#please rb if you can its hard being an ao3 author in these trying times

[lesbiradshaw]

everybody wants to rule the world (except me) by steviepie

“It isn’t easy losing a parent before you’ve had the time to fully grow up,” Erskine murmurs. “Let alone both.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the hand life dealt me, I guess.” Steve gulps down his first sip of tea just to keep from having to say anything else.

“I think there are quite a few cards left in your deck that you don’t know about.”

And there's that cryptic phrasing again. Steve almost wants to ask him what all of this is about, but Erskine once again begins to answer the question before Steve can even ask it.

“Steven, have you ever heard of a place called Vengea?”

(the princess diaries stevebucky au we’ve all been waiting for)

[gullethead]

what is your opinion on tamsyn muir discourse (and also what is the discourse)

THANK you. okay warning for discussion of fictional sexual assault, real life CSA (not something she did), plus 2012-era homestuck fandom typical stuff

please rb this btw, unless you dont want to, in which case dont. also if you have any corrections or additional information to consider please add by all means

disclaimer: im not in the habit of writing essays defending whichever internet personalities i like. ill admit theres potential bias, given that i read the books before i learned about this, but im really being as objective as possible and i just think people are taking a misguided or half-formed stance on this. if you still dislike her or w/e after this thats, like, perfectly in your rights. im not defending an adult woman on the internet, im explaining the facts as ive seen them and understand them. additional disclaimer that i havent experienced sexual assault at all myself

okay so tamsyn muir is currently well-known as the author of the locked tomb trilogy (aka gideon the ninth and harrow the ninth), but for a certain section of tumblr shes also well known as urbanAnchorite, and used to be a big name fan on here up until around 2014 - pretty close to everything here is going to be from roughly 2011 through 2014, except for an interview im gonna get into, so 7-10 years ago. i was only vaguely aware of her until after i got into the locked tomb and saw people talking about this. with that in mind:

so the MAJORITY of the discourse revolves around a single fic she wrote on AO3. her account has 19 works in homestuck, and some of them are Kinda Weird to Pretty Bad in retrospect, but being completely honest this is the only one that isnt completely stock standard for homestuck fandom in that time period. like if we started casting stones about ten year old fandom stuff we'd be here all day

here is the fic (warning for CSA)

in most of the posts about it ive seen, theyve described it as a "rapefic," but actually reading it, it's a lot more nuanced than that description implies. its a dark story where a grown man abuses a girl, from the man's perspective, and the story ends with him being killed by her friend. the description of the assault is treated very seriously by the story and barely even touches on any actual sex, before immediately cutting to him being killed. its lolita if humbert got shot to death; the title itself comes FROM lolita

(sidenote - it was inspired by a prompt on kinkmeme, but that doesn't really mean anything vis a vis being intended for sexual enjoyment, and according to the note actually went against the spirit of the request)

ive seen fics, lots and lots of fics, that would qualify as the term "rapefic." it tends to be pretty fucking obvious when someone is using sexual assault as a fetish, and this is Not That

tamsyn herself actually responded to this in an excellent interview early last year. she gets into some Fandom Mom type language, but essentially says what i said above. in it, she also says this:

It’s not the first time I’ve been accused of being a paedophile. I grew up gay in the nineties. Homosexuality and paedophilia were enmeshed in society’s minds. When I came out, I got told that I shouldn’t be around children. I was used to that because it was common discourse, and it hurt like all hell, but it didn’t shock me. When I got called a paedophile by Twitter I got clotheslined. My support network had to get in pronto. I was very ready to have a hot date with a length of rope, a date I have arranged and cancelled multiple times over my life. I have had lots and lots of therapy over the years for various conditions, some of them lifelong and some not, but when that Twitter call-out happened it was hard to want to live. I thought I knew so intimately what I was doing with my fiction; my therapist was always so supportive of me writing about it. I have not been open about being a CSA survivor because, again, I grew up in the ‘90s. ‘Lesbian’ and ‘CSA survivor’ is just carte blanche so a whole queue of people can tell you, I HOPE ONE DAY, WITH LOVE AND SUPPORT, YOU CAN BE STRAIGHT. It was like, right this way to the invalidation booth. I didn’t even tell most of my girlfriends! I told one! It’s not a topic of discussion between me and my family; I am relying on them not reading my interviews so it can remain where it belongs: thoroughly undiscussed!

with this context it becomes... a lot more nuanced of a topic. an author who experienced CSA in addition to growing up in a cultural climate where gay people were pedophiles by default, especially growing up catholic in a rural community, wrote a work about childhood sexual assault (which also happened to be fanfiction) as a way of working through it for herself, which is... something a lot of artists do with their art? and in return she got a massive blowback on twitter accusing her of pedophilia and demanding she talk about a massively traumatic moment in her life

this is the major sticking point of the discourse, im not gonna get into anything else on this post, but this is my view of it. if you disagree or have anything to add then feel free to add on. again, i know what it looks like, but im not trying to uncritically defend a stranger just cause i like her book. this is the conclusion i came to after doing a lot of digging for myself

[chaotic-lesbian-things]

Announcement - ‘Star Wars: Inheritance’

Hey there! 

Due to the extremely disappointment sequel trilogy I have decided that I’m starting a project called ‘Star Wars: Inheritance’ which is me attempting to answer the question “What if Disney and Lucasfilms actually cared about the fans instead of just milking them for money?” Help is required, artists, fans, beta readers, beta writers, alpha writers (co-authors), illustrators, website managers etc. Scroll down for more. You can leave ‘permanent’ roles whenever you want.

PLOT IDEA:-

The story will be primarily posted on Archive Of Our Own, and will be divided into ‘seasons’, like a web series like The Clone Wars (only written instead of animated). The series will pick up 5 years after Return Of The Jedi, featuring characters from the Original Trilogy (eg: Han, Luke, Leia) and Sequel Trilogy (Ben Solo, Rey, Poe Dameron, Finn etc.) but with context. Cameos by Rebels, The Clone Wars, the Prequel trilogy and  the novels will also be made.

The ending will be a happy one with the force being balanced, open threads from all of canon closed, a fitting fairytale ending after a lot of suffering, adventure, angst and character growth. Each character will have its arc although the protagonists remain the same. The story will end sometime around  TFA/TROS. Several time jumps will be made.

NOTE:-

This is a story to be written by fans. A personal attempt to heal and a bold statement to poor filmmakers who have destroyed a fairytale started 43 years ago. But, most importantly, this is a story for all of the people who work on it as well as read it to enjoy. It provides us closure that canon couldn’t.

ROLES:-

1. Plot Pitchers:

Requirements: Extensive knowledge of canon and/or Legends (EU). Preferable access to novels.

This role is an attempt to make it as canon as possible. More canon than canon. Mention of sources (Wookiepedia links) would be helpful, but not necessary.

Even if you aren’t very proficient with the above but you feel like you have good ideas, DM me. You will be credited. If you simply have a good idea but don’t want to be involved in the long run, just message it to me.

2. Artists/ Illustrators:

Requirements: to be a digital artist/illustator

Concept art has been selected, digital artists required.

The kind of work includes drawing certain scenes from the story, as well as the headers/ covers for it. You can choose what you want to.

This is not a permanent commitment, unless you want it to be. THERE IS NO MONEY INVOLVED (because the initiator is a broke minor). 

If you want to be involved for the long run, dm me.

3. Video Editors/ manip creators:

Requirements: Video editing software, Video editing skills

Things like the opening scrawl of each season, small 10-30 sec (more if you can manage) videos of the characters (in later seasons) etc.  Please DM me if you are interested.

4. Beta Reader:

Requirements: basic grammatical skills

Each chapter will be needed to be read and suggestions can be made.

5. Social Media Account managers:

Requirements: Tumblr, Instagram or twitter. (other social media are welcome but not compulsory)

You need to create a new account on the web platforms. These accounts will share/rt/rb/post everything about this project. The Account name is to be ‘Star Wars: Inheritance’. dm if interested.

6. Website creator/manager:

Requirements: knowledge on creating a website. Managing it.

Starwarsinheritance.com? Starwarsinheritance.net? 

For more details, please dm me.

7. Co writer(s):

Requirements: Writing skills. Experience with Ao3. Team spirit. 

At max, two more people are needed. The work load can get too much for one author to produce quality chapters every week. The contents need to be agreed by all the authors. We’ll try our best to include all points.

Please apply for this role if you are REALLY serious about this. DM me.

8. Beta Writer:

Requirements: Writing skills. Experience with Ao3. Team spirit. 

You can add your own two cents to it but it will need to be approved by the main writers before being published.

NOTES #2:-

If you DM me I will provide you with the relevant information, and a link to the discord server where we will discuss this in detail. 

If you are in for permanent roles, please be committed to this. This fic needs 20 min to 3 hours or more of your time every week depending on your role, and it could possibly go on for a year or more. If at some point you need to quit, issue a notice so we can find someone else.

As of now, there is no money involved in any way. This could change, but right now all you get is personal gratification, comments, kudos and hits.

This is not an overnight project, it will need at least a month’s work before publishing, after our team has assembled. 

The first responders will get the role, as this needed to start 200+ days ago (after TROS).

Lastly, I realise that this is a very demanding project for which you could possibly never get paid. This is an attempt to rekindle a dying fandom which was fanned too fast and hard by corporate gold-diggers a.k.a Disney/lf. 

This was a glorious fandom before it was divided and ruined. save your story, save your fandom. Please spread the message.