Awholelottayeehaw - Howdy, Ya'll

Mandalorian Fandom P.S.A.

Just a reminder to everyone out there that claiming Mando's name is Djarin Din is very Euro-centric and until Dave and John confirm what is and is not a surname for our favorite Himbo Dad, it's extremely unfair to say what is and is not canon regarding his name when it's colonizing a space that's meant to be safe for everyone. If you WANT to call him by either or and that's your headcanon, that's fine, but I'm getting real tired of seeing fellow non-white/Euro based friends getting shut down for sticking with Din and inviting immature fans into their safe spaces to peacefully educate them. Ya'll, do better.

I'm an educator and I'm currently considering a different occupation because I can't afford shit. The most infuriating thing is all of this listed above and then people having the audacity to look you in the eye and thank you for the work you do and how blessed teachers are. Or being told that it's a "thankless profession and people aren't teachers for the pay, they're there for the good of children everywhere." A big ol' Fuck You to everyone who has said that to me with a smile on their faces but still don't think we deserve more than what we get.

ok yeah I am actually very concerned about the mandalorian.

because if everything I’m hearing/seeing is true….they are taking the whole series/story away from the central character in a way that feels, in my opinion, like it’s happening far too abruptly and far too soon.

for many people, maybe most people, din’s story was the one that mattered. For that to be wrapped up so shortly without a truly satisfying ending to his character in pursuit of covering other characters that the casual viewer hasn’t been given enough back story for yet….it just feels incredibly disappointing and like such a gravity shattering let down for literally the SW universe’s most popular show. And if Pedro is actually going to leave and leading to the character leaving focus…I don’t think people will ever care as much as they once did.

I did not expect this for this show and it feels like such a blaster wound to the chest. I’m so sad and I do not for the life of me understand how or why this is the direction they are choosing to take to end this character’s incredible potential.

I hope it’s rumors. But the more we find out the more I’m like ….wow they’re really crushing it just like that.

Y'know, I see a lot of posts urging people to comment on fics, so I just want to say, to all the people who do comment, and especially the long commenters:

thank you.

Long comments can be time-consuming. They can be difficult to write, but you leave them anyway!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who comments.

You are the highlight of fanfiction writers' days.

people who discover a fic and leave a comment on every chapter as they read it are the unsung heroes of our era. 

okay but nessie was given the scientific name nessiteras rhombopteryx so she’d be included in the conservation of wild creatures and wild plants act of ‘75.

it’s a felony to shoot bigfoot in washington state.

the human race has sent out messages to the stars, hoping that any extraterrestrials who hear will accept our offer of friendship.

ghost hunters extend their sympathy to the souls of murder victims and bring along items that the spirits loved in life.

I think there’s something very human about the desire to believe in the paranormal. we don’t know if any of these things truly exist, but we make the offer of friendship and protection anyway. I just think it’s really lovely in its own ridiculous way.

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.

Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.

Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.

In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.

In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That’s all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don’t have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:

I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.

In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy’s URL. You’ll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word “product,” as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it’s correct.

Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the “I have read and accept the statements” box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.

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!

It’s weird to me how many places I’ve been/worked that have a strict ban on peanut products for allergen risks, even when no one there has a peanut allergy—yet imposes no restrictions for allergies that employees actively do have. Like you can’t have a peanut butter candy bar anywhere on the premises despite no one there being sensitive to it, but you CAN store your shellfish tree nut products in the staff fridge next to the lunch of the employee with a deathly allergy…