Reblogging To Keep Like A Post It Note

im guilty of having those huge blanks everywhere, but I like it in other fics so i kept it that way (safer to have too much blank space than something too wall-of-text-y was the reasoning), if any of my readers are here do tell which version (small or big paragraph break) you prefer 🖤

StripAllEmpties: Remove extra blank paragraphs from AO3 works

When you're reading on AO3, you may encounter fanworks that have lots of empty space between each paragraph.

AO3's help text (select the question mark at the top of the main text field when posting or editing a work) says this:

If you have two blank lines in a row between paragraphs, we will add extra whitespace in for you (with <p>&nbsp;</p>).

The site can't tell the difference between when a creator intends to add extra spaces (some people use blank paragraphs as scene break markers, instead of the <hr /> line code or text symbols) and when they do it by accident. Which means that there are a lot of AO3 works with unintentionally large spacing that can be hard to read, especially on mobile.

AO3's Unofficial Browser Tools FAQ links to the StripEmpties bookmarklet by carene-waterman as a solution for readers who dislike these empty spaces. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on all fics. This is because StripEmpties looks for the code <p>&nbsp;</p> (a paragraph containing a single non-breaking space) – and nothing but this code. Which means if there's an empty paragraph with two spaces in it, or one that's actually made up of a bunch of line breaks, those paragraphs won't get hidden.

That's why I made my own version of the StripEmpties bookmarklet. This one looks for paragraphs that contain nothing but whitespace – regular spaces ( ), non-breaking spaces (&nbsp;), empty line breaks (<br />), etc. – and hides them from view temporarily.

This is the code for what I'm calling the StripAllEmpties bookmarklet:

javascript: void(function (){var paragraphs = document.querySelectorAll('#workskin p');for (const para of paragraphs){if (!/\S/.test(para.innerText)){para.style.display = 'none'}}})();

Bookmarklets can be used on any browser or device. To add a bookmarklet to your browser, the easiest way I've found is to create a new browser bookmark of any random page (by selecting the bookmark/star/heart/etc. icon on your browser) and then edit the bookmark to replace the URL with the bookmarklet code. (You should also change the name of the bookmarklet too.) Save your changes, and you're done!

You can use the bookmarklet by going to any AO3 work, opening your bookmarks folder, and selecting the StripAllEmpties bookmarklet. If there were any blank paragraphs in the work, they will now be removed.

The bookmarklet's effect is temporary. If you want to bring the spaces back, all you have to do is refresh the page.

I hope this helps! Happy reading.

In celebration of the publication day of The Hobbit (September 21, 1937), I would like to submit for your consideration the cover art from the 1970 Dutch edition. Just look at that Bilbo.

love it lol- I went crazy with the reasoning in the comments - I believe the 2 best ways are Galadriel or a Nazgul

:(

if you ended up on my tumblr, you might like this :

i found the shop on insta (@ / silverdragontees) but they don't have a tumblr (is this proper tumblr etiquette to screen it like this????) either way it's cursed so obviously I ordered one

all RIGHT:

Why You're Writing Medieval (and Medieval-Coded) Women Wrong: A RANT

(Or, For the Love of God, People, Stop Pretending Victorian Style Gender Roles Applied to All of History)

This is a problem I see alllll over the place - I'll be reading a medieval-coded book and the women will be told they aren't allowed to fight or learn or work, that they are only supposed to get married, keep house and have babies, &c &c.

If I point this out ppl will be like "yes but there was misogyny back then! women were treated terribly!" and OK. Stop right there.

By & large, what we as a culture think of as misogyny & patriarchy is the expression prevalent in Victorian times - not medieval. (And NO, this is not me blaming Victorians for their theme park version of "medieval history". This is me blaming 21st century people for being ignorant & refusing to do their homework).

Yes, there was misogyny in medieval times, but 1) in many ways it was actually markedly less severe than Victorian misogyny, tyvm - and 2) it was of a quite different type. (Disclaimer: I am speaking specifically of Frankish, Western European medieval women rather than those in other parts of the world. This applies to a lesser extent in Byzantium and I am still learning about women in the medieval Islamic world.)

So, here are the 2 vital things to remember about women when writing medieval or medieval-coded societies

FIRST. Where in Victorian times the primary axes of prejudice were gender and race - so that a male labourer had more rights than a female of the higher classes, and a middle class white man would be treated with more respect than an African or Indian dignitary - In medieval times, the primary axis of prejudice was, overwhelmingly, class. Thus, Frankish crusader knights arguably felt more solidarity with their Muslim opponents of knightly status, than they did their own peasants. Faith and age were also medieval axes of prejudice - children and young people were exploited ruthlessly, sent into war or marriage at 15 (boys) or 12 (girls). Gender was less important.

What this meant was that a medieval woman could expect - indeed demand - to be treated more or less the same way the men of her class were. Where no ancient legal obstacle existed, such as Salic law, a king's daughter could and did expect to rule, even after marriage.

Women of the knightly class could & did arm & fight - something that required a MASSIVE outlay of money, which was obviously at their discretion & disposal. See: Sichelgaita, Isabel de Conches, the unnamed women fighting in armour as knights during the Third Crusade, as recorded by Muslim chroniclers.

Tolkien's Eowyn is a great example of this medieval attitude to class trumping race: complaining that she's being told not to fight, she stresses her class: "I am of the house of Eorl & not a serving woman". She claims her rights, not as a woman, but as a member of the warrior class and the ruling family. Similarly in Renaissance Venice a doge protested the practice which saw 80% of noble women locked into convents for life: if these had been men they would have been "born to command & govern the world". Their class ought to have exempted them from discrimination on the basis of sex.

So, tip #1 for writing medieval women: remember that their class always outweighed their gender. They might be subordinate to the men within their own class, but not to those below.

SECOND. Whereas Victorians saw women's highest calling as marriage & children - the "angel in the house" ennobling & improving their men on a spiritual but rarely practical level - Medievals by contrast prized virginity/celibacy above marriage, seeing it as a way for women to transcend their sex. Often as nuns, saints, mystics; sometimes as warriors, queens, & ladies; always as businesswomen & merchants, women could & did forge their own paths in life

When Elizabeth I claimed to have "the heart & stomach of a king" & adopted the persona of the virgin queen, this was the norm she appealed to. Women could do things; they just had to prove they were Not Like Other Girls. By Elizabeth's time things were already changing: it was the Reformation that switched the ideal to marriage, & the Enlightenment that divorced femininity from reason, aggression & public life.

For more on this topic, read Katherine Hager's article "Endowed With Manly Courage: Medieval Perceptions of Women in Combat" on women who transcended gender to occupy a liminal space as warrior/virgin/saint.

So, tip #2: remember that for medieval women, wife and mother wasn't the ideal, virgin saint was the ideal. By proving yourself "not like other girls" you could gain significant autonomy & freedom.

Finally a bonus tip: if writing about medieval women, be sure to read writing on women's issues from the time so as to understand the terms in which these women spoke about & defended their ambitions. Start with Christine de Pisan.

I learned all this doing the reading for WATCHERS OF OUTREMER, my series of historical fantasy novels set in the medieval crusader states, which were dominated by strong medieval women! Book 5, THE HOUSE OF MOURNING (forthcoming 2023) will focus, to a greater extent than any other novel I've ever yet read or written, on the experience of women during the crusades - as warriors, captives, and political leaders. I can't wait to share it with you all!

not a silmarillion girly but this guy in my tarot deck looks just like a character i keep seeing on my dash from the silm fanart accounts

Hey rarepair shippers, I'm about to change your lives.

The AO3 Primary Ship Search add-on for Firefox (it's called AO3 First Tag Search for Chrome) adds this little checkbox to the AO3 advanced search page

And if you check the box, the search only returns fics where the pairing you entered is the first one tagged. This is better than the otp:true operator imo because it will show fics with secondary/background pairings too as long as your preferred ship is the main one.

You can even use the add-on in Firefox or Kiwi browser on Android mobile.

Have fun 😘

(more ao3 tips here)

can't wait to see another poll with more info / another post for my love of irl-useless statistics

because i'm interested

feel free to put in the tags how long you've had your account, how many fandoms they're for, etc