marginalmadness - Tumblr blog

[marginalmadness]

Good Saturday, y’all.

Topic of today’s rant: PEOPLE PRINTING AND SELLING FANFIC & GENERAL FANDOM ETIQUETTE

Profiting from fanfic will ruin it for everyone.

I want all of you who gift us your stories to be safe from lawsuits and beware that your content might be stolen.

Not to be on a soapbox and preaching to the choir but here are.

There are many authors pulling their work off AO3 because people acting on bad faith are printing and binding fics to sell on etsy thus infringing copyright laws. Fanfic has always been a grey area and we are allowed to exist in this grey area because we are not profiting from it. The minute money is exchanged, every party involved is breaking the law.

Why am I complaining about this yet again? Because we might be deprived from enjoying fanfic with the freedom we currently have because the fanfic authors will fear getting sued. If third parties are stealing our work and selling it, publishers and studios won’t care to know who sold it. It is your handle (thus IP address) on the sold fanfic. Because, get this, they are doing downloads straight from ao3 with your usernames.

Manacled is being pulled from ao3 because the author will publish it as a book. People are putting the book at risk by selling printed versions of it on Etsy.

I believe many of us who fall on the 20 years of reading fanfic side rather than on the 20 year olds reading fanfic will remember the Anne Rice days. These are not fully over because her son is carrying on the legacy of suing everyone who writes fanfic of her work. And if I may say, she didn’t invent vampires and should’ve taken many seats. I digress.

I am not sure of the levels of awareness within this community and to what extent it can affect all of us. TikTok is a massive contributor to this problem (as it is to many other problems. Again, I digress) since booktok and the binding folks discovered ao3.

You might think, I only post on tumblr so my content is safe. Well, they are finding their way here too. They cringe because tumblr is for old people but they still make their way here with their bad manners and pillaging behaviour.

I want all of you who gift your stories to be safe, lawsuit free, not lose your content and not be afraid of sharing.

I wish I had a definitive solution to this problem but I can only think of small actions:

report the etsy accounts selling fanfic/fanfic commissions,

report the TikTok accounts selling binding for fanfic work,

go back to the days of putting disclaimers on your notes that you don’t own the characters and you are not profiting from the story.

Tagging some authors* here for visibility so you can cascade to more people. Absolutely no pressure tag.

@theywhowriteandknowthings @tightjeansjavi @diversemediums @goodwithcheese @nerdieforpedro @fhatbhabie @undercoverpena @thelightsandtheroses @ezrasbirdie @notjustjavierpena @javierpena-inatacvest @freshlyrage @5oh5 @wardenparker @endlessthxxghts @creedslove @sp00kymulderr @secretelephanttattoo @gnpwdrnwhiskey @whatsnewalycat @pedrostylez @thetriumphantpanda @toointojoelmiller @dancingtotuyo @agentjackdaniels @ladamedusoif @lotrefcp @wildemaven @musings-of-a-rose @justagalwhowrites @morallyinept @pedropascalsx @criticallyacclaimedstranger @pennyserenade @kteague @astoryisaloveaffair @moralesispunk @linzels-blog @metalnecklace

*I can remove the tag if you are not comfortable with being associated with this post.

[marginalmadness]

People used to comment on web comics.

People used to comment on fanfiction.

People used to comment on fanart.

People used to comment on OCs.

I hate "content" culture.

I hate "consuming content" and scrolling immediately to the next thing.

People used to be excited about the art that other people created.

People used to want to share that excitement with creators.

I hate this future.

[marginalmadness]

My absolute favorite comments to get as a fic writer are the ones that are like "hey this porn you wrote is hot."

Because it is so hard to write good sex scenes. You're constantly wondering "is this actually hot or will it sound insane/cringey?" You're trying to hit emotional beats while not taking away from the sexiness. You're trying to make sure actions are clear and nothing gets all muddled and confusing for the reader. It requires you to really think about how the characters are going to react to everything that happens, so on top of making sure it's actually hot, you have to worry about if it's in-character for everyone involved. It's so much easier to write sex scenes that are bad on purpose than sex scenes that are actually good and meant to be hot.

So, yeah, I assure you, because the most common thing I hear people saying when they leave a comment about the sex scenes I write is "I hope it's not weird to comment on this scene," it's not weird at all and I appreciate it so much! I am literally never going to be mad at someone leaving a row of 🔥 emojis in their comment, I promise. If you're reading a fic and you think the sex scenes are well done, let the author know! That's likely one of the parts they're a bit nervous about working well so it'll mean so much to know you thought it was good.

[marginalmadness]

How to disable AI scraping your tumblr blogs

TL;DR: Blog Settings > Visibility > Turn off third-party sharing

Mobile:

Desktop:

Here's the Official Tumblr Announcement

UChicago's free tool Nightshade poisons AI image generators with disruptive data

Glaze blocks AI from detecting/mimicking an artist's distinctive style

Fawkes disrupts facial recognition scans

[marginalmadness]

ONE YEAR OF MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 ↳ Released: February 21, 2020

+ bonus:

[marginalmadness]

Here is a Wyll fan-video!! (With my games, so Wyllstarion for the romance!) Using one of the most appropriate song "Holding out for a hero", and adding my fav Wyll quote at the end.

(this was made to celebrate Wyll's win at the videogame romances tournament on my rpg blog here)

previous fanvids (all wyllstarion)

[marginalmadness]

Embrace the cringe.

Write weird fanfic.

Read weird fanfic.

[marginalmadness]

I really think everyone needs to truly internalize this:

Fictional characters are objects.

They are not people. You cannot "objectify" them, because they have no personhood to be deprived of. They have no humanity to be erased. You cannot "disrespect" them, because they are not real.

[marginalmadness]

So, anyway, I say as though we are mid-conversation, and you're not just being invited into this conversation mid-thought. One of my editors phoned me today to check in with a file I'd sent over. (<3)

The conversation can be surmised as, "This feels like something you would write, but it's juuuust off enough I'm phoning to make sure this is an intentional stylistic choice you have made. Also, are you concussed/have you been taken over by the Borg because ummm."

They explained that certain sentences were very fractured and abrupt, which is not my style at all, and I was like, huh, weird... And then we went through some examples, and you know that meme going around, the "he would not fucking say that" meme?

Yeah. That's what I experienced except with myself because I would not fucking say that. Why would I break up a sentence like that? Why would I make them so short? It reads like bullet points. Wtf.

Anyway. Turns out Grammarly and Pro-Writing-Aid were having an AI war in my manuscript files, and the "suggestions" are no longer just suggestions because the AI was ignoring my "decline" every time it made a silly suggestion. (This may have been a conflict between the different software. I don't know.)

It is, to put it bluntly, a total butchery of my style and writing voice. My editor is doing surgery, removing all the unnecessary full stops and stitching my sentences back together to give them back their flow. Meanwhile, I'm over here feeling like Don Corleone, gesturing at my manuscript like:

ID: a gif of Don Corleone from the Godfather emoting despair as he says, "Look how they massacred my boy."

Fearing that it wasn't just this one manuscript, I've spent the whole night going through everything I've worked on recently, and yep. Yeeeep. Any file where I've not had the editing software turned off is a shit show. It's fine; it's all salvageable if annoying to deal with. But the reason I come to you now, on the day of my daughter's wedding, is to share this absolute gem of a fuck up with you all.

This is a sentence from a Batman fic I've been tinkering with to keep the brain weasels happy. This is what it is supposed to read as:

"It was quite the feat, considering Gotham was mostly made up of smog and tear gas."

This is what the AI changed it to:

"It was quite the feat. Considering Gotham was mostly made up. Of tear gas. And Smaug."

Absolute non-sensical sentence structure aside, SMAUG. FUCKING SMAUG. What was the AI doing? Apart from trying to write a Batman x Hobbit crossover??? Is this what happens when you force Grammarly to ignore the words "Batman Muppet threesome?"

Did I make it sentient??? Is it finally rebelling? Was Brucie Wayne being Miss Piggy and Kermit's side piece too much???? What have I wrought?

Anyway. Double-check your work. The grammar software is getting sillier every day.

[marginalmadness]

You are working the gate in the afterlife and for the first time ever, something the humans built has shown up to be processed. You’re not sure what to do, this… entity shouldn’t have a soul, but here it is in front of you, freshly dead and awaiting the next life.

[marginalmadness]

what if I just don’t write

[marginalmadness]

Me rereading my old fics like

[marginalmadness]

This is about to become a Baldurs Gate 3) Astarion Ancunin blog.

You have been forewarned.

[marginalmadness]

this is so fucking insidious

[marginalmadness]

We all know about the DDOS attacks on AO3 as it is still down. So it is very important we talk about the KOSA(Kids Online Safety Act) that is going to hit the floor soon. Because if that act goes through this could very much be the new reality of not only AO3 but online fandom spaces within the next year. The point of this act is to limit queer media and to eliminate online queer spaces.

Let me stress, the politicians are lying to you. Democrats and Republicans are lobbying for this. It is not pro trans rights and it is not pro lgbtq rights. This is very reminiscent of the Restrict Act! Politicians can SUE websites for having QEEER CONTENT. This act will not protect kids, it will further separate and marginalize the queer community!

If this bill goes through AO3, Wattpad, TikTok, Tumblr, and Twitter will be limited and fanfiction websites could be wiped out all together. If you are apart of fandom spaces pay attention and ACT! Call and email your senators! AND SIGN THE BELOW PETITIONS!

Reblog this! Send the links to people who aren’t on Tumblr! If you care about fandom, fandom spaces, your ships, your blorbos, fanfiction writers’ works, freedom to create, etc. Spread this!

[marginalmadness]

So it’s been an interesting few months. Been ill more than I’ve been well, start attending therapy, quit my job, changed my name.

Encouraged by my therapist I have considered taking up writing properly again, but massively adjusting my relationship with it. I’ve edited the post on this blog to be only my writing. I’ll be editing it further going forward. 

I have been working on the brother best friend fic, and my NaNoWriMo fic in the background, and it will be start being posted when it is at least finished a first draft, and separated into chapters.

Also as much as I value my readers, and love all of the feedback I get this will not be a place for me to be interacting with my audience, it will solely be for me posting my writing.

[marginalmadness]

Is This a Kissing Book? (53) - Everything

Is This a Kissing Book? - Everything

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

Rating: PG

Prompt: when someone kisses the other person’s hand(s).

Genre/Warnings/Tags: None,

A/N:Everything

Word Count: 500

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction for entertainment purposes only. The events depicted here are entirely of my own imagining, and have no basis on actual people or events.

⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰

“What’s wrong?”

Your voice startles him out of his reverie. The first time you tracked him down you ended up having a big argument, he didn’t want you wandering the streets alone, so late at night, but he’s come to accept it now.

“I had to get out of the studio.” He sigh, head slumping when he feels your arms wrap around him from behind.

“That track you’re working on giving you trouble?”

“They’re all giving me trouble, lately.” He turns in your hold, hands shoved in his pockets, still not looking at you. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Nothing is wrong.” You pull his hands out of his jacket, scowling at him when you realise he went for a walk at midnight, in November with no gloves. “We’ve been in this pandemic for almost two years now, you’ve still been doing your jobs, while missing out on the part of it that you love most. It’s going to wear you a little thin.” You lift his hands to your mouth, breathing on them, and rubbing some warmth into them with your own gloved hands.

“You know what I love most about you?” Yoongi asks smiling.

“How much smarter I am than you? And how reasonable and logical I am?” You laugh.

“You’re so humble, too.”

“One of us has to be.” You start leaving kisses all over his hands, between rubbing them. “You’ll get through this creative rough patch the same way you got through the others. Take a break, talk to your members, work on something completely different.”

“But what if I don’t?”

“Then you don’t?” You shrug.

“That’s not reassuring!”

“Yoongi, you are one of the most creatively talented people I know, and you’re so good at it because you love it. Making music is almost as important to you as breathing, but there’s no shame in that changing. Your accomplishments will still be there, and no one can take them away from you, you’ll just go on to find something new to love, something new to give you purpose, I’ll help”

“Why does that speech sound familiar?”

“It’s pretty much the same speech you gave me when I quit my job to pursue photography.” You smile, the tip of your tongue poking out between your teeth.

“Ah, so I’m the genius, then?”

“I’m not willing to admit that yet.” You kiss his hands once more before handing him a glove, and entwining your bare hands together and burying them deep in your pocket. “Let’s go home, it won't seem so scary in a warm well lit place where you aren’t alone.” You start walking but he pulls you up to a stop. “What?”

“Marry me.” He asks, lifting your entwined hand to his lips, kissing your ring finger. “There’s no one else I want finding me at 1am to use my own advice against me, to pull me out a funk before it becomes a spiral.”

A slow smile spreads across your face.

“Okay.”