Reblog To Give A Trans Woman A Warm Cup Of Soup

the ao3 dislike button discourse is so painfully transparent because it’s clear to be that people want the ability to harass (and control) fanfic authors without putting their name on it. The internet, ao3 especially, already has the ability to be pretty anonymous but this is just another level of anonymity. Currently, you can leave a negative review, it’s a dick move but not impossible, plus the writer can block users or restrict comments. I’ve had people post screenshots of my fics on twitter specifically to use harassment to get me to stop writing but all it did was show how mean spirited the posters were. But again, I just fucking blocked them.

You cannot convince me the desire for an ao3 dislike button isn’t only to mass harass people without restriction and with anonymity.

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.

The argument I see way too often from Tony stans is the "you just don't like him because he is realistic" which...I know. I know there are bunch of men who get away with ton of shit just because they're rich, white and men. I know there are misogynistic people, sexualising every girl they come across. I know there are people being homophobic, sexist, transphobic and never getting called out. I know there are men telling rape jokes 'cause "it's just a joke". I know there are rich men drowning in their toxic masculinity harming everyone around them. And guess what? I don't like them either. I know Tony Stark is realistic, and that's why he is dangerous. I don't really care if you like Tony, I don't care if he is your favorite character. What I have issue with is anyone condoning his behavior that shouldn't be condoned. I don't care if he is your favorite character, you need to acknowledge that some of the shit he does, is not okay. And to those who say "it's just a movie" it's not. It's media, and media affects reality. If you don't think that the men like Tony, when seeing him being glorified, wont follow his footsteps because it's 'cool', I don't know what to say. There are too many people like Tony Stark. Saying okay to him, is saying okay to every other asshole like him. You can like his character, and call out the faults of creating characters like him. Tony is realistic. I know. And I hate it.

writing advice for characters with a missing eye: dear God does losing an eyes function fuck up your neck. Ever since mine crapped out I've been slowly and unconsciously shifting towards holding my head at an angle to put the good eye closer to the center. and human necks. are not meant to accommodate that sorta thing.

ao3 turns 15 today

reblog if youre older than ao3

(there's a lot of people asking about this, but the legal age to use social media is 13, except in few countries. so yes, there are people here under 15)

"My father will hear about this!" is actually healthy child behaviour

So one of Draco's most iconic lines (from the movies at least, but the same sentiment is in the book) is "My father will hear about this" or "Wait till my father hears about this".

It's usually used to ridicule Draco from what I have seen...but to me it makes Draco a more relatable child character compared to the trio.

As a kid, and even as an adult, I was very open with my parents. I told them basically everything. They were very involved in my life and I felt comfortable going to them with all my problems.

Admit it: would you prefer kids like the trio who go off on dangerous adventures, leaving adults in the dark or would you prefer a kid like Draco who will loudly tell you what's bothering him?

This is what these lines tell me about Draco's relationship with his dad and himself:

Draco has a close emotional bond with his father. He is ok with telling his father about his daily life which should be healthy child behaviour.

He believes his father cares about him and his safety. You don't complain to a parent who does not care about you.

And of course, the rebuttal is that children should not be overly dependent on their parents and they need to learn how to handle problems on their own.

Well, I have a news flash for you! If your kid is being abused by teachers or feels they are being treated unjustly at school, they should not be made to handle it on their own!!! Maybe Harry would have benefitted from having more of Draco's attitude. And then maybe Umbridge would not have been able to torture how many kids without hordes of angry parents descending on Hogwarts!

As problematic as the Malfoys are, I genuinely believe they have one of the healthiest nuclear families. Neville's grandma is...let's just say that it's a tragedy that JKR made Snape Neville's boggart when his grandma is ultimately responsible for Neville's self-esteem issues. Didn't one of his uncles throw him out a window as a kid?? Harry's family are hella abusive. Ron had a broken wand and feared going to his parents about it which is a huge red flag! You know given how dangerous a broken wand is! Hermione doesn't seem to give a damn about her parents. We don't even know their names. And I truly fail to understand why some muggleborne kids were never removed from school. Hermione was petrified and her parents sent her back the following year? Either Hermione never told them, the school hushed it up and/or the parents couldn't care less. Either option is bad.

I don't care what the antis think about Draco. When/If I have a kid in the future, when they have issues I hope they will feel secure saying "My mom will hear about this!".