#on censorship

[southernwolf16]

Been entertaining myself by trawling through the Shen Jiu/Original Shen Qingqiu tag on AO3. Started reading fics from the oldest to the latest. So far, I've reached fics that were last updated or written in 2023.

One of the fics I encountered was peppered with the words "fuck" and "shit". That's just in the first chapter.

I've got no problems with curse words in fics. You know what made me click the Back button?

The curse words were written as "f*ck" and "sh*t".

And one of the characters was saying "fuck" over and over, but it's written as "f*ck".

Authors, please, I beg of you, don't censor curse words or terms you deem sensitive . It ruins the reading experience. AO3 will not delete your fics or ban you if you write out words such as "slut", "fuck", "shit", "kill" or "rape". How can you convince your readers on why these words should be on your fic if you can't even get yourself to write them as they are?

[meerawrites]

Censorship: Philosophical Thought and Modern Examples

"If any opinion is compelled to silence, that opinion may, for aught we can certainly know, be true. To deny this is to assume our infallibility." John Stuart Mill (On Liberty, Page 50).

[colescorner]

Reading Wrap Up: June-August 2024

Hello out there! I've been very inconsistent about posting regularly, I am gonna be working on that to try to make a schedule to have regularly scheduled content for you guys...anyway, I'm gonna share what I've read the last couple months! My wrap ups may contain SPOILERS so read at your own risk.

June

Source: Goodreads

Title: The Last Hours: Chain of Thorns Author: Cassandra Clare Genre(s): Fantasy, YA, Fiction Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

For anyone that's seen any of my book reviews or bookish posts before knows Cassandra Clare is my favorite author! She is responsible for turning me into the reader I am! So, it's only natural that I start with one of her books...Chain of Thorns. This is the final book in The Last Hours trilogy which is a follow up to her earlier trilogy The Infernal Devices. We follow James and Cordelia and the merry thieves as they must save London from a demon invasion all while trying to mend their friendship with one another.

One of the things I always enjoy with Clare's books are the ensemble of characters we meet. Each character is unique, distinct in their voice and serve a purpose to carry the story forward. Some of my favorite characters that I have really connected with are Thomas Lightwood and Alister Carstairs. Their pairing seemed so unlikely at first, but throughout the course the book, we see how their relationship develops. Thomas is very endearing and likable and Alister is the polar opposite, which is why their pairing was an interesting surprise! I became invested in them and what would become of them as this trilogy came to a close.

I am a sucker for a good romance and one of my favorite tropes is forbidden lovers and Clare is a master of this trope. This trope is displayed in James and Cordelia as well as Alister Carstairs and Thomas Lightwood. Clare's characters are inevitably human so they're flawed as we all are which makes the tension between James and Cordelia, and Alister and Thomas all the more palpable. Each couple keeps each other at a distance for their own reasons and as the story progresses, you cannot help but to root for each respective couple to end up together! James and Cordelia are kept apart over the course the series even though it is evident that they love each other.

Even though Clare's plot can be intricate in each novel, I find it easy to slip into this world she has created. I have been reading her books since 2010 so I am very familiar with her writing style. I still think her books are approachable to those who might be new to the fantasy genre.

I will say it did take me a little bit to get back into this world, but once I did, I was able to leave reality and travel to Edwardian London. It was good to be back in a familiar setting. I did throughly enjoy reading this book, it has an enjoyable plot, diverse characters, good pacing and a satisfying conclusion.

If you've never read any of Clare's shadowhunter books before, I recommend reading them in publication order.

July

Source: Goodreads

Title: On Cenorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the U.S. Author: James LaRue Genre(s): Nonfiction, Politics, Books About Books, Social Justice Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing

Recently, I've been wanting to read books about censorship, both in general but also specifically surrounding books banning which seems to been on rise for the last few years now. This book is written by a librarian with 25+ years of experience in the industry. He has worked tirelessly to defend the freedom of people having access to books of all genres and topics.

Throughout this book, LaRue goes in depth about the adverse effects that banning books can have not just in small community but on a much broader scale. LaRue makes the point that libraries are not just for one person or type of person but that it is a community space. And as such, patrons should be able to have the freedom and access to all types of books, even ones that could be classified as controversial. He also explores the process of what happens when a book at the library is challenged, which I could not get enough of!

If anyone enjoys books about censorship and books, then do yourself a favor and read this one! I devoured it and I loved it, I found it so enlightening and lifted my spirits to know there are people who, in my opinion are true patriots of this county by standing up for our intellectual freedom to read what we want!

Source: Goodreads

Title: Book Lovers Author: Emily Henry Genre(s): Fiction, Contemporary, Romance Publisher: Berkley

Because of my love for reading, I enjoy reading books about books. This is my first Emily Henry book, at lot of my bookish friends have recommended her to me and after reading this, I can safely say that I want to read her other works as well! I am a hopeless romantic and I find I love a good romance read!

Even from just reading the synopsis, I had a good feeling about this book and my instinct was right! This book follows Nora, a literary agent in New York and is known as a "shark" to many of her colleagues and Charlie who is a book editor. Nora knows Charlie and is not fond of him at all. Nora's sister, Libby invites her on trip to Sunshine Falls, a setting from a popular author, whom is Nora's biggest client, for a girls trip The twist is that Libby has made a list of popular bookish tropes that Nora has to try and accomplish before their trip comes to an end. Nora reluctantly goes only to discover that Charlie is also in Sunshine falls because he grew up there! Nora is pretty much pissed that Charlie of all the places in the world, had to come here while she is on her trip with her sister.

One of the tropes I've realized I enjoy is enemies to lovers. I love the main characters in this story, I love how Nora is a complicated character, it makes her character development all the more gratifying as the story progresses. Charlie is equally as complicated as Nora, both of them are sort of at odds with one another, throughout the course o the book but they eventually develop feelings for one another.

It was easy for me to slip into the world that Henry creates, her characters feel real, tangible, making the reader become invested to keep turning the page to figure out what is to become of Nora and Charlie, will they get together at the end or will Nora keep him at a distance like she has with everyone else?

I'm not gonna lie, I became extremely invested in this story and there were points where I cried and laughed and experienced a whole range of emotions. I completely fell in love with Nora and Charlie and their story.

Source: Goodreads

Title: Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times Author: Azar Nafisi Genre(s): Nonfiction, books about books, Essays, Politics Publisher: Dey Street Books

I've been making more of an effort to read books from other genres this year, specifically nonfiction and most of the books I've read so far this year from that genre have been pretty good! I'm continuing reading about censorship and I found this one at my local bookshop.

This book is a collection of letters the author wrote to her late father. Each letter has the author informing her deceased father about the current state of the world while also making connections through the many critical authors that influenced her throughout her life. The letters also make the point of why literature is important in a true democracy.

What was truly astounding about the book was the parallels she made between the United States and Islamic Republic of Iran, where she grew up. I was astonished to say the least when I realized how many parallels there are. It was very thought-provoking and I annotated the crap out of it!

If anyone enjoys books about books and censorship, I would highly recommend giving this book a read!

Source: Goodreads

Title: The Song of Achilles Author: Madeline Miller Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Romance Publisher: Ecco

If anyone has seen the books I've reviewed or talked about before, then you know I love me some Greek Mythology! This is the first book I've read my Madeline Miller and I must say I was very impressed and already have her other novel Circe and novella Galatea (which I've read already). This is a retelling of legend of Achilles and his companion Patroclus, whom I've never heard of before. Once I settled in, I got lost in the world that Madeline Miller brought to life.

Achilles is a demi-god born from a sea nymph, he is destined to become the greatest hero in the land and lead his people to victory against the army of Troy. Patroclus was from another kingdom who got banished when he killed a boy in his youth. Patroclus was banished to the kingdom where Achilles was they were both boys. Patroclus befriend Achilles and eventually became his companion. Patroclus accompanies Achilles on his quest to become this great champion. The bond they create over the course of their journey is one of friendship, brotherhood, and love.

You cannot help but become invested in the story of Achilles and Patroclus and continue to turn the pages to see how everything will play out. The ending was bittersweet, part of me wishes it would have ended differently but another part of me is glad it ended the way it did because it has a humanity to it.

[tshifty]

oh my god...

so the first screenshot is trying to look this up on tiktok normally, "donald trump rigged election" and it says that search violates community guidelines.

the second screenshot is looking up the same exact thing, but with a (australian) vpn on. canadian vpn didn't fix it fyi.

THIS is exactly the type of censorship to be looking out for on tiktok. this actually is crazy.

[leam1983]

Someone should challenge one of her own favourites, for the sake of irony.

"Yeah, that one book you keep recommending to everyone as being Actually Wholesome? We struck it from our records; it's actually so boring it's a public nuisance in printed form. People might as well read tax records for fun or eat paint chips."

Censorship Georg

[wisegirl25]

The “That’s immoral you shouldn’t write that, we need to get that taken down” discourse on tiktok right now is PISSING ME OFFF

Wdym you want censorship for a literal ARCHIVE are you fucking stupid

Ao3 was literally founded to preserve works that were largely getting taken down due to censorship

Censorship is the opposite of what Archive of Our Own stands for

The TAGS and WARNINGS are there for a REASON. Use them and stop complaining

The universal rule—don’t like, don’t read

It’s THAT simple

[mapofyourstars]

Magneto was Right, X-Men: The Last Stand

[srldesigns6277]

Elon Musk's N*zi Salute at the Trump Inauguration Rally. The US government will attempt to censor this or shift your perception of it.

You Saw, What You Saw.

[sotomato06]

As of Jan 21st, 2025, a full copy of the constitution is no longer available on whitehouse.gov. I feel like this is a good time to remind everyone that the biggest threat to authoritarianism and facism is a well educated and informed population. Inform yourself and fight.

a copy of the document can still be found on the archives website. I think now is probably a good time to read it if you haven't and download it, incase it is erased from here as well.

https://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/constitution.pdf

[magical-grrrl-mavis]

Twitch is gonna start kinda censoring queer people and it would be really helpful if you could read the next few sentences and then also go to a link and click the word vote.

They're implementing a new rule where if you discuss "sensitive social issues" at all you have to flag your streams as such, these issues include things like war and political unrest but also any lgbtq topics (once again our existence is political).

Essentially a streamer will have to choose between never ever mentioning anything queer (or even just discussing their own life if they're queer themselves) or flagging every stream with "sensitive social issues" and scaring away 90% of viewers.

If you have a twitch account you can go here and log in and click vote. They do listen. Please vote.

[strawberryraviegutz]

FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT TRUMP DID NOT SAVE TIKTOK!! THIS WAS ALL A STUNT TO MAKE HIM LOOK GOOD!!

PAY ATTENTION TO WHATEVER HAPPENS NEXT!!

[leam1983]

In regards to the added pic: this might seem obvious to most, but seeing as it was placed here, it's proof enough that Purity Culture and self-censoring are still solidly entrenched on here.

The best remedy to both issues remains exposure. Read books - especially books you'd happen to find objectionable. View works of art that don't necessarily align with your own values, and try and see what's being depicted. You're allowed to be disgusted by all sorts of things, of course - but it's important to consider that what might feel gratuitous or blatant to you might actually carry meaning or very specific intent to either the artist themselves, or to some theorists approaching the medium with a critical eye.

[bigfoots-biggest-fan]

So sadly the Slur Song has become too powerful and the shadowy powers that be have joined forces to stop it from charting

On the upside it means a whole panel of professional music industry executives had to sit there and awkwardly listen to the whole song which is hilarious

[ye-olde-tardis]

Because we have to talk in code about this on tiktok, I'm here to help spread some helpful tips to all my American anti-fascists out here who may need it. If you see police car that looks like this, (predominant blue stripe),

This is an ICE car. They are out and about right now hunting down immigrants, legal and illegal.

If you see them- or really, any police car- lurking, scream at the top of your lungs.

"La Migra"

Help save a family.

[bakerstreet-and-beyond]

There seems to be a general malaise on most of Tumblr about TikTok getting banned in the United States.

I understand the problems, "brain rot", whatever but- A government banning a social media app that opened the world for many people is legitimately scary and upsetting. Say what you want but, there are MANY global and local issues that would not have gotten the same traction, recognition, and outreach without TikTok.

And then add to this that Meta/Facebook was one the largest lobbyists working to get TikTok banned... Like- I think folks should be more concerned about the implications of what this means, especially since the ban goes into effect the day before inauguration.