Funk, Fiction, & Fandom

Like this young person didn't even know about goddamn Gutenberg which is a SHAME. I linked to it and they went "aw yiss time to do a theft" and I was like "I mean yo ho ho and all that, sure, but. you know gutenberg is entirely legal, right?"

Project Gutenberg is a gigantic collection of books that are in the public domain.  You can read the books through the site or you can download them in various formats so you can get the format you prefer for your eReader of choice.

It is free. 

It is legal.

I was reviewing the list of the top 100 books downloaded yesterday and I saw a fair few that I had to read for college classes - so if you’re a college student and your professor assigns you to read Plato or any number of older works, check here before you buy a copy.

If you look at the first reblog from me I also recommended a few other resources, most of which were from www.archive.org, home of the Wayback Machine! They run openlibrary.org, where you can check out ebooks of some public domain titles! They even have the Bone series by Jeff Smith!

And archive.org itself has all kinds of public domain media including music and movies! For Dracula fans, here's a radio show adaptation of the book, starring Orson Welles! And here's a 1920 movie adaptation of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," starring John Barrymore, the grandfather of Drew Barrymore!

lots of writers and publishers are prepared to waive future profits for entirely petty reasons

because of this the entire works of Philip K Dick [petty writer who found himself with lots of hangers on during his life] and HP Lovecraft [his publisher - who was his wife and hated him] became public domain on their death

Sherlock Holmes entered public domain this year, it's always worth checking because you can save a fortune

book is old because it’s in

the public domain

LibriVox has free public domain audiobooks.

Public domain works in the US are:

Anything published (in the US) from 1927 or earlier (this number goes up every year for quite a while), and

Anything published between 1928 and 1963 that wasn't renewed, and

Anything published before 1989 without a proper copyright notice.

(Don't go looking for things in that third category unless you've studied a LOT about copyright law. Mostly that covers things like "weird little newsletters" and "self-published booklets" and sometimes fanzines. But most publications have a copyright notice in them.)

There's also some oddball exemptions here and there; copyright law is a tentacled mess. But those are the basic guidelines. (Except for audio. Audio has its own set of rules. It's weird.) (I mentioned tentacles, did I not? Double the amount of them you were thinking of.)

There are a lot of works from the 50s and early 60s that were not renewed, especially short stories published in magazines.

Okay hey…I’m back. And I think I’m through my Good Omens finale meltdown, thanks in large part to the absolutely feral Reddit community and the insane number of threads/comments/screaming I read through. 

It’s time to discuss interpretations, y’all, and all the sweet, cute, funny parts we did get. 

Let’s just acknowledge that from the beginning, our satisfaction in Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship was coming from the subtext, and the tiny actions. We’ve lived on those this whole time, and the finale stayed true to that. 

Like Crowley living in an alley so dramatically was very on brand, and the fact that they were overt about how much he went through to protect the bookshop is kind of everything. He said out loud “You weren’t here. I wasn’t going to lose this place as well.” But he was PERFECTLY FINE letting Bentley go, he’d even told the ridiculous gangster to take it without even playing the game. And we know how deeply he cares for the Bentley. 

Anthony J’Acts of Service’ Crowley, forever. It’s baby girl’s love language. And it’s his most solid announcement of feeling in the entire episode. It’s flawed, but it’s ours.

And Aziraphale being so excited about getting to come to Crowley’s rescue for once. And continuing to insist it was ‘our car’. “I’m rescuing you! And I’m liberating our Bentley!” In his own way proving that he can contribute, he can show he cares instead of letting Crowley do all the heavy lifting. Mrs. Sandwich wasn’t completely wrong when she said that he was a taker, but Crowley was happy to let him be that in their dynamic and he knew that, but things change. And it might have been a small thing, but it was a thing none the less. 

We also have solemnly acknowledge Crowley’s heaven look because it was fucking fire and if we take nothing else from this, we’ll always have that incredible outfit. I’m not entirely sure why it’s doing it for me but holy hell, it really, really is. The jacket, the pants, the boots, the color palette. Everything just…swoooon.

ALSO, holy crap Lord Slorch The Vile. Absolutely incredible. That was some of my favorite bickering of the finale; Aziraphale declaring he was a master of disguise and Crowley quick to argue, to then see his demon teeth and declaring, “Oh that’s actually rather good”. Why did that make my heart so happy? For once in the angel’s long life, he nailed it. 

And of course, the conversation wherein Aziraphale tells Crowley he chose to go to heaven BECAUSE of him. Telling him that Crowley had made him brave, made him want to stand up for what he believed in. Crowley has been slowly nudging him that way for literal centuries, never forcing, just little prods here and there. And I appreciate that he said it out loud, it was something Crowley absolutely needed to hear. 

I know it’s disappointing to not get some perfect declaration of their love but if you think about it, Aziraphale said more to Crowley about his feelings for him  in those 90 minutes than he probably ever did in their 6,000 year history. 

And this: “Why give me Crowley? Why make me complete and then take it away?” Crowley doesn’t even flinch at this, because he already knew. 

The more I think about it, both of them knew. Crowley said what he said in season two only because he wanted to stop Aziraphale from returning to heaven, not because he thought the angel didn’t know. All throughout the finale he keeps harping that Aziraphale chose heaven over him, now it feels like it was just about that singular choice, I don’t think it was about everything. 

He threw a fit, sure, but he protected the bookshop. He was angry that the entire game was fucking rigged, but I don’t think he ever doubted Aziraphale’s feelings for him.  When Aziraphale asked for his forgiveness he rolled his eyes because he’d already given it and Aziraphale knew that. He just wanted to hear it, because he’s also a dramatic bitch.

I’m coming around to the idea that their relationship was a lot more stable than we ever understood. And as much as I wanted the obvious romance, subtle is just their dynamic. And I have fanfic for the rest of it. 

Meanwhile, let’s talk ending interpretations. It’s devastating that they chose what they did, but I don’t think it’s out of character. Aziraphale had that whole speech about Crowley being an artist, that he just “wanted to understand, to make better art”, and a truly free universe is that better art, is that understanding. Crowley had been begging the angel to run away only because that felt like the remaining option in such a broken system. 

But when faced with a choice, a REAL choice, a REAL opportunity, I’m not surprised in the slightest that he wanted to give humanity what it deserved. Yes I know it won’t be the humanity Crowley knows, but that’s not the point. He just wants humans, any humans, to have an honest chance and I do think that’s really beautiful.

And that little finger kiss? I'll take it. It's like Aziraphale is giving back the moment he held onto since he left for heaven. And the smile on Crowley's face is everything.

I hate that it cost them their happy celestial ending, but I’ve seen some theories I really like: their love for each other and the world was the big bang for the new universe. Their souls are a part of it. They are born throughout human history and they find each other again and again. 

They may not have their memories, and that GUTS me, but I have to believe they’re tied together in every universe. We’ve always thought they were soul mates, this is just another version of that. 

And I do see Aziraphale and Crowley in Asa and Anthony. Asa wrings his hands while asking for Anthony’s number. The way Anthony yanks off his sunglasses when he enters the bookshop. Anthony has angel Crowley’s enthusiasm.  It’s them, just unburdened by six thousand years of fear and anguish and circumstance neither of them could escape. They have the opportunity to experience something that Crowley and Aziraphale never would have gotten to: uncomplicated love.

Anthony gets to express his love freely, they have their cottage, and we get little easter eggs like the snowglobe to let us know they're in there, somewhere.

I need Crowley and Aziraphale to be out there in the world eternally, and I choose to believe they still are. 

And as a lover of human AU’s, selfishly, I kind of love the idea of the multiverse being canon. 

I know everyone feels differently, and all of our feelings are valid. These two and this world became so big, so meaningful, and I just hope that the fandom can continue to love it, in any and all ways that make sense to us. I know I’m not going anywhere, what they’ve come to mean to me is too important to give up. 

It wasn’t perfect, but it’s what we have, and I’m thankful for that. Aziraphale and Crowley truly are the best of us.

Let’s start with a simple test. Click this link here: https://whatismyipaddress.com/ It will tell your IP adres, your ISP (internet service provider), and your location. The location might not be very accurate, but then again, it’s just a simple website. Imagine what the government can do!

So basically, everyone can find out where you live. But there is more danger. Your ISP. Your ISP logs your every move online and they are required to keep it in case the government wants access to it (or if a 3rd party wants to buy your data (yikes). They have everything. What websites you visit. How long you stay on a website. What you download. Your search terms. European laws are more subtle on this but if you are from the US you are #@*#&, especially because Trump doesn’t support the open internet. It’s scary but maybe in the future you can’t get a job because the recruiter knows your searched on ‘how to deal with depression’ or anythings else that’s supposed to be private because it’s your f*cking right. Or you get a $100k fine because you pirated a movie 15 years ago. You need a VPN. You’re dumb for not using one. but what does a VPN do?

A VPN encrypts all your data so if it were be intercepted no one can ‘crack the code’ and damage your privacy. 

Usually being online goes like this (simplified): Your computer —-> ISP (—–> keeps data —–> sells it)

But with a VPN it goes like: Your computer —–> VPN (encrypts data)—–> ISP (ISP can’t see shit)

Furthermore, a VPN hides your IP address and location by giving you another IP address located in Spain for example (you can often choose from a list and change as many times as you want).  

Now that you know why you should get a VPN and what is does it is important to educate yourself because people often choose the wrong VPN. VPN providers are also businesses and have to obey the law. If you choose a VPN provider located in the US then you are throwing your money away because the laws in the US shits on your privacy. If the US gov wants the provider to give all their logs they have to obey.  The ISP  still can’t see what you are doing online and sell your data but the US gov can interfere with your VPN provider so NEVER CHOOSE A PROVIDER LOCATED IN THE US. 

I just wanted to make that very clear so my followers don’t buy false security.

There is still more danger!  Who says your VPN provider isn’t selling your data? You need to check their logging policy. Do they keep logs? If yes, what for? For how long do they keep them? Tip: Choose a provider who doesn’t keep logs

More about law  The US is part of the Five Eyes program (the worst):  

The Five Eyes, often abbreviated as FVEY, is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are bound by the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence (source)

There is also a Nine Eyes (bit better) and Fourteen Eyes Program (better).  You don’t want a VPN provider who is located in one the Five Eyes countries.  If you had to choose go for a provider located in a country that’s part of the Fourteen Eyes Program or even better, go for a country that isn’t part of any program! 

I know this is a shitty explanation and please pardon my english but now it’s time to do your own research. Take your privacy seriously. Maybe WWIII breaks out and you get killed for liking the ‘wrong’ FB-page.  

Go to this website: https://thatoneprivacysite.net/simple-vpn-comparison-chart/

Make sure that your future VPN provider both has green boxes for Privacy Jurisdiction and Privacy Logging. 

I recommend ovpn.se and trust.zone. ovpn is located in Sweden so they are part of the 14 Eyes Program and they keep minimal logs. Their business ethics, however, are alright. 

Trustzone is located in the Seychelles. No country can interfere and their privacy jurisdiction is the best you can get. The US want your data but needs to get it from Trustzone? The Seychelles will simply give them the finger and wave them goodbye. However, this makes this provider very appealing for people who torrent and criminals because they keep no logs (and that is how it shoud be) Also,  there are almost no marketing efforts so this provider is one the cheapest)

Also, often providers such as ExpressVPN are being called ‘The Best’ on websites about VPNs but know that this is just marketing which also makes those provider more expensive (and they too shit on your privacy)

This must be the worst article you have ever read but please, please take your privacy very seriously.

Trust.Zone has a free trial. Use it. 

btw this post only has 11k notes? That’s quite disappointing for something this important. 

Sources

Anger as US internet privacy law scrapped 

Congress just voted to let internet providers sell your browsing history 

Don’t tell me you just wanted to scroll past this. Stop looking at pictures of cats for a moment, okay? Don’t you realize how important this is? This is dangerous! ‘America, the best FREE country in the world’ my ass.

With this new law your ISP can sell your Internet history which could include passwords, usernames, religion, credit card numbers, race and much more to the highest bidder. So here is what I want you to do. You are going to read the whole thing and before you think ’this is so important. Let me reblog this real quick and go back to admiring cats again-’ NO! Don’t reblog this. Take action first. Then reblog. Sign up for a free trial! Trust.Zone offers one (here). Yes. It might be difficult to set up a VPN for some people. But is that going to stop you from protecting yourself and your family? 30 minutes. 30 minutes is all that it takes. 5 if you know how to install software. The problem with some of you is that you see ‘difficult’ as something negative. I want you to see difficult differently. I need you to push through this stuff. You are going to protect yourself. There is nothing negative about that. VPNs are fun and costsaving too! A VPN bypasses geographical restrictions so you can access websites you normally can’t or you could start Netflix’s one month free trial over and over again- forever. And it’s legal! (unless you use it to buy weapons etc.,) Don’t tell yourself that you are too tired and that you will do this tomorrow. Because that isn’t going to happen and you know it. You have to do this right now. You only have to click on it. Don’t let this/shit/life just happen to you. Take yourself seriously. Get a VPN.

Look at me.

Look at me right now.

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It protects your works from copyright strikes and DCMA takedowns.

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It protects your work from overzealous legal challenges.

It protects your right to post adult content.

AO3 is non-profit and AO3 will never try to use you or your work to make a profit for themselves and AO3 will go to bat for you if someone tries to legally challenge you or your works.

Dealing with complex thoughts and emotions I can't work through in therapy, like grief, despair, a complicated relationship with pain and addiction

“college is absolutely nothing like this” “why are we writing four people on the team scoring a hat trick in one game” “so tech work is nothing like this, hope that helps!”