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nuclear power is impressive until you get up to why. "we use the most precisely engineered machinery ever created to split atoms to release energy" oh yeah how come? "boil water to turn a fan" get the fuck out

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love that we have at least three separate greek works about wars between mice and other species (frogs, weasels, and cats) written in the elevated styles of epic and tragedy. it's like the ancient equivalent of bugs bunny singing opera to me

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Gold pendant necklace with pearls, sapphires, and emeralds, Byzantine, 6th-7th century AD

from Phoenix Ancient Art

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A serious (and seemingly obvious) problem with the implementation of the Online Safety Act is that it requires malicious actors to not exist.

Since the UK govenment in any form hates paying for things, especially things required for their goals, the current situation is that websites have to work out to do age verification themselves. There is no government-approved or provided service for this - it's a free-for-all of third-party verification providers.

Now, some people are pointing out that depending on how these companies handle the data given to them to perform verification, it's possible this data could be stolen or leaked. This is a worrying possibility. This danger is primarily one of passive incompetence, although if your driver's licence gets leaked, you won't be happy either way.

But passive incompetence probably isn't going to hurt anyone before active malice does.

Normalising showing your face or identity documents to random websites is an incredibly stupid thing to do. You know who benefits from this? Actual criminals! Phishing attacks continue to be successful because people will put their banking details into websites that are very much not their banks. And while random websites asking for your banking details is suspicious, the OSA makes it so that random websites asking for your driver's license or passport or other such things will now be expected.

Meaning an enterprising criminal can set up a website, stick a fake age verification pop-up on it, and harvest a whole bunch of things that come in useful for committing identity theft. Or blackmail perhaps.

The overall point here is that in this respect, the Online Safety Act is going to make the internet more dangerous, in a way that should be obvious if you actually think about the potential negative consequences.

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Reading the new checks that might come in due to the Online Safety Act in the UK and this is actually bullshit

[Image Transcript:

And how will I prove my age?

There’s a number of methods a site or app might use to ask you to confirm your age. They might do this check themselves or use another company to do the check. These methods include:

Facial age estimation – you show your face via photo or video, and technology analyses it to estimate your age. 

Open banking – you give permission for the age-check service to securely access information from your bank about whether you are over 18. The age-check service then confirms this with the site or app.

Digital identity services – these include digital identity wallets, which can securely store and share information which proves your age in a digital format.

Credit card age checks – you provide your credit card details and a payment processor checks if the card is valid. As you must be over 18 to obtain a credit card this shows you are over 18.

Email-based age estimation – you provide your email address, and technology analyses other online services where it has been used – such as banking or utility providers - to estimate your age.  

Mobile network operator age checks – you give your permission for an age-check service to confirm whether or not your mobile phone number has age filters applied to it. If there are no restrictions, this confirms you are over 18. 

Photo-ID matching – this is similar to a check when you show a document. For example, you upload an image of a document that shows your face and age, and an image of yourself at the same time – these are compared to confirm if the document is yours.

End Transcript.]

Not only is this such a fucking breach of privacy, but this is going to hurt adults in vulnerable and abusive situations. Some adults don’t have bank accounts or credit cards or even a fucking phone. I’m one of them. I could not give half of this information even if I wanted to. What the fuck is this. Fuck the UK government. This isn’t going to protect kids, this is just going to hurt adults, and I know full well when they say “sites that allow pornography” they’re going to be going after sites that have huge amounts of queer content, like tumblr and Ao3. Queer kids are gonna lose their fucking communities because of this shit. Abuse victims are going to lose online support systems because of this.

I’m genuinely fucked off about this, and worried about whether I’m going to lose every single one of my online friends. Anyone in the UK, please email your MP and sign this petition. It needs to reach 100k signatures to pass through Parliament.

I’m only hoping the backlash will be big enough for them to stop implementing these measures.

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happy friday!

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You see I too often sat in school classes and thought “when am I ever going to need this, I’m never going to be an engineer, I’m never gonna be a scientist, I’m never gonna be a linguist” and then I grew up and it turns out a lot of bigots and cults and scams and grifts hinge their entire business model on you just. Not knowing what a protein is or some shit

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Decorated pages from the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University

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John Cage, A Year From Monday

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john hollander, from powers of thirteen

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watching my classics mutuals post is always a lot of fun because i've seen these people share incredible theses about the ancient mediterranean and i know they have amazing in-depth knowledge about things like obscure 2nd century bc roman politicians and the reception of individual myths throughout history and comparative translation of homeric epic. and then i come on here and see half of them talking about famed 1st century orator and politician marcus tullius cicero like "god i need that pea in me #mypea"

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Today's high schoolers romanticizing 2016 as if there weren't the clown incidents

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!!! Very cool Z, thanks for the tag!

1. How many works on AO3?

19!

2. Total AO3 word count?

246,389! Not as much as you'd think for 19 works. I've been very oneshotty.

3. Top 5 fics by kudos?

in the light of a miracle, me and you - you and me - , the state of his heart, time-stopping thing, and a book of words. Not a single capitalisation amongst them... I should really fix that.

4. What fandoms do you write for?

DPS mainly! Other than that, I used to write a couple of DMBJ fics and I've done one fic each for Haikyuu and Qi Hun/Hikaru no Go. Also somewhere very deep in the WIP file I have a crackship Hospital Playlist season 1 fic drafted out, but that's a mini thing.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Pretty much all of them! Love comments. Love love love comments. Love love love love love beautiful commenters.

6. Angstiest ending?

It's a toss-up between he never did get home and Vesuvius. OK actually now that I'm thinking about it, they're both tragedies, but he never did get home might be angstier than Vesuvius because [SPOILERS] yes Todd does Actually Die at the end of Vesuvius but he does get closure in a way! On the other hand, he never did get home has a horrible gaping nothing at the end of it. Ow. (Neil also has an angstier ending in he never did get home because, like, at least in Vesuvius he knows Todd loves him.)

7. Fic with the happiest ending?

This one is hard because almost all of my fics are happy! But either the state of his heart or A Cosmic Sense, although you guys don't know the ending of ACS yet. Oops 🫣

(Actually, probably ACS. Does the state of his heart count as having a happy ending if it's happy all the way through?)

8. Do you get hate?

Not yet! Luckily people are exceedingly lovely on this corner of the Internet. (Not hate, but shoutout to that one person who once bookmarked a very angsty fic of mine about parental death with the note "🤣🤣🤣" because I think about you constantly and hope you're doing well. I would really like to be able to peer inside your brain.)

9. Do you write smut?

Nope! I'm simply not that interested in sex unless it's thematically important to the story, and even then I think it's more compelling to write around it, if that makes sense. (i.e. the morning-after scene in Hymnal, where Todd's bruises reflect the violence he inflicts on others with his bardic powersTM.)

10. Do you write crossovers?

No, and I never will... simply do not vibe with them.

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

Echoing above; I hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No - BUT if you count podficcing as a form of audio-translation, golden-g1rl on AO3 recorded a fantastic one of holy! holy! holy! just recently. It's SO GOOD.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic?

No, and I probably never will. I'm a crotchety old man (<- not even 20) and don't wish to subject anyone else to my very particular writing demands.

14. All time favorite ship?

Anderperry is the big answer given they've stuck around since I was 11, but Pingxie are BIG up there. "Take me home." "He's such a person - he lives in his own world. He doesn't find the need to make things clear." "My life, in exchange for you a decade of innocence and purity." AND THEN HE SPENDS THE DECADE LOSING HIS INNOCENCE AND PURITY TO PROTECT XIAOGE!!!! WHAT THE FUCK. ????????????? I haven't been active in DMBJ fandom for a while but rest assured I still think about them constantly.

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

So many! So so many. Chief of which is probably A Gleam of Light, the fantasy/Tuatha Dé Danann-inspired AU where Todd (son of a textile magnate in 1910s Philadelphia) accidentally falls through a woodland pond while running away from his family, emerges in the world of the fair folk, and is hidden away by fairy prince Neil, eventually becoming a sort of seanchaidhe and joining him on a complicated quest to commit patricide. Other than that... the philosophical playscript bookshop conversations AU and a fairytale-y Anderperry oneshot I keep meaning to get back into. And then like 40 more AUs but we won't talk about those.

16. Writing strengths?

I'd like to think dialogue - especially naturalistic/understated dialogue! Other than that, I like my descriptions too (the more lavish the scene the better they tend to get).

17. Writing weaknesses?

My prose. I repeat certain phrases far too much - it tends to be clumsy and awkward - also sometimes I feel like I tend to give all my characters the same voice. And I can be very heavy-handed with symbolism. But these are all things to be worked on!

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

Very good! I grew up speaking a messy mixtured hybrid of Burmese and English at home, so it definitely appeals to me. Still never worked it into any of my fics... hm.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

This is going ALL the way back to when I was 10, but I vividly remember writing out a couple of paragraphs of Lockwood & Co. fanfiction on my phone notes app, and then immediately deleting it out of shame. :') (At the time I wasn't aware fanfic was a thing either, so I felt, like, ontologically evil for doing this LMFAOOOOO)

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Hymnal To The Year-Turn!!!!!! It's a combination of everything I love, it's indulgent in all the best kind of ways, there's fratricide and bardic powers and poetry... I had so much fun writing it.

No pressure tags: @way-too-indecisive @judasiscarrots + anyone else who wants to!

20 Questions for Fanfic Authors

Thank you so much for the tag @schofielded !! These are such fun questions to read about others and also answer! >:)

1. How many works on ao3?

A whopping 8! Lots of others in progress, of course, but 8 is all I have officially posted (I may have a secret 9 posted elsewhere)

2. Total ao3 word count?

It’s 347,132 despite there only being 8 fics lmao. I am nothing if not longwinded (it’s 355,254 if you count my secret fic haha)

3. Top 5 fics by kudos?

My most popular fic by far is Let Me Wallow in Your Afterglow, followed by To Boil a Wildflower, then Spit the Blood Back, then Static From My Better Sense, and finally I Read You for Some Kind of Poem!!

4. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment, mainly DPS although I always seem to have an IT fic in the works. I’ve also dabbled in Stranger Things and The Batman, and I have some WIPs for various fandoms like The Goldfinch and Bones and All

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes, almost all of them!! I basically don’t respond when the comment is only a sentence long or if I have nothing to contribute, but I love responding to comments (even though I get in my head about it lmao)

6. Angstiest ending?

That title used to belong to That’s Where We Disagree, but I think I Read You for Some Kind of Poem has officially dethroned it lmao. No spoilers for either of them, but I’ve gotten multiple comments saying that they’ve brought people to tears so that’s my proof of angst

7. Fic with the happiest ending?

Hmm I usually like to leave my longer fics open ended, but I think the happiest ending belongs to Let Me Wallow in Your Afterglow, especially with the epilogue I currently have in the works

8. Do you get hate?

The closest thing I’ve gotten to hate have been questionable bookmark notes, specifically one that said it was a waste of their time lmao, so I consider myself lucky on that end

9. Do you write smut?

Weirdly enough, a lot of my irls know about my ao3 account (my fault), so no smut there. (The aforementioned secret fic may be posted on another account for this very reason lmao)

10. Do you write crossovers?

I’ve never had the urge to, so no. All power to the people who do it, but none of the media I’ve been into has made me want to combine them

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

Oh god I hope not; not to my knowledge anyway. However, I feel like I’ve seen content in some fandoms which seem inspired by my fics but never got credited lmao

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I wish, that would be so cool! Unfortunately, my most popular fic is super long so it’d be such a chore to translate haha

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic?

Nope! I’m not opposed to the idea, but I’m also very weird when it comes to collaboration in a creative sense, so who knows?

14. All time favorite ship?

Hmm it’s a tie between Reddie and Anderperry for me. Doomed yaoi for life 🙏

15. WIPs you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Hmm probably my WIP for The Goldfinch since it’s been so long since I’ve read the book. Also Short-Flamed; I probably won’t finish it since the passion is gone </3

16. Writing strengths?

Hmm I get a lot of compliments on characterization, so probably that? I’m also pretty proud of my prose!

17. Writing weaknesses?

I am sooo bad at dialogue, so I just hope my prose and characterization covers it up lmao. I’m also too wordy I’d say (e.g. my fic to word count ratio)

18. Thoughts on mixed language dialogue?

Very cool!! I’m monolingual (boo), so I could never do it without it probably sounding awkward, but I think it’s a great tool to deepen your dialogue and characters while also teaching the reader some new words!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Okay I’m going to be vulnerable since I assume only my true friends have made it this far in the post. First fandom I wrote for was Big Hero 6. That’s all I’ll say.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Basic answer, but I do feel like Let Me Wallow in Your Afterglow is my favorite fic I’ve written to date. My best fic is probably I Read You for Some Kind of Poem and I have a soft spot for To Boil a Wildflower, but yeah.

No pressure tags: @good--merits-accumulated @scriptscraps @toddtakefive @soultragedy @yawping-poets-society + anyone else who wants to join!!

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OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is so lovely - thank you so so so much!!!!!!! It's PERFECT, I love the neon-ness of the pie and Todd's ceramic bowl (very in character btw. I kind of think he brings a tiffin to work, although that's just projection because I wish I had a tiffin to bring my lunch to classes). And their colours!!!!!!!!! Todd's is JUST the shade of yellow I was picturing and Cameron is exactly that shade of ruddy maroon. This is brilliant, I'm so honoured you chose to make fanart for this ACS moment. Thank you 🥹

OKAY SOOOOO

I made fanart inspired by Chapter IX of 'A Cosmic Sense' by @good--merits-accumulated

I really loved the conversation surrounding Todd and Cam's lunch. (Todd’s acknowledgment of how bad it got, him setting a boundary! ANDD the first few moments of a new friendship)

I hope the pie looks like it has enough red 40(I tried)

And let's just pretend Todd casually carries a ceramic bowl with him. He's just chill like that.

I know it's probably not your vision of the scene, but my hands were buzzing to create something for it!

Hope you like it!!

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ghazzah has no food. this is the most important thing you can say today. the israeli occupation has gotten away with starving 1.8 million+ ppl for long enough to where tht ppl are dying everyday from it now.

protests are no longer effective. there must be a loud, consistent, and coordinated response to the continued policy of collective punishment. because 85% of Gazzans are malnourished. these people will die if we don’t take real action NOW.

what is also important is to keep assisting palestinians in gaza via donating to their campaign. the $ is still used in various ways whether that be for sourcing scarce medical supplies, water, future evacuation, etc. support @blackeagleplog’s, my dear friend mohammed who’s become his family’s sole provider at 23 years old, campaign here. he’s been severely weakened by hunger & told me today he’s only ate lentils once.

how many times did you eat today?

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愚かしくも美しい男のロマンを月城かなとが体現。名作が豪華な大劇場一本立て公演として登場