#Web Randomization Services

[monsterbisexual]

okkkk blacklist '#saw2 watch' cuz im gonna rewatch it. n post abt it w screencaps 👍👍

[bf-rally]

wee today i managed to get stuff to start listing

[girasois]

words for users !

ideias de palavras aleatórias para ajudar você a criar seu próprio user;

random ideas of words to help you to create your own user.

core -> aesthetic core

vlog -> daily videos

logs -> daily facts

mp3 -> audio file format

m4p -> apple audio file format

mp4 -> video file format

txt -> text format

jpeg -> image file format

jpg -> image file format

png -> image file format

gif -> animated file format

raw -> uncompressed file format

zip -> compressed archive file format

rar -> compressed archive file format

web -> internet file format

doc -> document file

pdf -> document file

vinyl -> phonograph record

film -> motion picture; photography

user -> person who utilizes a computer or network service

i2 -> "keeping it real"

self -> a person's essential being

itself -> a person's essential being

priv -> private

luv -> love's short form

tale -> a fictitious or true narrative or story

archive -> to place or store (something) in an archive

list -> connected items

tier -> a type of hierarchy

talk -> speak in order to express something

chat -> to have a conversation

post -> to announce or publish something

zone -> a subject to particular restrictions

vie -> life in french

tie -> to form a knot or bow in

on/online -> connected to a network

byte -> a group of binary digits 

bits -> a small piece, part, or quantity of something

ram -> hardware in a computing device

8bit -> computer term used to designate either color depth

pixel -> a minute area of illumination on a display screen

data -> things known or assumed as facts

series -> a number of things, events, or people of a similar kind

village -> a self-contained community within a town or city

lab -> a laboratory

lady -> a woman

miss -> a form of address to a woman

mister -> a form of address to a man

error -> something not found

art -> the various branches of creative activity

petit -> small in french

poet -> a person possessing special powers of imagination or expression

thing -> an object without a specific name

stuff -> a vague reference to additional things

vogue -> the prevailing fashion or style at a particular time

tv -> taylor's version and/or television as a system or form of media

media -> the main means of mass communication

topia -> an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect

saur -> forming names of extinct reptiles such as dinosaurs

tune -> a melody, one that characterizes a particular piece of music

deun -> melody in deutsch

off/offline -> disconnected from the Internet

gloss -> shine or luster on a smooth surface

fae -> a fairy, in modern fantasy fiction

[spiders-around]

YOU MUST MAKE A WEBSITE

Oh wow, look at that! YET ANOTHER post urging you to make a webbed site! What a completely new thing that people haven't made a thousand masterposts for already!!

• Making a website might look scary. It is Not.

At first, I too thought making a website was too much work. It really isn't! It turns out that all you need is

an HTML file,

a web hosting service and

w3schools tutorials,

and that's about it!

This post will point you towards these resources, and others I found useful while figuring out how to make a website.

• VERY QUICK EXPLANATIONS:

What's HTML and CSS?

HTML is the content of your webpage, the skeleton of it. What shows up in a webpage is what's written in the HTML file!

CSS is the way the HTML is styled; the colour of the background and the letters, the size of elements, the font, all that!

Do I absolutely NEED JavaScript for a website?

Not at all! You don't need to worry about learning it before getting started.

• What do I make a website for? What do I put in there?

ANYTHING AND ALMOST EVERYTHING. Here's some ideas for pages from a post of mine were I was very normal about websites:

You can make a page that's only pictures of your pets.

You can make an interactive adventure.

You can make your own academic blog full of your own essays or articles.

You can just post a ton of art or make a full music page.

You can make a blog and infodump eternally, give book reccs and reviews. You can host a thousand virtual pets and nothing else.

Upload entire books in a single html file. Make a wikipedia for your ocs. Make a fake site for a random fictional place (restaurant, hotel, whatever). You can make a thousand fanpages/shrines about your favorite media. You can upload your own webcomic and make it all like a fancy website and shit.

I could keep going but, for the sake of "brevity", I won't.

• WEBSITE EXAMPLES!

If I started listing the websites I know, this post would be bottomless. Here's only seven:

https://publictransit.neocities.org/ - A webbed site, for sure

https://ribo.zone/ - A personal site

https://leusyth.neocities.org/ - An art archive

https://solaria.neocities.org/ - Personal website with A Lot of stuff (it'll come up in a bit, because it offers web making resources)

https://hog.neocities.org/ - The Hogsite

https://thegardenofmadeline.neocities.org/ - Another personal site! It also has a web resources page and has made another masterpost like this one (but better)

https://spiders.neocities.org/ - My own website, which must be weird to see in mobile . sorry

• You've convinced me. I want a webbed site. Where do I start?

https://neocities.org/

FIRST OF ALL: Neocities. It is a free web hosting service, and it's the one I and the sites I linked use!

When I first started, my website was a black page with red letters and a drawing, and nothing else! It was like that for a month, till i started picking up on how to do things.

Here's what helped me get an idea of how to make things work:

https://sadgrl.online/learn/articles/beginners-guide-neocities

An absolute beginners guide to neocities -- while when you make an account there you get a tutorial page from the site, this one's extra support for that.

https://www.w3schools.com/

Learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript and MANY other coding things for free. All the tutorial/reference pages have live testing windows for you to mess with!! helped me a LOT while figuring this stuff out!

https://htmlcheatsheet.com/

https://htmlcheatsheet.com/css/

Cheatsheets for HTML and CSS, respectively. It includes a JavaScript one too!

https://sadgrl.online/webmastery/

Sadgrl's webmastery resources! Also includes the next resource listed here:

https://sadgrl.online/projects/layout-builder/

Sadgrl's layout builder; not a lot of customization at a first glance, but I've seen wildly different websites all using it as a base, plus it works using CSS Flexbox, so it generates a responsive layout!

(basically, a responsive layout is one that translates well in different sized screens)

https://www.tumblr.com/fysa/728086939730919424/wikitable-code?source=share

Tumblr user fysa made this layout imitating a wiki page!

https://brackets.io/

At some point, you might want to do things outside the Neocities code editor and get one outside the site. I recommend Brackets, because my old as fuck computer can run that and absolutely nothing else apparently, and it works wonderfully! Though I recommend either turning off the code autocomplete or using it after a good while of already using the Neocities code editor, so you get used to coding on your own.

http://www.unit-conversion.info/texttools/text-to-html/

Turn your text into HTML code! i use this kind of pages for my lengthy blog entries that I don't feel like formatting myself.

https://imagecompressor.com/

COMPRESS YOUR IMAGES.

The heavier an image is, the more your site weighs and the more time your page will spend loading. You don't want that, specially if your site is heavy on graphics. This might help!

https://solaria.neocities.org/guides

Some CSS, JavaScript and Accessibility guides! Worth checking out!

https://eloquentjavascript.net/

This is a free, interactive book for learning JavaScript! NOTE: It is very intuitive, but JavaScript is HARD!! I still haven't learned much of it, and my website does fine without so don't worry if you end up not doing much with it. It's still useful + the exercises are fun.

And now, accessories!

• Silly stuff for your page :]

https://gifypet.neocities.org/

Make a virtual pet, copy the code and paste it in your HTML file! You'll get a little guy in your webbed site :]

https://www.wikplayer.com/

Music player for your website!

http://www.mf2fm.com/rv/

JavaScript silly effects for your site :]

https://blinkies.neocities.org/geoblinkies

Blinkie search engine!

https://www.cbox.ws/

Add a chatbox to your site!!

https://momg.neocities.org/

Infinite gallery of gifs. i've spent hours in there looking at moving pictures and out of them all, the ONLY gif i actually ended up using on my site was a rotating tomato slice. it is still there. trapped.

https://wrender.neocities.org/tarotinstructions

A widget that gives you a random tarot card!

https://www.websudoku.com/widget.php

Sudoku widget!

That's about it for now! I don't know how to end this!!! Remember to have fun and google everything you don't know :]

[jscrawls]

.. addams ! reader x deadpool

like image it? a match made in hell. reader LOVEE toturing wade and wade is just used to it, oops, a hatchet ended in his head! that ok! gomez and him swordfight

OOO HANG ON THIS SO GOOD THO

Warning: murder talk and physical harm mention

Thinking about Addams reader in marvel, they never lost their original house so they're still living near Morticia and Gomez's Manor just on the opposite side of the cemetery to them.

Being the weird little creature they are, Addams reader spends a lot of time in odd or wayward places since they get bored easily, one of those places lead to them accidentally pissing off a low level Mafia-wannabe boss when they overpaid a random barkeep that just so happened to be over if the few lackeys they had. the wannabe boss was holding a debt over his head and threatening him to either pay him off or work for him if he didn't want his legs broken.

Well reader kept paying for their drinks with gold coins like a weirdo so now that lackey was able to pay the debt in full and got the hell out of town.

The boss was obviously incensed but didn't exactly have the manpower or pull to take out a billionaire just for overpaying someone, so what'd he do? Found a Facebook marketplace hitman that was offering services cheaper than fifty bucks.

You'd just been going out to your yard to clear out some pesky rose bushes that didn't seem to want to die, hatchet in hand when the red and black clad lunatic tried to jump you.

It was pure, Looney toons-esque luck that you'd turned mid swing when you'd heard the noise, sinking the sharpened steel into the center of his forehead with a sickening thunk.

Obviously you were shocked, moreso by the sight of a stranger holding a katana in your yard than the murder, but still.

You went to pull your garden hatchet free from his head while plotting out where to bury him, but as soon as your fingers wrapped around the bloodstained wooden handle of it the man sat bolt upright while growling like a drunk dog. Oh dear, should you take him to a hospital if he's alive?

The man had other plans as he tried to wriggle the hatchet free, as soon as it dropped to the ground he jumped to his feet and pulled a gun out of.... Somewhere? He pointed it right at your face before he spoke.

"that... Was a lucky shot...." He grunts out before slapping himself and shaking his head, this is all very strange, even to you.

"....I believe the poor things got brain damage, would you like me to put you out of your misery, my friend?" You squat down to pick up the hatchet again, you could bury him by the weeds?

"not happening sugar pea, I'm actually killing you right now so say your prayers or whatever you do, hurry up chop chop so I can chop chop you."he gestures broadly with the gun before quickly pointing it back at you, his gloved thumb pulling the hammer back with a quiet click.

"oh, you're killing me right now?" You tilt you head confusedly, this is much more interesting than gardening!

"right now yes, I know it's hard to comprehend your final moments but-"

"oh go ahead."you interrupt, staring at him expectantly as he falls quiet at that.

"..... That's not the usual response to a death threat?."

"really? I think dying to an armed stranger in my own backyard is quite interesting! Wait, where did you come from? How did I get your attention worth killing me over!? I'd like to know so I can tell the entities on the other side."

"you pissed in some money launderers Cheerios somehow so he scrounged the dark web to eventually find the very best of the best for this, the this being murdering you until you're very, very dead. It's just business cupcake, I'm sure you understand. Not that I care if you don't obviously."

He scratches the side of his head with the barrel of the gun, smearing his own blood on the barrel. for some reason he's still just watching you instead of the aforementioned murder so you're getting just a little impatient.

"that's... Disappointing." You sigh dramatically and drop the hatchet on the ground, nearly sulking like a child.

"what, is it setting in? I'll do it quick if you just hold still...." he points the gun at you again and pulls the hammer back.

"no, no it's not that...I had hoped that perhaps my family had drunkenly cursed you with your resilience, or maybe a jilted lover hired you....I mean absolutely no offense to you sir, but that's just a bit boring for my personal taste!"

You sadly pick the tool back up to drag your nails against the edge of the hatchet repeatedly, and hate you'd hoped that one day you'd go out in a fiery blaze with an angry mob around you, demanding your blood...

The costumed man exasperatedly drops his arm to sassily put his hand on his hip, like he's personally affronted that you're disappointed here. "... Your personal taste in your own murder? I'm questioning the authors choices for you. I'm questioning why it matters?....If you want I could pretend I'm someone else?"

He paces away from you, leaning against a poison ivy vine-covered tree so he can cross his arms aggressively over his chest.

You just shrug, smearing blood and brain fluid around with you fingertips. "no, no. The thrills gone, role-playing won't fix things when it'll all still be on my mind."

"hmm.... What if I assassinate you in an interesting way? I could behead you, or strangle you with your own intestines? My buyer didn't specify how I do this so I could beat you to death with my sticky unicorn stuffy?"

You tilt your head in confusion. "why is it sticky?"

His voice drops a decibel, the most serious you've heard him this entire time. "I don't think you want to know why."

You decide against questioning him so you just nod, draping the hatchet over your shoulder and gesturing towards your home with your free hand.

"I see! how about we discuss this in the house? the weather's getting dreadful out here, what with the sun coming out and all."

After a moment of considerable silence, the man readily agrees with a shrug and a hum.

"sounds good to me, you know this leather and spandex gets a little right in the worst places when you sweat in it..."

His voice echoes around the garden as you lead him towards your house, what's the worst that could happen anyways? He's only going to kill you.

🔹🔹🔹

+ Bonus +

"cousins! Morticia and kids! Come and meet my new lover! The one I've been telling you all about!"

You shout loudly as soon as you push the doors of an ancient manor swing open, the wood creaking loudly before slamming behind you and wade, seemingly as if by an unseen force.

"this place stinks worse than precessor X's cha-"

Wade starts to say before shutting up when a lion strolls into the front room.

You immediately coo at kitty and squat down to pet them, not that you needed to squat since the big cat sets it's large head on top of yours and rubs against you while chuffing.

Wade steps around the scene in a broad circle, then steps away from you to look around the oddly decorated place.

Just as he bends over to look at a mummified hand in a glass case something stabs into his back. "huzzah! Never leave your back exposed to an attack!"

Wade jumps like a startled cat, sword still stuck in his spine as he spins around and attempts to draw his katana out. "What the actual queen Elizabeth shit?!"

Your cousin Gomez jumps back while straightening his thin mustache, pulling out a second fencing sword from who knows where as a crazed grin stretches across his face. he looks over wades now bloody costume with manic approval.

Wade pauses, sword half-drawn as he looks at you quizzically, as if asking if he's supposed to do something here. You happily clap your hands as you step away from kitty to watch the two men closely.

"cousin gomez! Giving Wade a warm family welcome i see. Well do go on boys, I won't interrupt your playtime!"

With your apparent approval and Gomez getting into a stance, Wade just shrugs and pulls one of his katanas out.

"I've had weirder family meetings anyways, let's fucking party!"

🔹🔹🔹

| m.list |

My first time ever writing wade so go easy on me 😭 also eyy my first marvel piece posted! 🥹

[swisccfinds]

50 ONE LEVEL CAREERS: Storytelling careers megapack by isy's the snake

Here is yet another career mod pack, but this one has no promotions, you just work and your job level stays at 1. As the title say this mod is best for story telling!

creator's notes-

This mod requires XML Injector by Scumbumbo. You can find it here. Pay attention if you don't already have it for another mod! In that case, you do not need to re-install it. Be sure it is updated for the last patch.

XML Injector is a mod required for some mods to work. So, you install it as any other mod in your Mods folder, no more than one subfolder deep.

This mod has been updated for the version 1.99.305 of the game (second update after Horse Ranch).

It doesn't required any DLC to work. Base game compatible

I've adopted this mod from the amazing ItsKatato who, due to her hiring at EA, couldn't continue to mod. I have made some changes: • I have changes all the pics of the careers — now they all show Sims (please check the credits paragraph at the end to see who was the amazing raccoon who helped me); • I have updated the mod for the Horse Ranch patch; • I have cleared ALL the tuning errors; • Fixed the description of some careers who appeared to be missing.

Now, here we go with the explanation of the mod (originally written by ItsKatato, edited by me):

Katato said: "Have you ever had a story planned out for your sims but you can't find the perfect career for them? Most of the time when I find the career it ends up being a complicated career with a bunch of promotion tasks and extra stuff. Well, I've made a pack of a bunch of single-level careers. All your sim has to do is go to work, that's it. This is perfect for the non-important sims in your life, like the forgotten children of your legacy challenge." In short: those are 50 careers you can use for NPCs Sims or random Sims you do not want to care about. As Amethyst said: "Go to work, make money, leave me alone". Your Sims won't need any task to perform to upgrade and get a promotion, as well as they do not really need an ideal mood to go to work since it won't change their performance. They just go and do their job. And now the list of all careers:

1. Anesthetiologist 2. Cartographer 3. Chiropractor 4. Compliance Officer 5. Data Scientist 6. Dental Hygienist 7. Dentist 8. Diagnostic Medical Sonographer 9. Financial Advisor 10. Financial Manager 11. Genereal Surgeon 12. Genetic Counselor 13. Home Health Aide 14. Information Security Analyst 15. IT Manager 16. Interpreter And Translator 17. Lawyer 18. Marriage And Family Therapist 19. Massage Therapist 20. Mathematician 21. Mechanical Engineer 22. Medical And Health Services Manager 23. Nurse Anesthetist 24. Nurse Practitioner 25. Obstetrician And Gynecologist 26. Occupational Therapist 27. Operations Reasearch Analyst 28. Optometrist 29. Oral And Maxillofacial Surgeon 30. Orthodontist 31. Orthotist And Prosthetist 32. Paralegal 33. Pediatrician 34. Personal Care Aide 35. Phlebotomist 36. Physical Therapist 37. Physical Therapist Assistant 38. Physician 39. Physician Assistant 40. Pilot 41. Podiatrist 42. Prosthodontist 43. Psychiatrist 44. Registered Nurse 45. Respiratory Therapist 46. Software Developer 47. Speech-Language Pathologist 48. Statician 49. Substance Abuse And Behavioral Disorder Counselor 50. Veterinarian 51. Web Developer 52. Wind Turbine Technician 

lets give some of our love and support to isy!

download

[stickyspeckledlight]

𝒲𝐻𝒪𝒟ℛ𝒜𝒩𝒦𝐼𝒯? KFC‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚: A Shitpost Of the Whodrankit? DEMO by @brynn-lear

Content warnings: Shitpost :3

DOWNLOAD THE GAME HERE (Available on PC, Linux, Mac, Android, and Web Browser!)

Link to better quality cutscenes because I had to really compress them to save on storage y'know

Unfortunately for you, thanks to the shenanigans of eminent domain, you have been left without a house. However, luckily for you, local bourgeois Senator Sunday has offered you his home. Seeing little choice in the matter, you take up his offer...

However, in the corner of your eye, a Colonel stands, and you can't help but wonder what he wants from you...

What is this?

This is a mod/fangame of HSR fangame Whodrankit? demo by @brynn-lear! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go play it first!!! And after that THEN you can come play this one!

No I mean what is this specifically you know

This mod is a shitpost hypothetical of a scenario where you can agree to Sunday's offer. Included is: 2 endings (Depending if you are nice to customer service people or not lol) ~30k words 7 (joke) endings Bad jokes Bad and disappointing story because I felt obligated to make some sort of plot even though none of it really works but hey I put in all of the jokes I wanted so there's a silver lining at least

How is this connected to the OG WDI? demo?

This is mostly its own thing; the only things that are referenced from WDI itself in this game is the general plot (minus the mystery, bc Idk what any of that shit's about) and well, the assets and stuff. This has absolutely no connection to WDI itself and is NOT canon---Brynn, the OG dev, had no real involvement in the development of this mod beyond making the base game which provided the base assets and original premise this mod is derived from.

Was this the other big project/sunday fic you were talking about

Yes! I started work on this in late June and worked on it on and off for a few months.

why

I wanted to punch Whodrankit?! Sunday and then made this

I come to your for yandere fanfic not shitposts

L bozo

What are the credits?

Credits are in the Readme doc attached to the game zip file; and also follow all of the credits from the OG Whodrankit? plus some more stuff. I acknowledge this game is violating all manner of copyright but I'm already writing fanfic and this'll probably only get 60 notes or something so I'm sure it'll be fine. Pls don't D**A me random big company.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

(BROWSER AND ANDROID VERSION NOW AVALIABLE) I do not plan on making a new WDI? mod; this mod it of itself just spiraled out of control. Though, if there's enough interest, I might release updates for the KFC mod if there is enough interest. Maybe as a Follower Milestone thing or if this gets a decent amount of interaction lol. Still, please do not expect updates or new WDI? mods from me, or request any whatsoever. New WDI? KFC! content will be entirely at my own discretion unless I state otherwise (as mentioned earlier if I choose to make WDI? KFC! related content a follower milestone, for example). But I'm always open to discussing it bc shitposts deserve to be shit on 🔥

[animatedglittergraphics-n-more]

RIP, AIM: Remembering how we used to talk on the internet

A eulogy for AOL Instant Messenger, and how it changed the way we talk about games and everything else By Luke Winkie published December 15, 2017

Do you remember all the souls you've lost to the internet? Those incidental friendships, forged in IRC clients, Newgrounds forums, 40-man Ragnaros wipes, scattered across the globe when the web was young? They came into your life and played Fall Out Boy over Ventrilo. They came into your life and disappeared forever. Do you remember when snapping a selfie required a frustrating tangle of mechanical coercion, but it was worth it to show them your face? When real-life names were rarefied information shared exclusively through digital blood pacts? AIM shut down today, and the only thing I can think about is how all of those people still exist somewhere, perhaps exploring the same pit in their stomach that I am.

AIM belongs to all of us. As a pioneering force of internet communication, anyone born in the early '90s or late '80s has spent some time on the platform. As a 26-year old, I'm crucially aware that my appreciation for the prodigal instant messenger is colored by a nostalgia that has nothing to do with the service itself. It was simply the medium of choice to grouse about homework, The Decemberists, girls I liked, and the rest of my random bullshit. 

But I do believe that there's a special union between AIM and people who grew up playing games, or at least came of age on the internet with people who played games. The early millennium revolutions in online multiplayer pitted us together and asked us to collaborate, so of course we carried those early internet accords to their logical extremes—talking all night in lonely chat boxes about what's cool, what sucks, and how easy it is to relate. In 2017, the web feels less like something I approach for those connections, and more like an overwhelming ennui that I'm constantly trying to outrun. Boston's Kyle Seeley nailed that feeling perfectly with 2015's Emily is Away, and this year's sequel Emily is Away Too—both of which transport you back to the spongy leather office chairs of your parents' computer room.

"AIM was primarily for one-on-one conversations between teenagers. That's how I used AIM, to have a very intimate conversation with another person. Now we have texting and Facebook messenger, but you can use those wherever you are," he says. "You can use those at a concert or while driving. But when you were using AIM, you were sitting down at a computer to talk to people. You had their undivided attention." 

Emily is Away tributes AIM in the only way anyone can—spinning a yarn of disentranced high-school drama that eventually mounts into something deeply sad. The way Seeley presents an old Windows XP desktop, with the hilariously temperamental tastes of your idiot friends revealing themselves in their bios and away messages (until one day they stop logging on entirely) is immediately resonant. We've all had our Emilys. "When you have a conversation on the phone, you spend 10 minutes making small talk," says Seeley. "On AIM you talk to someone for hours. Like eight hours, 10 hours straight. You get all the small talk out of the way in the first hour, and then you're talking about these big teenager questions. Who am I? Who do I want to be? I think AIM was really good at that."

It was always difficult for me to articulate the intimacy I felt with my internet friends to my parents. There were the obvious, mechanical mistranslations; I begged my mother for early exits from countless family dinners that consistently managed to interfere with my guild's crucial Molten Core attempts. But beyond that, there was a certain shame in feeling loved and valued by people I only knew by username. A latent fear that those who did not understand might consider that affection to be false, or even sinister. That's different now, as social media has flattened out our offline/online dichotomy, but if you were on AIM, you probably remember how once upon a time those bonds felt illegal.

Years ago Nina Freeman, level designer at Fullbright and one of the foremost thinkers on love and technology, launched a flat-out covert campaign to get close with one of those friends. She spent months locked in the holy matrimony of Final Fantasy XI and nightly AIM treatises with a boy named Glenn from New York City. Eventually they met, but not before Freeman satisfied her aunt, (who she was staying with) with a fabricated narrative—Glenn was no longer a dude from the internet, now he was just an old family friend who happened to move east. "I was still in high school," says Freeman. "We made up that whole story."

That secrecy is immediately familiar to me. AIM was surreptitious, clandestine. A service that belonged to teenagers, sequestered from leering ears and concerned authority figures. As Freeman notes, a screen name was one of the few commodities a young person could fully own. A domain, an aesthetic, a communication channel you could control. It was rare to feel fully untethered from your parents, so you guarded that sliver of liberty with your life.

"I wouldn't hand out [my username] lightly," explains Freeman. "I'd only really do it with people I felt close enough with. It seems sort intimate. It was a 'thing' to add someone on AIM. The expectation would be that if we're adding each other, we're going to chat regularly.… It had a weight to it."

Cecilia D'Anastasio, senior reporter at Kotaku (and a friend of mine) went a step further. As an 11-year-old, she was already griefing in the multiplayer Flash games she shared with her friends over AIM. I don't think anything sums up the juvenile euphoria of instant messaging quite like using that power to cheat in stakes-free freeware.

"One of the Flash games I discovered was basically Pictionary, but online and with a chat room. One player would etch out an image in a Microsoft Paint-like interface while the chat would dutifully guess at what it could possibly be. It was very wholesome," says D'Anastasio. "That's why my friend June and I were passionate about cheating. We'd join a game on the same team. Over AIM, we'd tell each other what we were assigned to draw, instructing whoever was guessing to wait a solid ten seconds before revealing the answer. It was a riot. We always won."

Over the past decade or so AIM has slowly been replaced with services that de-emphasize traditional internet patois. Gchat and Twitter are all full of real names and faces instead of coded handles and custom-colored text, and logging in to most platforms scarcely takes more than a click on a Facebook icon. For the most part, this is a good thing. Anonymity is one of the scourges of online culture��a de facto institution that continues to cause a lot of people pain. Personally though, I can't help but feel like we've lost something along the way. There was a certain sublimity in typing from behind the guise of a username. It gave way to a feeling that your AIM conversations existed in some sort of permissive, alternative reality, the ideal spot to work up the nerve for swollen 3 am confessions. In 2017 there is no such thing as "IRL" anymore; your internet presence is permanently married to your day-to-day existence. Everyone on earth spends their waking hours waging wars and making peace with strangers they will never meet. It is overwhelming and insoluble, and there are moments where I wish I could get outside again.

I'm not the only person that feels this way, and there are some people working to restore the parts of the mid-aughts internet that worked. When I interviewed Jason Citron, CEO of Discord, earlier this year, he affirmed a deep appreciation for AIM, and believed that perhaps the online infrastructure might soon swing back in that direction. "When you zoom out and think about the internet and how communication is trending, there's definitely a trend to more live experiences," he said. "The internet has done so much to connect people asynchronously, so I think there's something more macro happening that Discord is taking part in. It's like we're bringing it back to how it used to be."

He's right. One of the things that's made Discord successful is how separated it feels from the rest of the internet. When you join an ultra-specific channel—for niche Hearthstone formats or fan-favorite Persona characters—it's like you're uncovering a league of obsessives that are ready to welcome you with open arms. The true solidarity of dorkiness. It's funny, but by holding back on cosmopolitan design choices (like Facebook integration or a required photo-reel), Cintron stumbled into a scheme that evokes the furtive splendor that made AIM special. This is something Nina Freeman found when she started up a Discord channel to support her growing Twitch following. "It quickly became a community, and now I have a bunch of newer online friends. I'm already cracking up at myself as I'm wondering what they look like, or what they do in real life," says Freeman. "It definitely has a similar appeal." 

If Discord doesn't quite meet your personal instant messaging standards, Citron tells me that, if enough people in the community request it, he'd consider implementing the low-res AIM chimes into the service. You know, door creak, door slam, those disruptive MIDI twinkles. "To this day, that sound still triggers my desire to hop online," he says.  

Kyle Seeley is doing something similar. Yesterday he released a piece of DLC for Emily is Away Too that reskins Steam Chat to look exactly like AIM circa 2006. He spared no expense; you can change your text color, drop in vintage, blocky emoticons, and create your own custom profile so you can tell the world that Warped Tour will never die. "It's a farewell to AIM," he says. As one gaming's foremost nostalgia artists, it'd be wrong if he didn't say goodbye.

Now the AIM generation is old enough to both intellectualize their wistfulness, and use the lessons they learned from the service to create for the today's teenagers. To facilitate affection and respect on the internet, to show them what it looks like. We were the first to taste love on the web, at a time when those feelings had no context or guidance, and I hope that AIM helped create a baseline for young people and the midnight communion with those across the screen. The liberation that comes with knowing that the internet friendships you cherish are just as valid and wonderful as you think they are—these stories matter, because they help light that path. Lord knows I needed it, and I'm sure you did too.

Luke Winkie

Contributing Writer

Luke Winkie is a freelance journalist and contributor to many publications, including PC Gamer, The New York Times, Gawker, Slate, and Mel Magazine. In between bouts of writing about Hearthstone, World of Warcraft and Twitch culture here on PC Gamer, Luke also publishes the newsletter On Posting. As a self-described "chronic poster," Luke has "spent hours deep-scrolling through surreptitious Likes tabs to uncover the root of intra-publication beef and broken down quote-tweet animosity like it’s Super Bowl tape." When he graduated from journalism school, he had no idea how bad it was going to get.

[ranchstoryblog]

February Community Poll: Headcanons of the World Wide Web

The year is 1999, and a sleepy little farming village just got their first (and so far, only canonical) computer with internet access set up at their local library.

So, in all of the fandom's infinite wisdom, I ask you:

[cookie-nom-nom]

Reading Barrayar I felt trapped in Cordelia’s head. It’s incredibly effective for the dread of war as a civilian. Plans and machinations happening beyond you, with no input. Hearing of things happening that seem far off and like yeah that’s awful but then suddenly it dominoes in a way that destroy your life and it’s not your fault and you could've done nothing at all to prevent it. Especially the tension of being hunted in the Dendarii mountains with no idea how the war is going, if they’ve already lost, if it is already too late. Cordelia is doing actively important things in service of the war by sheltering Gregor, yet there's this pervasive feeling of helpless lack of control. She spends most of the book with this dread of not knowing when the next threat to their family will come, and I don’t think it could’ve been done so effectively if we had access to the information Aral had. I found it frustrating at times, since it felt like Cordelia was swept up in events with little agency (at first; obviously our dear captain didn’t remain there). I wanted so badly to be with Aral seeing and knowing and making the decisions.

But that’s the point! Most people have absolutely zero agency in those situations and little information and it’s terrifying. Barrayar captures the feeling of being a civilian in war where so many narratives narrow in upon the heroes and 'men of history' that control conflicts. That's what readers expect. I think that’s why I loved the ending so much. After so long trapped with Cordelia, just trying to survive the larger machinations of Barrayar’s bloody politics, it felt so, so good to finally be on the offensive, to have information the opponents don’t, to finally have power and the means to control what happens. It's a relief to the constant tension of having no agency in a giant conflict that frankly Cordelia had no business being affect by, yet was swept up in because of her love of Aral.

Which is the second thing I deeply enjoyed in Barrayar. I love how the war is made so human. A messy tangle of human relationships control it. I can’t stop thinking about the hostages. There are just so many children being used because the war holds the future hostage. Tiny precious Miles utterly incapable of comprehending how large a pawn he is. Young grieving Gregor vital to the plans of both sides whether dead or alive. Elena, who should be of no importance but she is because that's the kid of an unimportant soldier, just like every other hostage is another piece in the web of the war. I keep thinking about the relatives of Aral’s men caught in the capital. The hostages that Aral refuses to take. Everyone just trying to take care of those they love, and the points where they must put other priorities over their relationships are heart wrenching.

Barrayar looks dead on at how little people try to survive a civil war. From the mountains where the fighting seems so far, and information is slowed to a trickle of the singular mailman. The invasion of forces that disrupts people who may not even know there’s a war yet. The scientists and the genius lost in a single blast that goes unnoticed. The urban populations trying to sneak in food and people and keep their heads down. Random citizens debating who to sell out, weighing risks and bounties, if it will get them the favor with the occupiers that will help them survive. All so small in the grand scheme of things, and yet they are who Barrayar concerns itself with.

Cordelia’s uncertainty and fear would’ve been undermined if we were allowed to see in the heads of people driving the conflict, because Barrayar isn’t about those people. It is the desperation of two mothers, powerless and kept in the dark, that topples the regime.

Addendum: Cordelia’s relationship to Aral firmly places her in an upper class position that is important to note when discussing the role of civilians/‘little people’ within this analysis. But as a woman on Barrayar she is extremely limited in the power she is allocated, especially compared to someone like Aral, which would be the military leadership POV that novels more focused on the grander scope of war would utilize. Again not to say Cordelia has no agency or power, but it is not to the degree of the people in charge. Thus I place her alongside the average people swept up in a war outside their control. Still, her position as a Vor Lady gives her some access knowledge and connections that she turns into power, which while limited are far more than the average citizen. Her significance to Vordarrian is exclusively viewed as yet another hostage, an underestimation that Cordelia readily exploits, but still afforded only due to her status. Cordelia occupies a position of importance but not power beyond the scope of the people she’s formed direct relationships with, which only further ties into the essay's thesis.

[writingsbychlo]

the slytherin boys + random things from the muggle world I think they’d love

mattheo;

xbox

john wick movies

big tesco

local chippy

arcade games

b&m bargains

NHS symptoms checker & Web MD

tom;

starbucks

noise-cancelling headphones

‘do not disturb’ signs

hollywood undead

pre-workout

social services

mozzarella sticks

draco;

airpods

cheese strings

geography lessons

pool/snooker

the world cup

the trafford centre

sports cars

theo;

the ‘fast and furious’ franchise

rizla

doritos (the spicy flavour)

tiktok

wine in a bag

country music ⤸

cowboy fashion

enzo;

mcdonalds frozen strawberry lemonade

emojis

british heart foundation & Age UK

bowling

etsy

the royal family

uber eats

taylor swift

[seokiesprettygirl]

Back theory | KNJ

Inspired by insanely buff Joon pictures that dropped today. Also I needed to make sure my friend can imagine what is like to feel a heavy, buff Joon on her 🤭 Love you Sam!

!Warnings: +18

Your phone buzzed in your pocket. You took it out and saw a text message from the man you have been missing so much lately.

KNJ 8:45pm I can’t wait to get out of here. Another day where I felt useless as fuck. Honestly get me out of here already.

You chuckled reading the message. You received a message like that twice a week at least. He would moan about feeling useless and wanting to get out of his military service often. There were days when he felt proud to serve and when he achieved something, you would know about it the same evening. His free time was limited and so was his time off. Because of that last time you have seen him was few months ago and when you did it was only for a short amount of time. You had a coffee and a short walk around the park and then a meal together. There wasn’t enough of alone time. One on one time. Any sexy time. You have seen he has changed. Physically and mentally. Mentally he has been softer, there has been much more yearning going on, he was needy and he would occasionally send you a text or a picture with him admitting how much he misses you. Physically he has gotten bigger, bigger in general. At first you thought it was because he wasn’t dealing well with the fact that he was locked up there for a year and a half. He would just eat more than usual and skipped workouts. But you couldn’t have been more wrong, because he spent so much time exercising that all the weight he gained was already turned into muscle. At least that’s what you saw on the very last picture you found of him online. You weren’t doing it often but you knew you could find some of the more recent pictures of him floating around the web, because the fans just like you were yearning to Kim Namjoon. They were curious how was he doing and if he has changed at all.

KNJ 8:55pm I swear the day that I am out of here will be happiest day of my life. Second happiest. The first one was when you agreed to date me.

Another messaged popped on your phone. You smiled again. You were still thinking how to comfort him through the screen of a phone. What could you possibly say to him to make him feel better, less lonely, less like he should escape that place.

‘I miss you so much, when can I see you next?’ you responded to his text and locked your phone. You were in the middle of cooking yourself very late dinner. You were so busy all day and stayed at work longer than usually and completely forgot to eat. Your phone chimed again.

KNJ 9:01pm Soon angel, soon.

You didn’t know what kind of soon he had in mind. You didn’t want to know either. The days would only go by longer and as much as you would love to count them down, it was just easier not to. You have pulled the pasta out of the pot and strained it in the sink. The sauce was also ready and you poured it all over the pasta, grabbed glass of wine that has been your cooking companion since you got home. Tomorrow was Saturday and you were really looking forward to your weekly cleaning schedule. Religiously, every Saturday you would go around your entire flat and clean every nook and cranny. It was part of your routine that helped you feel grounded and in control. Because if you didn’t manage to ground yourself this way, you would be upset, ugly crying in your pillow all day missing Joon. It was difficult. It was worse than you thought it would be. When he announced that he will have to enlist, your heart broke into millions of pieces. You were unsure whether he would even continue your relationship in this scenario. Being away from him wasn’t unusual, but it felt more restraining. You knew you wouldn’t be able to be surprised by him coming from tour one day early, or fly you over to a random concert so you could watch from backstage and spend few hours together. But this felt different. It felt like he was further away than when he was on the other side of the world. You felt empty without him, because he was your home. You didn’t live together and there weren’t any recent mentions of this to change, yet still he was your comfort. Your home. And you were his. He very rarely would open up in front of you, but when he did, he made you realised how much he appreciated you, how much he loved you and how much of a safe zone you were for him.

You finished your pasta and your wine and were considering having another glass. But you decided against it, got up from your table and cleaned up after your dinner. Your phone buzzed again and you were hoping it was Joon but it was just a junk mail, about free vouchers you can claim. Since you already had your phone out you decided to snoop about the internet again and see if there was any newer pictures of your own boyfriend. How low have you stooped and how much have you been missing him to resort to looking him up. But you couldn’t find anything new. It was getting even later in the night and after a really long and tiring weekend you decided to get in bed and unplug. You have gotten ready for bed, brushed your teeth and completed your extended skin care routine, which you have always done on the weekends. You looked at the time and it was past 10 in the evening already. You turned all the lights in the apartment and got into your really cosy bed. You thought you might have trouble sleeping, but the second your head hit the pillow you felt like you’re floating and sailing away. Before you did actually fall asleep you sent a text to Namjoon: ‘Goodnight my love’. But you didn’t wait for an answer. You knew the answer might never come, at least not this evening. You put your phone away and closed your eyes. It was time for a sweet rest you felt like you deserved after the entire week of hustling.

The door lock clicked and a pair of heavy boots walked into the flat. The thumbing didn’t last very long and it got changed for a very quiet sliding noise. Quiet steps making their way to your bedroom. And you had no idea, sound asleep. Occasionally snoring and turning around. He walked into your bedroom and stood by the door. The moonlight poking through your unevenly closed curtains, straight at the bed, lighting your sleepy face. He would of sworn he could have looked at you like that for hours. But there was no time to waste. He slowly made his way around the bed towards the somewhat empty side of the bed. He slowly put his legs on top of the duvet and slowly put all of his weight on that side of the bed. You felt it but you only moved a little and turned around to face away. You were a heavy sleeper and at this very moment Joon wished you weren’t. He slowly got himself lower on the bed and moved towards your back. He put his hand on your side and the other slid behind your head, which you automatically lifted. Like it was natural, like it was a habit of yours. He put his chin as close to your ear as he could and whispered:

‘Angel, I’m home’ and he slowly glided his hand up and down the side of you. You didn’t budge. Nothing. Still sound asleep, sweetly unaware of the surprise waiting for you in your own bed. He repeated himself one more time but still nothing. It made him chuckle, it was so endearing that you were just so fast asleep and he was also amused by his own inability to wake you up. He decided kisses surely will be the way to go. He pressed his soft lips on the nook of your neck, and he kept peppering your cheek and neck with them until you finally started moving. You turned around, feeling another person around you and his smell surrounded you. You thought you were dreaming.

‘Joon?!’ you finally got your vision back after it has been blurry for a few seconds.

‘Yes angel, I told you I will see you soon’ his low raspy voice answered you and soon after you saw his gorgeous smile, his dimples on his face and his eyes turned into half moons.

‘Is this a dream?’ you asked him, not really fully believing your luck.

‘Not a dream, im off until Sunday and I will be staying with you until then if that’s okay’ he admitted and peppered another few kisses on your cheek. It was more than okay. You were in a little bit of a shock but once you managed to process the information you jumped on him. You lifted yourself slightly and crawled on top of him, wrapping both of your arms under his back and placing your head on his chest.

‘I’ve missed you so much’ you finally spoke, hearing his heart beating really fast in his chest. You looked up and locked your eyes with his. He smiled again and leaned his head down to reach your lips. And you reached back to him and his soft lips met yours. It started sweet and soft but it very quickly started turning fast. The both of you were yearning for each other for so long and the day has finally come. Neither of you would even come up for air, you would just take quick breaths in between the rushed kisses. You quickly felt him getting excited, as you were still laying on top of him and you were sure he could felt your excitement as well, through your very thin pj bottoms. You broke the kiss and got from him and from the bed.

‘Where are you..?’ he got really confused and instantly felt abandoned, missing you next to him.

‘I need to see you. I want the light on’ you answered, turning the corner light on. Still moody, not as obnoxious light as the top light would have been. You turned around and saw him laying in your bed, in his uniform. The expression on your face changed from excited to in awe. You couldn’t comprehend that he was there, he came home, he came to see you. He woke you up in the middle of the night to see you. You walked back to the bed and sat right next to him. He pulled himself up and was now half sitting with his back to the headboard, following your every move with his eyes.

‘Here I am’ he chuckled and made a funny ‘ta da’ like pose showing himself to you. And you giggled. He was so cute and so adorable yet so insanely hot.

‘Would you mind taking this jacket off? I need to check a theory’ you said with a cheeky smile on your face and he looked puzzled. A theory? Theory of what?

‘Theory of what exactly?’ he asked slowly unbuttoning his jacket. He took his time with it, knowing exactly what he was doing to you. He knew it would drive you crazy, as much as he played such an innocent soul, he knew all the weapons he was carrying.

‘Back theory’ you answered with a smile, as your pupils grew wider and wider, whilst he was working on unbuttoning his jacket. And he finally did, dog tags fell out dangling around his neck on his black undershirt. You spotted them but then you also noticed how they are dangling in front of his now huge chest. He has definitely changed. He is bigger now. Stronger. And your brain couldn’t handle it. You squeezed your eyes closed and opened them again just to make sure you aren’t actually dreaming. He took the jacket off completely, uncovering his really broad shoulders and incredibly buffed arms.

‘Do you want me to..?’ he asked, knowing you will not be able to say no to him continuing stripping for you. The black ROKA t-shirt that was now very tight around his upper body, slowly started rolling up as he kept pulling at the top of it. And with one fast move he pulled it fast, through his head and it landed on the floor. His dog tags still around his neck, now in front of his naked huge chest.

‘FUCK’ you only managed to squeak out when you saw him dropping the shirt on the floor. He was insane. He looked insane. All those pictures you have seen of him recently didn’t give him his justice. He looked even bigger in person than on those photos. You put your hand over your opened mouth and shook your head.

You sat there, feeling your underwear getting wetter and wetter. You could call it an ocean at this point. He got up from the bed and walked all the way around it to get to you. He helped you stand up on the bed and he was still somehow taller than you, even when you were on top of the bed. You bit your lip staring deeply into his eyes and you saw he wasn’t smiling anymore. You have also spotted a tent in his camo trousers. He grabbed you and pulled you to himself and you felt his strong arms around you now. He slowly glided his hand from your knee through your thigh and slipped his hand into your bottoms. He didn’t have to look for it long and his fingers felt the ocean that was currently drowning your cunt.

‘Fuck. Youre so wet’ he whispered into your ear and pulled your bottoms completely down. You unbuckled his belt and unzipped his trousers, slowly pulling them down. And they fell down, stopping briefly at his perky ass but you helped them make their way down. He stood out of them and was now standing in front of you, only in his underwear with a very visible and feelable boner at your service.

He grabbed you, and you wrapped your legs around his hips. He turned away from the bed and pushed you to the wall. He nearly squeezed you at that wall. And started attacking your neck. Your wetness now coating his still hidden away but hard length. You wrapped your arms around him, and started exploring his back. It was rock hard, you could feel the muscles tensing whilst he was holding you and you enjoyed every second of it. You also moved your hands to his shoulders and arms to feel his soft skin and also all the places he grew. To remember it. To keep it in your closest memories. As he kept kissing your neck, he finally slowly put you down, on the floor this time, still pinning you to the wall. And he took both of your wrists into his hands and held them for a second above your head, kissed you aggressively and let go. He lowered himself on his knees and burrier himself in between your legs. Slowly moved on them onto his shoulder and held onto your other leg, slowly kissing your lower belly and reaching the sweet spot. He nudged your clit with his nose and started peppering the entire area with kisses, eventually stopping and slowly licking your folds. Very gently at first, almost like saying a polite hello to your body, acknowledging that he was gone from it for too long. But then he picked up his pace and started circulating around your clit, eventually adding a finger or two and sliding it inside you. You banged your head on the wall and moaned the second you felt his lips on your lower area. Your leg on his shoulder drove you mad but gave him more access. You put both of your hands on his head and let him explore. And be explored and took his time, like a thirsty adventurer who hasn’t been home in weeks. Like his life depended on it. And when he felt like he was finished and your knees started to shake and he was slowly pushing you into an orgasm he stopped.

He pulled himself out of you, smirked and slowly moved you from the wall to the bed. And he pushed you, delicately but he still pushed you on the bed and you fell on your front. He followed you right away and trapped you under the weight of his body. He laid his body on yours, pulled his hard length out of his underwear and aimed it right at your entrance. Slowly slid inside you, grabbing you into his arms and pushing into himself. He kept sliding until he got to your cervix. Balls deep inside you. But he didn’t move, he freezes there. He lets you adjust to him, and when he does he can hear your whimpers and moans. When he feels you relaxed around him he started moving his his hips and he started thrusting into you. And he didn’t take him time, he picked up his pace at the same time kissing your back, up your spine.

‘Joon…’ you whimpered, feeling his huge bulky body on top of yours, thrusting the life in and out of you.

‘Little bit longer angel’ he grunted into your back. He pulled out of you and entered again, really deep, reaching the deepest ends of you. And be picked up the pace again, now ramming into you. Wet skin sounds slapping fills the room, mixed with his grunts and your moaning. And he finally reaches forward with his arm and putting his fingers on top of your clit. That was when you couldn’t hold it anymore. You closed your eyes and pushed your ass higher up almost trying to escape him and your body got flooded with ecstasy. You kept moaning and whining and he wouldn’t stop. He kept going and then be pulled himself up and grabbed your hips and added another thrust or two before he reached his top and painted you inside. Painted you white and kept going for a few more minutes.

Your heavy breathing filled the room and he pulled out, slowly turned you around and placed you on the bed. He cleaned himself up with his black tshirt that was still on the floor and disappeared in the bathroom. He came back with warm towel and he wiped your legs and tummy with it.

After that he moved you slightly to the side and got into bed right next to you. His strong arm wrapped you around and you folded forward laying your head on his chest again.

‘Your back is ridiculously buffed Joonie’ you whispered slowly petting his chest with your palm.

‘There is nothing better to do in that shithole angel’ he murmured back ‘but i also liked the look of your back tonight angel’ he added and put his hand into yours and planted a soft kiss on your forehead.

‘I’m so happy you are here’ you added, you closed your eyes and wrapped yourself around him, dozed off back to sleep.

[theoutcastrogue]

A copyright lawsuit filed by several major publishers puts the future of the Internet Archive's scan-and-lend library at risk. In a recent appeal, the non-profit organization argued that its solution is protected fair use and critical to preserving digital books. This position is shared by copyright scholars, the Authors Alliance, and other supporters now backing IA in court.

The Internet Archive (IA) is a non-profit organization that aims to preserve digital history for generations to come. The digital library is a staunch supporter of a free and open Internet and began meticulously archiving the web over a quarter century ago.

In addition to archiving the web, IA also operates a library that offers a broad collection of digital media, including books. Staying true to the centuries-old library concept, IA patrons can also borrow books that are scanned and digitized in-house.

Publishers vs. Internet Archive

The self-scanning service is different from the licensing deals other libraries enter into. Not all publishers are happy with IA’s approach which triggered a massive legal battle two years ago.

Publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, John Wiley, and Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit, equating IA’s controlled digital lending (CDL) operation to copyright infringement. Earlier this year a New York Federal court concluded that the library is indeed liable for copyright infringement.

The Court’s decision effectively put an end to IA’s self-scanning library, at least for books from the publishers in suit. However, IA is not letting this go without a fight and last week the non-profit filed its opening brief at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, hoping to reverse the judgment.

Support from Authors Alliance

IA doesn’t stand alone in this legal battle. As the week progressed, several parties submitted amicus curiae briefs to the court supporting IA’s library. This includes the Authors Alliance.

The Authors Alliance represents thousands of members, including two Nobel Laureates, a Poet Laureate of the United States, and three MacArthur Fellows. All benefit from making their work available to a broad public.

If IA’s lending operation is outlawed, the authors fear that their books would become less accessible, allowing the major publishers to increase their power and control. The Alliance argues that the federal court failed to take the position of authors into account, focusing heavily on the publishers instead. However, the interests of these groups are not always aligned.

“Many authors strongly oppose the actions of the publishers in bringing this suit because they support libraries and their ability to innovate. Authors rely on libraries to reach readers and many are proud to have their works preserved and made available through libraries in service of the public.

“Because these publishers have such concentrated market power […], authors that want to reach wide audiences rarely have the negotiating power to retain sufficient control from publishers to independently authorize public access like that at issue here,” the Alliance adds.

This critique from the authors is not new. Hundreds of writers came out in support of IA’s digital book library at an earlier stage of this lawsuit, urging the publishers to drop their case. [...]

Copyright Scholars Back IA

In a separate amicus brief, several prominent legal and copyright scholars, many of whom hold professor titles, raise similar arguments. They believe that IA’s lending system is not that different from the physical libraries that are an integral part of culture.

“Libraries have always been free under copyright law to lend materials they own as they see fit. This is a feature of copyright law, not a bug,” the brief reads.

What is new here, is that publishers now assert full control over how their digital books are treated. Instead of allowing libraries to own copies, they have to license them, which makes it impossible to add them to the permanent archive.

“The major publishers refuse to sell digital books to libraries, forcing them to settle for restrictive licenses of digital content rather than genuine ownership. Moreover, publishers insist they can prevent libraries from scanning their lawfully purchased physical books and lending the resulting digital copies.” [...]

[itsjunetime]

i built a little crate for tower-based rust web servers the other day, if anyone’s interested. it’s called tower-no-ai, and it adds a layer to your server which can redirect all “AI” scraping bots to a URL of your choice (such as a 10gb file that hetzner uses for speed testing - see below). here’s how you can use it:

it also provides a function to serve a robots.txt file which will disallow all of these same bots from scraping your site (but obviously, it’s up to these bots to respect your robots.txt, which is why the redirect layer is more recommended). because it’s built for tower, it should work with all crates which support tower (such as axum, warp, tonic, etc.). there’s also an option to add a pseudo-random query parameter to the end of each redirect respond so that these bots (probably) won’t automatically cache the response of the url you redirect them to and instead just re-fetch it every time (to maximize time/resource wasting of these shitty bots).

you can view (and star, if you would so like :)) the repo here:

[darksturnioloqueen]

Sadistic!Matt x Knife

**This Fic Series will NOT be for people with triggers. This Fic Series will have very descriptive moments of Sadism.**

Sadistic (Sadism - The Act Of Being Sadistic)

Deriving (getting) pleasure from inflicting (causing) pain, suffering, or humiliation on others.

Please Read At Your Own Risk.

⚠︎Trigger Warning: dark web, after cum dump, girl getting cut porn, buying a submissive, severe knife play (obvi), some fuckery, blood dripping, licking blood, licking blood off knife, wound fingering, light choking, nipple cutting, light humiliation, ejaculation on wounds, no aftercare⚠︎

Matt was losing his mind. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake the wonder of why you were so wet that night. He had gotten rough with other girls in the past, and they immediately backpedaled. He was back on the web, scrolling every nook and cranny of the dark web, trying to find that website again to buy you. He realized he needed you. Or at least needed to find out if he had accidentally killed you. He had been watching the news for a death in the hotel and hadn't heard anything yet. The link he was sent two nights ago was a one-time use link. So that wasn't an option. He had searched 'submissive' but was only turning up various porn. None of which were good enough for him. He was starting to feel discouraged, but the intensity of the orgasm you caused him was enough to keep him scrolling.

You were fine. You woke up on the mattress with a puddle of cum dripping out of you. Even that made you feel hot again. You just sat there thinking about his face and how intense his dark eyes were as he held the belt. He wanted to hurt you. You wondered if you hadn't even said anything about sex if he would have initiated it himself. You could tell he wasn't there for that. For the last two days, it has been nothing but 'more daddy' and 'yes sir.' You got tired of saying 'harder,' 'more,' or even nothing at all, being that you weren't allowed. You needed him. You got onto your submissive profile and clicked around. Messages were set to expire three hours after reading, so he was already gone. You just had to hope he repurchased you. You sat on your profile waiting for a ping, letting you know someone wanted you. Finally, tired of waiting, you got in the shower. You liked to stay as clean as possible in case someone wanted your services.

Matt was pacing in front of his computer, just losing his mind. The more he thought about you gargling your last breath of air, the more his need for you grew. He plopped down in his chair and started searching again. He had to find you. He had to buy you. After a few more random rabbit hole clicks, he ended up on a porn stream. A guy with a knife cutting a girl strapped to a bed. Typically, he would settle here and start stroking himself, but he found himself wanting to know more about you. He could tell you weren't like anyone else he had ever met. He needed to know what it was. He watched the stream all the way through, logging back in every thirty minutes, hoping he would get sent the same link at the end. His messages pinged. He felt himself rise with excitement.

"Fuck, yes." He clicked the link and scrolled to your profile, knowing exactly where he wanted to go. He filled out the credit card information as fast as he could. He sat bobbing his leg up and down, waiting for your response.

When do you want to meet up?

He felt relief in knowing you weren't dead. He wouldn't have cared too much about your actual death; he just would be worried if it got traced back to him. His fingers tapped his keys, this time knowing exactly what he wanted to say.

Now.

He found himself waiting for your response again, hoping he hadn't scared you.

324 Berry Avenue.

Just like last time, Matt was gathering himself up to leave. As he walked out the door, he saw a slight shimmer from the corner of his eye and looked in its direction, trying to trace the light's refraction. His eyes landed on where it was coming from.

"Perfect." He swiped the object and found himself driving only 15 minutes away from his house. He pulled up to a tiny house he easily could have passed on his way home from work a thousand times. He got out of the car and looked around, trying to make sure no one was watching him. He knocked on the door, and you opened it. Your hair was still a little wet from the shower you had just taken, and you were in a pink frilly silk nightgown, ready for bed.

You were just going to give up tonight and hope he messaged you at the right time tomorrow, but just as you got out of the shower, you got his message. You were doing something you had never done before in your life: you brought him to your house. Hotels, bars, even in their car, but never have you given anyone your personal address. He stepped in and started looking around, a reaction you expected.

"You really like this shit." He muttered. His voice wasn't cold.

"Excuse me?" You weren't understanding him.

"This pink frilly shit." He elaborated while touching a throw blanket.

"Oh, yes. It's my favourite." You were used to your white, pink, and grey home but forgot others wouldn't be accustomed to your aesthetic.

"Can we just get to it?" Matt was losing his patience.

"Of course." The corner of your mouth curled up. You grabbed his hand and led him into your bedroom. A place you have never fucked anyone before. Your room was your sanctuary, and you never wanted to give it up. But this guy, this guy, was different in every way possible.

"Sit on the bed," he instructed. You sat down. "I need to say something... or rather... ask something before we start." He didn't sound nervous, just unsure of what he wanted to say.

"Okay." You waited.

"How do you feel about like permanent marks?" He wasn't sure why he was asking, but instead of just cutting into your skin, he registered the slippery slope he was on.

"Fine." You shrugged. You wanted him to do anything he wanted to do to you; you had a feeling it was exactly what you wanted.

"Okay." He let out a breath and pulled an object out of his pocket. Your eyes widened, yearning at seeing the sharp silver blade in his hand. You didn't want to make him think you feared his proposed situation, so you blinked and nodded. You visibly saw his pants move at your consent to such a daring activity. "Fuck." He whispered. You leaned back on the bed to show your submission, something you were used to doing. He came walking over to you with a wicked grin on his face. Your fear matched your excitement. "Scoot back." He said at the edge of the bed. You shimmied back further. Your heart was pounding, and you were unsure of what he was planning. The way he wrapped the belt around your neck and squeezed without permission was the darkest, hottest thing anyone has ever done with your body. This time, he had permission; you gave it to him. He put the knife in between his lips as he crawled up your body. Once straddling you, he smacked you across the face. You bit your lips, trying not to smile. He took the knife out of his mouth. "Don't move." His voice was suddenly cold.

You were starting to feel yourself pulse. You stayed still to allow him the access he wanted. He trailed the knife over your silk fabric until it was on your chest. He put the knife back in his mouth. "Is something -" He used both his hands to grab your clothing and rip it straight down the middle, exposing your chest. You jumped at the sudden movement.

He slapped you hard. He replaced the knife in his fingers. "I said don't fucking move." With the knife, he lightly sliced across your chest. His cock throbbed, seeing the blood spill out. You weren't sure if he wanted you quiet or loud, so you winced, trying to hold in the painful noises you desperately wanted to make. "Ugh." He moaned. He gripped the knife tighter in his fist, looking like he wanted just to stab you in the chest and see your blood spurt out like a fountain.

"More." You moaned on accident. His gaze moved to your eyes in utter shock. You didn't know what to say about your outburst. He took the knife and made another incision. This one is deeper and more painful than the last. He made sure to drag it slowly so you felt every single serrated tip tearing apart your flesh. "Oh my fucking god."

"Yes." His head fell back in satisfaction. You weren't scared; you were turned on. Once you felt the pain settle into a sting, you moaned more. The blood tickled your sides as it trickled down onto your white sheets. He set the knife on the bed and shimmied his pants down, letting his dick spring out. You watched as he used your blood as a lubricant to stroke himself. With his erection stained pink, he moved his legs to open yours, allowing him the room he needed to put himself inside you. He glided in with ease. Again, he noticed how wet you were. It was making his head foggy. As he started moving in and out of you, he dipped his head low to lick a strip of red into his mouth. You couldn't take your eyes off of him.

Every move he made was the most erotic action you had ever seen. He grabbed the knife and made another cut across your chest. You felt him get harder inside you. As you arched your back, you felt the blood shift in its direction of flow. "Lick it." He held the knife near your lips. You hesitantly poked your tongue out. You actually feared him cutting your tongue. He moved the blade down your tastebuds. With your own blood on your lips, he felt himself unable to hold back now. His hips picked up their pace, slamming into you. He did something he had never done before. He bent down and kissed your red-tainted lips. He had never kissed anyone before. He smashed his mouth against your groaning, getting to taste more of your iron. You molded into the kiss following his lead. He used one hand to grab your breast and squeeze. More blood came running out, and the white cells were disrupted by his fingers tracing over the open wounds.

"Fuck me." You cried out. The only thing you needed now was for him to finish you. The pain was euphoric, making you dizzy. He placed his bloody hand on your neck and started riding you like a sex doll. He wasn't squeezing you unconscious this time, but you didn't mind. He looked up into your eyes from watching the blood move around your body. It wasn't until you smiled at him that he knew what kind of person you were. He had finally pieced it together. Your job, your wetness, your excitement for him. You licked the satin red ichor off your lips while he ravaged your pussy. His lust consumed him, but he needed that final thing to push him to his orgasm. He used his free hand to grab the knife one more time. As soon as he held it and saw the fear in your eyes from uncertainty, he felt a little familiar twitch. He took the knife and gave you one more long, drawn-out cut right on your breast near your nipple. This, being a very sensitive spot, hurt the worst. You started to tear up in your eyes.

"Going to fucking cry, baby?" He mocked you. And with that, you came. Your muscles contract on his cock and flood him with lightly pink juices. He liked seeing you cry. The pain bringing tears to your eyes made him ready to cum. He quickly pulled out and aimed for your bloody chest. His cum layered on top of the dark red streaks, making it a shiny, sticky pink. As soon as he was done, he put his clothes back on and started to walk out of the bedroom.

"Wait." You almost whispered, nervous. He stopped walking but didn't look at you. "What is your name?" You had to know. You were dying to know more about him.

"Matt." He said, walking out and closing your bedroom door.

[bdafic]

Not everyone has enough experience on the internet to recognize scams, especially as scammers find new ways to make you feel weird for being suspicious. There is no shame in inexperience or naivete, scams work for a reason, so here's a heads up on a recent one going around that targets fic writers specifically.

You'll receive a message or comment complimenting your fic and asking permission to draw a scene from it. Scammers of this type are rarely aggressive. They're hoping to get you into a position where you feel obligated to send them money out of guilt, so they hide under a veneer of politeness and ignorance.

Once contact is established they'll try to pull you into a private exchange where either, A.) a service or product is provided as a "gift", then subject to a bait n' switch after delivery, where they demand payment, or B.) change their tactics and act like you've already agreed to a verbal contract about a paid commission, and so feel obligated to honour it. Payment up front. Either way, the approach is designed to make you think this person made an honest mistake. They misunderstood, maybe they don't speak the language well, maybe they're new, or young, or just don't know the 'rules' yet. You take pity on them, and so pay them for the work.

It works similar to the "donate to gaza" scams that have been proliferating on Tumblr lately: appeal to empathy and shame people for questioning it. We're a pretty socially conscious, leftist, bunch of users on this webbed site and those of us involved in fandom communities tend to go out of our way to support and encourage other creators. It makes for a healthy, welcoming, community and we should keep doing that! The flip side is that it also makes a great hunting ground for these types of scams, so stay skeptical and ask questions.

The first time I got a DM like this I actually assumed it was a ChatGPT bot

however, after this they appeared to talk like a person. On the off chance they weren't being deliberately malicious, just extremely clueless, I pushed a few buttons... and it was immediately clear the intent was to trick me into paying them.

The pitch was generic but their background work could easily scan as legit if someone is just doing a cursory pass. They had a had a bio that linked to various socials. Some more convincing than others

Their ArtStation account, formatted like those "p u s s y i n b i o" Twitter bots, actually had some drawings on it too. All the images look like standard newbie stuff on stock backgrounds with a Photoshop filter applied, which plays into the "young/new artist" persona that some will adopt. All the images were uploaded at the same time: either a week ago, or six months ago. It's all tagged "noAI" but...

I ran a few through AI image detection and the results were anywhere from 60 to 98% likely AI, with one or two 15%'s thrown into the bunch.

This particular thread died after I sent that last message, which tells me that while the cold call may have been automated, the pickup probably involved a real person. Over the last week more have come in. Most are extremely obvious; way less sophisticated than the first try. One of the tricks is to use code to pull the username and a random story from the author's account. If you receive a copy of the messages somewhere the code gets stripped out they'll appear like this:

Whereas on fanfiction.net, it looks like this

This is why you'll sometimes see those random spaces around punctuation. Underneath the hood the opening line might read, "Greetings '=$AUTHORNAME' ," and they forgot to delete the space after the variable or didn't format it well and the punctuation was interfering with code execution.

These types of scams are extremely old, this is just a new way of doing them. There are cases where the whole thing is malicious and intentional from start to finish. There are cases where the people doing it are being forced to. And there are cases of people new to art and commissions who legitimately believe this is the best way to approach someone before they've built up enough of a reputation to rely on word of mouth. I have been on the internet since the early to mid 90s and I have seen all three varieties many, many, many times, in many, many, ways.

If you're not sure, ask a few leading questions -- but never give personal information or move to a second contact until you are 100% positive of who you're talking to. If you've got doubts, you don't need to be a dick about it, just block and move on.