notes: for chapter: poorly written in-universe journalism, friendly sparring, miguel in his feelings

Word Count: 2.9k

Read this chapter on Ao3 here. If you like my work, please consider leaving kudos there as well! You do not need an account to do so.

Our City Spider, a new column by Karen Page

Speculations that our friendly neighborhood Spider had been taken off the playing field permanently, either due to disabling injuries or death, have been put to bed. It’s official: Spider is back.

The vigilante hero was seen early Wednesday evening near Crosby Street, with photos and videos of the web-slinger posted soon after to social media and trending locally shortly after. It had been just over two weeks since the hero’s last sighting, at the now infamous Club Scorpion slaughters where they had been seen with a large torso injury before disappearing.

“They saved me about a year or so back,” Twitter user hawkeyestan69 said in a quote-Tweet of another user’s photos of Spider. “I’m glad they’re still kicking.”

Although Spider has maintained a nearly five-star reputation amongst the people of the city, they remain notoriously elusive to the press and have yet to endear themselves to our police force.

“I’m grateful for their work in saving lives,” one member of the force has said on the condition of anonymity. “Especially at Club Scorpion. That could have been so much worse, and we all know it. But they’re still a civilian, and I worry about what that means.”

“The Spider has done work for the people of this city,” Captain Stacy, the captain on duty the night of the Club Scorpion slaughters, said in a recent press statement. “But they are still a vigilante. We cannot become reliant on them to protect this city—their absence, whatever the cause, reinforces that fact.”

Despite the difference in opinions across officials and the public, this reporter is glad to see our Spider back, alive and well.

Gwen flips over your head, arms tucked into her chest and body straight as a pencil. You duck and watch her, crouched low to the floor.

“Doing great, kids!” Peter calls from the side.

“Feel free to join whenever,” you say, launching yourself to the side in a roll and sprint when Gwen fires off two quick webs at you.

“I’m good over here with Mayday.”

You jump, doing your own flip off a wall and firing back your own webs at Gwen who dodges just as easily.

Open space sparring practice is weird for the both of you, but presents a unique challenge to you and the rest of the Spider-People (and sentient non-people) used to terrain filled with nooks, crannies, and surfaces to climb and jump off and hide behind.

“You're avoiding hand to hand,” a new voice says.

Miguel-209.

“Yeah, they’re really half-assing it,” Peter comments, half-sarcastically.

“Oh, you can do better?” Gwen says, standing and placing a hand on her hip, all banter.

Miguel-209 stands with crossed arms by Peter. He raises an eyebrow, looking from Gwen to you and offering a small smile when he sees you already looking at him. One that you return.

“I think I can, yes,” he says.

“Have some confidence man,” Peter says, tapping Miguel-209’s arm with the back of his hand.

You smile wider at the little glance Miguel shoots at Peter—not quite a glare—and nod at him to join you on the mat when he looks your way again.

“Alright,” he says, and walks towards you.

Gwen raises her eyebrows at the two of you and walks off to stand next to Peter, effectively trading places with Miguel-209.

“Are you much of a hand to hand person?” He asks.

You shrug. “I wouldn't necessarily say that.”

He nods. “But you know the basics.”

“Enough to get by.”

“Let's work on that then.”

You shift into a ready stance, and he scans you over and mirrors you.

“Go ahead.”

You hesitate, fists raised, and then shoot a web at him. He dodges by leaning far to the side, looking at you and then shifts back.

“That’s not hand to hand.”

You shoot another, and this time when he leans out of the way he grabs the long strand of web still attached to your wrist, pulling you closer. You stumble, ducking under the swing of his hand and finally shaking the web free from the spinneret in your wrist, balancing on your hands to swing a leg out at his ankles. Miguel-209 jumps back, landing with his finger pad talons extended—you watch as he retracts them.

“Pretty good recovery,” he says, smiling warmly. You catch a flash of his teeth, of a fang, before he closes his lips again and lunges for you.

It goes on like this for a few minutes. Miguel-209 attacks, you dodge and try to counter, he dodges, and it starts again. Attack, dodge, attack, dodge. You finally gain the upper hand when you use your webs again, landing one on his ankle and pulling hard. He topples, foot yanked out from under him and landing on his back with a soft oof from his lungs.

“You went easy on me,” you chuckle, catching your breath as you stand over him.

His eyes twinkle as he looks up at you from the mat. “So did you.”

You offer a hand, helping him back to his feet. “Again?”

He nods, the two of you retaking your starting positions. “Let’s kick it up a notch.”

This time you start, bolting towards him before the anticipation can build too much or he can prepare himself too well. Instead of going to block you, he swipes—big arms going to grapple you. You drop, sliding under his grasp and past his legs, swinging on the floor to kick at the back of his knee.

It buckles under the impact and Miguel-209 nearly drops to the floor, catching himself on his hands before his knee touches the mat. He spins, turning to face you and lunging again—

You barely blink before you’re on your back and Miguel’s got your thigh pinned to the ground under his foot, his palms pressing each forearm to the floor. His fingers aren’t wrapped around your limbs, and when you look you see it’s because the sharp points in his fingertips are out and piercing the gym-mat under you.

You look back up at him, and blink. “Damn.”

He laughs, and you catch a glance of his teeth again.

“Best of three?” you ask.

“Let’s call it a draw,” he says, pulling his hands back with a small tug, lifting his foot off your leg. He offers an outstretched palm to help you up, and you take it. “You did pretty good, I’d hate to embarrass you more in front of your friends.”

You laugh, dropping his hand now that you’re standing. “Sounds like projection to me.”

You switch with Gwen, who’s eager to give it another try after a short rest.

“He’s good,” Peter says when you lean against the wall next to him.

You hum in agreement, watching Gwen and Miguel-209 spar. His style is different from your own Miguel’s, and your mind wanders to the thought of sparring with him. He’s stronger than you by leagues, that’s a given, but you’re faster. If you put your all into evasion, would he be able to catch you? Maybe. He’s clever, afterall. What would that be like? Would he pin you, like 209 did just then? He’s comfortable with you, he’d probably get closer, crowd you in. Would he be less afraid to manhandle you? You hope so—

You blink, jolted out of your quickly devolving daydream, at the slam of Gwen hitting the mat, face hot.

“Good job,” Miguel-209 says, pulling her off the floor with an offered hand.

“Thanks,” Gwen grins, cheeks flushed and breathless from the exertion of the quick fight. She turns to you and Peter. “Anyone else hungry?”

“I could eat,” you nod.

Miguel-209 nods with you, and then the four of you—plus May—go to the cafeteria. You each take turns holding the baby so everyone can eat in peace, without her reaching hands in the way. While Miguel-209 answers Gwen’s stream of questions, Peter watches you bounce May on your lap, eyes scanning over your half eaten meal, and the little to-go box sitting next to your plate.

“Bringing food to the boss again?”

You look at Peter over his daughter’s head, his face one of carefully crafted and open neutrality. You don’t reply—but your face must say enough, because Peter looks at Miguel-209 next to you, then pointedly back at you.

You shake your head, not in response to his question but in response to… whatever that look was, and look back at Gwen.

“I was wondering if I could crash at yours again,” she says. “Things are stirring up in Hobie’s dimension, and I stick out like a sore thumb over there.”

“Of course,” you smile. “You’re welcome any time.”

“You can always stay with me and MJ,” Peter adds.

You make plans for Gwen to come by yours later that night, before everyone finishes eating and goes their separate ways.

You bring your to-go container to Miguel’s lab.

“Hey,” you call into the shadows.

No response. Not entirely unusual, so you forge ahead.

“I brought you some food, in case you haven’t eaten,” you say, and then you see him.

He’s on his platform, the one with all the golden holo-screens and files and reports. His back is to you, tension in his shoulders and spine slightly hunched—microscopically, but you notice all the same. You’ve seen something similar enough times to guess at what’s happening.

A quick thwip of web from the spinneret in your wrist and you’re on the platform with him, setting the little takeout container to the side.

“Hey,” you say again, softer, quieter.

Miguel takes a breath.

You close the gap, walking slow enough for him to turn or stop you, and rest your hand on his back. He turns his head to look at you now, frustration and hurt in his eyes. You don’t lift your hand when he turns his body to face you, instead letting it slide from his shoulder blade around to rest on his upper arm.

“You okay?” you ask.

His eyes drop from yours, brow furrowing slightly more, his chest rising with a deep and steadying inhale.

“Yeah,” he says.

It’s automatic, the way your hand squeezes his arm in reassurance, the way something in the back of your mind flips at the size of it under your hand, the way you step forward to wrap your arms around his middle. He hesitates, stiffening slightly, and you start to pull back, but then his arms are around you—engulfing you—and you’re pulled back in.

He’s still tense. Still… off, somehow.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” you ask, cheek against the muscle of his chest. You can hear his heart like this, the cartilage of your ear against his suit. The red glows slightly, and you close your eyes against it.

It thumps steadily, kicks up and chugs along when Miguel shakes his head, face against the top of your head.

“Okay,” you say. “I’m here, though.”

Your heart stops when he kisses the top of your head, pulling away and unwrapping his arms from around you.

“You brought me food?” he asks, struggling to meet your eyes.

You clear your throat, turning and picking up the takeout box to hand it over to him. “I had a feeling you’d forget lunchtime, so…”

He accepts it, gloved fingers grazing yours. “Thank you.”

You swallow, tamping down the zing that races up your arm. “Want some company?”

He actually smiles a little, now. It’s tight, but it’s something. “Sure.”

You settle into your usual spot, leaning back against an infrequently used area of the console and watch him close out a task on his holo-screens. With his back to you he turns his attention back to the food you’ve brought him. You watch as he turns and mirrors you in resting his weight on the console—though its height is too tall for you to casually perch, it’s perfect for him to half-sit, half-lean on. You watch as he pulls his glove off with his teeth, your breath catching.

He looks at you at the small sound of your inhale, the glove still in his teeth and paused mid-pull.

You stare.

His eyes flick across your face, and then he continues, slowly pulling his hand fully out from the tight blue and red fabric. Once his hand is free he takes the glove from his teeth and sets it aside.

You swallow. “I always assumed you could just…” You gesture vaguely, the movement of your hand indicating sweeping something back from your face. “The mask thing. But that’s the second time I’ve seen you take your glove off like that.”

The corner of his lips twitch, looking down as he opens the takeout food container. “The shape of a hand is more complicated for the nano-fiber technology,” he explains. I need it to be tougher there than on my face, on account of…” he pauses, rubbing his fingertips together, before spreading his fingers and allowing the sharp points hiding in his fingertips to emerge.

You nod, looking at his bare hand. “I see.”

He retracts the sharp points—you briefly wonder at the correct terminology. Are they talons? Claws? Something else?—and begins eating.

“You know,” you begin, watching his hand. “I don’t think we’ve ever sparred.”

Miguel raises an eyebrow at you. “No, we haven’t.”

You meet his gaze. “Do you spar with anybody?”

“I get my practice out there,” he says, and you know he’s referring to his city.

“Mm. I see.”

He eats in silence for a moment, and you consider asking if he would ever spar with you, images your mind had conjured earlier returning to present themselves. You squash them own, and instead say:

“Gwen’s going to stay with me again for a little bit.”

Miguel looks down, and nods.

Miguel hates his apartment.

He lives in what amounts to a penthouse at the top of the Spider Society Headquarters building, and it’s just as sterile as every floor below. Sleek white walls and counters, gray furniture. He gave up on trying to keep a plant months ago, after seeing how healthy yours were in comparison to his sad attempts. The couch is bare with the exception of two stiff throw pillows—a slate blue-gray.

He passes the living room, the kitchen, and goes straight to the bedroom.

“Lyla, start the shower.”

“You got it, boss.”

The dull white noise hum sound of the shower starting reaches his ears as he strips, shrugging off the torso of his suit, pulling his arms free of the tight fabric like a snake shedding its skin.

The bed in the center of the room—overly large for just one person, even a man of his stature—looks all wrong. The bed sheets are too smooth, the blanket crisp and set as if ready to be photographed for an online shop listing.

He huffs a breath out of his nose, turning his attention back to shedding his suit.

He leaves it in a puddle on the floor, straightening up with a roll of his shoulders. The still air on his bare skin feels… odd. Almost unpleasant, even.

He leaves nearly all the lights off, and Lyla lets them be as well, as he leaves the room and makes his way to the bathroom—one light is on in here, dim and warm, soft on his sensitive eyes.

His shower is better than yours. The water pressure, the size, the quality of the water itself. But even so the enjoyment—and the sudden memory of the last time he was in here thinking about you, getting off to a wet dream—is muddied by an undercurrent of something he can’t name. He rushes through his shower as the water runs rivulets and rivers over his skin, helping lather and then clear off the soap he uses to clean every inch of his skin.

It comes back when he’s out of the shower, meeting his reflection’s eyes. He tries to rub it away as he moisturizes, as he returns to his room and dresses. It trots at his heels behind him through the hall and to the kitchen, rises up higher still at the sight of his pathetically bare fridge. He hasn't been spending enough time here to get groceries, so it's no surprise. He’s been putting more focus into your fridge, back home—

“Shock,” he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut and covering his face with his palm. His fork clatters to his half-empty dish.

Even though he can't see it, eyes covered as they are, he feels the empty space around him. Too empty. The air is closing in—

He takes a shuddering, deep breath. This is fine. He can manage to exist in his own home for one night.

When was the last time he actually did, though?

He’s barely there as he puts the remainder of his food in the fridge (he couldn't bring himself to eat the rest, the unease in his stomach is too vivid, too large) and places the dish in the sink. He’s miles—no, universes away as his body walks down the hallway to his room and slides under his bedsheets. The walls are too empty, he thinks while laying on his side.

He shuts his eyes and sighs as he rolls onto his back—then huffs a frustrated breath and rolls over onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. The smell of it is wrong, but the pressure on his chest is better.

He can do this. He can sleep in his own room.

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[neko-naruto]

Stupid Website

Summary: Donatello explains the notions of social media to his brothers, of course, they already know everything about it, he just shows them a better site for their kin.

But Tumblrs always had a way of fucking over it's users, and everything he loved about how the site was laid out is thrown out the day after he introduces them.

Warnings: Light swearing

Authors Note: so i'm fucking pissed about tumblrs brand new look, heres a crack fic about it starring Donatello, if you sat through it, maybe consider a reblog, or if thats not your thing, maybe drop a kudos on the Ao3 port!

"Social Media," Donatello began confidently, standing in front of his three brothers, he had a cue pointing at a slide.

"What about it?" Raphael asked, sliding through his phone.

"I'm not the only that has an account right?" Donatello asked, everybody shook their head, "Good, what do you use?"

"Twitter," Leonardo said.

"Instagram," Michelangelo said.

Raphael shrugged, "MySpace."

"MySpace is dead, Twitter is dying, Instagram is shit," Donatello stated boldly, he got an assortment of glares. He clicked to the next slide, "Now, allow me to show you a good site."

"Not much can top Twitter," Leonardo chided.

Donatello scoffed, "Wrong, Tumblr can."

"How so?" Raphael asked, clicking his phone shut.

"For starters, we don't have to show our face unlike Insta, there's active communities unlike MySpace," Donatello explained, flicking through slides to show off Tumblrs good side, "And unlike Twitter, our ship isn't sinking."

"How long have you been using it for Donnie?" Michelangelo asked, Donatello shrugged.

"Years, doesn't matter, you all need to trash your accounts now, cause each of those things you listed off leaks an ungodly amount of personal data, you're putting all of us at risk," Donatello explained, his brothers did nothing, "That means now."

"And why should I?" Leonardo asked.

"Try Tumblr, delete Twitter, your life will be better," Donatello ranted, he probably sounded like a lunatic, "Just try, we have a really good desktop layout and everything, lot's of color options too."

"Really?" Raphael asked, Donatello nodded.

"Really, just try it out," Donatello was practically begging at this point his brothers shared glances.

"I'll try it out," Michelangelo offered, thumb hovering over the delete account option, "People keep bugging me for a face reveal anyways."

"Shit like that doesn't happen much on Tumblr," Donatello said, he turned to face Raphael.

"I will admit, it is lonely on MySpace lately," Raphael said, swiftly swiping through options till he got to the right one, he clicked it, "Show me the ropes."

"Gladly, but first," Donatello changed his gaze to rest on the blue banded terrapin, "Are you in or out Leo?"

Leonardo sighed, "Fine, I'm in."

"Perfect! Now, you're gonna click on sign up," Donatello instructed, going over each step with his brothers.

Donatello woke with a yawn, he rolled over, grabbed his laptop, and opened up Tumblr.

Sheer horror filled the pit of his stomach, "What the fuck?" His words barely came out above a whisper, they massacred his website.

It looked just like Twitter, they ruined his one link to the outside world, the one place he could be himself.

And they fucking ruined it, turned it into a Twitter clone. His precious layout, his beloved top bar, having room to breath without a full screen, gone. If he weren't a turtle mutant he would go and personally slap photomatt in the face, but he is a turtle mutant.

Instead he shuts down Tumblr and starts drafting a very strongly worded complaint.

[nyxelestia]

Vox article about the infamous wall of tags fic.

tl;dr at the end

What it’s about and why we care / article quotes:

All that, by itself, isn’t enough to make STWW remarkable — not on a website as wild and unpredictable as AO3. Yet the fic has become impossible for many AO3 users to ignore thanks to a unique quirk: Its author has linked it to more than 1,700 site tags (and counting).

Guides to how to block the fic have cropped up. For example, I use a Chrome extension that blocks fics with too many tags (you can specify how many tags is too many — I picked 50); there’s also simple site code that you can add to your custom site “skin” to block the fic completely from search results, as well as other workarounds.

But the usefulness of these options is limited. Site skins only work for logged-in users. Website extensions don’t work on mobile. Many other workarounds aren’t compatible with adaptive technology like screen readers used by disabled people and others — and if you think having to scroll past the tags on a phone is obnoxious, imagining getting stuck on it while a screen reader laboriously recites all 1,700 tags out loud.

(Emphases mine.)

My take on this specific fic:

I was sympathetic when I thought that maybe the author is just unaware of what they’re doing - but they have been made aware, they know exactly the effect they are having on other users and the community at large, and they’re still doing it.

[The author] acknowledged the controversy around their fic but emphasized that they were operating completely within AO3’s rules. “If AO3 has a category or a big red warning checkbox to say ‘click this to read crazy fics’ then I should put my fic in there,” they joked. “People are free to search (my) fic or exclude the fic using tags.”

Virtual1979 also remained steadfast when I pointed out that their fic was breaking the site for disabled users, stressing that the onus should be on AO3 — not them — to make enforceable site changes.

So now my sympathy’s all dried up. I do not remotely believe them when they say they aren’t a troll. Maybe they truly didn’t start out trolling, but they were repeatedly asked to stop, told about the impact they were having, and have themselves admitted on their Twitter account that they are laughing all the way to the bank.

A tweet they have since deleted - I did not think to grab a screenshot. So here is a screenshot of them saying they routinely delete their own Tweets, and their reaction to people who ask them to stop over-tagging their fic:

Maybe they started out as a well-intentioned new poster, unfamiliar with AO3 or how tagging works. And knowing fandom, I’m sure they faced some harassment for it. However, given they’ve been repeatedly asked to stop, and explicitly told how they are negatively affected so many other users’ ability to interact with the fandom and the website as a whole...and do not care, and continue to keep at it?

Freedom of speech gives them the right to be an asshole, but it also gives me the right to call them an asshole.

But, I do understand why AO3 isn’t banning them, and I agree with AO3′s current decision not to remove this fic. There needs to be some deeper changes, but banning this specific author or fic right now would likely cause more problems down the road than it solves right now.

What is the line for “Too Many Tags”? What would it mean for authors of non-anthology works? What impact would banning this over-tagged fics have on other over-tagged-but-not-as-badly fics? What will it mean for our culture of curating your content and experiences if blacklisting tags gets compromised due to such limits?

I’ve been frustrated by over-tagged fics before, and I certainly hope this will make other, well-meaning, good-faith authors reconsider decisions while compiling anthologies of their disconnected works going forward. Neither of these mean fans should expect AO3 to respond to mob rule and ban this fic.

My take on this article beyond this specific fic:

I disagree with the implication from the article that this is related to fandom’s longstanding issues concerning racism (and other -isms and -phobias) in fanfic. After all, the vast majority of fandom’s racism, sexism, misogyny, etc. isn’t tagged. At most, you can expect that certain ships or tags probably mean there will be certain racist tropes.

This does a disservice towards fans of a ship who don’t partake in or propagate those racist tropes - I myself included in that group. I routinely got comments on my fic from people who expected me to use racist tropes and fanons because of the ship tag on my fic, as these tropes were (and really, still are) so strongly associated with the ship. More importantly, there is no reliable way to tell from a fic’s meta-data whether there will be something in the fic the author doesn’t identify.

The fundamental problem with racism in fandom is not “people are making these racist things” but “people refuse to acknowledge these things they are making are racist” - and AO3′s meta-data is entirely self-identifying.

If an author does not think their work is racist, then they will not tag it as such, which means the rest of us will have no way of knowing until after we’ve already read the racism.

“Curate your own reading” is very applicable to things authors are willing to identify and tag in their own works - such as kinks, violence, etc. But if it is something the author did not intend, and does not agree with/identify, then readers who oppose it cannot curate against it.

Which is why I find this paragraph so misleading, specifically the part I bolded:

Throughout 2020, during sustained discussions across social media about structural racism and other toxic elements in fandom, AO3 users repeatedly requested that the site add basic features that could help users avoid involuntarily engaging with fics they found toxic or harmful. For example, currently there’s no real way to officially sanction a writer who includes racist elements in their fanfiction — the site’s abuse policy FAQ doesn’t mention race, and there’s currently no way to “warn” readers about racially charged elements in a fic. (You can warn readers about other controversial fic content, like character deaths, non-consensual scenarios, and underage characters.) And there are many readers who’d like to avoid engagement with fics and authors they deem to be racist.

These are tags an author can add onto their own work...but readers cannot warn other readers about an author’s work! And to be clear, I think that’s a good thing overall - readers being able to add their own tags to someone else’s work leaves way too much room for abuse, which would happen far more than readers warning other readers about things the author refuses to identify or tag. My point here is that apart from “how to deal with works and authors you already know are assholes”, there is no connection between this specific fic and its ensuing mess, and the broader problems of pervasive racism in fandom.

The only thing the wall of tags situation and the fandom racism situation have in common, at least in relation to AO3, is that fans want to block certain authors or works whom you already know are assholes. This, the Vox article got right.

However, there are many, many ways to be an asshole other than racism. There are many reasons to block specific works or authors besides racism. There are many types of abuse and harassment besides racism. Acting as if “blocking toxic works or people” is inherently and automatically about the on-going discussions about race in fandom reduces racism to individual acts and actors, and ignores its nature as a systemic problem.

tl;dr

While there are work-arounds to avoid that fic with 1700+ tags (and others), these workarounds are very limited in their helpfulness.

Author has the right to do this, but freedom of speech also gives the rest of us the right to call them out for their poor behavior. I 100% believe they are now an intentional bad-faith actor / troll, even if they did not necessarily start out as one.

Despite my disdain, I understand and agree with AO3′s decision to not remove the fic or ban the author, however much I hate them both. All of AO3′s decisions have ramifications and implications beyond the immediate situations they are made for. This one fic/author should not get to chip away at AO3′s mission against censorship.

Apart from the very broad nature of blocking toxic people or abusive works, I don’t think this situation has anything to do with racism. Implicating individual behavior and tagging as a related referendum is reductive to the systemic nature of fandom racism.

[saturatedcoffee]

How Archive Sunday turned 5,000 TikTok followers into $1 million in revenue… in one year

Nothing has made me feel the big 3–0 looming on my horizon more than being a millennial on TikTok. Like more than the 100 million people who downloaded the app at the start of quarantine, it was something I used to pass the time. It was what all the kids were doing, and I was in strong denial about the fact that I was no longer one of them with my skinny jeans and side part―which TikTok has shown me are signs that I am now, certifiably, Old.

What I expected was videos of lip-syncing and dancing―like the app’s precursor, Musical.ly. But what I found was a collection of content creators making videos about my very specific and very niche interests and using that as a marketing tool for their small businesses.

I found a lot of small businesses on TikTok to satiate my quarantine-induced shopaholic tendencies. Like custom joycons for my Nintendo Switch, Japanese anime stickers for my laptop, and cute gear for my battlestation (otherwise known as my home office). What I didn’t realize was that I wasn’t alone-the pandemic had kickstarted an explosion of growth for small businesses on apps and websites like TikTok.

And one of those businesses is right here in Salt Lake City-in fact, right across the street from my very own apartment.

Just because there’s a pandemic doesn’t mean you can’t do business

When I was downloading TikTok at the start of the pandemic, Sasha Sloan was starting her business. “I was just kind of stuck at home in quarantine,” she says. “I was still in school, but I couldn’t go to campus. I couldn’t get a job. And like everybody else, I was just on TikTok all the time.”

What started as a way to make some money and kill some time in quarantine quickly became an overnight sensation.

Her business was simple: buying old Star Wars T-shirts from the thrift store, bleach dying them, and reselling them on Etsy. Coming from a family who had made their living off of recycled fashion, like her siblings’ company Uptown Cheapskate or her mother’s company Kid to Kid, it was an easy model to follow, but one she did all on her own.

With only 5,000 TikTok followers and 50 bleach-dyed Star Wars T-shirts, Sloan put up a video showcasing her product and went to bed. When she woke up the next day, her entire Etsy collection had sold out. “That was the first moment that I was like, hold on, do we have something special here? And then I did it again.”

For the first two months, that’s how it went. Waking up at 6:00 AM, buying shirts, bleaching them, photographing them, and then listing them. “I couldn’t do it fast enough,” she says.

Sloan launched her business, Archive Sunday, with bleach-dyed T-shirts on TikTok on July 7th, 2020. By August, she’d launched her second product: collage walls. One hundred days in, the business hit $100,000 in sales. By the five-month mark, Sloan’s account reached one million followers. Now the business is projected to make a million dollars in sales in 2021.

Pictured: Sasha Sloan with the Archive Sunday collage kit, Athena. Photo provided by Archive Sunday.

A new social media for a new way of marketing

What makes Sloan’s business unique is that it goes beyond traditional methods because the products she sells draw on existing fanbases, like Star Wars and Harry Potter. In fact, I discovered her months ago because she posted a video from my own favorite fandom, Sailor Moon.

“The [TikTok] algorithm sorted me very quickly into fandom. Star Wars, Harry Potter, all that kind of stuff. And I was just watching and seeing how easy it is to go viral,” says Sloan. She’s right. It is easy to go viral on TikTok, especially if you know what you’re doing.

The algorithm sorts users into social circles that share interests — or liked hashtags. When a video is uploaded, the algorithm shows it to a small subset of people. And when they like that video, it shares it with users who may have similar interests. And if they like it, it creates a positive feedback loop that, if it happens enough times, causes the video to go viral. Unlike platforms like Twitter or Facebook, you don’t have to be following the video creator to find their content.

And though it sounds lucky, Sloan says her success was about more than luck, “Everything that’s happened on TikTok is not by accident. I am very strategic, very calculating in what I post,” she explains. “That’s something that I think is the most common and frustrating misconception to me is that I am a blonde girl. I’m a pageant girl. I know how to do my makeup. And I will get the critique that everything I have only came to me because of the way I look. And I just hate it, because I don’t think people realize I’ve been working in the social media world and studying algorithms since I was about 18.”

Pictured: Sasha Sloan in her signature collection, The Burrow, inspired by Harry Potter. Photo provided by Archive Sunday.

Sloan has worked in social media since she ran the verified social accounts for her family’s businesses as a teenager. Recently, she even ran social media for John Huntsman’s campaign for governor as part of her capstone internship, managing million-dollar ad spends. And in her experience, she can confirm that marketing on TikTok is very different from Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest.

“[TikTok] has created this liberation in social media where, number one, you can make whatever you want because you’re speaking to an audience that really gets you and has your same interests. And number two, it is a meritocracy. On Instagram, celebrities are often the most-followed and your followers decide how much [your content] gets liked. Whereas on TikTok, the algorithm does not care if you have a million followers or if you have ten. The only question is, is this a good piece of content?”

Creative advertising for a creative generation

TikTok is changing the game―and it’s changing the way we sell products. It’s not about paid advertising, because you can scroll right past the ads. You can’t target an ad to Gen Z the same way you can target a Boomer on Facebook. And according to Wallaroo Media, 60 percent of TikTok users belong to Gen Z, who’ve spent their whole lives on social media and are able to tell what’s an ad and what’s actual content. So if you want a TikTok user to watch your ad, you have to make it content they want to watch.

So Sloan has skipped the commercial. “I’ve never spent a dollar on marketing,” she says. “We just make these creative projects and people want to support them. They want to support the outfits. They want to look like our characters. And so we’re almost using fictional characters as influencers in a way.”

The creative projects and fictional characters she’s talking about tie back into her Noble House of Black series, which is a fan-created, live-action series of TikTok videos about three sisters from Harry Potter: Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa Black (played by Sloan herself). The series tells the story of these sisters in a visual form of fan fiction, wearing Archive Sunday’s clothes and using their accessories which, if fans like enough, they can follow through Sloan’s TikTok profile to the Archive Sunday store.

Pictured: Sasha Sloan as Narcissa Black in the Tiktok Harry Potter fan series The Noble House of Black. Photo provided by Archive Sunday.

What makes the series so engaging is that they’re featuring characters the very large and very vocal Harry Potter fandom is already familiar with. But while these characters exist in the Harry Potter franchise, much of their story is left untold. Which leaves it to the interpretation of fanon — a collection of concepts and ideas that are used in most fan fiction, but don’t really exist in the real story’s canon. And that’s where the Noble House of Black steps in to fill in the story.

“We are representing the aesthetic of fandom, which is not exactly the same thing as representing the original piece of art or work,” explains Sloan, who is very careful to circumnavigate her business around copyright issues. “We’re not copying and pasting the original piece of art. We’re using that art as a launching pad and an expansionary work to create something [new].”

A new kind of business for a new kind of nerd

The business of fandom, and namely fan fiction, is growing. Comic conventions like Salt Lake’s FanX grow bigger every year. The most well-recognized fan fiction website, Archive of our Own (AO3), even celebrated their 7 millionth fan fiction upload in 2020. Fan culture is a booming and underserved market, which has exploded even further with the stay-at-home orders of the 2020 pandemic. And Archive Sunday is capitalizing on it.

The untapped market of grown fans, particularly young women, is what Sloan attributes to her success. “I wanted to create a brand for that girl who is a millennial or a Gen Z or who loves their fandom stuff, is confident, put together, and is still a cool, popular, fun person that you’d want to hang out with.” For the girl that shops at Target, who wants the $200 merch from Disneyland but can only afford the sale at Hot Topic. For the fan who wants to rep their Hogwarts house while also being office-appropriate.

Pictured: The Black sisters from the Tiktok Harry Potter fan series, The Noble House of Black, with the actresses wearing signature Archive Sunday clothing pieces. Photo provided by Archive Sunday.

And Sloan is using her platform not only for marketing but as a tool for empowerment. “Generally in society, women are made fun of for their interests,” she says. “And I think that a lot of young women, in particular, need and desire the ability to look up to other women that have the same interest and are completely confident and passionate about it.”

And as a grown fan myself, I wholeheartedly agree with her. According to a census survey of 10,005 AO3 users, 80 percent of fan fiction readers and creators identified as female, with less than five percent identifying as male. But how many of these women hide behind online aliases and compartmentalize their fandoms from their real lives?

The answer to that question remains unseen, but Sloan is taking the steps to embrace her nerdiness as the girl who reads too much―and turning that into not only a business, but a positive role model for young women.

“When people message me to tell me why they follow me, it’s usually young women who [say], ‘I’m getting bullied in school and everyone thinks that I’m weird. I like all this stuff. I’m so passionate about my books and things. And I don’t really see any representation for that.”

So she’s filling the gap. Embracing her inner geek and using that to connect with other fans, she’s been able to build a business practically overnight. There’s a market here that’s ripe for the picking and desperate for content. Like Sloan, you don’t need to spend a dime on marketing. You just need to be a little creative and jump in the game while it’s still hot.

...

Originally published at https://www.utahbusiness.com on April 27, 2021. Follow me on Medium!

[tonya-the-chicken]

I know I shouldn't let fandom get to me but they do in the end. I hate it. Its just, the fun gets sucked out and then its just all negativity. Coz of all the "hes got too much development over Shoto" I'm already on edge. They-Endeavor getting partial favouritism from anime staff. But I keep feeling while they made him pretty nd the riverside kid scene was nice, they generally cringe ol him. And how Movie 3 and Endy caused the villains to get cheated of good anime. And I'm like why you blame me?*

*Anyway, I saw the 3rd movie and theres tiny part certain interns diss at Endeavor for not being heroic at all becoz he is following procedure and thats no hero's spirit. Nd coz hes so he fails to "really notice" or do anything "real". That old trope of MC gets to one-up the seasoned cop who for all his years of experience is an average useless foil existing only to highlight the main character's genuineness of a trait by contrasting and failing. As you can guess I've driven myself hopping m😠d.

Following the procedure, huh... This made me think of an old Soviet movie's character who was extremely umm честолюбний ambitious is not the word, it doesn't have a negative connotation. Maybe emulous? I never used this word. Anyway, it reminded me of him. If anyone saw a movie Розыгрыш I think you'll figure

I haven't watched the old movie so I can't comment on it but I think Enji is rather flexible so he wouldn't be the best for this trope... Or maybe he became more flexible in recent chapters, yeah, that would make more sense

I agree that Enji is often shown as cringe which is like... Neurodivergent vibes 👌 Relatable content🤘 (I am sorry)

Yeah and fandom sometimes is so ugh not fun. Bitches be spitting out their opinions, like, can't we listen to only MY opinions which are always correct? Fufufu... To be fair, we can't do anything about that but curate our online experience™ which means block hoes for being WRONG. Random user said something you didn't like? BLOCKED! They wanted a villain movie? BLOCKED! They used the word "emulous" which you hate? BLOCKED! Complaining Enji gets too much development over Shouto? You guessed it!

I feel like we need to go back to using social media to make friends and if you see someone you don't want to be friends with you just 👋 wave them goodbye. Fandom can be you and three absolutely insane freaks, it would be better that way

But, like, imma be honest fandom annoys me sometimes (often) that is why I am mad at how bad twitter blocking is and how little content is left for me after I blocked half of the tumblr bnha fandom (well their takes were wrong). Sometimes I wish we could have something like ao3 but for art where bitches would post their art AND you won't be subjected to their stupid opinions like do I fucking care what you think about shipping Enj.iRei in canon? Shut up

Um... My replies are long and not coherent and, well, it's not my fault I don't understand what people want to hear when they send me asks!

[luesmainblog]

The thing is, many of the places we do have have the capacity to be these ecosystems, but two main things hold them back. 1. Moderation. the beloved world of old tumblr, old deviantart, sketchfu and countless others was largely kept in check by competent moderation. while it Could take a while to get to you, for the most part, harassment was taken very seriously; if somebody reported evidence of you telling them to KYS, you could actually lose your account, or get put into a strike system. but between larger userbases, smaller mod teams, and outright hostile moderation in some sites' cases, this is no longer the case. the attempts to cut down on the workload by using AI has also caused a lot of trouble, even before the generative AI boom. 2. User Culture. many of the common fandom behaviors of our teenhoods - namely, being openly weird/insane about something and exploring uncomfortable themes - are now actively punished. you can't even write anything that would be unethical IRL without a bunch of people running down your throat and false reporting you and getting you as cancelled as possible, and thanks to the moderation issue, that behavior becomes dominant. it's not just that they're bullying the showrunners - they're bulling other fans, and there are fewer and fewer places where you can avoid that. combine with types of harassment that just weren't as available back in the day, like doxing and swatting, and the way that Facebook and Twitter fundamentally changed the internet's anonymity culture, and you have a pretty dangerous stew. people are extremely comfortable being Mean to eachother, and afraid to give nicer messages. look at tumblr - we don't even really send Asks anymore.

tumblr still largely has the framework to be this kind of space - despite changes, it hasn't changed so much that it Can't host what it once did, outside of the questionable level of how nsfw you get to be and the blatantly transphobic modding. but you have to make the effort. we all do.

that said - Mastadon does have some pretty nice communities! yooou kinda need to know someone who's already there, though. and AO3 is trying its best to retain that wonder, it's just also getting a slow trickle of people from this... algorithmic culture.

anyways if you want to enjoy a nice fandom space you're gonna need to be okay with people squeeling when they're excited, meowing at you, crackshipping, writing the most fucked up creepypasta you've ever heard in your life(INCLUDING the weird sex stuff), slapping way too many colors on an overdesigned wolf they don't know how to draw yet, and just generally being a fucking weirdo. if you still cringe and mock the age of Yaoi Paddles, you're not gonna get our nice comfy spaces.

I just saw someone refer to people seeing two characters who don’t date in the story and imagining/writing fanfic/making art where they do as being an “old-school fan”, and I want to scream. What do you mean fans don’t do that anymore? What are they doing? Bullying the showrunners?

[tracing-ao3]

Fanfiction’s Biggest Platform Wasn’t Built in a Day: The History of Archive of Our Own

Hey! What do you know about fandoms and fan works? Chances are that the answer is a lot. People here on Tumblr are rarely strangers to fandom and that’s pretty much what this social media platform is used for. Fandom has become a big part of the human experience, and there are loads of places both online and in person to get excited about the media that interests you. From stan twitter to the Dashcon ball pit, there are plenty of ways we share fan experiences.

Most notably are fan works, the art and stories created by fans to extend, “fix,” or build upon the stories from canon. Arguably the most popular method for sharing fan works, specifically fan fiction, is Archive of Our Own. AO3 is popular now, but it is far from the first of its kind. There is a long history of fandom culture and similar technologies that lead to the creation of this platform. More under the cut since things get a little long.

From Humble Fandom Beginnings

First, we have to acknowledge that the first building block to Archive of Our Own was the existence of fandom itself, which existed in different terms long before there were internet platforms to share it on. A Fanbyte article shares some funny perspectives of where fan culture might have started, and it involves Sherlock Holmes (but not that Sherlock). When the Holmes books were originally being published by Arthur Conan Doyle, readers easily became very invested. So much so that there were angry letters and actual protests when the author killed off the title character, so at least we know today’s Sherlock fans come by it honestly.

It may not have been called fandom back in Doyle’s day, but consumers have been highly dedicated to the media they consume for some time now. However, if a modern fan is unhappy with a decision to kill off a character or any other looked down upon plot decision, there may be a different place for them to turn aside from protests.

What the Fanfiction?

Moving on from the 1800s but still before the rise of the net, the fandom landscape was about to be shifted. Popular sci-fi series Stark Trek had its fair share of dedicated fans. Together a group of fans would help in the movement to popularize fan fiction. A zine called Spockanalia was published in 1968 and was comprised entirely of fan work, responses to the show, and, yes, fan fiction.

Prior to widespread internet access, fic was distributed in similar zines, at conventions, or even passed among students in schools.

This zine was probably not the first example of what we think of fan fiction, but it sure did help shift the landscape and make way for the digital versions of platform to come.

Fan Fiction Takes the Web

With the existence of the internet increasing people’s ability to share their content, it’s no surprise fandom found a new place to thrive. Fans were now posting content online, but we were still a long way from the platforms we have now.

Tech savvy fans developed online spaces for their specific fandom or even a certain ship. This became the storage place for fic and true hubs for fandom activity. These designs are a little outdated, but they represent a blueprint for later fic hosting sites.

Images from Vice’s “The Forgotten Early History of Fanfiction”

In October of 1998, we see FanFiction.net pop up. This site serves as a true predecessor to AO3. FF.net was one of the first sites dedicated to fanfiction that housed multiple fandoms, not just one specific fandom per message board. This platform received a lot of attention from fans and writers for its unique offerings and ability to read from multiple categories in one place. Despite the popularity of FanFiction.net, the site had its own host of problems that would come to fruition in the coming years.

Censorship and Greed (Come Before the Fall)

FanFiction.net offered a service that fans were looking for, but it was somewhat restrictive in the content it allowed. This included the array of content rating, bans on sexually explicit content, etc. Additionally, there is no fic to be posted by authors who have voiced their criticism of fan fiction.

Casey Fiesler, a professor in information science, also has a fantastic video on the rise and death of various fandom platforms, which discusses some additional predecessors to AO3 and the issues that arose from them.

For example, LiveJournal was being used as a platform for fan content creators to post work and communicate with other fans. This was effective until a change in LiveJournal’s policy affected the type of content allowed on the site, once again banning sexually explicit works. This policy change resulted in over 500 journals being deleted overnight and without warning. Furthermore, some of these accounts didn’t even host fan fic, and instead were accounts from survivors of sexual assault. LiveJournal clearly made some mistakes in this move, and users were pretty unhappy with the treatment.

In 2007 around the same time as LiveJournal’s purge, a new fic platform was breaking into the scene: FanLib. The creators behind FanLib seemed to notice the growing popularity of fan fiction and aimed to turn a profit off of these works. Naturally, the site faced a lot of criticisms and distain from the community.

With the outrage caused in fandom communities, it was time for a change. Controversy surrounding censorship and profit on existing fan work platforms fed directly into the creation of Archive of Our Own.

By the Fans, For the Fans: Archive of Our Own Sheds Restrictions

As much as AO3 was created in direct response to these aforementioned, it also borrows from their structure. It is a place for all multiple fandoms, much like the bold move on FanFiction.net’s part in the 90s.

While AO3 built off the existing technologies of prior fic hosting sites, it also boasted quite a few differences in regards to the content allowed.

Whereas FF.net restricted what authors fan fiction could be posted for and both it and LiveJournal posed restrictions of erotica, AO3 took the opposite approach. Their policy allowed any and all content to be hosted on their cite, as long as the work tagged the necessary archive warnings (including major character death, rape/non-con, etc.).

More recent years have inspired much debate on this concept. Some advocate for further restrictions that would prevent fics featuring incest, pedophilia, and other illegal and disturbing topics. This viewpoint certainly has merit, but these works do nothing to violate Archive policy as long as the content is indicated within the warning and tags. It is also worth considering that user are able to filter through warnings and tags, excluding ones they don’t want to see.

The other side of this argument points to the long history leading up to the Archive’s creation. Indeed, given that AO3 was developed to combat censorship on similar platforms, the lack of restrictions makes far more sense. There are certainly valid points to be voiced on both side of this debate, but looking to the textual predecessors of AO3 makes it clear why such a policy would be in place.

An additionally difference in AO3’s structure lies in the profit. While FanLib met a premature death due to its desire to profit on the back of content creators, AO3 does no such thing. In fact, it is run by nonprofit group Organization for Transformative Works and the site’s work is done by volunteers.

Archive of Our Own builds upon the conventions of fan work sites while adapting them for its own needs.

Borrowing From Other Social Media Practices

The Archive also demonstrates trends that can be seen across social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and here on Tumblr. The hashtag that is used to sort posts and material online is also utilized on AO3, but in a slightly different fashion.

Tagging on other social media is sometimes ineffective when users include different tags to talk about the same concepts (think one user tagging a post “Doctor Who” while another uses “dw”). This makes it difficult for users to find the content they’re looking for.

To improve upon the tagging system used across social media, AO3 uses a method called tag wrangling. This involves volunteers sorting through new tags that are used and linking them to other tags that mean the same thing. As such, a poster can use whatever tag they are most familiar with, and tag wranglers will make sure it shows up under any tag that has the same meaning. Tag wrangling solves the issue that alienates users from finding content and also ensures that the filtering system is as effective as possible.

Fanfiction’s Biggest Platform Wasn’t Built in a Day

It’s clear that AO3 is far from the first of its kind. The widely used platform built upon the existing structures and uses of similar platforms, structures, and communities.

By building with and improving upon these existing formats, Archive of Our Own has created an online space that utilizes existing technologies in a fresh way that attracts users.

Read more here:

Fanbyte, “From Star Trek to Superwholock: A Brief History of Fanfiction”

Vice, “The Forgotten Early History of Fanfiction”

Wired, “Fans Are Better Than Tech at Organizing Information Online”

Casey Fiesler, “The Life and Death of Fandom Platforms | LiveJournal, Archive of Our Own (AO3), Tumblr, and ???”

The Mary Sue, “The Bad Faith Attacks on Archive of Our Own Have to End”

Additional images from FanFiction.new and archiveofourown.org

[griffinnblake]

A couple of you have asked for it, and Part II of my Bellarke fanfic rec is finally here! 

This is suuuuuuper late considering I promised it a while ago, but I blame moving to a new house, teaching a new course, and getting sick at least twice in one month. What can ya do? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

These fics are in no particular order because one) I don’t have any particular favorites and two) I ain’t got time for that.  I hope y’all enjoy! 

P.S. If y’all missed the first part of my fanfic rec, you can find it here!

P.P.S. This is my disclaimer that I obviously haven’t included all the Bellarke fics out there. If you have a favorite that I did not include, I probably haven’t read it yet, in which case, please share!

a castle in the clouds by @pawprinterfanfic Star Wars AU. Bellamy is Han. Clarke is Leia. Oh and did I mention that there’s some fake dating? That doesn’t normally do it for me, but I can make an exception this time. *kisses fingertips*

We’ll Paint the Town Blue by @animmortalist

Clarke wants to ruin her reputation in this College AU and who better to do it than resident heartbreaker Bellamy Blake? They enter a friends with benefits/Bonnie and Clyde arrangement (it works I swear), but oops, they like like each other.

(clumsy) ‘cause I’m fallin’ in love by skai_heda

Sometimes you just need a cute little S1 AU where Bellamy faints and Clarke gives him a hard time for it. Oh, and feelings. 

small dot among infinite stars by @kindclaws

This is a really interesting take on how one change can drastically affect future events. It’s a S2+ AU where Dante shoots Cage and Clarke doesn’t irradiate Mount Weather, but the end of the world still comes.

someone let the poets out by @kindclaws (WIP)

This one’s hella meta and I love it. Even though it’s based on the GoT cast, I could totally see it also applying to the 100 cast given how S7 may or may not go. Fingers crossed for a decent ending. Anyway, Bellarke and co. are the stars of a popular show in its final season, and they are horrified by what Jaha comes up with story-wise. (Think those final GoT table reads. C’mon, we’ve all seen the footage of Conleth tossing his script aside when Varys is killed off). So they decide to recreate their own low-budget version of the final season. And Bellamy may or not be having a crisis regarding his feelings for a certain blonde co-star. OH! And how could I forget the social media tie-ins? Brilliant. Definitely read this one on a desktop to get the full experience.

how I learned to stop worrying and love the apocalypse by @kindclaws 

Another kindclaws fic. I’m sorry but the writing is just so good. I can’t help but include them. This one’s a Praimfaya AU fic and also an exes fic and also a time loop fic and also an angst fic and I love it so much. I personally recommend the 2nd person POV version (chapter 1), but if 3rd person is more your jam, then just read chapter 2!

An Evening I Will Not Forget by @octannibal-blake

Bellamy is a soldier who has a “one night stand” with Clarke the night before he’s deployed, but these losers can’t have a one night stand to save their lives, so of course there’s emotion involved. I’m a sucker for military AUs, so of course I liked this one.

i would give my life just to hold your hand (i’m your number one fan) by @captaindaddykru

Bellamy’s an actor. Clarke’s a singer. He likes some of her photos on Twitter. She slides into his DMs. It’s the start of a beautiful friendship love story. These idiots I swear. I’m actually surprised this is the first safeandsound13 fic I’ve listed on here considering the first part of my other fic rec was basically a love letter to her Hunger Games AU series. That, and I’m subscribed to her as an author. Seriously. Go read everything she writes.

so i sing a song of love by @hiddenpolkadots

Clarke gets pregnant and Bellamy’s the father, but they’re not together. Oops. They figure it out.

It’s All Coming Back by @johnmurphysass

Clarke receives an invitation to Octavia’s wedding, but the problem is that she hasn’t seen Bellamy or Octavia in over 5 years. And Clarke and Bellamy are both hiding secrets. Y’all. This one was emotional af. But so good. I will say, heed Tricia’s author tags and warnings.  Just in case.

a beam in darkness: let it grow. by starsonfire

I’m not sure if this user has a tumblr, so I just linked their ao3 profile. This is a S6 Finale AU where Clarke gives up and Bellamy helps her. Again, heed the warnings just in case. But it’s really good.

like you mean it (like it’s splitting you in two) by @talistheintrovert

Talis lets them sleep. She lets tHEM SLEEP. That’s all you need to know. 

as moonlight through the pines by @hiddenpolkadots

Clarke and Bellamy get matching tattoos while drunk and now all the Grounders think they’re married. Heh. Sign me up.

guess it’s never really over by @captaindaddykru

Bellarke + exes + Bellarke kid + Bellarke trying for another kid + angst + fluff = Bingo for Lindsay. Looking back at it, I think it was written for Bellarke Bingo. An ACTUAL bingo fic. So basically this just means you really need to read it. 

All tomorrow’s parties. by @robotmango

This is a really cool take on a Praimfaya AU. Bellamy is for intents and purposes the Time Traveler’s Husband. I LOVED this one.

Kiss It Better by delinquents

This is a really cute S1 AU with forehead kisses. Forehead kisses! It’s the only work by the author, but I hope they write more.

speedin’ into a new sunrise by @carrieeve

Clarke participates in a night of speed dating and ends up reuniting with an old college friend slash huge what if. It’s super cute and fluffy and totally the type of fic needed to break up an angst session. I love angst like nobody’s business, but sometimes you just need something happy.

everything will bring a chain of love by @lost-n-stereo

Another cute fic but this time with Bellarke as parents! These are short little fills combined into a one shot, and they’re just perfect. I love it.

A Safe Place to Land by @octannibal-blake

Bellarke as parents but the Angst™ version. Basically Marper dies and Bellarke take care of Jordan. It’s sad but so good, I promise.

Still Yours by @arysafics

Bellamy and Clarke agree to be friends after they break up. Angst ensues. Being friends with your ex is hard y’all. I promise it has a happy ending. 

when it all comes together by soundtracktomysoul

Jasper wants Bellarke together and creates a group chat that includes all the delinquents. Plotting and shenanigans ensue. This one was super fun, and in going back to it, I discovered that this author also has a Bellarke Rock Band AU. Haven’t read it yet but definitely going to check it out!

gone til november, on my city come december by @jamesstruttingpotter

Bellarke are cops and Bellamy goes undercover. Angst. Pining. Gah, I love it.

we’re never done with killing time by @bestivals

The angst. The angst. This is a post-s5 AU fic where they’re onboard the Eligius ship but didn’t go into cryo. Bellamy and Clarke have a series of 48 conversations and we get what they were supposed to do which is TALK.

I think I’m going to call it for now. I hope you enjoy all these wonderful fanfics! And if you have additional favorites, please share!

[under-the-blue-sun]

THE 882 FILES. - chapter two

story summary:  When their space pod unexpectedly loses power, Dan and Phil - two crew members from the International Space Station - suddenly find themselves revolving far above the strange atmosphere of an alien planet, and must now find a way to survive as they wait for help to arrive.

story word count: 4057

rating: teen & up audiences

warnings: profanity

song of the chapter: cherry bomb - the runaways

notes: yes yes i'm late i’m using the same excuse as last time i'm sorry !! look but i am gay and i can't count days so if you're mad.. homophobia.

link to ao3 (would highly recommend reading on ao3 due to formatting changes on tumblr!)

“Captain?”

 Captain P.J. Liguori huffed and trudged to the door. 

 “What do you want?” he demanded, swinging the door open aggressively.

 The person at the door clicked their tongue. “I believe it was you who sent me for your coffee, Peter Jones.”

 PJ rolled his eyes. “For the last time, stop guessing my name.”

 Chris smirked and walked in the office, tray in hand. He set down the cup of coffee with his milk and bags of sugar, trying to catch PJ’s eye. In all his years of working with PJ, he had never seen him this glum. Ordinarily, PJ would try to be positive about everything that approached him. Today, PJ was positive about nothing. He ignored Chris’ smiles and continued scrolling through his phone. Chris took a peek at his screen.

 “I thought you were quitting Twitter,” Chris said, pouring the sugar into the coffee.

 PJ sighed. “Can’t exactly be keeping off social media at a situation like this, can I?”

 “Here’s your coffee, Captain.” Chris said, pushing the cup forward. “How are you doing?”

 PJ glanced at the coffee. “Not well,” he said, stirring the coffee. “Also, can I have a long black instead?”

 “No. We haven’t got the time for worrying about coffees today. You have a lot to do today.” Chris said, secretly pleased that he had an excuse to not remake PJ’s coffee. 

 PJ nodded gloomily. “Alright. Read them off for me, then.”

 Chris pulled out his clipboard and cleared his throat. “Well, you have to announce the official numbers of the incident in 1 hour, followed by time with the press, questions from the audience, etcetera. Then, you have a meeting with the CEOs of all the companies on the ISS which I estimate would be around two hours. After that, we managed to book you an interview with the BBC tonight, so please wrap up so we don’t be late for that.”

 “Jesus Christ.”

 “Quite a lot to do.”

 “I can see that.” PJ said. “So I’m announcing the official numbers in an hour?”

 “Correct.” Chris replied.

 PJ hesitated. “So what are the official numbers?”

 “Overall, it’s 132 dead, 15 injured and 2 missing. For BPS, it’s 10 dead, 3 injured and 2 missing.”

 “Oh God, those are terrible numbers.” PJ said.

 “Here’s the list of names.” Chris said.

 PJ skimmed the list. “Macsen Crane, Victoria Guy, Loretta Hess, Daniel Howell, Kason Kumar, Ca-”

 PJ paused. “Captain Philip Lester.”

 “Peej? Are you okay?” Chris asked.

 “I’m fine. Kendall, is this the list of the dead?” PJ asked.

 “The dead and missing, Captain. Are you sure you’re fine?” Chris frowned, watching as PJ quickly wiped his cheek.

 “I’m sure.” PJ assured. “Who’s dead and who’s missing?”

 “I don’t know. I was just given this list of names.” Chris replied.

 “Kendall, go and ask for the specifics.”

 Chris nodded. “Yes, Captain.” he said, and scurried out of the office

 PJ closed his eyes. Please, God, do not let Phil Lester be dead.

SC LOCATION: SPACE SHUTTLE 882 - CONTROL ROOM

 Phil: We’re dead. Oh god, we’re dead.

 [Dan taps Phil on the shoulder, who finally opens his eyes and looks at Dan who’s smiling at him]

 Dan: Captain. We’re alive. We did it. We made it.

 Phil: Oh my god.

 [Phil pulls Dan in a tight embrace. He lets Dan go awkwardly]

 Phil: Sorry. It’s just-

 [Dan nods]

 Dan: It’s fine. 

 [Dan smiles slowly]

 Dan: We made it. We actually made it.

 Phil: And with 30 seconds to spare. We should have taken our time.

 [Dan and Phil both laugh, tears of happiness streaming down their cheeks]

LOCATION: ??

DATE: 25/06/2053

TIME: ??

DAYS IN SPACE: 1

 USER: Mr Daniel Howell

 My name is Dan Howell, pilot of the 882, assistant to Captain Philip Lester and flying to fuck-knows-where. I’m here because I barely survived the International Space Station’s first emergency situation after 53 years of safe work in space.

 It felt good surviving, at first. We had just made it, fire right at our tail. But when we looked back, half the ISS still burning, we felt sick. If we had barely managed to make it, we couldn’t imagine how many people didn’t.

 Fire in open space is weird as hell. On Earth and on the ISS, fire causes the surrounding atmosphere to thin and expand and flames rise with the pull of gravity at the base of the flame. The oxygen makes sure it burns until it runs out of fuel.

 In open space, the hot air from the flame still thins and expands, but as it’s without gravity, the shape of fire is more like a dome. Instead of flickering, the fire orb sort of just hovers there. The oxygen molecules drift into the fire, meaning the flame still manages to persist, but it’s slower and more sluggish because there’s not that much oxygen to deal with.

 It’s weird. Also kind of cool. Everyone loves the idea of fire in space, including me. My first experiment on the ISS was playing with fire in microgravity. Looking back, it was actually pretty dangerous. Jayden Hebert almost caught on fire, which was hilarious but also terrifying. Adrenaline was boiling in my stomach and we were all shaking with excitement.

 Now, my stomach hurts and I am shaking but for all the wrong reasons. The captain nor I have any idea about how many people did or didn’t make it out. There's a possibility that someone we know could be in there, slowly dying, and that scares the both of us. 

 If I seem upset, the captain is even more distressed. I didn’t have any friends on the ISS. I didn’t talk, or know anyone that well. But the captain is an all-round good kind of guy who was friends with everyone on the station. He hasn’t said it to me, but he feels guilty for surviving. 

 He shouldn’t feel guilty for long, though. We’ve realised that we’re going to die on the ship, and there’s not really much we can do about that.

 You see, these shuttles were created and packed by NASA, purely for emergency purposes. Outside of that, not really any use of them. The only thing mechanics have to do with them is make sure that they’re functional, and since there hasn’t been any emergencies on the ISS in the 54 years of running, they’ve kind of been slack for doing that as well.

 Shuttle 882 broke after Allen Stephenson got drunk and spilt his beer inside two years ago, and the mechanics got really mad at him and told him to fix his own problem. Of course, Allen’s an idiot and doesn’t know shit about repairing a fucking shuttle, and even if he did, he didn’t have the proper tools to repair anything, so there wasn’t much he could do. The mechanics knew that. Like I said, there hasn’t been an emergency in the ISS until yesterday. Fixing a random shuttle in Locker 5 was really none of anyone’s concern.

 However, this does pose as a problem for me and the captain now. Allen the Fuckface managed to spill his beer in a lot of places, but most importantly, the teleporter and communications area. Normally, protocol for an emergency is to use the shuttle to immediately teleport the ship to Earth. They made this super easy for us, making a button which only allowed you to teleport to our home planet. However, obviously, Allen managed to mess that up which means that we are 100% screwed. 

 In cases like this, normally, you would communicate with mission control, and they would send an unmanned ship to collect you from the coordinates you send over. However, Allen spilt his beer all over the coordinate tracker and, more importantly, the SOS messenger, meaning that we have no way to communicate with Earth or know where we are. 

 Yeah. Fuck Allen.

 SC LOCATION: SPACE SHUTTLE 882 - MAIN ROOM

 [Dan walks into the main room]

 Dan: Good news and bad news, Captain.

 [Phil looks up from the communications panel he is trying to fix]

 Phil: Let’s hear the good news first.

 Dan: Well, the good news is that NASA always prepares for an emergency by packing way too much food. I counted, and we have exactly 100 freeze-dried meals.

 Phil: That sounds good, but even if we both only have half a meal a day, that’s only going to last us for just over three months.

 Dan: That’s the bad news.

 [Phil chuckles sorrowfully]

 Phil: So, we’re fucked.

 Dan: Pretty much.

 [Phil sighs]

 Phil: Any good news, Howell?

 Dan: This shuttle is an older design from ‘32, so there’s a bedroom with a double bed.

 Phil: That’s good, but I feel like there’s a catch.

 Dan: That is the only bedroom, so, we either have to draw straws or we have to take turns sleeping on the bed.

 Phil: Right.

 [Silence hangs in the room]

 Dan: Well, you’re my superior officer, so you can take the bed. I can sleep on the couch. 

 [Phil stands up]

 Phil: Well, you said it was a double bed.

 [Dan nods slowly]

 Dan: Yes I did, Captain.

 Phil: Well, that’s it, then. We’re grown men. We can share the bed. 

 Dan: Right. Of course. No problem sharing a bed with my captain.

 Phil: Absolutely. And vice versa. No problem sharing a bed with my...uh...pilot.

 Dan: Definitely.

 [Silence awkwardly hangs in the room yet again]

 Phil: Any other problems we need to deal with either than...you know…SOS messenger and all?

 Dan: Yeah. Uh, no. No more problems. Not that sharing a bed is a problem.

 Phil: No, of course not. Uh…

 Dan: Yeah, I’ll just leave you to try and fix the messenger and teleporter while I plan out our meals.

 Phil: Yeah. Cool.

 [Phil crouches back down to stare intensely at the communications battle]

 [Dan leaves the main room]

LOCATION: ??

DATE: 25/06/2053

TIME: ??

DAYS IN SPACE: 1

 USER: Mr Daniel Howell

 So apparently, I am now sharing a bed with the captain.

SC LOCATION: SPACE SHUTTLE 882 - EATING ROOM

 Phil: So, is this half of the meal?

 Dan: Yep.

 [Dan and Phil prod their food]

 [Dan begins eating the food]

 Phil: Oh, fuck this.

 [Phil gets up and gets the full meal]

 Dan: Captain-

 Phil: I don’t care, alright? I would rather live for 100 days with a full meal rather than this half-ass shit. 

 [Phil sighs]

 Phil: I’m sorry for that. It’s just such a stupid situation.

 Dan: You’re right, it is. We barely survive from a fire and plunge ourselves into what? Starving and thirsting to death. It’s like the universe wants us dead.

 Phil: No. Don’t say that. The universe does not want us dead.

 [Phil grabs Dan’s hand]

 Phil: We are going to get out here. As your captain, I promise you that I will get us out of here. We will survive these hard days, and we will return to Earth. Understood?

 [Dan doesn’t reply]

 Dan: Not I, Captain. We.

 Phil: Sorry?

 Dan: You may be my superior, but it isn’t just your responsibility to get us out of here. This is on both of us, Captain. We can’t get out of here unless we work together. 

 [Phil smiles]

 Phil: Of course. Not I. We.

SC LOCATION: SPACE SHUTTLE 882 - LEISURE ROOM

 Phil: So? Any good movies?

 Dan: Not really. There’s the X-Men movies.

 Phil: Hugh Jackman or Jayden Benton?

 Dan: Jackman, of course. Why would they bring those Benton ripoffs on here?

 Phil: True. Anything else?

 Dan: The old Harry Potter movies. Some random rom-coms. War movies. Animated films. Space movies, unsurprisingly. I haven’t heard of most of them, and there’s a lot.

 Phil: Well, we have plenty of time. What should we watch tonight?

Aladdin (1992): 1 hour 31 minutes

Loading…

 Aladdin (1992) downloaded

[sebthesnipe]

Prophecy of the Procyon

February Prompts 2/17

Prompt List

First // Previous February Prompt // Previous MDP Chapter //Next

The February Collection on AO3

My Dearest Procyon

Other works by me

Prompt: Obey / Oasis

Ship: Prinxiety and Logicality

Original story based on this wonderful post by @underdog-arts

P.S. This is my favorite chapter so far :3

“Can I hold him? Please?!” The whiney voice came, grating on one of the very few nerves Virgil had left.

“I said no.” Virgil replied flatly, pulling the black cat a bit further away from Patton’s pouting presence. Logan had changed back into his feline form about half an hour after the introductions were made. Virgil had quickly scooped up the cat, hands sliding under his front legs, before he could dart for their new companion. 

The fur covered creature pinned Virgil with an even and unamused look as he was yanked away from Patton’s small form. The whole thing was ridiculous and if Logan didn’t know any better, he would assume that Virgil was either jealous or overprotective of him. He supposed that he should be flattered by the idea, but for the most part he was just tired. It had been a very long day.  

“Come on, Patton,” Roman interjected, which Virgil was extremely grateful for, “let's leave the grumpy gus to sulk on his own.” He wrapped an arm around Patton’s shoulder, surprised by the amount of heat his small form gave off. “Why don’t I tell you about the palace I grew up in?”

“Oh! That sounds wonderful, Roman!” Patton agreed eagerly. 

“Well, it is…” Roman paused, his elation fading slightly as he realized what he had said. “Was,” he corrected before moving on without missing a beat, “beautiful! Tapestries and landscapes of exotic places as far as the eye could see!” He lifted his free hand, waving it in front of them as if to help visualize the scene. “It was an oasis of culture in the desert that is our society! There were countless rooms for every occasion, guest, and activity! I had a whole staff of people waiting to obey my every command! And during the summer…”

Virgil tuned him out as they continued walking, once more thankful that the two had each other to keep themselves occupied. He had no time for their antics. They needed to focus on the task at hand. They were getting closer to whatever awaited them at the end of their journey and Virgil was keen on preparing for it. Whatever ‘it’ was.

He shifted Logan to his shoulder, allowing the cat to climb up and into his backpack, no doubt ready to curl up and sleep for the night. He paid close attention to the way the weight shifted on his back, curious if the beast was actually settling down or sneaking another peak at their new companion. 

‘All that is gained, will be lost again. Never to be found for the one without hope.’ The words echoed through his thoughts as they often did when he was alone long enough to think. He still didn’t quite understand the fortune given by the seer, and perhaps he never would. Fortunes were funny that way, they only ever seemed to make sense after they had come true. 

He had asked Logan what it could mean, but the man knew about as much as Virgil did; and Logan had been the one to provide him with that little gem of fortuity in the first place?! They had discussed the possible meaning over the long spanse of their journey, but not much had come of it aside from the conclusion that Virgil was, no doubt, ‘the one without hope’. It was fitting really, he had never been an optimistic person, and certainly didn’t plan on changing that now, prophecy or no prophecy. 

‘You’re fidgeting, Virgil.’ Logan’s mind brushed against his, stirring him from his thoughts. Virgil gland down at where his hand was toying with the clasp of his cloak, no doubt causing his pack to jostle, disturbing the feline.

“Sorry,” the witch mumbled with a sigh, dropping his hands. 

‘You seem more uneasy than usual.’

“Do I?” Virgil snapped in return, glaring at the ground in front of him as he pressed on. “I wonder why?! Maybe it has something to do with the pyromancer you decided to bring along like a new pet.’

‘Patton chose to come along on his own accord. He is important to this journey, Virgil.’

“No, the dragon is important. Not some half baked pyromaniac.” He growled, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that the prince and the man in question were still deep in conversation. 

‘Your reaction to him is a bit extreme.’

“You could have at least asked me first. I thought we were in this together?” The words were spoken in more of an annoyed and defeated whisper than an accusation. Regardless, they certainly struck home if Logan’s sudden silence was anything to go by. Virgil knew he should feel at least a little remorseful for the shot against his partner, but refused to allow the feeling to take root as he ducked beneath a low hanging branch. 

“-anyways, Virgil?” Roman’s voice came, pulling the witch’s attention back into the world around him. How long had the prince been talking to him?

“What?” Virgil huffed, as the man hurried forward to stand next to him. 

“I said, where are we headed, anyways?” Roman repeated. 

“Oh, dear,” Patton squeaked loud enough that Virgil assumed he had pulled up right behind their more muscled companion, “you mean you’ve been traveling with them and you don’t know where you’re going? Roman, you really ought to be more careful, kiddo. You’re a prince! What if someone wanted to kidnap you and hold you for ransom or something! You could be in real danger and you wouldn’t know where to find us! And what if you were hurt?!” The dragon smaller man looked aghast with concern as both Virgil and Roman glanced back at him. The prince, however, found it amusing, and gave a boisterous laugh. 

“It is a bit late to start worrying about that now. I’ve checked off that whole list, minus the ransom.” Roman teased lightly, causing Patton to go wide eyed in horror. 

“You were prince-napped?” he gasped, “How did you get away?”

“Well,” Roman grinned, glancing at Virgil, who was not amused. The witch gave a roll of his eyes before starting to move again, obviously expecting the other two to follow. “I haven’t escaped yet.”

“You mean…” Patton trailed off as they began to walk on.

“Yup. The prince-nappers are none other than your two favorite magic users,” Roman clarified.

“No!”

“Yes.” 

“You weren’t kidnapped.” Virgil huffed, pulling his hood up so that he could sulk in piece. 

“Prince-napped,” Roman corrected. 

“Whatever! You weren’t… that,” the witch grumbled. 

“I was tied up and gagged!” Roman swooned dramatically as if it truly was an atrocity. 

“Oh, poor Roman! I hope it wasn’t too bad. You weren’t hurt were you?” Patton cooed, genuinely worried; or at least acting as if he were. 

“Do not fear, my dear Patton! It takes a lot more than a bit of witchcraft to wound me!” Roman boomed, striking a pose that made the shortest of the three give a giggle. 

Virgil felt his pack shift, signaling Logan’s movements as the cat peaked out from the opening of the flaps at the sound of Patton’s twittering laughter. The whole thing had Virgil’s hackles raised. He gave a low growl, wishing he were back in raccoon form so that it would be socially acceptable to claw at them both. 

“Like a knife to the side?” Virgil countered flatly, pausing to turn, bringing attention to the large blood stain that still marred Roman’s ripped shirt. “You were not kid-prince… WHATEVER-napped! You were found bleeding out in the middle of the road! I-” ‘We’ Logan’s correction came.

“We found you and healed you! The ropes were a precaution! Your family is responsible for the genicide of my people and I wasn’t going to take the chance that you might try and hurt us! The gag was because you obviously talk too much!” Virgil snapped shoving his index finger into the prince’s far too broad chest, shaking slightly in his agitated state.

Roman’s smile faded at Virgil’s words, his expression turning stoic as he stared down at the beautiful and angry man. He didn’t even bother denying the witch’s words. He knew the atrocities his family had committed and despite his best efforts, he had never been able to stop them. It was always ‘this is how a country is run, Roman’ or ‘when you’re king you’ll understand, Roman’; but he doubted he would ever understand and now… now he was fairly sure they were all dead, no doubt haunted in the afterlife by the very people they had ostracized. 

“V-Virgil…” Patton’s watery voice came as he tried to hold back tears, “Is that true?” 

The teary gaze caught both of their attention, surprised that someone would be so openly moved by their own emotions. Virgil allowed his hand to drop, suddenly uncomfortable with the attention.

“Well… I mean…” Virgil stuttered, unsure of himself.

“You saved Roman?” he whispered in awe. Virgil tensed as he realized that the man was tearing up, not in remorse for the countless that had died at the hands of the royal family, but that Virgil had valiantly rescued an injured man. He was not accustomed to admiration to say the least.

“I guess?” Virgil offered, averting his gaze sheepishly. 

“There is no ‘I guess’ about it! Virgil is a hero!” Roman bellowed, an arm suddenly wrapping around his slender shoulders.

Virgil’s eyes went wide at the sudden change in tone along with the physical contact, which he most certainly did not lean into. He panicked, shoving the prince away from him, shoulders hunched with tension. 

“I’m not a hero!” he growled viciously before turning on his heels, completely done with the two of them. 

“Yes you are,” Roman argued, just managing to catch himself before hurrying after the witch, “and once I have regained my Kingdom I shall have you knighted! Ser Virgil the Vitriolic!” 

“I don’t even know what that means!” the witch huffed in annoyance.

Patton wiped away the tears in his eyes as he began to follow the two arguing men, unable to ignore the fond warmth that began to bloom in chest. It was nice to be part of a group again, to be included. He wished the others could be there. It wouldn’t be long now. Everything was coming together just as it was meant to… 

To be continued….

Taglist:

@hiddendreamer67 @nightashes @aequinoctiale @sumersnowlilly

[lokisasylum]

Why are Kpop Predictions so... negative?

I'm not one to humor people who do Kpop Predictions (and for free? really? ya'll out here "spilling info/tea" about celebrities for FREE? IN THIS ECONOMY?). I just find them laughable/amusing because of how inaccurate they are 95% of the times, while toying with the fandoms' emotions. Creating unnecessary drama and stress about things that anyone with a common sense and logic could've predicted all on their own. But to give you guys an idea, here are a few by category:

#1. Twitter based Kpop Predictions

I’ve always had this MAJOR feeling that the great majority of them are run by THE SAME person on different accounts (kinda like how on Tumblr we're allowed to "manage" different blogs for whatever we may need 'em). Cause if you pay close attention they ALL share the same pattern:

SAME moon/crystal ball Icons

SAME way of "predicting" events ( *coughCOPY/PASTEcoughcough* )

They ALL go on hiatus at the SAME TIME and when they finally return they give the SAME excuse that they were depressed, drained of energy, mental blockage/migraine from predicting so much.

They throw shade at other prediction accounts and accuse them of "copying" them since they're "the original one."

They throw random predictions per day that never come true and when they don't and get called out its always the same excuse of "you choose what you want to believe" or "I never said it was gonna happen NOW, it could still happen in the future." (even after saying they would during the current year lol).

The great majority of these accounts are BIASED AF and mostly run by delulu shippers who tease the followers with incomplete information to keep ‘em interested.

🐍 Note: The one thing that I heavily dislike about these is that it's been proven in previous years that these accounts either work with or buy information from Sasaengs or insiders within the companies. Which is a big NO-NO in the Kpop community since Sasaengs are disgustingly invasive and have zero disregard for the Idol’s personal life and safety.

#2. Youtube Kpop Predictions/Tarot Card Readers, or as I like to call them: the "super-tragic-always-negative-BTS-are-gonna-disband-this-year-or-the-next-under-super-tragic-circumstances" accounts.

These youtubers  are known for spending and wasting 15-20 minutes of their videos (and viewers lives) doing self-promos and showing off the different card decks that they've just recently bought (as if the predictions change based on whether or not you're using a Classic Arcana or a Sailor Moon/Pokemon/YuGiOh with limited edition EXODIA & Shadow Realm included deck) And as mentioned above, ALL of them give super tragic/negative predictions, especially when it comes to BTS. Like I remember at the start of this year, there were around 10 (or more) of them saying that BTS would either disband in mid or near the end of 2019. 5 of them stated (in COPY/PASTE fashion) that 2 members would either abandon the group to pursue solo careers, or that 1 would leave and the other would be kicked out for either health issues or this super huge controversial scandal that would ruin BTS' or the member's image and something about "diva behavior" or that the same member was a huge bully towards the others (and annoyingly enough, all of them kept pointing to both Jin and Jimin for some strange reason). But as we've seen, 2019 came and practically went and BTS are still together, still thriving. Maybe one or two "dating rumors" here and there during their "time off" that died in a span of 1 month or so and everyone went on with their lives because it was found to be the product of antis wanting to start shit because everybody wants a BTS scandal (and of course, close to AWARD SEASON *LE GASP*).   So now those same "psychics" are correcting themselves and making up excuses that "they didn't have all the info" or "misunderstood it when they first got it". 🐍🐍 Note: I found it both hilarious and ignorant how the great majority of them are using the "members will start to leave one by one" as a sign of the group disbanding, when we know that starting next year they'll start enlisting in the military which is MANDATORY FOR ALL MEN IN KOREA. Meaning that all Male Korean Idols go through this process and DOES NOT necessarily mean imminent disbandment.

🐍🐍🐍 Extra: Oh yeah, can't forget that one account who said that all Kpop groups are part of the illuminati and they’re using some MK-Ultra shit on the fans through their music which is why fans all over the world now like Kpop and made it famous. Can't forget about those or someone will fight me. (The person deleted their channel too)

#3. Tumblr Kpop Predictions

*SIGH* .... where to start with this one....?

The group in this category is a strange hybrid between Twitter, Youtube and Wattpad/AO3. 'Cause i swear that some of the stuff I've read in a few of these account posts. while browsing for BTS. look like they were taken straight out of a super Angsty, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Soulmate AU, 30 chapters summarized into a oneshot fic. So you'll be either heavily disturbed or highly entertained at how creative the person is with their "reading". Like there was this one person who alleged that Jimin had been a woman in like 3 of his past lives, but was always involved in very abusive relationships (in 1 of said lives his/her father had r*ped him/her and Jimin gave birth to a daughter and  when the daughter grew up they both fell in love with the same man. And the daughter ends up killing Jimin to keep the man for herself LOL what kind of twisted A/B/O shit is this?!) and apparently its...affecting him in the present with how he treats others? And like... the only way for him to "break the cycle" is by "making peace" with his past selves? Or else he'll keep repeating it?

(y'know...like The Avatar).

This same person also said that the Maknae Line have a beef with the Hyung Line. And that Jimin was gonna kill himself this year or when BTS disbands next year, cause without the group he was useless/talent-less and it didnt matter if he did solo projects cause they wouldn't be as famous as the other members, plus his supposed "girlfriend" would leave him at the same time which is why he'll kill himself. Like....BITCH, WHICH IS IT? Do you want him to make peace with himself and live a long healthy life or do you want him dead?? MAKE UP YOUR MIND! Or better yet, just say you're a Jimin anti and go (cause she didnt have any probs with the other members, always targeted Jimin). Although there ARE exceptions, like another user who told this past-lives reading on how they all used to be 1 person who died and their soul got divided into 7, and the 7 of them always managed to find one another on each and every one of the lives they've lived through (like the HEARTBEAT mv). That one was nice.

In Conclusion....

I just feel bad because of how ignorant and gullible the Kpop fandom in general has become in the past years (Especially the newer fans who don’t understand how Korean culture works, much less the Korean Entertainment Industry). To the point of giving these people clout when in reality they’re just taking advantage of them because they know how thirsty and obsessed some fans can get in their need to know MORE about the artists/group they stan.  

[araniaexumae]

Jily Band + social media AU

Hi! This is a work that takes place in the same universe as Stare but it can be read as a standalone piece. As always, special thanks to Mia @blitheringmcgonagall who is the best jily cheerleader ever <3

also tagging @thebo and @ravenclaw-ft because they liked the snippet (thanks!)

10 Up-and-Coming British Rock Bands

Hogsmeade Magazine

Number 6 : The Marauders

After self-releasing their first EP, Up to no good, in January this year, the Marauders have charmed audiences with their genre-bending sound and boy-band looks. By listening to the first songs, you would classify them as a classic rock band, and a good one at that. But if you pay closer attention, you’ll be able to discern some hip-hop or pop influences depending on the song. They originally made themselves known on the internet through youtube, in a delightful mix of music videos and ridiculous prank vlogs.

Peter Pettigrew @scabbers

@siriuslypretty @prongspotter @notromulus check it out guys we r famous now

hogsmeademag.net

Sirius Black @siriuslypretty

@scabbers @prongspotter @notromulus fucking FINALLY

James F. Potter @prongspotter

@siriuslypretty @scabbers @notromulus um what do they mean by ridiculous prank vlogs?

READ ON AO3

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London’s newest boy band is cuter than 1D

Rita Skeeter for Puddifoot Weekly

Call my title clickbait-y all you want, my readers know I only write the truth. And the truth is that London’s newest rock band the Marauders are sweet on the eyes. You might have heard Stare , which is their most popular number, on the radio. And if you’ve ever seen a picture of lead vocalist James Potter, you will wish he was singing it to you the next time you hear it! The young singer is the son of philanthropists Fleamont and Euphemia Potter and if his music career doesn’t work out, his inheritance already makes him into a very eligible bachelor. My sources tell me he’s still single, so the game is on! May the best lady win.

But no worries, there are enough men to go around! The three other members are just as attractive. You might recognize Sirius Black from his short career in modeling. He posed for several pieces for Walburga Black’s line when he was a child, but we all know about his dramatic falling out with his family since. ( Black heir disowned? ) It’s a shame he won’t model anymore, because I don’t get tired of looking at him. And his mysterious troubled past only adds to the charm!

The other members, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, while more discreet, are just as handsome. There’s less drama surrounding their names… for now! I’ll be on the lookout!

Sirius Black @siriuslypretty

@prongspotter @notromulus @scabbers lol who would ever think James is attractive?

puddifootweekly.co.uk

Remus Lupin @notromulus

@siriuslypretty @scabbers @prongspotter you’re just jealous cause you weren’t called eligible

Sirius Black @siriuslypretty

@notromulus @prongspotter @scabbers idc I have bad boy charm

Peter Pettigrew @scabbers

@siriuslypretty @notromulus @prongspotter lmao I’m just imagining all the ladies fighting for james

Sirius Black @siriuslypretty

@prongspotter @notromulus @scabbers lol like that would ever happen

James F. Potter @prongspotter

@siriuslypretty @notromulus @scabbers I want a solo career

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The Potter heir not so eligible anymore?

Rita Skeeter for Puddifoot Weekly

Pictures of James Potter and a mysterious redhead holding hands at a bus stop had all of internet screaming last night. Twitter user @bathildabagsht posted a picture yesterday afternoon and the band’s fanbase went crazy for it. For all the picture’s blurriness, any fan of the Marauders would recognize James Potter’s signature messy black hair. Oh how I wish I could run my hands through these locks! The woman’s identity is still unknown but you know me, keeping a secret is basically asking me to uncover it!

---

Euphemia Potter @euphemiapotter

Immensely proud of our son @siriuslypretty for his speech at the #pottergala last night! We love you!

The Marauders speak up about homophobia

The Quibbler

Last week, the Potter foundation held its annual fundraising gala, and this year’s goal was to support LGBTQ+ shelters. The presence of the Marauders was no surprise for anyone, since James Potter is the band’s lead vocalist and guitar player. The band arrived on the stage unannounced and performed a few songs, to the crowd’s delight. The biggest surprise, however, came after their set. Piano player Sirius Black remained on stage to hold a speech about his own experience with homophobia. Rumours surrounding his sexuality had first surfaced several years ago when his family publicly disowned him, but neither party had commented on it. In a moving speech, Sirius finally put an end to the gossip and came out as gay. He opened up about his difficult childhood and thanked the Potters for taking him in. But rather than detailing everything he said, I would rather you see it for yourself. ( Sirius Black’s speech at the 2019 Potter gala ) His way with words could bring anyone to tears and it’s no wonder that he writes most of the Marauders ’ song lyrics. Congratulations, Sirius!

Severus Snape @halfbloodprince

never been a fan of the potter foundation or the marauders but @siriusly ‘s speech last night was disgusting. no wonder the blacks threw him out

Peter Pettigrew @scabbers

@halfbloodprince U R disgusting

Remus Lupin @notromulus

@halfbloodprince wow thanks for voicing your opinion on the subject, it really matters to us

James Potter @prongspotter

@halfbloodprince his speech was better than your entire existence

Severus Snape @halfbloodprince

@notromulus @prongspotter voicing my opinion is my right

Lily Evans @flowerevans

@halfbloodprince you can use your right to stfu sev

James F. Potter @prongspotter

@flowerevans how are you so perfect?

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James Potter’s girlfriend no longer a mystery

Rita Skeeter for Puddifoot Weekly

Remember when the internet went crazy for a picture of our beloved James with a mysterious woman on a bus? Well she’s no longer a mystery! IfJames Potter’s recent tweet left you with any doubt about his relationship with Lily Evans aka @flowerevans, yesterday’s pics will clear it up. The two were seen at upcoming photographer Dorcas Meadowes’ gallery opening and looked pretty cosy. The two left the event hand in hand and kissed just outside the venue. What a lucky girl!

But who is this Lily Evans? There’s not much about her on the internet but digging through her twitter will tell you that she’s part Irish and a chemist, so I guess our James has a thing for intellectuals. They’ve been seen on the bus several times after the first pics so they probably took the same route. Wait, what if she took that bus on purpose until she met him? Could she be a stalker? Guess I’ll just have to find out!

James F. Potter @prongspotter

@flowerevans omg quit stalking me

puddifootweekly.co.uk

Lily Evans @flowerevans

@prongspotter you’re an idiot

James F. Potter @prongspotter

@flowerevans maybe but i’m your idiot <3 <3

Peter Pettigrew @scabbers

@prongspotter @flowerevans pls stop

Sirius Black @siriuslypretty

@prongspotter @flowerevans so does that mean I’m now the most eligible potter heir?

Remus Lupin @notromulus

@siriusblack you sure about that?

Sirius Black @siriuslypretty

@notromulus ask me again tonight ;)