siken saw his words being twisted and he’s having none of it god bless

#you're in a car with a beautiful boy #and the boy is actually a famous poet who casually and really succinctly explained why problematic ships are actually completely chill #and you feel your heart taking root in your body #like you’ve discovered something you didn’t even have a name for (@drunktuesdays)

Fanfiction Authors: HEADS UP

(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)

An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:

(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)

I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:

IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.

You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:

HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:

First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.

Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!

NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!

UPDATE: Plush Books still exists on Amazon and on Goodreads under the pseudonym "J.D. Geraghty" where the fanfics are also listed. They also have a list of cookbooks that are without a doubt AI written (the descriptions for the books are repetitive nonsense so god forbid what exists inside).

From what I can see on Amazon, most of the stolen fanfics have become "Unavailable." This entity likely operates under more than one name, so it isn't safe to assume crisis averted. Numerous bad actors are posting AI written works to Amazon, which just means plagiarism slurry with a side of potential danger (like the autogenerated mushroom identification books).

oh ffs. shared.

oh fuck you, 'JD Geraghty'. You did not write this. I DID.

“the term mpreg is inherently transphobic because pregnancy is gender neutral” I hate to tell you this but in the pregnancy fetish fanfiction community they also use the term fpreg

there are -pregs you wouldn’t even dream of

One of those fandom things that I love is when there’s new characters around and, with the unwavering confidence of an old farmer appraising cattle, fanfic authors take one good look at them, tilt their imaginary hat, and go “Aye. Praise kink, that one. Mighty case of praise kink if I ever saw one.” And everyone else just “aye.”

Not to mention the plot tropes.

“I don’t think the Highschool AU is going to come in too strong this year. Fandoms a touch jaded for that. But the hurt/comfort is growin’ thick as weeds and twice as fast. It’ll be a good harvest, fer sure.”

@cynaram

“I hear over at [neighbouring fandom] they’re putting the top field into fix-it fics.”

“Yes, ‘twould be.  They had a hard season last year, a right hard season.” 

“You think I ought to plant a little Sailor Moon Wild West AU? Don’t know if anything would come of it. Might not make it to harvest.”

“Won’t know until you plant it, will you?”

“Ah, a heritage crop.”

The shipping forecast.

The Fandom Almanac

Are you frustrated you can't leave second kudos on AO3? or third kudos? or whatever-who's-counting kudos?

Well, have I got the html for you!

Plop any of these in a comment (by copy&pasting the code) to make an author's day and show your appreciation!

It will look something like this (and will be transparent with white outline on dark backgrounds):

Feel free to spread and use these as much as you like! (and if you have ideas for other variations, let me know ✌️)

So happy to see people enjoying these and spreading the love 💖

UPDATE with some suggestions from the replies! And bonus: cookie kudos and you've already left kudos here

HTML codes under the cut.

Nah, fam. It's not about "taking" criticism. It's about the fact that unless a writer asks for it specifically, it's a dick thing to do on a website that is rooted in community.

If a writer wants critique they will ask trusted friends or professional associates (in the relevant field). When a writer shares a fic on AO3 it's not necessarily with the aim of improving their craft (there are better places for that). It's about sharing joy.

Positive comments enhance that feeling of joy and community. Negative comments do not.

Fic isn't a product to be evaluated. If it's not for you, then you can just walk away. 😁

I'm so tired of this discussion - why do all these people think they're entitled to offer critique on a fic author's work?

When you get a hand-made gift from someone, do you verbally rip it apart in front of them and point out every flaw or perceived flaw you can find? Congratulations, that person will never put the time, love and effort into making anything for you again, and they may question themselves so much they won't ever make anything for anyone else again, either. Well done, you've now deprived a whole community of art and an artist of their source of joy because you're an ungrateful walnut who can't say 'Thank you' and appreciate what you got for free.

Your opinion is not universal. Your tastes are not universal. Your preferred style is not universal. Authors can write whatever the fuck they want and unless you specifically commissioned a fic, you get no say in it.

Tl;dnr: If you don't like a fic or piece of art, hit the back button and keep your mouth shut. If you didn't like something, it likely wasn't meant for you and your 'criticism' is not wanted or helpful. Fandom is about community and lifting each other up, not about you shitting all over another person's work because you think your opinion matters.

Legit, if I want critique I will go to someone who actually knows the fic I’m writing, my goals in writing it, and what I plan to happen later in the fic. Critique from a random stranger has none of that, only Random Stranger’s decisions about what they THINK I’m going for. That makes the critique less than worthless and often frustrating and demoralizing.

Unsolicited critique is never, ever, ever constructive, it’s you deciding that your opinions and your judgements are more important than the writer’s. It’s that simple.

When I see posts like this, it’s a great relief that other writers are giving voice to the notion that unsolicited concrit is not welcome in fanfic circles. Usually where these get threaded off the rails is when the minority of writers enter the chat to say, “Actually I don’t mind,” or “Actually I invite concrit on all of my works even if I don’t specifically say so,” or “Actually I’m ESL and need all the crit I can get.”

While it’s valid to have any of those individual opinions and preferences, they are individual and simply not representative of fandom as a whole, nor will they ever be the majority opinion in this sphere. You as that stand-out writer with that specific exception do not represent the rest of us. And just like every other discussion, your “Well, Actually” exception is usually the one that every objector is looking for in order to justify what they simply wanted to do all along: Submit that unsolicited feedback within a wider community that they have not bothered to take the time to understand.

That reason alone--that someone’s unsolicited concrit manifests in spite of it being anathema to the wider fanfic community--is enough for their criticism to mean little, if anything. Mostly because it denotes how inexperienced (and/or young) the person is.

The second big giveaway that their criticism isn’t worth taking (and therefore not worth uttering, thanks) is that they’re out here looking to give it away for free to any and every fucking stranger.

I’m well into adulthood and well into a career in editing.

If we are professionals, we can routinely read bad writing while gleaning meaning and can sit back and offer corrections without first constructing those corrections. That is to say, I don’t red-pen a document before I’m asked to. Some folks don’t want that ever or at all. Whether or not it’s to their detriment. Some people cannot stand us, no matter how mild or well-intentioned.

And, frankly, I can’t stand not being paid. I’ve been both a fiction writer and a professional editor for long enough to tell you that my reward--my pay--in putting out fanfic is 1) the experience of writing it, and 2) cutting my idea loose into the fandom and having interested eyes on it. I don’t glean that same satisfaction when editing unless I’ve beta read a friend’s work after they asked me to.

Based on this--on my decades of experience--when someone I do not know pops up to offer criticism, my first impulse is to snort-laugh and the second is to delete the comment and block the user. If your advice to me, at my stage in writing, is free? It’s worth just about as much. Which is to say, nothing.

So, then, why might that critic’s advice be rejected with equal fervor by a new writer? A young person? A second-language person? Shouldn’t they be starving for every bit of free advice they can get?

Nah. They don’t know you, motherfucker. They don’t know you. And it’s as simple as that. “Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from,” is a good general rule. And if you’re a rando in my AO3 comments, whose life experience I’m utterly unfamiliar with and whose credentials I cannot verify, why would I take crit from you? I mean, I’m a fully credentialed kinda bitch and I’m still not sticking my nose in someone’s writing uninvited.

Tl;dr: If you’re going to dig through this post or the post notes to look for the exception that would validate your individual uninvited concrit, your criticism is already invalidated by your gall.

For those who might happen across this, I'm an administrator for the forum 'Sufficient Velocity', a large old-school forum oriented around Creative Writing. I originally posted this on there (and any reference to 'here' will mean the forum), but I felt I might as well throw it up here, as well, even if I don't actually have any followers.

This week, I've been reading fanfiction on Archive of Our Own (AO3), a site run by the Organisation for Transformative Works (OTW), a non-profit. This isn't particularly exceptional, in and of itself — like many others on the site, I read a lot of fanfiction, both on Sufficient Velocity (SV) and elsewhere — however what was bizarre to me was encountering a new prefix on certain works, that of 'End OTW Racism'. While I'm sure a number of people were already familiar with this, I was not, so I looked into it.

What I found... wasn't great. And I don't think anyone involved realises that.

To summarise the details, the #EndOTWRacism campaign, of which you may find their manifesto here, is a campaign oriented towards seeing hateful or discriminatory works removed from AO3 — and believe me, there is a lot of it. To whit, they want the OTW to moderate them. A laudable goal, on the face of it — certainly, we do something similar on Sufficient Velocity with Rule 2 and, to be clear, nothing I say here is a critique of Rule 2 (or, indeed, Rule 6) on SV.

But it's not that simple, not when you're the size of Archive of Our Own. So, let's talk about the vagaries and little-known pitfalls of content moderation, particularly as it applies to digital fiction and at scale. Let's dig into some of the details — as far as credentials go, I have, unfortunately, been in moderation and/or administration on SV for about six years and this is something we have to grapple with regularly, so I would like to say I can speak with some degree of expertise on the subject.

So, what are the problems with moderating bad works from a site? Let's start with discovery— that is to say, how you find rule-breaching works in the first place. There are more-or-less two different ways to approach manual content moderation of open submissions on a digital platform: review-based and report-based (you could also call them curation-based and flag-based), with various combinations of the two. Automated content moderation isn't something I'm going to cover here — I feel I can safely assume I'm preaching to the choir when I say it's a bad idea, and if I'm not, I'll just note that the least absurd outcome we had when simulating AI moderation (mostly for the sake of an academic exercise) on SV was banning all the staff.

In a review-based system, you check someone's work and approve it to the site upon verifying that it doesn't breach your content rules. Generally pretty simple, we used to do something like it on request. Unfortunately, if you do that, it can void your safe harbour protections in the US per Myeress vs. Buzzfeed Inc. This case, if you weren't aware, is why we stopped offering content review on SV. Suffice to say, it's not really a realistic option for anyone large enough for the courts to notice, and extremely clunky and unpleasant for the users, to boot.

Report-based systems, on the other hand, are something we use today — users find works they think are in breach and alert the moderation team to their presence with a report. On SV, this works pretty well — a user or users flag a work as potentially troublesome, moderation investigate it and either action it or reject the report. Unfortunately, AO3 is not SV. I'll get into the details of that dreadful beast known as scaling later, but thankfully we do have a much better comparison point — fanfiction.net (FFN).

FFN has had two great purges over the years, with a... mixed amount of content moderation applied in between: one in 2002 when the NC-17 rating was removed, and one in 2012. Both, ostensibly, were targeted at adult content. In practice, many fics that wouldn't raise an eye on Spacebattles today or Sufficient Velocity prior to 2018 were also removed; a number of reports suggest that something as simple as having a swearword in your title or summary was enough to get you hit, even if you were a 'T' rated work. Most disturbingly of all, there are a number of — impossible to substantiate — accounts of groups such as the infamous Critics United 'mass reporting' works to trigger a strike to get them removed. I would suggest reading further on places like Fanlore if you are unfamiliar and want to know more.

Despite its flaws however, report-based moderation is more-or-less the only option, and this segues neatly into the next piece of the puzzle that is content moderation, that is to say, the rubric. How do you decide what is, and what isn't against the rules of your site?

Anyone who's complained to the staff about how vague the rules are on SV may have had this explained to them, but as that is likely not many of you, I'll summarise: the more precise and clear-cut your chosen rubric is, the more it will inevitably need to resemble a legal document — and the less readable it is to the layman. We'll return to SV for an example here: many newer users will not be aware of this, but SV used to have a much more 'line by line, clearly delineated' set of rules and... people kind of hated it! An infraction would reference 'Community Compact III.15.5' rather than Rule 3, because it was more or less written in the same manner as the Terms of Service (sans the legal terms of art). While it was a more legible rubric from a certain perspective, from the perspective of communicating expectations to the users it was inferior to our current set of rules  — even less of them read it,  and we don't have great uptake right now.

And it still wasn't really an improvement over our current set-up when it comes to 'moderation consistency'. Even without getting into the nuts and bolts of "how do you define a racist work in a way that does not, at any point, say words to the effect of 'I know it when I see it'" — which is itself very, very difficult don't get me wrong I'm not dismissing this — you are stuck with finding an appropriate footing between a spectrum of 'the US penal code' and 'don't be a dick' as your rubric. Going for the penal code side doesn't help nearly as much as you might expect with moderation consistency, either — no matter what, you will never have a 100% correct call rate. You have the impossible task of writing a rubric that is easy for users to comprehend, extremely clear for moderation and capable of cleanly defining what is and what isn't racist without relying on moderator judgement, something which you cannot trust when operating at scale.

Speaking of scale, it's time to move on to the third prong — and the last covered in this ramble, which is more of a brief overview than anything truly in-depth — which is resources. Moderation is not a magic wand, you can't conjure it out of nowhere: you need to spend an enormous amount of time, effort and money on building, training and equipping a moderation staff, even a volunteer one, and it is far, far from an instant process. Our most recent tranche of moderators spent several months in training and it will likely be some months more before they're fully comfortable in the role — and that's with a relatively robust bureaucracy and a number of highly experienced mentors supporting them, something that is not going to be available to a new moderation branch with little to no experience. Beyond that, there's the matter of sheer numbers.

Combining both moderation and arbitration — because for volunteer staff, pure moderation is in actuality less efficient in my eyes, for a variety of reasons beyond the scope of this post, but we'll treat it as if they're both just 'moderators' — SV presently has 34 dedicated moderation volunteers. SV hosts ~785 million words of creative writing.

AO3 hosts ~32 billion.

These are some very rough and simplified figures, but if you completely ignore all the usual problems of scaling manpower in a business (or pseudo-business), such as (but not limited to) geometrically increasing bureaucratic complexity and administrative burden, along with all the particular issues of volunteer moderation... AO3 would still need well over one thousand volunteer moderators to be able to match SV's moderator-to-creative-wordcount ratio.

Paid moderation, of course, you can get away with less — my estimate is that you could fully moderate SV with, at best, ~8 full-time moderators, still ignoring administrative burden above the level of team leader. This leaves AO3 only needing a much more modest ~350 moderators. At the US minimum wage of ~$15k p.a. — which is, in my eyes, deeply unethical to pay moderators as full-time moderation is an intensely gruelling role with extremely high rates of PTSD and other stress-related conditions — that is approximately ~$5.25m p.a. costs on moderator wages. Their average annual budget is a bit over $500k.

So, that's obviously not on the table, and we return to volunteer staffing. Which... let's examine that scenario and the questions it leaves us with, as our conclusion.

Let's say, through some miracle, AO3 succeeds in finding those hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of volunteer moderators. We'll even say none of them are malicious actors or sufficiently incompetent as to be indistinguishable, and that they manage to replicate something on the level of or superior to our moderation tooling near-instantly at no cost. We still have several questions to be answered:

I could go on for a fair bit here, but this has already stretched out to over two thousand words.

I think the people behind this movement have their hearts in the right place and the sentiment is laudable, but in practice it is simply 'won't someone think of the children' in a funny hat. It cannot be done.

Even if you could somehow meet the bare minimum thresholds, you are simply not going to manage a ruleset of sufficient clarity so as to prevent a much-worse repeat of the 2012 FF.net massacre, you are not going to be able to manage a moderation staff of that size and you are not going to be able to ensure a coherent understanding among all your users (we haven't managed that after nearly ten years and a much smaller and more engaged userbase). There's a serious number of other issues I haven't covered here as well, as this really is just an attempt at giving some insight into the sheer number of moving parts behind content moderation:  the movement wants off-site content to be policed which isn't so much its own barrel of fish as it is its own barrel of Cthulhu; AO3 is far from English-only and would in actuality need moderators for almost every language it supports — and most damning of all,  if Section 230 is wiped out by the Supreme Court  it is not unlikely that engaging in content moderation at all could simply see AO3 shut down.

As sucky as it seems, the current status quo really is the best situation possible. Sorry about that.

SV presently has 34 dedicated moderation volunteers. SV hosts ~785 million words of creative writing.

AO3 hosts ~32 billion.

a late entry, but heavy contender for tik tok of the year

OK, so, this is weird.  

@dsudis just tipped me off that someone has copied Soldier’s Heart and published it through Kindle Unlimited.  It’s been up there since December 8 of this year.  

(There are a zillion books on Amazon called Soldier’s Heart, but this one is definitely mine–if you click through to the preview, it is literally just a cut-and-paste.)

Does anyone know what you’re supposed to do, when something like that happens?

I mean, this idiot didn’t even change the names, so I suppose Julian Fellowes/whoever owns the rights to Downton Abbey also has grounds to object to this.  

@thebibliosphere could probably give advice

Ah, I am wondering if this is the same person I just responded to via ask? If not we may have a bigger plagiarism issue at hand (again—it happens every few years.)

Best thing to do is report to Amazon (and any other hosting sites) immediately. Ao3 might also want to be made aware of it just for added legal clout.

Also, if you see or recognize any other authors, let them know so they can also report them and if necessary take legal action.

Otherwise name and shame. Find their socials and light them up. We do not take kindly to plagiarists profiting from fandom.

At least 2 of that “(Combat Series)” are straight copy pasted fics. The rest of them probably are too.

There’s over 500 books, most of them appear to be stolen. I retweeted the thread here.

The good news, after having looked at their catalog is that Plush Books published them all under Kindle Unlimited, which requires exclusivity. The mere fact that these works exist elsewhere online puts them in direct violation of KU terms and Amazon comes down on that hard.

It just requires a lot of reporting. Hopefully Amazon will see an influx of reports and axe the whole account.

Hey hey!

My friend Kokom, who uncovered the Romilly King plagiarism, started posted about this on Twitter yesterday. Kokom, @nickelkeep, and I made a server then (about Romilly) to try to track down plagiarism victims, and it’s been running full steam since yesterday tracking down affected authors and contacting them. I suspect indirectly that’s how you, op, ended up being pinged.

Kokom put together a template authors can use:

Hi,

I affirm under penalty of perjury that I am the author of the work posted at [FIC LINK] as a free-to-read story. Under statute 17 USC 512, Amazon has a legal obligation to take down [Author]’s [Book name] in response to a valid DMCA takedown notice by the author. According to this statute, if [Book] is not taken down, you are making Amazon liable to be sued. Please check with a manager to verify.

I don’t need to fill in my contact info just because Amazon wants it, and I don’t have to provide my home number and address to make my claim valid. I’ve written in the author’s note section of my fic that I haven’t given [Author] permission to use my work, which is proof enough that [Author] has stolen the work from someone, but if you’d like more proof, I can also email you screenshots of comments/kudos I’ve received from my readers from [year] and on that are still in my inbox.

Please take [Book] down.

/template

I hope this helps.

Also note that as far as we know currently Plush Books published all “their” (stolen, plagiarized) works on Barnes and Noble, too, so you’ll want to do take down notices in both places.

I’m usually the one who xposts Kokom’s discoveries to Tumblr (because they don’t use tumblr, they’re on Twitter) but I’m traveling so haven’t been able to, so apologies that my fucked up December schedule means there’s not more information on tumblr atm.

Their original tweet about it is here: https://twitter.com/KokomRoily/status/1603843494904270848?t=_ZRF47aGL1wZFdeAu7sROQ&s=19

And if you check their account you’ll see a lot of other information about the efforts they’ve spearheaded since they made their discovery of this plagiarism public. There are dozens kf effected fandoms, it’s insane how fucking lazy and shameless this/these assholes are.

More info Kokom posted on Discord after I said “help look at this tumblr post how should I answer it”

Step by step advice:

1. Go to: <https://aws.amazon.com/premiumsupport/knowledge-center/submit-dmca-notice/> and have a read.

2. Edit your fic A/N to reflect that you are not profiting from the work and it is not published anywhere other than (site).

3. If the copyright page has mentions FicLab, contact FicLabApp on Twitter or <https://www.ficlab.com/contact> to help block the person who downloaded it.

4. Send the text with “I affirm that…” to ec2-abuse@amazon.com or [email protected]

5. Email OTW about it, but they are already in the know about this and an influx of emails may make it harder for them to investigate.

6. If you spot copyrighted art, such as the SHIELD logo, Mandalorian helmet, or anything else, email the pictures and links to the copyright holder. If you recognize a small artist, contact the artist and have them file a DMCA request.

(Yes, Plush literally used Disney’s trademarked SHIELD logo on a book. Whoever did this is also an idiot)

Fandoms spotted from covers alone: Doctor Who, lots of Star Trek, Predator, lots of Pacific Rim, Twilight (or similar), Sherlock, Stargate, Marvel, especially stucky, Star Wars, Witcher, Alien, Transformers, Hannibal, James Bond, Pokemon, lots of zombies.

Basically if you write sci-fi in particular, you might want to go see if your stuff has been stolen. 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Plush-Books/author/B0BMB1RG5J/allbooks

There’s a spreadsheet with all the identified stories, contacted authors, etc., here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nrkEQzKOjn1siNuDIKL97PbESrmWfV-gpQEugVagx7o/edit?usp=drivesdk

It’s really just a fuckton of people, across at least 5 different posting platforms (AO3, FF.net, Wattpad, Quotev, LJ…).

Afaik over 400 of the works have now been ided and authors contacted if possible, out of just under 550 works.

Protect your fanfic from AI scrapers on AO3

You might be seeing AO3 writers lock down their fics so they’re only viewable to registered users. I suggest you do the same. Supposedly it’s likely that AO3 is being scraped to train AI “writing assistants” like Sudowrite–basically, the same thing that happened to visual artists with AI generated art is now being attempted with writing.

AO3 is aware of this and trying to do something about it. You don’t need to submit duplicate tickets about it.

To lock all your AO3 works at once:

Then let it think. If you have lots of works, just let it do its thing for a moment and then check to make sure the little lock icon appears on each work.

Users will have to be logged in to read your works, now. Give AO3 some time. They know how to help us and I have confidence that they’ll enact protections if it’s possible to do so.

You’ve heard* of the fraternities Pi Kappa Alpha… Sigma Alpha Epsilon… Beta Theta Phi…… but what about…

🪢 ALPHA BETA OMEGA 🪢 ?

→ GET YOUR ABΩ FRATERNITY MERCH HERE

𝓑𝓸𝓷𝓾𝓼: Order this weekend (October 22-23) and use discount code FALL22RUSH for 10% off!

*I googled “most popular fraternities” for these names.

I PROMISED YOU FOOLISHNESS…….. HERE IT IS. Fun fact. I have been sitting on this idea for minimum 6 years (there is proof). I have finally made good and/or given in and/or fallen to darkness etc. I will be around all day to take questions, or see below FAQ.

FAQ

Q: Why would you do this. A: I am VERY funny.

Q: Are you even into omegaverse? A: Look. I am a Fandom Person. I’m not too good for omegaverse. Omegaverse is, whether you like it or not, one of the PRIMARY LEGACIES OF OUR PEOPLE. This is our CULTURE. This is one of our MARKS LEFT UPON THE WORLD……especially if you were a Supernatural fan, like, damn. It’s horny. It’s funny. It’s weird. Be proud!!!! Personally I am HONORED to represent this beautiful tradition.

Q: Okay, maybe YOU aren’t, but I’M too good for omegaverse. A: No you’re not, and it’s embarrassing to watch you lie to yourself like that.

Q: Where would I wear this??? A: First of all, streetwear right now is all about weird t-shirts, so jot that down. These are part of a hot new drop from an indie streetwear brand, and you can tell anyone who asks I said so. Also, situational suggestions are in the original post.

Q: You’re serious? A: Deadly. Love you. Don’t forget to use the discount code “FALL22RUSH” this weekend Oct. 22-23 for 10% off. xoxo

A strong start. 

Reminds me of this I found a couple days ago

Explain? Please?

1. Battle Angel Alita manga gains popularity outside of Japan

2. James Cameron reads said manga

3. Cameron, hot off a successful movie run, is inspired while at the same time wanting to create a show

4. Creates and writes show Dark Angel, casting Jensen Ackles in a reoccurring supporting role

5. Show about genetically enhanced characters features “heat” as something characters go through

6. Show gets canceled after 2 seasons. Jensen Ackles is now unemployed.

7. Supernatural airs 3 years later, with Jensen Ackles as the main character

8. RPF becomes massively popular for the show to avoid the main incest pairing with canon characters

9. Fanfic AU inspired by Ackle’s stint on Dark Angel morphs multiple existing tropes, creating first official ABO (omegaverse) story for Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki

10. Omegaverse becomes wildly popular, spreading across multiple fandoms and variations

11. Omegaverse novels begin to get published, including by Addison Cain and Zoey Ellis who both wrote het omegaverse novels

12. Cain files DMCA against Ellis, with Cain claiming to have invented het omegaverse

13. Lawsuit finds its way to court, becoming the Omegaverse Litigation case, and bringing omegaverse to the public’s knowledge

Yes, and, this?  This is actually what an “if you liked that, maybe you’ll like this!” algorithm is trying to replicate, in its own clumsy way.  The basic idea is that, if you like Thing X, then you may like other things that people who liked Thing X also liked.  

Only the algorithm has no actual reasoning ability, or understanding of what it’s doing--it’s just wandering around bumping into things, looking for patterns that sorta match.  Like a sack of ferrets tracking a scent trail through a department store, and the store is trying to tell you that the ferrets are highly skilled personal shoppers.

AO3, on the other hand, is set up so that you can find out directly from other human beings who like Thing X, what else they liked.  It probably wouldn’t work in a department store--hence the sack-of-ferrets system--but fandom is a gift economy, so it does.  

come get ya juice