Im Not Even In Fandom But After Seeing Small Artists Getting Harassed On Twitter For Things Like This

im not even in fandom but after seeing small artists getting harassed on twitter for things like this . i couldn’t agree more

I'm allowed to find the interest in incest and underaged shipping a huge red flag and to compare that to religious brainwashing? Especially seeing as I'm someone who is a CSA survivor and survivor of religous abuse? That's vile.

The obsession with other people's shipping is the red flag part. It's not a red flag to dislike some kinds of stories, or to find them disgusting, or to believe that there's something wrong with the people who write or read them.

The problems come when they decided they, personally, have been appointed to "fix the problems" in the fannish community... and target marginalized creators instead of the institutions that those creators are reacting to.

(See them NOT holding protests against Game of Thrones. See them not "cancelling" anyone with an HBO subscription.) (HBO-Max costs about $120/year, but there's no threats against people who pay for that instead of donating to AO3.)

The similarities to religious brainwashing come in when they build communities based on a shared hatred of other people's activities, and go out of their way to (1) harass other people and (2) treat each other as the only good, noble, pure fanfic readers.

Notice the antis NOT reaching out to the Mil-SF communities that don't want any shipping in their fics, just tech and space battles. Notice them not talking to the mainstream romance communities that want non-problematic, happily-ever-after stories. They're not looking for people who share their interests or taste in fiction. They're looking for targets, and they're using that search as a way to force their own members into isolation.

They will insist it's not like religious brainwashing because there is no specific canon, no core scriptures, no specific leaders.

...But the patterns of isolation, abuse, and harassment are absolutely the same kind you find in religious cults.

Just a bunch of useful websites

12ft – Hate paywalls? Try this site out.

My Fridge Food – No idea what to make? Tell this site what ingredients you have on hand and it will give you recipes to cook.

Project Gutenberg – Always ends up on these type of lists and for very good reason. All works that are copyright free in one place.

Ninite – New PC? Install all of your programs in one go with no bloat or unnecessary crap.

Unchecky – Tired of software trying to install additional unwanted programs? This will stop it completely by unchecking the necessary boxes when you install.

Sci-Hub – Research papers galore! Check here before shelling out money. And if it’s not here, try the next link in our list.

LibGen – Lots of free PDFs relate primarily to the sciences.

Zotero – A free and easy to use program to collect, organize, cite and share research.

Car Complaints – Buying a used car? Check out what other owners of the same model have to say about it first.

CamelCamelCamel – Check the historical prices of items on Amazon and set alerts for when prices drop.

Have I Been Pawned – Still the king when it comes to checking if your online accounts have been released in a data breach. Also able to sign up for email alerts if you’ve ever a victim of a breach.

Radio Garden – Think Google Earth but wherever you zoom, you get the radio station of that place.

Just The Recipe – Paste in the url and get just the recipe as a result. No life story or adverts.

Tineye – An Amazing reverse image search tool.

My 90s TV – Simulates 90’s TV using YouTube videos. Also has My80sTV, My70sTV, My60sTV and for the younger ones out there, My00sTV. Lose yourself in nostalgia.

Foto Forensics – Free image analysis tools.

Old Games Download – A repository of games from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Get your fix of nostalgia here.

Online OCR – Convert pictures of text into actual text and output it in the format you need.

Remove Background – An amazingly quick and accurate way to remove backgrounds from your pictures.

Twoseven – Allows you to sync videos from providers such as Netflix, Youtube, Disney+ etc and watch them with your friends. Ad free and also has the ability to do real time video and text chat.

Coolors – Struggling to get a good combination of colors? This site will generate color palettes for you.

This To That – Need to glue two things together? This’ll help.

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ID Ransomware – Ever get ransomware on your computer? Use this to see if the virus infecting your pc has been cracked yet or not. Potentially saving you money. You can also sign up for email notifications if your particular problem hasn’t been cracked yet.

Way Back Machine – The Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and loads more.

Rome2Rio – Directions from anywhere to anywhere by bus, train, plane, car and ferry.

Splitter – Seperate different audio tracks audio. Allowing you to split out music from the words for example.

myNoise – Gives you beautiful noises to match your mood. Increase your productivity, calm down and need help sleeping? All here for you.

DeepL – Best language translation tool on the web.

Forvo – Alternatively, if you need to hear a local speaking a word, this is the site for you.

What is a magic system?

When writing speculative fiction, one of the writer’s most important jobs is to establish the new rules for their world. In many branches of speculative fiction, especially fantasy and even horror, this is magic, though it can also be technology and alternate scientific rules for science fiction. Whatever alternate fact(s) or reality you utilize to make your fictional world possible, that qualifies as a “magic system.” Your magic system is most often defined by what it can’t do rather than by what it can.

Why do I need a magic system?

When writing speculative fiction, it’s usually assumed that something about your world is different than ours. That can be a small tweak or it can be a complete dismantle-and-reassembly of physics as we understand it. Whatever system you choose to implement, it needs to have internally consistent rules. If, throughout the course of your book, magics begin to contradict each other, then it will disturb your readers suspension of disbelief. You don’t want your awesome magic to yank your readers from the believability of the story. But…most important of all…you have to establish some sort of rules and limits in order to prevent yourself from pulling a deus ex machina. No one likes a poorly executed deus ex machina. Few people like a well executed one (is there such a thing?). If you have rules, limits, cost, built into the magic or technology of your world, then you establish something that is not only nuanced and interesting, but believable.

But…but…it’s magic!!!

Why write speculative fiction if I have to create and follow all of these tedious rules?! The real world has rules enough.

It’s true. But following your own rules and following real worlds aren’t the same thing. Lots of you have probably heard the little saying, “Give your world a Flux Capacitor.” If you think about it, Back to the Future’s Flux Capacitor doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s not explained. But we accept it because it’s magic. And when Doc says, “Here’s this thing. It makes time travel possible.” We accept it because it’s a simple alteration. He doesn’t try to use it to do more than what is initially established. It never breaks that rule. It’s not used to get Marty out of an impossible situation, defying any previous understanding of the technology. That’s why it works.

So where you do start?

First, you need to probably choose what type of magic you will use. Will be elements based? Or energy based? Spirit? Physical? Time and Space? What things is your magic summoning/manipulating/drawing from?

Now you’ll want to focus on the parts that make your magic yours. Sure, elemental magic has been used half a zillion times, but it can still be interesting if you do something new with it. The best way to do something new is to alter its limits, change the cost, give it a new spin that makes your regular ol’ fire magic something intriguing.

You can do a little bit of research into ancient forms of magic, into other literary uses of magic. See what those before you have done and use it as an inspiration.

If you’re having trouble knowing where to start, I’m here to provide you some thoughts concerning the skeletal-assembly of your magic system! Use these prompts as you see fit!

What does magic use/alter/manipulate?

visible energies

gravity

laws of physics

light

thought

water, only, in all of its forms

fabric of space

elementary particles

items of specific color or texture

perception

plant life

the dead

blood

magnetic forces

demons

vibrations

earth

emotions

Who possesses magic?

scholars

children

random lucky people

anyone

everyone

the elderly

anyone who’s ever petted a dog

specific animals

deities

How is it acquired?

at birth

intense study and training

gifted

through random action

through a ritual

as one ages

stolen

From where is power drawn?

internal mana

heat energy

alignment of the stars

physical contact with _____ (the earth, another life force, a drawing or rune)

kinetic or potential energy

the moon(s)

other realms

movement of tectonic plates

spiritual energy of those nearby

consumption of specific foods/drinks/elements

Check out the rest of the Brainstorming Series! Magic Systems, Part Two New Species New Worlds Cultures Civilizations Map Making Politics and Government Belief Systems & Religion Guilds, Factions, & Groups War & Conflict Science & Technology Wildlife & Ecosystems History & Lore

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tinkeroni

4 years ago