#if you share your email and it is not gmail or something like that you kind of self profile yourself as a kind of person

[turbotrout]

i had a dream i divorced from gmail.... my dreamself has so much ambition

[badlywritingmagazine]

Wanna help a by-and-for transfem journal?

Wanna get involved?

Thank you everyone for your interest so far! If you have a sec, I’ve written a quick post about a few ways you can help. 

Lili Elbe, painted by Szív királynő, serving “journal reader” realness Do you have trans female mates?

Let your girl friends know. Share it amongst your networks. 

Can you read? 

Wonderful. Subscribe to this substack to be notified when an issue is released. 

Can you think?

If you’re a trans woman and you have feelings about something, send it to us. If you’re developing an idea, come chat with us over email (or arrange a phone call) and let’s figure it out together. 

Do you sell books and zines? 

Wonderful. Email me. Stock it. Perfect. I can also send you a poster version of our invitation to submit to print out. 

Have you written?

If you’re a trans woman who writes about things relevant to our lives, send it to me. If it is online and you worry that it won’t stay up forever, it’s affecting your job and life prospects, or that it is a reflection of its time and not 100% wise anymore, send it to me and get it archived. Archiving is part of the goal here. We’re not uncurated, but that doesn’t mean you should shrug and let the internet, time, transmisogyny and linkrot eat your hard work. 

If you’re a trans woman with jobs and obligations and you don’t like having your essay ‘Why dickgirls should commit more assassinations’ or ‘transgender materialism: towards a de/coterminous understanding of post tipping point transmisogyny’ or whatever attached to your name then send it to me and get it re/published under a pseudonym.

If we get a large number of submissions like this we will publish it as a separate supplement, but else it will come as a section within WBM.

Do you know grants?

Rates for unfunded zines and pamphlets suck. We want to pay the women well. Let us know if you know of funds or grants you think we fall under. We’ll be sending off applications. 

Can you help us host a launch party in a major city?

We envision low-cost evening events with discussion, trans women, and piles and piles of essays to talk about. (Can we crash on your couch?) We’re based in the UK, but are happy to come anywhere Ryanair goes where there’s a willing audience. 

Got an idea I don’t have? 

Ultimately, I want to keep this dirt simple. Essays come in, paper goes out. No columns, shite graphics. Couple core editors. Schedules loose enough to spend half the year depressed and still get it out. Stolen printer paper. Something that won’t collapse after two years. Posterity. 

That said, if you have an idea (and maybe if you want to do it), email us. Think you know enough people to get this translated and shipped somewhere else? Can you translate and know of a non-English language transfeminist text that’s not got much attention in the anglosphere? Maybe we can submit an application for a grant and distribute your translation? Understand distribution better than me? Do you have the wherewithal to manage a personals board? Something else? Anything except an agony aunt section. I’ve called dibs on that one. 

Do you have agonies? Issues? Want bad advice?

Write to the agony aunt. writingbadlymag snail symbol gmail dot com.

Do you have something to say which won't make a whole essay but is still worth saying?

Write a letter to the editor. Same email.

Addendum: Can you help us set up a website?

Websites we think are beautiful are dirt simple. Low-tech Magazine has a beautiful low-energy website. Filmmaker Margot McEwan has a lovely fitting website. Any thoughts or suggestions should be sent to the same email.

(update: we're all set now! Check out badly.press!)

See a good stack cutter?

If you see a cheap paper stack cutter for cheap, let me know. :)

Thanks all!

Forthcoming posts: information for writers, extracts from the issue.

[nova-dracomon]

My Gender is [NOT] Human Zine is Now Accepting Submissions!

Xenogender: A gender that cannot be contained by human understandings of gender; more concerned with crafting other methods of gender categorization and hierarchy such as those relating to animals, plants, or other creatures/things.

This zine will be a collection of artwork, writing and more created by alterhumans and nonhumans to express both their species identity, gender, and how they intersect. While this zine will have an xenogender slant, everyone who has something to share about how their species and gender overlap are encouraged to submit pieces! Similarly, if you are currently questioning, you are still welcome to participate. Anonymous submissions are accepted.

What Can I Submit?

Both fiction and nonfiction pieces are accepted. As long as what you have in mind fits the theme, it’ll probably be a-ok. 

Off the top of our head, we’re thinking of:

Essays of your personal experiences

Short stories 

Poetry 

Advice columns

Artwork

Fictional advertisements

Comics 

Mock interviews

This is far from an exhaustive list, we welcome you to think outside the box!

How to Participate

Please email your completed submission to ruffledgryphon(@)gmail(.)com and title the email “My Gender is Not Human Zine Submission.” Also make sure to include the following information in your email:

A name you would like the piece attributed to 

Title of your submission

Any content warnings that you feel are necessary for the piece

Any social media handle or personal website you’d like listed in the contributor section

A logo or icon for the contributor section

**If you would like to stay anonymous please let us know

Members of systems are welcome to submit individually or collectively. Please let us know your preference when it comes to attribution.

Once the deadline has passed, the submissions will be crafted together into a single zine and it will be posted on our itch.io as a free PDF. 

Submissions are due by May 1, 2024.

Our itch.io: https://ruffledgryphon.itch.io/

Submission Guidelines

Each individual may submit up to 3 works to be featured in My Gender is [NOT] Human. Comics and multi-image works count as one piece. Individuals within a system may each submit up to 3 works. All work must be your own! Anyone caught plagiarizing or submitting AI-generated work will be barred from entering My Gender is [NOT] Human and any future zines from us.

Written submissions should not exceed 30 pages and multi-part art entries should not exceed 10 pages. Please keep in mind the zine’s pages will be 8.5x11 and entries will be scaled accordingly to fit that size. We request all art submissions to be sent in either .jpg or .png file formats. 

For stories that use multiple different fonts, we will do our best to preserve the general “feel” of your piece but cannot guarantee we will be able to use the exact fonts or sizes due to restrictions in what fonts we have access to, readability and overarching zine style.

Submissions must fit the thematic criteria of

About the intersection of gender and species identities

If you’re not sure if you count, feel free to reach out to us. However, we will be leaning on the side of “Yes! We’d love to hear from you!”

FAQ

Q: Where will the zine be hosted? What will it cost? A: The zine will be hosted digitally on our itch.io and will be free to download. Our itch.io can be found here: https://ruffledgryphon.itch.io/

Q: Is there a cap on submissions? A: There is none, as long as the file doesn’t start getting too big for our computer we’ll do our best! If there are an unprecedented amount of submissions, we may have to delay the release. In the event that happens, we would communicate that through updates on our tumblr.

Q: Can I update my application after it’s been submitted? A: Yes you may, as long as that is communicated to us before the submission deadline.

Q: Can I rescind my submission? A: Yes you may, as long as that is communicated to us before the submission deadline. This is because once we begin work on the zine, having to remove content mid-way through would throw off the formatting of everything else after. Please take this into account before submitting. 

Q: Will this zine allow NSFW entries? A: No, nothing 18+ will be accepted.

Q: What is your timeline for the project? A: Our submission deadline is May 1, 2024. We are then planning to spend the next month compiling all of the entries. Our goal is to have the zine live by June 1, 2024. If something unforeseen happens and we are unable to make that deadline, we will post an update about it on our tumblr.

Q: I have another question! A: Feel free to reach out to us at our email ruffledgryphon(@)gmail(.)com or here on tumblr  with any other questions you have about the zine.

[doodle-zine]

Doodle Zine!

Hi! I'm Stars ( @ilovedthestars ) and I like making zines.

I would like to invite anyone who is interested to participate in a fun and low-stakes collaborative zine project! We can't quite get the scissors-glue-and-photocopier vibe of a classic zine on Tumblr, but I'm hoping to make something that's as close as we can get over the internet.

There's something so fun and personal about doodles. They mostly exist on paper, and are rarely shown off to other people, but they can be so unique and individual. I always loved swapping doodles in friends' notebooks and having a little something from them in the corner of my homework. That's a vibe I'd like to bring to my little corner of the internet.

So! If you're interested, I would love for you to draw some doodles, take a photo, and send them to me via this form! I will compile the submissions into both a digital zine and a printable version (5.5x4.25" pamphlet format), and share them here on Tumblr when they're finished.

(The form requires a gmail sign-in, but I will not be able to see the email you use. If you don't have a gmail account to use, you can DM me on tumblr or discord to submit)

There is no selection process--I will be including every submission that I feasibly can. I would like to emphasize that this is not an art zine, it's a doodle zine! Here are some examples of what I'm talking about when I say "doodles." The point is to have fun together, and I will not be holding you to any sort of artistic standard, so please don't hold yourself to one.

This form will be accepting submissions for at least two weeks (until July 16th).

I will leave the form open longer if submissions come in slowly. If I get too many submissions for one zine, I will simply make more zines and turn it into a series. If I am absolutely overwhelmed with submissions, we'll see how far I get through them, but I will work approximately in order of submission until I run out of energy. I have no solid timeline beyond that--this is a fun summer project for me, and I'm trying not to turn it into homework. But I'm very excited about making this happen!

The (loose) guidelines for submissions are listed in the form, as well as below the cut, for your convenience. Feel free to follow this tumblr for updates, or send in questions via the askbox. Happy doodling!

Guidelines:

Doodle anything, as messy, scribbly, abstract, or silly as you want! This zine is about little moments of connection, not about artistic quality. Treat your page like the margins of your notebook during a long lecture (or doodle in the margins of your notebook during a long lecture and submit it!)

Your page of doodles will be 4.25 inches wide by 5.5 inches tall, or 1/4 of a sheet of letter-sized paper. Either work at this size or be okay with me cropping to fit the dimensions!

Use whatever drawing tools you like, but know that light pencil might not show up well.

Lined paper is fine. So is paper with stuff printed or written on it that you have doodled over/around (as long as there are no identifying/sensitive details, like the name of a school or workplace).

Sign your page somewhere with whatever name or username you're comfortable with! Or indicate below that you chose to submit anonymously.

Take a photo! It doesn't have to be a great photo, but a decent photo will make it easier for me to edit. Try to have brightish light, no direct shadows on the paper, and a mostly straight-on angle. Leave the edges of the paper within the photo, no need to crop. I'll take care of the rest!

If there are any issues with your submission (like a photo I can't use) I will contact you and give you the chance to resubmit, so no worries.

Most importantly, have fun :)

[writing-nothing-but-spilled-ink]

Anyways this thought came to my head now I'm obligated to share

This is an au where Selina Kyle and Bruce actually get married and are in the process of like sharing a life together

Anyways this is a thing I think would be funny if it happened

Bruce is just excited to tell his friend the good news but his friend isn't exactly thrilled it's 2 am and while Gotham never sleeps Harvey dent aka two face is fucking horrified by the. Text he just received from fucking Bruce Wayne, how he got his number he doesn't fucking know the text in question

JUST GOT MARRIED!!!! 🥳🍾🍻🎉 Also totally off topic but I did not sign a prenup btw any idea of what my shares are Selina is asked for some so I gave her some but I don't actually know what they are

Two face just immediately starts blowing up Bruce's phone trying to get that man to answer is a fucking nightmare especially whenever he gets a new partner to spend time with it's like he can't see behind the pretty girl in front of him, he may be the world's greatest detective but when it comes to romantic partners he's the world's biggest idiot especially when he's in love

Finally two face starts falling Bruce and when he finally does answer he's on speaker with Selina in the room

"Bruce for the love of God tell me you had her sign a goddamn prenup, did you even discuss custody arrangements, HOW AND WHY ARE YOU GIVING HER YOUR SHARES WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT IT IS THAT YOU HAVE TELL ME THAT THIS IS A JOKE".

Bruce: I think your jealous of what I have with Selina, I trust her completely there's no need for a prenup, as for the kids they won't be a problem, and that's precisely why I texted you afterall you were one of my closest advisors for years also I thought you'd be happy for me, ya know it's not my fault yo-"

Two face: BRUCE I AM NOT JEALOUS I AM CONCERNED SELINA IS INFAMOUS FOR BEING INTERESTED IN HER OWN POCKETS AND ANYTHING SHINY, AND NEED I REMIND YOU THAT WE AREN'T FRIENDS WE HAVENT BEEN FRIENDS FOR YEARS IDK IF YOUR DRUNK OR STUPID BUT KNOWING YOU ITS PROBABLY BOTH, YOU NEED TO SEND ME ALL THE PAPERWORK REGARDING YOUR NEW MARRIAGE IMMEDIATELY SO I CAN FIX THIS GODDAMN MESS CAUSE I WILL NOT LISTEN TO YOU CRY AND WHINE WHEN THIS BLOWS UP IN YOUR STUPID ASS FACE DOES ALFRED EVEN ONOW OF YOUR STUPIDITY BECAUSE THIS IS A NEW KIND OF STUPID EVEN FOR YOU WORLDS GREATEST DETECTIVE MY ASS

Bruce merely smiles and says you wouldn't be nearly this worked up if you didn't care I knew you were still in there harv I just wanted the proof that my friend still exists I'd like for you to be my second best man at my wedding also you should come to dinner some time the kids they all miss you, and some of them have started to take an interest in the law you were at the top of your field maybe you could point them in the right direction, as for me and Selina while we did elope it has not get been made official so if you really want me to do all this paperwork you must come over for a family meal Bruce then promptly hangs up leaving Harvey absolutely flabbergasted because wtf just happened and how the fuck, wait did he just get fucking adopted by Bruce Wayne, he's a fucking supervillain and he got roped into attending a family dinner..

A moment later his phone dings and he opens it to see a big list of various foods drinks appetizers and deserts with a text at the bottom that says choose three of your favorites from each category and just dress casual or whatever's most comfortable to you it's only a small family dinner please email Alfred a list of any diet restrictions or food allergies you may have it'll be nice to have you over and don't worry Selina has agreed to play nice I know the two of you haven't always gotten along, his phone lights up again with a Gmail account to Alfred pennyworth two face can't argue so he just sighs exasperated and just RSVPs everything and goes in to see the gotham seamstress for something a bit more fancy for this get together and one extra nice suit for the wedding

[fanhackers]

I interviewed the organizers of the Media Fandom Oral History Project, and they shared about the project and what makes it important! The project collects oral histories (interviews) from fans about their fannish experiences. Oral histories help fans define for ourselves what it means to a fan, and they help preserve our histories for future generations. 

The project needs volunteers! Email oralhistoryfandom (at) gmail (dot) com if you want to get involved. 

The full interview can be found under the cut. 

-Lianne, Fanhackers volunteer

Q: Can you briefly introduce yourself, the project, and its purpose?

Morgan Dawn: I am Morgan Dawn and have been a slash fanfiction fan since the 1990s. I entered fandom during the last years of paper fanfiction and the beginning era of online fandom. 

The Media Fandom Oral History Project’s goal is to capture our history in our own words and with our own voices. The idea came when I was sitting at our kitchen table with my friend Sandy Herrold. We realized that fans talking to other fans in informal settings was the perfect way to showcase our community and our connections. What could be more fannish than talking about and sharing the things we love? We started interviewing fans at conventions, then moved to phone interviews and have finally switched the project into a Do-It-Yourself Mode with fans taking the lead interviewing their friends and choosing what they want to preserve.

The recordings are submitted to the University of Iowa's oral history collection and are available online. We are hoping to provide transcripts for all of the interviews. The University of Iowa has one of the world's largest fanfiction fanzine collections. You can see the list of interviews at Fanlore, one of the OTW’s projects. 

Franzeska Dickson: I am Franzeska Dickson and have also been a slash fan since the 90s. In my case, I started as a 13-year-old screaming about Scully on alt.tv.x-files during the first season. (I was a NoRomo, as I recall, mostly because I thought Mulder wasn't nearly good enough for her.) I remember being floored when I was told about fanfic. I have no memory of being told that slash existed. I guess it didn't seem like a big deal. I spent the late 90s and early 00s in anime fandom before swinging back to oldschool Media Fandom and later to other Asian fandoms.

I ran into Morgan at a con and informed her that her recording plans were all wrong and she needed the type of voice recorder that linguists use in the field… I ended up with the recorder and the bulk of the early interviewing work.

Q: Speaking as if to someone unfamiliar with oral history and your project, why is the Media Fandom Oral History Project important?

MD: The recordings allow us to speak directly to future generations of fans and control the discussion of what it means to be a ‘fan.’ By having fans talk to other fans we bypass the dominant narrative of how fans interact with the TV, movies, books and comics. It is also an opportunity for marginalized members of our community to talk about their experiences. There has been much scholarship surrounding live action and anime fandoms. Some of it has been done by academics who are fans themselves and it has been wonderful to see the growth of Fandom Studies. But oral history offers every fan the ability to use their own words to talk about the things they remember and what matters to them.

FD: The early zine generation is rapidly dropping dead, and even when they aren't, I'm always running into younger fans trying to do research who have zero clue who's still alive or where to find them. If we wait for people to do their secondary academic research, it will be too late. Primary sources now or we won't have them!

The scope of fans who are interested in fandom history is much wider than the people who can make the right connections to talk to someone older. It's particularly true for early zines, but it's even true for something like Livejournal: I could rustle up thirty people in five minutes who'd be able to speak cogently on that fandom history. A lot of would-be history researchers currently in undergrad would not. For the future academics, the meta writers, or merely our curious fellow fans, it behooves us to record our history in our own words.

Q: What has the Media Fandom Oral History Project accomplished so far?

MD: We have completed 57 interviews. The first few years we went to in-person conventions and used a digital recorder to interview anyone who was interested. In 2017, a graduate student named Megan Genovese obtained funding and did 24 interviews over the phone in a single summer. During the pandemic, we moved into a DIY (do it yourself) phase - instead of a single person doing the interviewing, we now invite fans to contact their friends and spend an hour chatting about their fandom history. They can use their smartphones, Zoom/video conference recording or reserve a time slot on our international audio conference system. 

We have recorded the history of some of the earliest slash writers, publishers and artists. We have preserved the memories of the first fan who created the first fanvid using a slide project and cassette audio tape. We have heard from fans who organized conventions and started letter writing campaigns to save shows. The interviews include filk singers, fans whose passion is meta, and fans who created and ran some of the first fiction archives. These fans are creators, organizers, supporters, and devotees and have so many stories to tell.

Q: In what ways do you hope the project will grow in the coming years? Or, what are your hopes for the project's future?

MD: We’re a small project and it is difficult to scale with our current resources. By shifting to the DIY phase we’re hoping to encourage fans to take the reins of their fandom history and never stop telling their personal fannish stories. The DIY project also allows fandom communities to leverage off our existing “infrastructure” - we can offer permission forms, an international recording platform (if needed), and a place to archive the interviews.

FD: All fandom history resources suffer from a strong predilection for the researcher's friends or their part of fandom to be the main focus. I hope people from very different parts of fandom will interview their friends about areas other people haven't found important or accessible enough to record.

Q: What help is needed, and how can people get involved?

MD: We need 2 intake coordinators to answer questions, e-mail and collect permission forms (Participants must sign a permission form allowing their recordings to be archived at the University of Iowa). We also need help with outreach to communities that may not be aware of the project - anime, BL fans, cosplayers, filkers, fans in other countries. This is not just a historical project looking backwards. We want to capture our community as it is today and hear from fans whose experiences differ. The central focus has not changed - fans participating in transformative fandom - reading, writing, creating fanfiction, fanvids, podfic, art, managing discord communities. But it all starts with intake coordinators who can keep track of participants and follow up to get the recordings. Each oral history also has a written transcription, as we want this project to be as accessible to as many people as possible. We’ve tried some automated transcription services, and the results are very uneven. This means there’s another opportunity for volunteers, people to listen to the recordings and to help transcribe the contents. 

Q: Is there anything else you'd like people to know about the Media Fandom Oral History Project?

MD: It's a way for fans to be heard. They can describe their experiences on their own terms, in their own words, and take back some of the power of storytelling, rather than having others tell their stories for them.

It's a way to help preserve and honor fan experiences and fan history.

Envision you and your friends, talking about the things you love, your community, and what they mean to you, and describing and preserving these things for history. 

Plus, it's really fun!

FD: If you don't want 'fandom history' to mean just one kind of fandom history, speak up while you can, whether that's here or in essays or in your own projects!

[queenendless]

🔞✨️💕OPEN COMMISSIONS FOR NSFW SHORT SMUT ✨️ 💕 🔞

Okay everyone.

I NEED COMMISSIONS.

7 MONTHS WITHOUT THEM … it hurts.

Especially NOW because my bank accounts total around $35 left cause of monthly fees left so they're close to shutting down.

And just looking for full time employment for college dropouts with physical disability and no work experience is giving me anxiety and headaches all over again.

Honestly at this point I should start a Patreon for my writing. Maybe you could leave me suggestions, advice, and sites that don't charge you if I plan on setting up something for freelancing art and writing wise. Like merch. Prints. Ergo how to supply myself cause I'm very poor as fuck tbh irl.

ANYWAY!

I'm offering to write SHORT SMUT pieces!

100 words for $5.00 USD

200 words for $10.00 USD

*$5.00 USD added for every 100 words — I WILL WILLINGLY WRITE UP TO 1K WORDS AT MOST*

You can privately message me here on tumblr to brainstorm and work out said commissions.

*I ONLY ACCEPT PAYMENT THROUGH CASHAPP cause PayPal didn't work out and Cashapp don't take fees from payments.

*I ALSO ONLY ACCEPT PAYMENT UP FRONT BEFORE WORKING ON SAID COMMISSIONS.

I WILL use Google Docs to write said commissions.

I will email you your finalized commissions through Gmail/email and I will ONLY post your commissions on my tumblr blogs and my other sites like Wattpad and Quotev if you give me permission to.

SHOWS I WILL WRITE FOR:

Code Geass

Death Note

Yugioh DM

My Hero Academia

Jujutsu Kaisen

Persona 3, 4, and 5

Tokyo Revengers

Demon Slayer

Twisted Wonderland

Ben 10

I WILL WRITE ABOUT:

Character(s) x Reader, Character x Character, Character x OC

Romance/fluff

Angst

Hurt/comfort

AUs/what ifs/Canon divergence/etc.

BDSM (just nothing too extreme; depends on your request).

Polyamory/harem/GROUP BANG ⤵️

Crack/what if crossovers between two or more of the shows I've chosen to write for for this deal.

I WILL NOT WRITE ABOUT:

Rape/Non Con/SA

Incest

Beastiality

Murder/DEATH

ANY EXTREME TOPICS ALONG THOSE LINES!

.

.

.

Honestly I hope I get commissioned much more than ever before.

Cause if not then I don't know where to go from there.

So if you're interested or know people that do, then please spread the word. Reblog, like, comment, share.

I'll let those on my wattpad, quotev, and twitter know.

I 🙏 that things work out.

[tealin]

McMurdo Internet

Internet service is supplied to Antarctica via a geostationary satellite. This far south, the satellite is only a few degrees above the horizon, and unfortunately for McMurdo, it's behind Mt Erebus. So the signal is beamed to a receiver on Black Island, about 20 miles away to the southwest, and bounced over to the sheltered alcove at the end of the Hut Point Peninsula where McMurdo sits.

The Chalet, administrative hub, with Black Island in the distance

The Black Island telecommunications infrastructure was installed in the 1980s, long before the internet we know and love today. It was upgraded in 2010 to allow more data transfer, mainly realtime weather data to feed into global forecast models. For this reason, it's probably the only place I've ever been where upload speed is remarkably faster than download speed – 60Mbps for outbound traffic, but only 20Mbps for inbound. Most regular internet use is receiving, not sending, so that's an entire base running on a connection that's only marginally faster than the average American smartphone. As you can imagine, this is somewhat limiting.

The limits to one's internet access actually begin before one even reaches the Ice. At the orientation in Christchurch, one is directed to a URL from which one must download and install a security programme from the U.S. government. It may feel like a hippie commune full of nerds, but McMurdo is an installation of the American state, and as such its computer network is a target of whatever disgruntled conspiracy theorist decides to hack The Man on any given day. Computers that are allowed onto this network (such as the one on which I am typing right now) have to have an approved firewall and antivirus service installed, then this extra programme on top of them. I am not sure what it does. For all I know the CIA is spying on me even now. (Hi, guys!) But you need to install it to get on the McMurdo Internet, such as it is, so I did.

To be honest, I was rather looking forward to a month cut off entirely from the hyperconnected world, so I was a tiny bit disappointed that quite a lot of day-to-day communication is done by email, and I would need to be on my computer a fair bit to get it. Had I known just how important email would be, I'd have installed an email client that actually downloads one's messages instead of just fetching them; as it was, the cycle of loading an email and sending the reply, even in Gmail's "HTML for slow connections" mode, took about five minutes, not counting the time it took to write. Tending one's email was a serious time commitment; sometimes I felt like I was spending more time on the computer in Antarctica than I did at home.

Crary scientists waiting, and waiting, and waiting

In a way, though, I was lucky, because I was technically a scientist and therefore had access to the one building on base with WiFi, the Crary Lab. And don't think you can just waltz into Crary with your laptop and poach the WiFi – in order to access it at all, you have to get set up by Crary IT with your own personal WiFi login. If you do not have Crary access, your portal to the Internet is one of a handful of ethernet cables in each of the dorm common rooms, or some public terminals in the main building. You can hop on, download your emails, maybe check the news or Google something you needed to look up, and then leave it for someone else. When most online time sinks are either blocked or too heavy to load, it’s amazing how little internet time you actually turn out to need.

Things that we have come to take for granted in The World are not a part of McMurdo life. Social media is pretty much out – the main platforms are bandwidth hogs even before you try to load a video or an animated GIF. There is no sharing of YouTube links, and no Netflix and chill. Someone was once sent home mid-season for trying to download a movie. Video calls with family and friends? Forget it. People do occasionally do video calls from Antarctica, often to media outlets or schools, but these have to be booked in advance so as to have the requisite bandwidth reserved. Jumping on FaceTime does not happen – not least because handheld devices have to be in airplane mode at all times for security reasons. Your phone might be secure enough for your internet banking, but not for US government internet!

It is, unavoidably, still a digital environment, it just gets by largely without internet access. Nearly everyone has an external hard drive, mostly for media that they've brought down to fill their off hours. If you want to share files you just swap hard drives, or hand over a memory stick. When the Antarctic Heritage Trust wanted some book material from me, I dropped it onto an SD card and ran it over to Scott Base on foot – a droll juxtaposition of high- and low-tech, not to mention a good excuse for a hike over The Gap on a beautiful day. It took half an hour, but was still faster than emailing it.

There is also a McMurdo Intranet, which includes a server for file sharing. Emailing someone your photos will take ages, but popping them into a folder on the I: drive and sending them a note to say you've done so (or, better yet, phoning them, or poking your head into their office) is much more efficient. To conserve space, this informal server partition is wiped every week, so you have to be quick about it, but it's an effective workaround, and also a good way to get relatively heavy resources to a large number of people in one go.

The telecommunications centre on Black Island is mostly automated, but like anything – perhaps more than some things, given the conditions – it needs to be maintained. There is a small hut out there for an equally small team of electricians and IT engineers; Black Island duty attracts the sort of person who might have been a lighthouse keeper back in the day.

Towards the end of my time on the Ice there was a spell where they needed to shut off the connection overnight, to do some necessary work. Given that most people's workdays extended at least to the shutoff time at 5:30 p.m., this meant essentially no internet for a large portion of the population, and some amusing flyers were posted up to notify everyone of the impending hardship.

Someday, faster, more accessible internet will come to Antarctica.  It's more or less unavoidable, as communications technology improves, and everyone's work – especially the scientists' – depends more and more on having a broadband connection at all times.  It will make a lot of things more convenient, and will make the long separation from friends and family much easier.  But I'm pretty sure that many more people will mourn the upgrade than celebrate it.  One can, theoretically, curtail one's internet use whenever one likes, but even before the pandemic it was almost impossible to live this way with the demands of modern life: I know from personal experience that opting out of Facebook alone can have a real detrimental effect on relationships, even with people one sees in the flesh fairly regularly, simply because everyone assumes that is how everyone else communicates.  Being in a community where no one has access to assumed channels, and is more or less cut off from the rest of the world in a pocket universe of its own, levels the playing field and brings a certain unity.  The planned (and, unarguably, necessary) updating of the physical infrastructure of McMurdo will wipe out a lot of the improvised, make-do-and-mend character of the place; how much would free and easy access to the online world change it in a less tangible way?

I'm sure the genuine Antarctic old-timers would shake their heads at the phone and email connections we have now, and say that no, this has already ruined Antarctica.  It's not Antarctica unless your only link to the outside world is a dodgy radio.  It's not Antarctica unless you only get mail once a year when the relief ship arrives.  Doubtless the shiny new McMurdo will be seen as 'the good old days' by someone, someday, too.  Change may happen slower there than elsewhere, but just like the rust on the tins at Cape Evans, it comes eventually, regardless. 

For my own part, I'm glad I got to see 'old' McMurdo, such as it was, all plywood and cheap '90s prefab.  The update will be much more efficient, and tidy, but yet another generation removed from the raw experience of the old explorers.  My generation is probably the last to remember clearly what life was like before ubiquitous broadband; to some extent, Antarctica is a sort of time capsule of that world, just as the huts are a time capsule of Edwardian frontier life.  I hope they'll find a way to hang on to the positive aspects of that. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to waste an hour mindlessly refreshing Twitter ...

If you'd like to learn more about the Black Island facility, there's a lot of good information (and some photos!) here: https://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/90s/blackisland.html

And this Antarctic Sunarticle goes into greater depth on the 2010 upgrade: https://antarcticsun.usap.gov/features/2114/

[regthomas1728]

Editing/Beta Reading Instructions

Hey Peeps, gonna get the rough paragraph out the way first. I promise I'm not always like this but I've had some experiences and I want to make your experience with a beta reader easier.

I will be available for Editing or Beta Reading as long as you all can follow directions. I refuse to work with incompetence. I understand if a person accidentally messes up, maybe you send me a private message before reading through this blog and now I have an email and a message/ask about reading through your story. As long as you correct yourself by following the instructions below, all will be completely copacetic. 

That's the hard part! OMC! The rest will be easy, I think. Anyway.

GIF by waj13

1.) Make a copy of your document and title it "Regine's Copy - [Title], [Your Name], [Date You NEED edits completed by]

You don't HAVE to provide a date if you don't have one. It will not get your work done faster--I prioritize my health and happiness over your writings, apologies. I'll respond to your email with a round about time I can get the piece to you all barring any unexpected complications.

2.) Send me an email, butter me up. Please—for the sanity of my journal that has to see everything you all do to me!—do not just send "Can you please Beta Read this?" I'll provide an example. The Subject should be "Read my Beta" or something equally silly but including the word "Beta" or "Edit". My gmail is regthomas1728@gmail.com

Make sure to include a summary of your story (NOT an outline, think of it as a marketing strategy. How would you convince me to read your story)

Warnings - I'll provide a link for people to use as a guide but if you know AO3, then I would appreciate if you could use the tagging system.

Attach a copy of your story with proper title (not heading on the document, but the document title itself!)

Tell me what you want me to look out for while reading your story. I will focus on anything I know how to focus on but if you want something specific, you need to tell me as much.

If this comes across as mean, I'm not going to apologize, but also I don't intend it that way. I want to be as direct as possible because I've played this Editing and Beta Reading game before and people weren't easy to work with. I figure making specific instructions will weed out the people who aren't easy to work with. If they refuse to follow the instructions, then they obviously won't follow my advice or suggestions.

Happy writing, thank you for choosing me as an Editor or a Beta Reader, let me know if you're disappointed so I can add you to the list with my parents.

Resources

Beta Reading Responsibly While Preserving the Author's Voice and Intent

Not Confident In Sharing Your Work? Let's talk about letting others edit or peruse your work (How to improve your work--and confidence--before submitting your work for editing or beta reading).

Much Gratitude,

Regine Thomas Tumblr Arse | With (His) Spunk regthomas1728@gmail.com

[bravelysanta]

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR - BRAVELY SECRET SANTA

Link to the form

The boring stuff/Deadlines: 1)  You have until (Sunday) October 20 at 1 AM EST to sign up. I’ll also be posting regular updates so follow bravelysanta at Twitter/Tumblr/Bluesky.

This is a hard deadline. If you miss it, you miss it! Try again next year!

REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST JOIN THE GROUP ON SNEAKY SANTA - the link will show up after you fill out the form.  Email me at fairyglowcharm @ gmail if you forgot to join it.

2) On the afternoon of October 20th, you will receive an email with the name of the person that you’ll be gifting via Sneaky Santa.

I will check-in a couple of times between mid-Nov and early-Dec. Please use these check-ins as opportunities to tell me if you need help!

3) Gifts are due anytime between December 22nd - 29th. If you will not be able to post it during that time, submit/msg me beforehand and I’ll post it for you.

4) If you think you may not meet the deadline, please contact me immediately and no later than December 21st. But please don’t sign up if you know your availability will be iffy in the first place.

5) If signing up as a pinch-hitter, those will be due by Jan 1st.

Guidelines:

1) If you must cancel your application, please notify me immediately either via email (fairyglowcharm @ gmail) or the bravelysanta accounts, preferably before assignments are chosen on Oct 22. If you find you cannot meet the gifting deadline and need an extension, please also notify me before Dec 21st. 

2) When filling out your name on the Sneaky Santa website, please include your social media handle (either Tumblr or Twitter/Bluesky), so your Santa knows how to @ you. Example - Koma (komatsujo). 

3) Remember that you are gifting a present to someone, and be prepared to spend at least some time on it. No one likes a last-minute gift!

4) Both fanart and fanfic are accepted as submissions. Santees, do not specifically request one or the other.

5) No AI generated art or fanfiction is allowed. The point of this is to create something for someone. Everyone of all talent levels is invited to join, to share the love of Bravely.

6) If you know there is a game, character, or ship that you don't wish to create content about, please indicate that in the last question of the form. I will do my best to exclude pairing you up with someone who is requesting a gift regarding those items, but please understand that I can't make promises if wishlists are not filled out.

7) Please try to complete your wishlists before Oct 20th for these reasons.

8) When creating your wishlists, please do not specifically request fanart or fanfic (example: do not request specifically fanart of the Crystal Crew as kids, instead of requesting something like “I would love to see the Crystal Crew as kids, doing something cute”). However, you should have more than 1 item on your wishlist. Please try to have 3-5 different items so your Santa has some freedom! 

9) Specifically requesting shippy gifts is allowed, but no NSFW material, either in wishlists or presents. This is mostly about smut, but also be mindful with gore and violence.  

10) Your wishlist and present MUST include Bravely themes or characters, such as Bravely Default 1 or 2, Bravely Second, Fairy’s Effect, Brilliant Lights, Praying Brage, etc. With the presence of Bravely characters in Octopath: COTC, Octopath characters + Bravely characters is allowed, though please be mindful of spoilers for the Octopath games. Same applies to other Team Asano games. 

11) Please try to keep your assignments private! Talk about them with friends in DM all you want, but if someone can find out that you’re their Santa on social media, that ruins the surprise!

12) Please tag submissions as #bravelysanta2024 !

13) If there is anything else you would like to specifically avoid during Secret Santa, up to and including a specific person, please indicate as such in the last question. These answers will be private and will never be shared with anyone outside of myself. This includes if you don't want to be matched with me, I'm a people manager, I can take it.

Link to the form is here!

[disgruntledkittenface]

Hello fellow fic writer mutual— I hope you’re hanging in there. 🤍 I’m reaching out bc I’m compiling non-1D reading recs for folks like myself who might be struggling to engage with 1D fics right now. If you’d like to join in, I’d love your recommendations for: Fics from other fandoms and/or original works—especially your own works that fit either of these categories!

You can submit them by: 

Filling out the google form linked HERE—anonymously if you’d like.

Answering this ask with any fics you’d like to share. 

Emailing me at louisandtheaquarian {at} gmail {dot} com.

Please feel free to tag or pass along this ask to fellow writer/reader friends! (And if anyone else has turned to working on original fiction lately—lmk if you would be interested in a future fest of original works. Community and deadlines can be so helpful, haha.)

Sending you so much love. 🫂

hiii I love this idea <3 And thank you for making it easy to submit fics! Once I started opening tabs, I realized I had way more recs than I thought

If you like Schitt's Creek, do yourself a favor and check out these Alexis/Twyla fics by our very own @uhoh-but-yeah-alright

Crystal Clear and Ladies Night Inn series

My friend @queenofquiet17 writes incredible and mostly angsty Grace/Karen fics in the Will & Grace fandom; this is her most recent completed work

Forbidden Thoughts of Youth and Strawberry Gloss

While I was gearing up to write Harry/Louis/Tom Hardy, I found a few Arthur/Eames fics in the Inception fandom and this is my favorite

I've Got Nothing To Do Today But Smile (The Only Living Boy In New York)

I turned to AO3 after the latest season of Selling Sunset and the results did not disappoint; I found a Harry Potter AU!

Faking It

An old friend asked me to look over this Happy Endings AU before I really knew what betaing even was; luckily it didn't even need editing

Secrets and Waffles

I know nothing about hockey, but this AU by @badger-bear left me feral

Tongue Tied

I remember this West Wing AU by @muldxr as being Very Intense!

headlights on dark roads

I once lost an entire workday to this AU of The Office

I Don't Know Where I Belong, I Don't Know Where I Went Wrong

I haven't read a lot of drarry, but this is definitely my favorite

Little Compton Street (One Rainy Night in Soho)

And I would be remiss if I didn't include this classic Folgercest AU (sorry and you're welcome)

A Home for All Seasons

sending you (and everyone out there) love! I think an original work fest is a great idea; we could all use more community these days, especially when trying something new <3

[nonokoko13]

Careful with this style of scam because I think I met one. You see, on 13th December I received a DM of this user asking for a commission.

I asked what they had in mind because I didn't have commissions references or prices but since they dm me I thought "Maybe I can do an exception depending what they want". Their request was quite big (?): full body of their son's dog, coloured, rendered and background — also rendered.

I felt weirded out because they didn't follow me, had liked my art or posts before and when I checked their blog I found it was completely empty. No reblogs, no asks, nothing personal that indicated this blog followed or supported artists. With a generic looking username and pfp on top of it all.

First thought I had was "This reeks of scam". You know, the type of scam that asks you for a comm, saying they give you half of the payment first and the rest after you send the final result, but their bank account doesn't work and you have to send money. I decided to give them the benefit of doubt, although I stated I wouldn't start anything until they paid beforehand the whole payment since that's one of the conditions I would put to anyone asking for a drawing.

I offered to make the whole thing for around 25-50$ and they said they were willing to pay 200$.

Let's be honest, I'm not a famous artist, why would someone who already striked you as odd give SO much money as their first offer? Usually it's the other way around, artists asking high price then the client tries to reach a middle ground or something.

They asked if I use PayPal so I share my paypal.me link; for those wo aren't familiar with it, once you make a Paypal account you can share this link to the person you wish, they enter the link, put the amount they want to pay you, press confirm and the transaction is done. Here's a video explaining how it works:

Then they told me I have to send my email for the payment. This time I didn't reply because I had already saw a scam where — once you send them your email — you receive an email from "Paypal" saying there was a problem and the money the scammer supposedly sent didn't reach your account so they have to send another [insert exact same amount they sent. I'll say 200$] so you have to give them back those extra 200 dollars just to never hear of the money or the client, ending up with 200$ less. You see, the key there is that if the "Paypal" email has @/gmail or @/hotmail instead of paypal.com that's a personal email, not an official company.

Besides, why would I send them a virus if they were who came to me? Believing this was an excuse to get my personal information and avoid delivering the promised payment I ignored them until they messaged me again today insisting on it. Asking them if they tried entering the link they replied this

Anyone who has bought something online before knows they have to use an email account to log in any app to continue with the purchase. Hell, I have shared my address with fanmerch artists for that purpose. How are you going to pay someone refusing to use your paypal, the method you asked them to use? At this point I was sure it was a scammer. I declined their idea, told them to have a nice day and blocked them

If you see this pattern don't waste your time like I did if you smell something is fishy since the first moment (kind of obvious when they say they like your art and they have never interacted with you). My advice is to block once you see any of these 🚩 + insisting that you download another app you don't have for the payment; tell them to share THEIR email to send them an invoice, if they get mad, refuse to share their email or leave you in read then that's it. Trust your instinct when anything gives you bad vibes

[rustbeltjessie]

Hey friends—I, once again, could really really use some $$, and I decided to add a poll for traction cuz that seems to work on other people's posts. Anyway. I'm not in dire dire straits, in that my rent and utility bills are paid for the month, and we currently have food, but I'm basically entirely out of money otherwise. I need to make sure I can put gas in the car (it's almost on empty, and my kids both have doctor and dentist appointments coming up in the next couple weeks), as well as have money for other bills, household goods other than food, and anything else that might come up. My goal right now is $150-$300, but of course more than that would be even more helpful, as it would leave me in a better place heading into March.

Ways you can support me:

I have a Ko-fi, where you can purchase things I made, commission me for a custom collage, or hire me to proofread or line-edit your writing. If you're looking for zines to read, I have many. My main project right now is a year-long zine subscription, where I send you 1-3 mini zines every month. It's never too late to sign up—you can do it month-by-month, a six-month subscription will get you any combination of past and future zines that total up to six months' worth, and if you sign up for the full year at any point you will receive all past and future issues. February's zines, which will be sent out sometime in the next ten days, are going to be one containing a couple excerpts from the novel I'm writing, and another that's a remembrance of an old friend and a favorite band. I also got a pin (badge) maker for my birthday, and I've now put some of my designs up for sale on my Ko-fi.

Speaking of pins: I'm unofficially offering custom pin commissions. I'm not offering the type of service where you can send me your own design and I'll make hundreds of pins from it. What I mean is, for a base fee, you can commission me to design a custom pin for you. The base fee will include one pin made from the custom design. For an extra fee, you can pay for up to 10 more. If you are interested in something like that, please DM me, or email me at coeur(dot)de(dot)fantome(at)gmail(dot)com.

And, as always, if you appreciate the art and writing I share for free on my blog, in my Substack, and elsewhere, you can just tip me—either directly through Tumblr, or via Ko-fi, P*yP*l, or V*nmo.

P.S. If you live outside the US and need help calculating shipping costs, or you want to order something/hire or commission me but you prefer to do it outside Ko-fi, please DM or email me.

Ko-fi: ko-fi(dot)com/rustbeltjessie P*yP*l: coeur(dot)de(dot)fantome(at)gmail(dot)com V*nmo: (at) JessieLynnMcMains

And, as always, reblogging/boosting this post helps, too. 🖤💗

[alwaysalreadyangry]

saw a post the other day full of people complaining about helping older people use computers, about how clueless they can be, how frustrating it is to have to tell them basics like where to click, exactly what to type, how some people just never seem to get it. then an addition was someone who works in a library sharing a story of a ninety-something woman who picked it up instantly. it’s not difficult, this elderly woman said! wow heartwarming.

i’m here to say that plenty of older and disabled and otherwise marginalised people do not know how to use computers and in some cases will find it very difficult if not impossible to learn to use them. for many people it is difficult. it can be insurmountable. we should be fighting for a world where vulnerable people who are not computer literate can use computers with assistance when they want to, but where they do not need to use computers, ever. this is a serious access issue as so much government paperwork is moving to being online only. your frustration at working a job that likely overworks and underpays you to help people use these computers - please think before turning it on the disenfranchised and vulnerable people who rely on you for assistance and resources.

it’s an annoyance for you? then think about why is it that governments habitually move the resources that vulnerable people need to live to online-only when they know as well as you and i do that the digital divide is real. think about how intentionally difficult governments and agencies make it to access forms and paperwork and everything else that is needed to claim such a small amount of money as people currently get when they are out of work and trying to claim benefits, or on allowances for refugees, etc. how much are governments dedicated to taking away people’s dignity and autonomy by swapping to a system that millions of people do not have access to without going into a public library and asking for help, if there’s even anyone there who is able to or allowed to help? i can get people set up with email and find websites for them but im not even allowed to help with sensitive forms - i can only do what i can, you know. i wish it was more.

before i started this job i thought of myself as impatient. i’m not going to tell you any stories in detail because my library patrons didn’t consent to being A Teaching Moment. but i have requests from “difficult” patrons every day. i take a deep breath and if i don’t have a queue, i try to help. i smile and say “don’t worry” when someone is apologising over and over because they were never taught this and they are stressed out and it doesn’t make sense to them. not everyone grew up with neopets and Hotmail. it makes you no better than them if you did.

i’m not perfect but i’m trying. just… think about it, next time you roll your eyes because another old lady doesn’t know how to use gmail, even though you’ve already shown her what to click. ask if your library has thought about seeing up dedicated sessions for helping people use computers if they need assistance (maybe it’ll take some of the work away from you and give you more breathing space). make leaflets telling people where they can go nearby for help with computers - maybe some local charities or non-profits have drop-in sessions. join campaigns for easier access, for letting people who can’t use computers do what they need to without needing to find some way to get online. all of these are more useful in holding solidarity than in just being frustrated that another person in their seventies, eighties, nineties, struggles to use a computer.

a couple more notes of things that i think about a lot when it comes to computer access at the library that might not occur to people who don’t routinely help people out with basic computer stuff:

2-factor authentication is the devil. i understand the intention behind it and cyber security is important and difficult! but 2-factor authentication in practice locks out and disenfranchises vulnerable people every day, makes them unable to access their emails and everything else on the web that depends on their email, makes them unable to access their data and government portals, and makes them even more vulnerable than governments already conspire to make them. plenty of people just do not understand how 2FA works. it doesn’t matter how many times the google website says : look at your phone and click on this number. or whatever. if somebody else is not there to tell them what to do — if they haven’t recently had to change their phone number, as many vulnerable people might have had to do — they will not be able to do it.

google have recently been selling chromeboxes to public libraries (and schools) cheap. chromeboxes in public libraries are also the devil. on a windows PC loaded with word, lots of people are happy and able to do what they need to do. the problem comes when they have to log in to a google account just to access a fucking word processor. it’s a scandal how many people are locked out of access to something as simple as a word processor unless they have a google or Microsoft account. we are talking people who don’t want email accounts, who just want to type up a letter to send in the post. Every time I ask online for a good alternative I get something extremely tech-y or like fucking online textpad. we just need a good accessible word clone that runs in a web browser like Word XP. It would make a lot much easier. And yet!

[skambigbang]

Artist sign ups close soon!

Artists, you have only one week 4 days left to sign up for the SKAM Reverse Bang 2025!

Have you always wanted to create a piece of art and then read how a writer translates your work into a fic? Then sign up!

How it works: you will create something between now and June 15th. However, by end of February you will need to have enough of your art ready to show to the writers, so they can start writing. It does NOT have to be a finished work! It can be the outline of your painting, the sketch of the embroidery you will make, a diagram of the sculpture you're crafting, a storyboard for the fanvid you're putting together, or all the separate element which will come together into some beautiful moodboards or gifsets. Then you can continue creating, while a writer will write a fic inspired by your art. Ideally, you'll inspire each other during this period to enhance both works.

All ships, all Skamverses, anything goes! And remember: you don't have to be like Sander and deliver dozens of pieces of art of your favourite SKAM character - but you certainly can!

All your questions are answered here. Feel free to contact us here or on social media if anything is unclear, or email us at skambigbang at gmail dot com, or join us on Discord.

But most importantly, click on these links to sign up: for artists, for writers, or for beta readers. The sign ups for artists close on January 15th, so no time like the present! Writers and beta readers have some more time, but why wait? We're looking forward to connect with you.

Feel free to spread the word: reblog, share, paint it in rainbow colours on your face!

Let's celebrate all things SKAM together!

[fluffettis]

hey sorry for using anon mode to discuss about this but ,, i am one of the people that are interested in the major group blog thingy .. !! and i am apologizing for this.

but I am just scared about one thing, when we log into the same account Tumblr will basically show our ip address and personal information.. I just had trauma for being doxxed and my ip address being leaked all over discord before ,, (i am safe now..)

well, I'm asking if the group blog thingy starts, when people log in is it okay if you delete all the gmails that tumblr sents? this might involde some personal problems since I'm scared for other peoples privacy. (especially victims who got doxxed.)

just for safety signs, I am so so so sorry for this ask once again..

- 🧩🎨

Of course, it's not as if i knew what an ip can do honestly nor do I care about it because it is not something I am interested in, but I am fine with deleting the emails, if yiu want ti discuss about the group tho please do send me a dm instead! As I wouldn't really like to discuss this in public as I don't think much people do need to know how the group will work if they are not interested 🫡 + I don't want to share personal stuff of youre while having to reply,,