Astraea

so much of the dynamic between lee dong-sik and han joo-won is this constant negotiation and renegotiation of trust. has dong-sik finally found someone he believes trusts him? has joo-won finally found someone he can trust? and a part of what makes it so compelling is that when the stars align and the answer to both these questions is yes they work together so beautifully well it’s amazing to watch. and another part is that they both really, really want the answer to be yes

This fan fiction is older than the push-through tabs on soda cans.

Your grandma wrote this on her Commodore 64.

I miss my Commodore 64

Oh my dear, sweet children. The Commodore 64 came out in 1982. This was produced on a typewriter and probably mimeographed. And while it may seem funny now, it took more courage to write and distribute this than you will ever  know.

Reblogged for that last comment.

respect your elders

Children, in the olden days fanfiction was written on a typewriter, copied and sent by snail mail. Getting one one of those letters from across the world was every bit as exciting as getting a notification that your favorite writer posted a new fic.

The precedent line is especially amusing when you bear in mind that “A Fragment Out of Time” is not only the first Star Trek slashfic to be published in a widely distributed magazine: it’s believed by some to be the first slashfic of any kind to be widely published.

In 1974 it was illegal to send pornography through the USPS. So distributing fic like this via mailed newsletter was literally dangerous. And they knew it.

the constant droning hum of surveillance in beyond evil is such an effective piece of horror. it’s a bold move for a piece of police detective fiction to say that you’re always being watched, but if anything that’s far more likely to damn you than it is to save you

it's fascinating how many suggestions for practicing distress tolerance in the comments were just part of existing in life until the most recent couple of generations. This isn't a "everything was better before" argument. I also like to be able to just find what i like and not have to go to radio stations that play a bunch of stuff I don't care for or buy entire albums to listen to music. I pay more than one subscription fee to avoid commercials. I love AO3 and all the tags. And as OP said, discomfort has always been part of how bigotry works. We didn't magically have more distress tolerance when it comes to prejudices or even minor differences. Bullying people who were even slightly different from the norm was common and accepted. But there is definitely something lost when people from an early age can see and read and listen to only exactly what they want, and the expectation that everything is designed to facilitate finding it. Using the library and the used book store when I was younger meant i read so many things that were terrible, or a toal mixed bag, or "problematic" in ways I was just learning how to process and understand, but also was just a lot of fun. These are the kinds of things people are talking about in the comments and it's wild to see the effects of such a huge shift in how we get our entertainment.

*flute solo*

#xichen’s special 3-in-1 context-free lore drop shovel talk and flute concert (via @pipkrakes)

[image description: spike from buffy impotently exclaiming, "I'm only 126," while willow eyes him dubiously. /end description]

reblog if you love archive of our own and how they firmly refuse to let censorship have any place on their platform

I will forever reblog this every time it’s on my dash because it should be this loud and simple. 💖

"You're smoking too much weed," says the guy who got addicted to manosphere podcasts on his orb and started a fascist militia with a side hobby of deliberate environmental destruction. Started cutting down trees to own the woke elves.