Creative Mess by Vesta Dragon

Princess: an effeminate and relatively youthful male homosexual or lesbian (1931-4)

Daffodil: effeminate young man (1925)

To throw a fuck into: to have sex with (1919)

Top sergeant: a masculine lesbian (1939) [‘she takes command of the girls’ privates’]

Lily: penis (1919)

Wolf: sexually aggressive man (1847); a homosexual top (1918)

Soul kiss: a deep kiss, involving putting one’s tongue into one’s partner’s mouth (1907)

Tom: a lesbian (1909); [in 'old tom'] prostitute catering to lesbians (1966)

Church mouse: a male homosexual who frequents crowded churches in order to fondle any potential sex partners. (1941)

Discover one's gender: to accept or acknowledge one’s homosexuality (1941) / Lose one's gender: To return to living as a heterosexual

Minty: a masculine lesbian (1941)

Also a lot of early 20th century vulgarity is recorded in Letter from My Father, which is a collection of letters published by a man who's dad was, in short, a major slut and human disaster who wrote about his sex life for his son. It's insane. You can find copies of it online & it's a wild fucking read (literally!) and I think a really interesting look at the life of a person who goes against our stereotypes of what people in the past were "supposed" to be like.

note for writers: these are dated to the first time they were recorded, not necessarily to their first use. I imagine for many of these, they came about naturally through spoken language before they were written down anywhere. This is especially true of more underground slang because it's probably being recorded (in ways we still have) the least. So if you wanna use a term but it's a little off date-wise, give yourself some wiggle room.

also gonna take this moment to highlight two more i found recently:

Best boy: a sweetheart, a boyfriend, a husband. (1893) [w the obvious equivalent term 'best girl']

Honeydripper or honeydrips: a sexual partner (1917)

because even as a non-profit organization, ao3 still needs money in order for it to function. a non-profit organization does need money in order for it to run and operate.

being a non-profit organization does not mean "we don't need money to run it yay". it does not mean "we pay everything out of our own pockets, so we don't need any donation" — that's not how it works.

as for palestine, the site doesn't "forbid things that are related to palestine only". it forbids "anything and everything that 1. is not fanwork 2. involves money" — which happens to include palestine-related stuff.

ao3 is a site for fanfiction (and original works, which according to them, counts as fanworks). the only things ao3 allows are fanfiction and original works — aka FANWORKS ONLY. NOTHING ELSE. (edit: fanworks also include fanart and video edits of characters, even if they’re not written text, they still count as fanworks)

palestine-related posts are not fanworks, therefore they are not allowed.

political statement is not fanwork, therefore it is not allowed.

anything that is not fanwork (fanfiction or original work) is not allowed.

as for your question about donation — a non-profit organization can (and they do) ask for donation, because a non-profit organization cannot function without the donation money keeping it going.

"so why don't they allow users to earn money through their site too? why don't they allow users to raise money for palestine too?"

the answer is because:

be it the money you earn and keep for yourself or donation money meant for other organizations, to a non-profit organization like ao3, that is the same thing. it's still "users earning money through their site" or "users using their site to promote ways for other organizations (someone else) to earn money". intention or who gets the money doesn't actually matter here. anybody or any other organizations earning money through ao3 is NOT allowed.

"people donating to ao3 to keep the site going" and "fanfic writers monetizing works about other people's copyrighted characters" are NOT the same thing.

"people donating to ao3 to keep the site going" and "fanfic writers using ao3 to promote ways for other organizations to earn money" are NOT the same thing.

but "fanfic writers monetizing works about other people's copyrighted character" and "fanfic writers using ao3 to promote ways for other organizations to earn money" ARE the same thing.

"people donating to ao3 to keep the site going" is allowed because... without the donation money, ao3 would not have existed in the first place, it would not have existed today, it would not have been able to continue functioning.

"fanfic writers monetizing works about other people's copyrighted character" and/or "fanfic writers using ao3 to promote way for other organizations to earn money" are NOT allowed because fanfiction is already in a legally grey area. the only reason ao3 and fanfic writers are not being sued by companies like disney or netflix is because "no one is monetizing fanfiction, and ao3 is not used as a tool for users — or any other organizations — to earn money in any way, shape or form".

that's the only reason ao3 isn't being forced to shut down by companies like disney or netflix, the only reasons it's not being bombarded by lawsuits. "no money is involved because the characters belong to their respective studios". fanfic writers just have fun with them. but they are NOT being monetized. NOTHING that is posted on the site can be used to earn anybody — be it the writers or any other organizations — any money.

so no "please donate to xyz". no "commission is open". no "here's my patreon".

be it directly or indirectly, if it involves money, it's against ao3's terms of service.

"but what about original works? they are the writers' original characters. can we monetize our own original works on ao3 or can we promote ways for people to donate to xyz under our original works on ao3?"

no, you still cannot mention or even imply donation or commission on ao3, even if it's your own original works. why? because ao3 doesn't differentiate original works from fanfiction — since it's impossible for them to do that. now I know it's super easy to distinguish between fanfics and original works. but the real issue is that ao3 is KNOWN AS A SITE FOR FANFICTION. it allows original works, yes. but its main purpose is still fanfiction. it hosts millions of fanfiction about other people's copyrighted characters. so basically the entire site is "fanfiction site" — therefore, for legal reasons, anything that involves money cannot be allowed.

the measure ao3 takes to ensure nobody can sue them and force them to shut down is to forbid any mention or implication of money on their platform. it's like them telling companies like disney and netflix "hey, I'm cool here. no one monetizes anything on our site / our site isn't being used as a tool for anybody or organization to earn money." which is the main reason it's not being sued left and right by these companies.

their rules are very simple:

they're a non-profit organization. they're run by people's donation.

they do not allow any monetization or any mention/implication of money on their site, this is how they avoid lawsuits.

anything that isn't fanwork is not allowed on their site, as their site was made only for fanworks.

respectfully, ao3 is NOT a social media platform. it is an archive meant to host fanworks.

honestly i wouldn't worry about it much! i've talked about this a little bit before

i feel like people worry about this a lot which is fair but also when stuff like the manga -> anime pipeline exists, i think it's safe to assume that even though people might know a spoiler or what's going to happen, they'll still be excited just to see the product in a different way and care more about the execution.

but on my end, whenever i post art focusing on the cast, i keep it more to character interactions and small worldbuilding things that i think are interesting and fun for people to know without giving away the larger story. i've found solace in the fact that my audience on twitter/tumblr is a fraction of the people that go and watch the show! i've been super up front about Zira being Aika's love interest and that this is a yuri series (which could be considered a spoiler) but most users on youtube have absolutely no idea that that's the case hahaha

Developing fictional relationships that feel authentic takes more than dialogue and grand gestures. Every detail below can be used to show platonic, familial, agape, or romantic love depending on context.

cooking a meal for someone, bringing them food, or spontaneously sharing a snack

sharing body heat/warming someone with outerwear like jackets and scarves

fanning them with something if overheated

getting a cold/hot drink for them

offering to carry something, whether it's heavy or just a jacket, to lighten someone's load or free up their hands

more below the click!

Press author and editor Shea Sullivan is looking to begin podficcing, so she asked the Duck Prints Press server for advice from those with experience. Several members of DPP have done podficcing in the past, so we were able to provide some guidance – and we thought, if Shea was interested, others might be interested too! Hence, we turned our chat into a roundtable blog post, with permission from everyone involved of course.

(Side note, we’re working with some press-involved folks who have experience in narration and podficcing to record audiobooks of some of our stores – we’re hoping to unroll the first couple to our Patreon backers soon – so be on the lookout!)

boneturtle: I’ll always recommend Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org/) for recording and editing because it’s free, dead simple, and produces high-level results

Shannon: Audacity is very straightforward so seconding that! I made some podfics on there. I’ve used GarageBand (https://garagebandonpc.com/download) too and I liked it a little better for multiple layered tracks, but that’s personal preference more than anything else.

Nina Waters: I used Audacity for mine, too

boneturtle: When I was recording podfics, I went into my closet and then pulled the heavy down blanket from my bed over the clothing rack and went under that like a tent to muffle any outside noise – you may not need to do that if you’re not recording in a big city but it definitely saved me so much heartache in editing.

Another thing that you probably already know is to record several seconds of silence before you start talking so you can use that as the baseline for the noise-reduction filter. And if you mess up and have to repeat something, give yourself an awkwardly long pause before you repeat the line so it’s easy to find the spot you have to cut and paste when editing.

Nina Waters: !hen I made a mistake, I’d tap the microphone, which meant when I looked at the audio there’d be a big spike wherever there was a mistake, also made it really easy to spot and cut.

Hermit: We turned the closet in the smallest room into a “cloffice” for my BF, and part of that was installing a lot of sound proofing. Doesn’t stop outside soumds, but kills the reverb and the panels we installed were cheap on amazon (we installed them using Command strips so we can take them down later if needed).

The long record before you start is super useful if you want to add “silence” too. Like “oh, I should have let this pregnant pause be longer.” You can copy from that baseline and add it where needed.

boneturtle: The main thing the silence helps with is giving you room around the mistake to trim and insert the audio you actually want, so even with a signal noise, I’d still do a few seconds of silence before restarting

Hermit: Good headphones will let you properly hear interference and random noises

Obviously, this roundtable alone won’t be enough to get you started making your own podfic, as we don’t get into the nuts-and-bolts of every aspect of the process. If you want to learn more about podficcing, here are some resources:

AO3 bookmark collection of 23 guides to podficcing by Dr_Fumbles_McStupid

Extensive podfic resource index by Ravin

A Beginner’s Guide to Making Podfic by EmilianaDarling (Tumblr)

More tips, tricks, and guides can be found on Tumblr, LiveJournal, and YouTube.

There are two ideas you need to understand when you're trying to post media on AO3. Those two ideas are hosting and embedding.

hosting means (basically) storing and sharing. You upload a file to a host and that host then serves your file to the people or websites that try to access it.

embedding is (basically) displaying or presenting.

The host holds the file and shares it with AO3 when you embed it in your work. It then gets displayed when you post.

Both archive.org and soundcloud.com are hosts that can embed directly into AO3. Other hosts might not work but I know that those both do.

Since you're new to podficcing, I'm also going to recommend Azdaema's Newbie's Guide to Podficcing and GodofLaundryBaskets' Keep it Simple: A Highly Biased Podfic Guide for Absolute Beginners.

Podficcers - please add in any other resources you think might be helpful!

Podficcers who work with Duck Prints Press also threw together some tips we have here:

In my AP Art class, there was a girl who was just starting to experiment with mixed media. At this point she was still playing around, trying to decide what direction she wanted to go with her portfolio. So one critique day, she brought in an abstract canvas with some rhinestone highlights and painted and real peacock feathers. She loved sparkles and peacock feathers so she thought she’d try introducing them a *little*. And after everyone had given some input, the teacher gave her his advice, VERY roughly paraphrased here:

“So here’s the thing… I do not like this style. These are just elements that do not speak to me personally, but I see that you like them, and you’re doing interesting things with them.

“My biggest critique is, I only merely *dislike* this piece. I want you to make me HATE it. Go crazy with the things that you like. Don’t hold back trying to make it palatable to people like me. Because I am NEVER going to like it. And if the audience does not like it, it should drive them crazy seeing how much YOU love it.”

Her portfolio was chock full of neon colors and glitter and rhinestones and splashes of peacock feathers and it was a delight. Our teacher despised every piece lol, but she got great marks and I think even won some awards. And more importantly, she was happy and proud of the results. Because she didn’t limit herself by trying to appeal to people who were never going to enjoy what she enjoyed.

the city of los angeles

the city of new york

sex

how drinking alcohol works

how getting high works

how a child of any age speaks

how nuclear physics work

how [my job] works

how debilitating being shot in the shoulder is

how hypothermia works

things I have never before seen someone fake their way through writing about, until today:

SHRIMP COCKTAIL:

banahbanah: #flashback to that one fic where Peter Parker frets about drinking shrimp cocktail because of the alcohol

generaldeliciousness: adding: what a prawn/shrimp cocktail is

#why is your character turning it down because they're under 21 #do you think prawn cocktail is a cocktail #this lives in my brain rent-free constantly #the rest of the fic was so normal #and good enough that i'll still re-read it #but bro

And then many, MANY, people wondering if this was actually authour mistake, since Peter really would do this!

POMEGRANATES:

zhajhassa: #haha where's that post that was like someone describing someone eating a pomegranate but they ate it like an apple

thornhands: #once someone wrote persephone biting into a whole Pomegranate #had to stop and stare at a wall for a minute

sungsingsanguine: I once saw someone very confidently write about a character eating slices of pomegranate.

FRUIT TREES:

zagreuses-toast: #given a very endearing glimpse into a writers blindspots by seeing them describe someone sitting under a ''pineapple tree''

salatrash: I remember something about picking watermelons... OF A FUCKING TREE

baander: #cranberry trees

DOUGH/BATTER:

maycelium: #I'm a chef so I'm really used to people not accurately describing how to cook food #But I was surprisingly flabbergasted when someone was writing making a cake and was kneading it. Which uh #Not necessary for cake. It was interesting for sure but just bizarre

livebloggingmydescentintomadness: #the one that drove me nuts was when a character set aside a batch of PASTA DOUGH 'to rise' #pasta doesn't have yeast!! #it does need to REST but it will never RISE #you do not want an airy crumb on your noodles

lovesodeepandwideandwell: #THE ONE WHERE THEY MADE COOKIES BY LADLING BATTER INTO A TRAY

Some other topics:

surgeonsblog

article i found this from^ (w/even more resources)

redwoods medical edge

^article where i found that

this article is short/basic/doesn’t link anywhere else, but i found it very helpful anyway

supposed to be good but to me, seemed difficult to navigate. (dp lyle)

this on the otherhand, is the jackpot (novelmalpractice)

tumblr blog centered around this topic

this is more about the common pitfalls/anachronisms of medical fiction but still helpful

writing medical scenes: useful links by paul anthony shortt

the last one im going to include is an article by a doctor about common mistakes in popular medical shows, i liked this one

In writing groups I'm in it's grammar and spell check is for newbies and those wanting a crutch or a cheat code.

I'm going to be frank with you, anon. Those writing groups sound toxic as fuck and I'd recommend finding a better place to spend your time.

Grammar check and spell check are embedded in most word processing software and have been since the 1990s. People don't have to use them if they don't want to, of course, but there's nothing wrong with using them.

English spelling is famously a bastardization of French multiplied by German divided by Latin with fifty other languages thrown in for fun. And don't even get me started on the Great Vowel Shift.

All that to say, being bad at spelling is not a moral failing nor is it a sign of weak character. It's a fact of life for an overwhelming majority of people writing in English.

People who refuse to use a spell checker are the same kind of pretentious assholes that think you shouldn't use a calculator ever. Absolutely there are steps you can take to improve your spelling, and being able to spell most words easily will make the writing process easier and more fluent. (Although you'll get a lot more mileage out of improving your touch typing.) But use the spell checker. Also use a calculator when you want to know the answer to a long division problem.

Grammar check - iffy, and it depends on the software. I don't use it because I think a lot of what it calls "grammar" is actually a point of style that I disagree with. However, if you find that when you're typing quickly you often omit or double words, grammar check is a really efficient way to type that.

Stuff like Grammarly's "reword this"? This is questionable. Now you're getting into something that is no longer your writing. If you're trying to build your voice, don't do it, because the voice you'll build is someone else's.

Asking ChatGPT to reword something for you? Now that is a crutch for people who don't want to learn to write.