Jane Austen: The slowburn writer to end all slowburn writers. Has a mild case of purple prose syndrome. Sets you up to think she’s using a really lame trope or cliche, but then pulls the old BITCH U THOUGHT. Gets in fights with commenters who completely miss the point of her work.
William Shakespeare: Where dick jokes meet feels. Recycles old plots that have been in the fandom for years, but always manages to put a new spin on it. That said, he’s better known for good character writing than good plots. Kind of problematic, but people love him anyway. Laughs at and encourages commenters who completely miss the point of his work.
The Brontë Sisters: Their fics get lots of comments but they never reply. They never leave author notes, either. They share an account, and there are talks of a collab fic coming soon. Write fics for OTPs of questionable healthiness and consent. Only ever write darkfic. Like, REALLY dark. …People are getting kind of worried about them.
Edgar Allan Poe: Also only ever writes darkfic, but at this point, people have moved past being worried about him and have just accepted that he’s weird, he’s morbid, and we love him. Channels his feelings about his ex into his writing. It results in really good stories but everyone’s sort of like, “…Dude.”
Charles Dickens: Trying to set the record for highest wordcount on ao3, and it shows.
Victor Hugo: Currently holds the record for highest wordcount on ao3.
Oscar Wilde: Only ever writes M/M. Has a BAD case of purple prose, but it’s worth it if you manage to get through. His stories are either hilarious or soul-crushing. Or somehow both. People love him but know better than to disagree with him publicly, lest he destroy you with one of his infamous subtweets.
L. Frank Baum: Wrote one really well-loved story that’s among the most famous in the fandom, and it’s literally all he’s known for, and it pisses him off. His popular story became a multichap against his will because it’s the only one of his stories anyone actually reads. He keeps trying to end it so he can work on other things, but always ends up coming back.
Arthur Conan Doyle: Feels L. Frank Baum’s pain. SO much.
James Joyce: Has fascinating ideas, but takes forEVER to get to the point in his stories. Also a stoner, and it shows.
Lousia May Alcott: Writes stories for her unpopular OTP (that’s a NOTP for most of the fandom) and breaks up everyone’s favorite ships, mainly out of spite. Also kills everyone’s favorite characters, less so out of spite.
Mary Shelley: Writes incredible stories, but publishes under her boyfriend’s account because she’s banned from ao3. …Again.
Of course the press are mostly talking about your data being used to target pharmaceuticals and the such like… or worse.
But do you really want your ISP potentially selling data that includes fanfic you read?
I am pretty sure it’s a no.
But here’s two things:
A lot of Tumblr sites don’t have SSL (https) enabled, even though it’ll reduce the detail of data available to ISPs when people visit a site (the Tumblr dashboard is, however, served over SSL)
AO3 (Archive Of Our Own) doesn’t have SSL (https) (though they do want it and if you know anything about puting https on a site, I know they’d love to talk to you)
So how do you improve your privacy when it comes to reading fanfic? (also when you’re uploading on AO3)
Sign up to a VPN service that’s availble on PC and mobile (I use Tunnelbear, but there’s a lot of paid ones out there, just don’t go for a free one, as they tend to be very dodgy)
These aren’t fullproof options, but will go some of the way to keeping your online habits private.
*Due to our own legal BS here in the UK (the upcoming IP Act), this advice should also be followed by my fellow UK peeps, because you never know what our government will make illegal next.
I am a life-long bookseller and avid reader. I began making these book sculptures when struggling to come up with a gift for my boss, celebrating the ten year anniversary of her bookstore. There was no book I could give her that she hadn’t already discerned, so I decided to take a favorite book of poems and reconfigure it into a tree. Dismantling a book is not done without consciousness. Books are precious items. All the books used in my art have been loved and read, and are chosen because of their particular worth. Taking apart text, line by line, I like to think I am reading these books in a different way. Words take on different meanings when isolated or spun into a physical form. These art pieces are an attempt to read words as objects.
The North Carolina General Assembly took steps on Thursday to repeal part of a law that restricts LGBT rights, but far from being hailed for moving in the right direction, the state’s Democratic governor is being criticized by progressive activists who say he colluded with Republicans to betray them.
The state senate voted 32 to 16 for the bill shortly after 11:30 a.m. local time, then sending it by voice vote to the House of Representatives where a tighter voted is expected later in the day.
Fueling the sudden flurry of activity, the National Collegiate Athletic Association had threatened to essentially boycott the basketball-loving state until 2022 by withholding championship games unless lawmakers substantially nullified the existing law by Thursday.
But whether the bill actually met the sports association’s criteria was unclear; the NCAA did not answer questions from BuzzFeed News about whether the measure was enough to schedule games in the Tar Heel State.
The underlying law, known as HB2, gained most of its attention for banning many transgender people from restrooms that matched their gender identity in government facilities — making North Carolina the first state with such a policy, while drawing corporate boycotts and federal lawsuits.
A lesser-known provision of HB2 blocked local jurisdictions from enacting their own LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances.
But a deal to repeal the law, which was announced Wednesday night by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and leaders in the Republican-controlled legislature, would only withdraw the rules as applied to bathrooms and other single-sex facilities.
The compromise approved by the senate on Thursday would continue to block local policies that protect LGBT rights until December 2020.
By continuing to ban local nondiscrimination laws, the proposed repeal only reinforces the state’s position that discrimination would remain legal, activists said.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, which campaigned heavily for Cooper, blasted the governor on Twitter, saying, “This isn’t repeal. This doubles down on discrimination. This is a leadership test. And the Governor is failing.”
Cooper’s office did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ about how he responded to criticisms from the LGBT groups.
North Carolina is not be the only state to supersede local LGBT protections; Arkansas passed a law to that effect in 2015.
Alan Gomez , USA TODAY Published 10:52 p.m. ET March 29, 2017 |
On Wednesday, Watson heard arguments from the attorneys for the Hawaii attorney general and the Department of Justice to determine if the block should be extended. Watson did so, issuing a preliminary injunction that will take a more lasting hold. The next step for the Trump administration would be an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which previously ruled against Trump’s first travel ban.
FAIRFAX, VA—As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce the number of accidental deaths from firearms, the National Rifle Association issued a recommendation Wednesday urging gun owners to secure their children in a locked safe at all times. “Because responsible gun ownership begins with proper storage, we advise you to keep your children in a tamper-proof safe, especially when they have friends over and any time you are out of the home,” wrote executive vice president Wayne LaPierre in a bulletin to the organization’s members, adding that it was not enough to simply place one’s children in a drawer, atop a high shelf, or underneath a bed, as stowing kids in such locations was neither a secure nor foolproof way of preventing a firearm accident from occurring. “We recognize that purchasing a steel-reinforced vault that can fit every one of your children comes at a premium, but can you really put a price on the safety of your family?” LaPierre went on to say that gun owners could easily add an extra layer of security and further peace of mind by keeping a separate lock on each child as well.
Hearseeno 