Sweet, Sweet Angst

What the past couple days have felt like

I...I have no words. This is horrible.

I got this comment on a story from my Other AO3 Account this morning.

(Info redacted because I prefer keeping these accounts separate but no one follows me on the side blog I have for that account.)

The story was posted almost a year ago and is relatively “popular” by my average statistics even though it has tropes and themes that are big turnoffs for a lot of people (hence separate accounts). This popularity is undoubtedly because it’s a Marvel Loki story and that fandom is massive.

So there is obviously an algorithm or a bot scrubbing ao3 statistics and leaving this comment on fics that meet a certain metric with the main character of the fic inserted into the comment.

I had a little time to kill this morning so I decided to investigate further. And y’all this is so predatory. Come on this journey with me. It made me mad. It may make you mad.

First, if you go to Webnovel’s website, you HAVE to choose between male lead or female lead stories before you can go any further. WTF?

And that’s weird, but this gets so much worse. This is basically a pay-to-read site that has different subscription models. Which… okay BUT! The authors don’t get paid! Look at that comment again. They’re promising a supportive and nurturing community, but zero monetary compensation. It’s basically, “post your stuff here so we can get paid and you can get… nice vibes?” I mean look at this Orwellian writing:

Using the phrase “pay-to-read model” in the same sentence as “qualitative changes in lifestyles for authors” deliberately makes you think that you can get paid and maybe even make a living on this website. But that’s not actually what it says and authors will not receive one red cent.

Oh but wait, the worst is still to come. In case this breaks containment (which I kind of hope it does) this is where I mention that I’m a lawyer in the US.

I don’t do intellectual property or copyright law but I do read and write contracts for a living. So I went to look at their terms of service. It was fun!

Highlights the first, in which Webnovel gets a license to do basically whatever they want with content you post on their site. This is how they get to be paid for people reading authors’ writing without paying them anything.

Highlights the second, in which Webnovel takes no responsibility for illegally profiting off of fan fic. This all says that the writer is 100% responsible for everything the writer posts (even though only Webnovel is making money from it).

Highlights the third which say that by posting, the author is representing that they have the legal right to use and to let Webnovel use the content according to these terms. So if a writer posts fan fiction and Webnovel makes money from people reading the fan fiction, and the House of the Mouse catches wise, these sections say that that’s ALL on the writer.

So that’s a little skeevy to start off with but the thing that is seriously shitty and made me make this post was that these assholes are coming to ao3. They are actively recruiting people in comments on their fan fiction. And they are saying they are big fans of the character you’re writing about and that they share your interests.

They are recruiting fan fiction writers and giving every impression that you can make money from posting fan fiction on their site and hiding the fact that you absolutely cannot but they can make money off of you while you try, deep in their terms of service which no one but a lawyer who writes fan fic and has some time to kill will read.

I see posts on here regularly from people who don’t understand how this stuff works, don’t understand that they (and others) can not legally make a financial profit from fan fiction. And there are tons of people who will not take the time to dig into the details.

Don’t deal with these bastards. Fuck Webnovel.

Please help to promote this ship!

Ravenclaw x Slytherin

So I just saw the Miraculous Movie and-

I'm a hardcore lukanette shipper

But Jeremy Zag got me hooked on the love square?! Their dynamic felt so natural, ladynoir and adrinette were handled at a nice pace, and their filler moments did not felt like filler.

Also the animation is top-notch, the characters look gorgeous, most of the songs were amazing (especially the tikki-marinette duo), it made Paris feel alive unlike the series

SPOILERS AHEAD

And did I mention how they managed Gabriel and Chloe??

The mean girl joke stays the mean girl joke without baiting us with a redemption arc and then deconstruct it. Granted, the movie couldn't have accommodate it in two hours, but still, it's greatly appreciated.

And sure, tragic backstory doesn't justify terrorism, but unlike the series has done twice, Gabriel actually shows emotions? And cares about his son???!

Hopefully they make a sequel.

I don't get how you can ship Lumity and be biphobic at the same time...

Some of you guys like to pretend Luz is a lesbian and leave the most biphobic and braindead comments on Lunter posts. This might be a really hard concept for you idiots to grasp, but a bisexuals sexuality doesn't change depending on who we're dating.

It's also very weird of you to assume Hunter is straight. You assholes like to complain about Lunter shippers (and the ship itself) being "heteronormative", but then label the kid with an unspecified sexuality as straight by default. Very, very strange.

Luz likes boys, this is something that will never change no matter how many deranged comments you leave on Lunter posts. And Luz isn't a lesbian just because she's dating one.

Cry about it, but most importantly leave people who like harmless pairings alone. Especially us bisexual fans who have different tastes for pairings than you.

;)

Hey, so I've been searching endlessly for a hayffie fic on ao3, but it seems to elude me. If anyone can help me to find it, I'd be really grateful.

The premise was that the rebellion happened not on the third quarter quell, but at the second one. Five/six years later, the rebels won and made a final hunger games for the capitol children, and Haymitch ends up as Effie's mentor.

"Haymitch was furious. Dr. Trinket was a good man"

Snow's granddaughter, who I'm pretty sure was named Cassandra, was also in the games. Effie kills her with a mahogany branch.

After Effie wins, she goes to travel around with her father and then returns to Haymitch

"You did promised to take me on a date"

Then they settle down and have a daughter

It was published somewhere around 2015 and 2022, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere in ao3.

For actual adult Scooby Doo they needed 2 things:

Bisexuality

On screen tax fraud. Like why do you think they're always in that van. They're Howl Pendragoning.

Shot out to my therapist for gaslighting me into believing my emotions are valid. I think is working

most people continue to watch all of miraculous ladybug and hope that adrien and marinette get together at the end. i watch every episode of season 4 once, violently hate it and pretend it doesn't exists and live the rest of my life in denial and pretending luka and marinette are endgame

Honestly, the most difficult part of college comes down to your ability to bullshit your way through an essay