#web authoring

[saydesole]

Black Authors

Happy Black History is Everyday

Toni Morrison 1931-2019

James Baldwin 1924-1987

Octavia E Butler 1947-2006

Langston Hughes 1901-1967

Maya Angelou 1928-2014

Ralph Ellison 1914-1994

Zora Neale Hurston 1891-1960

W.E.B Du Bois 1868-1963

[deermouth]

Scavengers Reign (Joseph Bennett, Charles Huettner, 2023) // The Southern Reach Trilogy, from Authority and Acceptance (Jeff VanderMeer, 2014)

[dionyrtal]

"Pain and pleasure usually have the same sound. The horror of seeing the heart of your lover on a silver plate is also thrilling. Deep in your bones, you already know. Matter to matter. Blood gives blood. You'd rather die than not eat away what you love."

Vertigo Peaks by Dion Anja (2024)

[artbyblastweave]

One thing that a lot of other capepunk fiction's worldbuilding has made me appreciate is the extent to which The Protectorate, as an organization, is about as much of a character as any of the actual individual characters. You can ask "What would the Protectorate Do in response to X or Y scenario" and there's enough in the text about their strengths and weaknesses and organizational ethos that you can kludge together a fairly true-to-the-text approximation of the exact way that they'd turn it into a multidepartment buck-passing office-politics-ridden clusterfuck.

[gaywebcorenostalgia]

Suzanne’s Page, 2000

[ekingston]

Hello! So sorry to bother, but have you had any updates on the Word-Stream/Speechify situation?

Just one: like I posted on Xitter and Bluesky last night, as of yesterday afternoon, the links to individual works as they were listed on WordStream are gone from both Google and Bing. Hurray, right? Surely we’re all sick of this whole debacle and there’s far more important things to worry about. If all is well that ends well, surely there’s no need to still be angry.

Well, I am. Here’s why:

When I checked on Wednesday, the links to my own work on WordStream were still listed. So rather than it taking a week after Cliff Weitzman first hid the fanwork from view, it took a little over a week from the moment he first promised privately that they would be deleted. Which, fine. Perhaps Cliff didn’t really know what he was talking about when he gave that timeframe. Or maybe he told a little white lie to create the impression that he always intended to do the right thing. It seems more likely to me, though, that Cliff still believed—even after the backlash he received—that he would get away with honoring only individual takedown requests. Or worse, that he needed just a little bit more time with the stolen material to figure out an alternative way to profit off it—preferably without us noticing, this time.

But who knows? I certainly don’t! All we can do is speculate, because publicly, Cliff Weitzman has remained completely silent on his copyright infringements. All we got was the initial justifications he and his sockpuppet accounts used in comments on the original Reddit and Tumblr posts. After those were so understandably ill-received, Cliff only ever communicated with a few individual authors who contacted him directly and repeatedly, blocking people who addressed the issue on Twitter and quietly distancing himself from WordStream by deleting a blog he’d posted to Speechify.com dated December 20th—where Cliff promoted WordStream’s platform specifically to fanfiction readers. (See my enormous timeline post for details and screenshots of said posts before they were taken down.)

And this is why I’m still angry: As long as Cliff Weitzman faces no real consequences for his actions, he won’t see a need to own up to his mistake; and as long as he’s able to delay taking responsibility, this isn’t over. This didn’t end well.

After all, wasn’t this the next-best scenario for Cliff, second only to him turning WordStream into a (for him) effortless, infinite money-making machine? He took something we provided for free and fed it to AI so he could more easily put it behind a paywall; we found out and protested; Cliff quietly erased all evidence of his crime; and we went—almost equally quietly—away.

I want to make sure you know that I continue to be genuinely amazed and intensely grateful for how quickly the news about WordStream’s copyright infringement was shared—and continues to be shared—throughout fandom, on tumblr in particular. If it hadn’t been for our collective outcry here and on Reddit, WordStream would very likely still be up in its original form, and Weitzman would be reaping the benefits (those subscription prices were steep) today.

But it’s been frustrating to see that, with the exception of mentions in articles on Substack and Fansplaining (the latter of which is a particularly awesome and thorough read on fandom’s decontextualization) and a Fanlore listing, our outrage never really spilled out beyond the safely insulated, out-of-the-way spaces that are tumblr, a handful of subreddits and bluesky. And I believe that—unfortunately—we are collectively responsible for that part, as well.

Most of us seemed content to only spread the word by circulating the same two posts on tumblr. (Have we all given up completely on every other social media platform? Am I the only remaining straggler?) And soon after Cliff Weitzman hid WordStream’s fanfiction category from view, our interest in the issue took a sharp dive even there. Are we genuinely deceived into believing the issue has been fully resolved? Do we truly fail to realize that Weitzman’s refusal to admit that what he did was wrong left the door wide open for the next greed-driven tech bro to wander through? Or is the true naivety in thinking that, as a community, we can keep this kind of attack on fandom from happening again? Has our disillusionment already gotten that bad?

However the situation spins out from here, Cliff’s actions will set a precedent. If we fail to show Cliff and his ilk that attempts to profit off fandom’s unpaid labor have consequences, their tech companies will keep trying until something eventually sticks. They might be a little smarter about it next time; obscure their sources a bit better, maybe leave the titles and the authors’ names off. Or maybe they’ll go a bolder route: maybe next time they cross the line they’ll do it boldly enough for IP holders to take notice and stop tolerating fanwork entirely.

Doesn’t that make you angry, too?

There’s this whole other mess of thoughts I would love to be able to untangle about how commercial influence is contributing to the steady erosion of fandom’s foundations, but I’m tired, and other people have said it all much more eloquently than I ever could. Seriously, go read that article on Fansplaining. Or listen to the podcast version of it. Better yet, as long as you’re wearing your noise-canceling headphones, go listen to a podfic of one of your favorite fandoms’ works, and enjoy the collaborative joy and creativity of the people who Cliff Weitzman refuses to believe exist. (In one of Speechify’s other blogs, Cliff claims there are only 272 podfics on AO3. Would you like to run that ChatGPT prompt again, Cliff?). Honestly, much like Cliff Weitzman’s infuriating denial of the fact that fandom fucking has this covered, thank you very much, there’s so. Many. More. Things for us to talk about. There’s the connotations of WordStream’s dubious ‘upload’ button, for instance, or the fact that the app scraped (and in some cases, allegedly, still lists) copyright-protected original fiction as well, or WordStream’s complete lack of contact information, which is illegal for an internationally operating app. And oh! Has anyone reported more thoroughly on Cliff’s app’s options to ‘simplify’ or ‘modernize’ uploaded works, or—my own very favorite abomination—to translate them into something Cliff calls ‘Gen-Z Language’? Much like his atrocious AI book covers, it would be hilarious, if it didn’t make steam come out of my ears.

Anyway, there it is. I highly recommend you do all of that. And then, if you aren’t familiar with it already, go do some research re: fair use and your rights as the copyright owner of your works. A good number of people commenting on this controversy expressed stunned surprise or fearful hesitation about claiming any sort of ownership of their fanfiction. The more informed we are about our rights, the more willing we will be to defend them.

Please don’t stop writing or sharing your work. If you can’t bring yourself to work on your WIPs today (trust me, I get it), post about this situation instead. Tweets, skeets, whateverthefucks—about WordStream’s theft, about how this reflects on Speechify’s already shady business practices, about how Cliff’s actions and justifications have personally affected you. You’re welcome to share or copy my posts on these platforms, but since Cliff already blocked me, I very much prefer you post your own. If you do, call Cliff Weitzman by his full name and tag or include both WordStream and Speechify to ensure Weitzman will recognize he has both a personal as well as a professional stake in handling the situation with integrity. Leave your concerns in reviews on the Speechify app. (We weren’t provided with a more appropriate place to put them, after all!) Consider calling for a Speechify boycott until Cliff accepts accountability for his actions.

Do avoid making exaggerated claims, and don’t call for physical retaliation against Cliff’s person or his property. We don’t want to give him or Speechify even the weakest of grounds to claim defamation or threats of violence. Focus on the facts: they’re incriminating enough by themselves. Show Cliff that we’re determined to keep bringing up his company’s wrongdoings in public spaces until he demonstrates that he understands why taking these freely shared fanworks and monetizing them was wrong, and takes steps to ensure it won’t happen again.

One last thing—and this is really more of a general reminder—please stop suggesting I handle this situation for you. People have come to me asking for action items. The resulting flashbacks to my days as an office assistant were extremely upsetting. In all seriousness, casting me as some sort of coordinator or driving force behind this backlash actively hurts the cause. Not only does it downplay fandom’s collective efforts, it also makes our message extremely vulnerable. It would be all too easy for Cliff to silence one singular source. Wikipedia will not maintain mentions of this controversy as long as it leads only to Easter Kingston’s attempt to summarize what happened as it was happening. You only know my name because I stumbled upon WordStream’s theft and decided to get my friends involved. I am not more knowledgeable, more skilled or more angrily invested in this issue than you are (or can, or should, be). I draw pictures and I write stories and I worry about the shift I’m seeing in fandom after having been on this ride for even a few pre-livejournal rounds.

I’m not going to stop doing any of those things. But I am going to allow myself to step away for a bit, make my wife dinner, and catch up on our shows.

I trust you’ve got it from here.

[nathanielkreesewriting]

A Kingdom's Blood - Prologue

A Royal Road fantasy series, three new chapters every week!

The Empire has fallen. Now, across shattered lands and broken loyalties, something ancient stirs beneath the clouds.

Prologue

The Fall of the Empire

On the Thistle Plains just north of the Imperial Capital, whistles sounded as the line of Imperial Old Guard pushed forward. The plains, an expanse of thorns and bushes, looked like an anthill from a distance. Millions of soldiers clashed along a seventeen-mile front of death.

Airships hovered above, exchanging cannon fire or dropping large casks of explosives down on their foes. In front of the Imperial armies, mages stood, rune-etched clothes blowing in the wind as they stretched their hands out and let loose bolts of magic.

Opposite them, Paladins stood, their own runes glowing, powered not by their blood or their kingdom, but by their faith and prayers.

Lysa sat atop her warhorse, a checkered mare of black and white, its armor glowing white as its protection runes flashed in the darkness.

The Alliance of Nations had pushed them to the breaking point. As she looked out across the fields, she saw the middle begin to bend backward. Now. She thought, watching the General next to her.

The man, regal and proud atop his own horse, looked over at her and nodded before waving his sword. Flares suddenly shot into the sky, relaying orders across miles of terrain. The lines shifted slightly as the Old Guard sped up their pace and rushed into the middle gap beginning to form.

Nearly fifty thousand men strong, the guard hit the gap and instantly plugged it, their shields lighting up like a line of blue fire across the expanse of ground.

The sound was a melody that Lysa was familiar with, the clash of swords, the crack of cannon and gunfire, and the rare but occasional explosion of a destructive rune.

She spared a glance behind her toward the Capital city; it was a splendid sight of gold and marble white. In its center, a single beam of blue light shot into the heavens above, illuminating the Steel Fleet which sat back providing protection for it.

When the battle was won, the fleet would deploy and hunt down all survivors of this Alliance.

Suddenly there was a rumble from the direction of the Capital and Lysa’s eyes widened as one of the Steel Fleet's battleships erupted in flames and exploded, its carcass crashing down onto a section of buildings below it before secondary explosions sounded in a wall of fire.

The General wasted no time.

"Lysa, take my personal guards and see what's going on at the Capital!" General Leon said, not looking at her as he tried to keep his eye on the battle unfolding.

Lysa wheeled her horse around and drove her hard. Beside her, fifty other horses thundered as they raced toward the Capital.

Another ship of the Steel Fleet exploded, it too crashing down in a rain of fire.

She spurred her mount onward, the mare panting hard as they cleared several lines of brambles. Several lines of skirmishers looked to her warily as they let them through.

A third ship, then a fourth exploded and they too crashed down into the city. As she got closer and closer to the outskirts of the city, she saw with horror that the fleet was firing into itself. Runes glowed bright as beams of blue and white shot across the short distances between ships, exploding in deafening thunder.

Suddenly she caught sight of horses riding to meet her from the city.

General Renald. She sighed with relief as she drew closer, managing a smile despite her growing panic. Renalds long black hair looked majestic even against the backdrop of ruin behind him.

"General Renald, what's goi—"

She never got the words out as the General drew a rune-pistol and fired a shot straight at her. He chest suddenly glowed as her chosen first rune, one which had been forged by her since her time as a squire exploded outward in a shield of light.

The men with him also fired, instantly killing several of her retinue while other runes flared.

One of hers fired his own rune pistol, its rune lighting up with fire and engulfing an enemy in flames before the rune flickered.

A shot hit her horse, bringing them both crashing to the ground awkwardly. Bones broke and armor buckled from the weight of the horse. Both sides exchanged panicked and confused fire.

Some runes sparked and went dim, leaving their users helpless.

Renald swiftly dismounted, walking over to her with cold eyes.

"Renald," she wheezed, struggling to free herself, feeling nothing in her leg. "What have you done?"

The man didn’t reply, his face a perfect mask of neutrality. He raised his pistol again, this time one of its three runes flaring before suddenly dying. He looked at it confused.

Then it happened. The area suddenly was bathed in darkness as the eclipse happened overhead.

The beam of light from the Capital turned red before winking out. So too did the runes of their armor and the runes of the ships. As ships began to crash one after another, Lysa realized what had happened.

The King and his family are dead. And the magic along with them.

"On the third day of the third month of the twenty-third year of King Jericho’s rule, the Empire fell and the world was plunged into a darkness that shattered the continent."

Read more: [Royal Road link] New chapters every week (Mon/Wed/Friday) Follows and reblogs appreciated—thank you for helping a new fantasy author grow!

[nanstgeorge]

NO ONE EVER DOES. NO ONE EVER LOOKED—NOT REALLY.

djklmnx / x / Gokstadt/Ganymede, Paisley Rekdal / cokegirl / My Love Mine All Mine, Mitski / You (2018–) / retroowl8 / Mariners Apartment Complex, Lana Del Rey / Castlevania (2017–2021) / Louise Gluck

[else-creates]

Nobody Can Help You Chapter 15

You can read the new Chapter HERE

[glitchedoutpxie]

(⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠✧⁠*⁠。dividers for u 🤍

[blocky-tides]

squiddo; what more is there to death but life and friends?

for @aliteral-ghost | beta'd by @sloth-sloth-sloth

herman melville / @ssseriema / miranda july / vladimir nabokov / unknown / anne carson / @gremnda / unknown / christina marie brown / jon kabat-zinn / @chimsartblog / hera lindsay bird /adrienne rich / black sails / @mandydoodles / hanya yanagihara / anne carson / erha / gennrose nethercott / @aski-qing / virginia woolf / tony kushner

taglist: @idontreallyexistyet | @routeriver

[kendallcodedromangirl]

Roman Roy / With Open Eyes / Play it as it Lays by Joan Didion

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

the world is dark (and light is precious) : November 2023

Pete Wentz // D.H. Lawrence // Circa Survive, Your Friends Are Gone // Fall Out Boy, Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes // u.k. // Jack Gilbert // @/thegirlhoodtheory // Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven // @/9710144 // Emily Wilson // Fall Out Boy, Disloyal Order // Lauren Zuniga // Patrick Stump, Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia) // Ellen Bass // 1930s book headers and illustrations via @/nemfrog

[lanietadelatierrawriter]

I made this web weaving inspired by the strong connection I felt with General Acacius when I first watched Gladiator 2 in November 2024, as if I had known him before in another life, in another time and I still feel that connection to this day. If you use it, please give credit. I hope you like it. Kisses. — Evelyn

[entities-of-posts]

How would you classify my fear of... authority figures? I guess? Doctors and teachers, mostly.

It's not the Web, I don't think. I'm not afraid of the power they hold over me or anything, I'm just... I guess afraid of them being mean to me? I can't ask them for help, I can barely talk to doctors at all! Except my therapist, for some reason I've never been afraid of her.

Being afraid of authority figures just because of the fact of their authority still falls under the Web, I’d say; you’re not necessarily afraid that they will manipulate you or even do anything, but the power they inherently have over you makes you uneasy even when it’s an abstract. They may not be abusing that control, but they could. You say that’s not what scares you, but I think in a roundabout way it is.

What’s worse about a person in a position of power being mean to you than any other? The fact that you can’t fight back, your hands are tied, you depend on their good grace for something or other. Their judgement also hold more weight, again because of the power they wield - that power, even unused, makes them more important, more credible, makes their opinion of you matter more, both to others and to yourself. And lastly, they are also more likely to be cruel or rude, because they are above you, so they can.

All of that is still about power and control, even if it’s not directly about the fear of them making you do things against your will.

[nathanielkreesewriting]

COMING SOON – A Kingdom’s Blood: Volume I

"On the third day of the third month, the Empire fell—and the world lost its light."

A quiet boy. A broken world. A fallen empire waiting to wake again.

I’m officially launching my original fantasy series on Royal Road in the next few days!

A Kingdom’s Blood: Volume I A novella-length first arc with 16 chapters already written, following a hidden heir, ancient machines, and the spark that reignites a dead Empire.

Updates 3x a week after launch.

If you like: – Lost technology in a magical world – Paladins, skyships, and political tension – Slow-burn power growth and emotional stakes

Then this series might be for you. Stay tuned for the link soon!