Please Signal Boost - Blog Posts

As a British person living with severe M.E., (plus fibromyalgia and some other issues), I would ask that you please sign and share this petition to get Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust to make accommodations for Alice Barrett, who has very severe M.E. and P.O.T.S. and is currently being treated in Exeter Hospital.

They are refusing to feed her via a nasogastric tube in such a way that takes into account her specific needs - and despite an M.E. specialist saying it's safe to do so - because it isn't in accordance with their hospital guidelines.

Alice needs help, so that she can be fed in a way that won't compromise her health, and potentially permanently worsen her symptoms.

Please sign and share this petition!

Petition · Save Alice Barrett's Life · Change.org

Edit: I paid to blaze this post, so it would reach as many people as possible, but sadly, the Tumblr moderators have rejected this, so this post is not sponsored as I intended - I don't know why. If Alice's family and friends see this post, please know that I tried! 🤷🏻‍♀️

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!

listen up people, there's another fascist in office.

just saw the post @transit-fag made about it, and they're right. nixon didn't even survive two full terms in office, and hopefully it'll happen again with trump. hopefully, either the motherfucker will keel over and die, or he will be impeached. so don't give up hope.

but most importantly...

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!!

stay strong, stay safe. be involved in community and take care of yourselves. hell, if your reading this right now, go drink some water and eat something. take meds if you have them. take a nap, or if your too nervous for that, turn on a comfort movie (mine personally is toy story two) or draw if your an artist. hell, if your a writer like me, then go write something. cuddle with your partner or family member or a pet on the couch and just rest for a bit. hang out with your friends, video call family (if your on good terms). you know that message you got from an old friend inviting you out? go answer it and have fun with them. complete old classwork assignments, boost your grade. get started on that one thing you've been procrastinating on for months.

and remember,

YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN YOUR STRUGGLES

Suicide Prevention Hotline: 988

The Trevor Project Hotline: 1-866-488-7386

& Donate to them here

-------------------------------------------

Stay Safe, Stay Strong, Don't Lose Hope, and know that You Are Not Alone.

-dewwy

(mutuals of whom i love and adore /p, please signal boost this via reblogging!!!)

@ionlypostmymeemocs @constablequodo @fieryrainbowss @crowofwisdom @candle5000 @z1ish @littlesilentrebel @thehistoriantype @bjfinn @mr-bumbleberry @clown-college-honor-roll @pastelstxr @angeleyesys